shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,860
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Post by shaxper on Aug 3, 2017 23:00:08 GMT -5
Pssst...Make sure to check out the Advance Warning Thread before jumping in with your selection!7. New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract Era (1984-1985) By: Marv Wolfman and George Perez Originally published in: New Teen Titans #38-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41-50, and Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3 I think it's important to differentiate between "The Judas Contract" and the era in which "The Judas Contract" was produced. While the story, in and of itself, is unequivocally the team's best multi-part storyline ever published, it's representative of something larger happening to the title at the time. While the New Teen Titans had already been in print for three years by this point, Wolfman and Perez did absolutely everything noteworthy to the team between January of 1984 and February of 1985. Perez's art suddenly came alive on a level we'd never seen before (see above), Wolfman's characterizations became deeper and more incisive, and suddenly all these major transformations began taking place that caused this team to feel like a real family, experiencing real life and finding themselves irrevocably changed by it, instead of just being another superhero team experiencing disposable adventure after disposable adventure. Donna Troy learned her true past, the depth of her friendship with Dick Grayson was meaningfully and repeatedly explored, Dick underwent his most transformative moment in (at this point) seventy seven years of publication, the team had their greatest battle with all of their greatest villains at the same time, (of course) the story of Terra came to its unforgettable conclusion with an ending so poignant that even the most stoic of readers likely shed a tear, and Donna Troy's personal journey that bookends this stretch culminates with her marriage to Terry Long. It was the perfect ending to a perfect run, and George Perez seemed to agree, leaving the title only three months after. Though I often reference the New Teen Titans as being one of my favorite superhero teams of all time, truly everything great about that title and property happened in this one thirteen month stretch in which characters came alive and grew and changed for both better and worse. This is the most palpable and real that traditional superheroes have ever felt to me.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2017 23:46:13 GMT -5
7. Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond (1934-1945)  Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond January 7, 1934-February 1945 Collected in (among other places) Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond Vol. 1-7 by Checkers Publishing Mongo headed towards Earth. Flash, Dale and Zharkov rocket to Mongo. Ming! Hawkmen. Prince Barin. Princess Aura. Lion Men. These are all iconic pieces of the Flash Gordon saga, a saga that has been told and retold in several mediums over the last 80+ years. And this is where it started, with Alex Raymond and the Sunday funny pages. It's a story that has stood the test of time and become timeless, and one that is flexible enough to be molded into several different iterations in the telling, but it all comes back to Raymond. Week in and week out Raymond wove a saga of adventure, rocket ships, ray guns, strange and wondrous places and even stranger and more wondrous creatures. It has become iconic and mythic and transcended its original iteration to enter into our very pop culture consciousness both through its own story and its influence on much that came after. But even with all that, it's stil a ripping good yard to sit down and read just as Raymond gave it to us. -M
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Post by Icctrombone on Aug 4, 2017 4:49:10 GMT -5
#7- JLA v.1 100-102
The Unknown Soldier of Victory
 I think of all the JLA/JSA crossovers this might be my favorite. It has a mystery, a compilation of 33 heroes and 2 superhero deaths ( when deaths meant something). The 3 parter is the work of Len Wein and Dick Dillin and i revisit it every few years. The Story- The JLA are meeting in their original headquarters to celebrate their 100th meeting when they are transported to earth -2. It turns out that the JSA need help in stopping a force from crushing their planet. Before summoning them to Earth -2 , Dr. Fate discovers a clue , it was a vision of a grave which contained one of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Cei-U!, this ones for you  With the assembled forces of the JLA/JSA present, They combine their mystical might to summon the Oracle ( apparently a cosmic entity) to help them find out where the Seven Soldiers of Victory are and even WHO they are. It turns out that During a battle with the nebula Man the SSOV defeated the entity and were scattered through time as a result thus erasing them from everyones memories. It is revealed that , To defeat the Nebula man , one of the SSOV sacrifices themselves and this holds the key to helping the heroes in the present time. The cover of Issue # 102 is not a lie , one member of the combined 3 teams dies and It always puts a lump in my throat.  Additional scans
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Post by sunofdarkchild on Aug 4, 2017 5:18:26 GMT -5
The Dark Pheonix Saga  By Chris Claremont Published in 1980 Uncanny X-Men #129-138 The classic X-Men story, and in my opinion the beginning of the X-Men's golden era (which lasted from Jean Grey's death until her return began the franchise's decline). Probably the best 'hero becomes a villain' story. The Hellfire Club made for great villains for the first half, and the X-Men's fight with their beloved teammate hit all the right notes in the second half. And the final issue balanced the emotional aspect of having each X-man explore why they were fighting for Jean before the big showdown with the Shiar Imperial Guard. And I love the Watcher's final line. 'Jean Grey could have lived to become a god, but it was more important to her that she die a human.' A classic and amazing story, even if Marvel later ruined things with terrible retcons. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2017 6:00:52 GMT -5
#7. Daredevil #227-233. Script by Frank Miller, art by David Mazzucchelli.Kingpin finds out Matt is DD & tears apart his life. Miller does an amazing job showing Matt's persistence & ability to fight on against impossible odds. The story moves at a perfect pace. He tears down Matt then rebuilds him returning him to a simpler existence. The ending is hopeful. This was the first time I saw Mazzucchelli's art. He did such an amazing job drawing "normal" people. This added so much to the story. Again a perfect combination of character, concept, story & art. We have seen this copied as a hero is torn apart only to be rebuilt to get "back to basics". Usually it falls short of Daredevil: Born Again.
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Post by brutalis on Aug 4, 2017 7:47:12 GMT -5
#7- JLA v.1 100-102
The Unknown Soldier of Victory
I think of all the JLA/JSA crossovers this might be my favorite. It has a mystery, a compilation of 33 heroes and 2 superhero deaths ( when deaths meant something). The 3 parter is the work of Len Wein and Dick Dillin and i revisit it every few years.
Icc, are you my clone brother? This is one of my faves and higher up on my list. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Aug 4, 2017 8:04:08 GMT -5
Told you.  |
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Post by hondobrode on Aug 4, 2017 8:43:37 GMT -5
# 7 - American Flagg # 1-12 by Howard Chaykin -  These first 12 issues are actually 4 separate storylines that all fit together as chapters of this over-arcing storyline.  This is probably what Chaykin is best known for and with good reason.  It’s one of his favorite themes of a broken dirty society and his recurring anti-hero trying to patch things up, with a good amount of adult implications woven throughout.  Chaykin also touches on corruption and politics here with a corrupt government and head of security he’s forced to work with.  Action, sci-fi concepts, Somnambutol ammo, a talking cat, underground media and subliminals, mind-controlling anti-STD drugs, and more. This is the series that really made Chaykin a superstar IMO showing he can sing and dance too. This was revolutionary 35 years ago and it still holds up today. |
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Post by brutalis on Aug 4, 2017 10:16:04 GMT -5
#7: Cerebus: issues 1-300 or the collected Phone book editions. 1979. Cerebus, High Society, Church and State 1 and 2, Jaka's Story, Melmoth, Flight, Women, Reads, Minds, Guys, Rick's Story, Going Home, Form and Void, Latter Days, The Last Day.
The little Barbarian Aardvark beginning life as a funny animal parody of fantasy and Barry Windsor Smith in particular who always refer to himself in the third person and spends his life in fights for money and only ends up drinking it all away suddenly takes a turn after 25 issues to begin the novelization (what else do you call a planned 300 issue series) approach of a true saga and turns the corner into social/political/satire of comics, movies, rock and roll and religion and life. Dave Sim takes his self published creation and is breaking the mold and comic books may never be the same.
Delivering his own personal views and thoughts and outrageous inspirations while creating a character that captures the attention of everyone Sim starts a love/hate relationship with readers and sparks controversy across the land. Yet in the core of it all Cerebus and his friends (Moon/Wolver/Captain Cockroach, Lord Julius, Jaka, etc...) tell an incredible story with adventures where the characters grow, evolve and change.
One of the truly greatest comic book characters created the crafty little furry stinky when wet mercenary has an everlasting hold upon you once you set time aside to read his story and drown in the artwork that Sim and Gerhard provide.
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958 
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Post by Crimebuster on Aug 4, 2017 10:52:03 GMT -5
#7: Box Office PoisonBox Office Poison #0-21  This is one of those stories that hit the nail on the head so hard it drove it right through my brain. It's an ensemble true life tale focusing mainly on the lives of best friends Sherman and Ed. Sherman is an asipiring writer who spends his time working at a book store, submitting stories that don't get published, and complaining about things to his ill-matched, damaged and more successful girlfriend. Ed is an aspiring artist and hardcore comic book nerd who is awkward and shy around women and has very low self esteem. When I first read this, you know, I was an aspiring writer and comic book nerd who was working at a book store and was terribly awkward with dating. Between the two characters, they hit exactly on every aspect of my life, and in incredibly real detail. It was obvious that creator Alex Robinson was writing from his own life experiences. Over the course of the story, an interesting reversal happens - the seemingly confident and talented Sherman, always right on the verge of getting his big break, ends up going nowhere and doing nothing, held back by his own unwillingness to change and to accept what's in front of him. Ed, on the other hand, blossoms thanks to his job as an assistant to an embittered old Golden Age comic book pro. By the end of the series, Ed is married, happy, and working as a comic book artist, while Sherman is just... older, but in the exact same place as always, only more sarcastic and bitter about his lot in life than ever before. There are also a bunch of great side stories involving other characters, particularly Sherman's roommates Stephen and Jane. Robinson does a lot of fun little bits throughout the series, my favroite being a repeating one-page question and answer session with the characters, which in just one panel each provides a ton of development and insight into just exactly who these people are.   You'll notice the last one is in color, as apparently IDW is in the process of reprinting the whole series issue by issue in color. So go to your LCS and get them!
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 4, 2017 11:52:07 GMT -5
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1. Alan Moore/Kevin O'Neill (originally presented in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 1-6).  I'm a fiend for this kind of thing. Farmer's Wold Newton. Newman's Anno Dracula. Moore pulled out all stops and gave us a huge literary world that works even if you don't get all the references. I probably could include everything Moore and O'Neill have done in the LoEG universe, but the first mini really is a tour de force of world building and story. It's not for the squeamish. And it takes flack because of Moore's ticks, both as an artist and as a person. But I don't care. Again, Moore shows us what the comic form is capable of and shows us very clearly why extended copyrights are an abomination to creativity.
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Aug 4, 2017 14:51:20 GMT -5
Pluto #1-#8Writer/artist : Naoki Urasawa, with some borrowings from Osamu Tezuka   Pluto is a real epic saga. It is a dreamlike sequel to king Tezuka's most popular creation, Astroboy. One of the absolute masters of mangas, Urusawa has already won all possible international awards for Monster or 20th Century Boys. Pluto just added a few more to his shelves. Commissioned by Tezuka's son to imagine a contemproray and relevant follow up to the original series. Astroboy was the comic that begun it all for Urusawa, so he could very well have collapsed under the weigh of the task, but instead he managed to pull his best work yet. Pluto is dead serious, it is dark, light and poetic, heavy on the conspiration level and very dynamic. It feels like William Gibson had written a remake of Blade Runner for Park Chan Wok (Old Boy), and found on the way that he was actually incounsciously making it about Astroboy on a meta level. If this excites you, let me tell you that I don't even do justice to the achivements of this saga, just get onboard the ride already! 
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Post by hondobrode on Aug 4, 2017 16:01:25 GMT -5
Once again, thanks for contributing this.
I know very little about manga but you're write up has me interested enough to buy this.
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Post by brutalis on Aug 4, 2017 16:19:49 GMT -5
Way to go with the out of the normal contributions AGS! Gonna make those of us who never seen or heard about some of these go out of our minds trying to search out and find them. Way to help stimulate the old brain muscles for us readers:D
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Post by brutalis on Aug 4, 2017 16:21:13 GMT -5
Way to go with the out of the norm suggestions AGS. Gonna make us have to get our tired old butts off the sofa and do some searching for new brain stimulation  AAACK> Duplicate cuz my work computer says it timed out and didn't send. Oh well.....you get the idea |
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