# CBR Community  > Comics Should Be Good >  Recommendations for realistic comics like Dark Knight and Watchmen.

## Green Lantern wannabe

Hello everyone,

I have been a fan of the 1980's graphic novel, "The Dark Knight Returns", and I also have the first two issues of "Watchmen". I am going to get the entire graphic novel of "Watchmen", and I'm also thinking of getting Neil Gaiman's "Sandmen". Are there any other good works on the gritty, realistic lines of Dark Knight and Watchmen? I'd appreciate some ideas, thanks.

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## K7P5V

Top (3) Three recommendations:

*Batman: Year One*





*Ronin*





*V for Vendetta*

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## Green Lantern wannabe

Thanks, my friend. 

I have Batman: Year One and Ronin, and while I know of Vendetta, I've never read it. I'll look into it now, and thanks.

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## K7P5V

> Thanks, my friend. 
> 
> I have Batman: Year One and Ronin, and while I know of Vendetta, I've never read it. I'll look into it now, and thanks.


You're welcome, _Green Lantern wannabe_! Glad to be of help.  :Smile:

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## numberthirty

Going off of that *Watchmen* is testing the limits of "Realistic..."?

You might want to look into a series called *The Wild Storm*.

Probably going to be a coin flip though.

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## seismic-2

I'm not sure what you're asking for.  _Sandman_ is a fantasy comic, so it's the opposite of "realistic".

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## csmith25

I would suggest maybe "The Boys"?  But that is a bit extreme "dark" and a bit more "shock" than realistic.  The show is probably a bit more "reality" based than the comics.
American Flagg is a little more realistic, but semi-dystopian based in the future.

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## hairys

Yeah, "realistic" is probably the wrong word, but I get the gist of what OP wants, which is probably better described as "grim" or "serious" comics.

I'll toss in my recommendations:

Frank Miller's Born Again
Garth Ennis' Punisher MAX run.

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## seismic-2

If the criterion is grim but not realistic, then maybe _Preacher_ or _Hellblazer_.

For comics that are both grim and realistic, try the Brubaker and Phillips comics (*Criminal* and all its follow-ons and spin-offs).

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## Green Lantern wannabe

I would look more like "realistic", because "grim" could involve cardboard characters. Mind you, I usually like my superheroes as cardboards, but, as I get older, I'd like to try "realistic". I got most of the original Watchman series, and I used to read "Batman: Year One" every year, so I'm more into that, with humans going about their lives in a world of super powers.

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## hairys

> I would look more like "realistic", because "grim" could involve cardboard characters. Mind you, I usually like my superheroes as cardboards, but, as I get older, I'd like to try "realistic". I got most of the original Watchman series, and I used to read "Batman: Year One" every year, so *I'm more into that, with humans going about their lives in a world of super powers.*


Gotham Central, maybe, since it's about the Gotham City police department.

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## K7P5V

> Gotham Central, maybe, since it's about the Gotham City police department.


Excellent choice! I would also recommend...

*Kurt Busiek's Astro City*

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## Dav85

Marshal Law

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## albert

My favorite comic book films are all dark, gritty, and realistic (although, I'm not talking about the Batman films).

Tales of blood, gore, and death. That's what makes comics like The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, and Sin City better than the rest. So when a film is released that's not that sort of drama, it comes as a shock to me. It's like the movie is from a different universe.

Watchmen and V for Vendetta are each deeply political in their own way and explore the horrors of authoritarianism while making the reader question their allegiance to such a system. Both also feature nuanced characters, more so than Batman does (with the exception, perhaps, of The Joker).

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## the illustrious mr. kenway

https://digital.darkhorse.com/series/1174/cloaked

Cloaked by Mike Richardson fits the Watchmen vibe you are going for.

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## Johnathan

Yeah, those are good suggestions. 

A lot of 80's and 90's indy comics obviously followed up from Miracleman and Watchmen. I would not say that THE AUTHORITY or PLANETARY were realistic, but they took realistic or real world problems and then turned them into comic book supervillains. So instead of asking "what if superheroes were in the real world," it took on the idea what if real world problems existed in a comic book universe. What if you could defeat global warming or terrorism by punching it, for example. However, THE WILD STORM mentioned above is more a combination of realism and a lot of conspiracy theory-like ideas. It's essentially Ancient Aliens, Breakaway Civilizations, and Deep State Paranoia with superpowers.

CLA$$WAR is a fairly recent take on realistic superheroes especially from a military jingoist perspective.

Rick Veitch put out a couple of real-world superhero titles - THE ONE and BRAT PACK that are a little more cartoonish but still great reads.

THE BOYS, obviously, has a bit of a real world vibe conflating celebrity culture and superheroes. ULTRA by the Luna brothers has a similar premise but a very different approach.

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## the illustrious mr. kenway

Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughn and art by Tony Harris. It's about a superhero who runs for Mayor of NYC post 9/11.

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## Ozymandias

I'm surprised Miracleman hasn't been mentioned, as it's much more in line with the title suggestions and precedes them. It effectively started the Copper Age, even if it's not widely accepted.

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## Cyberstrike

_Supreme Power_ by JMS and Gary Frank 
_V For Vendetta_ by Alan Moore and David Lloyd

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