Top Ten Underrated Independent Mini Series 9/16/16

Happy Friday guys. Instead of a Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda, it is the second part of underrated independent books.  So in this article, I wanted to look at the top ten underrated mini-series. There were a lot of series that I did not include, mostly valiant books. I think that is mostly because my local guy makes me very aware of Valiant and it seemed like everyone loved Divinity. There were a couple crossovers that I thought about such as Archie v Predator, Star Trek/Green Lantern and Batman/Ninja Turtles but it seemed like they were pretty popular.

Again I did include the independent branches of both DC and Marvel.  Also, this is not in order of highest quality comic, but how underrated the comic is.  It seems like a lot of these once they finish you never hear about them again.  Here we go, Once upon a time not long ago, whoops sorry was listening to Blackstar's A Children's Story.

W: Michael Straczynski A: Ben Templesmith

10. Ten Grand - When this initially came out, I think this was meant to an ongoing story, but lacked the following to sustain such a format and was changed to a limited series. The premise as described by Image is  "As he lay dying, an angelic force (who may or may not be what she appears) pointed out that where she is going, he can't follow, and where he is going, he wouldn't want her to follow. But if he will agree to work for them as a different kind of enforcer, they will bring him to life and keep on bringing him to life every time he is killed in a righteous cause. The reward: for those five minutes of death, he will be with Laura again." It is a dark read and worth your time. 

W: Ed Brisson A:John Christmas

9. Sheltered - This book was a trip. This was my favorite covers of this series. The premise from Image on this one is "The men and women of Safe Haven have been preparing for any-and-all end of world scenarios for years. However, their bunkers, weapons and training can't save them from the one threat they never could have expected: Their own children." There are some twists and turns in here that I never saw coming.  Think a Lord Of The Flies with guns.

W: Frank Barbiere A: Victor Santos

8. Black Market - I think I am one of the few that read this book.  I have never seen it talked about and there were barely any copies in any stores. The premise is "Ray Willis is a broken man, a disgraced medical examiner making ends meet by preparing corpses at a funeral parlor. His scientific genius is being wasted...that is, until his estranged criminal brother Denny shows up on his doorstep, supposedly cleaned-up and proposing a once-in-a-lifetime partnership to cure not just cancer, but all disease. The catch? It exists within the DNA of superheroes."  It is an interesting twist on super hero comics with a twist you won't see coming.

W: Matt Kindt A: Matt Kindt

7. Dept. H - I almost passed on this book because I wasn't a fan of the art and it just didn't look like a book for me. I was wrong. My cousin made me read this and the art is perfect for this story.  The premise is Mia is a special investigator hired to uncover possible sabotage taking place at a deep-sea research station. What she finds is a mind-blowing crime scene filled with suspects with terrible secrets, strange deep-sea creatures, and an impending flood!" A locked room mystery with Matt Kindt at the helm and you got yourself a great read.

W: Matthew Rosenberg, Patrick Kindlon A: Josh Hood

6. We Can Never Go Home - This is a book that I never saw on the selves, but picked up in trade form on recommendation from the local comic book guy. The story and art were grade A.  I think this was the first Black Mask story that I read but not the last. The Premise "Teenage misfits Duncan and Madison discover they share two secrets in common: they both have super powers, and neither is very good at staying out of trouble." This book took me back to all the high school BS that I do not miss. 



W: Mark Miller A: Sean Murphy

5.  Chrononauts - It seems like people either love Mark Miller or hate him.  I thought this book was great and Sean Murphy's art was on point.  Also, the movie variant covers on these were awesome. The premise if you can't tell from the title is "Corbin Quinn and Danny Reilly are two buddies who love to have fun. They're also scientific geniuses. When their research leads them to a time-traveling adventure, will they use their knowledge for the good of all mankind? Or use the space-time continuum for their own ends? This is the story of man's first, televised steps through the time-stream and everything going wrong in the process." For some reason this reminds me of a buddy cop movie without the cop part. 

W: Jason Aaron A: Ron Garney

4. Men of Wrath - This book was straight up hard core bad @$$. I had this almost as high as number 2. Jason Aaron does a great job telling this story where you don't know what is going to come next. Here is the premise "Ever since Great-Grandfather Isom killed a man over some sheep, a black cloud has hung over the Raths, an Alabama family caught in a generational cycle of violence. Now, a century later, aging hitman Ira Rath takes a job that will decide his family's fate once and for all. Are all Raths doomed to live and die by the sword, or can one of them finally break the chain?" If you like Southern Bastards you will like this story.  They could take place in the same town.

W: Joelle Jones, James S. Rich A: Joelle Jones

3. Lady Killer - So this story took me by surprise.  I bought this number one because I thought the first cover was awesome, but didn't read it. My sister finally convinced me to read it and it blew me away.  The premise for this book "Josie Schuller is a picture-perfect homemaker, wife, and mother—but she’s also a ruthless, efficient killer for hire! A brand-new original comedy series that combines the wholesome imagery of early 1960s domestic bliss with a tightening web of murder, paranoia, and cold-blooded survival." This book was so good they came out with a sequel Lady Killer 2. 

W: Ed Brubaker A: Sean Phillips, Elizabeth Breitweiser

2. Fade Out - Ed Brubaker is great and this book proves it.  This reminds me of the movie LA Confidential mostly the noir feel to it.  It is a great read crime read that you must check out.  The premise "Hollywood - 1948. A noir film stuck in endless reshoots. A writer plagued with nightmares from the war and a dangerous secret. An up-and-coming starlet's suspicious death. And a maniacal Studio Mogul and his Security Chief who will do anything to keep the cameras rolling before the Post-War boom days come crashing down." This is another book where the art is perfectly paired with the story to really make it come alive.

W: Scott Snyder A: Sean Murphy

1. The Wake - This is one of my favorite series of all time. This cover was my favorite of the series.  Sean Murphy did a fantastic job illustrating this book.  What is interesting about this book that is that it is almost two different stories with a time jump.  So one of the reasons that I enjoyed this book was because of the Mermaids. They were actually a little terrifying, which I never thought I would write. If you have not read this book, go read it right now! Unless this was the best selling comic book of the year, which sadly it was not, this book is still underrated.

Think I missed something or have something that shouldn't be on here.  Yell at me in the comments.