The Sandman (1989)

Ranked by how much they shifted the industry away from the Marvel/DC duopoly.

Great starting points for readers who want to explore comics beyond capes and tights. These series prove that comics are a medium, not a genre, spanning crime, horror, sci-fi, drama, and everything in between.

The foundation of the modern 'mature' comic landscape, blending literature and myth.

Landmark series and self-contained runs you can start cold, no decades of continuity required. Widely acclaimed jumping-on points across major publishers.

The finest fantasy comics ever published, from high fantasy epics to fairy-tale retellings to dark and subversive takes on the genre.

The greatest series from DC Vertigo, the imprint that brought mature, literary storytelling to mainstream comics and launched careers of some of the medium greatest writers.