For me as far as storyline is concerned it would have to be either the Dark Phoinex saga or the Mutant Massacre(kinda impresive when you consider I am not that big an X-Men fan). As for story the Death of Captain Marvel, it was well writtrn, well drawn, and incredibly moving. To bad they ruined it by bringing him back. I thought the fact that he stayed dead for so long, was a testament to the enormity of the moment.
I mean christ they kept the man dead for two decades. Why spoil it? $$$$ signs thats why.
I'm quite partial to the X-cutioners Song for some reason, I liked the interplay between the different teams although its been a while since I looked at them so they might be too 'kewl' for their own good - like most 90's marvel comics are to me now.
The original God Loves Man Kills storyline from X-men is a classic.
Outside X-verse, Spiderman always had some good storylines.
And anything in DC's Vertigo line usually rules and stands the test of time.
Yep those were pretty good; but one of my all time favorites was Captain America battling the Red Skull about the Cosmic Cube; I loved the way greed undid the Red Skull in the end after trial and more trial and perserverance by the Capt; the Skull with power to rival the Beyonder, maybe, did himself in with greed and hubris; hehe. Wow that was a few decades ago ")
Another good one was when The Mighty Thor battles Eon the living planet; :) Also, there as a battle called Breakthrough that after countless heroes tried to stop the Hulk in Manhattan Island; I think it had a scene where the Hulk crushed Iron Fists chi fist in its weakened state; and backhanded Powerman through like 7 skyscrapers; nicely drawn I might add; after most NY hereoes chimed in, it came down to Thor and the Hulk battling it out through like 3 issues; wow that was a battle royal for all time; the fight stopped because some trolls with some mystic sled took Thor's hammer and he had to go after it before he changed back to the doc;
Watchmen.
Preacher.
The Invisibles.
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Outside X-verse, Spiderman always had some good storylines.
There are two older Spider-man stories that I felt were the all-time best. When Spider-man battled Firelord and when Spider-man battled the Juggernaut. Each of them were two parters. Great one-liners. Overcoming insurmountable odds. What is there not to like?
Another powerful Spider-man is when spidey is fed up with JJJ. --> here
Great stuff.
Watchmen.
Preacher.
Transmetropolitan.
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.
Batman Year One
Watchmen
Forgot both of these last year.
Outside X-verse, Spiderman always had some good storylines.There are two older Spider-man stories that I felt were the all-time best. When Spider-man battled Firelord and when Spider-man battled the Juggernaut. Each of them were two parters. Great one-liners. Overcoming insurmountable odds. What is there not to like?
Another powerful Spider-man is when spidey is fed up with JJJ. --> here
Great stuff.
If you could stomach it, there was a great Spidey/X-force mini-crossover in the 90's which had X-Force trying to take down the Juggernaught (without Cable) in NYC and getting totally slapped around until Spiderman swings by and decides to lend a hand/give them some leadership -very entertaining!
It was pencilled by the infamous Leifeld if I remember correctly (or at least in that 90’s exaggerated style) very funny and quite nostalgic to look at now –lots of over the top gritted teeth and gurning combined with macho one-liners and showboating.
It’s a perfect picture postcard of 90’s Marvel –for better or for worse. :)
[Another powerful Spider-man is when spidey is fed up with JJJ. --> here
Great stuff.
Peter David is awesome and always has been. You maybe want to check out the current incarnation of X-factor (if you already haven't) it's like the BTVS spin-off: Angel but even more noir/black humour and has a great storyline going on at the moment. The characters are deep and well written; each issue leaves me wanting more.
I have thought about dropping a lot of comics from my pull-list lately and X-factor is about the only Marvel book I really seem to care about reading these days. Too many mega-events in the MU for me recently but X-factor (although tied into the big events and a part of the MU) manages to stay quite self contained and does its own thing how it wants. :)
Preacher, hands down. I won't let myself finish it, becuase then it's gone forever.
Hrm..let's see what pops into my head...
DC
Batman: Dark Knight Returns
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Green Lantern Mosaic- a fascinating story about soul searching and redemption pre-Parallax
Infinite Crisis Issue #1- We'll miss ya, Ted.
Marvel
Mutant Massacre
Inferno
New Mutants(yes, the entire series)
DP7 and the vast majority of the New Universe stuff- Heroes before Heroes was on t.v.
Morlocks mini series- a wonderful short story regarding mutants that can't blow up the world and remake in their image, regenerate from a cell sample their dentist took when they were five, or otherwise save the day simply by showing up.
Other
Watchmen
Negation
Girls
Gold Digger(well, before it got silly)
Dungeons and Dragons: The Last of My Father(oh god, I know that's not the name..I'll look it up later)- the comic that turned me on to Greyhawk.
A Random top 10 in no particular order:
Batman Year One Miller/Mazzuchelli
Sandman-the Shakespeare issues by Gaiman/Vess
Avengers: The Korvac/Michael Saga Shooter/Perez/Wenzel et. al
Kree-Skrull War Thomas/Adams/Buscema
FF 48-50 Lee/Kirby into of Galactus & Surfer
Walt Simonson's Thor run
Steve Englehart's Dr. Strange run
Jim Starlin's Metamorphosis Odyssey
Busiek/Nord's Conan
Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
-M
Okay, the gloves come off.
Preacher. all
Invisibles. all
Promethea. all
Watchmen. all
Lucifer. all
Ultimates. first two.
Authority. all
Bendis on Daredevil.
Rising stars.
Y the last man.
New xmen under morrisson.
'Nam
most Tintin.
100 bullets. but stretched thin.
The killing joke.
Red Son. Love the recursive loop. The soviet superman.
Quiver. Kevin Smith usually just irritates me.
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1)Ditko's Dr Strange in the realm of Dormammu (Strange Tales)...truly weird and marvelous.....inked by Ditko himself
2)Kirby's FF (34 to 64) - Galactus & Silver Sufer, Black Panther, Frightful Four, the Inhumans, Dragon Man....inked by Joe Sinnot.
3) Kirby's Thor (121-159)- amazing heroic fantasy/sifi + Tales of Asgard...again inked by Sinnot.
Watchmen
League of Extraordinary Gentleman
FABLES - by far the best comic series I've read in a long, long time.
Here's a second nod to Kingdom Come, and the Spiderman/Firelord story (Gotta admit that Earth pizza is the best!).
Others:
G.I. Joe: The "death" and return of Cobra Commander
ROM Spaceknight: The final Dire Wraith crossover event.
Shadow of the Bat: The first Arkham story Arc
Batman Vs. Predator
Peter Parker's Clone Story Arcs
As for current stories:
The Invincible Iron Man story has started strong, with the introduction of Obadiah Stane's kid coming to off Tony Stark.
Moon Knight, the Death of Marc Spector looks good.
And I'm waiting for the end of all the RIP Batman titles to end before I read them, but color me interested!
Battle Angel Alita (the original series, not the 'reimagining' currently being published)
Hectic Planet
Great Teacher Onizuka
Anything by Richard Sala
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One of my favorite comic arc was Top Ten. It just struck me as a wonderful realistic take on "what would happen if superheroes REALLY existed?", but it wasn't taken in the route "Heroes" is going in. Wonderful stuff.
Speaking of a Top Ten...
10) JSA issues 1-4. reintroduced the JSA (who I've been following for YEARS) to a new audience.
9) Project: Superpowers. If you aren't reading this work by Alex Ross and Jim Kreuger, you're missing out.
8) Uncanny X-Men by Ed Brubaker. I NEVER thought in a million years I would like Warpath...EVER.
7) Captain America. Steve Rogers was the best, but BUCKY F'N RULES!!!!
6) The Twelve. Well written story about 12 superheroes from WW2 waking up in modern day Marvel Universe.
5) Secret Invasion. Yeah, I know its a mini. Yeah I know you're sick of it. But you have to admit...in the latest issue...somewhere in your brain...you thought the big fight scenes were cool.
4) Green Lantern: Rebirth brought back Hal Jordan while keeping my favorite GL (Kyle Rayner) alive. I got goose bumps when Hal stands up out of the coffin and tells Sinestro to get his damn hands off of him (Kyle).
3) Crisis on Infinite Earths. Destroyed the multiple earth policy DC had going on (for a while) and brought a new statis quo to the DCU. It's actions are still being felt today (Blackest Night anyone??)
2) Ultimate Spider-Man. I only pick up the trades (I'm up to #9), but it reminds me why I always liked Spider-Man.
1) JLA issues 1-4 by Grant Morrison. Brought back the Big 7 and Grant made AQUAMAN cool.
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As for story the Death of Captain Marvel <snip> To bad they ruined it by bringing him back.
My biggest lament concerning the universe of pulp media, and a prime example of why the customer is NOT always right.
The following stories really rung true with me:
[Uncanny] XMen from around issue 85 (??) (its been a good thirty-ish years - after the reprints and into the modern era) forward to the death of Jean Grey. The restart of that line into a more modern book was absolute genious, and Byrne/Claremont was, I think, the team to beat during that era. Another example of "should have left 'em dead." Sadly, I no longer have these first-hand - the concept of 'collectable' was lost on me back then, even though I bought the Overstreet guide every year and was WELL-VERSED with the concepts of collectability and the impact that the War years and paper recycling and such had on them.
Watchmen. It goes without saying. The opening narration of that book is so powerful.
Kingdom Come. His (edit: Alex Ross') work in Astro City was definitely a precursor to this magnificent work. I definitely appreciate the Amazon Warrior aspect of Wonder Woman in here.
Green Lantern: Rebirth. I love Hal Jordan. I love having a good guy that stands opposed to Batman's cynicism. I know Superman is supposed to be that, but they've managed to write Superman into marginality.
Countdown to Infinite Crisis, specifically the death of the Blue Beetle/Ted Kord. I'm kind of an anti-Batman fan, and to have so powerful an "I-told-you-so" to throw in his face appealed to me.
ULTIMATES Volume 1 and 2, specifically Thor. I love the direction they took him, especially when, for a good 10-ish books you didn't know if he really was just crazy or what. Favorite line (paraphrased) - Thor talking to Steve Rogers' dismissal of his self-proclaimed divinity, "You go to church every Sunday. How is this any different?"
It was touched upon in another thread about the relevance of "art" over "mainstream." For me, even mainstream can have moving, relative stories, sometimes just as powerful because it isn't presented with all the pomp and self-congratulations that some "art" books seem to carry. What is most important is that moment when the artist/writer is able to connect to the audience, and there's this moment of gesalt, when the audience perceives a truth. Then again, sometimes, there's just the sheer joy of a righteous drubbing in five panels per page, and that carries forth a peculiar truth of its own as well.
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As for story the Death of Captain Marvel, it was well writtrn, well drawn, and incredibly moving. To bad they ruined it by bringing him back. I thought the fact that he stayed dead for so long, was a testament to the enormity of the moment.
At least they handled it in a better way than just having him come back to life.
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Hrm..let's see what pops into my head...
DP7 and the vast majority of the New Universe stuff- Heroes before Heroes was on t.v.
Nice to know someone else loved that series...One of the best ever!
other storylines Ive really enjoyed...
The first Infinity Gems saga spun through Avengers and on..Thanos vs the best of Marvel? good stuff.
The original Crisis series for DC.
The White Martian run in JLA...one of the best. seeing Superman's smile when the JLA were captured and the white martians were realying that the only one they missed was the only member without powers...what was his name? ...Batman....and he'd be no threat.
The Annual where Rogue was introduced and the Brotherhood fought the Avengers...
The Supervillain Team Up where Magneto faces off to Doom, it ran through SSVT, Avengers, Xmen, Hulk...more good stuff.
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Hrm..let's see what pops into my head...
DP7 and the vast majority of the New Universe stuff- Heroes before Heroes was on t.v.
Nice to know someone else loved that series...One of the best ever!
D.P.7 and Psi-Force were awesome! (Strikeforce Morituri came out around that time also, but wasn't New Universe, IIRC.)