You've probably read the occasional comic book by now. Popular culture has given you a somewhat passing knowledge who Spider-Man, Superman, Batman and other superheroes are. And you probably assume that its all the comic industry consists of: grown men in tights running around, saving the day and getting the girl. And for the most part...well, yeah. You're absolutely right. A large percentage of comics still deal with the traditional archetype of a spandex clad hero. But there is more than that.

Comic books are rapidly evolving. What was once a series of thinly plotted out story lines spanning half an issue or so has now become collections of epic sagas, spanning years of issues and dozens of related titles. Some of these stories can envelop a publishers entire collection of books. And that's not even factoring in the time and story line convolution that occurs quite frequently within a certain band of merry mutants who shall remain nameless.

Becoming a new comic book fan is a difficult task, and you likely won't want to take it up if you're not willing to at least attempt to digest years of character history. But fear not, there are plenty of comic series and graphic novels that are bound to entertain even the most steadfast of comic book haters.

The first one I'll mention is a DC Comics Elseworlds (Elseworlds are DC stories that are based on characters, but "could not or should not happen") tale by the name of Kingdom Come. With the biblical book of Revelations as its backdrop, "Kingdom Come" takes place 10 years in the future. Superman has retired after a hero named Magog was praised for killing The Joker, and the remaining heroes followed suit shortly afterwards. Now, a younger generation of heroes have killed all the villains, and spend the days fighting amongst themselves to satisfy their boredom. When the Reverend Norman McCay is greeted by The Spectre, an Angel of Vengence, he is told that he will witness the final war of the superhumans. Superman is returning, and with him will come the final battle that will end in a final choice for who shall rule the world: human, or superhuman. The epic, four issue tale is collected in trade paperback, and is written by Mark Waid with beautiful illustrations by Alex Ross.

"The Crow" arguably would not have been as big a hit as it was had Brandon Lee died during filming. However the original story of the same name on which it was based, collected in trade and now available from writer

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