Your top ten favorite comic storylines

Media Outlet Comic Book Forum
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In honor of CBR’s Top 100 Comic Book Storyhttp://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2009/11/05/comics-should-be-goods-top-100-comic-book-storylines/lines, I decided it would be interesting to see SRK’s opinion on their ten favorite storylines. I know what MINE are! This is just an ill-conceived reason for me to wank off to my favorite comics, but feel free to post your ten favorites as well!

  1. All-Star Superman
  2. “E for Extinction” New X-men #114-116
  3. “JLA: Rock of Ages” JLA #10-15
  4. “Ultramarine Corps” JLA Classified #1-3
  5. “New World Order” JLA #1-4
  6. “Coming Home” Amazing Spider-man #30-35
  7. “Riot at Xavier’s” New X-Men
  8. “Unstoppable” Astonishing X-men #19-Giant-Size Astonishing X-men #1
  9. “Unthinkable” Fantastic Four #67-502
  10. “Death of Captain America” CA #25-42

10. “Death of Captain America” Captain America #25-42

I wish I could have voted for the whole run, but that was ineligible. This entire saga was terrific, with plot points that have been building since issue #1 come full circle, the Red Skull attempts to becomes the President of the United States and destroy America(Lets skip the Bush jokes, huh?), and a small group of heroes stand up to protect the nation’s safety and identity. All without Steve Rogers! Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier helps save the President, America, and cements himself as the best new/revived comic character of the decade. Its a shame that his reign looks to be short lived, but the series is consistently good, and I think that will stay for a long time to come.

  1. “Unthinkable” Fantastic Four #67-502

I know what you’re thinking. “Whoa, thats a long ass fucking story arc!” No, Marvel’s silly renumbering system kicks in here. Its actually a seven issue arc during the first half of the fantastic(pun not intended) run of Waid/Wieringo(and a couple of lesser artists >_>). I every issue these two guys did together, but my favorite arc is “Unthinkable”. It seems every FF run has to involve Dr. Doom(and Galactus) in some way, and this one is no different. However, this one is rather shocking in its content. Victor Von Doom kills the woman he loved as a kid and uses her skin to make himself magic armor. Yes. The design by Wieringo is incredible by the way, I like it even more than the default Doom outfit actually. The story is full of crazy revelations, trips to hell, big fight scenes in Lavetria and NYC, and Reed discovers something that is “Unthinkable”, but is the only way to defeat Doom and save his family. Greatness.

  1. “Unstoppable” Astonishing X-men #19-Giant-Size Astonishing X-men #1

My second favorite X-men run ends with this really fun adventure on an alien planet. Colossus is destined to destroy the Breakworld, and SWORD and the X-men team up the prevent the destruction of Earth. Every issue has cool moments, whether it be the X-men/Sword’s assault on the Breakworld version of the Death Star, Wolverine showing up on a hoverbike, or even Kitty/Colossus sex scenes! Bolstered by Whedon’s sharp dialog and Cassaday’s beautiful work, its a really good end to a really good series. And best of all, now that its collected in one Omnibus, you don’t have to wait for it come out!

  1. “Riot at Xavier’s” New X-Men #134-138

And here’s my number one favorite X-men run, and my second favorite arc from Grant Morrison’s 42-issue epic(theres another story arc coming up!). Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely are the greatest creative team in comic book history, and this just adds that. A lot of Morrison’s run was new takes on old ideas(Sentinels, Magneto, Days of Future Past, Weapon X, Dark Phoenix, Shi’ar), but this one was relativity new. Quietien Quire, supergenius telepath and confused adolescent, doesn’t want to wait for Xavier’s perfect utopia to happen. He wants to revolt and try things Magneto’s way, and he’s got a gang of like-minded individuals to help. It doesn’t hurt to have the drug “Kick” in your body, multiplying your mutant abilities tenfold. The thing that I love most about this arc(besides the usual sharp writing and fantastic artwork), and the main bad guy isn’t an army of Sentinels, aliens, U-men, or Magneto; its a student. A confused little boy, out of his mind on drugs, and just trying to impress people. It points out the silliness of the whole “Tear down the establishment/destroy the system/revolt” attitude thats cool and hip to do. What then? What happens next? Not even supergenius Quintin Quire knows the answer to that, and it costs him his life in the end.

  1. “Coming Home” Amazing Spider-man #30-35

I love JMS’ Amazing Spider-man run. Ok, not all of it. After the really fun New Avengers story, its all downhill with the Other/Civil War/Back in Black/One More Day crud. But I do enjoy the first three or four years(yes, even Sins Past. Heck, I really love that story. Probably because I don’t give a crap about Gwen Stacy), and I have no qualms with putting the JMS/JRJR ASM run in my top ten favorites. The first story arc, however, was their best(I wish I could include the revelation/9-11 issues, those were incredible). The panel with Ezkiel sitting on the wall talking to Spidey is one of the series greatest panels. Here we are, in a pretty run-of-the-mill night, and out of nowhere, this guy with Spider-man powers shows up, knows he’s Peter Parker, and flips everything we thought we knew about Spider-man on its head. He was a consistently entertaining character, but my favorite part of the story arc would be the HUGE Spidey/Morlun fight scene that takes up the bulk of the story arc. It is, without a doubt, my favorite comic book fight scene. Romita JR really outdid himself with his work here, and JMS completely nails Spider-man mix of humor and serious inner monologue. He even capture’s Peter Parker’s intelligence(something BND seems to be missing) by making him a science teacher and using a genius method to defeat Morlun. If you wanted to know why Spider-man is such a great character, just read this.

  1. “New World Order” JLA #1-4

My favorite run of all-time starts right here. I’m an unashamed superhero whore as this list shows, and this captures everything I ever wanted them to be. The Justice Leagues finally brings in the big guns and becomes the “Big 7”, taking on the any and all global threats. The opening story arc isn’t Morrison throwing out all his usual big ideas and trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, its him focusing on making the coolest, most pop superhero story possible. The Ultraclan comes to Earth, and everyone loves their new world-building methods, except the Justice League. Their worries prove to be right, as the Ultraclan destroy the old Justice Headquarters and plan on wiping out humanity. Its up the JLA to save the world and establish themselves as THE superhero team to rule them all. Every single member of the team gets a badass moment, something that only they can do and proves why they’re part of the Big 7. Yes, even Aquaman, who has the ability to control the fluids in your brain and give you a mind-destroying seizure. Of course, its Batman(in the first shades of his “Batgod” persona) who gets the best parts. He’s like Jack Bauer on steroids, the ultimate special ops ninja badass. The issue #3 reveal is one of my favorite comic moments ever, and it further cemented Batman as my favorite fictional character. By the end of the story, the Ultraclan was put away, the White Martian army reformed/captured, and the JLA build a new Watchtower, as if to say “Yes, we’re the head niggas in charge. Deal with it”.

  1. “Ultramarine Corps” JLA Classified #1-3

I didn’t want to include JLA: Earth 2 because although I include it into Morrison’s JLA run, its a one-shot graphic novel and that was against the CBR rules(even though once again its Morrison/Quitely doing what they do best). This story arc could have easily been number one, its that good. This is easily the most fun story arc on the list for me. This story is INSANE with big ideas. Gorrila Grodd and his armies of jetpack apes team-up with Neh-Buh-Loh the Huntsman from the Land of the Vampire Sun to take over the Ultramarine’s floating utopia and turn it into Gorrilapolis. Batman has a robot JLA(ya know, just in case) that he stores on a moon near Pluto. And then the JLA finally show up in issue #3 and once again, every one gets a cool moment. Green Lantern fights against his yellow weakness to do an awesome Shoryuken, Aquaman owns the Greek shizophrenic Superman, and Batman kicks Gorrila Grodd in the balls while he was talking about his future dynasty of apes. “There goes the dynasty”. Fuck, I love this dang story.

  1. “JLA: Rock of Ages” JLA #10-15

Whoa, 3 JLA story arcs in a row? Thats just how damn fun these stories are, and this is the definitive one. Six issues of pop, crazy superhero stories mixed with dozens of Morrison’s big ideas. A clone version of the JLA, Superman and J’onn J’onzz going through the maze that is Joker’s mind, the apocalyptic future controlled by Darkseid, Lex Luthor’s universe controlling God weapon with the help of his Injustice Gang; its bursting from every page with awesomeness, and is my favorite story from my favorite run. So what could the top two be?

  1. “E for Extinction” New X-men #114-116

This story arc is pretty much perfect. In three issues, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely establish the X-men as the hip, sexy, and flat out cool superhero team of the 21st century. Its an old story, mutant hater sends an army of Sentinels to wipe out Homo Superior, but its full of so much energy, wit, verve, and emotion. The destruction of Genosha and seeing Xavier’s facial reactions to it is an image burned in my head forever. And then he shot somebody! To be fair, it was Nova controlling him but its a pretty damn cool image seeing Xavier, sitting in his wheelchair, glass shard in his head, with the smoking gun and the bullet casings. I’m of the opinion that the second half of this run(starting with Riot of Xaviers) was better than the first(consistent artwork for each story arc, the X-men soap opera plots grow to their climaxes and resolutions), but the first three issues were the best. Man, if Frank Quitely had drawn the whole run, it would probably still be coming out today it’d be so late, but the sheer awesomeness of it would blow my damn mind.

  1. All-Star Superman #1-12

I don’t know if it counts or not. Its a clear storyline, its technically an on-going, and it even falls under the 12-issues rule on CBR. Either way, I’ve spent so much energy blabbering on about how All-Star Superman is my favorite comic ever and cemented my love of the medium. Its the anti-Watchmen, a 12-issue story that instead of breaking down the superhero, it praises it. It shows you why Superman is the greatest hero of all time, it shows you why Morrison and Quitely are the greatest creative team of all time, and it makes you believe a man could fly. Or at least, you really hope one could.

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I have no idea how to narrow it down to ten after reading comics for, what is it now, 24 years? I’m OOOOOOLD… But here goes. These are in no particular order really. There’s a lot more stuff I could mention too, but I’ll keep it at ten.

10. Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck - Don Rosa took a host of old Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge stories and created a timeline for everything Uncle Scrooge went through to get his fortune. About 90% of everything in the Duck Tales cartoon is based off of Carl Barks’ old stories, some of his comic book stories they straight up lifted and put on the screen. Heh, there was even an episode called “Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck” but the comic goes in way more detail. You basically see Uncle Scrooge live throughout history. He hangs out with historical figures too like Theodore Roosevelt, even if they are all dog people because Disney comics have a wierd hang up about using humans (Carl Barks got away with using humans a few times). An excellent and fun read, a little educational too. I forget if it is in Life and Times or in the Companion TPB, but in one story Scrooge even gets… LAID, sleeping with Glittering Goldie! It’s left to the imagination because kids are reading and stuff, but let’s say it’s strongly suggested that is what happens and leave it at that.

9. Secret Wars 1 - Pretty much set the stage for every big Marvel crossover they have had over the years. It’s one of those things that blew my mind as a kid, seeing all of those heroes and villains together in one big story. And because of the timing of it, we got to see what happened to everybody after Secret Wars in their own books and we had to read Secret Wars to find out why everything happened. Spider-Man getting the black costume for the first time ever, a mountain being dropped on the heroes with Hulk propping it up, Spider-Man owning the X-Men, Doom with his faced healed getting the powers of a god, Colossus falling for an alien girl and thus ending his romance with Kitty Pride - These are things I’ll never forget.

8. X-Men Inferno - It was one of those things were every X-Men book from X-Factor, to New Mutants to Uncanny X-Men had things in it that built up to this event for a few years. And once it broke demons ran around in other people’s books not associated with X-Men. As a New York Resident, seeing demons running around the city and the Library Lions statues coming to life was quite a hoot! The way the X-Men teamed up to take down Nastir’h is still one of my favorite comic book take downs of all time.

**7. Who is the Hobgoblin story arc in Amazing Spider-Man **- This was a huge mystery that lasted for a few years and threw everyone for quite a loop! I still remember being in shock when Hobgoblin had his mask removed and Flash Thompson was underneath! Obviously it was a ruse by the real Hobgoblin but that had me going for a quick second. One of my favorite moments was when Peter Parker visited Flash Thompson in jail, and Flash said that the guy he used to call ‘Puny Parker’ was now his best friend and the only one who had his back. There were other psyche outs in the story like we thought Lance Banyon was Hobgoblin, and then Ned Leeds. This was Roger Stern writing ASM at his best.

6. Kraven’s Last Hunt - Another great Spider-Man story. The symbolism of the rat fighting a spider while Spider-Man fought Vermin is one of those images that will stay with you forever. MJ waiting for her husband to come home added so much to the story. And we also had that moment when Robbie comforted MJ, seeming like he knew that Peter Parker was Spider-Man (which fans have always suspected anyway) which just made this a perfect read. So powerful that Marvel STILL won’t bring Kraven back to life. Sure he has three kids that came out of nowhere basically doing the same thing he did but ohs well that’s funny books…

5. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, entire run - I honestly can’t recall the last time I enjoyed one of Spider-Man’s books so much. Yes, a third Spider-Man mention sure. And I’m cheating since this isn’t really a ‘storyline’ but a run. Well PAD is my favorite writer and Spidey’s my favorite character so there you go. Spider-Man’s supporting cast returning, Peter masquerading as ‘Ben Reilly’ at his school, Flash as a gym teacher, Debra Whitman’s return, A WEB PARACHUTE! DAAAAAMN! The Mysterio arc, Miss Arrow and the greatest confrontation with JJJ and Peter Parker after he found out he was Spider-Man! Which ended with JJJ saying “I hate that F.N. Spider-Man!” The ‘F.N.’ stood for Friendly Neighborhood, but say his sentence outloud and you get what he meant. :rofl:

4. Magneto Testament - I’ll put in another recent read here. Pak went through Magneto’s backstory in the comics regarding his time in a Concentration Camp, cleaned it up and tied it in with tons of tidbits that actually happened during World War II. I suppose in a way since I dig continuity and historical events and things like that in comics I tend to appreciate it when writers go all out and cover things like this. It’s not done in a distasteful or disrespectful way to families or people that survived or dealt with the holocaust, it’s just making it seem more real to some. I actually enjoyed this a lot more than Maus, but to be fair I liked Maus but not as much as some.

3. From Hell - My favorite Alan Moore work. The amount of research he did for this book is amazing and the liner notes are awesome. The concept of all time existing at the same time (this is done in Watchmen too with Doc Manhattan, but to me it still reads better in From Hell) is one of those things that I still ponder from time to time. And when Jack looks into that apartment and sees a modern living room, a story that is based on a ‘real account’ of someone seeing Jack Ripper’s ghost in modern times only in the story it’s reversed… I mean WOW…

2. The Dark Knight Returns - A million things have been said about this story already so I’ll feel like a broken record if I start repeating everything. Though yeah basically set the tone for how most people interpret Batman today, even his relationship with Superman.

1. All Star-Superman - Um yeah what thread starter said. I’m not putting it at the top because it’s my favorite, I mean quite a few of the above are probably tied with this one in my book. But let’s be honest, Superman began the entire Super-Hero phenomenom really and if you have to pick one book that does him justice than this becomes what should be your very first ‘must read’ before you tackle anything else.

A huge nod to Lee and Ditko’s run in Amazing Spider-Man (AKA the Spider-Man Bible) and since storylines as we call them were relatively short back then, I’ll just mention the very first ASM Annual which had the Sinister Six for the first time ever. Huge splash pages of Spidey beasting the villains which was a rare thing to see back in those days. I particularly like the fact that every single corner Spider-Man turned he saw another Super-Hero. See, this is what I think New York in the Marvel Universe is actually like. No way Doc Ock robs a bank and Spidey has to drop everything he’s doing to stop him, there’s heroes EVERYWHERE!

Yes, I was not going to end this long post without mentioning Spider-Man one more time. Stop me before I start talking about ASM #50. :looney:

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this is gonna be fun, but I just started my new job, so it’s gonna be a while before I can contribute.

fortunately, I’ll have time to think up an appropriate list, but I guarantee two choices already:

The Judas Contract
and
Green Lantern/Green Arrow

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That was another great one.

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Sano, you get points from me for appreciating Lives & Times of Scrooge McDuck :tup:

I don’t think I have a top 10, but I liked reading your thoughts on yours.

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10)UNTHINKABLE-Doom was always my favorite villian andmy 2nd best comic book characters and this one shows Doom at his best hard cold crul and makes Richards shit his pants

9)Astonishing XMEN (any arc from whedon and cassidy) I dont care about them rules you want to limit me you pick a storyline this run was too freaking good all the way great story great humor perfect characterzetions anything was great

8)FAAAAAABLES!!! LEGENDS IN EXILE+HOMELANDS: No matter how great a comic book series is. if the first arc is not something else you are not going to read it, Fables first arc was beyond good it was something and from there it only got better, and HOMELANDS is simply the best Fables storyline to date

7)THUNDERBOLTS CAGED ANGLES- Take a bunch of baddies put them in a room and order them to work for the good guys and make their leader a known psychopath yo cant go wrong with that
the issue with the green goblin runs around in the TB-Mountain is enough to make this run a top ten material

6)CAPTAIN AMERICA (anything just pic one arc) again story telling at it’s best i never knew Cap can be this intersting if it wasn’t for Bru’s run

5)DAREDEVIL Hardcore: just like cap and AXM it’s pretty hard to pick just one arc’ but this time Hardcore stands on top of everything it’s the boiling point of the entire Bendis’ run

4)**SEAGUY **(both stories): well it’s not even finished yet but fuck it it’s Morrison at his Morrison-best crazy-ass-WTF-were you-smoking-story wih lots of parodies about society comic book and communism

3)CRIMINAAAAAL!!! BAD NIGHT: the best non-superhero comic book story ever written- wicked atmosphere crazy characters lots of twists cant ask for more

2)THOR DISASSEMBELD: Thor is my fav comic book character and this is my fav Thor story one of the most enjoyable takes on the Ragnarok with a crazy twists at the end and on topof everything its just Thor all the way (brief cameos from Cap and Ironman but they don’t do anything)
this is how you create EPIC

1)ALL STAR SUPERMAN: best comic book ever period

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Ultimate Spider-Man: Clone Saga
Sleeper
Thanos Quest/Infinity Gauntlet
Dark Phoenix Saga
X-Men Asgardian Wars
Uncanny X-Men 190-191 (vs Kulan Gath)
Crisis on Infinite Earths
JLA/Avengers
Amazing Spider-Man 229-230 (vs Juggernaut)
Punisher Welcome Back Frank

I like the other stories mentioned but didn’t want to be redundant.

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Okay, Top Ten:

in no particular order.

1: The Judas Contract: When this came out, DC wasn’t exactly known for tight narrative. Granted, the Bronze Age had done a lot to help DC catch up style and story-wise to Marvel, but DC still was considered second-class. When this story hit, Betrayal Stories just didn’t happen that often. So it came like a bolt out of the blue when the New Teen Titans’ first recruit stabbed them ALL in the back, by selling out their secret identities to their worst enemy. This story stands the test of time (Hell, I read it for the first time in 2005!), and the art and story are amazing even by today’s standards.

2: Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes: Once again, a story ahead of its time. Before the Bronze Age, DC was a bit of a joke, which is why Marvel really managed to take so much market share in those early years. Topical stories and new heroes that kids could relate to. They had problems, just like real kids. To grab a slice of that pie, DC started to give some of their characters more topical storylines as well. Culminating in the all-too-familiar image of Speedy shooting up, right on the cover. Roy got over his addiction, but he’ll never live it down. Heady stuff in those early 70s stories.

3: Invincible: I’m three trades in and it doesn’t look like its slowing down. I’m really getting into it. It takes the genre and trims the fat, while keeping the story fun and engaging!

4: Blue Beetle: All of it. I’m talking about the most recent series. Because sometimes Comics should just be FUN.

5: Young Justice: Ditto.

6: Preacher: This story is one all comics should strive to be. It’s a finite series, but it offers so much. The pacing and story are just fantastic, it reads just like a big, long novel, because really, that’s what it’s meant to be.

7: JLA New World Order, Rock of Ages, and American Dreams: This is a trifecta of works by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter that re-established the Justice League for a new generation. Morrison writing at its finest. Tightly plotted, amazing dialogue, and complimented by Porter’s amazing pencils. Some really abstract concepts, and Morrison’s “Big Idea” concept at its finest. A far departure from some of his more recent work, which isn’t so much abstract as it is “Only Morrison understands the meaning of this”. These three stories are still fun over a decade later.

8: Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite: Yeah, this might seem like a soft option to some, I mean really, who would’ve guessed some overblown rock star from a shitty punk band would be able to write so well? Jeesus, this story was fun, and the follow up was just as grandiose, even if it lacked from the ‘unfamiliar territory’ aspect. Amazing characterization, and some truly “WTF?” moments.

9: All Star Superman: Again, Morrison at his finest. Telling an uncomplicated but FUN Superman story shouldn’t be this hard. This book is as simple as they come, but captures the magic, and everything that makes the Man of Steel special. Grab hold of this story and cherish it. I am not even REMOTELY a Superman fan, and this is one of my favorite stories, hands down.

10: Justice League: The Lightning Saga: The story that bridged three of DC’s hugest teams, and set the stage for Final Crisis, and all that is going on now.

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Okay I’ll chime in (where the heck is zephy?). No one-shots, mini-series or complete runs.

  1. Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight (vol. 3 #48-50) - I always hated Hal Jordan and consider this the best Jordan story ever and certainly the only exciting one pre-Johns. GL kills a ton of people in enjoyable ways. Head and shoulders above the knightfall/death of superman crap going on at the time. Destroying the Corps was the right choice.

  2. X-Men: Age of Apocalypse - The best X-crossover. large scope, highly imaginative, and perhaps has had the most long lasting affect and influence on the x-line

  3. New X-Men: Assault on Weapon Plus - It was hard to pick my favorite storyline from Morrison’s run. This one narrowly beats out Asteroid X but tomorrow that could change. I think overlooked in his run is how damn well he writes Wolverine. Assault has some of wolverines best moments (and cyclops’ best moments) and may be the most philosophical and mind-bending of the arcs. Also love the Bachalo art.

  4. Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility - The trade that got me back into comics/trades. So simple, so good.

  5. The Punisher Max: Long Cold Dark - The hardest pick on this list was narrowing down which Punisher Max arc to choose. I consider Born + vol. 3,4,6,7,9,10 all one big tied-together story and the Punny Max magnum opus but I think Long Cold Dark (vol. 9) encapsulates everything that is great about those arcs. It is the epilogue to the O’Brien storyline and really hammers the message home. It also flashes back to the greatest panel/page spread in Punny Max (from the penultimate issue of vol. 7). Valley Forge Valley Forge would tie up Born, but it’s Long Cold Dark that caps longest series push.

  6. Iron Man: Armor Wars - My first tpb ever and still my favorite Iron Man storyline.

  7. Stray Bullets: Innocence of Nihilism (#1-7) - Still the greatest. Single issues or together, a wonderful tapestry of debauchery.

  8. Harbinger: Twilight of the Eighth Day (Harbinger vol. 1 #23-25) - Probably my favorite Valiant arc, encapsulates what was great about Valiant. This was the best Harbinger arc but also ended up killing the series as there was nowhere else to go apparently. Sting vs. Harada in the final battle and it was fucking awesome.

  9. Grendel: The Devil Inside (Grendel vol. 2 #13-15) - I could have just as easily picked God and the Devil or The Incubation Years or Devil’s Reign but I think I personally connect the most with Devil Inside - the most human, depressing, grounded of the arcs. Great Bernie Mirault artwork. My favorite mask. Three continuous narratives throughout. A work of art.

  10. Crisis on Infinite Earths - Okay I cheated on this one, but it’s Crisis - greatest crossover ever.

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Take Sano’s top three, throw in a little Saga of the Swamp Thing, drop in a pinch of Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days, mix it in with Supreme: Story of the Year, sneak in a capsule of Dragon Ball: Volumes 17-21 (fuck off, everyone), scoop in a heaping spoonful of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume 1, stir in some Sin City: The Hard Goodbye, and top it all off by regretting that Sandman: Season of Mists will have to stand in for the whole series.

Then back away before it blows up and melts your face with pure awesome.

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I’ve loved what I’ve read of “Saga of the Swamp Thing” but I didn’t want to defer to Moore, or it’d just be a list of Moore works!

further, Messiah CompleX was an excellent storyline, IMO, which really turned the X-Men on their ear. Pretty exciting stuff. Really made me stand up and take notice of the X-Titles for the first time in a long time.

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I’m here. I’ll try to make a list. No one-shots, no single issue stories, no miniseries, no maxiseries, no full runs, no graphic novels - just multi-part storylines from ongoing series. Also, I won’t choose anything that’s essentially a series of miniseries - so my list is noticeably devoid of worthy series such as Hellboy and Concrete. I also don’t have anything from series that are harder to break up into “storyarcs” such as Top Ten or SLEEEEEEEPER!!!11!. I will cheat a little, though - I won’t mention Born Again, Year One, or Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? because those are too obvious.

I don’t think I’ll rank them, though. That’s just too much work.

Alias: Purple - The whole run of Alias is one of the Marvels of all time, but it wasn’t too tough for me to pick one storyline to represent its greatness. As the final story, Purple exemplifies everything that makes Alias so awesome. Essentially a character study set in the Marvel Universe, Purple is the culmination of all the character development and writing. People always used to say that Bendis’ strength is his dialogue, but I never thought that. If anything, I found his dialogue solid if occasionally prone to awkwardness. I think Bendis’ strength is dramatic build-up and pay off. (I suppose I’m leaving myself open to Secret War, House of M, and Avengers jokes here, but I stand by my statement.) Read this and Powers, and Daredevil of course. The final storyline in Alias stands as a brilliant way to end a series. You get the build-up, the pay off, the lovingly written send-off, and a whole bunch of good stuff in between, such as the clever re-imagining of the Purple Man as a truly creepy, fourth-wall breaking commentator. Michael Gaydos drew this to perfection.

The Authority: The Nativity - The entire Ellis/Hitch run of The Authority is one of the truly seminal (“seminal” means “born of the semen”) comics of our era. Each of their storyarcs upped the ante somehow. First, the Authority fought a nation of fascist supermen. Then they fought off an invasion from an alternate Earth. Finally, they fought Warren Ellis’ version of God. How do you top that? Well, in The Nativity, Millar and Quitely have the Authority fight the Marvel Universe. Simple yet brilliant. I think Millar is like the anti-Ellis - where Ellis’ work tends to be superficially cynical, he usually tempers his stories with some genuine idealism and hope underneath the layers. Millar’s work typically appears to be idealistic on the surface, but there’s just a mean cynicism underlying everything. I happen to find his brand of meanness kind of funny, in a twisted way, and The Nativity manages to find a good balance between the cynicism and the the idealism. Plus, Frank Quitely!

Avengers: Red Zone - This is my favorite Avengers story. Johns’ run was great, and the previous storyarc, World Trust, builds up nicely to Red Zone. It’s got everything a classic Avengers story needs: a threat that only the Avengers can fight, smartly-written character interactions, awesome art (Coipel), and each team member gets a chance to shine, with plenty of memorable moments throughout. Each issue raises the stakes and every time the team looks like they are on the ropes, they manage to pull together for one more stand. To me, the true test of a great superhero comic is if the character(s) in the story couldn’t be swapped out with an equivalent character/team. Red Zone only works as an Avengers story.

Batman: Broken City - It’s the 100 Bullets team taking on Batman! I remember this was originally serialized the issue right after the last issue of Hush, and people read the first Broken City issue and were like, “Huh? I wish Jim Lee were still drawing.” Damn heathens. After Year One and DKR, this is the definitive Batman story to me. Broken City captures everything that makes Batman such an enduring character. You get a bit of the detective, a bit of the broad-shouldered love god, a bit of the martial artist, a bit of the intimidating vigilante, and it’s all topped off with a healthy dose of the tragic little boy who lives deep inside of the Batman. The story’s the hardest Batman story I’ve ever read this side of Frank Miller. The noirish elements are in full effect, of course, but you get to see enough of Batman’s world (Gotham, some of his rogues gallery) that you know it’s a Batman comic. Azzarello even manages to offer some insight into Batman’s origin, which is so clearly not an easy accomplishment after several decades and hundreds of issues.

Catwoman: No Easy Way Down - I had a tough time deciding between this storyarc and the one that preceded it, Relentless. Ultimately, I’d say No Easy Way Down deserves to represent because it’s so much more different from virtually every other superhero storyline I can think of. In Relentless, Catwoman basically gets effed up to the point where her life is ruined and all her close friends/supporting cast feel the effects. You know all those stories that promise that “things will never be the same again!”? That’s sort of what Relentless did. (I don’t remember if it was marketed as such, though.) No Easy Way Down, the three-parter that follows, however, is the fulfillment of that promise. For three whole issues, we see Selina dealing with the aftermath of how her life has been destroyed, and how she deals with the relationships that have been hurt and damaged from the ordeal. Brubaker basically writes an indie comic into the DC Universe, and Javier Pulido’s impressionistic art captures the noirish sentiments. There’s resolution and tangible character development - it’s the most impressive character dissection I’ve ever read in a DC comic.

Gotham Central: Soft Targets - Again, it was tough for me to choose between this and another Gotham Central storyarc. Unresolved, the Harvey Bullock story, also stands out as one of the top tier DC stories of the decade. I’m going with Soft Targets because, frankly, the Joker is a bigger draw than Bullock and I think his presence makes this story slightly more iconic. Soft Targets is still my favorite Joker story. I am a fan of The Killing Joke and Azzarello/Bermejo’s Joker, but Soft Targets blew me away the first time I read it. I still pick up my issues and reread them occasionally. The story is about the Joker picking up a sniper rifle and randomly assassinating various people (government officials as well as completely random bystanders) during the Christmas shopping season. At first the cops have no idea who is behind the killings, but eventually the Joker reveals himself, and though the cops are obviously in over their heads, they still try to do their job. It’s a completely chilling story that somehow makes the Joker feel more villainous than most of his other appearances. Michael Lark’s realistic artwork is fantastic on this series. He really enhances the verisimilitude of the story.

Iron Man: Extremis - This is the definitive Iron Man story. It captures the essence of the character, updates him for today’s world, offers a concise reinterpretation of his origin, and shows what makes him relevant. He’s not just a former drunk or a typical superhero and “Armored Avenger.” He’s a futurist, someone who thinks ahead and honestly seeks to improve the world with his dreams. The foil Warren Ellis introduces in this story, Mallen, represents a lot of the cynicism that I think is Ellis’ trademark… But idealism ultimately triumphs. There are a lot of scenes in this story that display masterful characterization of Tony Stark, but I think the last page, when Iron Man, in a matter-of-fact way, states his mission purpose out loud, is as good as anything that’s ever been written about the character. I find something about the tone of the writing in this story very affecting to me personally. Oh yeah, and Adi Granov kicks ass at depicting visual scenes of glorious destruction. The action scenes are pretty, and the calm moments are well-composed.

New X-Men: Planet X - Morrison’s whole run is sexy, of course. But Planet X always stood out to me, not only for the nice plotting but also for the sexy subtext. I love how Planet X is a commentary on the state of corporate superhero comics and the X-Men titles in general. There’s such a great sense of ennui, and even though Morrison rails against rehashing old ideas over and over, he somehow manages to take old ideas and make them fresh. The difference is that Morrison tries to imbue lasting change, even though it’s obvious that the corporate side of things would never allow his fantastic ideas to stay undone in their fictional universe. It never fails to make me laugh how he kills Magneto in such a definitive way, and yet Marvel brought him back with a pithy explanation (IMPOSTER). Completely proves the point of Planet X. There are lots of reasons why I love this comic, but the commentary on the state of unimaginative stories is my favorite reason.

The Sandman: Brief Lives - My favorite Sandman storyline is probably one of the more straightforward stories of the entire series. I found it easier to digest than some of the other storylines, although Brief Lives is rather dense as well. It’s about loss, mortality, human frailties, and probably a whole bunch of other stuff that I’m not smart enough to discern. Still, there’s a poetry to this arc that stood out to me more than in any other Sandman storyline. I found the quest to find Destruction quite touching, and the payoff makes everything come together.

Wildcats: Serial Boxes - I don’t think the actual storyarc is called Serial Boxes. Each issue had its own title and Serial Boxes was simply the title of the TRADE, BABY, so I’m sticking with it. Joe Casey and Sean Phillip’s first few issues of Wildcats volume 2 were pretty nice, but I think with this, the Mr. Smith storyline, the creative duo really made a game-changing statement. Casey takes bits and pieces from the Wildcats mythos (particularly the Alan Moore era and even the WildC.A.T.s era) and mixes them into something completely new. There is no other superteam book like Wildcats volume 2, where the team isn’t really a team and they don’t fight traditional supervillains. Serial Boxes finds the remnants of the team moving on with their lives now that the war that served as their purpose of existence is over. Spartan, the newly christened Jack Marlowe, is in the midst of rebuilding and rebranding the Halo Corporation (which nicely lays the groundwork for Wildcats Version 3.0, one of the greatest comics canceled before its time). Grifter’s off being a loner, albeit one who is all too eager to find an excuse to get dragged back into the superhero world. Ladytron’s still hilariously maniacal and getting into hijinks. Maul’s gone back to being a scientist. Voodoo, the unknowing target of a superpowered serial killer, is just off being a party gal, living off Marlowe’s credit cards. This is actually quite a noirish superhero comic, without really engaging in most of the tropes associated with noir. Phillips’ fantastic art certainly helps convey that feeling, but there’s also a surprising undercurrent of dark elegance in the writing itself.

Whew. Is that ten? I feel bad for leaving off JLA: Rock of Ages and various Daredevil storylines (Wake Up, Hardcore, King of Hell’s Kitchen, The Devil in Cell Block D). Fantastic Four: Unthinkable should have been on there, too; or perhaps the two-parter which followed it. (What was it called? The 5th Wheel? That’s the one where Franklin still thinks he’s in hell and the team just tries to recuperate from the sufferings they endured in Unthinkable.) Fortunately, you guys already know how awesome those are.

My bonus track for this list would definitely be X-Force: Final Chapter, or the last X-Force arc before it was retitled as X-Statix. That was the one where [spoiler=]U-Go Girl dies.[/spoiler] This is probably the only superhero comic that ever made me cry. I didn’t just cry, I sobbed in the streets and rent my clothes asunder. I had the same reaction when I read A Season In Hell, a storyarc in Shade, The Changing Man. Both were written by Peter Milligan.

Go figure.

13

zephy I just noticed your post. I have read exactly one of those runs :sweat:

when I have lots of money again or when they are traded properly I definitely plan to get into bru’s catwoman, the authority, and casey’s wildcats. I would also pick up the Alias Omnibus if they ever go back to press on it.

Marvel has released new trades of johns’ avengers arcs so I will pick those up eventually along with the new Shade trades.

14

I dont want to really explain fully why I love them but I’ll briefly say something
1-All Star Superman-I never really like superman, but this series had so many great moments, with great art, and a great, and story.
2- Sinestro Corps War- One of the main stories that got me hooked on Green Lantern, had so many FUCK YEAH moments
3- Superman Red SOn- not sure if it counts, but its commie superman, and one of the greatest lines in comic history, "Why don’t you just put the whole WORLD in a BOTTLE, Superman?"
4-Sandman vol. 4 seasons of mist- A story about Morpheus gaining the keys to hell
5- The Dark Knight Returns- one of the greatest Batman stories of all time, reinvented the character.
6- Immortal Iron Fist- The Last Iron Fist Story was a great introduction of the history of the iron fist
7- JLA New World Order- what a great display of Batgod
8- Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader Batman 686 and Detective comics 853 its a great “ending” to batman written by Neil Gaiman…NEIL everyone is GAI for this MAN
9- 1602- neil gaiman the marvel universe set in the past, with an intersting twist
10- Watchmen, the holy grail of comicbook goodness

honrable mentions- All Star Batman-“the GODDAMN BATMAN” entertaining as hell
kingdome come
New Froniter
death of cap

15

This is gonna be tough for me, and I may end up changing this later on…buuuuuut…

10: Final Crisis
I’ll admit it: when I first read FC, I thought it was just pretty good. It had a lot of fantastic moments, but it lacked coherency and focus. However, after a having a conversation about it with a friend, she explained it to me in a way that makes me REALLY appreciate it a lot more than I did at first, and it’s shot way up for me ever since. Look at the series like this: Satan (Darkseid) conquers man. His grip eventually fails, and man (Batman) kills Satan. The world is almost enveloped by emptiness (Mandrakk) until God (Superman) recreates the world, revitalized as it had never been before. Yeah, it’s oversimplifying things, but the story is essentially a creation myth of biblical proportions, and I have to respect that.

09: JLA/Avengers
This story really encapsulates both the Marvel and DC universes better than just about any other story out there, highlighting what makes them so different, and how they are, at their heart, also quite similar. Throw in fantastic character analysis (especially for Hal and Hank Pym) and you have a really good crossover story.

08: Messiah Complex
Many people claim Age of Apocalypse is the best X crossover of all time. I say, “bullshit”. Messiah Complex was absolutely fantastic in telling a complex and yet cohesive story that really helped redefine the X-Men for the next few years. Most impressive, however, is the ability of the 5 different writers on the story to mesh so well. If not for the art differences, I’d believe that the story was done by one single creative team. That is amazing.

07: Final Crisis: Revelations
It’s a rarity that a tie in book is superior to the event comic it relates to, but in this case, that’s exactly what happened. This takes the biblical feel of FC, and takes it to an absolute extreme as Cain himself returns in the wake of Anti-Life’s destruction of mankind to destroy the Spectre (who cursed him with immortality) and take his final revenge on God himself. It’s a brilliant story that not only analyzes the nature of God and faith itself, but also really digs deep into the characters of Crispen Allen and Renee Montoya.

06: Crisis on Infinite Earths:
Finally, a story on here that isn’t from the past 10 years. Not much to say about this one other than the fact that it’s FUCKING EPIC. It features the deaths of both Barry Allen and the original Supergirl, the destruction of the infamous DC Multiverse, and the creation of a brand new DC Universe. It would essentially redefine the DC Universe for decades to come, and in many ways, comic storytelling as a whole.

05: Amazing Spider-Man: Happy Birthday
I’ll admit this right here: I effing love JMS. Yeah, his concepts are sometimes hokey (see Sins Past and The Other), but his character study can’t be topped, and this is some of his best. After Reed Richards’ attempt to save New York goes awry, Peter becomes unstuck from time, with Doc Strange as his only guide. As he fights his way back to his own time and reality, the comic analyzes exactly how tortured Spidey’s history is, and challenges him to go through all of his worst moments all over again to save the city and world he loves. It’s Spider-Heroics at it’s best, and something that feels lacking in today’s Post-BND Spidey books.

04: Astonishing X-Men: Torn
Choosing just one arc out of Whedon’s incredible X-Men arc is a tall order, but I think this one is my favorite. It really finally established Emma as an enjoyable character for me, helped finally establish Scott as the X-Men’s leader in every sense of the word, and had some of the greatest Kitty Pryde moments in history. Not to mention seeing Logan revert to his old, prissy, childhood self was a hoot.

03: Thor Vol. 3
Yeah, the ending could have been a bit better, but JMS’s run on Thor was brilliant. The concept was creative, the execution was amazing, the character moments were beautiful, and Copiel’s art was a joy to view. Highlights go to the poetic first issue, Thor confronting Tony in issue 3, and Loki’s big time travel mind fuck in issue 9.

02: The Killing Joke
Couldn’t have a list without a Moore story, and as controversial as this is going to sound, I think this is my favorite. It really established the Batman/Joker dichotomy as we know it today, and teased us with a possible history for the Joker, only to snatch it away later. The art is wonderful, the writing is spot on, and the ending is absolutely chilling. Batman, the Joker, and most of all, Jim Gordon, at their absolute best.

01: Deadpool: Healing Factor
OMGWTFBBQ, what is this doing at the number one spot?!? Yeah, it’s not as powerful as a Moore story, as creative as a Morrison story, or as poetic as a JMS story, but this is the story that brought me into comics as a full blown hobby. It’s a fantastic character study behind one of the few good characters to come out of the 90’s, with wonderful humor and some surprisingly powerful moments. If I could, I would force Gail Simone to write 'Pool exclusively for the rest of time.

16

except messiah complex makes no sense when it has cyclops put a hit on cable

17

Tops for me would be Dr. Strange/Dr. Doom Triumph and Torment