So all the Spider-Man movie talk has gotten me a little geeked up and I thought I'd share some of my favorite comic book tales.
I think these are some of the best issues/tbp's I've read and I wanted to tell people about them or at least bring some of you back down memory lane.
Please, please, please post your own favorites here too, along with your thoughts. There is a million different comics I've not read and I'd like to hear what I'm missing.
Spider-Man vs Juggernaut. How does Spidey stop the Unstoppable Juggernaut?
He can't. But it won't stop Spider-Man from trying. Feeling down about what the latest movie did to Spidey's core? Read these to issues and let faith be restored!
Batman #404-#407 Also reprinted as Batman: Year One trade paperback.
Why I love the arc:
This three issue story was inspiration for the movie Batman Begins, which ressurected that sad movie franchise. But that's not why it's good, that's just a fun fact.
Frank Miller wrote a story that makes you love Lt (not Commissioner) James Gordon, as he and a young and inexperienced Batman take on the corrupt Gotham City government.
Frank Miller once again tells an amazing Batman story, this one with an older Batman (he's a gray-haired tank of a man) who's come out of retirement to save a Gotham that's become even more brutal in his absence.
Highlights abound in the story, including a fight to the death with the Joker, and the ultimate fight with Superman.
One of the books considered to grandfather in the "grim and gritty" style of comics that dominated the 90's...
but still worth reading (I kid, Image Comics, I kid.)
Frank Miller (trust me, not all of his stuff is gold, exibit A: Robocop 2, but when he's on he is a revolutionary) gives a nice retelling of the Daredevil origin that feels as dirty and true as the streets that Matt Murdock grew up on.
Thank you! I have wanted to become a full fledged nerd for quite some time now but I just haven't found the time. I think I'll go to the comic book store, attend a Star Trek convension and start playing WOW within the month
Hitman #13-#14: Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium
Why I love the [continuing storyline]:
Hitman is one of the funniest comics of the late 90's provided you like lots of bullets, blood, and crude humor.
The title pretty much tells you what's in store for the reader, but here's the breakdown.
Hitman Tommy Monaghan is hired by an engineering lab to kill a rogue scientist who wants to test a chemical that returns things from the dead. The engineering lab was contracted by the governement to create a zombie juice that would help in battlefield situations. The lab and the goverment don't want the rogue scientist to succeed.
Can Tommy stop him in time? Nope. To top it off, he's got to get out of that place alive.
Thank you! I have wanted to become a full fledged nerd for quite some time now but I just haven't found the time. I think I'll go to the comic book store, attend a Star Trek convension and start playing WOW within the month
Frank Miller (trust me, not all of his stuff is gold, exibit A: Robocop 2, but when he's on he is a revolutionary) gives a nice retelling of the Daredevil origin that feels as dirty and true as the streets that Matt Murdock grew up on.
The Miller stories within the original comics themselves were awesome(not sure what issues #'s but like somewhere between 150 and 200). Introduced us to Elektra, Stick, The Hand, made Bullseye a great villian and gave Kingpin a lot more dpeth than he previously had. Still are my favorite comics of all time, up to that point very few comic fans cared about Daredevil.
John Byrne’s “Superman: Man of Steel” reboot, 1986
Superman went from being a really strong, fast guy in the 1930s to being able to move planets with a flick of his finger in the 70’s. There were innumerable types of Kryptonite with innumerable affects on the Man of Steel. They Superman mythos was getting out of hand.
John Byrne retconned (“retro-active continuity”) the Superman story, one of the only retcons that was not only accepted by fanboys, but embraced. This was during the height of Byrne’s popularity and could do no wrong. (That doesn’t hold true today, incidentally).
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John Byrne and Chris Claremont’s “Days of Future Past” in Uncanny X-Men 141 and 142
This 2-issue arc is brilliant. Brilliant, I say.
An older Kitty Pryde transfers her memory and knowledge to her younger self in order to prevent a dystopian future that sees mutants hunted, murdered or in concentration camps.
It’s also the last of the mythic Byrne/Claremont run on Uncanny.
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John Byrne and Chris Claremont’s “The Dark Phoenix Saga” in Uncanny X-Men 129-137
Likely you’re somewhat familiar with the bones of this story arc because of the X-Men movies. Jean Grey cannot control the dark forces at work inside her, and she
ultimately commits suicide while Cyclops, her lover, watches helplessly.
It also introduces central characters such as Kitty Pryde, Dazzler and the Hellfire Club.
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Jeph Loeb and Time Sales’ Spider-Man: Blue
Peter Parker is married to MJ, but remembers his time with Gwen Stacy on the anniversary of her death.
Awesome.
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Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s “This Man…This Monster” from Fantastic Four #51
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Roger Stern and John Romita Jr’s Amazing Spider-Man 238-239 and 244-245 and 249-251
Garth Ennis' Punisher: The Cell
Frank gets himself arrested in order to get to the mobsters that are running their families from the inside. Very tight story.
