Throughout the history of comics (and, really, this holds true for any media), there always have been, and always will be, books that are big simply because of a particular character, or because “The Hype” got hold of them, or whatever the case may be. It seems like this is even more the case right now, with so many series coming and going at a rate that is extremely difficult to keep up with. So, sure, you’re reading All-New X-Men and Justice League of America. Those are both great books, and there’s a reason they’re successful right now. But what about the other guys? There’s such an enormous amount of books coming out right now that nobody – least of all me – can afford to be getting everything. But, that being said, these are my picks for the 5 books that deserve to be read, but aren’t receiving nearly as many readers as they ought to be.
# 5: Dial H (DC Comics) –
Originally conceived as a Vertigo title, China Mieville’s Dial H doesn’t have much of anything to do with DC’s mainstream continuity – despite being billed as part of The New 52 – which makes it a great book for people that don’t necessarily want constant references to events happening across six other titles. Apparently Mieville is sort of big news right now on the novel writing scene – I wouldn’t know about any of that. What I do know is that his first foray into comicdom (aside from a short Hellblazer story a few years back) is a weird, witty, wonderfully topsy-turvy look at the responsibilities that come with having super-powers, and a skewed vision of the mythological structures upon which super-heroes are built. The series is building a pretty vast mythology which, as in all such cases, may not pay off in the end. But I’m intrigued enough by the concepts raised so far to stick it out and see where he’s going.
# 4: Shadow Man (Valiant) – 
With the recent glut of Supernaturally-themed Buffy and X-Files descendents crowding our TV screens, and a feature film undergoing pre-production, I would have expected more people to give Justin Jordan’s new take on Shadow Man a try. I mean, come on – its a guy who’s possessed by voodoo spirits to battle the undead, along with his occasional undead-voodoo-monkey-with-a-top-hat sidekick. Where could you possibly go wrong? The fact that the art by Patrick Zircher has cemented him as one of my favorite artists working in comics right now only sweetens the deal. Seriously, give this book a shot. It’s worth doing.
# 3: Nova (Marvel) –
What?! A Marvel book? Is he out of his mind? Well, no, not entirely. There’s definitely a part of me that feels downright dirty giving Marvel any of my money, let alone encouraging others to do so. The best comics are a balance between creative integrity and corporate market analysis. Unfortunately, it’s been more than 30 years since Marvel had any of the former, if they ever did. Occasional blips of true quality do slip through, though, and one of the last ones was Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s legendary cosmepic, which included their run on Nova. Now, spoiler warning here, but that run ended with the death of the original Nova, Richard Rider. And it was a fantastic death, the kind of death that leaves you completely satisfied with the character’s arc (for the uninitiated, the ending to the cosmepic was basically what the end of Mass Effect 3 should have been). For that reason, among many others, I was really reticent (hell, let’s be honest – I was pissed off) about Marvel revisiting the character. But lo and behold, I went ahead and gave the first issue a shot, and I was not only impressed, I was really impressed. The new Nova is a new character in more ways than just the traditional superhero “legacy” format, and the setup leaves me excited to see where Jeph Loeb decides to take the character. Now, for those of you that know me, you know that I haven’t been excited about a single Marvel book since Abnett and Lanning’s run on Heroes for Hire ended. So if I’m excited, you should be too.
# 2: Vibe (DC Comics) – 
Vibe? Who the hell is Vibe, and why would I want to spend money on a book about him every month when there’s so many other books that have characters I actually give a crap about?
Well, I’ll tell you.
1) Great premise. Boy gets caught in the wake of a boom tube during Darkseid’s initial invasion of Earth, and is now the dimensional gatekeeper between our world and the myriad other dimensions of the DCU.
2) Geoff Johns. No, he isn’t staying with the series long-term, but he has faith in the character, and, supposedly, in Arrow-helmer Andrew Kreisberg, with whom he’s leaving the reins. Just in case you’ve forgotten, a few of the other washed-up characters Geoff Johns has “had faith in” – The JSA, Hawkman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman…
3) Killer last page reveal. That’s all I’ll say for now.
# 1: Harbinger (Valiant) –
A few people around the shop have already heard me espousing this book as being the best comic being currently published, which is no small claim – but I stand by it. This book does for modern comics what the reimagined Battlestar Galactica did for sci-fi television. Gone is any sense of black and white, gone is any sense that the “heroes” of the book can do no wrong. But just as with Ron Moore’s sci-fi epic, you’ll find yourself caring about these flawed characters more deeply in some ways than you would a Superman or a Spider-Man, because despite the fact that they can fly and read minds and set people on fire, they’re not larger than life in the least. Their reactions always feel like the reactions of real people in uncomfortable, often unbelievable situations. If you only read one book from this list, I implore you to make it this one. The first trade comes out soon, and I’d like to get more people aboard this particular train.