Well Written books, with Pictures!

I recently stated that some of the best writing I have ever read was in comic books. I keep having to make the point that I am an English major (and a pretty good one, if my work so far is any indication), and here it should serve to reinforce the point that I know what good writing looks like. So as I go through my list of books on ComicRack (my digital reader of choice), I've decided to make a short list of some of the best writing I've ever read, comic-wise, in no particular order, (this is not a list of my favorite comics, but a list of the ones I think are the best written):

Cover of Watchmen

• Watchmen, Alan Moore: I'll go ahead and explain the convention here of only naming the writer of the book, since I'm not making a list of most brilliant artwork in a book (though Dave Gibbons is no slouch here). Anyway, I am obviously not the first person to say Watchmen is awesome, and I won't be the last. This is largely thanks to an abundance of absolutely awesome writing, with Moore showing off his versatility by bringing together a world of vastly different characters, as well as an astonishing amount of background info about the world they live in. I never got to read it in its initial serial form, as I was two when it was finished, but it was one of the first graphic novels I added to my bookshelf, and I read the Dr. Manhattan parts repeatedly when I first got it, because it was so poetic. Every now and then I still reread it, and I never get tired. Everyone should read this book, partially because it is basically a genre-defining work, but mostly because it, like Shakespeare, or a Taco Bell Chalupa, is exactly as good as advertised
  
  
  
  
  Cover of Old Man's Cave (Bone, Book 6)
• Bone, Jeff Smith: This is here for very different reasons, because there aren't as many singularly eloquent speeches here, but there is a clear sense that Smith knows exactly what he wants to do with this story, which counts for a lot. In the technical sense, the tone of the story is perfect, and it stays that way throughout. If I were to pick a favorite part, it would have to be Book 6: Old Man's Cave, largely because I looked for it in stores and online for well over three years, and could not find it until 2007, (that volume was released in 1999), when I bought the whole thing in one volume. It was totally worth it. 

Image via Wikipedia

• Planetary, Warren Ellis: Because Warren Ellis is clearly a serial genius and John Cassaday is his shape-shifting accomplice, Planetary is awesome. The story of Planetary is not entirely new, as the whole series is an homage to hero stories of the past, but a story doesn't have to be new to be great, and Ellis' strength in my opinion, is his unbelievably clever sci-fi writing, which seems to be more along the lines of Asimov, than DC. Of particular note for me are issues #12 and 26, when awesomeness is afoot.
Image via Wikipedia
• The Sandman, Neil Gaiman: Neil Gaiman = win. I don't know how to properly explain how good these books are, they are not only filled with haunting images(in a good way), but also some of the most intellectually challenging writing I have ever seen. Plus, there is an amazing amount of just plain beautiful verbiage, in every issue. For a best of the best, I'd go with Brief Lives, in which "we all know everything, we just pretend to ourselves that we don't to make our lives bearable"

Cover of The Ultimates Vol. 1: Super-Human
• Ultimates, Mark Millar: Up until this point, Marvel has been taking a serious beating on this list, since 3 of the previous entries are DC properties. However, I will go on record as saying that for the main brand, Marvel has much stronger writing. The Ultimates are a great example of this, with the ability to take these heroes(they're the Avengers, in case you didn't know) and make them real, socially relevant people. I cannot find the exact number of the issue I wanted to highlight, as blogger appears to make my computer really slow, but there is an issue in which Nick Fury is the focus, which I think is emblematic of the series: very strong characterization, and plot twists.