If you want to read all of Milestone's comics, it'll take you a while. But there are a few that shouldn't be skipped because they're so good or important. Blood Syndicate, Deathwish, and Wise Son: White Wolf, all get honorable mentions because they were great on their own. But there' 5 that just can't be overlooked. So here's the 5 most important Milestone comics:
5. Long Hot Summer
Too many tie-ins is the problem with events these days. Long Hot Summer had a lot of tie-ins because it covered a whole four month period of time. But, you didn't actually have to read any of them. That was great because the main title allowed you to know everything that was going on and you wouldn't get lost. The story revolves around a corporation creating a theme park called Utopia in Dakota. This would force hundreds of people out of their homes. While some heroes like Hardware and the Blood Syndicate fought to keep people in their homes others like Icon came down on the side of the corporation. It didn't end in a big fight with heroes and villains. It ended with a riot, caused by people who felt their voices weren't heard. People who didn't want to leave their homes. It was great because usually events are on a large scale but this one was more about regular people and not heroes.
4. Icon
I used to really love Icon but his conservative politics were often off putting. Then Blue Marvel came along and showed me the light. Icon is only on this list because that was the name of the series even when he was off in space and Rocket was holding it down. She was the first unwed mother in comics, the first teen mother in comics and spent time struggling to decide if she would get an abortion. She was going through real life struggles while Icon was whispering pro-life nothings in her ear but he wouldn't even be a hero if it wasn't for her.
3. Hardware
Static is seen as the flagship, but Hardware could be that too. In fact Hardware is basically the Fantastic Four of Milestone because a lot of characters link back to things in Hardware. Deathwish, first appeared in Hardware. The gas that cause the big bang came from Alva, main villain of Hardware. DC picked up on this and Hardware occasionally cameos as a mentor to Static when they aren't willing to pay Tony Isabella for Black Lightning.
2. Xombi
I have a soft spot for this series because it's so ridiculous. David Kim gets infused with technology that lets him transform and do all kinds of cool stuff. He doesn't fight tech based villains like other Milestone characters. He fights the mystical and travels across dimensions so he stands out in the crowd. While everyone else is fighting robots and bang babies he's taking on monsters. There also wasn't a lot of crossing over with the rest of Milestone so it was contained in it's own little bubble.
1. Static
Static keeps coming up as number one on these lists because the character of Static just represents Milestone to so many people. It wasn't even the longest running comic series they have. Hardware was the longest running series and Icon was only three behind Static. I think it's because in addition to all the heroics Virigil had to deal with normal teenager stuff and not the family friendly version we get in comics now. I'm upset we never got to see Virgil go off to college because that would have been a new world of issues to explore.
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