Re-Gifters

by Mike Carey, Sonny Liew & Marc Hempel

Minx Books, 2007

Predictable and yet delightfully entertaining story about being young and in love. Would love to see a film adaptation of this.

Superman: Red Son

by Mark Millar, Dave Johnson, Kilian Plunkett, Andrew Robinson & Walden Wong

DC Comics, 2004

The premise is what happens if Superman arrived in the Soviet Union as a baby instead? Millar & Co. play with this premise and cooks up one of the best Superman tales that's filled with lots of drama, action and political intrigue.  

El Cazador

by Chuck Dixon and Steve Epting

Hyperion Books, 2007

Great art. Great action. Great adventure. The downsides? This collection does not include the one-shot prequel that was published.  Original publisher CrossGen went bankrupt back in 2004, leaving behind an unfinished story. Nevertheless, this is still a beautifully rendered story that is worth getting.

Wonder Woman

Vol. 1-4

by George Perez

DC Comics, 2004-2006

I was already a fan of the character before Perez rebooted Wonder Woman in 1987. His work on the series made me love the character even more and started a love for Greek mythology. For years, I've considered his as the definitive take on WW's origins (and still do). Perez stayed on the book for about 5 years, but his first 2 years are my favorite because he not only plotted the stories, but he also drew them as well.

Swamp Thing

Vol. 1-6

by Alan Moore, Stephen R. Bissette, John Totleben, Rick Veitch, etc

Vertigo Comics, 1998-2003

For me, the highlight of these volumes are Alan Moore's masterly told stories of horror and suspense.

Promethea

Vol. 1-5

by Alan Moore, J.H. Williams & Mick Gray

America's Best Comics, 1999-2005

Great art combined with experimental stories (although the earlier tales were more straight forward, while the later stories tend to play with the notions of storytelling and myths).

It doesn't get better (or weirder) than this.

Supergirl (Vol. 4)

by Peter David, Gary Frank, Leonard Kirk, Robin Riggs, etc

DC Comics, 1996-2003

#1-81, #1,000,000, Annuals #1-2

Collections:

Supergirl (collects #1-9 and Showcase '96 #12) 

Many Happy Returns (collects #76-81)

I picked this up after enjoying Peter David's Sachs & Violens, so this is essentially the second piece of work by Peter David I've read although at this point, he's already established himself on titles like The Incredible Hulk.

David essentially takes what has been established about Supergirl up to this point in her comic history and adds a whole old-new spin on the character. The supporting cast also played an important role in the series. Who could forget Buzz, the demon who tries to corrupt Linda Danvers (this series essentially re-introduces the Linda Danvers identity), the Danvers, Richard Malverne, Cutter, Mattie and Wally, who claims to be God. 

The series lasted 81 issues, 2 Annuals (1 of which was not written by David), a #1,000,000 (written by David, but features a different Supergirl in a futuristic tale). For the most part, it was consistently good month after month, a feat that few comics could claim to rival. 

When Gary Frank left the book after 9 issues, I was going to drop the book. And drop it I almost did. New penciller Leonard Kirk's work look too sketchy for my taste (#10), but it suddenly leapt by leaps and bounds with his second issue (#13), and so did the story, which kicked into a high gear. 

Sad to say, the series ended when DC had a new direction for the title character. The final story arc 'Many Happy Returns' (with new penciller Ed Benes) was also one of my least favorite runs on the title, but it was just one of a few a minor gripes along what was essentially an incredible run.