can you help me create a list of the top 10 indy comic titles from 1975 to now?

[Ken Aldred]

 

A long running series that introduced a host of foreign creators to American audiences and succeeded in publishing popular adult-themed sci-fi fantasy comics to a degree that Star Reach never even came close to. It was also the first regularly published magazine sized comic book with mostly color content. And it spawned a successful animated feature. I'd say all that puts it on the list.  

 

 

Over the past several decades Heavy Metal has had amazing contributions and has been profoundly influential.

 

I agree.  Heavy Metal is one of my all-time favourite comic magazines.  

 

Maybe I was just concerned about it also seeming more than a little patchy in quality -  over the long haul, anyway. There's quite a bit of rubbish in there as well.

[Ken Aldred]

 

V for Vendetta is a DC title, not independent.

 

V for Vendetta still qualifies, first serialised in Warrior magazine.

[dupont2005]

 

A long running series that introduced a host of foreign creators to American audiences and succeeded in publishing popular adult-themed sci-fi fantasy comics to a degree that Star Reach never even came close to. It was also the first regularly published magazine sized comic book with mostly color content. And it spawned a successful animated feature. I'd say all that puts it on the list.  

 

 

Over the past several decades Heavy Metal has had amazing contributions and has been profoundly influential.

 

I agree.  Heavy Metal is one of my all-time favourite comic magazines.  

 

Maybe I was just concerned about it also seeming more than a little patchy in quality -  over the long haul, anyway. There's quite a bit of rubbish in there as well.

That's true of any anthology. But we could say Cerebus had it's low points and I know Elfquest kind of went to hell in the 90's when they decided to try running ten titles at once. Overall though, all were very influential.

[dupont2005]

So it seems these magazine/mixed type titles: heavy metal, raw, etc.. are going to take up a good chunk

of the top 10 if things continue on this path. It will also be much more artistic then popularity based.

 

Well, that's why we're discussing the best. If we wanted to know the most popular we could just look up the print runs.

[dupont2005]

I've only ever read one manga all the way through, and it's not worthy of the list

 

did not "ghost in the shell" start off as a manga comic? if so.. that touched on topics that were quite

interesting to say the least. i enjoyed it.

 

edited to add:

 

getting late. lets see what others can add to this later on or maybe the thread will sink to the bottom.

i will try to organize a top 10 list from everyone's comments tomorrow.

Only one I ever read through was called Xenon: Heavy Metal Warrior.

I have a near complete set of Akira I'm planning on starting on soon. I'd like to read through Lone Wolf And Cub. I'm not terribly knowledgeable on manga. At the back of each issue of Xenon there would be a little article on the intricacies of manga and it pretty much sold me on that not being the genre I'm interested in. I'm probably missing some awesome stuff though. We could also consider Euro comics if manga were in consideration. Then a list of ten would be too small.

[Unca Ben]

If it qualifies and hasn't been mentioned yet, I nominate Xenozoic Tales to the list.

[Dr Chaos]

 

V for Vendetta is a DC title, not independent.

 

V for Vendetta still qualifies, first serialised in Warrior magazine.

 

Fair enough, Elfquest also started elsewhere before Marvel took it over.

[jjonahjameson1]

Back to some Canadian content..

from Vortex publishing, two titles stand out:

1. Black Kiss by Chaykin (remember how they were polybagged and you had to be 18 to purchase?)

 

2. Mr. X

 

And I'd also add Quadrant by Peter Hsu. Man, that was some serious eye candy!

[MisterX]

2000 AD (Judge Dredd, Miracleman, etc.)

 

 

 

I am not so sure about Miracleman but I am on board with Judge Dredd.

Does anyone else think Dredd should be on the top 10?

Perhaps my bias is showing though.

 

It seems we either go the popularity route or the wine and cheese artistic route for our top 10.

 

I confused 2000 AD with Warrior... but both influenced an incredible number of creators.

 

Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, ABC Warriors, Rogue Trooper, and then Marvelman, Big Ben, Warpsmith, V for Vendetta

 

I'm a big 2000AD fan, but calling it an indy is a strech. Over in England the publisher of 2000 AD back in the 70s was Fleetway, a very large, organized operation with decades of comic publishing experience.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fleetway_and_IPC_Comics_publications

 

 

[sakaridis]

 

V for Vendetta is a DC title, not independent.

 

V for Vendetta still qualifies, first serialised in Warrior magazine.

 

Fair enough, Elfquest also started elsewhere before Marvel took it over.

I'm fairly certain that Marvel never actually "took over" Elfquest.

 

They only published one series and it was all reprints from previously published books. Am I wrong about this? It's been years since I've glimpsed at the books.

 

As for V For Vendetta, I think the last three issues of the DC series are new material. The story was never completed in Warrior.

[Dr Chaos]

 

V for Vendetta is a DC title, not independent.

 

V for Vendetta still qualifies, first serialised in Warrior magazine.

 

Fair enough, Elfquest also started elsewhere before Marvel took it over.

I'm fairly certain that Marvel never actually "took over" Elfquest.

 

They only published one series and it was all reprints from previously published books. Am I wrong about this? It's been years since I've glimpsed at the books.

 

As for V For Vendetta, I think the last three issues of the DC series are new material. The story was never completed in Warrior.

 

Let's not quibble over this one.

 

My point was that not all of the Elfquest issues were published under Marvel's banner (or Epic or Eclipse). Whether or not it later became a Marvel title is irrelevant because it started as an independant comic.

 

There were a lot of Grendel DC stories with and without Batman but I would consider it to be an extension of the Grendel independent title / character that started with Comico.

[maloney414]

Immediately these come to mind:

 

TMNT: obvious choice

Bone: obvious choice

Maus: won a Pulitzer Prize. It was a huge deal back then.

Cerebus: influenced the creation of the Trade Paperback

Strangers in Paradise

Love and Rockets Cerebus, Strangers in Paradise, and Love & Rockets all reached a level that everyone reading comics knew they existed. Even if you weren't in to independents. These titles also inspired other creators to go the independent route. That aspect is something that is hard to measure, but these titles are always mentioned as influences by creators. Others mentioned in this thread also fit this category, but these seem to be mentioned as influences the most.

Heavy Metal

Dark Horse Presents: Heavy Metal and Dark Horse Presents gave opportunities to independent creators to publish their stuff in a title that reached a mainstream level. These books had a enormus impact on creating future comic book creators.

Hellboy: I always felt Hellboy comics saved Dark Horse Comics from falling off the map. Hellboy also broke into the mainstream level with 2 movies, cartoons, and tons of comics published over the years.

The Walking Dead: Yes, The Walking Dead is an indy. It's hard to remember that since it's success is so hot and mainstream right now. But this is a zombie book that was published at Indy numbers for YEARS before blowing up. Kirkman wasn't a partner at Image when it started or a big name at all. In fact, he was an unknown.

 

[maloney414]

Here are some books that aren't worth being on the list, but may be in the future.

 

Goon: Goon is a current book inspiring future creators similar to what Cerebus, Strangers in Paradise, Love & Rockets did. If you go to a con and ask the people in "Artist Alley" what they are reading, Goon would be a very popular answer. Goon may be the next indy to go for 100+ issues since Eric Powell has stated he's recommitted to working on just the comic.

The Stuff of Legend: This is one of the best Indy books being published right now. Only has 10 issues, but they just signed a deal with Disney to make a movie. This one could break through to the mainstream level.

Invincible: Similar, to The Walking Dead argument. This started as an Indy by Kirkman when he was an unknown. The book has slowly but surely increased in popularity in print runs, back issue demand and will hit 100 issues this year. While it hasn't hit mainstream levels, Invincible has reached a level of out selling titles with characters created by the original Image partners. The combination of Invincible and Walking Dead is why they named him a partner at Image.

[Theagenes]

Heavy Metal

 

How did I forget that one?

 

I thought about it but my problem with it is.. what story/artist sticks out the most? If you publish

that much material eventually you will find a winner.

 

Like I have Matt Howarth's, The annoying post bros comics, sitting next to me. He did "Changes"

in Heavy Metal. So what stands out in there except for sheer quantity eventually becoming enough

to warrant being on the top 10? Overall influence? Boobies?

 

A lot of stories in the title were translated reprints. So, even though I was thinking about Giraud / Moebius' contributions, for example, that factor alone could take the book out of contention.

A long running series that introduced a host of foreign creators to American audiences and succeeded in publishing popular adult-themed sci-fi fantasy comics to a degree that Star Reach never even came close to. It was also the first regularly published magazine sized comic book with mostly color content. And it spawned a successful animated feature. I'd say all that puts it on the list.

 

Well-stated, Heavy Metal was hugely influential on the modern adult-themed graphic novel. Not only should it be included, but it should be near the top.

[Theagenes]

 

V for Vendetta is a DC title, not independent.

 

V for Vendetta still qualifies, first serialised in Warrior magazine.

 

Fair enough, Elfquest also started elsewhere before Marvel took it over.

I'm fairly certain that Marvel never actually "took over" Elfquest.

 

They only published one series and it was all reprints from previously published books. Am I wrong about this? It's been years since I've glimpsed at the books.

 

As for V For Vendetta, I think the last three issues of the DC series are new material. The story was never completed in Warrior.

 

Let's not quibble over this one.

 

My point was that not all of the Elfquest issues were published under Marvel's banner (or Epic or Eclipse). Whether or not it later became a Marvel title is irrelevant because it started as an independant comic.

 

There were a lot of Grendel DC stories with and without Batman but I would consider it to be an extension of the Grendel independent title / character that started with Comico.

 

The Marvel Elfquest series was all just reprints of the earlier Warp Graphix stuff wasn't it?

[B-Smooth]

Original elf lord

Omaha

Faust (biased)

Adventurers

Strangers in paradise

Bone

WD if considered an independent

Milk and cheese

Reid Fleming

Cerebus

TMNT

Heavy metal

Albedo

Vampirella

Groo

Tick

 

That's more than 10, but it's hard to choose

[Ken Aldred]

I'm a big 2000AD fan, but calling it an indy is a strech. Over in England the publisher of 2000 AD back in the 70s was Fleetway, a very large, organized operation with decades of comic publishing experience.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fleetway_and_IPC_Comics_publications

 

 

The American market can have problems with categorising British comic books.  For example, Warrior is listed in Fogel's Underground Comix Price Guide Supplement.

 

Never thought of it as one, though.

[fc]

So it seems these magazine/mixed type titles: heavy metal, raw, etc.. are going to take up a good chunk

of the top 10 if things continue on this path. It will also be much more artistic then popularity based.

 

Well, that's why we're discussing the best. If we wanted to know the most popular we could just look up the print runs.

 

Maybe I am more of a hot dog type of guy instead of wine and cheese though.

 

If it was the best why don't more people know about it, collect it, and in heavy demand around

here? I am not referring to Heavy Metal specifically though but I do touch on it at the end of this

post.

 

Sometimes in the art world people can get snobbish. Looking down on poor poor Groo because

it is a funny book and putting artsy stuff on a pedestal even though no one can even remember

it. One ran for decades and sold in the 100s of thousands.. the others died off after a few years

and is almost forgotten except for the highlights that make people recall it. Perhaps 2% of the

material was memorable?

 

I guess my point is... mass popularity seems to mean a lower ranking compared to low print

run artsy material that most of us, if we tried to read today, would probably get bored after several

minutes (except for the 1-2% of material that is top notch.)

 

You ever try to read Heavy Metal now days? Ugh... I have just last week and a lot of it aged

very very poorly.

[Dick Pontoon]

These don't fit neatly into a Top 10 List of Comics, but here's 7 that come to mind immediately:

 

Seth (Palookaville and anything else)

Tony Millionaire (Maakies)

Rick Altergott (Doofus)

Chris Ware (Acme Comics)

Nick Gurewitch (Perry Bible Fellowship)

Dan Clowes (Eightball et al)

Crumb (I dunno, Hup, et al))

[dupont2005]

 

V for Vendetta is a DC title, not independent.

 

V for Vendetta still qualifies, first serialised in Warrior magazine.

 

Fair enough, Elfquest also started elsewhere before Marvel took it over.

I'm fairly certain that Marvel never actually "took over" Elfquest.

 

They only published one series and it was all reprints from previously published books. Am I wrong about this? It's been years since I've glimpsed at the books.

 

As for V For Vendetta, I think the last three issues of the DC series are new material. The story was never completed in Warrior.

The Epic series was colorized reprints of the WaRP series. No real original content for the Marvel series except for a single page at the beginning of each issue recapping the previous issue