Recommended Reading: The Works of Rick Remender

[Blindzider, Moderator]

This thread is for all group members to give suggestions on what stories they would recommend to people that are new to the group and/or to reading graphic novels. This particular thread will be about all work by Rick Remender.

The idea is to compile a list of books on each subject/topic from the group members and have a central thread that people can use to decide where to begin. Please clearly mark which books are your suggestions.

Preferably, the suggestions should be limited to stories that are available in some type of hardcover: Absolute, Omnibus, Deluxe HC, etc.

Make as many suggestions as you like, but do try to keep it to an "essential/best reads".

# of Votes / Title (through message 7)
4 / Fear Agent V1 and V2
4 / Uncanny X-Force
3 / Deadly Class
2 / Black Science
2 / Tokyo Ghost
1 / Seven to Eternity
1 / Uncanny Avengers
1 / Low

[Blindzider, Moderator]

I recommend:


Fear Agent Library Edition Volume One
Fear Agent Library Edition Volume Two
Uncanny X-Force Omnibus
Deadly Class, Book One Deluxe
Black Science Premiere HC

[Steven]

My two recommendations are:

1: Uncanny X-Force, by Rick Remender: Omnibus

2: Uncanny Avengers: Omnibus

Ask anyone about the best X-Men comics of the best 10 years, and Uncanny X-Force will be on it. Visceral, gritty art, violent storytelling, great science fiction, great dialogue. Overall, a masterclass.

Followed up with Uncanny Avengers, which is notably less praised, but it's still worth owning if only because the bulk of the Uncanny Avengers run is a "sequel" of sorts to Uncanny X-Force. The artwork from Daniel Acuna is evocative and thrilling. If you aren't keen on owning the parts of Uncanny Avengers that deal with the lack-luster Red Skull/Axis event, you could pick up volumes 2-4, I believe.

Honorable mentions:

Deadly Class, Book One: Noise Noise Noise

Black Science Premiere Hardcover, Volume 1: The Beginners' Guide to Entropy

[The Lion's Share]

Seven to eternity.

[Donovan]

Fear Agent, his most restrained and IMO ambitious work, Deadly Class, and the under appreciated Tokyo Ghost. Have yet to read his Marvel work.

[Relstuart, Mod+]

I concur with Blinzider on Remender's top two, Fear Agent followed by Uncanny X-Force. X-Force contains the very best Deadpool writing I've seen and the characters are fairly well balanced with an appropriate focus on Wolverine as the team lead.

After that it gets tough because he currently has several ongoing series that are possibly worthy of being in the number three slot, but we won't know for a while (I have not finished Tokyo Ghost which is at a stopping point. Remember stated he plans to return to write more).

Current worthy series would be Black Science which in some ways is most similar of his current efforts to Fear Agent. LOW is Remender's effort to write a main character that is generally an optimist (not his personal temperament or writing comfort zone) and the art is really well done. Depending on where that story goes I could see myself ranks it pretty highly (only read the first arc).
Seven to Eternity is his newest series about a fantasy world mostly controlled by a dictator. Great art and an the first arc was pretty well written.
Deadly Class, while I do think this story has some flaws, it kept me engaged and I want to read more. The art is good and the coloring is brilliant.

Remender also did a run on Punisher that was fun. He did a run on Venom (which was ok) and a run on Captain America (which had good moments that were outweighed by some of the poor ones IMHO). Steven is on point with the note that Uncanny Avengers is basically a continuation of the Uncanny X-Force story. He also did a run on Secret Avengers that was ok though I still have at least one arc of it I have yet to read.

[Donovan]

I would put Fear Agent and Deadly Class (although it isn't finished) as his best two indie works. I did not know Tokyo Ghost wasn't finished!

I'm really not a fan of Black Science. I know it tries to be "like" Fear Agent but it just doesn't do it for me. Low is okay : )

[Nickviola]

Things to know off the bat: (a) Remender is probably my favorite writer and (b) I am a well documented outlier amongst those of us here who frequently discuss him.

I think BLACK SCIENCE is incredible. The fact that Scalera has never needed a fill-in artist through 28 issues and that every issues demands character acting and hijinx at breakneck speed is one of the most admirable and inspiring feats in modern graphic story telling. And, personally, I find self-absorbed scientist/adventurer Grant MacKay more interesting than self-absorbed redneck/adventurer Heath Huston [Fear Agent] (again, I know I am an outlier).

I personally love Tocchini so LOW is a must-read and that oversized hardcover art is going to be breaktaking.

UNCANNY X-FORCE is my favorite run in modern marvel. He writes the best Wolverine I have ever read and both Fantomex and Kid Apocalypse are explored in the most interesting versions of either character.

TOKYO GHOST is up my alley, but I could see how some people might find the antagonist who is basically Hitler + the most annoying millennial you have ever met.

FEAR AGENT and DEADLY CLASS are wonderful but everyone agrees on those so I will leave it at that.

[Relstuart, Mod+]

How do folks feel about this discussion now that we're a couple years since we last talked about Remender?

Since that time he finished Tokyo Ghost and begun Seven to Eternity and Death or Glory. Black Science and Deadly Class both have a fairly significant amount of additional material added to the story.

Dark Horse also published his book The End League and Gigantic in Library Editions.


I really liked the first TPB of Seven to Eternity but the second one kind of lost me a bit. Just got the third volume in the mail and plan to read it soon.

[Alicia]

Black Science is good, didn't like LOW, and Captain America run is mix with me.

[Nickviola]

Full disclosure, I like Remender a lot mostly because I like the interpersonal relationships in his books. I feel so other stories with multiple characters have a set of two of people who speak to each other in a certain way, but otherwise every talks to each other the same, which is not how human interaction works. Deadly Class, Low, Black Science, even X-Force, I feel all have much more believable interpersonal relationships and characters have individual voices. Also he doesn't keep retelling the same story though clinging to hope in a world where hope is hard to find might be a general theme. I also always like the artists he chooses.

X-Force: love and one of my favorite modern Marvel works

Low: (in a minority but) LOVE both for taking the post-apocalyptic world underwater and I love to art.

End League: read quickly and didn't get into. Can barely remember it and should re-read it slower eventually.

Tokyo Ghost: OK, great art, interesting story but seemed a little half-baked in that the rules of the technology and magic I never fully grasped and so had trouble setting expectations on what the stakes were and what could happen.

Black Science: One of my favorite books, great central character who is suffering from his own mistakes and keeps making them but means well somewhat. I little similar to Fear Agent. The art is incredible and it reads so fast, amazing pace.

Seven to Eternity: Was the last ongoing I followed but dropped off when I switched to hardcovers exclusively. Is there one planned?

Gigantic: I know nothing about, any thoughts?

[Relstuart, Mod+]

I thought Gigantic was too short to develop the ideas and story it contained.

No hardcover announced for Seven to Eternity but it's hard to imagine one (or more) won't be published eventually. The art is pretty great. I just finished reading the third TPB this week and still very interested in what is going on.

[Blindzider, Moderator]

Any info on if there will be a conclusion to LOW? Are the singles still coming out or was there a delay?

[Highland]

Deadly Class and Agent Venom I highly recommend.

Tokyo Ghost is my favourite of his.

Not a fan of fear agent, drunk southerners don’t really do anything for me. I tried it but ended up selling my books on.

[Erik, Moderator]

Low
Black Science
Fear Agent

[Blindzider, Moderator]

I’m looking forward to finishing Deadly Class (and Low too).