Many people who read science fiction also read comic books, but not all and that's a shame. There are a lot of really good comics out there that are worth the time to read. To find out which ones, we asked our panelists this question:

Comics and sf have an odd relationship. There's no shortage of sfnal tropes in mainstream superhero comics: radioactive spiders, gamma rays, aliens, laser guns, ad nauseum. But you'll note that most of these tropes are firmly grounded in the pulp sci-fi of the Amazing Stories variety. Mainstream comics have for the most part refused to venture beyond these humble beginnings. Certainly there are exceptions; John Byrne tried gamely to provide a sciencey underpinning to Superman's powers, and terms like "nanotechnology" get tossed around from time to time. But because these are primarily action stories, there isn't much science to the science fiction. To find sf that will appeal to the current fan of the genre, you have to look around the edges of the mainstream. Even there, the emphasis is heavily weighted toward fantasy and horror, and pulp-inflected gems like Hellboy. Still, there are a few things out there that modern sf readers should find to their liking. To wit:

Warren Elliis's Transmetropolitan, for instance, is solid post-cyberpunk, replete with creepy science, and the kind of wild-eyed futurism you might expect from Charles Stross. Also of note is Ellis's Global Frequency, which would stand proudly on your shelf next to any Cory Doctorow novel.

If social sf is your bag, you could do a lot worse than Y: The Last Man, which has become so widely known that it's practically mainstream sf itself at this point. For those few of you not familiar with it, Y explores the implications of a plague that kills every male human on earth save the protagonist.

Grant Morrisson's Invisibles is a sort of bizarre hybrid of superhero and late Philip K. Dick, with a bit of Burroughs and random insanity thrown in. Morrisson's other forays into sf include the charming We3 and the alarming The Filth, which falls more in the New Weird camp: unclassifiable, genre melting, gloriously disturbing. Mieville fans will find a lot to like here.

Still though, I think sf in comics hasn't yet come into its own; there are a number of reasons for this (which could take pages to go into, but the upshot is that comics hasn't quite figured out how to do sf in a way that's as compelling as prose sf). I'm still waiting for the comic book equivalent of Ted Chiang or Dan Simmons or Ian M. Banks, someone who will blow the lid off of the medium and show us how it's done. With any luck, he or she is plotting away as we speak, just waiting for the publisher bold enough to print it.nm

Although many people may be familiar with Mike Mignola as the creator of Hellboy, Jim Starlin is a lesser known name - even amongst comic book aficionados - despite being an industry veteran and a skilled writer of the spacebound superhero tale. The two of them lent their considerable talents to Cosmic Odyssey, a galaxy-spanning tale starring DC Comics'
two biggest hitters, Batman and Superman, with a supporting cast made up of solid B-listers (Martian Manhunter) all the way down to the also-rans of the DCU (Forager). When a threat is uncovered that could potentially destroy all life in the universe, an uneasy alliance is formed between Darkseid of Apokolips and Highfather of New Genesis and some of Earth's mightiest heroes venture to the four corners of the galaxy to defeat the new menace. With strong characterization of all the major players and some nice nods not only to the history of the comic book medium but also SF in general, Cosmic Odyssey is an engaging thrill-ride and its effects are still felt in the DC Universe more than 20 years later.

Although at times it skirts perilously close to reading like one man's extended bad mood,
Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson charts the latter stages of the career of gonzo journalist Spider Jerusalem and his one man war on political corruption in The City, a thinly veiled 23rd Century version of New York City. Although superficially, Transmetropolitan uses its SF setting to turn the lens on the late 20th Century, its greatest strengths are its portrayal of the impact of technology on society and the dangers associated with the growth of Big Media and unchecked government. And the bowel disruptor still makes me giggle to this day.

Finally, one series that everybody should be reading, not just SF fans, and that's The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard. Like most modern Zombie works of fiction, TWD isn't afraid to consume its own sub-genre and most of the clich