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I'm in complete agreement with Deadpool #11 being there. The grey furred Beast issue might be an important step in the characters evolution, and you can't deny the genius of "For the Man Who Has Everything" but I honestly cannot remember a comic that made me laugh harder thean Deadpool #11. I mean, I was in tears over the Osborn hair riff. Something needs to be said for inspired and fun comics, and I think this is a great example.

I'd put in a bid for Cerebus #11, just because the Roach was so seminal as Cerebus characters go.

But I also don't necessary see a need to overthrow the initial pick, even if I'm personally unfamiliar with it.

It should be pointed out that it's Superman (v1) #11.

Otherwise, someone's going to say "wait, the JLApe tie-in?" and there will be violence.

But, yeah, For the Man Who Has Everything wins for me, even if I like the animated version of the story more.

Wait, if there's no apes, to hell with it. I guess Beast is the most apelike, so he gets the nod.

I'll admit, I had never heard of Deadpool #anything before reading the info on it yesterday. I slotted the character in the same hell reserved for all the other characters with "Dead" and "Blood" in their names from the 1990's, and never went back to check and see if I was mistaken.

So with that enormous bias admitted to, I had to vote for Superman Annual #11.

As long as we're quibbling, I think it would be Superman (v1) Annual #1.

Superman #11, on the other hand, had the first cover image of Superman breaking chains, which is also kinda cool. He also fought terrorists who were trying to blow up part of Metropolis.

Annual #11, I mean! Dangit, i must quibble with my own quibble.

I thought Deadpool was fine. Good to have more relatively modern-ish stuff on the list.

I had to look up Superman Annual 11. Even though it is the best of the three stories (and by far most memorable), that's not what this list is about. When I heard "Deadpool 11" I knew what book it was. When I heard "Superman Annual 11" I had no idea what it was. Thus, Deadpool gets my vote.

People usually just say "hey, have you read 'For The Man Who Has Everything'?"

Yeah, Craig, that's exactly why I phrased the question the way I did.

I'm a bit confused. So the entry for #11 two days ago wasn't the actual choice?

I've gotta go with the blue and furry issue. I didn't like Deadpool when he first debuted, and didn't give his series a try (recent articles here have made me question that decision and I'll probably be picking up back issues soon).

But, Amazing Adventures is actually something meaningful to me on a personal level. It was the first "dark" comic book that I actually read. And, by "dark" I mean the shading, the tone of a man turning into a monster, etc. Up to that point I mostly read Gold Key, Whitman, and Spider-Man comics. But, I recognized Beast from the Avengers and a guy at a flea market told me that this issue was the one in which he got his powers.

OK, I knew better because Beast was a mutant and even at my young age I "knew" that mutants got their powers from birth. But, I bought it anyway because it cost a dime and I was already buying a lot of other back issues from him so I might as well round it off to ten.

And, that issue made me re-think my shiny-happy viewpoint concerning comic books. I would never have given House of Mystery, House of Secrets, and might have skipped on Sandman if it wasn't for Amazing Adventures #11.

Theno

Brian's waffling, kushiro. He's a flip-flopper. What we need is to stay the course rather than cut and run, and allow the Deadpool surge to work.

I’m a bit confused. So the entry for #11 two days ago wasn’t the actual choice?

It WAS the choice, but I figured that Superman Annual #11 was a strong enough choice that I can't really make up my mind on it.

I have to say I don't really recognize many issue numbers of anything offhand. Amazing Fantasy #15, sure. Superman #75, maybe. I can't think of any others off the top of my head. So from that perspective, "For the Man Who Has Everything" is obviously a much stronger and more worthy story than any issue of Deadpool ever was. As to what springs to mind when somebody says "Issue 11," well, nothing at all does.

You joking around with us? How could it NOT be Superman Annual #11?

http://www.comic-covers.com/DC/DCSu-Z/Worlds-Finest/imagepages/image10.html

Not notable, but someone, somewhere thought that the heroes gardening would be awesome.

I'd buy that for a dime.

Yeah, I mentioned Watchmen #11 in the thread but just seeing Superman Annual #11 listed there made me say, "Of course!" The story has been adapted and constantly referenced since its publication which marks it as influential.

I'd never even heard of the Deadpool story.

Superman Annual isn't my favorite Alan Moore story by quite a long shot, and there's every possibility if I'd read Deadpool I may have liked it more.

But since I didn't I've gotta go with Supes.

The first furry Beast is real significant, and I love the character, but I've never actually read the story. Again, got to vote Supes in the poll.

Although Hellblazer and Warlock would probably beat Supes for my vote if they were included. Really liked those.

I think if you're going strictly in terms of effect on comics, it's gotta be the furry Beast. It's influenced the direction and appearance of the character ever since making him one of the most recognizable X-Men (and it even played a pretty major part in the third movie). None of that without AMAZING ADVENTURES #11.

But if you're going by terms of notability of the issue, "For the Man Who has Everything" wins, no doubt.

I'm kind of puzzled by the criteria for this countdown being what people think of when they hear that issue number. I'm sure WALT DISNEY COMICS #31 doesn't spring to most people's minds, or even the first appearance of Ant-Man. But of course they're very important issues. So I think it should be judged more on importance/noteworthiness, not how many people remember it.

It's like a sliding scale of importance when I determine the numbers...

1. Do a lot of people recall the issue number off the top of their head?

If the answer is no, then...

2. Is the issue "important"?

If the answer is yes, then I just compare the issues and choose which one I think is most notable. That's how #31, 29, etc. are determined.

Here is one of the few instances where there is an odd dynamic going on, which is why I put up a poll.

People seem to recall Deadpool #11 offhand, but I figured I'd see if people DO recognize those issues (Superman and Beast) offhand, too (yes, people probably are going to lie, but whatever, it's the best I got ).

The only one of those I'd recognize by the issue number is Amazing Adventures, because it's the kind of thing that gets brought up in Official Handbook entries.

"It WAS the choice, but I figured that Superman Annual #11 was a strong enough choice that I can’t really make up my mind on it."

Thanks for clearing that up, Brian. I thought I was losing my mind.

I blame Didio.

I wish I could convey just how memorable Deadpool #11 was and how happy I was when I saw Brian choose it. Now it looks like it's going to "lose" on a technicality (less well-known issue # but more well-known story).

Ah well.

You're right, JKline. it seems that plenty of people don't understand the purpose of this list, nor do they grasp what Brian was going for with the wording of the question. Thus, it's become a popularity contest of the wrong kind.

Heck, if we were doing a man-in-a-comic-shop survey (as opposed to a man-on-the-street, who would punch us for asking such nerdy questions), and we surveyed 100 readers with the question "what happens in (Deadpool/Superman Annual/Amazing Adventures) #11?", I bet Superman Annual would come in last in terms of percentage of correct answers.

Buttler brings up a good point, that being Amazing Adventures 11 would appear in Official Handbook entries, and thus would be more familiar to people that may not have actually seen or read the issue. Obviously such an effect is what gives Action Comics 1, Avengers 4, Amazing Fantasy 15, Detective Comics 27, Journey Into Mystery 83, Tales To Astonish 100, etc. their respective legacies.

Moreover, there is a natural backlash against Deadpool in particular, when it comes to Top or All-Time lists. In this particular case, we have a standard-bearer of 90's characters, created by the King of Bad Comics, Rob Liefeld himself, against a charter member of the X-Men and arguably the most recognizable superhero ever. To factor in creators, we're pitting Joe Kelly against Alan Moore and Gerry Conway (not that many people could've told you that; I had to look up Conway myself).

At the end of the day, I would believe Deadpool 11. I would also believe Amazing Adventures 11. But I have yet to hear one compelling argument in favor of Superman Annual 11 that actually fits the criteria as defined by Brian. But I digress.

I honestly don't think of any of those when I think of an #11.... best I could come up with in my head is Hellblazer #11, where we saw the Newcastle incident, which was the first showing of a major event in Constantine's life.

This is list is for things that people remember offhand as being a particular issue number. Those events might have been very good, important stories, but the actual issue numbers are fairly obscure in comparison to the events. Deadpool #11 might be a lesser known story, but almost everyone who knows the story knows that it's Deadpool #11. If you mention "Deadpool #11" you'll get a similar number of "huh?"s in response than if you mention "that time Deadpool went back in time to ASM #47", but if you mention Superman Annual #11 then you'll get way more "huh?"s than if you mention "For the Who Has Everything."

I for one did remember the story upon reading the issue number for the Superman Annual. I bought that when it came out and it's one of my most re-read issues. I've never read Deadpool so I don't know how it compares, but the evidence here suggests it's evoking more of a response.

Another #11 I CAN remember is the Tick vs Barry in Tick #11. Now that's a fun read (and also immortalized in cartoon form!).

I recognized Beast instantly, and that's my pick. Because I'm old.

If the NUMBER is the criteria, I think that's the most significant Eleven of the three choices. That was one of the few X-Men revamps (before the All-New All-Different version) that really took, to the point where it overshadowed the original: remember in X-Factor they tried to undo it and eventually had to make Hank blue and furry again? Also, that series and the subsequent porting over of the various plot points to the Avengers kept the X-franchise sort of in the readership's consciousness during the hiatus years, and with the following issue you have Steve Englehart's series debut as a Marvel writer.

However, I'm still not real sure what this countdown is supposed to be about. It looks to me like you're reaching for a couple of them.

However, I’m still not real sure what this countdown is supposed to be about.

Most notable comics at each issue number, #1-50, with a premium placed upon the recognizability of the number in question by fans.

If I were approached in a comic shoppe and told that my subscription page had been pulled at random and I won a free issue #11 (maybe it's the store's 11th anniversary or something, work with me here) and my choices were, sight unseen, the three issues listed, then I would pick Amazing Adventures because I'd love to have a second copy of it, and because offhand I know what happens in it. The other two would be a quality crap-shoot in my mind.

Theno

NEXTWAVE number 11! CBR's comic of the year for 2007, and for good reason.

It's definitely FF#11, for all the reasons you describe.
Why wasn't it on the poll?