Comments on: Top 100 Comic Book Storylines #90-86

By: Dave Anderson

Dave Anderson — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:17:55 +0000

Two more from my list this time — Church & State and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Again, I’m glad they made the list. I think it helps to broaden the range of storylines, but, obviously, I wish they placed higher. I voted for a different Fables storyline, but I’m glad to see March of the Wooden Soldiers.

By: Sean C.

Sean C. — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:40:49 +0000

“Animal Farm” is a personal favourite of mine, but, no, I can’t see any way it scores higher than “March of the Wooden Soldiers” and “Homelands”, which are generally Fables’ two most popular stories.

By: Eric Henry

Eric Henry — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:28:44 +0000

Two for two so far (League of Extraordinary Gentleman), but I’m starting to think my Fables pick (Animal Farm) won’t make the final cut.

By: azjohnson5

azjohnson5 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:21:14 +0000

Love the list so far.

By: Joe Rice

Joe Rice — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:15:02 +0000

Re: “Jesus, Mary . . .” I wondered about that after I posted it. ha! I should’ve learned . . .I have a kid named Jesus in my class so he always thinks I’m talking to him when I get frustrated.

By: Bee Clayton

Bee Clayton — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:03:02 +0000

Just finished reading ‘March of Wooden Soldiers’. Terrific story & art. I’ve been catching up with Fables through the TPBs and each one keeps getting better and better. Snow really shows her mettle in directing the battle against the wooden soldiers (who, by the way, were great villains. Polite, mean, and cruel. You stupid meat!)

Church and State – an oldie but a goodie. I miss Mick and Keith.

Death of Speedy – another terrific arc. Gilbert’s work sometimes goes over my head and understanding, but when it comes to Maggie & Hopey, I’m with Jamie all the way. Two of the best characters ever created in comics.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:40:46 +0000

Joe,

Oh gotcha – when I read “Oh Jesus, Mary..”, I thought you were abrieviating the phrase, “Oh Jesus, Mary, Mother of God”, which is quite a common exclaimation around my way.

By: Joe Rice

Joe Rice — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:26:24 +0000

Bernard, I didn’t say it was hard for me to believe people haven’t read some of this. I was talking to Mary in particular, whose every comment on every post (not just this) seems to be “Well, I’ve never read this.” Of course people haven’t read all these! Few folks have the opportunity to do so. My point is simple: You shouldn’t “meh” or talk shit about things you haven’t read. It’s rude and makes you look foolish. I’m not saying everyone is doing this. I’m not even saying Mary did this; she didn’t.

By: Blackjak

Blackjak — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:22:52 +0000

Wow!

I’ve read three out of five of these!

Cerebus, Fables and LoEG…

None of these were on my list, though…

(I voted “High Society” for Cerebus – simply my favourite Cerebus arc.)

Whatever people say about Dave Sim’s view on the world, Cerebus is still a masterpiece!

Similarly, I don’t care that Neal Adams is a Hollow-Earth believer… His art is fantastic!

By: Bernard the Poet

Bernard the Poet — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:48:59 +0000

Joe Rice:-
“And, Jesus, Mary, what HAVE you read? Every comment I see from you on this site is, “Well, I’ve never read that, but . . .” Have you read, like, five comics in your life?”

Is it so surprising? Brian has stated that this poll received votes for nearly a thousand different stories. Personally, I have a limited budget to spend on comics, so I read samples of work from various creators or characters and then if I’m not overly impressed, I don’t continue to buy their work.

So I read some Punisher when Mike Baron was writing it and decided the character wasn’t my cup of tea, I haven’t read anything else with him in it since.

The same goes for most of the stories listed so far. Fables, Cerebus, Wolverine, I tried them and wasn’t wowed by them. In those circumstances, I’m not going to continue handing over money to see if they get any better.

I’m sure I’m not the only person, who uses discrimination when purchasing comics.

By: wwk5d

wwk5d — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:46:56 +0000

“”Welcome Back, Frank” is still more memorable than Weapon X, though.”

That is very, very debatable.

Is “Church and State” the longest run on here? It’s a run I’ve always wanted to read, but with over 50 issues…that could take a while to read.

By: DanCJ

DanCJ — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:02:37 +0000

I’ve read all of these, but none of them got my vote. LoEG vol 2 was on my shortlist though.

They’re all worthy entries today (though I wasn’t that taken with Jimmy Corrigan or Ras Al Ghul from yesterday’s list)

So far I’ve read 14 of the 15 entries and feeling quite smug!

By: Nicholas West

Nicholas West — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:07:10 +0000

Sim gets a bad rap, but Cerebus is a hell of a read.

I have never read Love and Rockets! I’m going to fix that.

By: Sean C.

Sean C. — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:50:59 +0000

“I’ve never read enough Cerebus to get as far as Church and State (and to be honest, I’m not all that interested, given what I’ve heard of Sim), ”

You’re doing yourself a great disservice if you don’t read “Jaka’s Story” (v.5), which was my #2 on the list. Classic stuff. I’d stop there, though (“Melmoth” is throwaway, and the decline starts to set in after that).

By: Mary Warner

Mary Warner — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:07:39 +0000

I have read a lot, although probably less than most of the people here. But most of what I’ve read has been Marvel books from before the mid-90s, so that means I’ve missed a lot of what gets discussed here.

By: stealthwise

stealthwise — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:59:33 +0000

That “Weapon X” arc was all anyone could talk about when I was, what, 11 or 12? They may have retconned it out as being canon (I think), but it was mindblowing at the time.

I’ve never read enough Cerebus to get as far as Church and State (and to be honest, I’m not all that interested, given what I’ve heard of Sim), and I’ve never read Love and ROckets, to my eternal shame, but I’ve read most of the rest and enjoyed them.

By: Joe Rice

Joe Rice — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:36:36 +0000

“I should add that enjoyment can be a deep or strong experience even when someone’s not thinking of technique. I also think that works that provoke strong enjoyment in lots of different people probably have some serious technical merit that is sometimes tough to articulate.”

Oh, definitely. I know sometimes people think I don’t agree, but I definitely do. There are some works that are SO enjoyable and SO entertaining that they’ve actually made amazing craft out of entertainment. They’re often some of my favorite things in the world!

And, Jesus, Mary, what HAVE you read? Every comment I see from you on this site is, “Well, I’ve never read that, but . . .” Have you read, like, five comics in your life?

By: Ed Buskirk

Ed Buskirk — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:56:56 +0000

Jack Norris-I was afraid of the same thing, but I thought the entire list would be terrible crap, so I’m slightly optimistic after seeing some of these at all. I’m not holding my breath to see Like a Velvet Glove Cast In Iron, though. (Ghost World maybe?)

By: Mike Loughlin

Mike Loughlin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:29:19 +0000

In the late ’90s, BWS did a series for Dark Horse called BWS: Storyteller. It was an oversized comic with high production values, and featured three serials (Axus, Young Gods, Paradoxman) in 3 different genres (barbarian parody, riff on New Gods kindasorta, sci-fi, respectively). Unfortunately, the series was canceled after 9 issues. Those stories were collected (apparently with previously unreleased material) in three hardcovers. I wish the series lasted longer; each story was funny and exciting, with BWS’s exquisite artwork. Any BWS fan who has not read them, go out and get them. Although unfinished, each serial was terrific.

Additionally, BWS did a graphic novel that reworked his unpublished third Lifedeath story called Adastra in Africa. It’s very good, and features black & white artwork and an amusing “bonus interview” with Adastra.

If you’re looking for a cheap BWS back-issue, he did a Thing story for Marvel Fanfare that was hilarious. I can’t remember the issue number, but the cover features the Thing looking like Hugh Hefner.

By: jjc

jjc — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:21:50 +0000

the BWS Valiant stuff was pretty great too. in my opinion at least. doubt any of it made the list, which it probably shouldn’t anyway.