Do you mean the old newspaper Star Wars strips that Dark Horse put out as comics and then as trades? Those were pretty good. I really enjoyed Marvel's run on Star Wars. Some of them were kind of hoaky, but some were really good too. They are available in 7 trade paperbacks from Dark Horse comics and they cleaned up the coloring in them and they look beautiful. Or, maybe you meant by Old Republic the Dark Horse comics they've been doing the past few years?
You liked Strikes Back more than Returns for Dark Knight? Wow, I think you are the first person to ever say that. What made you like it more? I admit I only read the first issue of Strikes Back. Frank Miller's Year One was excellent, pretty much what Batman Begins was based off of. Then of course there is Batman The Killing Joke by Alan Moore, great, great book.
If you liked Ultimate Spider-man did you read The Ultimates? Such an awesome book, same with the first 6 trades or so of Ultimate X-men, excellent reads.
OK, non-DC/Marvel books. I apologize folks for the lengthy post.
Fables. I recommend this book non-stop on here but it is SO good. Picture the fable and fairy tale characters you know and love from the stories you grew up with. Their homelands are suddenly being invaded by the Adversary, a fellow fable who suddenly goes mad with power. He captures them, kills some if they try to flee, even steals their magic so they can't rebel. Then one day they find out about a gateway to another world, our world, where the Adversary doesn't know about. So, they sneak into our world and live amongst us in New York. Snow White, Prince Charmin, Big Bad Wolf, Sleeping Beauty and so many more characters. The Adversary finally gets revealed (but I won't say who it is) and there are so many amazing story lines. If you get books from the library take the first trade out of this, Legends in Exile. If you like it, get the rest, each story arc builds and builds up to the next and so on. There was a spin off book called Jack of Fables. If you read Fables and get to the point where Jack spins off, then read it. But first start with Fables. I only hope I explained it enough to make you want to read it. I've gotten a few friends from on line to read this book and they loved it. I hope you will too.
Y:The Last Man. This book just ended, it's collected in 10 trades. A plague strikes the Earth wiping out all males except for one guy, Yorick, and his pet monkey ampersand. The first issue gets you hooked. Excellent book.
Sandman by Neil Gaiman. You got to read it to get it, but an excellent, excellent work. Gaiman is a brilliant writer.
League of Extraordinary Gentelmen. Don't let the movie sway you from the book. Alan Moore's books are amazing, there are 3 trades out right now.
Usagi Yojimbo. A ronin rabbit wanders Japan. Don't let the fact that they are animals throw you off. Usagi is one bad dude with that sword. This is an amazing book filled with some of the best comic stories ever written. There are over 22 trades in this series, and then a spin off, Space Usagi, which is awesome as well.
Maus. This book is an important book, not only to the comic genre cause it helps prove comics are not just for kids but can tell important stories, but it is an important book to the history of the Holocaust. A tough but important read.
Box Office Poison. A long trade, but so good. If you like the book or movie High Fidelity I think you will like this. A slice of life book.
Bone. This is a massive book, get the complete Bone trade, it's over 1,000 pages but is awesome. Imagine Disney made a Lord of the Rings story and you have Bone. Beautiful art, funny, moving. This book is loved in the comic world.
Scary Godmother. These are available as nice kids stories for Halloween and a comic series. If you like Nightmare Before Christmas this is the next best thing to a sequel.
Arrowsmith. Kurt Busiek wrote this story. It's an interesting story about WW1 and a young recruit who joins, only, in this story, dragons and trolls and vampires live in our world amongst us and take part in the war. This is a great story. It's 6 issues long and in a trade and the first time I read it I loved it.
I'd start with any or all of these.
Let me also just recommend Green Lantern. What Geoff Johns is doing with this book is brilliant, especially the Sinestro Corp Wars. If you like sci fi or Star Wars then the current Green Lantern is great.
One more.
Kingdom Come. Written by Mark Waid and painted by Aex Ross. A great story about what the out come of the world would be with DC heroes. I can't even begin to explain how good this is.
OK, sorry about the long post, I just love talking comics, as you can see!
