Post by shaxper on Apr 6, 2018 14:30:01 GMT -5
#60-51
#70-61
#80-71
#90-81
#100-91
This installment marks the end of single-nomination entries and the subsequent enormous ties they created due to a small participant pool. I suspect the major upset this time around will be Valiant's 1992 Unity Saga, which I absolutely did not expect to see rank this high on the list (even though I inadvertently helped it with my nomination).
#50-41
49 (tie). Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
by Alan Moore, Curt Swan, George Perez, and Kurt Schaffenburger
originally published in: Superman #423 and Action #583 (1986)
Nominated by: Icctrombone and shaxper
Icctrombone says, "A beautiful masterpiece by Alan Moore and Curt Swan that closes the book on the Silver/Bronze age Superman is todays choice. Most of all the well loved conventions and plot devices are all given a final farewell in this story that begins in Superman # 423 and ends in Action # 583 but by no means is this a pretty story. But I guess the deaths of some of Clarks supporting cast is what gives the book an almost Shakespearian feel. It IS a tragedy and a memorable way to say goodbye to almost 50 years of things like scientist Lex Luthor, super powered Lana Lang and Jimmy Olsen, the relationship to the Legion and Bizarro World. But all things come to and end and what we are given is a shockingly sweet Alan More love letter to the greatest superhero of all."
49 (tie). Astonishing X-Men: “Gifted/Danger/Torn”
by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
originally published in: Astonishing X-Men #1-18 (2004-2006)
Nominated by: rberman and coke & comics
rberman writes, "As Joss Whedon was making his reputation with action/comedy TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, fans of genre fiction couldn’t help but notice influences like Scooby Doo, as a gang of recognized archetypes (mentor, leader/fighter, everyman, preening beauty, geeky girl, brooding loner) banded together to solve arcane mysteries week after week while engaging in witty repartee. The fights were beside the point and often occurred in a “getting this out of the way” manner at the beginning of the episode before proceeding onward to a story allegorizing some element of teenage life (crush on a teacher, new kid in town, feeling out of sync after time apart, etc.) as a monster which could be punched into submission. As the show went on, its archetypes evolved into a Monster Squad (hunter, werewolf, vampire, witch, demon, etc.) with a very X-Man-like camaraderie.
Whedon (born 1964) was sixteen at the peak of the X-Men’s Dark Phoenix glory in 1980. A memorable Claremont/Sienkiewicz two-parter in 1982 (Uncanny X-Men #159 and X-Men King Size Annual #6) turned the team into vampire slayers, with teen X-girl Kitty Pryde playing a key role in freeing her surrogate mom Ororo from Dracula’s clutches. Hey, girls can make great vampire hunters! Hmmm…
I can only imagine that I speak for a generation of X-Man readers (I was born in 1971) for whom Kitty was the idealized super-girlfriend: optimistic, capable, and probably very open to talking for hours with the kind of guy who spends hours reading comic books. Sure, she did ballet, but she had Rubik’s Revenge (solved) on her desk, and she wrote Elfquest fan fiction for Illyana’s bedtime story! Whedon nails her appeal in this discussion between X-students Wing and Armor:
It was not at all hard to see Buffy Summers as Whedon’s Kitty Pryde stand-in, so it was not surprising that when Whedon was given the opportunity to write a two-year run on X-Men, he made Kitty Pryde the protagonist. He came onto the X-Books at a time when Fox’s semi-successful X-films had influenced the comics into darker territory, with black costumes and a psychic affair between Scott Summers and Emma Frost. Grant Morrison’s just-concluded run as X-scribe had some terrific stories and introduced a dozen enduring concepts into the ossifying franchise (Cassandra Nova, the Stepford Cuckoos, Emma’s diamond form, Quentin Quire, and more), but he had also ended on a sour note, with another death of Jean Grey and the implausible revelation that gentle X-recruit Xorn was really Magneto in disguise. Whedon intended to resurrect a heroic X-Man team not just to compensate for the wreckage wreaked on the world in Morrison’s final issues but also to change the tone of the stories themselves, emphasizing optimism and sacrifice. Kitty Pryde was the perfect character for that, so back to the team she came, reliving classic moments along with us. This is a story by an 80s X-fan, for 80s X-fans.
Whedon also inherited Claremont’s penchant for super-romance. Other writers had hooked Kitty up with Peter Wisdom and Peter Quill, but there’s only room for one Peter in her life to be the stand-in for us 80s fanboys, and his name is Rasputin. Jim Shooter hated this pairing because of the age difference and personally ended it by giving Colossus his own tragic love interest in Secret Wars.
But Kitty is old enough now to revisit that ground without being creepy. So after resurrecting Colossus, Whedon gives us the sweet Kitty-Peter romance that we’d been shipping our whole lives. By the way, John Cassaday’s art is amazing throughout the whole series, but he deserves special notice for not glamming Kitty up, as artists have been occasionally tempted to do. She’s not a bimbo. She’s not busty. She’s not even super-pretty. She’s just the super-idealized girlfriend for lonely nerds.
Story? Oh yeah. Comic books have those. Enough about Kitty for now. Whedon arranges his run into four arcs of six issues each, but only the first three arcs fall within the “August 2007 or before” timeframe of this current survey. The four arcs do form an overall story that benefits from completion, but even the first three arcs are great without the gut-punching finale. (Whedon fans can guess that it involves tragedy, because Whedon.) The first arc, “Gifted,” accomplishes the following amidst some of the wittiest and most caustic dialogue the X-Men have ever seen:
• Puts Kitty, Lockheed, and Peter back in the mix, alongside Scott, Hank, Logan, and Emma. A nice streamlined team.
• Establishes Ord of the Breakworld as a “big bad” who poses a credible threat to the entire X-team.
• Shows that Ord’s ship is made of material which is not great for Kitty’s intangible form.
• Sets up Emma and Kitty as antagonists within the team.
• Picks up the Scott/Emma pieces that Grant Morrison left lying on the ground.
• Introduces Dr. Kavita Rao and her “mutant cure” which sorely tempts Hank McCoy.
• Gives us Brand, Agent of S.W.O.R.D., a Torchwood-like organization that guards Earth against extra-terrestrial threats just as S.H.I.E.L.D. deals with earthbound foes.
• Demonstrates more of the functioning of the mansion as a school, including returning students like Grant Morrison's Stepford Cuckoos (who get great Heathers-esque rapid-fire dialogue whenever they rear their hive-mind) as well as newbies like scrappy Armor, spooky Blindfold, and forlorn Wing.
The second arc, “Danger,” builds on “Gifted” while building a whole story around, of all, things, the Danger Room, and not just in the expected “trapped on the holodeck” way. Along the way we get some Genosha, the return of Morrison’s Extinction-Sentinel, more evidence that Charles Xavier is a horrible human being. Kitty and Peter get nice moments that show how much better Whedon is at writing comic book romance than the average super-hero scribe.
Cassaday’s art favors panoramic panels the whole width of the page, giving the whole series a cinematic effect that suits Whedon’s background. There’s also ample use of blank and repeated panels and panel fragments to achieve the desired timing effect. Is it decompressed? Yes, extremely, but decompression done well, to serve the story, not just to pad it out to take up enough pages to fill a trade edition. And accompanied by dialogue that nails the characters, with a tersely taciturn Logan that’s more like your favorite grumpy uncle than like Claremont’s version, the closet philosopher always engaged in a verbosely expository internal monologue.
Meanwhile, Special Agent Brand shows herself to be Whedon’s newest great kick-butt heroine, loaded with his trademark sarcasm.
The third arc, “Torn” takes a real left turn. Emma and Scott’s relationship gets profoundly weird, and a bizarre coalition of villains, including Sebastian Shaw, Cassandra Nova, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, turn up at the mansion. I really can’t say more about it without spoiling it, but Whedon accomplishes a real feeling of plot and character movement. It’s not just the Kitty Show, and Wolverine gets his rightful role as a player rather than a spotlight-hogger. We get to see his claws being actually swordlike, with real decapitations and impalings unimaginable in the Comics Code days.
X-Men have often been justly maligned as a bloated super-soap opera riddled with unnecessary alternate reality versions of the same few basic characters. No alternate realities here, and the real issue is whether those characters are written in a way that makes you want to see more of them. Whedon gives us reasons to do that for pretty much everybody here, even frigid Emma Frost. Only Beast gets relatively neglected and relegated to his usual “tech guy” role, but even he has some nice moments and finds unlikely romance before Whedon’s time on X-Men is done. These stories were my re-introduction to the X-Men after almost 20 years away, and they made me want to see what I’d missed. (Answer: Morrison was mostly great and occasionally terrible. Onslaught was as awful as I’d heard. Avoid at all costs. Age of Apocalypse was just meh.) As in Buffy, the fights are fine, but the talking is where it’s at."
48. Doctor Strange: The Oath
by Brian Vaughan and Marcos Martin.
originally published in: Doctor Strange: The Oath #1-5 (2006)
Nominated by: md62 , thwhtguardian , and @mrp
Michael James writes, "By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth...this was a great story!
Magic based heroes are hard to write IMO. However Vaughan hit this one out of the park. This story had Strange team up with Night Nurse. Vaughan nailed the different characters (Strange, NN & Wong) perfectly. The concept behind the story was well done. The action. The magic. Everything about this series was near perfection. Including Martin's simple yet detailed art. Aside from Lee/Ditko this remains my favorite Strange story in recent times."
45 (tie). Magik: Storm and Illyana
by Chris Claremont, John Buscema, and others
originally published in: Magik: Storm and Illyana # 1-4 with Uncanny X-Men #160 and New Mutants #14 being optional (1983-1984)
Nominated by: sunofdarkchild
sunofdarkchild writes, "I've spoken about Chris Claremont's work on X-Men and New Mutants before, but to me this stands head and shoulders above the rest. A tale of tragedy and inevitability. Illyana Rasputin is doomed from the moment she is taken into Limbo in issue 1, and nothing she or anyone else does over the course of the series or her history can change that. I have considered Magik to be the anti-Jean Grey. Faced with the same choice Jean had, to end it all or risk destroying all that she loved, Magik chose to live and to fight, to say 'yes, I will fall, but not today,' and to say that every day of her life. Comics are notorious for their open-ended nature with no end, but this was the beginning of a story which readers knew would end one day, and not in a happy manner. It is a tragic story, with dashed hopes, shocking moments and character deaths, and the fate of everything hinges on the will of one person, forged in fire and in ice. It is the comic equivalent of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, weird, heartbreaking, bittersweet, and wonderful. And it is in my opinion the best origin story I have seen in superhero comics."
45 (tie). Hellboy: The Wolves of St. August
by Mike Mignoa
originally published in: Dark Horse Presents #88-91 (1994)
Nominated by: thwhtguardian
thwhtguardian writes, "To the absolute surprise of no one here Mike Mignola is making his third and final appearance on my list as my number one pick for the greatest comic book sagas. I could easily have nominated the entire run up until the cut off date of 2007, and it would be a great choice as in that stretch we saw our rough hewn crimson hero evolve from a simple brute punching monsters to a Miltonian figure struggling with the burdens of fate. It tells stories about coming of age, fathers and sons, free will versus determination,nature versus nurture, the power of myth and then weaves them into a cohesive, mythic yarn. And while all of that is utterly fantastic the one, single story that encapsulates every thing about the series that I love, one story that I lend out when ever someone asks me about Hellboy; and it's the Wolves of St. August.
It starts with a myth about werewolves, brings it to the modern day, throws in a ghost story, weaves in some great characterization and ends with a big red guy punching a wolfman into submission and through it all is the most beautiful art I've ever seen."
45 (tie). Captain America: The Winter Soldier
by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Michael Lark, John Paul Leon, Lee Weeks, and Mike Perkins.
originally published in: Captain America (vol. 5) 1-25 (2005-2007)
Nominated by: Paste Pot Paul
Paste Pot Paul writes, "Simply put, they did the impossible, they brought back, with the greatest respect, one of THE characters that never should have been.
Brubaker came up with the perfect formula, Cap as Jason Bourne(not so much Bond...that's more Fury for mine)up against his most despicable foe, at the height of his own game. Finally Skull has a real plan, being thought out and worked through in diabolical efficiency. We get Crossbones finally fulfilling some promise, and even getting HIS girl, Skulls daughter Sin,another excellent addition to the mythos.
Speaking of girls, Sharon Carter gets to shine again, I always feel like she became worthy here, as a support person capable of holding her place in the story, instead of filling up a panel or two. He gets Falcon too, Sam is finally here sharing space and deserving it, owning it.
I've loved these characters since I was maybe 8. Since the time I laid my beady little jealous eyes on Cap 153-156 and discovered Bucky I've loved him(stupid fake 50's Bucky be damned)but more often than not Marvel have done him a disservice. He'll get played well in the Avengers and the next week in his own title is fighting a giant robot version of himself, or struggling with Vermin or some such. Sure Byrne did good...for like 8 issues or so, and JM DeMatteis and Zeck was fun, but the vast majority of his publication its been average at best. For one of THE greatest creations, by one of THE greatest creators that ain't good enough, and thanks to Bru we got shown how to.
I'd love to have included right through Reborn, but the good thing about ending with Cap on the steps, what cliffhanger!
I was literally shocked when I read that Marvel had killed Steve,I hadnt got back into things too much by this stage, wasnt as cynical about character deaths as we all are now, and I was stunned, I was equally stunned by just how good the whole thing is(and what a movie it made)."
44. Iron Man: Armor Wars
by David Michelinie, Mark Gruenwald, Mark Bright, Kieron Dwyer, and others
originally published in: Iron Man #225-231, and Captain America #341 (1987-1988)
Nominated by: wildfire2099 and sunofdarkchild
wildfire2099 writes, "I really think this is the best version of a 'ends justify the means' type superhero story... back in the day when heroes only fought each other before they teamed up, Tony Stark is forced to leave the Avengers and 'go rogue' when his armor tech starts appearing everywhere and hurting people... this was the story that made me fall in love with the character... it's almost sad now to read it when you think about how much of a mess they've made of the character."
43. Avengers vs Defenders
by Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema, Bob Brown, and others
originally published in: Avengers #115-118 and Defenders #8-11 (1973)
Nominated by: brutalis , and Icctrombone (voting for "Avengers/ Defenders war Avengers 115-118 -Defenders 8-12")
brutalis writes, "Let's geeeeet ready to ruuuuuuuumble!!! Because Steve Englehart started the summer epic crossover event here. As he was writing both series at the time he came up with the sensational idea to having both teams fight each other, and not just in a simple versus match but in an alternating in each series each month grandiose fight for the life of a hero. Loki and Dormammu have united in hopes of finding the Evil Eye and gaining ultimate power. Loki sets the Avengers on a quest to retrieve all the parts of the eye while his evil cohort Dormammu sends the Defenders. Classic (and not so classic) match ups ensue: Hawkeye vs Iron Man, Cap vs Namor, Swordsman vs Enchantress, Vision/Scarlet Witch vs Silver Surfer, Black Panther vs Doctor Strange and Thor vs Hulk as each team given false information fight one another only to unite in the end confronting both villains (and failing to save the Black Knight) as one of the most formidable group of super powers on Earth.
Who could resist this story? 2 issues a month? So many heroes? 2 Classic Villains? Your favorite heroes in struggle against one another? Is it too good to be true? What could have failed miserably actually turns out to being a famous cross over with a strong story and interesting fights. While some may consider the art to being mediocre from Sal Buscema and Bob Brown (current artists for Defenders and Avengers) they both did a stellar job juggling so many characters in a 8 issue summer mini-event."
42. Starman
by James Robinson and others
originally published in: Starman #0-80, #1,000,000, Annual #1-2, 80-Page Giant #1, Secret Files #1 (1994-2001)
Nominated by: Crimebuster , @mrp , brutalis , Slam_Bradley
Crimebuster writes, "James Robinson does a bunch of things in this series and he does just about all of them phenomenally well. It's one of the best uses of continuity ever, as Robinson examines the legacy of the Starman name, weaving together strands from every character ever to be called Starman into one cohesive saga. He also creates in Opal City a location with as much character as Gotham or Metropolis (and far more than other DC cities like Central or Coast), using it, again, as a way to weave in strands from the length and breadth of DC history into one amazingly coherent storyline (ever wondered how the Golden Age character The Black Pirate was connected to the western hero Scalphunter? Wonder no more). But as fantastic as those bits are (seriously, everyone up to and including Space Cabbie is involved), they are all just bits of color in the main story, which is the story of a father (Ted Knight) and a son (Jack Knight) who seem to have nothing in common. When Jack's older brother, the heir apparent to the Starman legacy, is murdered on one of his first trips out as a superhero, Jack very reluctantly takes up the mantle. By learning about Starman's history, he learns slowly about who his dad is - and as a result, who he himself is. It's just great, great stuff."
41. The Unity Saga
by Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, Roger Stern, Barry Winsor-Smith, Ernie Colon, Bob Layton, Sal Velluto, Frank Miller, David Lapham, Don Perlin, Stan Drake, Mike Leeke, Walt Simonson, and Joe St. Pierre
originally published in: Unity #0-1, Eternal Warrior #1-2, Archer & Armstrong #1-2, Magnus Robot Fighter #15-16, X-O Manowar #7-8, Shadowman #4-5, Rai #6-7, Harbinger #8-9, Solar Man of the Atom #12-13 (1992)
Nominated by: hondobrode , and shaxper (voting for Magnus: Robot Fighter #0-64)
hondobrode writes, "The villain here, Erica Pierce, Mothergod, was also exposed to the radiation that turned Dr. Phil Seleski into Solar. The Solar of an alternate dimension had traveled backward in time to try to stop the accident but instead exposed co-worker Pierce, who gained his same powers of energy and matter manipulation.
She later traveled back in time to the Lost Land of Turok, outside of time and space, and create an event to reboot the universe and start over from scratch. Obviously, this is huge, and alerts the Geomancer whose mission it is to protect the Earth.
Geomancer informs Solar who rounds up all the Valiant characters, and our Valiant mega-event unfolds. This is Jim Shooter at his best with a huge cosmic event and pulling all the characters into one super-sized story. It didn’t feel forced and was really great.
Writers included Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, and Roger Stern, and art by Barry Winsor-Smith, Ernie Colon, Bob Layton, Sal Velluto, Frank Miller, David Lapham, Don Perlin, Stan Drake, Mike Leeke, Walt Simonson, and Joe St. Pierre. This still tops my list for all-time best mega crossover, barely beating out Crisis on Infinite Earths."
#70-61
#80-71
#90-81
#100-91
This installment marks the end of single-nomination entries and the subsequent enormous ties they created due to a small participant pool. I suspect the major upset this time around will be Valiant's 1992 Unity Saga, which I absolutely did not expect to see rank this high on the list (even though I inadvertently helped it with my nomination).
#50-41
49 (tie). Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
by Alan Moore, Curt Swan, George Perez, and Kurt Schaffenburger
originally published in: Superman #423 and Action #583 (1986)
Nominated by: Icctrombone and shaxper
Icctrombone says, "A beautiful masterpiece by Alan Moore and Curt Swan that closes the book on the Silver/Bronze age Superman is todays choice. Most of all the well loved conventions and plot devices are all given a final farewell in this story that begins in Superman # 423 and ends in Action # 583 but by no means is this a pretty story. But I guess the deaths of some of Clarks supporting cast is what gives the book an almost Shakespearian feel. It IS a tragedy and a memorable way to say goodbye to almost 50 years of things like scientist Lex Luthor, super powered Lana Lang and Jimmy Olsen, the relationship to the Legion and Bizarro World. But all things come to and end and what we are given is a shockingly sweet Alan More love letter to the greatest superhero of all."
49 (tie). Astonishing X-Men: “Gifted/Danger/Torn”
by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
originally published in: Astonishing X-Men #1-18 (2004-2006)
Nominated by: rberman and coke & comics
rberman writes, "As Joss Whedon was making his reputation with action/comedy TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, fans of genre fiction couldn’t help but notice influences like Scooby Doo, as a gang of recognized archetypes (mentor, leader/fighter, everyman, preening beauty, geeky girl, brooding loner) banded together to solve arcane mysteries week after week while engaging in witty repartee. The fights were beside the point and often occurred in a “getting this out of the way” manner at the beginning of the episode before proceeding onward to a story allegorizing some element of teenage life (crush on a teacher, new kid in town, feeling out of sync after time apart, etc.) as a monster which could be punched into submission. As the show went on, its archetypes evolved into a Monster Squad (hunter, werewolf, vampire, witch, demon, etc.) with a very X-Man-like camaraderie.
Whedon (born 1964) was sixteen at the peak of the X-Men’s Dark Phoenix glory in 1980. A memorable Claremont/Sienkiewicz two-parter in 1982 (Uncanny X-Men #159 and X-Men King Size Annual #6) turned the team into vampire slayers, with teen X-girl Kitty Pryde playing a key role in freeing her surrogate mom Ororo from Dracula’s clutches. Hey, girls can make great vampire hunters! Hmmm…
I can only imagine that I speak for a generation of X-Man readers (I was born in 1971) for whom Kitty was the idealized super-girlfriend: optimistic, capable, and probably very open to talking for hours with the kind of guy who spends hours reading comic books. Sure, she did ballet, but she had Rubik’s Revenge (solved) on her desk, and she wrote Elfquest fan fiction for Illyana’s bedtime story! Whedon nails her appeal in this discussion between X-students Wing and Armor:
It was not at all hard to see Buffy Summers as Whedon’s Kitty Pryde stand-in, so it was not surprising that when Whedon was given the opportunity to write a two-year run on X-Men, he made Kitty Pryde the protagonist. He came onto the X-Books at a time when Fox’s semi-successful X-films had influenced the comics into darker territory, with black costumes and a psychic affair between Scott Summers and Emma Frost. Grant Morrison’s just-concluded run as X-scribe had some terrific stories and introduced a dozen enduring concepts into the ossifying franchise (Cassandra Nova, the Stepford Cuckoos, Emma’s diamond form, Quentin Quire, and more), but he had also ended on a sour note, with another death of Jean Grey and the implausible revelation that gentle X-recruit Xorn was really Magneto in disguise. Whedon intended to resurrect a heroic X-Man team not just to compensate for the wreckage wreaked on the world in Morrison’s final issues but also to change the tone of the stories themselves, emphasizing optimism and sacrifice. Kitty Pryde was the perfect character for that, so back to the team she came, reliving classic moments along with us. This is a story by an 80s X-fan, for 80s X-fans.
Whedon also inherited Claremont’s penchant for super-romance. Other writers had hooked Kitty up with Peter Wisdom and Peter Quill, but there’s only room for one Peter in her life to be the stand-in for us 80s fanboys, and his name is Rasputin. Jim Shooter hated this pairing because of the age difference and personally ended it by giving Colossus his own tragic love interest in Secret Wars.
But Kitty is old enough now to revisit that ground without being creepy. So after resurrecting Colossus, Whedon gives us the sweet Kitty-Peter romance that we’d been shipping our whole lives. By the way, John Cassaday’s art is amazing throughout the whole series, but he deserves special notice for not glamming Kitty up, as artists have been occasionally tempted to do. She’s not a bimbo. She’s not busty. She’s not even super-pretty. She’s just the super-idealized girlfriend for lonely nerds.
Story? Oh yeah. Comic books have those. Enough about Kitty for now. Whedon arranges his run into four arcs of six issues each, but only the first three arcs fall within the “August 2007 or before” timeframe of this current survey. The four arcs do form an overall story that benefits from completion, but even the first three arcs are great without the gut-punching finale. (Whedon fans can guess that it involves tragedy, because Whedon.) The first arc, “Gifted,” accomplishes the following amidst some of the wittiest and most caustic dialogue the X-Men have ever seen:
• Puts Kitty, Lockheed, and Peter back in the mix, alongside Scott, Hank, Logan, and Emma. A nice streamlined team.
• Establishes Ord of the Breakworld as a “big bad” who poses a credible threat to the entire X-team.
• Shows that Ord’s ship is made of material which is not great for Kitty’s intangible form.
• Sets up Emma and Kitty as antagonists within the team.
• Picks up the Scott/Emma pieces that Grant Morrison left lying on the ground.
• Introduces Dr. Kavita Rao and her “mutant cure” which sorely tempts Hank McCoy.
• Gives us Brand, Agent of S.W.O.R.D., a Torchwood-like organization that guards Earth against extra-terrestrial threats just as S.H.I.E.L.D. deals with earthbound foes.
• Demonstrates more of the functioning of the mansion as a school, including returning students like Grant Morrison's Stepford Cuckoos (who get great Heathers-esque rapid-fire dialogue whenever they rear their hive-mind) as well as newbies like scrappy Armor, spooky Blindfold, and forlorn Wing.
The second arc, “Danger,” builds on “Gifted” while building a whole story around, of all, things, the Danger Room, and not just in the expected “trapped on the holodeck” way. Along the way we get some Genosha, the return of Morrison’s Extinction-Sentinel, more evidence that Charles Xavier is a horrible human being. Kitty and Peter get nice moments that show how much better Whedon is at writing comic book romance than the average super-hero scribe.
Cassaday’s art favors panoramic panels the whole width of the page, giving the whole series a cinematic effect that suits Whedon’s background. There’s also ample use of blank and repeated panels and panel fragments to achieve the desired timing effect. Is it decompressed? Yes, extremely, but decompression done well, to serve the story, not just to pad it out to take up enough pages to fill a trade edition. And accompanied by dialogue that nails the characters, with a tersely taciturn Logan that’s more like your favorite grumpy uncle than like Claremont’s version, the closet philosopher always engaged in a verbosely expository internal monologue.
Meanwhile, Special Agent Brand shows herself to be Whedon’s newest great kick-butt heroine, loaded with his trademark sarcasm.
The third arc, “Torn” takes a real left turn. Emma and Scott’s relationship gets profoundly weird, and a bizarre coalition of villains, including Sebastian Shaw, Cassandra Nova, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, turn up at the mansion. I really can’t say more about it without spoiling it, but Whedon accomplishes a real feeling of plot and character movement. It’s not just the Kitty Show, and Wolverine gets his rightful role as a player rather than a spotlight-hogger. We get to see his claws being actually swordlike, with real decapitations and impalings unimaginable in the Comics Code days.
X-Men have often been justly maligned as a bloated super-soap opera riddled with unnecessary alternate reality versions of the same few basic characters. No alternate realities here, and the real issue is whether those characters are written in a way that makes you want to see more of them. Whedon gives us reasons to do that for pretty much everybody here, even frigid Emma Frost. Only Beast gets relatively neglected and relegated to his usual “tech guy” role, but even he has some nice moments and finds unlikely romance before Whedon’s time on X-Men is done. These stories were my re-introduction to the X-Men after almost 20 years away, and they made me want to see what I’d missed. (Answer: Morrison was mostly great and occasionally terrible. Onslaught was as awful as I’d heard. Avoid at all costs. Age of Apocalypse was just meh.) As in Buffy, the fights are fine, but the talking is where it’s at."
48. Doctor Strange: The Oath
by Brian Vaughan and Marcos Martin.
originally published in: Doctor Strange: The Oath #1-5 (2006)
Nominated by: md62 , thwhtguardian , and @mrp
Michael James writes, "By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth...this was a great story!
Magic based heroes are hard to write IMO. However Vaughan hit this one out of the park. This story had Strange team up with Night Nurse. Vaughan nailed the different characters (Strange, NN & Wong) perfectly. The concept behind the story was well done. The action. The magic. Everything about this series was near perfection. Including Martin's simple yet detailed art. Aside from Lee/Ditko this remains my favorite Strange story in recent times."
45 (tie). Magik: Storm and Illyana
by Chris Claremont, John Buscema, and others
originally published in: Magik: Storm and Illyana # 1-4 with Uncanny X-Men #160 and New Mutants #14 being optional (1983-1984)
Nominated by: sunofdarkchild
sunofdarkchild writes, "I've spoken about Chris Claremont's work on X-Men and New Mutants before, but to me this stands head and shoulders above the rest. A tale of tragedy and inevitability. Illyana Rasputin is doomed from the moment she is taken into Limbo in issue 1, and nothing she or anyone else does over the course of the series or her history can change that. I have considered Magik to be the anti-Jean Grey. Faced with the same choice Jean had, to end it all or risk destroying all that she loved, Magik chose to live and to fight, to say 'yes, I will fall, but not today,' and to say that every day of her life. Comics are notorious for their open-ended nature with no end, but this was the beginning of a story which readers knew would end one day, and not in a happy manner. It is a tragic story, with dashed hopes, shocking moments and character deaths, and the fate of everything hinges on the will of one person, forged in fire and in ice. It is the comic equivalent of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, weird, heartbreaking, bittersweet, and wonderful. And it is in my opinion the best origin story I have seen in superhero comics."
45 (tie). Hellboy: The Wolves of St. August
by Mike Mignoa
originally published in: Dark Horse Presents #88-91 (1994)
Nominated by: thwhtguardian
thwhtguardian writes, "To the absolute surprise of no one here Mike Mignola is making his third and final appearance on my list as my number one pick for the greatest comic book sagas. I could easily have nominated the entire run up until the cut off date of 2007, and it would be a great choice as in that stretch we saw our rough hewn crimson hero evolve from a simple brute punching monsters to a Miltonian figure struggling with the burdens of fate. It tells stories about coming of age, fathers and sons, free will versus determination,nature versus nurture, the power of myth and then weaves them into a cohesive, mythic yarn. And while all of that is utterly fantastic the one, single story that encapsulates every thing about the series that I love, one story that I lend out when ever someone asks me about Hellboy; and it's the Wolves of St. August.
It starts with a myth about werewolves, brings it to the modern day, throws in a ghost story, weaves in some great characterization and ends with a big red guy punching a wolfman into submission and through it all is the most beautiful art I've ever seen."
45 (tie). Captain America: The Winter Soldier
by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Michael Lark, John Paul Leon, Lee Weeks, and Mike Perkins.
originally published in: Captain America (vol. 5) 1-25 (2005-2007)
Nominated by: Paste Pot Paul
Paste Pot Paul writes, "Simply put, they did the impossible, they brought back, with the greatest respect, one of THE characters that never should have been.
Brubaker came up with the perfect formula, Cap as Jason Bourne(not so much Bond...that's more Fury for mine)up against his most despicable foe, at the height of his own game. Finally Skull has a real plan, being thought out and worked through in diabolical efficiency. We get Crossbones finally fulfilling some promise, and even getting HIS girl, Skulls daughter Sin,another excellent addition to the mythos.
Speaking of girls, Sharon Carter gets to shine again, I always feel like she became worthy here, as a support person capable of holding her place in the story, instead of filling up a panel or two. He gets Falcon too, Sam is finally here sharing space and deserving it, owning it.
I've loved these characters since I was maybe 8. Since the time I laid my beady little jealous eyes on Cap 153-156 and discovered Bucky I've loved him(stupid fake 50's Bucky be damned)but more often than not Marvel have done him a disservice. He'll get played well in the Avengers and the next week in his own title is fighting a giant robot version of himself, or struggling with Vermin or some such. Sure Byrne did good...for like 8 issues or so, and JM DeMatteis and Zeck was fun, but the vast majority of his publication its been average at best. For one of THE greatest creations, by one of THE greatest creators that ain't good enough, and thanks to Bru we got shown how to.
I'd love to have included right through Reborn, but the good thing about ending with Cap on the steps, what cliffhanger!
I was literally shocked when I read that Marvel had killed Steve,I hadnt got back into things too much by this stage, wasnt as cynical about character deaths as we all are now, and I was stunned, I was equally stunned by just how good the whole thing is(and what a movie it made)."
44. Iron Man: Armor Wars
by David Michelinie, Mark Gruenwald, Mark Bright, Kieron Dwyer, and others
originally published in: Iron Man #225-231, and Captain America #341 (1987-1988)
Nominated by: wildfire2099 and sunofdarkchild
wildfire2099 writes, "I really think this is the best version of a 'ends justify the means' type superhero story... back in the day when heroes only fought each other before they teamed up, Tony Stark is forced to leave the Avengers and 'go rogue' when his armor tech starts appearing everywhere and hurting people... this was the story that made me fall in love with the character... it's almost sad now to read it when you think about how much of a mess they've made of the character."
43. Avengers vs Defenders
by Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema, Bob Brown, and others
originally published in: Avengers #115-118 and Defenders #8-11 (1973)
Nominated by: brutalis , and Icctrombone (voting for "Avengers/ Defenders war Avengers 115-118 -Defenders 8-12")
brutalis writes, "Let's geeeeet ready to ruuuuuuuumble!!! Because Steve Englehart started the summer epic crossover event here. As he was writing both series at the time he came up with the sensational idea to having both teams fight each other, and not just in a simple versus match but in an alternating in each series each month grandiose fight for the life of a hero. Loki and Dormammu have united in hopes of finding the Evil Eye and gaining ultimate power. Loki sets the Avengers on a quest to retrieve all the parts of the eye while his evil cohort Dormammu sends the Defenders. Classic (and not so classic) match ups ensue: Hawkeye vs Iron Man, Cap vs Namor, Swordsman vs Enchantress, Vision/Scarlet Witch vs Silver Surfer, Black Panther vs Doctor Strange and Thor vs Hulk as each team given false information fight one another only to unite in the end confronting both villains (and failing to save the Black Knight) as one of the most formidable group of super powers on Earth.
Who could resist this story? 2 issues a month? So many heroes? 2 Classic Villains? Your favorite heroes in struggle against one another? Is it too good to be true? What could have failed miserably actually turns out to being a famous cross over with a strong story and interesting fights. While some may consider the art to being mediocre from Sal Buscema and Bob Brown (current artists for Defenders and Avengers) they both did a stellar job juggling so many characters in a 8 issue summer mini-event."
42. Starman
by James Robinson and others
originally published in: Starman #0-80, #1,000,000, Annual #1-2, 80-Page Giant #1, Secret Files #1 (1994-2001)
Nominated by: Crimebuster , @mrp , brutalis , Slam_Bradley
Crimebuster writes, "James Robinson does a bunch of things in this series and he does just about all of them phenomenally well. It's one of the best uses of continuity ever, as Robinson examines the legacy of the Starman name, weaving together strands from every character ever to be called Starman into one cohesive saga. He also creates in Opal City a location with as much character as Gotham or Metropolis (and far more than other DC cities like Central or Coast), using it, again, as a way to weave in strands from the length and breadth of DC history into one amazingly coherent storyline (ever wondered how the Golden Age character The Black Pirate was connected to the western hero Scalphunter? Wonder no more). But as fantastic as those bits are (seriously, everyone up to and including Space Cabbie is involved), they are all just bits of color in the main story, which is the story of a father (Ted Knight) and a son (Jack Knight) who seem to have nothing in common. When Jack's older brother, the heir apparent to the Starman legacy, is murdered on one of his first trips out as a superhero, Jack very reluctantly takes up the mantle. By learning about Starman's history, he learns slowly about who his dad is - and as a result, who he himself is. It's just great, great stuff."
41. The Unity Saga
by Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, Roger Stern, Barry Winsor-Smith, Ernie Colon, Bob Layton, Sal Velluto, Frank Miller, David Lapham, Don Perlin, Stan Drake, Mike Leeke, Walt Simonson, and Joe St. Pierre
originally published in: Unity #0-1, Eternal Warrior #1-2, Archer & Armstrong #1-2, Magnus Robot Fighter #15-16, X-O Manowar #7-8, Shadowman #4-5, Rai #6-7, Harbinger #8-9, Solar Man of the Atom #12-13 (1992)
Nominated by: hondobrode , and shaxper (voting for Magnus: Robot Fighter #0-64)
hondobrode writes, "The villain here, Erica Pierce, Mothergod, was also exposed to the radiation that turned Dr. Phil Seleski into Solar. The Solar of an alternate dimension had traveled backward in time to try to stop the accident but instead exposed co-worker Pierce, who gained his same powers of energy and matter manipulation.
She later traveled back in time to the Lost Land of Turok, outside of time and space, and create an event to reboot the universe and start over from scratch. Obviously, this is huge, and alerts the Geomancer whose mission it is to protect the Earth.
Geomancer informs Solar who rounds up all the Valiant characters, and our Valiant mega-event unfolds. This is Jim Shooter at his best with a huge cosmic event and pulling all the characters into one super-sized story. It didn’t feel forced and was really great.
Writers included Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, and Roger Stern, and art by Barry Winsor-Smith, Ernie Colon, Bob Layton, Sal Velluto, Frank Miller, David Lapham, Don Perlin, Stan Drake, Mike Leeke, Walt Simonson, and Joe St. Pierre. This still tops my list for all-time best mega crossover, barely beating out Crisis on Infinite Earths."
