I thought of something really odd yesterday. I had spent a large portion of the day trying to get caught back up with my comic reading. After a day filled with “Blackest Night” tie-ins and the very satisfying “Siege #3” I found myself not buzzing about the return of Iron Man and his classic armor or the beginning of “Brightest Day”, but Atomic Robo. Not just Robo, Tony the Plutonian from Irredeemable and The Goon as well. What occurred to me is that we are currently at a fan apex of comic geekdom. After seven years of Marvel ripping and tearing its’ universe apart just for this very moment, and DC, killing and resurrecting numerous heroes all in preparation for “Brightest Day”… I cared the most for the “Indy” books. For that to really have substance, you must first know that, I am a Marvel man through and through. Not that I don’t read DC or anything else for that matter, but if you put an issue of X-Men or The Amazing Spider-Man in front of me, I’m choosing that every time.

But now, when I should be loving the two companies more then ever, I find that it’s the little books that really hold my attention. And to be honest, the change has caught me by surprise. Could it be, that after so many long epic events one after another, that it is just nice to sit down to a book and enjoy it? No checklists, no wondering if I got the reading order right, no cross-referencing titles looking for little clues that I may have missed. I think that’s part of it. But I also think the quality of the “Indy” book has gone through the roof lately. Before this last year, to me “Indy” meant badly drawn, poorly written stories about characters I have never heard of… but now… it’s like the “Indy” book is the true salvation of comics.

Of course first and foremost the comics business is just that a business, and I know that these mass storylines sell, and sell well, but there is just something so refreshing about picking up an Usagi Yojimbo and knowing, no matter what has happened in the last year of the comic, I will enjoy this. Companies like Top Cow, BOOM! and even the young Red5 have really renewed my faith in an industry that for so long has seemed to put fans second to their bank accounts ledger. Again, let me make it perfectly clear, I do enjoy the big events; I just never thought that the Indy’s would really give them a run for their money. Which, they truly have. I’m not sure what the climate of comics will look like in the upcoming year or so, but I do know that with both Marvel and DC planning yet another large sweeping event; there is plenty of room for the upcoming books to sneak in the back door and really gain a fan base. Especially in a tight economy where it makes a lot more sense to spend $4 a month to get a great story over $40.

If you are interested in looking at some books outside of the “big two” here is a list of my current favorites:

Atomic Robo by Red5

Irredeemable by BOOM! Studios

Usagi Yojimbo by Dark Horse

The Boys by Dynamite

Project Superpowers by Dynamite

Chew by Image

The Authority by Wildstorm