This review is an attempt to illustrate the different alternatives in the field of 2D materials. Graphene seems to be just the tip of the iceberg and we show how the discovery of alternative 2D materials is starting to show the rest of this iceberg. The review comprises the current state-of-the-art of the vast literature in concepts and methods already known for isolation and characterization of graphene, and rationalizes the quite disperse literature in other 2D materials such as metal oxides, hydroxides and chalcogenides, and metal-organic frameworks.