What were the best comics in your opinion?

cobra_commander · Post by **cobra_commander** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:11:33 pm

After reading Knightt's post I gotta know - What were the best comics for you guys?

Mcfarlane Spidey was the first comic I ever picked up with a super-hero.(so GI Joe doesn't count and to me that was always a toy not a comic anyway). So for me the kidnapping of MJ will always be memorable.

Watchmen for me outranks Dark Knight. Man that sh!t was good.

Then it would probably be Uncanny when Claremont was on the books in the early 90's with Lee and Portacio.

Keown and David Hulk.

Neil Gaiman Sandman.

VALIANT of course.

And the comic that got me back into comics. Identity Crisis. Actually not only getting me back into comics but getting me to read a "DC" book.

DC before that was an abbreviation I only used for calling someone a Dumb (or dense) ****

steverino · Post by **steverino** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:34:53 pm

Ennis on Punisher, Jim Lee on Batman, Frank Miller: Dark Knight Returns, Jim Lee and Chris Claremont on X-men, Alex Ross on Kingdom Come, and so many others.

There's just too much diversity to pick one or two. Lots of different titles and runs get my blood pumping in different ways.

slym2none · Post by **slym2none** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:37:13 pm

Claremont's epic run on Uncanny X-Men will always be the top of my list of comics' greatest achievements as well as my favourite comics.

-slym

MedicAR · Post by **MedicAR** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:36:14 pm

Miller's run on Daredevil, both of them....

MedicAR · Post by **MedicAR** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:39:14 pm

Ooo! I forgot....

The Silver Age Marvel Firsts!

Fantastic Four #1
Amazing Fantasy #15
Tales of Suspense #39
Journey into Mystery #83
Hulk #1

Without these, I doubt any of us would even be talking comics now, and I still enjoy reading them any chance I get. I love the Kirby art!

The stories aren't great works of literature, but I still love 'em!

MedicAR · Post by **MedicAR** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:19:15 pm

Jay Tomio wrote:For me its':.....yadda yadda yadda.....

Looks like we have a sophisticated reader on our hands!

Ennis and Moore are hit and miss for me, I've loved some of their stuff and despised some of their stuff. Moore's Swamp Thing is phenomenal.

Have you read Ennis' "Enemy Ace: War in Heaven"? It was a great book and put an interesting spin on what it means to be a soldier versus what it means to be a Nazi. I can't recommend that one enough!

acc205 · Post by **acc205** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:29:41 pm

Stan Lee on Amazing Spiderman is classic and still holds up as great.
Preacher and Sandman are fantastic.
Kingdom Come
Dark Knight Returns
Miller on Daredevil (both times)
300
Valiant
Mcfarlane on Spidey
Claremont and Byrne on X-Men with Shooter as EIC
Killing Joke
Long Halloween
Batman Year One (love the art so much)
Miracleman
Astrocity
Torso
Morrison on JLA

(Lee on Batman is his best work I think but the writing was horrible so I leave it off the list)

MedicAR · Post by **MedicAR** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:34:39 pm

I neglected Kindome Come and 300.......

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:52:18 pm

For me... something that beats everything hands down is.... Astro City.

Even if given the option to have the entire Valiant run or the entire Astro City run, I would choose Astro City every single day of the week.

MedicAR · Post by **MedicAR** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:18:38 pm

Knightt wrote:For me... something that beats everything hands down is.... Astro City.

Even if given the option to have the entire VALIANT run or the entire Astro City run, I would choose Astro City every single day of the week.

That's some devotion! I loved Astro City, but lost interest as its production schedule became more and more erratic. I can deal with a lot, but when I forget the first half of a two part story before the second ever gets released, it becomes a title that has to go.

Great book! Lousy schedule.....

I might have to catch up with back issues......

hulk181man · Post by **hulk181man** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:41:40 pm

cobra_commander wrote:After reading Knightt's post I gotta know - What were the best comics for you guys?

Mcfarlane Spidey was the first comic I ever picked up with a super-hero.(so GI Joe doesn't count and to me that was always a toy not a comic anyway). So for me the kidnapping of MJ will always be memorable.

Watchmen for me outranks Dark Knight. Man that sh!t was good.

Then it would probably be Uncanny when Claremont was on the books in the early 90's with Lee and Portacio.

Keown and David Hulk.

Neil Gaiman Sandman.

VALIANT of course.

And the comic that got me back into comics. Identity Crisis. Actually not only getting me back into comics but getting me to read a "DC" book.

DC before that was an abbreviation I only used for calling someone a Dumb (or dense) ****

Some great choices and of course pre-Unity Valiants in particular.

I'd pick the McFarlane/David (330-346) run ahead of the Keown issues. Fantastic Leader storyline. I also immensely enjoyed the Bruce Jones run.

Planetary gets highest marks for the ENTIRE run

Daredevil since the issue # 1 relaunch.

X-Men from 94 - 142; also 210-213 (mutant massacre issues)

V for Vendetta

Secret Wars (loved that story when I was 14...)

The Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel

oh yeah, HULK 181....Weapon X and the Wendigo!

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:47:13 pm

MagnusRF wrote:
Knightt wrote:For me... something that beats everything hands down is.... Astro City.

Even if given the option to have the entire VALIANT run or the entire Astro City run, I would choose Astro City every single day of the week.
That's some devotion! I loved Astro City, but lost interest as its production schedule became more and more erratic. I can deal with a lot, but when I forget the first half of a two part story before the second ever gets released, it becomes a title that has to go.

Great book! Lousy schedule.....

I might have to catch up with back issues......

Yeah I read mine after they had all came out. The 'new' stuff, I just put on hold to read (yeah right) until the whole thing comes out but will just re-read them when it is all finished.

But the miniseries was great, the first run of what 23 books was GREAT... I HIGHLY suggest picking them up.

MedicAR · Post by **MedicAR** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:31:21 pm

Knightt wrote:But the miniseries was great, the first run of what 23 books was GREAT... I HIGHLY suggest picking them up.

Huh....I did get them all. I guess I just need to do a little reading!

I don't have anything after that series though.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:25:12 pm

I'm not going to bother nailing down specific books, but the best stuff will always be pre unity Valiant (of course), early Marvel superhero comics and silver age DC.

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:06:26 am

Daniel Jackson wrote:I'm not going to bother nailing down specific books, but the best stuff will always be pre unity VALIANT (of course), early Marvel superhero comics and silver age DC.

Todd Luck · Post by **Todd Luck** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:28:52 am

Favorite superhero comics of all time:

Watchmen
Dark Knight
Batman Year One
Black Hood (from Impact)
Specter (Orstrander/Mandrake series in the 90's)
Shooter-era Valiants (all of them)
Broadway comics (all of them)
Icon (from Milestone)
Xombi (from Milestone)
Marvels
Shadowman (volume 1)
Dogs of War (from Defiant)
Plasm 0-4, aka the Plasm tradepaperback (from Defiant)
World's Funniest (a DC graphic novel where Evan Dorkin kills the multiverse

)

MedicAR · Post by **MedicAR** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:52:48 am

Todd Luck wrote:Icon (from Milestone)
Xombi (from Milestone)

I'll bite, why these two? I haven't read them, so I want to know what I'm missing!

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:53:15 am

I agree with Knightt that Astro City is one of, if not THE, best comic books out there. The length of time between issues doesn't bother me because it's always worth the wait.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman definitely stands out as one of the best ever.

Alan Moore is hit and miss for me. I loved Watchmen, V For Vendetta, his run on Supreme, and some others. But 1963 was unreadable for me.

GI Joe is a comic that I read even when I wasn't reading comics.

Marvels made me love Marvel again.

Sin City strikes that perfect balance between style and substance.

Of course, there are the certain characters that I've always loved even when their books stank. Spider-Man being my all time favorite character. The Flash, Captain America, and others. But this thread is about books, not characters.

And of course, Valiant. Everybody always says "Pre-Unity." But I say "Shadowman." Especially beginning when Bob Hall came onto the title (the VH2/3 version is not allowed to exist in my world). To this date, it is my favorite series of all time even though there are others that I recognize as being "better."

cobra_commander · Post by **cobra_commander** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 7:56:25 pm

MagnusRF wrote:
Todd Luck wrote:Icon (from Milestone)
Xombi (from Milestone)
I'll bite, why these two? I haven't read them, so I want to know what I'm missing!

Yes, I'd love to know too please Todd. I love an excuse to start collecting comics I don't have.

BTW, since everyone is talking about ASTRO CITY. Is it a comic you have to read from the very start because I picked up a few random issues and although it was ok, there was nothing that really hooked me in and made me keep buying it...

ibreakhorses · Post by **ibreakhorses** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:11:22 pm

MagnusRF wrote:Miller's run on Daredevil, both of them....

Yeah, definitely some great books.

I even liked Kevin Smith's Daredevil run.

MedicAR · Post by **MedicAR** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:41:51 pm

ibreakhorses wrote:
MagnusRF wrote:Miller's run on Daredevil, both of them....
Yeah, definitely some great books.

I even liked Kevin Smith's Daredevil run.

Me too, when it finally came out....

Schmakt · Post by **Schmakt** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:12:08 pm

Some good suggestions here guys... I have some reading to do!

some of my faves that haven't been mentioned:

Brian Wood's Channel Zero - I read it late, but everything about it hit me at the perfect time, and I loved it. It made me want to change my life. Not that I've done so, but it made me WANT to.

Local #3 - also Brian Wood; good series, but #3 was REALLY good for me... story about a band that had become popular breaking up and coming back home.

New Mutants post-Inferno - Louise Simonson's Asgard story was one of the most fun arcs in the mutant 90's. And then the Liefeld/McFarlane covers... and then Liefeld on interiors! Cable, Tolliver, Deadpool, Domino... Just so much awesome stuff at the time.

I also really liked the X-Tinction Agenda issues. And Cable vs. Wolverine. mmmm...

Sandman - Really the first non-superhero book for me. It actually did change my world - even if only my reading habits.

Daredevil - The first complete run I collected and read all the way through. 380 issues in a row definitely makes you identify with the character. There were so many good stories all throughout the series. (and some *SQUEE* ones too, but mostly really good) The new volume has also been pretty consistently amazing.

Grendel (Hunter Rose) - Primer 2 and the first mini-series with Matt doing everything was just really really interesting to me. The conversation on the rooftop b/t Grendel and Argent was just great. And I love the art.

Savage Dragon - I always thought SD was a cool character, but I fell off the wagon for a few years. I came back about two years ago, and it's still amazingly fun. Larson is also a REALLY great guy based on the five minutes I got to speak to him. It's cool that he's sticking with his character so consistently for so long. We might have another Cerebus type run on our hands here...

Pre-Unity X-O - the first Valiants I read when I got the TPB. Man, Aric was such a badass! Probably the only reason I started reading Valiant was b/c I got that TPB. It made me go out and pay $12 for Rai #0.

Watchmen and V... I was given these by my LCS in single-issue form not long after they each had come out (respectively). I was too young to really understand them, but I remember knowing that these were just amazing books and entirely different than anything else.

The Shadow - The Howard Chaykin version. My first exposure to both Chaykin and The Shadow, both of whom I now have a great affinity for. The Kaluta art on the earlier DC The Shadow book was amazing, but Chaykin defined it for me.

The Griffin - Dan Vado, Norman Felchle, and Mark McKenna. This was another somewhat random LCS recomendation from a long long time ago. I was really taken in by the characters, story, and art... Somewhat reminiscent of Nexus, if I recall. I really need to read it again. I remember an indie version of this coming out several years later that did not, at all, live up to my expectations from this series tho... Just added these back to my re-read pile. Exciting.

Supergirl - The Peter David version. The only comic book that I continued to read throughout my first year of college. Partially b/c I didn't have a car and it was the only thing the local drugstore sold that I was even mildly interested in. And partly b/c it was just really that damned good. I picked up the current series based on how much I loved this old series, and it completely fell flat. The supporting characters (Linda's family) really helped make this comic amazing. That, along with the rather mature PAD scripts kept it on my read list until I got completely out of comics. I recently bought the last 3rd of the series but have yet to read them...

Fallen Angel - another PAD entry. I wasn't a really big fan of this comic when it was at DC... but when it moved to IDW. Holy Crap. Consistently one of my favorites every single month. And the art?? The art is breathtaking.

Some of the other "childhood memory" kind of things would be Claremont/Lee on X-Men (I started with 275), McFarlane's ASM and adjectiveless Spidey (I still read the Torment trade every now and then - "Why do I shoot so much webbing?"), and Wolverine around the #41 mark (the whole thing with Sabertooth as his father)

oh. And Daredevil: The Man Without Fear. I read the first issue so many times that the cover fell off. Absolutely loved it!

davidb · Post by **davidb** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 9:56:45 am

A couple of my faves that haven't gotten named yet:

James Robinson's Starman and Golden Age. Incredible books. Golden Age I love because of how it took the "perfect" DC characters from the 40's and threw them into a more realistic version of the time when the shine was coming off them and the public was looking for newer heroes.

Starman was a great book about people who just happened to have powers. Absolutely incredible stuff, and it felt real. One of my favorite moments is still when Jack and company wind up on Krypton in the past and meet Jor-El. Jor-El's just talking and carrying on and all Jack can think is this is Superman's dad. The scene's just added to later when Superman meets up with Jack and asks him about what Jor-El was like. Powerful stuff that keeps the focus on family throughout the run.

One of my other faves is the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans (first 50 issues of the original book and first 5 of the 1984 version). Looking back, this book took a lot of risks, and they paid off. The Runaways story. Who Is Donna Troy?(the original). The wedding. A Day in the Life. This book proved that a comic could still tell a strong story (again, about people who just also happened to be heroes) and not have to throw in a villain of the week. And that's not even mentioning the Terra storyline.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:59:18 pm

I forgot to mention Bone.

Unblessed · Post by **Unblessed** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:01:36 am

I am still thinking how to respond to this thread.

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What were the best comics in your opinion?

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