Comments on: Top 100 Comic Book Runs #85-81

By: Dan McFan

Dan McFan — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:12:55 +0000

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta created an unusually powerful series with THOR. With the passage of time and some better reprinting techniques, this run will move up to the top of many lists like this one.

By: Said

Said — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:02:58 +0000

groo shold be the best one!!! i wonder where is alan grant's run in lobo? (over 200 comics!!!)

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:18:44 +0000

I have tried so damn hard to get into â€œSleeperâ€ and it just wonâ€™t work. I just want that kind of story grounded more in reality and thatâ€™s why â€œCriminalâ€ does work for me.

Yeah. Completely agreed. I didn't see the need for this comedy/superhero overlay on what would've worked perfectly well as a relatively true-to-life spy story.

By: Joshua Nelson

Joshua Nelson — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:58:25 +0000

I have tried so damn hard to get into "Sleeper" and it just won't work. I just want that kind of story grounded more in reality and that's why "Criminal" does work for me. It's similar the problem I had with "Powers" (although I read that for the first 25 issues). Here's this great crime writer (Bendis &/or Brubaker) who obviously knows how to tell great stories without any fantastic element and they for some reason feel the need to set this against the backdrop of a superhero universe. And yeah, I know Ed didn't have a choice because this was a Wildstorm book, but Bendis has no excuse. Yeah, and before anyone attacks me about this let me say that "Alias" is exempt from this "problem" and ruled...

By: wwk5d

wwk5d — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:24:48 +0000

X-force/X-statix I didn't care for much when it first came out, but have come to like and appreciate it now. An example of the early 2000s when Marvel actually took chances and pushed the envelope. Even if you didn't like all the titles or direction or the emphasis on decompression (and I didn't love everything about that era), you have to admit it's more preferable to the current era of BIG EVENTS & CROSSOVERS and star-writer-overhype.

Sergio AragonÃ©s is a great artist. Sleeper was ok, got a bit boring at times tho.

By: Top 100 Lists Should Be Good « Goki’s Giving Groin

Top 100 Lists Should Be Good « Goki’s Giving Groin — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:35:47 +0000

[...] Top 100 Comic Book Runs #85-81 [...]

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 05:32:45 +0000

Ellis' Stormwatch run is all collected in three or four tpb's, and that includes the WildCATS/Aliens crossover.

By: Hondo

Hondo — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:28:06 +0000

I'll definitely agree with the JIM vote, though it should be higher up on the list IMO. Groo's cool but he wouldn't make even my Top 100. X-Force was one of the freshest things to come out of Marvel in ages and I loved every bit of it. I picked up Authority but missed the original Stormwatch run but have been tempted to go back and get these. They've been at least partially collected methinks though I would prefer a complete collection as I'm sure lots of readers would. I started Sleeper but never finished it. It was good but just wasn't moving quickly enough or I was missing something or something. Bru's finally getting his due in the last year or so but this one didn't grab me quick as much as his other works.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:06:50 +0000

IF you want to call the end of Stormwatch Vol 2 organic, go for it, butt it's really not.

By: Chad Nevett

Chad Nevett — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:55:28 +0000

FunkyGreenJerusalem: You don't need to read volume one to understand "Stormwatch" volume 2, so I don't see what that matters, necessarily. As well, the design/chance destinction is irrelevant as the final outcome is a cohesive narrative, as "The Authority" grew organically out of "Stormwatch" (the final issue of volume 2 acting as much as a conclusion to that book as a prologue to "The Authority")--hell, the first run of "The Authority" is directly based out of events from "Stormwatch" and the group no longer existing. There's also a marked change in tone and style between the two volumes of "Stormwatch"... does that make them part of different runs? I'm sorry, but it seems that changing the title is the main criteria for counting the books as different runs, because all of your arguments could be applied to different storylines within accepted runs--storylines where the tone and style alters for the sake of the story, or stories that can be read on their own, or stories that the writer didn't necessarily plan to exist, but grew organically while writing and then fit into the larger narrative arc. Again, the main difference here seems to be a title change.

By: Julius Brown

Julius Brown — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:15:39 +0000

I wonder how much higher the Kirby Thor run would have ranked if not for the "help" of Vince Colletta on the inks.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:10:23 +0000

Stormwatch and The Authority are totally different books - the style and the stories are totally different.
It may work as part of a larger narrative (which I'd say was more chance than design - I think Ellis got the idea for The Authority during volume two of Stormwatch and then shifted what the book was about to prepare it), however they should count as separate runs as you don't need to have read Stormwatch to enjoy The Authority and the tone change between the two is huge.

By: Chad Nevett

Chad Nevett — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:36:46 +0000

I've got to agree with Jamie Ramirez about Ellis's "Stormwatch" and "Authority" being part of the same run--it's obviously a three-part story with the second part acting as a reaction to the first and the third acting as a reaction to the second. It's a cohesive story about the geopolitics of superheroes within a contemporary context and ignoring the natural result of the destruction of the Stormwatch group (the Authority) as being part of the same story seems like a partial reading, at best--and a gross misreading, at worse.

By: fourthworlder

fourthworlder — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:24:41 +0000

Wow, add me to those shocked by the low placement of Kirby' and Lee's Thor. Anybody who hasn't read these is really missing out on a "great moments in comics" moment. Kirby and Lee's Fantastic Four always got the greater accolades and did introduce a longer list of memorable characters and villains, but at its peak Thor was just as good (well, almost). I especially recommend issues 128 - 130, where Thor goes to hades to fight for Hercules. It's hard to imagine more a wildly creative mix of mythology, sci-fi, super-heroics and pure fun.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:59:40 +0000

X-Force rules!

Gotta say though Brian, I think it's a shame you didn't mention the fact that U-Go Girl was the greatest comic book character ever! EVER!
Also, I think the whole Di thing sucked a lot of momentum out of the book - that five issue storyline ended up making no sense what so ever.

The first volume of Stormwatch Ellis did is awesome - more writers should try and do as many good one issue stories as he pulled off in that. Volume 2 never clicked for me, especially the bringing Bendix back just to kill him again.

Sleeper was an excellent book as well, although I found the first volume to be much better - I think the second 'season' was too concerned with the bigger story, and so didn't have as many nice small moments as the first.

By: Lorendiac

Lorendiac — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:53:09 +0000

I'm afraid I've never read "Sleeper," and knew almost nothing about it. I'm familiar with large chunks of the other runs in this installment, however -- in the "Stormwatch" case, I think I've read every single issue mentioned as part of the Ellis run. I can't say I was likely to vote for any of those 4 as being Top Ten Favorites, though. (I mean, sure, I've been known to get a good laugh out of Groo, but I don't feel the urge to go back and reread the same stories about him every year or two.)

By: chris w.

chris w. — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:05:05 +0000

I'm kinda surprised Kirby / Lee Thor ranked so low. Those stories are mandatory.

I used to laugh myself stupid at Groo. Groo was the last comic to bear the Epic Comics imprint, if memory serves.

By: s1rude

s1rude — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:12:54 +0000

"I read the first Sleeper collection, and while I really like Brubaker and Phillipsâ€™ work on Criminal, Sleeper just didnâ€™t do it for me. Am I missing out by not reading the rest of the series, or was the first collection a good example of what to expect?" Sandy, I love Sleeper (it's the first of my top ten to chart) and have read it multiple times, but I'd have to say that any of the four trades are a pretty good indication of the other three. There's a bit of a plot shift with the second season, but tonally it remains about the same. That said, if you like Criminal, I'd try to give it another read if you can find it at a library or on the cheap. Phillips art really reaches a pinnacle here and, superpowers be damned, Brubaker wrote a classic noir tale. "Point Blank seems like a different entity than Sleeper to me. They just have a different feel to them. One leads into the other, but they seem so distinct. Maybe itâ€™s the art. Maybe itâ€™s just that Sleeperâ€™s better. I donâ€™t see the need to combine them, but thatâ€™s just me." Chris, I totally agree with you. For me, other than the art, it just feels more like a Grifter story, and therefore more "superhero-y" to me. I liked Point Blank, but didn't love it the way I do Sleeper. Reading both adds a little richness to the whole tale, but Point Blank is in no way necessary to understanding or enjoying Sleeper. -- Sean

By: Jaime Ramirez

Jaime Ramirez — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:42:29 +0000

SLEEPER and ALIAS were strongly considered for my list, but ended up being somewhere between 11-25 for me. Definitely amongst my favorite of recent times...

USAGI YOJIMBO was my first top ten to show up and now STORMWATCH. So far two of them.

Also: I was one of the people that voted Warren Ellis' STORMWATCH/AUTHORITY as one run. Because to me, it is clearly ACT 1, ACT 2 and ACT 3. With the odd WILDCATS/ALIENS between 2 and 3. Its a complete story for almost all of the characters, especially Jenny and for me its the preferred way to re-read the series. In fact, its how I give it to people to read to (complete with WC/ALIENS).

When Millar and (the amazing) Quitely took over it became something different to me. Not just in content, but in publishing schedule when DC corporate started interfering and the Peyer arc was tossed in between. I love the first 9 issues of Millar/Quitely, but the end of the series definitely fizzled.

(Thinking out loud now: I wonder, if I had to split off Ellis' two arcs, where the two tiles would have landed. Because they are stronger to me as a whole.)

By: Chris Nowlin

Chris Nowlin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:21:49 +0000

Point Blank seems like a different entity than Sleeper to me. They just have a different feel to them. One leads into the other, but they seem so distinct. Maybe it's the art. Maybe it's just that Sleeper's better. I don't see the need to combine them, but that's just me.