Love X-men Epic Collection? Readers share 70 books like X-men Epic Collection...

By Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza, Larry Hama , John Romita Jr. (illustrator)

Here are 70 books that X-men Epic Collection fans have personally recommended if you like X-men Epic Collection. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Fall Of The Pantheon

Reginald Wiebe Author Of The Cancer Plot: Terminal Immortality in Marvel's Moral Universe

From my list on superhero comics that consider illness.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been a devoted reader of superhero comics since I was bequeathed a battered pile of comics (along with a giant felt-covered Denver Broncos cowboy hat. The love of superheroes stuck; Iā€™m ambivalent about the Broncos). In that pile was Superboy #195, a comic I can still recite from memory decades later. The combination of clever plotting, visual storytelling, and fantastical escapism hooked me immediately. While building an academic career as a university professor, I held on to this ā€œsecret originā€ and never stopped wondering what made superhero stories tick.

Reginald's book list on superhero comics that consider illness

Reginald Wiebe Why did Reginald love this book?

This book contains a rare examination of HIV/AIDS in superhero comics. Itā€™s much more likely a superhero story will deal with HIV/AIDS allegorically (see the recommendation above!) than directly.

Given the Hulkā€™s own fears about his blood contaminating his loved ones (his cousin Jennifer Walters became the She-Hulk after a transfusion of his blood), he is uniquely sympathetic to the illness of a friend who contracts HIV. As longtime Hulk writer David advances subplots (at this point, Bruce Banner and the Hulk have merged into a more-or-less well-adjusted form of the famous giant green rage monster), he builds space to linger on character details.

David himself has struggled with health issues in recent years, and this comic is also a reminder of one of the genreā€™s great writers.

By Peter David, John Estes (illustrator), Jim Craig (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Incredible Hulk Epic Collection as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hulk goes to Hel and back! First, Hulk and the Pantheon face a painful - and all-too-human - loss. But Hela herself soon claims the Hulk in an Asgardian underworld epic! Then, it's the end of an era as the Pantheon is torn apart from within! Agamemnon stands trial, one among them falls and the Hulk's rage transforms him into a savageā€¦Bruce Banner?! While Doc Samson strives to save Bruce's mind, Betty battles for her life - and the stage is set for a new status quo. In hiding and struggling to remain calm, the Hulk takes on Man-Thing, theā€¦


Book cover of Deadpool

Reginald Wiebe Author Of The Cancer Plot: Terminal Immortality in Marvel's Moral Universe

From my list on superhero comics that consider illness.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been a devoted reader of superhero comics since I was bequeathed a battered pile of comics (along with a giant felt-covered Denver Broncos cowboy hat. The love of superheroes stuck; Iā€™m ambivalent about the Broncos). In that pile was Superboy #195, a comic I can still recite from memory decades later. The combination of clever plotting, visual storytelling, and fantastical escapism hooked me immediately. While building an academic career as a university professor, I held on to this ā€œsecret originā€ and never stopped wondering what made superhero stories tick.

Reginald's book list on superhero comics that consider illness

Reginald Wiebe Why did Reginald love this book?

Deadpool is superhero comics', and perhaps literature in generalā€™s, most consistently challenging fictional engagement with cancer. Deadpoolā€™s healing factor prevents his cancer from ever being cured, which traps him in a never-ending cycle of remission and relapse.

Unlike a superhero who responds to a bodily transformation by self-sacrificingly upholding the status quo, Deadpool is a mercenary and anti-hero. In this collection, writer Joe Kelly creates much of the narrative infrastructure that eventually made the character one of Marvelā€™s most popular.

Kelly also crafts a story where Deadpool is offered a heroic transformation thatā€”through personal weakness, history, bad luck, and supervillainous interferenceā€”tragically fails. This book establishes the template for Deadpool stories and digs into Deadpoolā€™s cancer for the first time.

By Joe Kelly, James Felder, Ed McGuinness (artist)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Deadpool as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Includes dusk jacket. Read once, then sat on bookshelf. Looks like it did when I bought it.


Book cover of The Doom Patrol Omnibus

Reginald Wiebe Author Of The Cancer Plot: Terminal Immortality in Marvel's Moral Universe

From my list on superhero comics that consider illness.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been a devoted reader of superhero comics since I was bequeathed a battered pile of comics (along with a giant felt-covered Denver Broncos cowboy hat. The love of superheroes stuck; Iā€™m ambivalent about the Broncos). In that pile was Superboy #195, a comic I can still recite from memory decades later. The combination of clever plotting, visual storytelling, and fantastical escapism hooked me immediately. While building an academic career as a university professor, I held on to this ā€œsecret originā€ and never stopped wondering what made superhero stories tick.

Reginald's book list on superhero comics that consider illness

Reginald Wiebe Why did Reginald love this book?

Iā€™m recommending this book for how delightfully it considers the ill human body as a site of new possibilities. The Doom Patrol have never been well-known superheroes, perhaps because of the willingness of writers to confront the bodily trauma at the heart of their stories.

Morrisonā€™s contribution to the series was to consider the Doom Patrol truly as freaks: people who could not fit into a society that demands gender, mental, and physical homogeneity. Mixing allegorical forms of illnessā€”Cliff ā€œRobotmanā€ Steeleā€™s fallible technological bodyā€”with more direct conditions like Kaye ā€œCrazy Janeā€ Callisā€™ dissociative identity disorder.

Morrison, along with artistic collaborators, built a celebration of difference into a genre where most heroic bodies never break the mold.

By Grant Morrison, Richard Case,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Doom Patrol Omnibus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

The new Doom Patrol puts itself back together after nearly being destroyed, and things start to get a lot weirder for everybody. The Chief leads Robotman, the recently formed Rebis, and new member Crazy Jane against the Scissormen, part of a dangerous, philosophical location that has escaped into our world and is threatening to engulf reality itself. Collecting Grant Morrison's definitive run, which launched his career as one of the comic industry's most innovative and creative writers! Collects Doom Patrol #19-63 and Doom Force Special #1.


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Book cover of The Ballad of Falling Rock

The Ballad of Falling Rock by Jordan Dotson,

Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect voice. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: ā€œAre his love songs closer to heaven than dying?ā€ Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard itā€¦

Book cover of Justice League International Omnibus Vol. 3

Reginald Wiebe Author Of The Cancer Plot: Terminal Immortality in Marvel's Moral Universe

From my list on superhero comics that consider illness.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been a devoted reader of superhero comics since I was bequeathed a battered pile of comics (along with a giant felt-covered Denver Broncos cowboy hat. The love of superheroes stuck; Iā€™m ambivalent about the Broncos). In that pile was Superboy #195, a comic I can still recite from memory decades later. The combination of clever plotting, visual storytelling, and fantastical escapism hooked me immediately. While building an academic career as a university professor, I held on to this ā€œsecret originā€ and never stopped wondering what made superhero stories tick.

Reginald's book list on superhero comics that consider illness

Reginald Wiebe Why did Reginald love this book?

This book has one of the most fun depictions of heart disease youā€™ll read. Wait! Donā€™t leave! That came out wrong!

Superhero comics rarely consider the toll of an intensely physical role. In this continuation of the landmark superhero series, Blue Beetle struggles with his sense of self-worth when he puts on weight and discovers that he has heart disease. The characterā€™s role in the long-running series had mostly been comic relief, and this storyline gave the character some greater nuance and shading.

As a less-popular character, Blue Beetle can consider retirement without the guarantee that writers will have him miraculously discover the cure to a lifelong condition. While cracking jokes about himself in spandex to cover up his own insecurity, this comic takes time to consider aging, chronic conditions, and the way friends react to a life-changing diagnosis.

By Keith Giffen, John Dematteis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Justice League International Omnibus Vol. 3 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The satirical 1980s Justice League adventures are collected in a single hardcover edition for the first time. A new hardcover collecting the classic JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL tales from the late 1980s! Batman, Green Lantern, Booster Gold and the other quirky heroes of JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL are back! Can an unlikely new Justice League line-up work as a unit to stop terrorists at the U.N., a brigade of Rocket Reds, the Royal Flush Gang, and other threats - or will they succumb to in-fighting and bad jokes?


Book cover of Comic Book: Uncanny X-Men

Mya Chavis Author Of A Sovereign Pursuit: Stolen Justice Redeemed

From my list on comic fiction having you on the edge of your seat.

Why am I passionate about this?

Creatively formulating, cultivating, and producing high-quality fiction ā€œmasterpiecesā€ is what I was destined to do. The art of writing is a ā€œgift & passionā€ that runs rapidly through my veins. Propelled through an obitual love of reading adventurous tales and storytelling as a young child my writing voyage has expanded to writing poetry, monologues, and screen writing. Combining all imaginative inspired gifts and talents refined by a burning passion to communicate prolific narrations like no other author can. Inspirational, impactful authors that paved the way for me to be here are Maya Angelou, Roald Dahl, Theodor Seuss Geisel, Levar Burton, and Nikki Giovanni.

Mya's book list on comic fiction having you on the edge of your seat

Mya Chavis Why did Mya love this book?

I never get tired of voyaging into the next adventure with XMen Publications.

These books are ageless, exciting, suspenseful, and an engaging narrative plot that always takes you on the voyage with them. A Mutated ā€œCrewā€ of superheroes. Having a unique genetic trait labeled the X-gene grants abnormal superhuman abilities and superpowers to conquer every enemy of their souls.

Their regimented loyalty and dedication to their squad, Planet, and the mission in defeating their enemies are compared to no other. Their vanquishing conquest to defeat their enemies in the midst of adversities and pain will leave you in anticipation for the next episode always.

I greatly appreciate reading these books because this superhero team set the bar for uniformity.

By Betty Melton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Comic Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Steelheart

Ben Green Author Of Forged in the Fallout

From my list on YA with boys who defy stereotypes.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m a grown man who reads and writes young adult fantasy books. I believe YA stories are perfect for nearly every audience. Let me tell you why. Our teenage years are filled with growth. As we mature, we forget what such rapid change feels like. We become less empathetic toward youth. And yet, many of our characteristicsā€”positive and negativeā€”develop during these years. I read YA to understand myself. It also helps me be a more understanding father and teacher. That said, I'm very picky. I despise teenage stereotypes. For young men, it is particularly hard to find books that depict empathetic male characters. Hereā€™s a list of books where young men feel genuine.

Ben's book list on YA with boys who defy stereotypes

Ben Green Why did Ben love this book?

David Charlestonā€™s character resonated with me. Heā€™s eccentric, passionate, and meticulous, while also being a great friend.

Heā€™s also out for revenge against his fatherā€™s killerā€”A supervillain named Steelheart who has taken over Chicago. David unites with a secret group of people called the Reckoners who are trying to learn each villain's weakness to assassinate them.

Davidā€™s obsession with details is relatable, and against the terrifying powers of these supervillains, you're left on the edge of your seat hoping the Reckoner's schemes will be enough.

By Brandon Sanderson,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Steelheart as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics... nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart - the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father.ā€¦


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Book cover of Forsaking Home

Forsaking Home by I. Graham Smith,

Forsaking Home is a story about the life of a man who wants a better future for his children. He and his wife decide to join Earth's first off-world colony. This story is about risk takers and courageous settlers and what they would do for more freedom. 

Book cover of Stanley Will Probably Be Fine

Elizabeth James Author Of Pippa Speaks Up!

From my list on books for kids with anxiety (that actually help!).

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve struggled with anxiety since childhood, but it wasnā€™t until I was an adult that I even realized that I could do something about my anxiety. Then, when my seven-year-old daughter was diagnosed and began therapy for her anxiety, I knew other kids deserved to learn these tools, too. No child should have to suffer with anxiety like I did for years. Instead, itā€™s my hope that through fiction books like these, kids can identify with these characters suffering from anxiety, see themselves in their stories, and be equipped to manage their anxiety so that they can flourish in their livesā€”starting right now.

Elizabeth's book list on books for kids with anxiety (that actually help!)

Elizabeth James Why did Elizabeth love this book?

I loved Stanleyā€™s self-aware and endearingly dry sense of humor as he grapples with anxiety as well as his comic-book obsession, which becomes contagious throughout the book. I loved following his journey from a middle-school kid who passes out during a school safety presentation to one who discovers his inner courage thanks to his love of comicsā€”and some mindfulness breathing techniques woven throughout, as well.

It was refreshing to read a book featuring a boy struggling with anxiety, and I loved rooting for him as he went on a comic trivia scavenger hunt, to Comic Con, and even as he muddled his way through family and friendship hardships. I was truly sad when the story ended; along the way, he became a hero in his own right!

By Sally J. Pla, Steve Wolfhard (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Stanley Will Probably Be Fine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

This funny and moving second novel from the author of The Someday Birds features comic trivia, a safety superhero, and a super-cool scavenger hunt all over downtown San Diego, as our young hero Stanley Fortinbras grapples with his anxietyā€”and learns what, exactly, it means to be brave.

Nobody knows comics trivia like Stanley knows comics trivia.

Itā€™s what he takes comfort in when the world around him gets to be too much. And after he faints during a safety assembly, Stanley takes his love of comics up a level by inventing his own imaginary superhero, named John Lockdown, to helpā€¦


Book cover of Almost Super

Derick William Dalton Author Of Space Boots

From my list on brain ā€˜splosion sci-fi.

Why am I passionate about this?

The human body. The solar system. The science and math discoveries of ancient cultures. The power of taking care of neighbors and making everyone our neighbor. All amazing, all inspiring, so I write stories about them. Stories are what entertain us. Stories are what teach us. Stories can be misused to mislead us. Most importantly, the good stories, the right stories, can prompt us to grow. Expand. Empathize. Heal. I could use some of that. You too. Letā€™s read.

Derick's book list on brain ā€˜splosion sci-fi

Derick William Dalton Why did Derick love this book?

Rafter, Benny, and Juanita protagonate (yep, thatā€™s a word) in a bizarre amalgamated world that could have been dreamed up by Stan Lee, the Andy Griffith Show writers, and Beverly Cleary. Dreamed up as a joke. Abandoned with a good comeraderific laugh (also a word). Then picked up, dusted off, and polished by Marion Jensen. But thatā€™s not what happened. Jensen created the whole adventurous, hilarious, uplifting, good-buddy superhero story with his own solitary brain. My kids and I have laughed at his story many times.

By Marion Jensen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Almost Super as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Perfect for fans of Pixar's The Incredibles, Almost Super is a fresh, funny middle grade adventure about two brothers in a family of superheroes who must find a way to be heroic despite receiving powers that are total duds. Filled with humor, heart, and just the right kind of heroics, Almost Super is a winning story that will satisfy would-be heroes and regular kids alike. Everyone over the age of twelve in the Bailey family gets a superpower. No one knows why, and no one questions it. All the Baileys know is that it's their duty to protect the worldā€¦


Book cover of The Princess in Black

Kate Korsh Author Of Newbie Fairy

From my list on children's books magical worlds lots of laughs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was an elementary school teacher for over ten years, so I know how important high-interest books are for getting kids to read independently. And in my experience, nothing is more interesting than a book that makes you laugh! In addition, throughout my life, I have been a reader as a means of entertainment and escape, and the more magical the story details are, the more I feel like Iā€™m on an imagination vacation! 

Kate's book list on children's books magical worlds lots of laughs

Kate Korsh Why did Kate love this book?

I was all in on this one from the first chapter. I just love books about characters with secret double lives! I also enjoy stories that fly against gender stereotypes, and thatā€™s what Princess Magnoliaā€™s alter-ego, The Princess in Black, definitely does.

And the monsters that this atypical superhero fights are hilarious, partly because of how they are illustrated and partly because of their naivete and caveman-style way of talking. Because they are hilarious, and also, perhaps, because their most sinister desire is just to eat goats, they are successful villains without being remotely scary, which is nice.

This is also the beginning of a series with many installments, so once my daughter was hooked, she had a great pile of reading material to entertain her for hours and hours.

By Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, LeUyen Pham (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Princess in Black as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

Who says princesses donā€™t wear black? When trouble raises its blue monster head, Princess Magnolia ditches her flouncy dresses and becomes the Princess in Black!

Princess Magnolia is having hot chocolate and scones with Duchess Wigtower when . . . Brring! Brring! The monster alarm! A big blue monster is threatening the goats! Stopping monsters is no job for dainty Princess Magnolia. But luckily Princess Magnolia has a secret ā€”sheā€™s also the Princess in Black, and stopping monsters is the perfect job for her! Can the princess sneak away, transform into her alter ego, and defeat the monster before theā€¦


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Book cover of Forsaking Home

Forsaking Home by I. Graham Smith,

Forsaking Home is a story about the life of a man who wants a better future for his children. He and his wife decide to join Earth's first off-world colony. This story is about what risk takers and courageous settlers and what they would do for more freedom.

Edin isā€¦

Book cover of Wild Cards I

Blake M. Petit Author Of Other People's Heroes

From my list on superheroes outside of graphic novels.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m a writer and teacher from Ama, Louisiana, who has also been a reader of comic books since I first learned how to read. I spent many years as a columnist, reviewer, and podcaster for a now-defunct comic site, while also working on my own novels, humor columns, and even the occasional stage play. My time these days is split between my day job as a high school English teacher, my dream job writing, and my full-time job of being the father of a five-year-old.

Blake's book list on superheroes outside of graphic novels

Blake M. Petit Why did Blake love this book?

In the days after World War II, an alien device explodes in the skies above New York, blanketing the planet with an extraterrestrial virus. Most of the victims die horrible deaths. A smaller percentage ā€“ the ā€œJokersā€ ā€“ find their bodies mutated in various unpredictable ways. And a scant few draw an ā€œAceā€ ā€“ superpowers without the consequences of a Joker mutation. Wild Cards is the first in a series of ā€œmosaic novels,ā€ books of stories featuring the work of several writers contributing their own pieces of a larger tapestry that helps build and flesh out a remarkable world. The Wild Cards series is perhaps the most elaborate and provocative superhero universe that exists in prose fiction. 

As much as I love comic books, it's always bothered me how many people think comics are superheroes and vice-versa. This was one of the first really successful attempts at doing something withā€¦

By George R. R. Martin (editor),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Wild Cards I as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Soon to be a TV show on Hulu!

Back in print after a decade, expanded with new original material, this is the first volume of George R. R. Martin's Wild cards shared-world series

There is a secret history of the worldā€”a history in which an alien virus struck the Earth in the aftermath of World War II, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Some were called Acesā€”those with superhuman mental and physical abilities. Others were termed Jokersā€”cursed with bizarre mental or physical disabilities. Some turned their talents to the service of humanity. Others used their powers for evil.ā€¦


Book cover of Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Fall Of The Pantheon
Book cover of Deadpool
Book cover of The Doom Patrol Omnibus

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Interested in superheros, HIV/AIDS, and presidential biography?

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