Looking for Realistic Superhero Comic Recommendations : r/comicbooks

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Looking for Realistic Superhero Comic Recommendations

Been reading a bit of Alan Moore (Swamp Thing, Watchmen, Miracleman etc) and I’m looking for other books/authors that have the same idea as Alan Moore’s works. I love how he creates superhero’s but he gives them a sense of realism, doesn’t always make them up beat/optimistic as Marvel and blurs the line of good/evil

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captain2toes

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Kurt Busiek’s Astro City is just like Watchmen, but imo better because it maintains the optimism that is so central to superheroes.

billdehaan2

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Astro City, by Kurt Busiek, is excellent. It mixes 1950s era optimism with 1980s grounded realistic characterization. The series has been running for 30 years now, and the characters have aged in real time. The daughter who was in 4th grade in a 1990s story reappears at her college graduation. Heroes who were just costumed acrobats, with no supernatural abilities face the realities of getting older. Some accept it an start training other heroes, others foolishly try to hang on and end up getting injured because of it, etc.

RyanAus95

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I want to read this but was unsure how to collect it. Searching on Amazon gave me all kinds of results.

captain2toes

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https://www.amazon.com/Astro-City-Metrobook/dp/1534322043/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3GT2PD9RPX0AR&keywords=astro+city+metrobook+1&qid=1650246710&sprefix=astro+city%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-1

shanejayell

Thunderstrike •

Alan Moore's Top Ten is pretty good, too. Astro City got mentioned earlier...

44035

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Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev (run starts in early 2000s)

c4tesys

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Invincible.

Asutanashi

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have u read john constantine?

Unchained71

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I was always taken with Powers by Bendis.

And basically anything from Frank Miller.

StephanieSpoiler

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Mark Millar's "The Ultimates" and "The Ultimates 2"

s3rila

X-23 •

Aren't those terrible?

StephanieSpoiler

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The first one has some dated aspects but as a whole is still a pretty solid take on "realistic" superheroes that OP asked for.

The second one is fantastic and would probably be in discussion as one of Marvel's best series.

omgItsGhostDog

Kingdom Come Superman •

Buzz Kill by Donny Cates

It's not really superheroes but the art style and tone is heavily inspired by Jack Kirby's work like Thor and the New Gods. Plus I just love this comic so; God Country by Donny Cates

Jupiter’s Legscy by Mark Milllar, maybe should give Superman: Red Son a read also.

Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis

Moon Knight by Jeff Lemire

New Avengers by Jonathan Hickman, tho you have to read his Avengers for you to follow the plot. But his New Avengers stuff I felt was like the end of Watchmen of but times 11! It puts the heroes in a real grey place as to how far you’d go to save your world and I love it!

Animal Man by Grant Morrison. It gets meta and deconstructive on superhero stories but like around the halfway point switches to deconstructing modern superhero comics on why they have to be so dark. One of my favourite comic runs

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid. IMO this is just the perfect comic of all time, love this one to death!!

Frank Miller pioneered realistic Superheroes with Moore with his Daredevil run, Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns.

Many of Tom King’s stuff is very Moore The Vision, Mister Miracle, Omega Men, Strange Adventures; hell, he was a mini-series that's a spin-off of Watchmen called Rorschach, which is set after the main comic and I think before the HBO show. I think this guy is the closest you'll get to a Moore in modern comics.

72Challupas

Spider-Man Expert •

Squadron Supreme by Mark Grunewald. It’s a marvel book but it’s basically about the Justice League deciding to be more proactive and how they change because of it.