Discussion Your favorite comics!

[Venom65437]

Now, I don't mean your ten best comics, or your ten most expensive, I'm wondering, what are your top ten favorite comics and why? I think this could be interesting as these lists might not include classics, and it could give us some interesting ones to hunt down.

So, in no particular order

Uncanny X-Men #221 - This was right before "The Fall of the Mutants." The main reason it is on my list is because it's the first comic I ever owned. My first copy was actually a reprint, and I read the crap out of it. Reading it again, it's actually an exciting issue of the X-Men vs. the Marauders.

Amazing Spider-Man #300 - No brainer here, it's the proper debut of my favorite villian. I still don't care much for Todd McFarlane's art, but it's still a really good fight of Spidey vs. Venom.

Amazing Spider-Man #400 - I know that Marvel completely ret-conned this issue and that's too bad. It's one of the best Spider-Man issues ever made. If Marvel ever decides Aunt May needs to die again, they'll never top this book.

Web of Spider-Man #125 - It's early in the Clone Saga before it got completely out of hand. Not too much happens in this issue. Just Spidey looking through the clones or Warren Miles, and Gwen Stacy's house. I like it because it gets into Spidey's head and really focuses more on him, rather than Spider-Man.

Uncanny X-Men #308 - This is the issue that Scott and Jean get engaged. It takes place on Thanksgiving Day, with Scott and Jean going down memory lane while the rest of the X-Men play a football game. It shows the family aspect of the X-Men that hasn't been seen nearly as much since Chris Claremont left the book in '91.

Spider-Man Unlimited #13 (or is it #14?) - It's the first one with Ben Reilly as Spider-Man. This issue is full of laugh out loud moments. It's has him teaming up with Misty Knight, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage. They're fighting the Scorpion. Nothing really memorable happens, but it's a hoot, especially near the end.

Uncanny X-Men #230 - Longshot found the cave where the Reavers kept all the stuff they stole from everyone. So the X-Men decide to give it back to everyone. When people wake up Christmas morning, they find all the things that were taken from them are back! It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Wolverine #176 - Another story with not a whole lot of action, but it gets more into Wolverine's head and what makes him tick. A very interesting read, IMO.

Spider-Man #75 - The conclusion to the Clone Saga. All thoughts about the story aside, this is an awesome issue that features the one, true Spider-Man slugging it out with the Green Goblin. Norman has everyone Spidey has ever known (well almost everyone) in danger, and Spidey has to save them all. It's a brutal battle and it finally brought an end to that forsaken storyline.

I have more, but I really should be working on a paper right now. These are the ones that jump immediately to mind. When I have more time I'll put down a few more. I can't help but notice that a lot of my favorite issues aren't very noteworthy for much of anything, and they tend to focus more on the character than fighting.

 

[Dragonzair]

Eh. So hard. o.o Can I just mention the titles I like reading the most? Also, since I live in a country wher it is just plain difficult to find old issues (not to mention, comics aren't really read much here), most of them are from mid-90s. Plus, I wasn't born during the classics. T_T (They don't re-sell old issues here at all)

Uncanny X Men: Just that my favourite characters were usually in the line-up. My first UXM issue had something to do with Wolverine being one of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. But I wasn't really into it until I turned 12-13? Can't remember. I was too young to understand what I was reading during that Horsemen thing (9 yrs old, was it? o.O), so yah. I was actually more interested in Avengers. XD

But the current arc (Shi'ar Empire) is just confuzzling me too much, so I kinda moved to other issues for now.

New X Men (the one which followed New Mutants Vol. 2): Just started reading this a month ago, enjoyed it. So I'm glad I got a few issues from the Philippines. ^_^ But since they don't sell them here (really, they only sell a few Batman/Superman issue and Uncanny X Men issues, which btw is delayed by four months, so I really have no choice but to depend on the internet), online reading is the way to go. Or torrents. XD

Ultimate X Men: Started reading it since Genma-chwan liked it. Enjoyed it a whole lot. <3 The artwork in the beginning was great, as well. (And yahoo! I found the first issue in the Philippines, and at a cheaper price than the latest issues XD) Although, the Magical arc was just...stupid for me, the Cable one's starting out quite interesting enough. ^_^

Runaways: Vol. 1 was greatgreatgreat, volume 2 would've sucked if it wasn't for Victor. It was a much more fun read when they where running away from their parents. Now, running away from the superheroes is just...stupid. =/ I feel like kicking sand in the characters' faces everytime they go all high and mighty aginst a super hero. XD Still in my favourites due to Victor being very cool XD (plus; Vol. 1, as I said, was greatgreatgreat)

And rummaging through my collection, I have found a few issues which I enjoyed

Uncanny X Men #452-454: Mostly because I was drooling at Andy Park's art. >_>;

X Men (vol. 2) #165: Christmas Special. >_>; I have a fondness for them. I'm quite sad that I won't be able to get a single special here, since UXM is delayed (plus, I can't see how UXM will have a XMas special seeing they're in space) SO BLAH TO HELL. T___T

Spiderman #21: (I have no idea which Spidey title this was, because it didn't say, plus I don't really collect Spidey issues >_>) Christmas Special again. XD It had the FF in it too. XD I told you, I just have a fetish for these Holiday issues. ><

Annnd...I can also mention I love the Age of Apocalypse arc, yes? XD

 

[Venom65437]

You mentioned some good stuff there Dragon. I too, like Christmas specials, the one you speak of in Uncanny was great!

I don't find the current Shi'ar arc to confusing (but if you haven't read Deadly Genesis I can see how you would) but it isn't exactly on my "must read" list right now either.

 

[Dragonzair]

I don't find the current Shi'ar arc to confusing (but if you haven't read Deadly Genesis I can see how you would) but it isn't exactly on my "must read" list right now either.

Yeah, I haven't read it, but I have read other Shi'ar arcs before. XD But as you said, it isn't on my lsit right now either. Also, since Venom is one of my favourite Spidey villains, I might like the first issue he appeared in. XD

Oh! And I remember now as well. I really enjoyed reading the first issue Gambit appeared in, plus one issue where Kitty Pryde was telling Illyana a bedtime story. XD That was brilliantly funny. I would kill to get a copy of that particular issue. XD

 

[Gold Knight]

Heh, so you liked Amazing Spider-Man 300 THAT much, eh? Glad I could help you get that one, Venom.

My 10 Favorite American Comics are kinda "different" from yours Venom because I don't really concentrate so much on major superheroes.

1. Elfquest : Hidden Years # 9 1/2. Elfquest is my all-time favorite American comic - it's about a band of wolf-riding elves who travel across their world in search of others of their race, and in doing so, they have a lot of adventures, at one point they even end up in a war with trolls. It's a series that was started in the 70's, went to Marvel in the 80's, became self-publishing in the 90's, and is now owned by DC Comics, and still has miniseries coming out at times. The authors have actually already finished the grand finale storyline, but are holding off on publishing it until they decide it's time to end the series for good.

Anyway, this particular EQ issue was my favorite all-time issue because it has one of the best drawn grudge matches between two rivals that I've ever seen in comics - it was almost epic. This is one I reread nearly all the time, especially when I'm drawing a fighting scene, because this issue really gets the imagination going. But you do have to read some past issues of Elfquest to REALLY appreciate the intensity of this fight.

2. Neil Gaiman's Sandman: Brief Lives - A volume that contained Sandman #41-49, I can't really decide which one would be my favorite issue, so I'm just going to mention the storyline as a whole. Best ever written story that I have seen in comics. I actually am not that madly crazy about Sandman, but I did love this story - basically, one of the Endless, a family of beings who embody various aspects of the universe, is missing, and one of the siblings is bound and determined to find him. Problem is, the missing Endless doesn't want to be found, and the result is a lot of craziness happening around the world... anyway, the characters have always been very, very memorable in Sandman, and this arc has 'em all for the most part.

3. DC's Forgotten Realms # 16 - I will never understand why the Forgotten Realms comic didn't get more popular. The twenty-five issue series in the late 80's was drawn by Rags Morales (one of my favorite artists) and written by Jeff Grubb, and the series was what made me interested in drawing comics and fantasy as well. This issue was one of my favorites because it crossed over to the Forgotten Realms' "Avatars" storyline going on in the novels, when gods walked the earth, and had a pretty fantastic battle between two on the Isle of Ruamythm.

And yeah, I've always liked fantasy-oriented comics

4. Marvel's Transformers #7 - The best Transformers issue I've ever read. It was sort of disappointing, too, how the artist just disappeared off the face of the world after this one, because he was great! Must have decided that comic book drawing wasn't for him. Anyway, in this issue things are looking pretty grim because the Decepticons had deactivated nearly every Autobot thanks to Shockwave (see THIS cover if you don't believe me!) and who's their last hope? Their medical officer, Ratchet! And he had to go up against Megatron - the best Decepticon warrior of all time. But Ratchet won the day, and because of it he'll always be one of my fave Autobots.

5. Ghost Rider vol. 2 #1 - The Spirit of Vengeance strikes first in this issue, and man, what a first issue. I still think this was the best reintroduction of an old character of all time in comics. Well, it wasn't exactly the same character as the Ghost Rider in the 70's comics, but even better - and THIS Ghost Rider was on the side of the angels. But he had seemed so intimidating in this issue - like a mindless undead agent of vengeance, so it was almost a horror movie - for the bad guys, that is! I wasn't the only one impressed by this issue either - I remember when my family was visiting another family, I brought over my Ghost Rider comics to pass the time, and their oldest daughter tried the first issue, and then read all my Ghost Rider comics like crazy. Not that I blame her.

Unfortunately the series (which lasted around 90 issues) itself had a lot of down moments, a lot of bad writing, and especially bad art, so it really didn't get any better than the first 20 issues. Ah, well.

6. Avengers #277 - Before the X-Men, before Spider-Man - the Avengers and Captain America were the first Marvel superhero comics I read. And this issue marked the end to the ultimate battle of good vs. evil. I dare you to find an epic superhero battle better than the one in Avengers #275-277, because you won't. Just an amazing fight, and things never looked as bleak for the Avengers as when the Masters of Evil took over their mansion and nearly killed two of their members and their butler.

7. X-Men # 1 (Unadjective) - More for nostaglic reasons than anything else, this was the comic that really got me interested into the X-Men. And I didn't even buy it - my mom got it for me. I had never seen Jim Lee's amazing art before, but it was so polished in this issue, I was truly impressed. The X-Men, and Magneto, had never looked more bigger than life than in this issue. I've also never really appreciated Chris Claremont's writing until this issue, either - but hadn't gotten very many Uncanny X-Men issues before.

Anyway, I think this "Unadjective" series (and the cartoon that was going to start airing at the same time) went a long way towards really making the X-Men very, very popular in the 90's - it certainly finally got me interested. Gambit was an instant favorite of mine. Even now, I'm still looking for back issues of Uncanny X-Men to try to have a more complete collection, because I was sorta a late bloomer when it came to X-Men.

8. Daredevil #181 - Frank Miller's Daredevil was one of the best written comics of all time, and this issue was pretty much the climax of his run. It wasn't really so much this particular issue as the whole storyline, though, but nobody's more responsible for making Daredevil a memorable character than Frank Miller. Daredevil had always been very unpopular compared to Spider-Man before, but that changed in a hurry.

And yes, the comic was MUCH better than the Daredevil movie, heh.

9. Justice League: International #1 and Justice League: Europe #1 - Can't really decide between which team was better, but I loved both comics, and both began with these issues. It was more because it was the first time DC superheroes REALLY appeared human - they had quirks and flaws the same as anybody else. Very, very funny comics, and they both gave me a lot of good memories.

10. Amazing Spider-Man 280 and Amazing Spider-Man 281. Again for nostaglic reasons. These issues were when it all started for me as far as reading Spider-Man. One of the first times I had read about a superhero squaring off against a whole lot of super villains at once, and it was fun. Silver Sable and Sandman helped, though.

11. Amazing Spider-Man 294 - Actually, I do like Spider-Man a lot. I have a lot of favorite issues. But I'm mentioning this one because of its art, suspenseful writing, and the shocking ending. Again, this wasn't too long after I had started reading Spider-Man, so it made a big impression on me.

Well, I think that's my list for now. It might be subject to change, heh.

EDIT: And sure enough, I remembered Avengers #277, so list's been modified.

 

[Venom65437]

Those are all great issues guys!

 

[Ichimaru Gin n Tonic]

Hmm... let's look at my favourite list:

1. The Watchmen: Why? Alan Moore, 'nuff said.
2. Superman (v2) #75: Superman's death (or comatose).
3. Green Lantern: Rebirth: Hal Jordan Lives!
4. Final Night: Parallax died to save the Universe, what more can you ask for?
5. Batman: KnightsEnd: Don't tell the Batman what he can't do.
6. Wolverine (v2) #75: Magneto says "Gimme that adamantium, fool!"
7. Civil War #2: Hey! That's my science teacher! (
8. Green Lantern (v2) #142-150: Kyle Rayner is Ion and Superman's jealous.
9. Y: The Last Man #1: Wouldn't you like to be the last male species in the world?
10. Fables #50: Who wants to marry a Big Bad Wolf? Snow White did. I just put this one here cause this issue made my girlfriend starts reading comics.

 

[Dragonzair]

Fables you say? Sounds like fairy tales, which would definitely get me interested. I might try reading it if I find some online files or torrents. ^_^

And...I seriously have to mention Civil War #1 as well. The banter between the characters on which actor/actress would play them if they were to ever make a movie about them: hilarious. Fury owned that scene so much. XD I just loved that issue totally for that comedic scene. XD

 

[Gold Knight]

Fables isn't for everybody, but a lot of my female friends do seem to like it. But I didn't. It was just a bit too weird for me. You might like it, though... just be aware it's mature-themed. I don't know why girls like that one so much though...

The Watchmen, eh, ichi? That was definitely a classic, but I tend to like the brighter side of comics more.

 

[Ichimaru Gin n Tonic]

GK is right, Fables is not something that you can really like at first sight. I got interested after looking at the cover of Fables #1. So i took a chance of buying it, and at first i thought the story is so-so, but it gets better and better and better that i just cant get enough of it.

Yup. The Watchmen is what you can really call a graphic novel, emphasize on the novel. The story's a bit less bright, but overall it made a huge impact on me.

 

[Gold Knight]

I suppose I'll have to give Fables a try again sometimes then. Vertigo's Sandman was also very hard to get into initially (especially as it started off as more of a horror-themed comic, before it became what Neil Gaiman intended for it to be - dark fantasy) but I tried it again after a while and absolutely LOVED the later stories. Fables must be like that, probably. I've had a friend who's been trying to encourage me to read Fables for years, and it seems one of these stories that I need to get into just so I know more about it, heh.

Watchmen is probably Alan Moore's best work ever, which is saying a lot, but I'm actually not that much of an Alan Moore fan. Neil Gaiman all the way for me, he's my favorite comic book writer.

 

[Dragonzair]

Actually, come to think of it, I remember Fables now. I used to see it advertised in the back of every comic I purchased last year or something like that.

It looked interesting enough for me to really want to read it. And...um. Mature themed Seinen kind?

And I have to mention this now, sicne I didn't in my original post. XD

New X Men (vol. 2, which is now called X Men): I'm kinda liking alot more now. I wasn't that fond of it a few years back, but that was the only thing I could collect along with Uncanny. They stopped now. But reading them again makes me realize the stories were actually good. XD Thank you, online reading! <3

 

[Gold Knight]

It looked interesting enough for me to really want to read it. And...um. Mature themed Seinen kind?

Probably not as bad as most Seinen but it's still not your typical kiddie comic.

 

[Dragonzair]

Anything I can handle, I suppose. And it's (download) finished. ^_^ I'll psot my views in the American Comics thread once I'm done with a few issues. Heck, it might turn into my favourite, if good enough for me, and I'll psot it here too.

 

[Gold Knight]

I wouldn't mind a few yousendit links >.>

 

[Dragonzair]

Naw, it's alright. I got a torrent for 50 issues. Read till 6, till now. Quite enjoying so far. XD Love the characters. XD Definitely a good series for me. XD I like, I dig. xD

....

XD

'XD' because I know you'll find something funny. What's the thing I like most in series, Ken-chan? [br]Posted on: November 30, 2006, 11:12:11 AM_________________________________________________Actually, I'm halfway through #9 now, but I can't really read now since I'm busy. ><

 

[Gold Knight]

I mean, I'd like the issues myself -_-

Anyway, I'm going to what is apparently the biggest comic book store in the Mid-South today, interestingly enough (I didn't even know it was in the neighborhood until I saw an ad about it on TV!) I might pick up some issues, so if I see Fables, I'll check into it.

 

[Venom65437]

Hope you remember to get me something...

 

[Ichimaru Gin n Tonic]

And don't forget to ask about when Ult. Wolverine vs Hulk #3 will be shipped? i'm starting to have nightmares like when i was waiting for every issue of Civil War.

 

[Venom65437]

I heard it's scheduled to ship around October 2010. As long as nothing else disrupts the schedule =-)