The Fourth World trilogy. Who doesn't love some New Gods ? Like most people I know, I really didn't like The Forever People, but the whole New Gods / Mr. Miracle thing rocks hard. I've been pumped since knowing that DC was finally going to do something big with them with the guy I've always said could do has not been done as well as it should have, Morrison. Sure, Kirby's dialogue is painful, the women all have the same hairstyle, etc. but he was THE idea guy, and darn it, he was The King ! I loved Brian's write up as I had no idea Kirby meant for that to be a separate line. Wow ! Of course the whole thing feels incomplete, which it is. What was Kirby leading towards ? I'm not sure Jack himself knew but it would've been great to see. Can't say it would've made my 10 fav runs, much as I love it.

Englehart's Detective - I can't remember if I put this one down, but I think I did. The team supreme of Englehart / Rogers / Austin could do no wrong. Every issue in this run is priceless. I will never forget that splash of Hugo Strange pulling off his mask. What a great villain ! Silver St. Cloud was a huge turn on and sure fit that late 70's style as Rogers and Austin made her look stunning. Rogers' Batman is probably my very favorite version of all time. Still love me some Adams, Aparo, Miller, etc, but Rogers is at the top of the pile. Not a big surprise here.

Johns' JSA : Yes, another one of my votes here. In recent times, I think this single title has held me mesmerized with great story and characterization, super smooth art, and characters I love love love as my two fav supergroups are tied being the JSA and LSH (funny, Levitz wrote both of those back in the 70's when I first started reading them).

Joe Kelly's Deadpool - Leaves me ice cold. Have never read and have no interest in it. Money I've spent buying things that appeal to me more.

Will Eisner's Spirit - Big fan and I respect Eisner in the hugest huge. These stories are entertaining, and I love em, but I can't say they made my Top 10 list. Would've been toward the bottom of my Top 100. Not to mad mouth it as I have most of the Warren and Kitchen Sink black and white as well as the Ken Pierce reprints, but there's so much more I've enjoyed more fully than these on an overall scale.

Never cared much for Geoff Johns' writing, and don't like the fact that DC have handed him the keys to the kingdom. Prefer Mordu as a LSH villain, and hated how he tied his LSH to the DCU...isn't their link to Superman enough? Dream Girl doesn't need to be connected to the dreaming, Wildfire's suit doesn't need to be made from Red Tornado's body, etc...but I can see home some would appreciate it.

To be honest, I don't really care which company has more titles, or what runs outranked what...this is hardly a scientific survey, it's just the votes of 700 people. Find another 700 fans and who knows how the list would change? I prefer to see it as a celebration of good comics. And, it's also a way for people to discover series or titles they wouldn't normally think of checking out before. Thanks to this list, I'm already looking forward to hunting down titles like Lucifer, Ellis' Stormwatch, and Concrete, among others.

I know Will Eisner's Spirit is a visual masterpiece, but how does the writing stack up?

Well, i only had it at my #4. Much as I so dearly love some of the particular issues, it all seemed rather incomplete compared to my top three. I'll always feel a real let-down/what-might-have-been thing with these titles. Imagine if he'd only had another year, especially if it could have been a year without the editorial ("use Deadman! Now!") directives.
New Gods 6,7,8 and Mister Miracle 9 are about as good as comics get, to me.
I'd be curious to hear from the two voters who picked it number one.

My all-time favorite series (for all the commenters' aforementioned reasons), my number #1 Pick, and my first pick to appear on the list (followed thereafter by the Spirit).

I was getting worried - glad - and surprised - to see that I'm not the only one who put it as a #1.

It does, actually. A fine idea. I'd also be interested in what Brian and the other CSBG writers voted for. By looking at people's individual lists, it will be easier to find things I haven't read that are liked by people with similar tastes. And someday I will plow through those X-Men Essentials. I've tried a couple of times!

Also Englehart's Batman and Eisner's Spirit, but I haven't read enough of either to vote for them.

John's JSA is the first to make the list that I read, but didn't work for me.

I really appreciate Busiek's understanding of continuity, and obvious respect of character history, but too often his run became "20 Years Ago, in the Avengers..." or else he devoted a bunch of time to explaining continuity errors I don't care about (the latter phrase sums up large chunks of "Avengers Forever", although that did set the stage for the idea in "Kang Dynasty" that Kang was now looking to his own future, having prevented himself from becoming Immortus). Apart from "Kang Dynasty", my favourites were the opening "Morgan Conquest" (a Johns-ian juggling of a huge cast) and "Ultron Unlimited".

Busiek's writing had an old-fashioned vibe, but his plots moved at a good pace, and he worked with talented artists. I do think both he and Johns got bogged down by minutae. Forgotten characters like Dove or Whitney Frost appearing in the middle of a story did nothing for me, and I just wanted Busiek & Johns to get their stories moving.

Contrast JSA & Avengers with their contemporary and counterpoint, Morrison's JLA. That comic didn't slow down, even when Morrison's plots got complex. I think Busiek & Johns went the distance with their respective titles and Morrison burned out after his first few stories, but those first 15 issues of JLA stick with me more than anything from Avengers or JSA.

Sean, sometimes I feel like Busiek knows extremely well how to write all the Marvel/DC characters you can name, because he knows everything about them, but it seems like he does it with more brains than heart. And also it seems like his tremendous respect for the characters forces him to keep a certain distance. Now Astro City, Astro City is where he cuts loose and does whatever he wants, and it's usually gold.

But the Kang Dinasty was great, and it was when Busiek got a bit more adventurous with the title. Simultaneous big threats, multiple Avengers teams, Washington destroyed, the Earth conquered for an extended storyline. It was "widescreen" comics done surprisingly well, and all the while with pretty emotional stories too. The one with Simon and Wanda in the prisoners camp, the silent surrender issue, and the final confrontation between Kang and his son, were all pretty good.

I shouldn't be talking so much about a run that didn't even feature yet, though.

I definitely agree there; "Kang Dynasty" is my favourite Busiek storyline on Avengers, easily; his approach to the series (and, frankly, to a lot of the Big Two properties he does) is just too old-fashioned for my liking. It's really strange because his "Astro City" made my top ten list, and it has all the sorts of creativity and life that so often I find lacking in his other stuff.

So, it's like the lighter, funner way of doing an "Initiative"?

"Peter David on Supergirl (1-50 especially). There’s just so much heart and spirituality . I’m still hoping it shows up somewhere."

I think there's still some hope for that. I know there's quit the cult following for that run.

"Deadpool’s on my list of things to try, but Joe Kelly’s Superman, Steampunk and JLA runs put me off…"

I was disappointed in those things, because of Deadpool. At that time, Joe Kelly was pretty much the precursor to Dan Slott. (Which I thought of before Slott started using the GLA.) Don't get me wrong, I liked some of Kelly's Action Comics and JLA fine, especially Action #750 (?). I could see a Supes movies that sort of combines that with the whole Byrne "Supergirl Saga".(It makes sense in my head. Dangit, maybe I shoulfd just write a spec script.)

As it now stands: After we've actually seen the full 100 runs listed, I'm planning to respond to the last installment (Numbers 5-1, I suppose) by posting a copy of my ballot of "Ten Top Favorites." I have the impression that at least a few other participants -- maybe a bunch of us! -- are planning to do the same thing, after we all know exactly which of our picks scored in the Top 100 and which didn't.

So far, I only specifically say "I voted for such-and-such" on those occasions when "such-and-such" has just been mentioned in a new installment of the winners, and that's only happened twice! Of my 8 other picks, I'm virtually certain that at least 3 more are popular enough that they're bound to gain their own places among the Top 100, but that means I also have 5 picks I'm less certain about.

So you can look forward, at the very end of the countdown, to seeing me mention some other runs -- possibly as many as 5 -- that won't previously have been mentioned in Brian's posts of the "winners." If several other people do much the same thing, then you may end up seeing, all in one thread, lists including dozens of additional runs which some of us love with an undying love, but which didn't quite have enough notoriety to make it to the Top 100. Gives you something to look forward to! Does the prospect make you feel any better?

Glad you're digging the countdown, Josh!