Comments on: Comics Should Be Good Top 50 Countdown! – #37

By: Rich Handley

Rich Handley — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:21:50 +0000

Great choice! Swamp Thing #37 was one of Moore’s best. Technically, though, Constantine’s first appearance was in Swamp Thing #25. The first time he was NAMED, however, was a year later, in #37.

By: Ken S.

Ken S. — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 02:18:34 +0000

You say 37, I think Veronica from “Clerks.”

Comicwise, SofST #37 works. Only other thing would be “only 100 issues until Jean Grey is killed the first time.”

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:23:00 +0000

Constantine is more memorable than Ellis’ Stormwatch (by virtue of still being around and functional unlike anything at Wildstorm), although Ellis’ first issue number is one I knew, as opposed to John’s first appearance.

Starman #37 had the return of the Red Bee (kind of)!

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:22:46 +0000

No, Claremont has retconned it so that Sage starred in Swamp Thing’s comic book.

By: Basara

Basara — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:21:50 +0000

Brian: Shouldn’t that be “Saga”, not “Sage” in the title?

By: Thok

Thok — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:40:54 +0000

Robin’s about 2 years from hitting the 200 mark, assuming that renumbering doesn’t result as a consequence of the Batman: RIP fall out. (Nightwing also has over 100 issues, but has the same potential problems.)

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:36:22 +0000

Unless they saw your post and are now changing their relaunch plans!!

By: Jeff R.

Jeff R. — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:35:41 +0000

Ah, I forgot about the resumed numbering after Bart’s series ended. Well, for a year or so Hellblazer was unique. And odds are after Final Crisis is over it will be again…

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:17:38 +0000

Flash is in the 200s, as well.

But yeah, most books from the late 80s have been relaunched (some more than once, like Justice League).

By: Jeff R.

Jeff R. — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:16:14 +0000

Do you know something? I think that John Constantine:Hellblazer is the only book around with a current issue number in the 200s.

Or even more broadly, I can only think of one other book with an issue number more than 100 and less than the high 300s.

Pretty impressive. And even accounting for renumberings, the set of characters created since 1970 or so who have had that kind of staying power is pretty small. (Wolverine and the Punisher each probably land somewhere around that area, adding all of the serieses together. Firestorm just barely made it to 100 in the 90s. Birds of Prey, at 120, is the ‘one other book’ I mentioned.)

By: Thok

Thok — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:10:12 +0000

Green Goblin is to Spiderman as Doomsday is to Superman or Bane is to Batman: they are A-list supervillains mostly because they had one high moment of villainy, but have very boring characters. As an actual villain, Green Goblin is incredibly dull. Yes, he’s insane. And he knows who Spiderman is. And he’s insane. Have I mentioned that he’s insane yet?

(The correct answer for Spiderman’s top villain is Dr. Octopus, who has a clear motivation, provides a twisted mirror to Spiderman, and allows for diverse tales like Master Planner or getting engaged to Aunt May.)

By: Spiffy

Spiffy — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:15 +0000

David M, that’s a good point. Norm gets TWO shots, unlike most folks.

Really, if you are ranking iconic villains, Normie is on that short list that otherwise pretty much only includes Joker, Luthor, and Doom. He’s the standard bearer for all of the villains for an industry defining hero (although I suppose a younger generation that I’m from may be increasingly ceding that role for Spidey to Venom).

By: lorin helller

lorin helller — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:33:22 +0000

Actually, I do believe that Norman’s first appearance might have been ASM #25. He’s unnamed there, but I believe that was supposed to be him.

By: Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:43:57 +0000

Doom Patrol #37 was notable for me because it was my first issue of the book. I was drawn in by Simon Bisley’s creepy cool cover featuring the Geomancers from the story inside. Thankfully, Morrison had fashioned the issue as a jumping on point for new readers (even doing a first page recap of the DP’s history that was both informative and hilarious. Sadly DC left the recap page out of the trade paperbacks for the series. Boooo DC!) and I was hooked thereafter.

By: David M

David M — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:43:08 +0000

Well, old Normie still has a chance to make #14… unless I’m completely forgetting about any other #14′s…

By: Thok

Thok — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:31:13 +0000

52 37 is the Supernova reveal, which is a fairly important event in the character development of Booster Gold.

Teen Titans 2 37 is the first appearance of Miss Martian.

By: SanctumSanctorumComix

SanctumSanctorumComix — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:40:42 +0000

Doctor Strange v3 (aka: Sorcerer Supreme) # 37

Doc vs… FRANKENSURFER!

for the WIN!

~P~
PTOR

By: Jeff Ryan

Jeff Ryan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:22:06 +0000

Quasar #37 has Quaze fighting the Anomaly, a seriously freaky-looking entity that looks like a worm/centipede/dragon, and is based on a truly weird-looking fossil called the Hallucigenia. Being the embodiment of all that is unique, nothing Quasar does can defeat him. So Quaze doesn’t even try, and that makes the Anomaly disappear. (Note; when fighitng almost anyone else, lying back and letting them wallop you is normally not a winnable strategy.)

By: wwk5d

wwk5d — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:32:23 +0000

Hmmm…I’d have gone with Stormwatch #37 also. By a nose.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:11:44 +0000

I can’t believe us! How did we fail comic book history so?!?!