Post by shaxper on Apr 5, 2018 17:32:11 GMT -5
#70-61
#80-71
#90-81
#100-91
The Roy Thomas Conan nominations proved some of the most difficult to tabulate this year (you might recall that Conan the Barbarian #1-100 already made #94 on this list), largely due to some people voting for the Savage Tales issues, some people voting for the Conan issues, and two honorable nominations coming in that included both. Beyond that, this marks the second to last time we'll see any big ties on this list, as the highest any nominee climbed on a single vote alone was to the #44 spot (and we'll see that three-way tie on the very next list).
#60-51
59 (tie). Superman: Secret Identity
by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen
originally published in: Superman: Secret Identity #1-4 (2004)
Nominated by: rberman and thwhtguardian
rberman says, "Secret Identity is a wonderful non-canonical Superman story that takes our hero from adolescence into old age, with a focus on his family life as he marries and has children. The only villain in sight is the United States government, which wants to find out what makes him tick or at least co-opt him for covert missions. But mainly Busiek gives us a beautiful series of slice of life snapshots, complemented by Immomen’s expressive art."
59 (tie). Captain America: The Psychotic 1950's Cap/Bucky issues
by Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, and Sal Buscema
originally published in: Captain America #153-156 (1972)
Nominated by: brutalis and Icctrombone
brutalis writes, "Cap takes a vacation. Sharon Carter quits SHIELD. Falcon finds Cap and Bucky in Harlem beating up on the black people of the neighborhood. It is discovered that the 1950's had another Captain America while Steve Rogers was on ice. This phoney loved Cap so much he devoted his life to researching all he could of Cap and found the notes of a German spy who had stolen the Super-Soldier Serum. Taking this info to the US government where they developed it and used it on him and gave him plastic surgery to resemble Steve Rogers. After the Korean war this Cap program is suspended he recruits a Bucky Look giving him a shot of the serum so they both will have super strength they fight throughout the Communist era. Eventually the 2 of them become increasingly violent and the government retires them by placing them into suspended animation.
Bringing in current politics to the story a disgruntled loyal patriot annoyed with Nixon helps awaken the 2 pop-sicle twins who continue their rampages just where they left off. Falcon and Sharon stop Bucky and Original Cap versus Fake Cap.
Englehart instead of Thomas came up with this baby or retro-continuity and inserted his usual high writing standards and created a story that spoke to the readers and reflected the times and is just as great of a story today as it was then. Both the 50's Cap and Bucky go on later in the Marvel U becoming different characters with new stories to tell. Fake Cap becoming the Grand Director and Bucky to take on the Mantle of Nomad, another identity Steve Rogers took on.
This is what a great comic book story does, connect the past inconsistencies, tell a wonderful story while doing so and creates fodder for future stories!"
54 (tie). Tor
by Joe Kubert
originally published in:
"1,000,000 Years Ago" (1953)
"3-D Comics" (1953)
"Tor" #1-3 (1954)
"Tor" #1-6 (1975-76)
"Tor" #1-4 (1994)
Nominated by: thwhtguardian
thwhtguardian writes, "I first learned to love comics on the knees of my father, he had a sprawling collection that was mine to peruse as I wished growing up. Among his collection though his absolute favorites were the works of Joe Kubert and he had a decades long string of letters to and from Joe stretching back to his own youth to prove it. I can't remember the year but my Father took me to see Joe at an event in Providence and what I remember most about the visit was the utter look of reverence on my Father's face as he met his hero for the first time. It was a great moment and has always been a memory that cemented the importance of the genre in my mind.
My Father's favorites tended to be Joe's war books like Sgt. Rock, The Haunted Tank and the Unknown Soldier but my pleasures tended towards Tarzan and Korak....but my favorite by far was Tor as it combined my love of comics and dinosaurs in one. The stories themselves are little simplistic; an exiled cave man wandering the land fighting a slew of dinosaurs and other various prehistoric monsters. They obviously weren't historically accurate, but who cares? A muscly dude fighting dinosaurs is just pure fun for boys and girls of all ages and the art was absolutely fantastic. The action is clear, has a great fluid energy to it and is easy to follow making the pacing of the panels just perfect and the creatures themselves are just fun to look at."
54 (tie). Peter Allen David's "Supergirl"
by Peter David, Gary Frank, and others
originally published in: The Orc Treasure OGN (2004)
Nominated by: sunofdarkchild
sunofdarkchild writes, "A choice which I think surprises no one in this community. This is the story I read the most recently out of all 10 on my list, and it had a big impact on me. While I could have gone with the first 50 issues or with PAD's entire run, I have decided o focus on the first 9 issues, because I feel they tell one complete story with consistent themes and great character work. Gary Frank's art is amazing, especially his rendition of Gorilla Grodd. The themes of identity and humanity are explored well. The new cast of characters is fantastic, and the human drama is actually more interesting than the fight scenes, which are still good in their own right. I want to read more about Fred and Sylvia, Mattie and Cutter, and not just more about Linda/Supergirl. And that is rare for even a good comic run."
54 (tie). The Orc Treasure
by Kevin J. Anderson and Alex Nino
originally published in: The Orc Treasure OGN (2004)
Nominated by: Arthur Gordon Scratch
Arthur Gordon Scratch writes, " 'Gree is a workaday Orc without many aspirations, as greedy and nasty as they come. But soon, after he and his fellow orcs lay siege to a human castle, Gree comes upon a hidden treasure, one more precious than mere gold...and one which will change his life forever.'
This is the kind of books that used to make it a joy to go htrough the indie pages of the Previws catalogue, finding ths under the radar book from a small publishing company who did it because of passion for the artists. I can't imagine this book made much money as I've so seldom seen it. Yet, as a dedicated Nino enthusiast, I got it instantly and was pleasantly surprised to discover this was high-end Nino work, complemented by a story he's rarely got the chance to tackle, one of quality, subtlety and quite frankly very entertaining, making a point about what is treasure and what isn't.
The theme also is the transformative power of art, how it can affect anyone to transcendental levels, as Gree, in charge of watching the treasure learns to appreciate it and slowly transforms into some kind of museum currator, mortified by the prospect of it being spread out in exchange of vulgar gold coins.
As enemies gather around and seal Gree's fate, the next grunt in charge of the treasure experiences a similar epiphany...
Anderson keeps himself well in the background by omitting thought bubbles entirely, excluding narrative boxes nearly as completely, and keeping dialogue to a minimum. This lets Nino's art take center stage while still providing the reader with those moments where telling (despite all the stereotypical advice to the contrary) is essential for the reader to understand what a character is thinking or feeling. The severely limited word-count here may tempt the reader to speed through the text, but that's exactly the wrong way to read this book. Easily as effective as those wordless or nearly wordless Chris VanAllsburg picture books, the incredibly rich illustrations are narratives in themselves and to limit your self to the dialog would be to forfeit three quarters of the story. No, to get everything this duo is offering the reader needs to move slowly through each nuance of illustration savor every perfect, minimalist written line. Nino provides all sorts of details that enrich every aspect of the narrative that will be missed by the casual or swift reader, and Anderson is at Haiku level simplicity here and every word counts. What seals the deal is Nino stretching his muscles so far out that you can really experience his art as if it was the first time, him not relying on his usual bag of tricks but expanding his storytelling technique in unexpected ways, making this more a journey of the mind than a typical sword and sorcery affair.
As this book sadly remains under the radar, I searched the internet for pictures and scans with little success, expecting its 172 page count to be heavily showcased, but it wasn't so, which means if this caught your interest, you'll have to go the extra mile and get it yourself."
54 (tie). The Legion of Superheroes, Volume 4
by Tom & Mary Bierbaum, Keith Giffen, Al Gordon, Tom McCraw, Mark Waid, Jason Pearson, Stuart Immonen, Chris Sprouse, and Adam Hughes
originally published in: Legion of Super-Heroes # 1-61, Annuals # 1-5, and Legionnaires # 1-18, Annuals # 1-2 (1989-1994)
Nominated by: hondobrode
hondobrode writes, "I loved the Legion when Levitz and Giffen were on it. At first, I hated this version, volume 4, of the Legion. It hadn’t been around for a little while and I was rabidly awaiting their return, like always happens.
Well, what did I get ?
5 Years Later, Giffen shoves us into the dark cold future. It's still Keith Giffen, but instead of channeling Jack Kirby, he's discovered Jose Munoz, whose work is very distinctive and heavy on blacks. The look itself was so different that visually it turned a lot of fans off not being very traditional. Like a lot of stylized art, I eventually came to like it, but at first, I didn't so much.
Another thing, is that his co-writers, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, were hardcore Legion fans. That in itself was way cool and what they did to shake up the franchise was radical, but I've always really loved this concept of professional creator and fans-turned-new-pros taking the wheel.
The team is broken up and in different locations across the galaxy. We only learn snippets of what happened between the end of Volume 3, the Magic Wars, and now, in passing dialogue. The team tried to do the best that they could with the Superboy basically never having existed from the Pocket Universe storyline of Volume 3 # 37-38. Mon-EL (emphasis mine) became a problem too as a relative of the House of El, Superboy, so a similar character, Valor, was introduced with the re-configuring of the Legion universe timeline where reality was ruled by Mordru and Glorith.
They were modeled after the team at the point in time when they were considered the strongest, just after the death of Ferro Lad. This gave us two different Legions, with this duplicate set having more of a traditional Silver Age feel. They eventually spun off into their own Legionnaires title, which I ended up liking quite a lot.
The "Archie" Legion had its own title and Mon-El got retconned to Valor, the Superboy archetype, and that was actually a really good series as well.
The "End of an Era" storyline crossed all three titles. I didn't really believe that DC was going to do what it looked like they were going to do, but they actually did it. They pulled the plug on the whole franchise and rebooted it.
Remember when I said no one was safe ?
I gave it a try anyway, cause I'm a huge Legion fan, and I get why they did it, but I really have a soft spot for the Legion back then.
54 (tie). The Incal
by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Jean Giraud (as Moebius)
original English publication: The Incal Books 1-3 (1988)
Nominated by: @mrp
mrp writes, "Welcome to the adventures of John DiFool, a nobody class R private investigator and Deepo his pet/companion bird who stumble upon an epic adventure that is part space opera, part messianic fable, part satire and all glorious. It features alien invasions, political intrigues, conspiracies, debauchery, social commentary, and the requisite MacGuffin, the Incal that sets the whole story in motion when it falls into DiFool's hands.
The origins for this grand sci-fi tale lie in the collaboration between Jodo and Giraud on the unmade Dune film in the mid-70s and they expanded on ideas, concept art and themes they had planned to explore in the film, but their collaboration eventually blossomed into something that transcended its origins and became something utterly new and nearly unprecedented. The Incal has spawned sequels and prequels, which while good don't quite reach the heights of the original, and was the start of the Jodoverse which spawned such series as The Metabarons and the Tecnho-Priests by Jodo and other artists, but none of that is necessary to experience the Incal itself.
This is DiFool's epic journey of cosmic initiation, but it was also my initiation of sorts into an even wider world of comics than mainstream American comics. Every time I read it I find something new to marvel at and additional depths to plunder, but even taken only at a surface levle it is still a grand sci-fi adventure with gorgeous art."
53. The Avengers: Mansion Siege
by Roger Stern, John Buscema, and others
originally published in: Avengers #271, 273-277 (1986-1987)
Nominated by: Crimebuster , Paste Pot Paul , and coke & comics (voting for Avengers #255-285)
Crimebuster writes, "Roger Stern's great Avengers run climaxes with this truly epic story where the new Baron Zemo recruits a horde of supervillains to become the new Masters of Evil. His intricate plan goes off like clockwork as they take the Avengers off guard, infiltrating and taking over the mansion, capturing and torturing the Avengers inside, as well as Jarvis. Only the Wasp remains at large, outside the mansion. Calling in the reserves, she puts together a makeshift team of heroes to truly live up to the team's name - and Avenge their fallen friends, leading to a crazy battle that ends the only way it could: with a one on one battle between Cap and Zemo amidst the rubble and the bodies of their comrades. Add in some great art by the legendary team of Buscema and Palmer, and for me, this is the top Avengers story of all time."
52. Thor: The Surtur Saga
by Walt Simonson
originally published in: Thor #337-353 (1983-1985)
Nominated by: Crimebuster , @mrp , brutalis , coke & comics
Crimebuster writes, "Walt Simonson turned the entire Thor mythos on its ear right from his first issue, as beta Ray Bill shows up and defeats Thor, proving himself worthy of lifting the hammer in the process. That's just the start of a saga that eventually brings back the fire demon Surtur, who seeks to start Ragnarok and destroy Asgard in the process.
The final battle involves massive armies invading Earth, facing off against the combined might of Earth's armed forces led by the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, while Odin, Thor, and Loki team up to take on Surtur in the ruins of Asgard. It's just incredibly epic."
51. Conan: Red Nails
by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith
originally published in: Savage Tales 2-3 (1973-1974)
Nominated by: Prince Hal , and shaxper (voting for "Roy Thomas Conan") and @mrp (voting for "Conan the Barbarian 1-16, 19-21, 23-24, Savage Tales 2-3")
Prince Hal writes, "I first read “Red Nails” in the Lancer Conan the Warrior paperback, and I’ll be honest, have not re-read it in print form since. (A mistake soon to be corrected.) It may be that I relish the memory of reading it back when I was an impressionable 13-year-old and don’t want to “see the man behind the curtain.” That’s because I can still remember how eerie and frightening it was to read of a kind of a Mayanesque, vacuum-sealed city in the middle of nowhere whose tangled maze of streets was haunted by rival tribesmen – zombies? Undead creatures? Ghouls? – were locked in eternal bloody combat.
When Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith adapted one of Howard’s best stories for Savage Tales in resplendent black and white, I was like a bee in clover, pig in slop, a barbarian knee-deep in gore. BWS was evolving right before our eyes, at light speed. Nothing like his combination of Pre-Raphaelite, super-detailed illustration, graceful violence and dynamic, fluid storytelling existed in mainstream comics. Even a relative newcomer to the ins and outs of comic books like me found it hard to believe that he had transformed his artwork {so thoroughly} in less than four years.
I said in my first post that I was choosing sagas that I couldn’t wait to see chapter by chapter. Only two of them in this saga, but the months between June and October 1973 were interminable.
I can't think of any comic book story that was any better at capturing atmosphere, character and mood better than this Thomas-Smith masterpiece."
#80-71
#90-81
#100-91
The Roy Thomas Conan nominations proved some of the most difficult to tabulate this year (you might recall that Conan the Barbarian #1-100 already made #94 on this list), largely due to some people voting for the Savage Tales issues, some people voting for the Conan issues, and two honorable nominations coming in that included both. Beyond that, this marks the second to last time we'll see any big ties on this list, as the highest any nominee climbed on a single vote alone was to the #44 spot (and we'll see that three-way tie on the very next list).
#60-51
59 (tie). Superman: Secret Identity
by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen
originally published in: Superman: Secret Identity #1-4 (2004)
Nominated by: rberman and thwhtguardian
rberman says, "Secret Identity is a wonderful non-canonical Superman story that takes our hero from adolescence into old age, with a focus on his family life as he marries and has children. The only villain in sight is the United States government, which wants to find out what makes him tick or at least co-opt him for covert missions. But mainly Busiek gives us a beautiful series of slice of life snapshots, complemented by Immomen’s expressive art."
59 (tie). Captain America: The Psychotic 1950's Cap/Bucky issues
by Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, and Sal Buscema
originally published in: Captain America #153-156 (1972)
Nominated by: brutalis and Icctrombone
brutalis writes, "Cap takes a vacation. Sharon Carter quits SHIELD. Falcon finds Cap and Bucky in Harlem beating up on the black people of the neighborhood. It is discovered that the 1950's had another Captain America while Steve Rogers was on ice. This phoney loved Cap so much he devoted his life to researching all he could of Cap and found the notes of a German spy who had stolen the Super-Soldier Serum. Taking this info to the US government where they developed it and used it on him and gave him plastic surgery to resemble Steve Rogers. After the Korean war this Cap program is suspended he recruits a Bucky Look giving him a shot of the serum so they both will have super strength they fight throughout the Communist era. Eventually the 2 of them become increasingly violent and the government retires them by placing them into suspended animation.
Bringing in current politics to the story a disgruntled loyal patriot annoyed with Nixon helps awaken the 2 pop-sicle twins who continue their rampages just where they left off. Falcon and Sharon stop Bucky and Original Cap versus Fake Cap.
Englehart instead of Thomas came up with this baby or retro-continuity and inserted his usual high writing standards and created a story that spoke to the readers and reflected the times and is just as great of a story today as it was then. Both the 50's Cap and Bucky go on later in the Marvel U becoming different characters with new stories to tell. Fake Cap becoming the Grand Director and Bucky to take on the Mantle of Nomad, another identity Steve Rogers took on.
This is what a great comic book story does, connect the past inconsistencies, tell a wonderful story while doing so and creates fodder for future stories!"
54 (tie). Tor
by Joe Kubert
originally published in:
"1,000,000 Years Ago" (1953)
"3-D Comics" (1953)
"Tor" #1-3 (1954)
"Tor" #1-6 (1975-76)
"Tor" #1-4 (1994)
Nominated by: thwhtguardian
thwhtguardian writes, "I first learned to love comics on the knees of my father, he had a sprawling collection that was mine to peruse as I wished growing up. Among his collection though his absolute favorites were the works of Joe Kubert and he had a decades long string of letters to and from Joe stretching back to his own youth to prove it. I can't remember the year but my Father took me to see Joe at an event in Providence and what I remember most about the visit was the utter look of reverence on my Father's face as he met his hero for the first time. It was a great moment and has always been a memory that cemented the importance of the genre in my mind.
My Father's favorites tended to be Joe's war books like Sgt. Rock, The Haunted Tank and the Unknown Soldier but my pleasures tended towards Tarzan and Korak....but my favorite by far was Tor as it combined my love of comics and dinosaurs in one. The stories themselves are little simplistic; an exiled cave man wandering the land fighting a slew of dinosaurs and other various prehistoric monsters. They obviously weren't historically accurate, but who cares? A muscly dude fighting dinosaurs is just pure fun for boys and girls of all ages and the art was absolutely fantastic. The action is clear, has a great fluid energy to it and is easy to follow making the pacing of the panels just perfect and the creatures themselves are just fun to look at."
54 (tie). Peter Allen David's "Supergirl"
by Peter David, Gary Frank, and others
originally published in: The Orc Treasure OGN (2004)
Nominated by: sunofdarkchild
sunofdarkchild writes, "A choice which I think surprises no one in this community. This is the story I read the most recently out of all 10 on my list, and it had a big impact on me. While I could have gone with the first 50 issues or with PAD's entire run, I have decided o focus on the first 9 issues, because I feel they tell one complete story with consistent themes and great character work. Gary Frank's art is amazing, especially his rendition of Gorilla Grodd. The themes of identity and humanity are explored well. The new cast of characters is fantastic, and the human drama is actually more interesting than the fight scenes, which are still good in their own right. I want to read more about Fred and Sylvia, Mattie and Cutter, and not just more about Linda/Supergirl. And that is rare for even a good comic run."
54 (tie). The Orc Treasure
by Kevin J. Anderson and Alex Nino
originally published in: The Orc Treasure OGN (2004)
Nominated by: Arthur Gordon Scratch
Arthur Gordon Scratch writes, " 'Gree is a workaday Orc without many aspirations, as greedy and nasty as they come. But soon, after he and his fellow orcs lay siege to a human castle, Gree comes upon a hidden treasure, one more precious than mere gold...and one which will change his life forever.'
This is the kind of books that used to make it a joy to go htrough the indie pages of the Previws catalogue, finding ths under the radar book from a small publishing company who did it because of passion for the artists. I can't imagine this book made much money as I've so seldom seen it. Yet, as a dedicated Nino enthusiast, I got it instantly and was pleasantly surprised to discover this was high-end Nino work, complemented by a story he's rarely got the chance to tackle, one of quality, subtlety and quite frankly very entertaining, making a point about what is treasure and what isn't.
The theme also is the transformative power of art, how it can affect anyone to transcendental levels, as Gree, in charge of watching the treasure learns to appreciate it and slowly transforms into some kind of museum currator, mortified by the prospect of it being spread out in exchange of vulgar gold coins.
As enemies gather around and seal Gree's fate, the next grunt in charge of the treasure experiences a similar epiphany...
Anderson keeps himself well in the background by omitting thought bubbles entirely, excluding narrative boxes nearly as completely, and keeping dialogue to a minimum. This lets Nino's art take center stage while still providing the reader with those moments where telling (despite all the stereotypical advice to the contrary) is essential for the reader to understand what a character is thinking or feeling. The severely limited word-count here may tempt the reader to speed through the text, but that's exactly the wrong way to read this book. Easily as effective as those wordless or nearly wordless Chris VanAllsburg picture books, the incredibly rich illustrations are narratives in themselves and to limit your self to the dialog would be to forfeit three quarters of the story. No, to get everything this duo is offering the reader needs to move slowly through each nuance of illustration savor every perfect, minimalist written line. Nino provides all sorts of details that enrich every aspect of the narrative that will be missed by the casual or swift reader, and Anderson is at Haiku level simplicity here and every word counts. What seals the deal is Nino stretching his muscles so far out that you can really experience his art as if it was the first time, him not relying on his usual bag of tricks but expanding his storytelling technique in unexpected ways, making this more a journey of the mind than a typical sword and sorcery affair.
As this book sadly remains under the radar, I searched the internet for pictures and scans with little success, expecting its 172 page count to be heavily showcased, but it wasn't so, which means if this caught your interest, you'll have to go the extra mile and get it yourself."
54 (tie). The Legion of Superheroes, Volume 4
by Tom & Mary Bierbaum, Keith Giffen, Al Gordon, Tom McCraw, Mark Waid, Jason Pearson, Stuart Immonen, Chris Sprouse, and Adam Hughes
originally published in: Legion of Super-Heroes # 1-61, Annuals # 1-5, and Legionnaires # 1-18, Annuals # 1-2 (1989-1994)
Nominated by: hondobrode
hondobrode writes, "I loved the Legion when Levitz and Giffen were on it. At first, I hated this version, volume 4, of the Legion. It hadn’t been around for a little while and I was rabidly awaiting their return, like always happens.
Well, what did I get ?
5 Years Later, Giffen shoves us into the dark cold future. It's still Keith Giffen, but instead of channeling Jack Kirby, he's discovered Jose Munoz, whose work is very distinctive and heavy on blacks. The look itself was so different that visually it turned a lot of fans off not being very traditional. Like a lot of stylized art, I eventually came to like it, but at first, I didn't so much.
Another thing, is that his co-writers, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, were hardcore Legion fans. That in itself was way cool and what they did to shake up the franchise was radical, but I've always really loved this concept of professional creator and fans-turned-new-pros taking the wheel.
The team is broken up and in different locations across the galaxy. We only learn snippets of what happened between the end of Volume 3, the Magic Wars, and now, in passing dialogue. The team tried to do the best that they could with the Superboy basically never having existed from the Pocket Universe storyline of Volume 3 # 37-38. Mon-EL (emphasis mine) became a problem too as a relative of the House of El, Superboy, so a similar character, Valor, was introduced with the re-configuring of the Legion universe timeline where reality was ruled by Mordru and Glorith.
They were modeled after the team at the point in time when they were considered the strongest, just after the death of Ferro Lad. This gave us two different Legions, with this duplicate set having more of a traditional Silver Age feel. They eventually spun off into their own Legionnaires title, which I ended up liking quite a lot.
The "Archie" Legion had its own title and Mon-El got retconned to Valor, the Superboy archetype, and that was actually a really good series as well.
The "End of an Era" storyline crossed all three titles. I didn't really believe that DC was going to do what it looked like they were going to do, but they actually did it. They pulled the plug on the whole franchise and rebooted it.
Remember when I said no one was safe ?
I gave it a try anyway, cause I'm a huge Legion fan, and I get why they did it, but I really have a soft spot for the Legion back then.
54 (tie). The Incal
by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Jean Giraud (as Moebius)
original English publication: The Incal Books 1-3 (1988)
Nominated by: @mrp
mrp writes, "Welcome to the adventures of John DiFool, a nobody class R private investigator and Deepo his pet/companion bird who stumble upon an epic adventure that is part space opera, part messianic fable, part satire and all glorious. It features alien invasions, political intrigues, conspiracies, debauchery, social commentary, and the requisite MacGuffin, the Incal that sets the whole story in motion when it falls into DiFool's hands.
The origins for this grand sci-fi tale lie in the collaboration between Jodo and Giraud on the unmade Dune film in the mid-70s and they expanded on ideas, concept art and themes they had planned to explore in the film, but their collaboration eventually blossomed into something that transcended its origins and became something utterly new and nearly unprecedented. The Incal has spawned sequels and prequels, which while good don't quite reach the heights of the original, and was the start of the Jodoverse which spawned such series as The Metabarons and the Tecnho-Priests by Jodo and other artists, but none of that is necessary to experience the Incal itself.
This is DiFool's epic journey of cosmic initiation, but it was also my initiation of sorts into an even wider world of comics than mainstream American comics. Every time I read it I find something new to marvel at and additional depths to plunder, but even taken only at a surface levle it is still a grand sci-fi adventure with gorgeous art."
53. The Avengers: Mansion Siege
by Roger Stern, John Buscema, and others
originally published in: Avengers #271, 273-277 (1986-1987)
Nominated by: Crimebuster , Paste Pot Paul , and coke & comics (voting for Avengers #255-285)
Crimebuster writes, "Roger Stern's great Avengers run climaxes with this truly epic story where the new Baron Zemo recruits a horde of supervillains to become the new Masters of Evil. His intricate plan goes off like clockwork as they take the Avengers off guard, infiltrating and taking over the mansion, capturing and torturing the Avengers inside, as well as Jarvis. Only the Wasp remains at large, outside the mansion. Calling in the reserves, she puts together a makeshift team of heroes to truly live up to the team's name - and Avenge their fallen friends, leading to a crazy battle that ends the only way it could: with a one on one battle between Cap and Zemo amidst the rubble and the bodies of their comrades. Add in some great art by the legendary team of Buscema and Palmer, and for me, this is the top Avengers story of all time."
52. Thor: The Surtur Saga
by Walt Simonson
originally published in: Thor #337-353 (1983-1985)
Nominated by: Crimebuster , @mrp , brutalis , coke & comics
Crimebuster writes, "Walt Simonson turned the entire Thor mythos on its ear right from his first issue, as beta Ray Bill shows up and defeats Thor, proving himself worthy of lifting the hammer in the process. That's just the start of a saga that eventually brings back the fire demon Surtur, who seeks to start Ragnarok and destroy Asgard in the process.
The final battle involves massive armies invading Earth, facing off against the combined might of Earth's armed forces led by the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, while Odin, Thor, and Loki team up to take on Surtur in the ruins of Asgard. It's just incredibly epic."
51. Conan: Red Nails
by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith
originally published in: Savage Tales 2-3 (1973-1974)
Nominated by: Prince Hal , and shaxper (voting for "Roy Thomas Conan") and @mrp (voting for "Conan the Barbarian 1-16, 19-21, 23-24, Savage Tales 2-3")
Prince Hal writes, "I first read “Red Nails” in the Lancer Conan the Warrior paperback, and I’ll be honest, have not re-read it in print form since. (A mistake soon to be corrected.) It may be that I relish the memory of reading it back when I was an impressionable 13-year-old and don’t want to “see the man behind the curtain.” That’s because I can still remember how eerie and frightening it was to read of a kind of a Mayanesque, vacuum-sealed city in the middle of nowhere whose tangled maze of streets was haunted by rival tribesmen – zombies? Undead creatures? Ghouls? – were locked in eternal bloody combat.
When Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith adapted one of Howard’s best stories for Savage Tales in resplendent black and white, I was like a bee in clover, pig in slop, a barbarian knee-deep in gore. BWS was evolving right before our eyes, at light speed. Nothing like his combination of Pre-Raphaelite, super-detailed illustration, graceful violence and dynamic, fluid storytelling existed in mainstream comics. Even a relative newcomer to the ins and outs of comic books like me found it hard to believe that he had transformed his artwork {so thoroughly} in less than four years.
I said in my first post that I was choosing sagas that I couldn’t wait to see chapter by chapter. Only two of them in this saga, but the months between June and October 1973 were interminable.
I can't think of any comic book story that was any better at capturing atmosphere, character and mood better than this Thomas-Smith masterpiece."
