As an adolescent and young adult in the 80s, it’s great to hear all the praise for the incredible stories that came out of that decade, especially from someone who wasn’t even around for it. Ironically, though, it prompts me to think about just how many strong decades comics have had.

When we get to the end of this list, I hope there would be enough enthusiasm to have a decade-by-decade list of the best storylines; particularly if the trend so far continues and pre-1980 end up being hughly under-represented.

Also: Y the Last Man is -so- much better than 76th place.

While I do enjoy Fables, I wouldn’t have voted for it. It is consistently enjoyable.

I really want to like Brubaker’s Captain America, especially as it has great artwork by Epting…but the whole idea of bringing back Bucky does leave a sour taste in my mouth. Come to think of it…is it just me, or does Brubaker introduce major retcons to every story he does? Cap, Iron Fist, X-men…

Agreed on the magnificence of the 80s (not to mention The Cowboy Wally Show, Akira, Zenith, Matt Wagner’s Mage and Grendel, Evan Dorkin’s Milk & Cheese and Dork, Neat Stuff, Batman: Blind Justice, Kraven’s Last Hunt, The Longbow Hunters, Eightball, Calvin & Hobbes, Tardi’s 120, Rue De La Gare, Blueberry and so many others)

I like the review of Brubaker’s run that it’s a bunch of ideas which sound stupid or gimmicky but then work very naturally and beautifully in execution.

It’s made even more interesting by the fact the first 24 issues are solid stories with Steve Rogers – you wouldn’t guess by them that the writer was even thinking about changing the character, let alone killing him and replacing him.

To Roman above– Thank you for listing the Defenders as one of the great series of the 1980s! It’s about time someone gave it the credit it deserves. For some reason, the only stuff I ever see here on the internet about the Defenders is people raving about Gerber, or sometimes Englehart. I’ve only read a couple issues of their stuff so I can’t judge, but I do know that the DeMatteis and Gillis issues were incredible! Especially Peter Gillis. I had one of his Defenders stories on my list, but I’m probably the only one so I don’t think we’ll be seeing it here.

And I don’t think anyone mentioned Squadron Supreme in their 80′s hit lists from the previous posts, so I’ll mention it here. Just re-read it and it’s pretty darned satisfying.

Am I the only one who can’t F**KING stand Brubaker bringing Bucky back to life. I can’t stand it. Read WS, read Death of Cap, I just think that it is an awful, cockeyed, hack-kneed, lame resurrection. That fact that its on the list proves how many bought into the hype, I just can’t stand Bucky America. (Do find the art, and use of Faust and Falcon nice though.)

In concept I thought it was a silly idea, but the way they did makes it stand out from the pack.

Winter Soldier was really good, but the storyline where he becomes the new cap is outstanding.

I’ll be sad to see him go.

In the first wave of the war, the entire Nova Corps was wiped out…well, not the ENTIRE Nova Corps. Richard Rider, of Earth, manged to survive and, once he merged with the Worldmind (the computer that ran the Nova Corps), Richard became the most powerful Nova around.

I don’t know, the story setting it up seemed a bit rushed to me, but what they did with Kyle Rayner after this is what led to great stories with a great character.

what mccloud do you think will make it? i’m a huge zot fan and would love to see it show up (especially the color issues- am i the only one that likes those better?), but i just don’t see it making this list. not in light of what we’ve seen so far.

As Mario said, good points. It all comes down to preferences, I guess, and when people became fans. I did not mean to imply you had a limited range of tastes, by the way, just giving my reason for why I think we live in the best possible time to be a comic book fan.

Mary Warner,

Yes, L&R started in the ’80s, but it’s still around (and by the same cartoonists), so I included it in my short list of current comics that are awesome. Having the collected editions available now is awesome, yet another reason why I feel we’re living in the best possible time for fans of the medium.

Roman,

Can’t argue with that list (and I’d add Suicide Squad, Hawkworld, Green Arrow, The Shadow, so many great comics!). The best part? We can read almost all of those comics now! I waited years to read Zot!, L&R, Flaming Carrot, and others without going broke. Creatively, the ’80s were an industry-wide high water mark. I believe the ’00s will be remembered very fondly.