100 All-Time Greatest Comics

Watchmen is undoubtedly a product of the Eighties. The thencurrent fear of nuclear war looms large, and, politically, the series is rooted deeply in its time. But the moral dilemmas the series poses, and the seedy lives of the ‘heroes’, are fresh as daisies. To this day, it still makes modern superhero comics look dated and simplistic. In retrospect, the series is overshadowed by that brilliantly unbeatable twist ending and the awful inevitability of the fallout from it. It’s easy to forget the well-executed soap opera of The Comedian, Sally and Laurie, or the sexual dysfunctions of the closest thing we have to a leading man, or the mind-bending omniscience of Doctor Manhattan. It’s often a surprise to re-read it and be reminded that Watchmen is laugh-out-loud funny in places.…

In the mid-Eighties, comics changed. Dramatically. Part of this was down to a classic superhero who surprised everyone by suddenly acting darker and more adult than he’d ever been before. Yet, at the same time, a vigorously bearded gentleman named Alan Moore, who had made quite a reputation for himself in the United States comics scene, was showing what comics could really do. Alan Moore’s Watchmen remains to this day one of the greatest comics to ever see print. A 12-part 400-page graphic novel, Watchmen was originally going to utilise a number of low-tier superhero characters owned by Charlton Comics, which had then recently been bought by DC Comics. What ultimately emerged was something genuinely revolutionary. A veritable masterpiece of comic book storytelling bearing a flawless structure, Watchmen was astounding…

V FOR VENDETTA A stark vision of a totalitarian Britain – gorgeously rendered by David Lloyd – Moore’s passionate protest against Thatcherite ideals of greed, jingoism and anti-unionism remains one of his finest works, still potent 25 years on. The story of an anarchist terrorist’s battles against a fascist UK government is also the first glimpse of Moore’s massive potential. LOST GIRLS Sixteen years in the making, this is Moore’s unabashed paean to pornography – and utterly beautiful it is too. Despite the controversy-baiting premise – Wonderland’s Alice, Oz’s Dorothy and Peter Pan’s Wendy meet in Austria and engage in a vast sexual imbroglio – Moore treats his subject with affection, sincerity and sensitivity. One of his most personal works. SWAMP THING The series that introduced Moore to the US…

// Born 18 November, 1953 // Aged 17, Moore is kicked out of school for dealing LSD. // Moore spends the next several years in menial jobs before embarking on a career as a cartoonist in the late Seventies, producing strips for Sounds magazine under the name Curt Vile. // Eventually concentrating on writing, Moore provides work for Marvel UK, Warrior and 2000AD, producing such celebrated work as Captain Britain, Marvelman, V For Vendetta, The Ballad Of Halo Jones and D.R. & Quinch. // 1983: Enters the US industry with pioneering work on DC Comics’ Swamp Thing. // 1986-1987: Watchmen released in the US, which cements Moore’s superstar reputation. // Dissatisfied with creator’s lack of rights, Moore withdraws from the mainstream industry in the late Eighties, preferring to align with…

If you’re looking for the single story that turned Batman into the character you’d recognise today, this is it. It’s the retelling of the start of Caped Crusader’s career, told in parallel to Jim Gordon’s arrival at the Gotham City Police Department. It provides an introduction to what are now considered major elements of Batman lore (and which Christopher Nolan drew on heavily), and was the first comic to really bring Jim Gordon to the level of prominence that he now enjoys. In fact, Year One is really Jim Gordon’s series. Yes, we see Bruce Wayne in training, learning how to take out entire SWAT teams at one time and bring down mob bosses, but there’s something heartswellingly heroic in Gordon’s quest to root out police corruption without the aid…

One of the first manga to be translated in its entirety for the English-language market, this post-apocalyptic cyberpunk series is an absolute classic. First published in the Eighties, Katsuhiro Otomo’s work has influenced many contemporary comic artists and Akira solidified his reputation as one of the masters of the medium. Set in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion that destroyed Tokyo and starts World War III, the 2019 Neo-Tokyo is besieged by gang violence and terrorism. Following the fates of Tetsuo and Kaneda, two members of a bōsōzoku motorcycle gang, the book opens with the former awakening his psychic powers as a result of a bike accident caused by the mysterious Takashi. With a terrifying military presence and anti-government feeling running high throughout, Akira uses the futuristic setting and superhuman…