DC:
Omnibuses:
52 - epic 52-issue weekly series that follow the events during the one year timeskip following the event Infinite Crisis
Aquaman (Geoff Johns) - epic run with awesome action, adventure, and even a dash of horror
Batman (Grant Morrison) omnis 1-3: collects the entire creatively weird Morrison run best known for introducing Damian Wayne. Really enhanced if read alongside Peter J. Tomasi’s Batman and Robin run that started in the later part during Morrison’s run
Doom Patrol (Grant Morrison) - Morrison held nothing back in this run and took the DP series to new heights with the most insane, trippy, and haunting run the team had even seen. This run that started in the late 80’s defined the tone of Doom Patrol to this day
Green Lantern (Geoff Johns) omnis 1-3: the defining GL run that follows Hal on some truly epic storylines. And once again, Peter J. Tomasi comes in with the assist with his Green Lantern Corps run that goes along simultaneously with John’s’ run (the first Corps omni is available, the second one will be released soon)
New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Perez - the defining Teen Titans run that was so successful it was matching X-men in popularity (and during the original Claremont era to boot). Sadly, the original omnis are out of print, and they’ve only reprinted recently the first omni, hopefully more reprints are on the way. The Geoff Johns Teen Titans omni is solid too (and is the run that got me into comics)
Superman by Peter J. Tomasi - just a fun, uplifting run that follows Superman, Lois, and their son in the DC Rebirth era
Wonder Woman by Gail Simone - the other two definitive runs for WW are George Perez’s 80’s run and Greg Rucka’s two separate runs, but they’re a good deal longer so for a shorter but still strong entry point for Diana this is a solid pick
Graphic novels:
DC: New Frontier - a brilliant reimagining of the DC heroes during the 1930’s-1950’s. Goes back and forth as my favorite DC book ever along with:
All Star Superman - the defining Superman book. Just read it, it’s incredible
Watchmen - I don’t think I need to elaborate on this one, LOL
Kingdom Come - follows the DC heroes in their senior years in an epic story with iconic artwork by Alex Ross
Batman: The Long Halloween - my favorite Batman mystery ever
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King - a brilliant sci-fi journey inspired by True Grit. If they nail adapting this comic, the Supergirl movie will be incredible
Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) by Keith Giffen and John Rogers - the run that followed the timeskip after Infinite Crisis, just fun and great character development and almost every issue builds up an element that pays off in the climatic 4-issue showdown Endgame story against the invaders The Reach
Batgirl by Bryan Q. Miller - made Stephanie Brown my favorite Batgirl.
Animal Man by Jeff Lemire and Swamp Thing by Scott Snyder - two horror runs that eventually connect in the awesome Rotworld storyline, a rare time in the New 52 era that they did a well executed event
Power Girl by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, and Amanda Conner - the definitive Power Girl run for me, just made her so much fun and entertaining. They do briefly revisit her during their Harley Quinn run in the Harley Quinn/Power Girl miniseries (their Harley run is good, just not as good as Power Girl run, or their Starfire run for that matter)
Demon Knights by Paul Cornell - imagine a D&D campaign turned into a comic storyline. You’ve got Demon Knights and it slaps hard
I read much less Marvel in comparison, but for me:
Omnis:
Cable and Deadpool by Fabian Nicieza - my personal favorite Marvel run. Deadpool is at his funniest, this is the run that first made me realize Cable can be a great character, and the book balances humor, action, story, character development, politics, philosophy, etc. so well. Deadpool’s original run and his 2013-2015 run I really enjoyed too, but this is the best for me
Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and Mike Allred - I never really cared about Silver Surfer prior to reading this run, but whoa. Epic, heartfelt, funny, and emotional, they took the Doctor Who formula by having Silver Sirfer meet a woman from Earth and due to shenanigans, he ends up agreeing to show her places all over the universe, and by god, it works so well.
Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis in a lot of omnis - the complete saga of Peter and then Miles in the Ultimate universe. Bendis for me easily writes the best Spidey since the 2000s (why, it’s almost like doing One More Day and refusing to fix that idiotic storyline has tainted the main Peter to this day!). I’ve not read Miles solo since he joined the main universe, though I hear his 2022 run arguably is his best run yet. Also, I just read the first Ultimate Spider-man trade set in the new Ultimate universe, and it slaps too, it’s like every single Peter Parker is written better than the actual “main” one
Uncanny X-men by Chris Claremont - the defining X-men run. Like, holy hell this run, no matter how many solid runs follow it, will never be topped in how iconic it is and defined the series forever. I’d say omnis 1-3, and possibly 4, are worth getting, after that the long Claremont run does run out of steam based on how how I and many others feel. Astonishing X-men by Joss Whedon is also excellent. And I do need to read Grant Morrison’s run and Jonathan Hickman’s run. Also the X-Statix omnibus is one I love, and I do need to check out Uncanny X-Force (considered to be the best X-Force run) and Peter David’s X-Factor omnibuses (Multiple Man and his allies are private investigators, I love that idea)
I really should read more indie comics too, but I will highly recommend Monstress by Marjorie Liu. Dark fantasy inspired by steampunk and various Asian cultures and gorgeous artwork. I also need to read more of East of West by Jonathan Hickman, a sci-fi post-apocalyptic western that follows one of the Horseman of the Apocalypse as the three others hunt him down for betraying their goals and reminds me a bit of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower but definitely does its own thing.
) since it's a shining jewel of my collection 
