Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » Top 100 Comic Book Runs

Winner of the Top 100 Runs Contest!

Brian Cronin — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:58:20 +0000

Okay, so 68 people entered their picks for who would be the top five runs on the countdown.

Of the 68 - NO ONE got all five of the runs (although one commenter got it right in the comments section after the deadline).

19 people got at least 4 of the 5 correct.

I numbered the voters from 1-19, popped it into a random number generator and the winner is...Robert Nguyen!

Lucky for me - Robert lives in the US (save on those mailing costs ). I'll send him an e-mail to see which TPBs he wants!

Thanks for playing, everyone!

3 Comments

At May 22, 2008, Sandy wrote:
When you say that 19 people got 4 out of 5 right, do you mean they got 4 out of ...
At May 22, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Just 4 out of the top 5.
At May 23, 2008, Sam wrote:
I got three out of five. SWAMP THING completely slipped my mind, even though it's definitely one of my ...

Top 158 Comic Book Runs #107-103

Brian Cronin — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:16:19 +0000

Here are the final six runs!

Enjoy!

107 (tie). Mark Waid and Ron Garney's first run on Captain America - 89 points

Captain America #444-454

Followed up the rather disappointing end of Gruenwald's run with a bombastic flourish, as the title was suddenly filled with action and intrigue. The idea of returning Sharon Carter to the book was brilliant, and outside of a few issues where his inkers seemed to not be doing him any favors, Ron Garney's art was incredibly dynamic. This book was constantly moving and had a harder edge to Cap that hadn't been seen since Steranko (like threatening to chop Red Skull's head off, then actually chopping his arm off). It was a real shame when this was cut-off by Heroes Reborn. A year later, they got back together for a new volume of Cap, but while they were okay comics, the spark clearly had gone.

107 (tie). Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's Legion - 89 points (4 first place votes)

Legion of Superheroes #122-125, Legion Lost #1-12, Legion: Worlds #1-6, The Legion #1-33

Abnett and Lanning joined the Legion with artist Olivier Coipel, and right from the get-go, you knew this was a vastly different take on the Legion (more akin to Giffen's Legion). They highlighted this by ending the regular series after their first arc and launching two mini-series that bridged the gap to their new series. First, Legion Lost, where a small group of the Legion are trapped in a faraway galaxy, and secondly, Legion Worlds, where we catch up on the various worlds in the Legion universe (and the Legionnaires on those worlds). This all leads to the ongoing series, The Legion, where Abnett and Lanning early on pull a Levitz/Giffen, and update a modern day DC villain to the future, in a rather brilliant move.

105. Dan Slott's She-Hulk - 90 points

She-Hulk Vol. 3 #1-12, She-Hulk Vol. 4 #1-21

Dan Slott took over She-Hulk, who had pretty much fell to the wayside by this time (she had been without a series for about 10 years), and tried a new take. He would highlight the lawyer side of her character, and turn the book into a superhero take on Ally McBeal. It was a wonderful high concept, and it worked out well, especially with Slott's hilarious sense of humor. Continuity would often be the butt of jokes, and after the first series fizzled out, sales-wise, Marvel decided to give him a second volume with more fanfare. That series did better, and it still continues today, although Slott left it recently to take over Amazing Spider-Man.

106. Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris' Ex Machina - 92 points (1 first place vote)

Ex Machina #1-current (#36)

Ex Machina is Brian K. Vaughan's take on what a superhero in the real world would appear like, as well as what would happen if a former superhero became Mayor of New York. In doing so, Vaughan gets to make points about superheroes AND politics (as opposed to politics and poker) while being ably assisted by Tony Harris' realistic artwork. They took an interesting approach vis a vis fill-ins. Rather than having fill-in issues, they would have one-shots by other artists to fill-in. This way, Harris would be the only artist to draw Ex Machina proper.

104. Frank Miller's Sin City - 93 points (1 first place vote)

Dark Horse Fifth Anniversary Special, Dark Horse Presents #51-62, then a pile of mini-series, including A Dame to Kill For, The Big Fat Kill and That Yellow Bastard

Sin City started off with a bang in Dark Horse Presents, as we saw the life of the gruesome Marv in this equally gruesome city. Later adventures brought in other characters with similarly gruesome tales of lust, betrayal and revenge. Oh, and lots of violence! Lots and lots of violence. Here, Miller truly perfected his noir art style, and the recent film adaptation of the work kept Miller's art intact, showing just how cinematic Miller was on this series. A beautifully drawn series of horrible acts.

103. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar - 94 points (1 first place vote)

Dreadstar #1-26 (Epic Comics), Dreadstar #27-40 (First Comics), plus some annuals and original graphic novels and the Metamorphosis Odyssey from Epic Illustrated

For a man with quite a few epics, Dreadstar probably was Starlin's finest - or at least his most realized. He had 40 issues to develop the story of Vanth Dreadstar (the lone survivor of our galaxy) and his band of pirates against the bloody war between the Church of The Instrumentality and the Monarchy. In a lot of ways, this was a continuation of Starlin's Warlock run, only with different characters, but it was a mature, often depressing work, with wonderful artwork by Starlin. What is striking about the work is that it follows the various changes that happen in the "real world," but are often left unseen in fiction (The Walking Dead was also designed for this point - showing what happens AFTER the end of most zombie films). What happens when the rebels actually WIN? How do things change? It's Starlin's most mature work, and it really could use a full trade paperback collection. Luke McDonnell, by the way, drew the last 8 issues or so, the ones detailing what happens AFTER the war is won. It is darker, so it makes sense to use a darker artist like McDonnell.

Okay, that's it!

Hope you all enjoyed the countdown!

79 Comments

At May 14, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
Cool to see the admiration for the LOSH & Slott's SHE-HULK, & I'm sure Waid's CAPTAIN AMERICA as well (I've ...
At May 14, 2008, Blackjak wrote:
Yay!! Shulkie!!!!

Yay!
At May 14, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Dreadstar 1-31 is not only the most satisfying space opera in the history of comics, they have to be most ...
At May 14, 2008, Blackjak wrote:
Wow! So Bryan Talbot's Luther Arkwright/Heart of Empire is 102 or 101??

Cool...

The other must be John Wagner and Alan ...
At May 14, 2008, Blackjak wrote:
Oh, arse... just realised that there were three tied for #100... forgot that, it seems so long ago that this ...
At May 14, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
It's funny, Matt, as I was writing up these six, I also noticed that Waid and Garney's Cap run was ...
At May 14, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Well, I guess the most shocking absences, not necessarily in terms of "greatness" but just in terms of what else ...
At May 14, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Yeah, the Silvestri love stunned me.
At May 14, 2008, Mobelius Rodelius wrote:
Wow. Someone else likes Coipel's Legion issues. Those Abnett Lanning Coipel issues are the only readable issues of the ...
At May 14, 2008, Billy F wrote:
wow...no:
Rucka's Queen and Country
Conway's Spider-man
Starlin's Captain Marvel

I'm glad to see Ex Machina there though.
At May 14, 2008, Matt wrote:
I voted for Waid and Garney's Cap, and I guess I'm not surprised to see it off the list -- ...
At May 14, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Someone asked me about Quasar - Gruenwald's run fell just shy of 50 points.
At May 14, 2008, Dan Felty wrote:
Thanks, Brian.

For the record, the current Jonah Hex series received at least one point!
At May 14, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
I didn't vote for the Silvestri run, but I do like it a lot, and from what other people have ...
At May 14, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
I own all of the Waid issues he did for Cap (before and after Heroes Reborn), but I don't like ...
At May 14, 2008, sonohuey wrote:
Ex Machina should have been higher than 106.
At May 14, 2008, Rebis wrote:
I have very fond memories of Perez's Wonder Woman, but I have to admit that I've never once reread it. ...
At May 14, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:
I'm going to brainstorm a bit about what looks missing to me. (Including a few that I voted for, ...
At May 14, 2008, Graeme Burk wrote:
I re-read (but mostly read for the first time) Dreadstar last year. While it's not in trade, it's super-easy to ...
At May 14, 2008, Graeme Burk wrote:
Oh, by 'metamorphosis odyssey' I meant the stories in Epic Illustrated-- I was reminded that in fact the whole Dreadstar ...
At May 14, 2008, Billy F wrote:
did Englehart's Avengers make the list? If it didn't, that's shocking.

Johnson and Williams' Chase was a short series, ...
At May 14, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Whoa, you're right, no "Tom Strong"! That's really weird, given how well the other ABC books did! Am ...
At May 14, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:
Yeah. If you're 30, Silvestri was drawing X-Men when you were 10. Isn't that supposedly the "golden age" of ...
At May 14, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
>>Also a bit surprising that Sin City didnâ€™t make it â€” though are we in the middle of Frank Miller ...
At May 14, 2008, Matt D wrote:
I would have liked those Legion issues a lot more without Copiel's muddy muddy art. I'd rather have clarity than ...
At May 14, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:
Honestly, I'd be happied if Sin City hadn't made the top 150 and Give Me Liberty/Martha Washington had.
At May 14, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
I still like the art on the first few Sin City stories- it blew my mind at age 15. The ...
At May 14, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
>>Iâ€™ve never read it, but Scud the Disposable Assassin has many supporters. Iâ€™m a little shocked that didnâ€™t place anywhere. ...
At May 14, 2008, Dean wrote:
I guess the X-Men run is damaged by its association with the atrocious work that Lee did after Claremont was ...
At May 14, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
>>Millerâ€™s â€œDaredevilâ€ is safely into the proverbial cannon of great comics at this point (and it is the only one ...
At May 14, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:
I imagine the Claremont/Lee X-Men run gets hurt for not being pretty a) not very long, b) split across two ...
At May 14, 2008, s1rude wrote:
Dean beat me to me my point - but I think in both artists' cases it has been building for ...
At May 14, 2008, s1rude wrote:
Boy, do I wish you could edit posts so that I could, oh, I don't know, finish sentences and add ...
At May 14, 2008, Si wrote:
No Furman Transformers either :( I loved that comic as a kid.

I would have also liked to have seen Francis ...
At May 14, 2008, Stephen wrote:
Rebis, agreed on the point about Rucka's WW being the high point for the character creatively (even if he spent ...
At May 14, 2008, Jason wrote:
Any chance of getting the complete list, sans commentary? I'd like to know what happened to Impulse and The Adventures ...
At May 14, 2008, Rene wrote:
We have 158 runs (and 33601 pts)

- 57 runs are set in the Marvel Universe (13130 pts)
- 14 runs are ...
At May 14, 2008, Rene wrote:
I find it shocking that George Perez's Wonder Woman isn't even in the Top 150. Not to start a discussion ...
At May 14, 2008, ks wrote:
Runs missing in my opinion:
L.E.G.I.O.N. '89 by Giffen/Grant/Kitson(or maybe just Grant and Kitson)
D.P.7 by Gruenwald/Ryan
X-Men:First Class by Parker
ElfQuest ...
At May 14, 2008, ks wrote:
I think that Rene is right. Perez's Wonder Woman is the most glaring omission of this list. She's one of ...
At May 14, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
Brian, I have to know: did Kubert's Tarzan get any other votes besides mine?
At May 14, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Offhand, no, I don't believe so.
At May 14, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
That's a shame. Not because Kubert is short on accolades, but because it means so many people have missed out ...
At May 14, 2008, Maurice F wrote:
Obviously, the Stern/Bryne CAPTAIN AMERICA (247-255) are underrated. If you haven't read them you should do yourself a favor.
At May 14, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Jeff R. said:
No Tom Strong or Halo Jones from Moore. No Greg Pak Hulk, even in an extremely present-oriented listâ€¦

I ...
At May 14, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:
In my opinion, the finest adaptation of novels to comics ever.

That's a fairly small pond, isn't it? What's the ...
At May 14, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:
(Oh, and Foglio's Myth Adventures, which would probably be my vote for the winner in that small category.)
At May 14, 2008, Sean C. wrote:
I'm really stunned that Perez's WW didn't even make the 50 runners-up; just drives home how unpopular the character is, ...
At May 14, 2008, nacho wrote:
I had the Silvestri run really high on my list. That's when I started reading X-Men and to this ...
At May 14, 2008, Rene wrote:
Yes, the list is very writer-centric. That is not a problem with me, since I'm very writer-centric myself. It must ...
At May 14, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
George Perez and Alan Davis are probably my 2 favorite artists. I'd read almost anything by them.

Glad too see that ...
At May 14, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
In the end, the big lesson of this whole exercise is that Marvel desperately needs to release Visionary trades ...
At May 14, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Oh, and DC needs to put out two Showcase's of Grell's Warlord!
At May 14, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
>>Moench and Gulacyâ€™s Master of Kung Fu

Not gonna happen, unfortunately. Marvel no longer has the rights to the characters created ...
At May 14, 2008, stealthwise wrote:
As the comments for Waid/Garney's Cap run and She-Hulk remind me, books that take a long hiatus (at least, company-owned ...
At May 14, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
Hama and Silvestri's Wolverine run just missed my list, Nacho. It was a great read, and even though I ...
At May 14, 2008, ks wrote:
Another good current title that I like is Incredible Herc. Guess there isn't enough of it yet to qualify for ...
At May 15, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:
I put the Silvestri run as my #1 run, but not for Silvestri's art (which I do like), but because ...
At May 15, 2008, Emmabe wrote:
Sean C mentioned, "Iâ€™m really stunned that Perezâ€™s WW didnâ€™t even make the 50 runners-up; just drives home how unpopular ...
At May 15, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
I think Wonder Woman is popular, but not within message-board-time-spending comic-book-reading community. I think you don't need the first part.

"not ...
At May 15, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
I see some people arguing that ASBAR is so hated by various fans that the negative feelings toward it may ...
At May 15, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
I am going to stick my neck out and say that the reason Perez's Wonder Woman isn't on the list ...
At May 15, 2008, Rene wrote:
Er...Perez's WW not very good? Kung-Fu Wonder Woman? Fire in their belly?

Well, I suppose it takes all kinds.
At May 15, 2008, Sean C. wrote:
I'll vote for the awful Silver Age Wonder Woman when Hades becomes a skating rink (which, if you believe Dante, ...
At May 15, 2008, Graeme Burk wrote:

The lack of love for both Frank Miller and Jim Lee is pretty easy to figure out: â€œAll-Star Batman & ...
At May 15, 2008, Graeme Burk wrote:
Whoops. Somehow didn't post my last line.

I think Jim Lee is just overrated, but that's hardly a big sin in ...
At May 15, 2008, Teebore wrote:
I greatly enjoyed Slott's She-Hulk, especially the early issues w/the Bobillo art-he made Jen cute-as-a-button!

I should really great around ...
At May 15, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
I was actually very surprised at myself when I looked at my ballot after I had finally narrowed it down ...
At May 15, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
>>Obviously the art was nice, but as re-boots go it wasnâ€™t a patch on Mike Sekowskyâ€™s kung-fu Wonder Woman of ...
At May 15, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
>>I greatly enjoyed Slottâ€™s She-Hulk, especially the early issues w/the Bobillo art-he made Jen cute-as-a-button!

Same here. I have no ...
At May 15, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
"Except that, yâ€™know, Sekowsky drew it. Too bad."

Needless to say, I thought Sekowsky was a pretty fine artist. The way ...
At May 15, 2008, Grico wrote:
Yeah, I think Manhunter should have been at least on the top 150. It would have been on my top ...
At May 15, 2008, Marc wrote:
One thing Rene has neglected to mention is how many are currently being published. Below is that list, 14% ...
At May 15, 2008, David wrote:
"The opening six-issue origin story arc was at least three issues too long."
I'm unsure how cutting down the number in ...
At May 15, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
Waid & Garney's first Cap run was great at the time, but I honestly don't feel it holds up so ...
At May 16, 2008, Rusty Priske wrote:
Now I am REALLY sorry I didn't vote.

Not having the Perez Wonder Woman on the list is a crime. (NOt ...
At May 16, 2008, Alvin wrote:
Hey I'm taking this to heart, what about 108?
At May 16, 2008, choirsoftheeye wrote:
Tied with 107?
At July 8, 2009, Shaun wrote:
Did Blue Devil net any points?

Top 158 Comic Book Runs #118-109

Brian Cronin — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:00:13 +0000

Here are the next ten runs!

Enjoy!

116 (tie). J. Michael Straczynski's Amazing Spider-Man - 76 points

Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #30-58, Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #500-545

JMS' run on Amazing Spider-Man helped to revitalize the Spider-Man line, turning what was a book in sales trouble into one of Marvel's highest-selling titles. He had a good chemistry with his artists, especially the initial run, with John Romita, Jr. as artist.

116 (tie). Gail Simone's Birds of Prey - 76 points (1 first place vote)

Birds of Prey #56-90, 92-108

A fine follow-up to Chuck Dixon's origination of the team. Like most great runs, Simone highlighted characterization, and stressed the development of both Black Canary and Huntress during the series, as well as the closer bond that the three main female leads developed. Also a sizable amount of humor.

116 (tie). Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert's Sgt. Rock - 76 points (1 first place vote)

A whole pile of Our Army at War and Sgt. Rock comics - too many different issues to list.

Strong, solid war stories with gritty, dynamic artwork by Kubert. Not many multi-issue arcs, so Kanigher had to come up with new stories constantly, which he did with a great amount of ingenious plot ideas (for a series that had such a basic premise, Kanigher got as much out of it as he could).

115. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg 43 - 77 points

(writer) American Flagg #1-26, #38-32

(penciler) American Flagg #1-12, 15-26

One of the first "modern" superheroes of the 1980s, featured great artwork by Chaykin as well as an engaging story. Perhaps the first time oral sex was shown in a comic book.

114. Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's Tomb of Dracula- 78 points

Tomb of Dracula #7-70, plus Annuals

A rousing action epic, with incredibly moody artwork by Colan and his longtime inker, Tom Palmer. What Wolfman did best in this run was introducing new characters and developing both them and the established characters he inherited. Hannibal King, Blade and Frank Drake all become multi-faceted intriguing characters, and Dracula was always there, too, being evil and cool.

113. Scott Lobdell's Generation X - 79 points

Generation X #1-28, plus the four Age of Apocalypse issues

Lobdell introduced original characters, which was a big deal at the time, and Lobdell and artist Chris Bachalo (who drew most of Lobdell's run) did a marvelous job coming up with characters that seemed a bit out of place in the typical world of the X-Men. Bachalo did particularly nice work on Skin and Chamber. A lot the development of Emma Frost for Morrison's run came from this run.

112. Katsuhiro Ôtomo Akira - 80 points

Young Magazine #24 (1982)- #28 (1990), Published in the US in Akira #1-38

Ôtomo's work on Akira was the bridge he needed from working in manga to working in film and television, and you can see that ability in the majestic work that often appears in Akira - it is widescreen designs and drawings - all with an intriguing plot.

111. Ed Brubaker/Matt Fraction's Iron Fist - 83 points

The Immortal Iron Fist #1-current (#14)

Massive roller coaster ride of action, with one of the better new characters (the "Golden Age" Iron Fist) to come along in awhile. Very nice art throughout most of the series. This is a dynamic book with a number of good character moments, as well.

110. Grant Morrison/Mark Waid/Greg Rucka/Geoff Johns' 52 - 85 points

52 #1-52

Yes, it only lasted a year, but if a book is over 50 full issues, I figure I can count it as an ongoing. This series started slow, but soon built up so much momentum that the final half was like a massive avalanche of cool moments, all set up with the deft characterization work each writer did with the fourth-string characters who starred in 52.

109. Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' Batman - 87 points

Detective Comics - #395, 397, 400, 402, 404, 407-408, 410 & Batman #232, 234, 237, 243-245, 251, 255

While spilt up over the early 1970s, O'Neil and Adams still had a bit of a run, where Adams' conception of Batman became the definitive look for Batman in the 1970s. This run tried to take Batman back to a darker style (after the camp of the TV series), along with stellar artwork by Adams. It was during their run that Ra's al Ghul was introduced.

That's it for today! The final six tomorrow!!

66 Comments

At May 12, 2008, nadir wrote:
77 POINTS!!!!!!!

how the eff does american flagg only get 77 points?
people, if you just have not read this book (only ...
At May 12, 2008, Thok wrote:
JMS's Amazing Spiderman run needs the following disclaimer: On several storylines, JMS ran into heavy editorial interference, and that needs ...
At May 12, 2008, Chris Heide wrote:
well, I'm glad to see JMS Spider-Man get some love despite the fact that it turned to shit post-JRJ, while ...
At May 12, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Dracula! Rock! Adams Batman! Here's all those runs that some quixotic people thought would be in the ...
At May 12, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Oh right, it was ORAL sex that Flagg first had. Always hard to keep track of the random "firsts" in ...
At May 12, 2008, Matt D wrote:
Past Generation X (geez, I should have voted for Nicieza's post-Liefeld X-Force; that's a better run what with the Siryn/Black ...
At May 12, 2008, Rick Blaine wrote:
I hope that Michelinie/Layton/Bright's run on Iron Man is listed next. It was one of Marvel's strongest titles in the ...
At May 12, 2008, yosky wrote:
I'm not a huge manga fan but Akira stands as a masterpiece of comics art. It's up there with Moebius ...
At May 12, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Just some stray first reactions regarding what I know about the items in this installment (which in some cases is ...
At May 12, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
SGT & TOMB OF DRACULA... finally, the world is starting to make a certain amount of sense to Unfrozen Caveman ...
At May 12, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
SGT *ROCK*, that is. My new keyboard & I have been having ... issues.
At May 12, 2008, Bill K wrote:
With the arrival of O'Neill/Adams Batman/'Tec, the (to me) most mysterious remaining absence is at last resolved. I even love ...
At May 12, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
The final six:

Sin City?
Starlin's Dreadstar?
Perez's Wonder Woman?
DeMatteis's Captain America?
Stern and Byrne's Cap?
Claremont and Lee's X-Men?
Simonson's Fantastic Four?
Dixon's Batman or ...
At May 12, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers?

Anybody?

[crickets chirp]
At May 12, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Gen X wasn't one of my favorite X-titles, but it was a good read. Granted, the series is tough to ...
At May 12, 2008, Suzene wrote:
Man, I liked Simone and Benes on Birds. Not in my top ten, but I've got all the trades on ...
At May 12, 2008, Eliot Johnson wrote:
Would love to see the Waid/Ramos Impulse crack the list.
At May 13, 2008, Spiffy wrote:
Unless I missed it, DeFalco's Spider-Girl is still up for grabs. Given the large fan love for that series, ...
At May 13, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
Poor old Sgt Rock. He must have taken part in D-Day at least a dozen times, single-handedly liberated every single ...
At May 13, 2008, entzauberung wrote:
Isn't Steranko's Cap disqualified due to its shortness?
At May 13, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
Brian did an 'Any Questions?' page prior to the vote. I asked then, if Steranko's run could be included and ...
At May 13, 2008, M Bloom wrote:
Didn't figure we'd see Generation X on this list. I suppose that's largely because I'd forgotten that it actually was ...
At May 13, 2008, Rene wrote:
Compared to the general crapness of most other 1990s X-Books (hell, most other Marvel 1990s books, period), Generation X looked ...
At May 13, 2008, Chris Simpson wrote:
I've still a few from my 10 ten to appear.

One of them's Slott's She Hulk. Considering the love given ...
At May 13, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
I'm up to 7 of my 10 having appeared. (5 were in the original Top 102, and 2 more have ...
At May 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Yeah, I figure Steranko's run was significant enough to warrant an exception, if only because you always hear people speak ...
At May 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Sin City?
Starlinâ€™s Dreadstar?
Perezâ€™s Wonder Woman?
DeMatteisâ€™s Captain America?
Stern and Byrneâ€™s Cap?
Claremont and Leeâ€™s X-Men?
Simonsonâ€™s Fantastic Four?
Dixonâ€™s Batman or Robin or BoP ...
At May 13, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Somebody -- I forget whom -- argued, in one of the spirited discussions we had as the Top 100 were ...
At May 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
But everyone considers Byrne and Stern's tenure on Captain America a run, right?

It's ALWAYS been referred to as a run, ...
At May 13, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
>>A run, really, is just consecutive issues by a creator .

Except that Steranko's THREE issues weren't even consecutive? I'm not ...
At May 13, 2008, Teebore wrote:
Say what you will about JMS's Spidey when it went off the rails (and boy, did it ever) but before ...
At May 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
#110 and 111 were consecutive. ;)

But really, the point was a bit of a moot one, just like when I ...
At May 13, 2008, Patrick Hall wrote:
How the Stern & JMS Spiderman runs can make this list and the Gerry Conway/Ross Andru run not get a ...
At May 13, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Didn't the Stern run make this list?
At May 13, 2008, rlsims wrote:
Hey Lorendiac,

Which Batman runs did you vote on? I'm assuming one was the Moench/Newton/Colan run. It never seems to get ...
At May 13, 2008, Rene wrote:
We have 152 runs (and 33054 pts)

- 55 runs are set in the Marvel Universe (12951 pts)
- 14 runs are ...
At May 13, 2008, Rene wrote:
"How the Stern & JMS Spiderman runs can make this list and the Gerry Conway/Ross Andru run not get a ...
At May 13, 2008, Patrick Hall wrote:
I agree Gerry Conway didnt ammount to a hill of beans on any of his other work but his Spiderman ...
At May 13, 2008, tk. wrote:
M Bloom: "I later found out that I was part of a fairly sizable exodus that left after that Penance/M ...
At May 13, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Brian Cronin -- I don't claim to magically know what the "perfect number" is to mark the minimum size of ...
At May 13, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
I love Gerry Conway. And I'm not the only one, Conway wrote the early 80s Batman run that Lorendiac ...
At May 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Brian Cronin â€” I donâ€™t claim to magically know what the â€œperfect numberâ€ is to mark the minimum size of ...
At May 13, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
wwk5d -- Thanks for the kind words about my old "Sins Past" parody. I think the "Plot-Hammer" concept which I ...
At May 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
In retrospect, I agree that the minimum should have been 13 issuesâ€“ that way you could follow up with a ...
At May 13, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
rlsims -- my votes for a pair of runs on Batman-related comics in the 1980s were for the Gerry Conway ...
At May 13, 2008, Rene wrote:
Matt Bird -

I didn't read much of Conway's DC work, so I won't comment on it. It may be ...
At May 13, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
"Having read most of the Oâ€™Neil/Adams Batman in various reprint forms, I never realized just how staccato their run was; ...
At May 13, 2008, Billy F wrote:
My guesses for the top 6:

(in no order)
Waid's Captain America
Thomas's Avengers
Miller's Sin City
Starlin's Dreadstar
Conway's Spider-Man
Vaughan's Ex Machina
At May 13, 2008, Patrick Hall wrote:
Nice one Billy, come on Conways Spiderman.
At May 13, 2008, Rene wrote:
Thomas's Avengers has appeared in the Top 100.
At May 13, 2008, Billy F wrote:
Did it? I must have passed it right over then...

I thought it was a little strange not to be ...
At May 13, 2008, Matt wrote:
Tomb of Dracula and O'Neil/Adams Batman were two that I would have figured for the top 100. Guess they ...
At May 13, 2008, Dean wrote:
But everyone considers Byrne and Sternâ€™s tenure on Captain America a run, right?

Itâ€™s ALWAYS been referred to as a run, ...
At May 13, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
However else you feel about Conway's work, to say that the original Jackal/Gwen/Clone story that he did should actually bear ...
At May 13, 2008, Patrick Lemaire wrote:
I'm familair with most of those. And it's a pity that some of the moronic Spidey-fans are narrow-minded and can't ...
At May 13, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Patrick Lemaire -- let me get this straight. Are you saying that anyone who says he dislikes some of JMS's ...
At May 13, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Rene said:
I never liked Gerry Conway in anything. Well, okay, maybe in Werewolf-by-Night. He wasnâ€™t that bad in Werewolf-by-Night. But ...
At May 13, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:
Patrick Hall said: "How the Stern & JMS Spiderman runs can make this list and the Gerry Conway/Ross Andru run ...
At May 13, 2008, yosky wrote:
Patricj Lemair-

JMS spidey run was fine. A fine comic with swell art when Romita Jr was writing. However, I doubt ...
At May 13, 2008, Eric wrote:
Yay! BOP! My list is complete.
I didn't even think of 52. Then again, I didn't think it was that great ...
At May 13, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Patrick, please explain to us morons how we can properly judge the great writing of JMS, in the Spider-man titles. ...
At May 14, 2008, Chris Simpson wrote:
I voted for Conway and Andru's Spidey at number 2 just one place above Stern and JR Jrs. Both based ...
At May 14, 2008, Blackjak wrote:
I still can't believe we haven't seen Luther Arkwright/Heart of Empire...
At May 14, 2008, choirsoftheeye wrote:
Where's the final six?

-Some demanding git
At May 14, 2008, Fan4Fan wrote:
Oâ€™Neil and Adamsâ€™ Batman almost made my list. I find Detective 395 especially stellar, but the rest is a ...
At May 15, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
Gen X was rather cool back in the day. Lobdell created some pretty good characters, though it's pretty depressing ...

Top 158 Comic Book Runs #128-119

Brian Cronin — Sat, 10 May 2008 06:39:37 +0000

Here are the next ten runs!

Enjoy!

126 (tie). Roger Stern's Doctor Strange - 68 points

Doctor Strange #46-62, 65-75

Actually, this is Stern's second run on the title, I think. Was the first time long enough for a run? Anyhow, this was a great series, particularly when Paul Smith was drawing it. Hoo boy, that was some good comics - but Stern was lucky to work with a number of great artists during his run. A memorable storyline involved the destruction of all vampires.

126 (tie). Larry Hama's GI Joe - 68 points (1 first place vote)

G.I. Joe #1-155, plus annuals and specials

Doing a toy tie-in is not the easiest creative environment, but for almost ten years, Larry Hama made it work, with a variety of silly plotlines he had to use, he always had his characters act as realistic as possible under the circumstances, and he made Snake Eyes a cool character more than anyone else.

126 (tie). Mike Grell's Sable - 68 points

Jon Sable, Freelance #1-56

Jon Sable, Freelance is a very typical Mike Grell story- heavy character work, a lot of action, and mature themes (not to mention great artwork). Grell never pandered to his readers - you got what he thought was interesting, whatever that may be, and I admire that.

125. Sam Kieth's The Maxx - 70 points

The Maxx #1-35

Bill Loebs' early involvement on this series cannot be underestimated (what can be underestimated is that the Maxx began in this horrible Image one-shot called Darker Image). This was a tremendously quirky book that had amazing Kieth artwork and some strong character moments.

123 (tie). Matt Wagner and Steve Seagle's Sandman Mystery Theatre - 71 points (1 first place vote)

Sandman Mystery Theatre #1-60

Character was king in this series, as well, which was set during the Golden Age, and made Dian Belmont one of the best female characters in comics. Working with Guy Davis on art often sure doesn't hurt the stories! Wagner left after #60, but Seagle wrote the book until it ended at #70.

123 (tie). Steve Englehart's Captain America - 71 points

Captain America #153-167, 169-186

Englehart did a lot of innovative stuff on this title, like having Captain America give up his identity, take on a new identity, and also the famous storyline that ended with President Nixon killing himself because he was found out as the head of the Secret Empire. Powerful work, but also this was not all that different from other superhero comics so that a typical superhero fan couldn't enjoy it, as well.

122. Peter David's X-Factor (Second run) - 72 points

X-Factor #1-current (#30)

This began with the Madrox mini-series, and continued to this dark series starring Madrox as the head of X-Factor Investigations, which is a group of various mutant characters solving crimes. Really, though, the point of the comic is just watching everyone interact. One of David's stronger works, and we're lucky to have it coming out currently.

120 (tie). Jim Steranko's Nick Fury - 74 points

Strange Tales #155-168, Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1-5

Steranko just cut loose on his SHIELD storylines, and they were both immensely enjoying while amazing to look at. Steranko had a great sense for design, and he really laid these stories out beautifully.

120 (tie). John Rogers' Blue Beetle - 74 points (1 first place vote)

Blue Beetle #1-14, 16-20, 22-25

Rogers had a hard task, doing the new Blue Beetle title, but his throwback superhero tales, along with a keen eye for inventing good supporting cast members, on top of a likable star, have made this one of the most enjoyable superhero comics DC has to offer.

119. Peter David and Todd Nauck's Young Justice - 75 points

Young Justice #1-55, plus a #1,000,000 and some specials

Young Justice was Peter David just having a good time and some laughs, with Todd Nauck along for the ride the whole time. There were parodies and puns galore, as well as some occasional hard-hitting stories, which touched on racism and stuff like that. It was a strong book which was sadly canceled in favor of Teen Titans. This is the last time Impulse was good.

Ten more Monday!

51 Comments

At May 10, 2008, ks wrote:
G.I.Joe only came in at 126? Shit, I should have voted. I would have placed it as my number one.

This ...
At May 10, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
I think something is wrong with me...I liked many of these series more than most of the ones that made ...
At May 10, 2008, Russkafin wrote:
Very glad to see Maxx on the list!
At May 10, 2008, The Dane wrote:
GI Joe was also one of my first comics. I'm not sure I'd call it a gateway comic because I ...
At May 10, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
Nice to see Blue Beetle listed. I dropped the title around ish 12, but continuing postive mentions here made me ...
At May 10, 2008, stephen cade wrote:
Sandman Mystery Theatre just missed my list--if the art had been better overall it would have made it.
The stories were ...
At May 10, 2008, Michael wrote:
Woo-hoo! Young Justice!
At May 10, 2008, Ryan wrote:
Haha, Young Justice was the first DC series I ever bought regularly. In my opinion, so much better than the ...
At May 10, 2008, Cully wrote:
It's about time Steranko's Nick Fury got some props. Have you ever seen the 4 page spread in Strange ...
At May 10, 2008, Cully wrote:
Oops...typo...#167. Sorry guys.
At May 10, 2008, Annoyed Grunt wrote:
At least The Maxx made it in to the top 125. Very good series, but I loved the last ...
At May 10, 2008, Rebis wrote:
Does anyone know, off the top of their heads, how much of X-Factor is in trade form? And how much ...
At May 10, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
If I had followed the rules and voted pure "favorites" without factoring in historical importance, both Stern's "Doctor Strange" and ...
At May 10, 2008, chris w. wrote:
I don't know if there's any chance of an Essential G.I. Joe (Marvel does not own the rights to G.I. ...
At May 10, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Well, FM, as this is nowhere near "the top", they can't really be said to have "made ti" there, can ...
At May 10, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Glad to see some love for Englehart's Cap. Best Cap run ever. Brubaker comes close, and may even beat it, ...
At May 10, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
It's funny, over the years I've heard people say good things about GI Joe and ROM, but I never read ...
At May 10, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
G.I. Joe does still hold up, in my opinion. A couple years back I re-read my collection, which was from ...
At May 10, 2008, Rene wrote:
New Totals

Interestingly, we have here our first early Image comics in the list: the Maxx.

We have 142 runs (and 32257 ...
At May 10, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:
Sandman Mystery Theatre JUST missed my list. I recently read all six of the trades Vertigo has released so far ...
At May 10, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Three runs I've never read ANY of this time (G.I. Joe, Sable, and Doctor Strange.)

Which is kinda weird because in ...
At May 10, 2008, Rene wrote:
It's heresy in the Internet, I know, but Young Justice never did much for me. And yeah, I usually like ...
At May 10, 2008, Dean wrote:
Certain writer-artist combos just work better than others. Some are so good that you wish they had worked together ...
At May 10, 2008, Leax wrote:
GI Joe was published in Brazil!
At May 10, 2008, The Dane wrote:
@jazzbo - Yeah, I totally agree with what you said. What I meant to say was that though I read ...
At May 10, 2008, The Dane wrote:
And yeah, where the crap is Tintin on the list? That's just as much a run as any of the ...
At May 10, 2008, Pedro BouÃ§a wrote:
"GI Joe was published in Brazil!"

Twice, even! The first series reprinted the first 12 or so issues (Rio GrÃ¡fica, late ...
At May 10, 2008, Jason wrote:
I understand that Teen Titans was a lot more marketable name than Young Justice. I understood the need to evolve ...
At May 10, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
Rene, you appear to be my proverbial brother from another (Brazilian) mother. Those are my exact feelings on Young Justice, ...
At May 10, 2008, Kristen wrote:
"Character was king in this series, as well, which was set during the Golden Age, and made Dian Belmont one ...
At May 11, 2008, BDaly wrote:
I hope that PAD's second X-Factor run would make the top 100 if we did this in a few years.

I ...
At May 11, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
Dane - I'm with you now. I do think the "for me" qualifier is a big one, because I honestly ...
At May 11, 2008, Cestrian wrote:
I've never been that big a fan of Engelhart's Captain America. There's some good bits yeah but also some less ...
At May 11, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
This has bothered me for a while now. Is "Slobo" some Star Trek character I haven't heard of or ...
At May 11, 2008, David wrote:
"Haha, Young Justice was the first DC series I ever bought regularly. In my opinion, so much better than the ...
At May 11, 2008, Patrick Lemaire wrote:
Sandman Mystery Theatre also had an annual and a special: Sandman Midnight Theatre. I hope the publishers are taking notice ...
At May 11, 2008, Rene wrote:
Hey, Lynxara. :)

Yes, the individual series of these characters were all quite good. But Young Justice felt like less than ...
At May 11, 2008, Joshua Nelson wrote:
Yeah! "The Maxx" finally clocks in!!! Respect to the other 69 of you who voted for it.
At May 11, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
The Maxx is one of those comics that people who don't normally read super-hero comics can like. I knew a ...
At May 11, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
Huh. I somehow acquired one issue of THE MAXX, filed away in a short box with the rest of the ...
At May 11, 2008, Rene wrote:
Dan, Sam Kieth pencilled the first 5 issues of Sandman, and despite claiming that his style didn't mix well with ...
At May 11, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
Blue Beetle was my last vote-getter to show up here. So great to see it. I almost didn't vote for ...
At May 11, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Young Justice was one of my picks. Nice to know that at least a few other people agreed with me! ...
At May 12, 2008, Stephen wrote:
I had GI Joe fairly high on my list, and it absolutely still holds up. Part of the appeal, admittedly, ...
At May 12, 2008, Black Rabbit wrote:
The Maxx was, by far, the best thing to come out of those early Image years (though I still have ...
At May 12, 2008, VeganMike wrote:
Fellow Maxx-head checking in! It still stands as one of my favorite runs... probably second only to Sandman and Swamp ...
At May 12, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Re Sandman influencing Sam Kieth:

In one of the letter columns, Kieth said he hadn't read Sandman since he stopped drawing ...
At May 13, 2008, Tony Robertson wrote:
"Steranko had a great sense for design"

Shouldn't it read "Steranko has a great sense for design" ?

He is still around ...
At May 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Shouldnâ€™t it read â€œSteranko has a great sense for designâ€ ?

He is still around and his latest stuff still showcases ...
At May 13, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
That said, yes, Steranko still designs stuff quite nicely. If anyone considered the description of his Nick Fury work was ...
At May 14, 2008, Fan4Fan wrote:
Englehart's Cap easily captured the second slot on my list. My favorite title during the 70's!

Top 158 Comic Book Runs #138-129

Brian Cronin — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:45:03 +0000

Here are the next ten

Enjoy!

137 (tie). Grant Morrison's Zenith - 57 points

2000 AD #535-550, 558-559, 589-606, 626-634, 650-662, 667-670, plus some Annuals, plus an additional run from #791-806 that is probably a bit too far away to count as one run

I just featured this run on the comic book alphabet of cool. It was a fun, postmodern superhero tale of a superhero in a time when doing music videos was the most superheroes had to do - so what does he do once he actually has to be a superhero? We shall see! Brendan McCarthy and Steve Yeowell were the main artists (the former doing the design work and the latter most of the actual pencilling).

137 (tie). Fabian Nicieza's Thunderbolts - 57 points (1 first place vote)

Thunderbolts #34-75

Nicieza took over a book that seemed like it was completely Kurt Busiek's title, but by the time Nicieza left, his personal stamp was all over the work. He did a fine job bringing them back a few years after this run, as well. Mark Bagley helped transition the run from Busiek to Nicieza, then Patrick Zircher did some fine work on the book.

136. Steve Gerber's Defenders - 58 points (1 first place vote)

The Defenders #20-29, 31-41

Steve Gerber's run on the Defenders is most notable in how off-beat it was, especially for the time period. A highlight of this run is the work Gerber did with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

134 (tie). Ed Brubaker's Catwoman - 62 points

Catwoman #1-10, 12 -37

Brubaker completely revamped Catwoman, turning her into a sort of Robin Hood of Gotham's East Side. Darwyn Cooke was there at first to help design things, then Cam Stewart did a marvelous job on the title keeping up with Cooke's style. Gritty, character-based drama.

134 (tie). Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers - 62 points (1 first place vote)

Avengers #500-503, New Avengers #1-current (#40), plus some Annuals and I guess Mighty Avengers #1-current (#13)

Bendis finished one run on the Avengers and then revamped them as Marvel's premiere superhero franchise, taking a book that was doing average sales and making it Marvel's most popular title (then launching a spin-off that somehow managed to do almost as well!).

133. Roy Thomas' All Star Squadron - 63 points

All-Star Squadron #1-67, plus some Annuals

Roy Thomas was given the keys to the kingdom when he was allowed to do this series that filled in the blanks in DC's Golden Age. It was detailed, but it was also humanistic, and some of Thomas' finest comic book work of the decade.

132. Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson's Swamp Thing - 64 points (2 first place votes)

House of Secrets #92, Swamp Thing #1-10

This run, which introduced Swamp Thing to world has nice stories by Len Wein, but it is Bernie Wrightson's stunning gothic-esque artwork that defines this run. Amazing artwork.

130 (tie). Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead - 65 points

Walking Dead #1-current (#49)

This tale of what happens to zombie survivors when they try to live the rest of their lives is an engaging look at how "real" people would react to the situations given to them. Tony Moore began the book, but Charles Adlard has been doing it for years. Great work.

130 (tie). Peter Bagge's Hate - 65 points

This could easily count other books, but let's just say Hate #1-30, plus a bunch of annuals.

Bagge's Hate is a stunning piece of political and social commentary, highlighted by Bagge's stinging sense of humor and his exaggerated style of artwork. Buddy Bradley is more or less an "everyman" trying to deal with the modern world as responsibly as he can, while all the while noting how bad the world can be (humorously, of course!).

129. William Messner-Loeb's Flash - 66 points (1 first place vote)

Flash #15-28, 30-61

While Mark Waid's run is the more famous, a lot of Waid's cues were from Bill Loebs' run on the title, as it was Loebs who began to humanize Wally West, and it was Loebs who introduced Linda Park, and the interesting chemistry between Linda and Wally. Loebs stories were centered around humanity, but they also had action and, most importantly, they often had FUN.

Loebs also outed the Pied Piper in a brilliant piece of writing. If only Northstar could have been outed as well as Loebs handled the Piper.

That's it for today! Ten more tomorrow!

42 Comments

At May 9, 2008, Graham Vingoe wrote:
"A highlight of this run is the work Gerber did with the Guardians of the Galaxy"

Maybe, but the REAL highlight ...
At May 9, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
Two things here that almost got votes from me - Messner-Loebs' Flash and All-Star Squadron. Flash, as you say, was ...
At May 9, 2008, Marc Caputo wrote:
I LOVE "HATE"!

AND I HATE EVERYTHING ELSE!

Remember that?

Ah, the early 1990s...
At May 9, 2008, comb & razor wrote:
had I voted, both Gerber's Defenders and (especially) All-Star Squadron would have been high up on my list, so it's ...
At May 9, 2008, Rene wrote:
Messner-Loebs's Flash! Man, I love this run. It would have made my list if I could pick 11 or 12 ...
At May 9, 2008, Mike Thompson wrote:
Seeing Zenith is a big surprise.
At May 9, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
Man, I never vote in these things (as noted elsewhere, I never vote in ANYthing, most notably political contests), but ...
At May 9, 2008, garth wrote:
I think I did vote for Gerber's Defenders. But while the Headmean stories were crazy, the killer elf was ...
At May 9, 2008, Bill K wrote:
Messner-Loebs' Flash scored one of my votes. It includes my pick for best Wally West story ever, #54 (see http://www.fourthhorseman.com/Flash/iss054.htm ...
At May 9, 2008, Richard J. Marcej wrote:
Had I voted, Gerber's Defenders and Bagge's Hate would have made my top ten.
At May 9, 2008, Marc Caputo wrote:
Garth: you bring up such an excellent point. What I continue to be amazed at is the lack of biography/documentary ...
At May 9, 2008, Teebore wrote:
Gerber's Defenders is just crazy, awesome fun.

Loved Bru's Catwoman; probably my favorite take on the character.

I haven't read ...
At May 9, 2008, chris w. wrote:
I had a Peter Bagge designed t-shirt back in the day: "I Like HATE and I Hate Everything Else!" What ...
At May 9, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
Bill K --

Yes. Gerber's run starts toward the end of Essential Defenders vol 1, really hits its stride in vol ...
At May 9, 2008, chris w. wrote:
Oh, I almost forgot Gerber's Defenders run. Both Englehart and Gerber's Defenders can be found in the Essential editions and ...
At May 9, 2008, Rene wrote:
New Totals

We have 132 runs (and 31546 pts)

- 47 runs are set in the Marvel Universe (12350 pts)
- 12 runs ...
At May 9, 2008, Josh Alexander wrote:
I thought X-Factor Volume #2 got 63 pts.
At May 9, 2008, Rene wrote:
Marc Caputo, I agree.

Just look at all the studies and reference material available for other genre fiction like horror movies ...
At May 9, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
>>As a personal example, for many years I had no inkling that Gary Friedrich had done such amazing war stories ...
At May 9, 2008, Marc Caputo wrote:
Rene:

What could be very interesting is if someone did what they did a few years back for Saturday Night Live ...
At May 9, 2008, Patrick Lemaire wrote:
I read so many comics but I like these lists (and the comments) as they point to comics I should ...
At May 9, 2008, Blair wrote:
GREAT to see HATE! Does Eightball show up at some point???
At May 9, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Yes! Gerber's Defenders! The single first place vote is mine, which I guess is to be expected given the pseudonym ...
At May 9, 2008, Marty Yohn wrote:
Finally, Wein/Wrightson's Swamp Thing appears on the list. You're definitely right on the art -this short run was Berni ...
At May 9, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Gerber's Defenders is tremendous fun. I love how Dr. Strange is the one who keeps a cool head until the ...
At May 9, 2008, stephen cade wrote:
Wow--All Star Squadron made it!

It was on my list.
I came across it near the end of the run, and eventually ...
At May 9, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
I thought X-Factor Volume #2 got 63 pts. Did I say that?

Oops!

It got 72 points.
At May 9, 2008, Joe wrote:
LOVE The Walking Dead. Great stuff. That is all.
At May 9, 2008, Matt D wrote:
I'm really glad that Nicieza's Thunderbolts made it even this high. I was worried that no one voted for it ...
At May 9, 2008, Joe Gualtieri wrote:
Did Busiek's Thunderbolt's make the list? I like Nicieza's run* but #1-12 of the T-bolts is one of Marvel's all ...
At May 9, 2008, Rene wrote:
Hawkworld was amazing. Some people erroneously consider it just a "grim and gritty" Hawkman, but it's so much more. For ...
At May 9, 2008, Dan Felty wrote:
Hey, all right, Hate is here!
At May 9, 2008, Chris wrote:
Bendis' Avengers? Really? Wow.

I suffered through The Crossing and Heroes Reborn, but it was Bendis that finally ended ...
At May 9, 2008, jackdaw53 wrote:
Some great stuff here. I have a soft spot for Hawkworld because it was first time I managed to get ...
At May 10, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Yeah, Chris, Bendis' Avengers just doesn't work for me either. It's not just his style of writing, but also his ...
At May 10, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:
I agree that Nicieza's second run should be counted as part of this. The redemption of Zemo is some ...
At May 11, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
I knew absolutely nothing about "Zenith." I don't think I've ever read any reprints of any of the original "Swamp ...
At May 12, 2008, Colin wrote:
Wow this list of ten contains some of my favs. Zenith was my number two (after Animal Man) and I've ...
At May 13, 2008, Al wrote:
William Messner-Loebs' run on The Flash would have made my Top 10. It was that good. The stories ...
At May 15, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
Zenith is absolutely awesome. Arguably Morrison's best work, in fact, which is saying a lot. If I'd put ...
At May 28, 2008, alphabet stamps wrote:
[...] alphabet of cool. It was a fun, postmodern superhero tale of a superhero in a time when doing ...http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/05/08/top-158-comic-book-runs-138-129/Alphabet ...
At September 10, 2008, Reveen wrote:
Zenith was pretty good but NOT better than Judge Dredd.

Top 158 Comic Book Runs #148-139

Brian Cronin — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:51:11 +0000

Here are the next ten runs!

Enjoy!

146 (tie). Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers -53 points

Seven mini-series bookended by two Seven Soldiers one-shots.

This was a remarkable achievement that spanned over a year's worth of comics. Some beautiful artwork in the bookends by JH Williams.

146 (tie). Gerry Conway's Justice League of America - 53 points

Justice League of America #151-155, 157-216, 219, 221-223, 228- 230, 233-239, 241-255

A lot of strong stories and also the introduction of Justice League Detroit.

146 (tie). Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge - 53 points (1 first place vote)

Some one-off stories then Uncle Scrooge #1-69

Barks created one of the greatest, most interesting cohesive universes that I have ever seen. Tremendously rich adventure tales.

144 (tie). Mark Millar's Authority -54 points

The Authority #13-20, 22, 27-29

Millar decided to go more political than Ellis did on his run, and the results are engaging. Also featured Frank Quitely art AND Art Adams art! That's quite a pair!

144 (tie). Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum's X-Men -54 points

X-Men #94-107 (Claremont scripted the early issues, then took over as full writer)

The first comics featuring the All-New, All-Differeny X-Men in their own comic book. Includes the death of Thunderbird plus the introduction of the Starjammers (not to mention the first appearance of Phoenix!).

141 (tie). Joseph Michael Straczynski's Supreme Power - 55 points

Supreme Power #1-18

Darker interpretations of the Squadron Supreme, set in a more realistic Earth.

141 (tie). Ann Nocenti & John Romita Jr.'s Daredevil -55 points (1 first place vote)

Daredevil #250-282 (Nocenti began writing the book with #238 and stopped with #291 - they both skipped #258, and JRjr also did not draw #264 or #277)

A strong follow-up to Frank Miller's Born Again, introduced Typhoid Mary!

141 (tie). Mike and Laura Allred's Madman -55 points

Madman #1-3, Madman Comics #1-20, plus some one-shots

Wonderful off-beat comics. They recently brought Madman back to Image! Such amazing artwork.

139 (tie). Roy Thomas' Conan - 56 points

Conan the Barbarian #1-94, 95-115 (plus a bunch of other Conan stuff)

As good as Kurt Busiek's Conan is, this is probably the definitive Conan, comic-book wise. Some of the best work of Thomas' career. Barry Windsor-Smith and John Buscema were amazing.

139 (tie). Jim Shooter's Legion of Superheroes - 56 points (1 first place vote)

Adventure Comics #346-349, 352-355, 357-372, 374-380

As was his intention, Shooter brought a bit more of a Marvel feel to the Legion of Superheroes, and with him came death and some new characters, but most of all, strong stories.

Next batch tomorrow!

56 Comments

At May 8, 2008, Graham Vingoe wrote:
really pleased to see that Roy Thomas's Conan at least cracked the top 150! having looked at the 20 titles ...
At May 8, 2008, Joe Gualtieri wrote:
So Claremont's work with Cockcrum was split then? I voted for neither, but I'd definately go for the second one ...
At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
I don't even know if the second run received a vote (it very well might have, I just don't recall ...
At May 8, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:
So, a series of mini-series like Seven Soldiers counts as a run? I thought there was a no mini-series rule? ...
At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
There was also a "series of mini-series count" rule. ;)
At May 8, 2008, Matt D wrote:
So strange to see Barks' Uncle Scrooge, one of the most wonderful runs of all time right next to Millar's ...
At May 8, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:
STRACZYNSKI's first name is Joseph, I would presume, as he goes by 'Joe'.
At May 8, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Yay to seeing the Nocenti/JRJ DD, Shooter's Legion, and some Cockrum-era X-men. For better of for worse, it also introduced ...
At May 8, 2008, Russkafin wrote:
I wish I had thought to vote for Barks' Uncle Scrooge. I am so glad to see it on ...
At May 8, 2008, Teebore wrote:
Heh...the Leprechauns in Banshee's castle...forgot about that for a moment. Classic...

Is it weird that I like Ellis's Authority more than ...
At May 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
A few different artists, Walid.

Louis Williams, Rick Leonardi drew a popular issue (featuring Wolverine). Lee Weeks followed JRjr, and ...
At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:
A nice mix of time periods this time, the first 50s comic, with Uncle Scrooge. Not many changes in any ...
At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:
I agree with you Teebore. Yeah, Supreme Power started very strong, then went nowhere. JMS is the world's most disappointing ...
At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:
And it's 36 runs when you get DC + Vertigo + Plas. I'll correct next time.
At May 8, 2008, Tomer S wrote:
Good. Now I know that my vote for Supreme Power wasn't for nothing.

And just to be clear: My vote was ...
At May 8, 2008, Dean wrote:
I never liked Gerry Conwayâ€™s writing, though Iâ€™m forced to recognize his importance in historical terms. Same way I ...
At May 8, 2008, Stephen wrote:
I always felt bad for Nocenti - Miller had literally blown up the entire book and left Matt without much ...
At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:
I've never read Kesel's DD. A "happy" Daredevil triggers alarms in me, because it seems... wrong somehow, just like a ...
At May 8, 2008, Mordy wrote:
Is this Scrooge the same as the 12 chapter History of Scrooge series? (Of Duck, Dimes and Destinies through The ...
At May 8, 2008, comb & razor wrote:
Dean -

i also rather enjoyed JL: Detroit and was originally a bit befuddled by the unmitigated hatred it receives in ...
At May 8, 2008, Matt D wrote:
Kesel's DD sits alongside Waid's Flash as the heralds of the Heroes Return/JLA era. It was the first breath of ...
At May 8, 2008, Eric wrote:
Yay for Shooter's Legion! That was the perfect gateway to comics when I was 11. I think that was #10 ...
At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:
People were used to see the JLA as the big guns in the DC Universe. Instead, the Detroit League seemed ...
At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:
"Keselâ€™s DD sits alongside Waidâ€™s Flash as the heralds of the Heroes Return/JLA era. It was the first breath of ...
At May 8, 2008, Mordy wrote:
Nevermind. Apparently I'm thinking of the Don Rosa Scrooge.
At May 8, 2008, Cestrian wrote:
You know I honestly though Roy Thomas' Conan would make the top 20. As far as I'm concerned it was ...
At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:
Tell me about it. Roy Thomas's Conan comics were even bigger here in Brazil than in the US.

Are they the ...
At May 8, 2008, Dean wrote:
taking a step back, i can understand why it might have been a bad *JLA* bookâ€¦ but if you forget ...
At May 8, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
I voted for Barks's Uncle Scrooge work. I can't think of a word to describe it better than "rollicking". Just ...
At May 8, 2008, Da Fug wrote:
You know, Brian, sometimes it seems as if you've read ALL this stuff! Maybe I'm just falling for your ...
At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Never did read Nocenti or Kesel on DD, as I'd ditched the book before the end of Miller's first run, ...
At May 8, 2008, Car-L wrote:
I voted for Claremont/Cockrum 2nd run. I had it ranked 10th on my list, so it got 1 point, ...
At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
I'm constantly blown away by how dynamic and cool-looking Cockrum's art is on his first run, and what a drastic ...
At May 8, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
So many great books!

I don't know what more painful, seeing so many mediocre 90s books in the top 15, or ...
At May 8, 2008, Fred Salvador wrote:
I've enjoyed reading the Best Runs columns and especially the comments from everyone. It's been a great trip down ...
At May 8, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Matt Bird said:
"I like Cockrumâ€™s second X-Men run WAY more than his first run, both story and art."

Well, in that ...
At May 8, 2008, Rene wrote:
I was wondering how much of a comic book nerd I am, so I actually counted how many runs I've ...
At May 8, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Jack, I'm equally baffled by your preference for the first run.

During the first run, the faces (esp. Wolverine and Nightcrawler) ...
At May 9, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
Wow, all this enthusiasitic banter regarding which of Cockrum's runs was best. Personally, I thought they were both rubbish. The ...
At May 9, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
But Bernard, tell us how you really feel about Cockrum's run lol

I dunno, his Wolverine and Storm never seemed to ...
At May 9, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
One other thing, the Brood were introduced during Cockrum's 2nd run, long after Byrne had left. I don' recall Byrne ...
At May 9, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
No, Byrne has never drawn the Brood, as far as I know. I was thinking of other Cockrum designs that ...
At May 9, 2008, BDaly wrote:
All I've read of these is X-Men and Supreme Power.

X-Men: Loved it, but it's certainly no Claremont/Byrne

Supreme Power: Loved it. ...
At May 9, 2008, Comics Should Be Good! » Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #154 wrote:
[...] of Superheroes (which he began when he was 14 years old) is still an acclaimed run by fans (it ...
At May 9, 2008, comb & razor wrote:
Rene -

yeah, Conan comics were HUGE in West Africa, too. probably much more than they were in the States.
At May 9, 2008, Bombie wrote:
Such a shame the US has forgotten about Barks' beautiful universe. In Germany Duck-comics are still quite popular (especially Don ...
At May 9, 2008, Rene wrote:
I wouldn't go so far as to say Dave Cockrum's runs were rubbish, but it's true that John Byrne and ...
At May 9, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
I think you are being too kind, Rene. Cockrum's work doesn't look bad in comparison to Byrne and Smith. It ...
At May 9, 2008, Patrick Lemaire wrote:
Quite a few favorites here. Conan by Roy Thomas. The DD run should have included Al Williamson, he was an ...
At May 9, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Yeah, Cockrum was a master at costume-design. (and I agree about Kirby too... but Perez?? I consider costumes to ...
At May 9, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Depth and texture, depth and texture. The panels of Cockrum's first run have a real 3d feel to them, like ...
At May 9, 2008, Tommy wrote:
Whoa, I have Gerry Conway's first issue of Justice League! And I bought out of a 3 for a dollar ...
At May 9, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Okay, now I can see what you're saying, Jack. The art did have more solidity to it on that ...
At May 11, 2008, Joshua Nelson wrote:
There are some favorites of mine in this stretch. "Supreme Power" was good while it lasted (Geez, did that ...
At May 11, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
I think I have some familiarity with almost all of these runs -- although I'm not sure I've ever read ...
At May 15, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
7 Soldiers is absolutely great, but I did not personally count it as a run. If there's ever a ...

Top 158 Comic Book Runs #153-149

Brian Cronin — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:21:31 +0000

As promised, the beginning of the countdown of the fifty-six remaining runs that scored at least 50 points!

Enjoy!

153 (tie). Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada's Daredevil - 50 points (1 first place vote)

Daredevil #1-8, plus a #1/2

This run revitalized the Daredevil comic book, and most likely led to Joe Quesada becoming Marvel Editor-in-Chief. Nice artwork by Quesada.

153 (tie). Jim Shooter's Avengers - 50 points (1 first place vote)

Avengers #158-177 (also Avengers #211-222, 224, 226, but since no one specified, I presume they all meant the first run)

This run contained the introduction of Graviton, some awesome Byrne and Perez artwork, and, of course, the Korvac Saga. Epic stories at their finest!

153 (tie). John Ostrander's GrimJack - 50 points (1 first place vote)

Starslayer #10-18, GrimJack #1-81, plus Demon Knight

Tim Truman should be mentioned, as he is listed as the co-creator of GrimJack, but I'll admit it, I just didn't feel like picking out all the issues Truman didn't draw. GrimJack was a tour de force performance by Ostrander, and I would be remiss if I did not point out that ComicMix is currently doing a GrimJack web comic! Check it out here!

153 (tie). David Lapham's Stray Bullets - 50 points

Stray Bullets #1-ostensibly current (#40), plus two Amy Racecar Color Specials

Do you know what's depressing? David Lapham began his brilliant Stray Bullets series twelve years ago, when he was only 25 years old! All that training with Jim Shooter must have paid off, because Lapham is a master storyteller, weaving in multiple characters and narratives to tell a bleak, but engaging story.

153 (tie). Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming's Ambush Bug - 50 points

Ambush Bug #1-4, Son of Ambush Bug #1-5, Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer (the Nothing Special was too far after the fact)

One of the funniest comic book series I can recall, as Giffen and Fleming savage DC Comics (with love, of course) with their Ambush Bug character. He's about to return, by Giffen and Fleming!

153 (tie). Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Criminal - 50 points

Criminal #1-10, Criminal 2 #1-current (#2)

Brubaker and Phillips are doing a marvelous job on this crime series, detailing the world of criminals in such a way that you feel like you know these characters like friends, even while noting that you probably wouldn't want to be friends with most of the characters in this series.

151 (tie). Louise Simonson's Power Pack - 51 points (1 first place vote)

Power Pack #1-20, 22, 24-33, 35, 37, 39, 40-41

Simonson was ahead of her time with this series of four siblings who gain superpowers. It was a critical darling at the time, mostly due to Simonson's deft touch for characterization (June Brigman, the original artist, was an AMAZING artist for character work, too). Jon Bognadove joined her on the book after Brigman, and he brought a looser, fun style. He and Simonson worked together for years.

151 (tie). Alan Moore and Alan Davis's Captain Britain - 51 points

The Daredevils #1-11, The Mighty World of Marvel #7-13

This was an awesomely inventive re-working of the Captain Britain character by Moore, with Alan Davis providing some solid artwork at a young age.

149 (tie). Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith's Fell - 52 points (1 first place vote)

#1-current (#9)

Fell is Warren Ellis' Law and Order, where he can take intriguing/disgusting news stories and work them into this crime book, starring Detective Fell, who is an intriguing character in his own right. Ben Templesmith's art is amazing on this title.

149 (tie). Chuck Dixon's Nighwing - 52 points

Nightwing #1-70, plus various one-shots, annuals and specials

It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when Nightwing was a relatively minor character, which is weird, as he really shouldn't have been, but plans for his own series took so long that he basically laid to waste in the meantime. That is, until Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel took over his rollicking action adventures, making it one of DC's highest selling titles. McDaniel was followed by Greg Land, and then Rick Leonardi took over (for the sake of everyone involved, let's just skip McCarthy). Dixon also established the Nightwing/Barbara Gordon romance, which was nice.

Next ten tomorrow!

44 Comments

At May 7, 2008, Bill K wrote:
Thanks Brian, you do spoil us :D

I grabbed Nightwing as it was coming out, and, yes, it was great!

Shooter's Avengers ...
At May 7, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Hey! Ambush Bug! I either voted for Ambush Bug or didn't.
At May 7, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
Brian, actually Moore started writing Captain Britain in Marvel Superheroes #387, the strip was moved to Daredevils shortly afterwards. I'm ...
At May 7, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Fair enough, Dan! Thanks for the note!
At May 7, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
Captain Britain nearly made my list, but just dropped off at the last moment. Good to see it here, ...
At May 7, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
Yay! Ambush Bug! One of my three picks to not make the list. Just pure, unfiltered craziness. Has anything from ...
At May 7, 2008, Andrew wrote:
Good stuff. The whole list was, and the work that went into getting it all together - thanks a lot!

(...so, ...
At May 7, 2008, Darth Krzysztof wrote:
Thanks for the heads-up about the GrimJack web comic! He's one of my all-time favorite characters, and I'm glad to ...
At May 7, 2008, Doug Atkinson wrote:
I'm responsible for close to 20% of the points Ambush Bug got--it was my #2.
At May 7, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Def need to check out Grimjack, Stray Bullets, and Ambush Bug.

I always enjoyed the first Shooter run over his second ...
At May 7, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Forgot to mention, the Capt. Britain stuff was good too. Too bad Moore and Davis had a falling out...
At May 7, 2008, Stephane Savoie wrote:
That Moore run of Britain was excellent.
I'm trying to remember... was the trade Marvel printed a few years ...
At May 7, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Moore's CB is the rosetta stone for all of this other work. It's jam-packed with proto-versions of all his ...
At May 7, 2008, ks wrote:
Thanks for giving us the rest. I am interested to see the ones that almost made it into the Top ...
At May 7, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
Okay, who gave Kevin Smith's Daredevil a 1st place vote?
At May 7, 2008, Matt D wrote:
Someone sell me on Grimjack?

I like Ostrander a lot but a lot of why i like him is for how ...
At May 7, 2008, Sam wrote:
Yes! The Captain Britain run is amazing! After Watchmen and V for Vendetta, it was the third Moore title I ...
At May 7, 2008, Teebore wrote:
Shooter's Avengers is great; it almost got a vote for me, edged out by the nostalgia I feel towards the ...
At May 7, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
I miss Stray Bullets. Is Young Liars any good?
At May 7, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
I got the first 25 or so issues of GrimJack in the mail the other day, courtesy of an eBay ...
At May 7, 2008, Mike Thompson wrote:
Ok, Rene, update the points!
At May 7, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
Uh ... "vote in political ELECTIONS," that is. Duh.
At May 7, 2008, Kevin wrote:
I didn't vote and now I wish I had but I was shocked Chuck Dixon's Nightwing didn't make the top ...
At May 7, 2008, Rene wrote:
Okay, I included these extra runs in the totals.

People were expecting to finally see some more Silver Age runs? Nope. ...
At May 7, 2008, chris w. wrote:
You are correct in calling Grimjack John Ostrander's book. Not to take anything away from Tim Truman, but that book ...
At May 7, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:
Grimjack! Nice to see Gaunt get some love here. I'm like Chris W., desperately waiting for that next trade to ...
At May 7, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:
Matt D said:
"Someone sell me on Grimjack?

I like Ostrander a lot but a lot of why i like him is ...
At May 7, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
Well, it IS a stupid hat. I mean, honest to god. Maybe even stupider than Impulse's hair. Maybe. (TOLja I ...
At May 7, 2008, Black Rabbit wrote:
If I had voted, Stray Bullets would have been my #1. It's my favorite comic series ever, and I've ...
At May 7, 2008, Rene wrote:
I think this Avengers's run is superior to Stern's and Busiek's. But it's too old to have registered with most ...
At May 7, 2008, sean wrote:
I don't understand how 'Captain Britain' is eligible but 'V For Vendetta' is specifically not eligible. "V" wasn't initially ...
At May 7, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
I was wondering about V FOR VENDETTA as well. If it's a run, if's very possibly my No. 1.
At May 7, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:
Dan Bailey said:
"Well, it IS a stupid hat. I mean, honest to god. Maybe even stupider than Impulseâ€™s hair. Maybe. ...
At May 7, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
I would suspect that Captain Britain counts as a run because other people wrote the character before and after Moore. ...
At May 7, 2008, sean wrote:
"I would suspect that Captain Britain counts as a run because other people wrote the character before and after Moore"

There ...
At May 7, 2008, BDaly wrote:
I enjoyed Smith and Quesada's Daredevil at the time, but I haven't re-read. It certainly can't match some of the ...
At May 7, 2008, chris w. wrote:
I got so wrapped up in my all-time favorite comic Grimjack that I didn't chime in on the rest.

I read ...
At May 7, 2008, Black Manta wrote:
So does a first place vote = 50 points? Am I the only one who voted for the Shooter Avengers? ...
At May 7, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
First place votes equal ten points.
At May 8, 2008, Denn wrote:
I really figured my first place choice(Fell) would've placed higher. Ah well, no big deal
At May 8, 2008, Joe wrote:
Well, since it seems it may be the minority opinion around here, I feel compelled to put my two cents ...
At May 11, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
One of these was actually on my ballot, kinda-sorta -- I voted for the Ostrander/Truman Grimjack run, but I couldn't ...
At May 14, 2008, Fan4Fan wrote:
Glad to see I wasn't the only one to have Shooter's Avengers in my Top Ten. I definitely prefer ...
At May 14, 2008, As melhores seqüências de histórias by O lÃ´co, meu! wrote:
[...] tradução das palavras de Brian Conin: "Brubaker e Phillips estão fazendo um trabalho maravilhoso nesta série policial, [...]

I Guess I Can Give You All a LITTLE Bit More

Brian Cronin — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:09:53 +0000

I'll be honest, I never bothered to finish counting the entire thing, because it seemed a bit silly to rank, like, Morrison/Millar's Flash run versus the Kesels' Hawk and Dove run (for the record, they were tied, each receiving two votes, for a total of four points). So you probably won't ever see a final list (as I don't have one), but I dunno, maybe someday in the distant future.

However, if a run appeared enough times to stand out, I counted them, and I figure, okay, 50 points is at least sorta notable, so that'll be my cut-off point. Starting tomorrow, I'll give the fifty-six additional runs that received at least fifty points.

Ten a weekday, except for the "top" six. So by my math, that means next Monday you'll see #103-110, right?

Thanks, by the way, for all the kind words about the top runs countdown!

30 Comments

At May 5, 2008, Dean wrote:
Brian, thanks for your hard work on this. It was entertaining and thought provoking.
At May 5, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
Did anyone, anyone at all, vote for Youngblood?
At May 6, 2008, Eric wrote:
Thanks for this. It's been great. Excited to see Impulse, Empress, Secret, and Lil Lobo from Young Justice at 101!
At May 6, 2008, Kai wrote:
Thanks for your hard work on this Brian, and thanks for deciding to reveal some more of the results. Recently ...
At May 6, 2008, Jason L wrote:
Thanks Brian, I learned a bunch from this list and it opened my eyes to a lot of stuff I ...
At May 6, 2008, Ariel S. wrote:
Hah! I want to know the very same thing that FunkyGreenJerusalem asked!!

By the way, GREAT job Brian, thanks a ...
At May 6, 2008, Craig wrote:
I concur. This looked like a massive undertaking, so to pull it off so expertly is definitely admirable. Great job, ...
At May 6, 2008, J. R. Wick wrote:
All of this sucking up to Brian will not bring redemption to your personal favorite title that did not make ...
At May 6, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
It can't hurt to find out, JR, is what i say! :)
At May 6, 2008, Gustavo wrote:
I love you.

BTW, I'm one of the two nuts who voted for the Kessel's H&D. Good too see I'm not ...
At May 6, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
What's that? The Kesel's run now has fifty points?!?! WOW! That is a shocking turnaround!
At May 6, 2008, J. R. Wick wrote:
Honestly, I don't have any horses in this race. I did not think that I had read enough to ...
At May 6, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
By the by, the Kesel run on Hawk and Dove was, I believe, twelve parsecs.
At May 6, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
That was a painful joke, boss man.
At May 6, 2008, Gregor wrote:
But a good one, I loled.
At May 6, 2008, The Dane wrote:
Wow, Hawk & Dove only got 2 votes? That right there was some Good Comics. I almost voted for it, ...
At May 6, 2008, Matt D wrote:
Why do inkers usually turn out to be pretty good writers anyway?
At May 6, 2008, mrjayberry wrote:
Are we going to get a "everybodys somebodys baby" post as well?

That was one of my favorites from the top ...
At May 6, 2008, Dean wrote:
Why do inkers usually turn out to be pretty good writers anyway?
Low expectations.

Seriously, compare the careers of Karl Kessel and ...
At May 6, 2008, Lucion wrote:
Like some of the other comments said, the list was a real eye-opener. As someone that is still rather ...
At May 6, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
I would be the other 'Hawk & Dove' voter :)

Loved it then, love it now. I'm honestly surprised anyone ...
At May 6, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
Did someone vote for Youngblood, in any incarnation? Why else with the secrecy Brian?

By the by, the Kesel run on ...
At May 6, 2008, Grant wrote:
"Did someone vote for Youngblood, in any incarnation?"

Was there a Youngblood run that made it past 6 issues?

BTW the Casey ...
At May 6, 2008, Rene wrote:
I didn't vote for Kesel's Hawk and Dove, but I've read it, and I think it was pretty good. I ...
At May 6, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
I remember the late 80s/early 90s as years when my numbers of monthly comics purchased became ridiculous, as I continued ...
At May 6, 2008, Bill K wrote:
"Starting tomorrow, Iâ€™ll give the fifty-six additional runs that received at least fifty points."

WooHoo! Many thanks yet again, Brian!
At May 7, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
I remained pretty much a Marvel Zombie through the mid 90s, aside from the Batman series of books, but have ...
At May 7, 2008, keith wrote:
Thank you, Brian!
This whole Top 100 thing has been very, very cool! You rock!
At May 7, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
I wouldn't be surprised if Youngblood did show up. The Alan Moore issues, anyway.
At March 21, 2009, Shaun wrote:
For almost a year now, I've been using this list to seek out new reading material with almost constant success. ...

My personal top ten best/favorite runs list, plus far too much analysis of the Top 100 List!

Greg Burgas — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:10:55 +0000

Now that Brian is done with everyone's list, here's my Top Ten, with comments, and some comments about the Top 100. There's some SPOILERS, too, so be aware!

I figured I should write a bit about the "contest" itself, as well as how I determined my selections. Many commenters have been weighing in on how they chose their runs, and I figured I would do the same! Plus, some people wondered about the dates of these runs, so I included the cover dates. And in case you're wondering about trade paperbacks, as several people have expressed an interest in buying trades of the comics, I tried to track down the collections of these runs in whatever format. I don't know if some of them are out of print, but these are the trades that exist or have existed at some point!

First, with regard to the rules Our Dread Lord and Master set down, I have a couple of objections. (Of course, he has already addressed these, but I wrote this before he addressed them, so I'm keeping them!) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen shouldn't have counted. It's clear that it's two mini-series plus a graphic novel, not an "ongoing" in any sense. I would have said the same thing about Hellboy, but that's been around forever and a new series comes out pretty regularly. In ten years, if Brian does the contest again and Moore has done five more LoEG minis, then I probably wouldn't have a problem. But that's a minor objection I had.

My only other objection is splitting up Chris Claremont's run on Uncanny X-Men but not Peter David's run on The Incredible Hulk. I could make the case that Claremont's run is far more seamless than David's run, as David seemed to re-invent the title every twenty issues or so. The exception I would make is Claremont's collaboration with John Byrne, which is obviously a separate animal. Claremont and Byrne told pretty much a complete story, and Byrne left almost when the run was finished. (Plus, as Brian points out, he co-plotted most of it.) Following issue #137, it's very difficult to find breaks in Claremont's story. The Mutant Massacre is probably the next break, but that covers Cockrum's second run, Smith's run, and Romita's run. After that, I would argue there's not a real break until the Uncanny X-Men/X-Men split. So while I have no problem counting the Phoenix Saga as a separate "run," the rest of Claremont's Reign of Terror should have been counted as one, or at most two, runs.

As for my choices ... well, MarkAndrew has accused me of having "reverse nostalgia," as good a term as I can think of, because I simply don't really like comics from before 1970 or so. Therefore, while I respect the work of Lee and Kirby and Ditko, I don't look upon their seminal work from the early 1960s as all that good. I'll get into this more when I go over the actual list, but I definitely think modern comics are better. I also listed 7 runs published by DC, 1 by a subsidiary of DC, 1 by an independent publisher, and 1 by Marvel (the UK variety). If we go to my top 20, only 2 are actual Marvel books. To me, a lot of "runs," especially those on Marvel books prior to, let's say the late Nineties, weren't that great because they were simply a collection of comics by the same creative team or one creator that kept going until someone left the book. John Byrne's run on Fantastic Four is a classic example of this. He wrote and drew the book forever, but at the end, he just kind of left the book without really wrapping anything up. It's even more egregious with his run on Alpha Flight, which he left basically in the middle of a storyline! Claremont kind of petered out on X-Men, David left Hulk in a huff, the Hobgoblin storyline didn't even get resolved in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man. Marvel has never seemed really interested in the idea of a "run," while DC, ever since the late 1980s, has been. To me, a run is more than a long sequence of comics by the same creator, it's a story with a beginning and an end. That's why the Claremont/Byrne collaboration was so interesting, because it seemed antithetical to what Marvel did back then. So my best runs reflect that idea - hence the overabundance of DC books.

Many people have wondered about the lack of older comics. I think this ties back into the idea of "runs" - even though some writers and artists stayed on books for a long time (how the hell long did Dick Sprang draw Batman, anyway?), each issue was still a discrete unit, not part of a "run." It's much harder to find what people consider a run among the Big Two from the 1940s, '50s, and even early '60s. Hell, the early Fantastic Four issues weren't really tied together too much! Someone bemoaned the fact that none of DC's war comics made the list. I just finished The War That Time Forgot Showcase volume. Those are fun comics, but every single one is pretty much the same issue. There's no way that's a "run." So although I think people respect the older comics, when they think of "runs," they gravitate toward the modern stuff. Am I wrong?

Finally, I think another rule of the contest should have been that "runs" that aren't finished should have been ineligible. I didn't even consider listing runs that aren't finished, because of my definition above - runs have an ending, and bad endings have ruined some great comics (and not just comics, but books and movies and, hell, any entertainment medium). My personal rule was that I would not vote for any run that wasn't finished, and I would have extended that rule to the entire contest. I mean, I love 100 Bullets. But Azzarello might totally screw up the ending. Would I then love it so much? Maybe not ... (And yes, Brian also addressed this. I don't care. Runs that aren't over shouldn't have been eligible.)

So, let's check out my top 20, and then I want to dissect the final list a bit. Of course, with me, "a bit" means "a whole lot." Deal with it! The numbers in parentheses next to my number are where they ranked on the final list. This is just to show you guys how very wrong you are!

1 (14). Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison and Richard Case (#19-63). There shouldn't even be a #2, this is so far ahead of everything else. Not only the best run in comic book history, but one of the best love stories in comic history. There's much more in my Comics You Should Own post. The issues are cover dated February 1989 to January 1993 and DC has recently finished collecting all of them in six trade paperbacks.

2 (37). Hitman by Garth Ennis and John McCrea (#1-60). I'm a bit surprised, when I thought about it, that this came in at #2, but I can't think of another comic to put in the spot. It's far better than Preacher, in that Ennis deals with many of the same themes - friendship, loyalty, and tragedy - with much more flair, more realism (despite the crazy fantasy stuff), and a better ending. Plus, Ennis avoids the preachiness (sorry) that he often indulged in with Jesse and Tulip and the gang. Hitman is less ambitious, but in a strange way, it ends up being deeper than Preacher. It's a hell of a lot more fun, too, with zombie penguins, time-traveling dinosaurs, and Section Eight, the greatest collection of twisted superheroes ever. And McCrea is just as good as Dillon is, and for what he's called upon to draw, probably better. The issues are cover dated April 1996 to April 2001. The Justice League crossover came out late last year, with cover dates of November and December 2007. The first 28 issues have been collected in five trades, and the first one includes the Demon Annual that introduced Tommy.

3 (18). Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday (#1-26). It's the only one on my list that's incomplete, but it's as complete as it's going to get. This is more for the individual issues, as Ellis's grand story is nothing special, but the way he constructs his world is stunning. Each issue is brilliant in some way, incorporating elements from so many different kinds of fiction effortlessly and still continuing the overall narrative, and although it's not Ellis's most heart-wrenching story, many of the issues deal with loss and how we overcome it. More than any other comic by Ellis, it's a marvelously hopeful story, and that helps. Cassaday's art is staggering as well, as he easily shifts from neon-splashed noir to ornate fantasy to jungle adventure to space opera. Too bad he's so slow that the final issue won't be out for another decade or so! The issues are cover dated April 1999 to December 2006. The three crossovers with Batman, the Justice League, and the Authority are also very good. There are three trades and one Absolute Edition (collecting issues #1-12). Obviously, eventually it will all be in trade.

4 (45). The Spectre by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake (#1-62). Ostrander takes Jim Corrigan through a spiritual journey as he searches for meaning in a world gone mad, and along the way he manages to confront the AIDS crisis, what it means to be an American, how to be a good Christian and a good man, and why evil exists in the world. It's rare to get such a deeply religious book in a mainstream comic, but Ostrander manages it nicely. It helps that he had Mandrake to interpret his often wildly violent scripts, as the art was amazingly frenetic and inventive, showing the Spectre's battles in vivid detail. Corrigan's quest is meaningful to everyone, and when he finally knows peace, it's a wonderful moment. The issues are cover dated December 1992 to February 1998. Sadly, there's only one trade, collecting issues #1-4. If any series would sell well in trades, it's this. Come on, DC!

5 (7). Starman by James Robinson, Tony Harris, and Peter Snejbjerg (#1-80). Starman is a perfect example of using continuity without making it too convoluted. Robinson steeps his tale in DC history, but he always knows what he's doing and he never loses the reader. He manages to create a tapestry of Staman history from the 1940s to the present, and along the way, push the character forward into the future as well. Jack Knight is a fascinating character, as well, because he often acts like a normal person more than a hero, but he struggles mightily to do the right thing and become a hero. The book reads far better as a whole than in individual issues, especially in the latter half of the run, first when Jack went into space and then when the "bad dwarf" took over Opal City, but it's well worth it. Plus, Robinson made Opal a real city, unlike so many of the fictional DC cities. Harris and Snejbjerg have different styles, but they both complement Robinson's stories very well. And this is one of the best comics showing the development of a true father-son relationship that you can find! The issues are cover dated October 1994 to August 2001. Ten trades collect the entire series, and DC just announced that they're releasing a bunch of mega-sized Omnibi collecting the whole thing yet again.

6 (67). Shade, the Changing Man by Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo (#1-70). Milligan's early masterpiece remains his best work, mainly because he tempered his weirdness with a truly wonderful (if twisted) love story, this time with three people. It's also alternately, a great road trip, a great domestic drama, and then a quest saga. After Bachalo left and Milligan killed Kathy, the book suffered for a while, but Milligan managed to pull it together at the end and give us a sweet ending. It's certainly uneven, but overall, it's a great comic book. The issues are cover dated July 1990 to April 1996. This is another series that is not collected, except for issues #1-6, which form only part of the first storyline.

7 (28). Suicide Squad by John Ostrander (#1-66). This is a wonderful comic book, as Ostrander takes a simple concept - using supervillains to go on dangerous missions - and turns it into an action-packed tale in which you never know who might die. It's far more than that, of course, as the characters - both the established ones and the new ones - get so much development and the relationships between them become the driving froce of the book. Ostrander never lets up on the action, but he still manages to create tension through the way the characters act. As the series progressed, it became more and more a political thriller, especially after Ostrander ditched the costumes. The stars of the book were, of course, Amanda Waller, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang, but even minor characters were fleshed out. It couldn't last, but it was great while it did. The issues are cover dated May 1987 to June 1992. There are, a bit shockingly, no trades, although DC did solicit a Showcase volume, which they then pulled. Maybe it will show up someday.

8 (97). Grendel by Matt Wagner (#1-50). What began as a simple story of an almost-perfect man becoming a criminal to challenge himself becomes something much more as the series progresses. First, Wagner killed his main character. Then, he decided that the force that makes someone Grendel could move from person-to-person, and then become simply a transcendant influence on the world. Again, I could go on, but I just finished writing about these comics: #1-12, #13-23, #24-33, and #34-50. Issues #1-19 are in trade, as is "War Child" (issues #41-50), and apparently Dark Horse is committed to getting the missing ones out in trade eventually.

9 (DNP). Captain Britain by Alan Moore and Alan Davis. Yeah, that's right! Other Moore works are far more important and "better," but damn, Captain Britain is awesome. A lot of what Moore did later germinates here, and the fact that Davis draws it makes it even cooler. Moore destroys a universe, kills Brian Braddock, rebuilds him, and then sends an unstoppable killing machine to, well, kill him. We also get a villain who can remake reality. All of this was from before it became clichéd, and it's even more powerful for that. And when Captain UK kills the Fury, it's one of the most unbelievable fight scenes in comics. No, it's not as horrifying as the ones in Miracleman, but it's amazingly intense. Too bad Moore and Davis had a falling-out. The series is collected in trade (but it might be out of print), and after Moore left, Jamie Delano and then Davis took over the writing, and that's pretty darned good as well and is also available in trade.

10. Sandman by Neil Gaiman (#1-75). Yes, it's a boring choice, but there's a reason it's so acclaimed. Gaiman takes a horror comic set in the DC Universe and springboards into a grand tapestry of stories about identity, loss, myth, retribution, and the sins of the past haunting the present. He gives us great single issues and great long-running arcs. He created wonderful characters and used them to tell tales about the human condition, and it becomes a series where every reader can find something that relates to their life. Gaiman tried so many different things with this series, and for the most part, he succeeded. It's a series where you can find something new each time you read it, and that's a nice feature. The issues are cover dated January 1989 to March 1996. And yes, you can find the series in trades. Ten at last count, plus two monster Absolute Editions containing issues #1-39, with a third coming soon.

Here's my 11-20:

11 (21). Animal Man by Grant Morrison and Chas Truog (#1-26). I went over this (plus Milligan's six issues) in this post. Cover dates: September 1988 to August 1990. There are three trades, but not one for Milligan's story! The unfairness of it all!

12 (36). Marvelman/Miracleman by Alan Moore, Gary Leach, Alan Davis, Chuck Beckum, and Jon Totleben (#1-16). The original series ran in Warrior magazine, issues #1-21 (March 1982 to August 1984). The Eclipse series (which reprinted the earlier material in issues #1-6) ran from August 1985 to December 1989. The series was released in three trades, but they're long out of print. I've heard it's actually much easier to find the single issues than the trades. This is, of course, the apotheosis of superhero books, and it's amazing to read, even though I've read it dozens of times. I still get chills when Mike Moran figures out that Johnny Bates is a bad guy, and their final battle is absolutely stunning. The middle issues suffered because of awful art, but even so, Moore's writing keeps it going until Totleben took over. Man, this is a cool comic.

13 (5). Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben, and Rick Veitch (#20-64). Many people don't like the latter part of this run, but if you read it all at once, it works very well. Moore couldn't do much more with Swampy on Earth because he was too darned powerful, so he sent him to space. This allowed Moore to experiment with storytelling, "Loving the Alien" being the most extreme example of this. The early issues retain their visceral impact, but the later issues shouldn't be discounted, either. January 1984 to September 1987. There are six trades, but issue #20 is not included.

14 (DNP). Moon Knight by Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Kevin Nowlan (#1-38). I included Nowlan's brief run on the book because it was cancelled soon after Sienkiewicz left, and the stories after he left are still in the odd vein that Moench established, so I figured I'd throw them in there as well. This is, I've argued, one of the first "modern" comics, in that it was part of Marvel's experiment to bypass the newsstand and go straight to the Direct Market, a revolutionary move back in 1980. Both Moench and Sienkiewicz took a while to get settled, as the first year or so was solid but nothing spectacular, with Moench writing good action stories and Sienkiewicz drawing in his best Neal Adams style. As the series progressed, Moench delved more into the multiple personalities he had set up for Marc Spector, Sienkiewicz started to experiment more, and the series became truly great. The final ten issues or so of Sienkiewicz's stint (#20-30) are stunning, and Moench, despite trying to integrate Moon Knight more into the Marvel Universe after he left (to boost sales, presumably), still wrote beautiful stories hauntingly illustrated by Nowlan, like the Holocaust one (Spector is Jewish, after all). For the early Eighties, this was a remarkably mature book. The issues are cover dated November 1980 to July 1984. Two Essential volumes collect issues #1-30. The Nowlan issues will likely never get reprinted.

15 (DNP). Dr. Fate by J. M. DeMatteis and Shawn McManus (#1-4; #1-24). More Comics You Should Own. Winter 1988 to January 1991. This has not been collected.

16 (66). New Mutants by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz (#18-31). I, unlike Brian, do not count the issues preceding and following these. The first 17 issues, with Bob McLeod and Sal Buscema, are decent, but nothing special. Issue #18 was like issue #19 of Doom Patrol - absolutely different and absolutely stunning. Sure, Sienkiewicz's art was brilliant, but it was as if Claremont went a little nuts, too, trying to match the wonderful visions Sienkiewicz was giving us. The run is all too brief, but that year the two collaborated is amazing. The issues immediately following were still pretty good, but then the book began a long decline that brough us, ultimately, Rob Liefeld. These issues are cover dated August 1984 to September 1985. The first part of the run (through issue #25) was just released in a collection.

17 (9). Justice League by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, Ty Templeton, and Adam Hughes (#1-45). I would just count the JLA/JLI/JLA run, from May 1987 to December 1990, which is issue #45. Then the General Glory story arc began, and that just wasn't for me. I always liked JLE, but not enough to count it. What's great about this run, as others have put it more eloquently, is that it didn't start out as pure slapstick, but as a good action comic with wonderful character moments. Yes, it got goofy toward the end, but Hughes's art helped mitigate that. Plus, it introduced me to Beatriz DaCosta, who is now one of my favorite characters. Two trades, long out of print, collect issues #1-12, but DC has just solicited a new hardcover of issues #1-7, so maybe more will be forthcoming.

18 (65). Detective Comics by Alan Grant, John Wagner, and Norm Breyfogle. I went over most of the run on Detective here. The cover dates are February 1988 to October 1992 (with a few breaks and changes of titles). Sadly, there are no trades of this.

19 (83). StormWatch by Warren Ellis, Tom Raney, Oscar Jimenez, and Bryan Hitch (#37-50; #1-10). I like this a lot more than The Authority, because it seemed Ellis was trying harder to fit his heroes into real-world situations. The Authority is a pure action move to StormWatch's spy thriller. I like spy thrillers more. July 1996 to September 1998. The series is collected in five trades.

20 (12). JLA by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter. Although Morrison's devotion to the Big Bat Dude grew a bit tiresome, the moment when Protex screams, "He's only a man!" gives me the chills. I loved that Morrison kept the characterization to a minimum in this series and just kept hitting the group with bigger and badder threats. If you're going to use the big guns, you need to have them go up against the biggest threats! This is cover dated January 1997 to May 2000 (#1-41, with a few gaps). Six trades make up the run.

Here's the Top 100:

1. Sandman by Neil Gaiman (1318). See above.

2. Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin (1182).
December 1977 to March 1983 (#108-143).
One Omnibus (through #131); six Masterworks (the sixth has #141-143, plus the second Cockrum issues); two Essential volumes.
I like this run a lot, and would probably put it in my top 30. Jean Grey as Jesus is a brilliant move, and because the book didn't sell well, Claremont and Byrne could do a lot of crazy shit. Plus: Dazzler!

3. Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (1030).
November 1961 to September 1970 (#1-102).
Two Omnibi collecting issues #1-60; ten Masterworks editions; five Essential volumes.
Long-time readers of this here blog know that I'm not a huge fan of Kirby. I actually like later, DC Kirby art more than this, because he obviously got a lot better. I have tried to read this run, I have. I own the first two Essential volumes, which don't quite reach the Galactus Saga (which I've read, obviously), but I just can't get into it. I recognize the massive impact of this series, but I don't think it's all that good. Lee's dialogue is decent (I don't think it's as good as some people do, but I don't hate it, either), but the stories are just dull. I guess they get better later (the Essential volumes end at #40), but after 40 issues, I just wasn't keen on reading more. I completely understand the impact this run has had on Marvel and even comic book history, but that doesn't mean I like the comics. Brian mentioned that until later in the run, "they DIDN'T go back to the well" - meaning they didn't recycle a great villain like Doctor Doom that much. Let's look at the first 40 issues to see if that's true:

Doctor Doom: 9 appearances: #5, #6 (with Namor), 10, 16-17 (two-parter), 23, Annual #2, 39-40 (two-parter)
Namor: 7 appearances: #4, #6 (with Doom), 9, 14 (with Puppet Master), Annual #1, 27, 33 (as an ally against Attuma)
Skrulls: 4 appearances: #2, 18 (Super-Skrull), 32 (Super-Skrull as Invincible Man), 37
Mole Man: 3 appearances: #1, 22, 31
Puppet Master: 3 appearances: #8, 14 (with Namor), 28 (with Mad Thinker/Awesome Andy)
Hulk: 3 appearances: #12, 25-26 (two-parter)
Red Ghost: 2 appearances: #13, 29 (both time feature the Watcher)
Mad Thinker (with Awesome Andy): 2 appearances: #15, 28 (with Puppet Master)
Diablo: 2 appearances: #30, 35 (with Dragon Man)
Frightful Four (The Wizard, Paste-Pot Pete, Sandman, Medusa): 2 appearances: #36, 38
Miracle Man: 1 appearance: #3
Kurrgo, Master of Planet X: 1 appearance: #7
Impossible Man: 1 appearance: #11
Rama-Tut, Pharoah from the Future!: 1 appearance: #19
Molecule Man: 1 appearance: #20
Adolf Hitler: 1 appearance: #21
Infant Terrible: 1 appearance: #24
X-Men (under thrall of the Puppet Master): 1 appearance: #28
Attuma: 1 appearance: #33
Mr. Gideon: 1 appearance: #34
Dragon Man: 1 appearance: #35

While it's clear that this was a remarkably fertile time for the two men, they obviously weren't adverse to reusing a character, especially the two big guns (Doom and Namor), who appear in 36% of the stories (15 out of 42 issues). So I would challenge Brian's statement a bit.

More than anything, these first 40 issues didn't thrill me. I look at them and appreciate what the two men did for comics, and Kirby's art is better than I used to give it credit for, but there's something lacking in them. Maybe I'm just not a Sixties kind of guy. I doubt it, because Steranko's Nick Fury is pretty damned awesome.

4. Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson (988).
May 1979 to February 1983 (#158-191, with a few gaps).
One Omnibus edition collecting the entire run, three Visionary trades, two trades collecting issues #159-161, 163-164 ("Marked for Death") and #169-172, 180 ("Gang War").
The placement of this actually surprised me. It's not that it's bad at all, but I'm surprised it was 4th. I get that people really like it, but again, 4th? This is, of course, extremely influential, in both good and bad ways. Nice art, though.

5. Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben, and Rick Veitch (942). See above.

6. Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (926).
August 1962 (Amazing Fantasy #15) to July 1966 (#1-38, 2 Annuals).
There is an Omnibus collecting every issue; four Masterworks volumes; and the first two Essential volumes collect the run.
I like this a lot more than I like the Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four. And it feels more like a "run," based on my definition above.

7. Starman by James Robinson (921). See above.

8. Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon (857).
April 1995 to October 2000 (#1-66).
Nine trades collect the entire run.
As I mentioned with regard to this book and Hitman, I think this is probably Ennis's masterpiece, but I like Hitman more. He was obviously more "taken" with this, but it ending up being a bit more pretentious and precious than Hitman, and that's where it falters a bit. Ennis screws up the ending a bit (a reason to make current runs ineligible!), and he too often allows his characters to rant about things he obviously feels passionate about, bringing the narrative to a halt. And Herr Starr's successive gruesome injuries is like the gag on The Simpsons where Sideshow Bob keeps stepping on the rakes - funny at first, then annoying, and finally surreal. I dropped this book for a while because of the disgusting injuries (the fat guy landing on the Messiah really turned me off), and while I'm glad I went back and got the issues and read them, I can't rank this as high as Hitman or even Hellblazer.

9. Justice League by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis (742).
May 1987 to March 1992 (for the run that was voted on). See above.

10. X-Men by Grant Morrison (701).
July 2001 to May 2004 (#114-154, one Annual).
This run has been collected in seven trades; three hardcovers; or one Omnibus.
Boy, do I wish Marvel had not basically retconned most of this run out of existence. I know a lot of people read this, but as someone who had been reading the mutant books for years, issue #114 was like a punch in the gut - but in a good way. It was astonishing, and although I don't think any story matched "E is for Extinction," this is a brilliant run that should have completely redefined the X-Men. Of course, the people who hated it because it was so "different" should remember how conventional it really is. Yes, Morrison played with a lot of new kinds of ideas, but it fit well into the history of the X-Men. Too bad Marvel didn't see it that way.

I can even forgive the Xorn reveal, which I still say is not telegraphed in the Annual. Maybe I need to read it again, but still.

11. Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez (643).
November 1980 to March 1985 (#1-50; #1-5, three Annuals).
There are three archive volumes (issues #1-20, Tales #1-4); and four trades, which do not collect the entire run (two deal with Terra, one with Donna Troy, one with Trigon).
I have read the two trades about Terra, and wasn't impressed. Again, it's another one that not's bad, but I'm not dazzled by it. I have a distinct feeling that this is another one where you had to be there when it first came out. Years later, after hearing about how awesome it is, the impact when you actually do read it is lessened. I like the stories I've read, but not to the point where I think it's the 11th-best run of all time.

That X-Men/Titans crossover rocks, however.

12. JLA by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter (574). See above.

13. Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra (547).
September 2002 to March 2008 (#1-60).
Nine trades are out, with one more to come.
I enjoy this book, but I HAVEN'T READ THE ENDING, AND IF YOU SPOIL IT FOR ME I WILL FIND YOU, WHEREVER YOU LIVE, AND EAT YOUR EYES! EVEN IF YOU LIVE IN SURINAME OR BHUTAN OR EVEN (SHUDDER) ALABAMA! So please don't spoil it. Thanks!

14. Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison and Richard Case (524). See above. I'd like to thank the 11 other people besides me who voted this #1. You obviously are the 11 smartest comic book fans in existence!

15. Thor by Walt Simonson (514).
November 1983 to August 1987 (#337-382, not all with Simonson on art).
Four Visionary trades (through issue #374), with another one scheduled. For some inexplicable reason, Marvel has allowed Vols. 2 and 3 to go out of print. Stupid, stupid Marvel.
I only own issues #337-355, but damn, they're good. I'm waiting for the Visionary trades to come back in print (Marvel is getting around to it, they claim), so I can, you know, buy them. Imagine that - people want to buy these books! Why, oh why, did they go out of print? Stupid Marvel.

16. Fantastic Four by John Byrne (508).
July 1981 to August 1986 (#232-293).
Eight Visionary trades collect the entire run.
This is quite good. Byrne did some very cool things with the characters, and it's the kind of comic you can read over and over and always be entertained. But, as I mentioned above, it ended kind of weakly, plus, you know, he brought back Jean Grey late in the run. Boo, John Byrne! Still, this is good comic-bookery.

17. Captain America by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting (504).
January 2005 to present (#1-37).
Six trades are out, plus one Omnibus (#1-25).
Ineligible because it's not over. If my sources are correct, I know how Steve Rogers will come back (did you think he wouldn't?), and we'll see if people like so much then!

18. Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday (493). See above.

19. The Incredible Hulk by Peter David (484).
May 1987 to August 1998 (#331-467).
Eight trades exist (the first four are Visionary trades, so maybe more of those are coming), ending with issue #400. One wonders if Marvel will ever collect the rest.
This gets a lot weaker around #425 or so, and only picks up when that Kubert dude came on board in the #450s (whichever Kubert it was - Andy?). But I still love this run, because David did more with the Hulk than I thought possible. I got into it late, but quickly went back and bought all the back issues (including a strangely low-priced McFarlane one, which was explained when I found out part of two pages had been cut out), and I love reading it. David never seemed to get stale or even bored, and I wonder if he'd still be writing the damned book if Marvel hadn't interfered.

20. Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev (480).
December 2001 to March 2006 (#26-50; #56-81).
There are nine trades and/or five hardcovers.
I went into this run in detail here.

21. Animal Man by Grant Morrison and Chas Truog (430). See above.

22. Fables by Bill Willingham (428).
July 2002 to present (#1-71).
Nine trades so far, plus the graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall.
This is one of my favorite current comics, but it's ineligible because it's not over yet.

23. Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson (418).
September 1997 to November 2002 (#1-60).
Ten trades collect the entire run.
I never got this when it came out, but quickly picked up the trades. It's not my favorite Ellis work, but I think it's his masterpiece, and almost every Ellis protagonist since then seems to be an iteration of Spider Jerusalem. This, like Preacher, allows Ellis to rant about things that interest him, but he's usually very good about tempering it with neat stories. My favorite parts of this comic are when Ellis shows a human side to Spider. Ellis is excellent at this sort of thing, but too often he ignores that part of his repertoire to concentrate on angry ranting. Transmetropolitan is a nice blend of the two sides of Ellis, and that's why it's good.

24. The Punisher by Garth Ennis (389).
April 2000 to March 2001 (Welcome Back, Frank). August 2001 to February 2004 (Marvel Knights series). March 2004 to present (MAX series).
It looks like there are sixteen trades (with two pending), and some hardcovers.
I have read a few issues of the MAX series, and didn't think they were anything special. The Punisher is just one of those characters I simply do not like. I'm sorry, but I just can't really get into him, no matter how good the stories are.

25. Cerebus by Dave Sim and Gerhard (370).
December 1977 to March 2004 (#1-300).
Many, many trades are out there.
I have never read this, and I have never had much interest in reading it.

26. Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley (364).
October 2000 to August 2007 (#1-110).
Eighteen trades have come out (including the "Secret Six" arc); a bunch of big hardcovers.
I buy this series in trades, and I think it reads well in that format. I enjoy it a lot.

27. Invisibles by Grant Morrison (349).
September 1994 to June 2000 (#1-25; #1-22; #12-1).
Seven trades collect all three volumes.
I have read this once, and didn't get it. It's very possible than I'm not too bright, but I tend to think this is fairly overrated. Do you really get it, people who ranked it this high? I'm not asking to be snarky, I honestly want to know, because I just didn't understand it at all. It's very vexing.

28. Suicide Squad by John Ostrander (336). See above.

29. The Legion of Super-Heroes by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen (328).
November 1981 to December 1984 (#281-313; #1-5).
Two trades are out, one "The Great Darkness Saga," and the other the relaunch.
I read "The Great Darkness Saga" and didn't get what all the fuss was about. It was fine, I guess, but inconsistent on the art side and a bit unbelievable, as wouldn't Darkseid be better known? Anyway, it's a perfectly fine story. 29th-best? Not in my world, but I have no problem with people voting for it.

30. Astro City by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson (323).
August 1995 to present.
All of this is in trade, except for maybe the latest story arc, which will be soon.
Although these are a series of mini-series, I would still consider it ineligible, as Busiek is obviously going to write more of these. I love this series, and maybe when it's all done I'll rank it quite high - probably higher than this, to tell the truth.

31. Bone by Jeff Smith (321).
July 1991 to June 2004 (#1-55).
Nine color trades are out, and that one big black-and-white volume, which at $40 for 1300 pages is excellent value.
I love this comic. Love it love it love it. Go buy it if you haven't read it, and go re-read it if you have. Go!

32. The Ultimates by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch (315).
March 2002 to May 2007.
The series is collected in four trades and/or two big hardcovers.
I bought 15 issues of this before I went on my Mark Millar boycott, and I really enjoyed the first 6 or so, before the waits between issues became interminable and the story became just another alien invasion. I still read it, but it wasn't as thrilling. Then I stopped buying Millar comics. I haven't felt all that deprived.

33. Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona (307).
July 2003 to May 2007 (#1-18; #1-24).
Seven digest-style trades and/or three big hardcovers collect this series.
I own the three hardcovers, and like them a lot. The art looks great in that format, and Vaughan does a very good job with the characters. I get the objections to who the traitor is, and kind of wish it had been someone less obvious (in hindsight, that is, because I didn't see it coming), but I still like this series quite a bit.

34. Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee and John Romita, Sr. (270).
August 1966 to May 1971 (#39-93, with some gaps).
This is collected in the Marvel Masterworks volumes 4-9 (only part of 4, though); Essential volumes 2-5 (parts of 2 and 5); a Romita Sr. Visionary trade with some of the issues; and a "Death of the Stacys" trade. You have no excuse if you haven't read it!
As I mentioned above, I like the old Spider-Man comics a lot more than the old Fantastic Four comics, so I enjoy this run a lot. I have all the Spider-Man Essential volumes (well, I'm missing the Spectacular ones, but I have all the Amazing ones), and I really want Marvel to bring out another volume! Come on, Marvel!

35. Love and Rockets by the Hernandez Brothers (236).
June 1982 to present (#1-50; #1-20).
Many trades exist, including new hardcovers.
No, I haven't read this. Yes, I'm a bad comic book fan. Have mercy!

36. Marvelman/Miracleman by Alan Moore, Gary Leach, Alan Davis, Chuck Beckum, and John Totleben (234). See above.

37. Hitman by Garth Ennis and John McCrea (232). See above.

38. Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday (229).
July 2004 to present (#1-24).
Three trades are out so far, but you know a mega-huge Omnibus is in the pipeline.
As many of you recall, I was just not impressed with the first trade of this, nor the random single issues I've picked up since. It's not that it's that bad, it's just not that impressive. If Brian does this again in ten years, I'd be stunned if this showed up. I don't think it will age well. But that's just me.

39. Flash by Mark Waid (228).
May 1992 to September 1997 (#62-129).
There are five trades, but they don't collect the entire run.
I read two arcs: the return of Barry Allen, and the six issues leading up to issue #100. Both seemed like decent but unspectacular superhero stories. I know that people love this, so maybe I should get another trade and give it another chance.

40. Promethea by Alan Moore and J. H. Williams III (220).
August 1999 to April 2005 (#1-32).
Five trades are out.
For some reason, I've never finished this. I own three trades and liked them, but it's never been high on my list of comics to buy. I understand it got weirder and weirder, and maybe that's what's kept me from buying it, but for whatever reason, I've never gotten around to the other two trades. I ought to, I guess.

41. The Avengers by Kurt Busiek (218).
February 1998 to September 2002 (#1-56).
Eight trades collect the run, or you could go for the five big hardcovers.
I own the first two big hardcovers, and as I've written about before, I am just not thrilled with them. For some reason, I can't get into the Avengers.

41. Howard the Duck by Steve Gerber (218).
December 1973 to September 1978.
Essential Howard the Duck. What more do you need?
I haven't read this at all. I'm aware of my suckiness, thank you.

43. Daredevil by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli (211).
February-August 1986 (#227-233).
Daredevil: Born Again is the trade.
Damn, this is a great story. I've read this thing so many times, and I always like dragging it out and reading it again. But without going back and consulting the rules, shouldn't a seven-issue "run" not really count? What was the minimum number of issues allowed?

44. The Legion of Super-Heroes by Keith Giffen, Tom Bierbaum, and Mary Bierbaum (208).
November 1989 to December 1992 (issue #38) and November 1993 (issue #50) (#1-50).
No trades are out for this run.
I haven't read it, nor do I have much interest in reading it. On the other hand, I did just finally complete my collection (such as it is) of The Heckler, which is by the same creative team, and I'm looking forward to cracking that open.

45. The Spectre by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake (205). See above.

46. The Spirit by Will Eisner (204).
DC has 24 trades, not all with Eisner, apparently, but there they are.
I've read some of this, and I'm impressed with the stories. Those people who say Kirby was so wonderful should check out Eisner, twenty years earlier. Okay, they probably have, but Eisner's work was so much more naturalistic (for the most part, if we ignore the stereotype that is Ebony White) than most mainstream superhero art. Why is that?

47. Deadpool by Joe Kelly (202).
January 1997 to October 1999 (#1-33).
One trade is out, collecting issues #1-5.
I haven't read this. Given the love it seems to receive, perhaps I should.

48. JSA by Geoff Johns (192).
January 2000 to March 2006; February 2007 to present (#6-77, 81; #1-14).
It looks like eleven trades, one extra one for "The Lightning Saga," and one forthcoming.
This would probably be ineligible, because it's still technically ongoing, even though the previous series ended. I haven't liked enough of what I've read by Johns to really care about reading this.

49. Detective Comics by Steve Englehart, Walt Simonson, and Marshall Rogers (184).
May 1977 to April 1978 (#469-476).
There's a trade, which includes issues #477-479.
The Simonson issues aren't awful (Dr. Phosphorus is pretty keen), but of course the big draw are the Englehart/Rogers/Austin issues. I wrote about those issues here.

50. Jack Kirby's Fourth World (180).
October 1970 to March 1974.
Lots of different trades are out, including the Omnibi (a fourth and final volume is forthcoming).
I'd really like to read this. Kirby's Five-Oh! came out this week, didn't it? I'll have to ask my retailer where the hell it is.

51. Hellboy by Mike Mignola (179).
March 1994 to present.
Many trades, with no signs of stopping.
I have read very few issues of the Hellboy-verse, but I'd like to read more. They're groovy.

52. All Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (176).
January 2006 to present (#1-10).
One trade is out, collecting #1-6. Of course, you could wait for the big hardcover that will appear eventually.
This is ineligible, of course, but I dig it quite a lot. I'm not sure if it's as good as most of Morrison's stuff, but we'll see.

53. Nexus by Mike Baron and Steve Rude (174).
May 1983 to present (#1-101).
It looks like about half has been collected in trade.
I haven't read it, except for the recent reprint of the Origin story. It was okay.

54. Green Lantern by Geoff Johns (174).
December 2004 to present (#1-6; #1-29).
It looks like four trades are out so far.
I can't accept this appearing on the list. Much like Astonishing X-Men, I think this will not appear on a list like this ten years from now. Granted, I haven't read much of this, but whenever I take a look at an issue, it's thoroughly unimpressive. It just seems like Johns is far more interested in giving fans exactly what they want instead of caring about writing a good story. I guess that's why it's popular and why it shows up on this list, but it's just pandering. Blech. Bringing back Hal Jordan and caving to a bunch of whiners should automatically exclude it.*

*Sorry for being so angry. Hal's return just really pisses me off.

55. Amazing Spider-Man by Roger Stern and John Romita, Jr. (170).
January 1982 to May 1984 (#224-252).
Parts of this run are collected in two trades.
I have covered part of this run, in two separate Comics You Should Own posts: the two-part Juggernaut story, and the Hobgoblin story. They're, you know, good.

56. The Flash by Geoff Johns (168).
September 2000 to October 2005 (#164-225).
Eight trades collect the entire run.
I haven't read any of this. I'm in no hurry.

56. Supreme by Alan Moore (168).
August 1996 to June 2000 (#41-56; #1-5).
Two trades, from Checker books, have been published.
I hear good things about this, even though I've read only one issue. I suppose I should find the trades.

58. The Avengers by Roger Stern (164).
January 1983 to February 1988 (#227-288).
"Under Siege" has been collected, but only a few other random stories.
I've never read any of this.

59. Green Lantern/Green Arrow by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams (162).
April 1970 to January 1973 (#76-87, 89; Flash #217-219).
It's all been collected in one trade (including the back-up stories).
I've read more than a few issues of this, but not all of it. I love Adams' art. The stories are pretty good, too, especially that Jesus one.

60. The Authority by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch (159).
May 1999 to April 2000 (#1-12).
Two trades of six issues each are available, and/or one Absolute Edition.
I love this run, but I have a feeling it won't be held in such high esteem in the coming years. It's more of an "awesome" kind of run than one that really stays with you, isn't it? StormWatch is much more interesting.

61. Iron Man by Bob Layton and David Michelinie (152).
September 1978 to April 1982 (#114-157).
There are five trades, but the entire run has not been collected.
Yes, I suppose I should read this, but I haven't. I'll get around to it, especially now that I'm armed with the issue numbers!

62. 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso (150).
August 1999 to present (#1-89).
I read them in trades, so I know they're available - currently eleven of them.
It's ineligible, but damn, it's good stuff. I hope it ends well.

62. Fantastic Four by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo (150).
October 2002 to June 2005 (#60-70; 500-524).
This run is collected in six trades and/or three big hardcovers.
I own the first big hardcover of this, which ends with the horrific Doom story ("horrific" because of what happens, not because of the quality, which is very good). I have heard it didn't go too well after that, but I'm still curious about it. Maybe I'll pick up another hardcover just for fun.

64. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill (148).
March 1999 to November 2003 (#1-6; #1-6).
The trades are available, including three Absolute editions.
Well, I still think this should be ineligible, but whatever. I didn't like The Black Dossier all that much, but the first two mini-series were excellent. I really hope Moore and O'Neill can get some more series out before I grow old and feeble.

65. Detective/Batman by Alan Grant, John Wagner, and Norm Breyfogle (146). See above.

66. New Mutants by Chris Claremont, Bob McLeod, and Bill Sienkiewicz (144). See above.

67. Shade, the Changing Man by Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo (142). See above.

68. Top Ten by Alan Moore and Gene Ha (141).
September 1999 to October 2001 (#1-12).
All of the series is in trade, but wouldn't an Absolute Edition be nice?
This is a wildly fun series to read, not only because of all the Easter eggs, but because of the wonderful stories. Moore ties dozens of plotlines together effortlessly, and Ha's artwork is amazing. It would have been nice to see the series go longer, but I guess 12 issues and one graphic novel is good enough (and no, I haven't read Smax - maybe I should).

69. X-Factor by Peter David (140).
September 1991 to May 1993 (#70-90).
Three Visionary volumes have come out, collecting through #83 (but not including #70), plus there's an "X-Cutioner's Song" trade (#84-86).
I own most if not all of these (I'd have to check), and although I liked them when I bought them, these were sitting in my parents' house for about 12 years, and I only recently got them back. Therefore, I haven't re-read them, and I have no idea if they hold up. I guess I'll find out when I get around to them.

70. Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Oeming (134).
April 2000 to present (#1-37; #1-27).
There are eleven trades or, if you prefer, two big hardcovers (issues #1-24).
I own the first trade and a few of the subsequent issues (including the one guest-starring Warren Ellis, which is ... odd), and I just couldn't get into it. I don't know why. I can't say there's anything really wrong with it, it just didn't do it for me. And then I heard about the monkey sex issue, and thought maybe it was a good thing I didn't keep reading.

71. Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri, and Rick Leonardi (133).
June 1987 to May 1990 (#218-261, with many guest artists).
"Fall of the Mutants" and "Inferno" are in trades, plus the Brood story. Parts of it are in a Jim Lee Visionary volume. Are these trades out of print?
I love this era of the X-Men, but as I pointed out above, I'm not sure it should be counted separately s a "run." If it is, I would go from a few issues earlier (#214 is the real "beginning" of this "era") and end at #280, which is the last issue before the titles split. But I will defend this run against Philistines like Brian, who don't like it all that much. Boo, Dread Lord and Master!

71. Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith (133).
January 1983 to November 1983 (#165-175).
Essential volume 4 has the goods. "From the Ashes" is the trade of the big story arc, but it might be out of print.
Again, this "run" blends rather easily with the prior one (Smith came on board to end the first Brood story) and into the subsequent one. These are some humdingers, though. Wolverine's wedding (issues #172-173) are freakin' awesome.

73. Black Panther by Christopher Priest (130).
November 1998 to September 2003 (#1-62).
The first twelve issues are collected.
I own the first trade and enjoyed it (especially when Everett Ross sells his soul for a pair of pants), but never got around to buying the second trade. Of course, Marvel stopped collecting them, so maybe I should just go back and buy the damned issues in single format.

74. Excalibur by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis (122).
October 1988 to July 1990; October 1991 to July 1993 (#1-24; 42-67).
The first part, when Claremont was writing, is in four trades, but not the ones with Davis as sole writer/artist.
These are really fun comics, and it's too bad there's a caesura between them, because they fit together so well. I love re-reading these.

74. Gotham Central by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, Michael Lark, Kano, and Stefano Gaudiano (122).
February 2003 to April 2006 (#1-40).
There are five trades, but some crossover issues are not included.
These comics are very good, except toward the end, when they seem to lose their way a bit. It's a great idea, however, and it would be nice to see DC try to revive something like this in the future.

76. Concrete by Paul Chadwick (120).
July 1986 to present.
Lots of trades exist, but I'm not sure if it's everything that could be collected.
I haven't read a single issue with Concrete. That's just weird.

77. Superman by John Byrne (119).
October 1986 to November 1988.
Looks like most of it has been collected in various trades. Has all of it been?
I own the Man of Steel mini-series. It's good. But I have no mad-on to get the rest.

78. Wildcats by Joe Casey, Sean Phillips, Dustin Nguyen, and Duncan Rouleau (117).
April 2000 to October 2004 (#8-28; #1-24).
Five trades collect the run, but 3.0 only made it to #12 in trade. So sad!
This is part of the body of work that makes Casey one of the best writers working today. This is a marvelous read, and even though the final issues are not fantastic, Casey makes the best of it. It's a shame that his really interesting stuff doesn't last, but his more mainstream stuff does well. This is probably his masterpiece until Gødland supplants it.

79. Invincible by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley (115).
January 2003 to present (#1-49).
So far we have eight trades, including a few gigantic hardcovers.
This is a very good superhero book. I would deem it ineligible, but I have no problem with it showing up on the list.

80. Lucifer by Mike Carey, Peter Gross, and Ryan Kelly (114).
March 1999 to June 2006 (#1-3; #1-75).
The series is collected in eleven trades.
I bought the Sandman Presents mini-series when it came out, and a friend got me the first trade, but I just wasn't into it. It's not bad, certainly, but it didn't grab me. But it's another series in which I have become interested because of its presence on this list. Maybe I'll pick up the second trade.

81. Sleeper by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (113).
March 2003 to May 2005 (#1-12; #1-12).
Four trades collect the series, and one for Point Blank (which is not essential, but forms a nice prelude to the main book).
It took me a long time to get into this book. I got the first trade, liked it well enough, but didn't see what was so special about it. I got the second trade and felt the same way. I decided to get the final two trades just to see how Brubaker would end it. As a whole, this is much better than individually. It's a nice comic, and I have no problem with its ranking.

81. X-Force/X-Statix by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred (113).
May 2001 to October 2004 (#116-129; #1-26).
Six trades are out, plus the Deadgirl mini-series.
Issue #116 is one of the best single issues of the past decade, and the first few are amazing. Milligan couldn't keep the energy up, probably not surprisingly, but it remained a very good book, especially given the fact that Marvel published it and allowed Milligan a lot of latitude. Even before the Princess Diana thing, it was getting a bit stale, and I dropped it right before the final story arc. Of course, I've heard that's very good (especially Guy fighting Iron Man in the nude), so I'll probably pick up the issues some day.

83. StormWatch by Warren Ellis, Tom Raney, Oscar Jimenez, and Bryan Hitch (112). See above.

83. Thor by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (112).
October 1963 to August 1970 (#97-179).
The trades: Masterworks volumes 1-6 (part of 1), Essential volumes 1-3 (parts of 1, ends at #166).
Except for the origin issue, I honestly don't know if I've read any of this. Given the write-up Brian did and the reaction some people had to this, I think I might have to go get some Essential volumes!

85. Groo by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier (110).
December 1982 to present.
Most, but not all (it appears) is in trade.
As I've mentioned before, I don't get Groo. I enjoy reading his adventures, but I just can't see loving it so much. It seems like a well-written "classic" situation comedy, in that each episode might be hilarious, but because everything stays pretty much the same, you lack the emotional attachment to characters that I need to consider something great. But that's just me.

86. Warlock by Jim Starlin (109).
February 1975 to 1977.
This doesn't appear to be in trade.
If this is half as weird as Starlin's Captain Marvel stuff, I will have to find it somewhere!

86. The Avengers by Roy Thomas (109).
December 1966 to October 1972 (#35-104).
Collections include: part of Masterworks volume 4, volume 5, 6, and 7 (to issue 68); part of Essential volume 2, 3, 4, and part of 5. Parts of the run have been collected elsewhere, including the Kree-Skrull War trade.
I've only read the Kree-Skrull War trade, and that mainly because of Neal Adams. So I can't speak to the quality of this.

88. Doctor Strange by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (108).
July 1963 to July 1966 (#110-146).
Strange Tales shows up in Masterworks volume 1 (and a few in volume 2) and Essential volume 1.
I haven't read this (because it's from the Sixties, man!), but maybe I should.

89. Captain America by Mark Gruenwald (107).
July 1985 to September 1995 (#307-443).
Only a few story arcs are in trade: "The Bloodstone Hunt" and "Streets of Poison."
This run was long before I really got into finding out the talent on a book and whether the creative team was any good. Mostly I just stuck to my favorite characters and a few random creators (most of whom worked for DC). So this run passed me by completely. In fact, the first time I even considered buying Captain America was right after this run, when Waid and Garney came on board.

90. Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont and John Romita, Jr. (106).
November 1983 to November 1986 (#175-211).
The only trades of this are Essential volumes 5 and 6. The Mutant Massacre got a trade, which I see occasionally, but I wonder if it's out of print.
Again, I would count this as part of Claremont's grand storyline that began in issue #144 and ended with issue #213. But I'm in the minority, I guess. I do love this X-Era, though.

91. Green Arrow by Mike Grell (104).
August 1987 (The Longbow Hunters #1) to November 1993 (#1-3; #1-80).
The Longbow Hunters is in trade, but it doesn't look like the rest of the run is.
Despite the controversy over Grell's treatment of Dinah, I love The Longbow Hunters. I bought one other issue of Green Arrow (#40, the one Grell drew), but not the rest of the series. Grell's art in the original mini-series is a huge draw, but I liked the story a lot as well. It's a wonderfully adult take on a superhero going through middle age, and it shows again why DC and Marvel should allow their heroes to age. Anyway, that's a soapbox issue, so I won't go into it, but I still drag out my trade of The Longbow Hunters occasionally and read it. This is one of those series that I should collect, because when I started buying comics I didn't know who Grell was, and as I've gotten older, I've grown to appreciate him more.

92. Nextwave by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen (103).
March 2006 to March 2007 (#1-12).
There are two trades, but a monster trade collecting the entire run would look so nice on a bookshelf, wouldn't it?
In the middle of this run, I thought Ellis was losing it, but the beginning and end are just fantastic comics. I recently bought Abnett and Lanning's mini-series about Elsa Bloodstone (cheaply, I can assure you), and it's amazing what Ellis does with her to redeem her slightly after that clusterfuck. I wish this could have lasted a little longer, but like a lot of great series that didn't last, a few issues are better than none!

93. Alias by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos (101).
November 2001 to January 2004 (#1-28).
There are four trades, plus an all-inclusive Omnibus.
Alias is another series about which I've written extensively. It's excellent.

93. Hellblazer by Garth Ennis, Will Simpson, and Steve Dillon (101).
May 1991 to November 1994 (#41-83).
Six trades of the main storylines, and some single issues in "Rare Cuts," collect everything.
I started buying Hellblazer late in Ennis's run ("Rake at the Gates of Hell," in fact), and quickly went back and scooped up the back issues before they got too expensive. As I mentioned above, I think this run even trumps Preacher, as Ennis isn't too beyond the pale when it comes to the ultra-violence, and Kit is a better character than Tulip. Ennis's return to Hellblazer years later ("Son of Man," issues #129-133) is decent, but shows how much more he enjoys writing truly disgusting violent scenes.

95. Lone Wolf & Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima (100).
1970-1974.
Many trades are available.
I haven't read any of this. I am a bad person.

96. The Question by Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan (99).
February 1987 to April 1990 (#1-36).
The first trade is out, and a second (collecting through issue #12) will be available on Wednesday, I'm fairly sure.
I read the first trade and liked it, and I'll probably pick up the second. I don't know if I should wait for DC to collect the rest, given their erratic publishing schedule. Of course, I'm not in any hurry to buy these, because although I liked the first trade, it's not like I desperately need to read the rest, so I can be patient.

97. Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai (98).
July 1987 to present (#1-38; #1-16; #1-109).
It appears that there are 23 trades currently out.
I tried a few issues out not long ago, and while I liked them, I think I'll stick to the trades. It's definitely on my list to get, though.

97. Grendel by Matt Wagner (98). See above.

99. Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore (96).
November 1993 to June 2007 (#1-13; #1-13; #1-90).
So many trades: Nineteen regular volumes; ten hardcovers; six digests.
This is another book I've never read, so I have nothing to say about it.

100. Plastic Man by Jack Cole (95).
August 1941 to November 1950.
DC's Archive Editions collect almost the entire run, it looks like, in eight editions.
I read the Art Spiegelman book about Jack Cole and his creation, which was very good, but I've never read any of these comics, except for the origin story.

100. Master of Kung-Fu by Doug Moench (95).
September 1974 to March 1983 (#20-122).
No trades, apparently. Not even an Essential volume????
This is something I have been meaning to track down for some time. I think I have to ramp up my efforts!

100. Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware (95).
Winter 1993 to Winter 2001 (#1-18).
Five trades exist.
I've never read it. I don't think I'd like it. Maybe I would.

Now, let's check out the list, going only by first place votes (the first number in parentheses is where the run actually placed, while the second is the number of first-place votes it received):

1 (1). Sandman (42).
2 (3). Fantastic Four (Lee/Kirby) (37).
3 (7). Starman (35).
4 (5). Swamp Thing (30).
5 (2). Uncanny X-Men (Claremont/Byrne) (28).
6 (8). Preacher (21).
7 (6). Amazing Spider-Man (Lee/Ditko) (19).
8 (11). Teen Titans (15).
9 (10). X-Men (14).
10 (9). Justice League (Giffen/DeMatteis) (13).
10 (21). Animal Man (13).
12 (4). Daredevil (Miller) (12).
12 (14). Doom Patrol (12).
14 (23). Transmetropolitan (11).
15 (27). Invisibles (10).
15 (29). Legion of Super-Heroes (Levitz/Giffen) (10).
17 (20). Daredevil (Bendis/Maleev) (9).
18 (25). Cerebus (8).
19 (12). JLA (Morrison) (7).
19 (16). Fantastic Four (Byrne) (7).
19 (18). Planetary (7).
19 (19). Incredible Hulk (7).
19 (31). Bone (7).
19 (46). The Spirit (7).
25 (13). Y: The Last Man (6).
25 (22). Fables (6).
25 (37). Hitman (6).
25 (47). Deadpool (6).
29 (15). Thor (Simonson) (5).
29 (24). The Punisher (5).
29 (28). Suicide Squad (5).
29 (32). The Ultimates (5).
29 (35). Love and Rockets (5).
29 (45). The Spectre (5).
35 (17). Captain America (Brubaker) (4).
35 (30). Astro City (4).
35 (40). Promethea (4).
35 (44). Legion of Super-Heroes (Giffen/Bierbaums) (4).
35 (53). Nexus (4).
35 (55). Amazing Spider-Man (Stern/Romita Jr.) (4).
35 (66). New Mutants (4).
35 (67). Shade, the Changing Man (4).
35 (73). Black Panther (4).
35 (76). Concrete (4).
45 (26). Ultimate Spider-Man (3).
45 (33). Runaways (3).
45 (34). Amazing Spider-Man (Lee/Romita Sr.) (3).
45 (36). Marvelman (3).
45 (43). Daredevil (Miller/Mazzuchelli) (3).
45 (49). Detective (Englehart/Simonson/Rogers) (3).
45 (52). All Star Superman (3).
45 (58). Avengers (Stern) (3).
45 (62t). 100 Bullets (3).
45 (68). Top Ten (3).
45 (71t). Uncanny X-Men (Claremont/Silvestri) (3).
45 (74t). Excalibur (3).
45 (80). Lucifer (3).
45 (89). Captain America (Gruenwald) (3).
45 (91). Green Arrow (3).
60 (38). Astonishing X-Men (2).
60 (39). The Flash (Waid) (2).
60 (50). Fourth World (2).
60 (51). Hellboy (2).
60 (56t). The Flash (Johns) (2).
60 (56t). Supreme (2).
60 (60). The Authority (2).
60 (61). Iron Man (2).
60 (64). League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2).
60 (65). Detective (Grant/Breyfogle) (2).
60 (69). X-Factor (2).
60 (81t). Sleeper (2).
60 (81t). X-Force/X-Statix (2).
60 (86t). Avengers (Thomas) (2).
60 (88). Doctor Strange (2).
60 (92). Nextwave (2).
60 (97t). Usagi Yojimbo (2).
60 (99). Strangers in Paradise (2).
60 (100t). Acme Novelty Library (2).
79 (41t). Avengers (Busiek/Perez) (1).
79 (41t). Howard the Duck (1).
79 (48). JSA (1).
79 (53). Green Lantern (1).
79 (59). Green Lantern/Green Arrow (1).
79 (62t). Fantastic Four (Waid/Wieringo) (1).
79 (70). Powers (1).
79 (71t). Uncanny X-Men (Claremont/Smith) (1).
79 (74t). Gotham Central (1).
79 (77). Superman (Byrne) (1).
79 (78). Wildcats (1).
79 (79). Invincible (1).
79 (83t). StormWatch (1).
79 (83t). Thor (Lee/Kirby) (1).
79 (85). Groo (1).
79 (86t). Warlock (1).
79 (90). Uncanny X-Men (Claremont/Romita) (1).
79 (93t). Alias (1).
79 (93t). Hellblazer (1).
79 (96). The Question (1).
79 (97t). Grendel (1).
79 (100t). Plastic Man (1).
101 (95). Lone Wolf & Cub (0).
101 (100t). Master of Kung-Fu (0).

Obviously, down at the bottom it gets a little sticky, but I find it interesting that some runs (most notably Animal Man) finished high up in the first-place rankings but not so high in the general rankings. Most people, it seems, ranked it very high or not at all. Others didn't finish as high as a first-place run, but I expect they showed up on a broader number of ballots, because they're more "classic." This gave me another idea: to rank them by their percentage of first-place votes! Basically, as each first-place vote was worth 10 points, we'll look at how many of a specific run's total came from voters ranking it first. Let's check it out! The first parentheses shows where the run finished, the second shows its first-place votes, and the third is the percentage of first-place points making up its total.

1 (7). Starman (35) (38.00%).
2 (3). Fantastic Four (Lee/Kirby) (37) (35.92%).
3 (46). The Spirit (7) (34.31%).
4 (76). Concrete (4) (33.33%).
5 (1). Sandman (42) (31.87%).
6 (5). Swamp Thing (30) (31.85%).
7 (73). Black Panther (4) (30.77%).
8 (29). Legion of Super-Heroes (Levitz/Giffen) (10) (30.49%).
9 (21). Animal Man (13) (30.23%).
10 (47). Deadpool (6) (29.70%).
11 (91). Green Arrow (3) (28.85%).
12 (27). Invisibles (10) (28.65%).
13 (67). Shade, the Changing Man (4) (28.17%).
14 (89). Captain America (Gruenwald) (3) (28.04%).
15 (66). New Mutants (4) (27.78%).
16t (23). Transmetropolitan (11) (26.32%).
16t (80). Lucifer (3) (26.32%).
18 (37). Hitman (6) (25.86%).
19 (74t). Excalibur (3) (24.59%).
20 (8). Preacher (21) (24.50%).
21 (45). The Spectre (5) (24.39%).
22 (2). Uncanny X-Men (Claremont/Byrne) (28) (23.69%).
23 (55). Amazing Spider-Man (Stern/Romita Jr.) (4) (23.53%).
24 (11). Teen Titans (15) (23.33%).
25 (53). Nexus (4) (22.99%).
26 (14). Doom Patrol (12) (22.90%).
27 (71t). Uncanny X-Men (Claremont/Silvestri) (3) (22.56%).
28 (31). Bone (7) (21.81%).
29 (25). Cerebus (8) (21.62%).
30 (68). Top Ten (3) (21.28%).
31 (35). Love and Rockets (5) (21.19%).
32 (100t). Acme Novelty Library (2) (21.05%)
33 (99). Strangers in Paradise (2) (20.83%).
34 (6) Amazing Spider-Man (Lee/Ditko) (19) (20.52%).
35 (97t). Usagi Yojimbo (2) (20.41%).
36 (62t). 100 Bullets (3) (20.00%).
37 (10). X-Men (14) (19.97%).
38 (92). Nextwave (2) (19.42%).
39 (44). Legion of Super-Heroes (Giffen/Bierbaums) (4) (19.23%).
40 (20). Daredevil (Bendis/Maleev) (9) (18.75%).
41 (88). Doctor Strange (2) (18.52%).
42 (86t). Avengers (Thomas) (2) (18.35%).
43 (58). Avengers (Stern) (3) (18.29%).
44 (40). Promethea (4) (18.18%).
45t (81t). Sleeper (2) (17.70%).
45t (81t). X-Force/X-Statix (2) (17.70%).
47 (9). Justice League (Giffen/DeMatteis) (13) (17.52%).
48 (52). All Star Superman (3) (17.05%).
49 (49). Detective (Englehart/Simonson/Rogers) (3) (16.30%).
50 (32). The Ultimates (5) (15.87%).
51 (28). Suicide Squad (5) (14.88%).
52 (19). Incredible Hulk (7) (14.46%).
53 (69). X-Factor (2) (14.29%).
54 (43). Daredevil (Miller/Mazzuchelli) (3) (14.22%).
55 (18). Planetary (7) (14.20%).
56 (22). Fables (6) (14.02%).
57 (16). Fantastic Four (Byrne) (7) (13.78%).
58 (65). Detective (Grant/Breyfogle) (2) (13.70%).
59 (64). League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2) (13.51%).
60 (61). Iron Man (2) (13.16%).
61 (24). The Punisher (5) (12.85%).
62 (36). Marvelman (3) (12.82%).
63 (60). The Authority (2) (12.58%).
64 (30). Astro City (4) (12.38%).
65 (12). JLA (Morrison) (7) (12.20%).
66 (4). Daredevil (Miller) (12) (12.15%).
67 (56t). The Flash (Johns) (2) (11.90%).
68 (56t). Supreme (2) (11.90%).
69 (51). Hellboy (2) (11.17%).
70t (34). Amazing Spider-Man (Lee/Romita Sr.) (3) (11.11%).
70t (50). Fourth World (2) (11.11%).
72 (13). Y: The Last Man (6) (10.97%).
73 (100t). Plastic Man (1) (10.53%).
74 (97t). Grendel (1) (10.20%).
75 (96). The Question (1) (10.10%).
76t (93t). Alias (1) (9.90%).
76t (93t). Hellblazer (1) (9.90%).
78 (33). Runaways (3) (9.77%).
79 (15). Thor (Simonson) (5) (9.73%).
80 (90). Uncanny X-Men (Claremont/Romita) (1) (9.43%).
81 (86t). Warlock (1) (9.17%).
82 (85). Groo (1) (9.09%).
83 (83t). StormWatch (1) (8.93%).
84 (83t). Thor (Lee/Kirby) (1) (8.93%).
85 (39). The Flash (Waid) (2) (8.77%).
86 (38). Astonishing X-Men (2) (8.73%).
87 (79). Invincible (1) (8.70%).
88 (78). Wildcats (1) (8.55%).
89 (77). Superman (Byrne) (1) (8.40%).
90 (74t). Gotham Central (1) (8.20%).
91 (26). Ultimate Spider-Man (3) (8.24%).
92 (17). Captain America (Brubaker) (4) (7.94%).
93 (71t). Uncanny X-Men (Claremont/Smith) (1) (7.52%).
94 (70). Powers (1) (7.46%).
95 (62t). Fantastic Four (Waid/Wieringo) (1) (6.67%).
96 (59). Green Lantern/Green Arrow (1) (6.17%).
97 (53). Green Lantern (1) (5.75%).
98 (48). JSA (1) (5.21%).
99t (41t). Avengers (Busiek/Perez) (1) (4.59%).
99t (41t). Howard the Duck (1) (4.59%).
101t (95). Lone Wolf & Cub (0) (0%).
101t (100t). Master of Kung-Fu (0) (0%).

Now that's a Top Ten! I'm not exactly sure what these numbers mean, because I'm not a statistician and the percentages are so small I had to go out to the hundredths to separate them, but let's look at the Top Ten and the Bottom Ten (excluding the two that got no first-place votes). Starman was named as the #1 run in a higher percentage than anything, which means to me that the people who like Starman really like Starman. Of the Top Ten, #1, #4, and #5 are very personal projects that didn't or won't continue when the creator stops working on it. #2, #3, #7, #9, and #10 are comics that were launched with a #1 issue, and with the exception (possibly) of Black Panther and Deadpool, we associate those characters most with these creators (which probably isn't surprising). Only Swamp Thing and Legion of Super-Heroes were runs that began in the middle of a title, and Swamp Thing might not count, as Moore simply revamped the entire thing. As for the Bottom Ten, only Powers and Howard the Duck are associated completely with one creator (or team). Meanwhile, two Geoff Johns runs got the fewest percentage of first-place votes, possibly confirming my belief that people are "prisoners of the moment" when it comes to Johns (especially regarding Green Lantern) and those runs will not be terribly popular in a decade. (I don't mean to insult people who voted for those runs. I don't like Johns, but I recognize that he's terribly popular. I just wonder if they'll last as "great" runs or not, partially based on the fact that most people don't think of them as their #1 run.) Most of the runs (with the exception of GL/GA, Howard the Duck, and the Claremont/Smith Uncanny X-Men) are relatively recent or still going on (4 are ongoing, while 3 others are less than a decade old), so maybe that plays into it - people are waiting to see how they stack up historically. I dunno.

Finally, let's look at the vote total and how far behind each title was from the top and from the previous title on the list. Won't that be fun?

Sandman (1318)
Claremont/Byrne Uncanny X-Men (-136)
Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four (-288; -152)
Miller Daredevil (-330; -42)
Swamp Thing (-376; -46)
Lee/Ditko Spider-Man (-392; -16)
Starman (-397; -5)
Preacher (-461; -64)
Justice League International (-576; -115)
X-Men (-617; -41)
Teen Titans (-675; -58)
JLA (-744; -69)
Y: The Last Man (-771; -27)
Doom Patrol (-794; -23)
Simonson Thor (-804; -10)
Byrne Fantastic Four (-810; -6)
Brubaker Captain America (-814; -4)
Planetary (-825; -9)
Incredible Hulk (-834; -9)
Bendis/Maleev Daredevil (-838; -4)
Animal Man (-888; -50)
Fables (-890; -2)
Transmetropolitan (-900; -10)
Punisher (-929; -29)
Cerebus (-948; -19)
Ultimate Spider-Man (-954; -6)
Invisibles (-969; -15)
Suicide Squad (-982; -13)
Levitz/Giffen Legion of Super-Heroes (-990; -8)
Astro City (-995; -5)
Bone (-997; -2)
Ultimates (-1003; -6)
Runaways (-1011; -8)
Lee/Romita Spider-Man (-1048; -37)
Love and Rockets (-1082; -34)
Marvelman/Miracleman (-1084; -2)
Hitman (-1086; -2)
Astonishing X-Men (-1089; -3)
Waid Flash (-1090; -1)
Promethea (-1098; -8)
Busiek Avengers (-1100; -2)
Howard the Duck (-1110; N/A)
Miller/Mazzucchelli Daredevil (-1107; -7)
Giffen/Bierbaums Legion of Super-Heroes (-1110; -3)
Spectre (-1113; -3)
Spirit (-1114; -1)
Deadpool (-1116; -2)
JSA (-1126; -10)
Englehart Detective (-1134; -8)
Fourth World (-1138; -4)
Hellboy (-1139; -1)
All Star Superman (-1142; -3)
Nexus (-1144; -2)
Green Lantern (-1144, N/A)
Stern/Romita Spider-Man (-1148; -4)
Johns Flash (-1150; -2)
Supreme (-1150; N/A)
Stern Avengers (-1154; -4)
Green Lantern/Green Arrow (-1156; -2)
Authority (-1159; -3)
Iron Man (-1166; -7)
100 Bullets (-1168; -2)
Waid/Wieringo Fantastic Four (-1168; N/A)
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (-1170; -2)
Grant/Breyfogle Detective (-1172; -2)
New Mutants (-1174; -2)
Shade, the Changing Man (-1176; -2)
Top Ten (-1177; -1)
X-Factor (-1178; -1)
Powers (-1184; -6)
Claremont/Silvestri Uncanny X-Men (-1185; -1)
Claremont/Smith Uncanny X-Men (-1185; N/A)
Black Panther (-1188; -3)
Excalibur (-1196; -8)
Gotham Central (-1196; N/A)
Concrete (-1198; -2)
Superman (-1199; -1)
Wildcats (-1201; -2)
Invincible (-1203; -2)
Lucifer (-1204; -1)
Sleeper (-1205; -1)
X-Force/X-Statix (-1205; N/A)
StormWatch (-1206; -1)
Lee/Kirby Thor (-1206; N/A)
Groo (-1208; -2)
Warlock (-1209; -1)
Thomas Avengers (-1209; N/A)
Doctor Strange (-1210; -1)
Gruenwald Captain America (-1211; -1)
Claremont/Romita Uncanny X-Men (-1212; -1)
Green Arrow (-1214; -2)
Nextwave (-1215; -1)
Alias (-1217; -2)
Hellblazer (-1217; -2)
Lone Wolf & Cub (-1218; -1)
Question (-1219; -1)
Usagi Yojimbo (-1220; -1)
Grendel (-1220; -1)
Strangers in Paradise (-1222; -2)
Plastic Man (-1223; -1)
Master of Kung-Fu (-1223; N/A)
Acme Novelty Library (-1223; N/A)

Obviously, as you get down to the end the differences become much slighter, but it's interesting to check out the space between each choice. This was very close in terms of jockeying for position once we got past the top few spots. I don't know what else I can glean from this list.

Well, that's it for me. Brian did a wonderful job with this, and as I mentioned, he brought in a ton of traffic for the blog. He is, of course, Our Dread Lord and Master, and this is why! I should also point you to the excellent comments on all the posts, because a lot of people have left some very good thoughts. And I must mention Rene's excellent breakdown of the totals. Holy crap, that's a lot of work! I'm sure Brian will post the lesser runs (up to 200, I'm sure), so we'll see if any of mine or any of yours just missed the list!

79 Comments

At May 5, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
Greg, wow. That was tremendously fun to read. You clearly put a lot of work into it.
At May 5, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
"To me, a run is more than a long sequence of comics by the same creator, itâ€™s a story with ...
At May 5, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Perhaps rather than "disagree with" read "feel very differently".
At May 5, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:
I ranked Invisibles #1 or thereabouts. It's a series that rewards you quite a bit by re-reading it. But ...
At May 5, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Mind you, the way Byrne left FF (partway through a freakin' issue) left a sour taste in my mouth and ...
At May 5, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
That's cool, Jack. Part of the fun of this was finding out what people define as a "run."

One of ...
At May 5, 2008, mrjayberry wrote:
I love statistical breakdowns, and its always great to see the thought process behind somebody elses top ten. ...
At May 5, 2008, tk. wrote:
Haven't read the whole shebang yet, but Hell Yeah! on Captain Britain. It's very rereadable, too, and holds up ...
At May 5, 2008, T. wrote:
Therefore, while I respect the work of Lee and Kirby and Ditko, I donâ€™t look upon their seminal work from ...
At May 5, 2008, Dave wrote:
Greg, Lucifer was my #2 vote, and It's really worth sticking with beyond the first trade. It really is ...
At May 5, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
I'm just re-reading some old FF for the 100th time or so, but for the first time in six or ...
At May 5, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:
I agree with Jack's idea on a run, but I agree with you on everything else. Finally someone else ...
At May 5, 2008, Michael Rawdon wrote:
Yet another example of how different stories work differently for different people: I found Morrison's run on Doom Patrol to ...
At May 5, 2008, HR wrote:
Respect on this.
At May 5, 2008, Bill Reed wrote:
T said:
It doesnâ€™t have to have a firm resolution to be called a â€œrun,â€

No, it doesn't. But it is better ...
At May 5, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Hmm. I don't think any of my top ten are complete stories. :

That was fun. I was ...
At May 5, 2008, Todd Lawrence wrote:
It's a shame to see how much of this great stuff either has never been collected in trade or has ...
At May 5, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:
Wow, Greg, that was an amazing write up. You and I seem to have very similar taste in comics (Morrison's ...
At May 5, 2008, T. wrote:
No, it doesnâ€™t. But it is better if it does. i.e., almost every run youâ€™d see in my top ten ...
At May 5, 2008, Rene wrote:
Not trying to sound snark or arrogant, but I hadn't that much difficulty with Invisibles vols 1 and 2. I ...
At May 5, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
Long before stuff like Sandman or Transmetropolitan was even written, the term "run" arose specifically to denote a group of ...
At May 5, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:
>>HAVENâ€™T READ THE ENDING, AND IF YOU SPOIL IT FOR ME I WILL FIND YOU, WHEREVER YOU LIVE, AND EAT ...
At May 5, 2008, M Bloom wrote:
Re the JLI trades: the first hardcover came out a little over a month ago, featuring a new introduction by ...
At May 5, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
Check out the 2nd trade for Lucifer, Greg.
It's leaps and bounds better than the first trade - kinda like, but ...
At May 5, 2008, David wrote:
The list was too Vertigo heavy. Where are the big 7 JLA members in trade form?
At May 5, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Elliot S! Maggin. Fifteen Years on Superman.

Bob Haney - Fifteen years straight on Batman. (Brave and the Bold) ...
At May 5, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
T: That's a very good point, and one I think you back up quite well.

Lynxara: That's a perfectly reasonable choice, ...
At May 5, 2008, T. wrote:

Elliot S! Maggin. Fifteen Years on Superman.

Bob Haney - Fifteen years straight on Batman. (Brave and the Bold)

Cary Bates - ...
At May 5, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
Eh, I think there's not a lot of Silver Age stuff because not many people are eager to read stuff ...
At May 5, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Roy Thomas was dying to work for Marvel? *Snicker*

All the man ever wanted to do was write ...
At May 5, 2008, Rene wrote:
A general comment on Greg's comments.

Thanks for proving to us that critics are human too, man!

I had always believed ...
At May 5, 2008, Rene wrote:
I think DC's very higher quality in the time period mentioned (late-80s/early-90s) is simply because DC correctly emphasized writers and ...
At May 5, 2008, Jason B. wrote:
Wait, Captain America? Coming back? Stupid?

What have you heard? Tell me! DAMMIT, BURGAS! WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
At May 5, 2008, Dean wrote:
Also, I think itâ€™s unfair to count only complete stories as runs because it would skew to heavily in ...
At May 5, 2008, stealthwise wrote:
I stopped reading at Captain Britain. Seriously...

Anyways, I also had a problem with the idea of a "run" being ...
At May 5, 2008, T. wrote:
Roy Thomas was dying to work for Marvel? *Snicker*

All the man ever wanted to do was write the Justice Society. ...
At May 5, 2008, T. wrote:
In the top twenty of the survey, DC (or Vertigo) has seven titles from ten year period from the mid-80s ...
At May 5, 2008, Dean wrote:
As far as the survey goes, I find that the blogosphere to me always skews far more towards DC than ...
At May 5, 2008, acespot wrote:
Tommy Mognahan was featured in several issues of The Demon which are actually relevant to some later issues of Hitman. ...
At May 5, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Interesting and exhaustive write-up. I agree with you on a lot of stuff, Greg, including the dubiousness of splitting ...
At May 5, 2008, Dean wrote:
I think even before the late 80s, once Stan Lee started writing less books and more writers picked up the ...
At May 5, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
I never got into the Doom Patrol love. It was nice, but a bit too full of itself. The thing ...
At May 6, 2008, Kai wrote:
Good top 20 choices Greg, everything on that list I've either read and loved or its at the top of ...
At May 6, 2008, jesse wrote:
27. Invisibles by Grant Morrison (349).
September 1994 to June 2000 (#1-25; #1-22; #12-1).
Seven trades collect all three volumes.
I have read ...
At May 6, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
What is it you like so much about Marvel T?

Because I've rarely seen you make an argument that couldn't be ...
At May 6, 2008, comb & razor wrote:
I have to agree that T. might be doing a little cherry-picking hereâ€¦ But one of the problems Iâ€™m having ...
At May 6, 2008, Stefan wrote:
Great post, Greg. You've poured a lot of energy and insight into this.

I'm gonna speak now as one of ...
At May 6, 2008, entzauberung wrote:
"I stopped reading at Captain Britain. Seriouslyâ€¦"

Seriously what? Have you read it?
At May 6, 2008, Stephen wrote:
Greg, one thing on Johns' stuff: there's two Geoff Johns...es out there. The guy who wrote JSA and Flash (great ...
At May 6, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Oh man, did I HATE Johns' cliffhangers on Flash.

Totally didn't play by the Cronin Theory of Comics!!
At May 6, 2008, Hans Keller wrote:
I've just started going through the Starman run, which I hadn't gotten around to before. Two things strike me ...
At May 6, 2008, Rene wrote:
"As just two examples, at one point a character who is supposed to have been a close personal acquaintance of ...
At May 6, 2008, Rene wrote:
"Greg, one thing on Johnsâ€™ stuff: thereâ€™s two Geoff Johnsâ€¦es out there. The guy who wrote JSA and Flash (great ...
At May 6, 2008, wombat wrote:
I only need 5. There's not even hundred *good* runs out there. You people are smoking.

1) Preacher
2) Eightball
3) Monster Society ...
At May 6, 2008, wombat wrote:
the ww2 monster society that is.
At May 6, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
I tend to think the Wilde mistake was a mistake that Robinson later "fixed." I noticed that when I ...
At May 6, 2008, Stephen wrote:
Brian: there's a world of difference between the Flash cliffhangers and Countdown (which I think was the one you specifically ...
At May 6, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
I don't mind cliffhangers, I just want clifhangers to play fair, and I don't think Johns did during his Flash ...
At May 6, 2008, Glen Newman wrote:
Great post. I wish I had put that much thought and research in my choices. I just went with my ...
At May 6, 2008, Rene wrote:
"but to bring him back *and* write all of Parallaxâ€™s actions off to being infected by a space parasite was ...
At May 6, 2008, David Norman wrote:
Great post, Greg â€“ lots of work and thought put into it. I agree with a lot of what you ...
At May 6, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Moore blocked reprints of books they did, thereby denying Davis money. That irked Davis.
At May 6, 2008, Marc Kandel wrote:
I would have at least had Hal living with the memory of his actions, however coerced or "not his fault". ...
At May 6, 2008, Vincent Paul Bartilucci wrote:
"Hi, my name is Vincent. I'm a Hal Jordan fan. It's been one month since I last whined ...
At May 6, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
My own definition of 'run' is basically 'one creator on a title for a long time'. For my own ...
At May 6, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
Vincent - as a (very) long time fan of Illyana 'Magik' Rasputin, I understand entirely where you are coming from!

These ...
At May 6, 2008, sgt pepper wrote:
Why do so many people knock the monkey sex issue? It's actually a pretty good issue in a great ...
At May 6, 2008, Dean wrote:
Y'see, I'm not a Superman guy. Don't care one jot for Spider-man. Haven't thought Wolverine was cool since ...
At May 6, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
The editing on this is really, really bad. Thereâ€™s page after page of things that are just plain wrong and ...
At May 6, 2008, Hans Keller wrote:
I'm not really sure I am saying bad things about Archie Goodwin. Aside from Archie, the book had an ...
At May 6, 2008, Ed Degarmo wrote:
Top 2 more or less predictable. Number two is of great historical significance but nothing more. They simply wouldn't hold ...
At May 6, 2008, Rene wrote:
"At least have some shell shock or some memories of what he did, even as a bystander in his own ...
At May 6, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Sgt. Pepper- The monkey sex issue had monkey sex (or, primitive-human sex, whatever). It freaked people out. Additionally, it felt ...
At May 7, 2008, keith wrote:
Wow. Thumbs up for all the effort you put into that! Nice work!

Re: The Invisibles, I got lost a few ...
At May 7, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
I was never a Hal Jordan fan, and couldn't care less if they had brought him back, but I thought ...
At May 9, 2008, Marc Kandel wrote:
"What Dean said (that Hal is a man of another time, that Kyle is cool, that Emerald Twilight was valid, ...
At May 9, 2008, Rene wrote:
The rushed rebuilding of Hal's status quo resulted in some forced, strained story elements. Just like the way Bendis dismantled ...
At May 17, 2008, Rawinder wrote:
Re: "Boy, do I wish Marvel had not basically retconned most of this run out of existence"

This gets thrown around ...
At November 7, 2008, David wrote:
Rereading the top 100 list, I noticed that Byrne's run of Superman was up there (No 79) but what about ...

What? No Joe Kubert?

Brian Cronin — Sat, 03 May 2008 13:21:40 +0000

Thanks again to the Mutt, whose sense of humor must be in tune with mine, I guess.

Okay, so get your venting out on which runs you were most shocked/disappointed didn't make the Top 1002 Runs!

94 Comments

At May 3, 2008, Neil64 wrote:
The most obvious omission is Tomb of Dracula, closely followed by Englehart & Buscema's Captain America and Perez's Wonder Woman. ...
At May 3, 2008, Keith wrote:
Larry Hamma's GI Joe. I guess I should have voted (so I can't really complain) but since this run ...
At May 3, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
At least Suicide Squad made it this time.
At May 3, 2008, Darren wrote:
Without a doubt, Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!
At May 3, 2008, Ian Astheimer wrote:
Honestly, I'm more shocked that the stuff I voted for did make the list. Invincible and Casey's Wildcats in the ...
At May 3, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
I turned in an extended "top 35", which were all comics that I couldn't bear to leave out of my ...
At May 3, 2008, Andy wrote:
I'm not sure if it would even be legal under the terms of the list, but all the people who ...
At May 3, 2008, Lee wrote:
I'll admit a little surprise that I haven't seen a single person mention one of my choices: Mike W. Barr's ...
At May 3, 2008, Rene wrote:
Perez's Wonder Woman not making the list shocked the hell out of me. It was one of the 1980s most ...
At May 3, 2008, Annoyed Grunt wrote:
I had Mark Verheiden work on Aliens, The Maxx and Sin City on my list. I figured Aliens didn't ...
At May 3, 2008, DBish wrote:
Young Justice was the only long running series, that I've read from start to end completely and it's definitely one ...
At May 3, 2008, Dean wrote:
Sterankoâ€™s Nick Fury was the one 1960s Marvel comic book run that you can read with modern sensibilities and not ...
At May 3, 2008, Billy F wrote:
I'll just name a few that I named in the other post of runs that I was a little shocked ...
At May 3, 2008, Rene wrote:
Dean,

The ironic thing is, Steranko's Nick Fury isn't exactly an artist's run either, since Steranko was really a writer/artist ...
At May 3, 2008, Rene wrote:
I meant: "I don't SEE this strong writer/artist dicothomy between the two houses."
At May 3, 2008, Maurice F wrote:
Stern/Byrne CAPTAIN AMERICA was my #8 and only pick that didn't make the list. Something about those Invaders/Baron Blood issues ...
At May 3, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:
The two runs I voted for that didn't make it were Kurtzman's MAD and Simonson's FF. MAD is ...
At May 3, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
I'm surprised GI Joe didn't make the top 100, too. Those awesome animated commercials for the comic book (yes, they ...
At May 3, 2008, The Dane wrote:
I was surprised to see neither Arcudi/Mignola/Davis's BPRD nor McKeever/Miyazawa's Mary Jane/Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. I had also voted for ...
At May 3, 2008, John B. wrote:
omissions that I think should have been on the list, regardless above Howard the Duck to name a few:

John Bucsema's ...
At May 3, 2008, dhole wrote:
My only pick not on the list was Jim Shooter's Avengers, which I found kind of surprising.

I also notice Mark ...
At May 3, 2008, Dean wrote:
Before circa 1988, Iâ€™d say Marvel was as much a â€œHouse of Writersâ€ as DC. Yeah, post-1988 it changed, as ...
At May 3, 2008, Filipe wrote:
Chaykin's American Flagg and O Neil's Batman.
At May 3, 2008, Luis Jaime wrote:
The list was a lot of FUN - I couldn't believe I have all of these runs. Perhaps ...
At May 3, 2008, Matthew E wrote:
The one I had highest on my list that didn't make the top 100 was Abnett and Lanning's LSH. I ...
At May 3, 2008, Josh Hammonds wrote:
Heh, am I the only one who put Simon Furman's run on Transformers on their list?
At May 3, 2008, Billy F wrote:
dhole,

I mentioned Mark Waid's Captain America run in my post above. Both his runs on the title were ...
At May 3, 2008, CCBC wrote:
So where are Carl Barks' Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and John Stanley's Little Lulu? These are two of the ...
At May 3, 2008, DWright wrote:
This WAS a lot of fun. thanks Brian. I think all of my 10 made it,. but I think ...
At May 3, 2008, Todd wrote:
I haven't seen anyone nominate two of my favorites:

ROM by Mantlo and Buscema
Micronauts by Mantlo and Golden

And, though I haven't ...
At May 3, 2008, spoon_jenkins wrote:
I also voted for the Abnett/Lanning Legion. I knew other folks would go for Levitz/Giffen, but Abnett/Lanning is the LOSH ...
At May 3, 2008, Dean wrote:
So where are Carl Barksâ€™ Walt Disneyâ€™s Comics and Stories and John Stanleyâ€™s Little Lulu? These are two of the ...
At May 3, 2008, jeremy wrote:
No mention of Grell's Green Arrow run? Oh well.
At May 3, 2008, Matt D wrote:
Peter David's Supergirl (especially 1-50) is the most slept upon run I can think of. It actually means a lot ...
At May 3, 2008, Sean C. wrote:
Stuff I thought was overlooked:

- George Perez on "Wonder Woman" (with a couple of other writers involved in the early ...
At May 3, 2008, Lee wrote:
I had four selections on my list that didn't crack the top 100: I expected seven to make it.

The one ...
At May 3, 2008, McK wrote:
"Steve Englehart too deserved to have more than just his Batman work included. Jeez, he is more of a Marvel ...
At May 3, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
No mention of Grellâ€™s Green Arrow run? Oh well. It was in the Top 100.
At May 3, 2008, Jason wrote:
In terms of personal flaws, I think I forgot to add Adam Warren's Gen 13 run to my list. But ...
At May 3, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
I think Steranko's Captain America ran less than 6 issues, which, if I recall correctly, disqualifies it.

MAD & Archie lack ...
At May 3, 2008, The Dane wrote:
@Lee - I may have actually voted for Castle Waiting myself, but I didn't count it as a run for ...
At May 3, 2008, Rene wrote:
All of my picks made the list, except for JMS's Rising Stars.

I've always loved the "ordinary guys with superpowers in ...
At May 3, 2008, John Trumbull wrote:
Stuff I was disappointed not to see:

-Wolfman & Colan's Tomb of Dracula
-Barr & Davis' Detective Comics
-Evanier & Spiegle's Blackhawk
-Evanier & ...
At May 3, 2008, Matt Price wrote:
Pretty surprised not to see Mark Waid's Captain America (which had one of my votes) and Wolfman and Colan's Tomb ...
At May 3, 2008, Jason wrote:
I think I had Winick's GL run just missing my ballot, on account that his run petered out in the ...
At May 3, 2008, kirbydotter wrote:
Dang should have posted here first.

I wrote in another thread how schocked I was that NOT ONE title of the ...
At May 3, 2008, Gar wrote:
Thanks for the Top 100, Brian! I really enjoyed reading the list, and appreciated the mix of old and new ...
At May 3, 2008, Rene wrote:
Kirbydotter, I've always had the impression that DC's Silver Age was the stuff most people who read comic books loved. ...
At May 3, 2008, Sean C. wrote:
Speaking as a modern reader (born in 1987, started reading single-issue comics in 2004) Silver Age DC is a strange ...
At May 3, 2008, Dean wrote:
For a whole host of reasons people have noted in the threads, but mostly because DCâ€™s Silver Age seems to ...
At May 3, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
Alan Grant's Lobo. One of the most hysterically funny things I've ever read.

The Kesels' Hawk & Dove, which is ...
At May 3, 2008, Shawn Hill wrote:
Just to echo some above comments, and add a few personal faves:

Englehart's Avengers run (with art by Buckler, Heck, Brown, ...
At May 4, 2008, Bill K wrote:
For all the good and plausible reasons people have advanced as to why O'Neil/Adams Batman didn't make it, it remains ...
At May 4, 2008, BDaly wrote:
I've already mentioned these elsewhere:

The two of mine that didnâ€™t make it were:

9. Robinson/Casey/LadrÃ¶nn/Cable (I think it counts as one ...
At May 4, 2008, BDaly wrote:
I'd like to ask a question.

I'm an Ennis man. I also love Gaiman, Moore and Ellis. However, most of my ...
At May 4, 2008, Colin wrote:
While I didn't expect all of these to make the list here's the one's I voted for that didn't make ...
At May 4, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
I can't say that I'm "shocked" that some classic runs didn't make the top 100 because (a) most of the ...
At May 4, 2008, The Inedible Bulk wrote:
I'm surprised the longest creator owned strip of all time didn't make the list. "Cerebus".
At May 4, 2008, Bill K wrote:
Cerebus did make the list, and well-deserved, too!
At May 4, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
I'd recommend Doom Patrol first, then Seven Soldiers (as I presume you dig superheroes, right?) then Invisibles.

But really, they're all ...
At May 4, 2008, Hans Keller wrote:
I am shocked and appalled that nobody has yet mentioned "Flaming Carrot". I guess I can't complain too much ...
At May 4, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
Doom Patrol is the best run in comic book history, so yeah, I'd start with that!
At May 4, 2008, Vincent Paul Bartilucci wrote:
I had 5 of my runs place - I'm counting my vote for Leviz's legion as placing even though more ...
At May 4, 2008, fit2print wrote:
Omissions new and old:

Bruce Jones' Incredible Hulk
Kyle Baker's Plastic Man
Brian Azzarello's 100 Bullets & Hellblazer
Doug Murray/ Mike Golden's The 'Nam
Don ...
At May 4, 2008, fit2print wrote:
Sorry -- 100 Bullets is a limited series -- easy to overlook that fact considering ...
At May 4, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Sorry â€” 100 Bullets is a limited series â€” easy to overlook that fact considering â€¦ Nah, it's an ongoing.

And ...
At May 4, 2008, Rhod wrote:
Josh - I voted for Furman's Transformers too, knew I was being a bit optimistic though.

Brian - think I may ...
At May 4, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
Brian, were there any runs that got only one vote, and it was a #1?
At May 4, 2008, BDaly wrote:
Brian and Greg: Thanks guys. That's what I thought. Altthough I am interested in politics and similar subjects, and I ...
At May 4, 2008, Ã‡teve! wrote:
I have one vote that, unsuprisingly, does not appear on the Top 100 :

8. ELEMENTALS -- Bill Willingham. (Comico)

And I ...
At May 4, 2008, Dean wrote:
And I thought somebody would mention it on this thread before me, but no! Is it because nobody knows about ...
At May 4, 2008, Shawn Hill wrote:
I totally thought of Elementals too and am glad you brought it up. I don't think a lot of people ...
At May 4, 2008, sterg wrote:
Ã‡teve, I voted for Elementals, too. I know it all went to hell and will never be finished, but Willingham ...
At May 4, 2008, Dave wrote:
Most of my picks made it, but the two that didn't were my votes for Peter Bagge's Buddy Bradley stories ...
At May 4, 2008, sterg wrote:
I also want to send some love out to the Barr and Davis Detective run. It was too short, and ...
At May 4, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
"Jon Sable, Freelance" is another great 80s independent title that may have been hurt by fizzling out in the end, ...
At May 4, 2008, fit2print wrote:
Just to add my two (more) cents to the comics equivalent of Billboard's "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" ... ...
At May 4, 2008, JKline wrote:
I agree with Brian: Doom Patrol, 7 Soldiers, Invisibles. The Filth wasn't for me, but it is concentrated Morrison. ...
At May 4, 2008, nacho wrote:
I too was surprised that Hama's GIJoe was not on the list. It spawned an entire generation of comic ...
At May 4, 2008, Ã‡teve! wrote:
"â€œJon Sable, Freelanceâ€ is another great 80s independent title that may have been hurt by fizzling out in the end, ...
At May 4, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
I don't think anything from Malibu's old UItraverse group of titles made the Top 100. That's a real shame; there ...
At May 4, 2008, Colin wrote:
Lorendiac, I just finished 'Showcase Presents Sgt Rock' which has over 500 pages of mainly Kubert stuff. Frankly it was ...
At May 5, 2008, jackdaw53 wrote:
I suspect a lot of my top 10, if I'd joined earlier enough to vote, would be outside the top ...
At May 5, 2008, Jason L wrote:
I had one pick miss the list and it dawned on me that no manga made the list at all. ...
At May 5, 2008, Tom wrote:
How about Ostrander's Marvel Western minis? I love Blaze of Glory and Apache Skies. They gave the characters ...
At May 5, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
Didn't Lone Wolf & Cub make the list?
At May 5, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Leonardo Manco's art was perfect for Ostrander's Westerns. I haven't thought of them in a couple of years, but I ...
At May 5, 2008, Alvin wrote:
I wasn't suprised that it didn't make the list, but I kinda thought, maybe Stan Lee & Gene Colan on ...
At May 5, 2008, Dave wrote:
God, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac was so awful. I bought it off of the recommendations of some of my ...
At May 5, 2008, Trey wrote:
The reason none of these made the list is that none of em are top 10 runs. Although many are ...
At May 6, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Colin -- okay, okay, I guess I must have seen and then automatically ignored and forgot about the Showcase reprint ...
At May 6, 2008, Doug Atkinson wrote:
"Didnâ€™t he even appear as a modern general â€” when he ought to be long past the mandatory retirement age ...
At May 7, 2008, Mike Thompson wrote:
My #7 pick was the Killraven issues of Amazing Adventures (18-39). They blew my mind as a 10-year old!
At May 8, 2008, Kristen wrote:
I did vote for the Thomas/Buscema Conan and I figured it was the biggest shoe-in of my roster.

Top 100 Comic Book Runs #2 and 1!

Brian Cronin — Sat, 03 May 2008 03:37:35 +0000

We've gone through the rest, now here's the top two comic runs, as chosen by a vote by about 700 Comics Should Be Good readers, who each chose their ten favorite ongoing comic book runs, and then I both assigned point totals to their votes (10 points for 1st on their list, 9 points for 2nd, etc.) and compiled the point totals to make this here list!

Enjoy!

2. Chris Claremont and John Byrne's X-Men - 1182 points (28 first place votes)

X-Men/Uncanny X-Men #108-109, 111-143

X-Men was already an up and coming series from Marvel before John Byrne took over as penciler from Dave Cockrum. It was not exactly lighting the sales charts on fire, but there was a buzz about the book. It was at the end of a storyline when Byrne was brought on to replace Cockrum in Uncanny X-Men #108.

After one more Cockrum issue with #110, Byrne was back for good with #111, and he and Claremont went on an incredible journey, taking the X-Men all over the world, with nice character work and excellent artwork by Byrne.

They had a great story with Magneto against the team...

plus a dramatic story where the X-Men are feared dead, this allowed Jean Grey to go off on her own storyline that eventually led to the Dark Phoenix Saga much more down the road...

What's amazing about the Dark Phoenix saga was just how slowly it build up to a head, and all the while, Claremont and Byrne were telling strong stories, including the Proteus storyline.

The Hellfire Club was probably one of the more notable parts of the run, as it also introduced Kitty Pryde. They had already established, early in the run, that Wolverine was willing to kill if need be, but the Hellfire Club took that to a bigger level - due to Byrne's involvement with Wolverine, Wolverine soon became one of the most popular characters in all of comics - this story has one of the most famous single panels in comic history.

And, of course, the Dark Phoenix Saga happened, which was amazing, even though Claremont and Byrne did not have the ending they initially planned on having...

However, Jean Grey's death made the story even more famous than it probably would have been. It was at this point that the book really started to take a sales upswing (hitting its acme under Paul Smith's tenure on the book).

How do you follow up an amazing storyline like the Dark Phoenix Saga?

Well, how about ANOTHER famous storyline, Days of Future Past, with an alternate future.

Byrne finished his run with yet ANOTHER classic story, the famous Christmas issue starring Kitty Pryde.

Byrne left to take over Fantastic Four, while Claremont stayed on for another decade or so.

But they had already made their mark on the comics world.

Here's Mister Midnight (from zonetrooper.com) with his explanation for why he picked Claremont and Byrne #1 on his list...

12. The conclusion of the loose ends left behind by the cancellation of the Ka-Zar series....which turned out to be one of the best Ka-Zar stories ever !!!!
11. Alpha Flight.....yes at one time they were cool.
10. Guest appearances by the Beast and Angel......loved the Beast in the Magneto story and Angel towards the end of Claremont/Byrne's run.
9. The Hellfire Club......yeah...at one time they were cool too.
8. Mutant X/Proteus.
7. Killer characterization......Kitty and Peter.....Jean and Scott.....Logan and Kurt.....(Oh God does that make Logan and Kurt sound gay?)
6. Professor X...flashback..."P.S.I War".
5. Days of Future Past
4. Dark Phoenix Saga............awesome even to this day.....too bad they ruined one of the best endings ever by bringing Jean back only to kill her again.
3. Terry Austin......without a doubt the best inker EVER.
2. John Byrne.......at the height of a comic career that will one day rival many of the greats......George Perez and Frank Miller being his only peers at that point in time. Terry inking his pencils always brought out the best of John's work....but Terry on any pencilwork period always brings the artwork to an entire new level.
1. Arcade............just kidding......of course Chris Claremont. This particular run will always be brought up in any similar type of top stories, runs, whatever you want to call it list. Although it's difficult to tell where Chris ended and John began on some of the storylines. Claremont and Byrne blurred together so well and have never been touched. (not just on X-Men...but on Iron Fist, Marvel Team-Up,Power Man, and even Star-Lord)The work that both of them have done without the other just never acheived the same greatness. The Lee and Kirby of their day...Lennon/McCartney, Plant/Page, Waters/Gilmour...Jay/Silent Bob...you get the picture.

Thanks, Mister Midnight!

1. Neil Gaiman's Sandman - 1318 points (42 first place votes)

The Sandman #1-75

Neil Gaiman's Sandman opened up fairly oddly, as the book was meant to tied into the DC Universe, which was a bit awkward at the beginning, but Gaiman's excellent writing made the book still work, enough so that DC began to let him have more freedom with his work, and then the book got amazing.

One of the first notable issues was Sandman #8, which introduced the star of the series, Morpheus (known as "Dream" of the Endless)'s sister, Death. Death became one of the most popular characters DC had. In fact, when DC had a poll for which characters should get their own mini-series, Death was the winner (or second, I forget - or was she second amongst the people who did not already have a mini-series planned? What was it?).

Essentially, having Morpheus be the king of dreams allowed Gaiman to tell whatever stories he wanted to, with a specific bent towards stories involving mythology and folklore. It was a fantasy lover's dream. Not only did he come up with clever story ideas, what was remarkable about Gaiman was that his stories also were extremely character-driven. Gaiman would introduce new characters constantly, and within an issue, you felt like you knew the character your whole life.

Gaiman also picked up some established DC characters, in a little metafictive bit, had the established characters exist in Dream's world. Like Cain and Abel and Lucien. Matthew the Raven came from Swamp Thing. Dream's brother Destiny was an established DC character.

Prominent NEW characters included the immortal Hob Gobling, Mervyn Pumpkinhead, the witch (and former girlfriend of Morpheus) Thessaly, the evil Corinthian, plus Gaiman's personal take on Lucifer, which was picked up by Mike Carey in his classic Lucifer run.

It's truly amazing how many amazing characters Gaiman had in this series. Wow.

One of the most notable issue was #19 "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which won the World Fantasy Award in 1991 for Best Short Fiction (being a bit lame, they decided to change the rules the next day to make comics ineligible - what the heck?!).

Sandman won a tremendous eighteen Eisner Awards, including three Eisners for Best Ongoing Series and four Eisners for Gaiman as Best Writer.

Dave McKean did the amazing covers for the series, but the interiors were by many different artists.

Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Kelley Jones, Jill Thompson, Marc Hempel, Michael Zulli and Charles Vess all did notable issues, but there were many more great artists on the series.

P. Craig Russell drew an impressive 50th issue of the series...

The story ended with a new Dream taking over, and the celebration of Morpheus. Superman and Batman even guest-starred to pay their tributes.

Gaiman has done work since then on Sandman, and they've also been quite good. He's a good writer, that Gaiman.

Okay, that's the list!

Thanks for reading! Special thanks to Rene for the stat-keeping he's done!

We'll see you all next time we do one of these things.

126 Comments

At May 2, 2008, dhole wrote:
Sandman is a worthy #1.

But I'm very proud of my X-men having such a strong showing, too.

Good, fun survey, ...
At May 2, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
I was almost ready to go to bed when I saw this had popped up. I'll just say that I ...
At May 2, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
You forgot the introduction of Dazzler. For shame, sir, for shame!
At May 2, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Yay! Sandman!
At May 2, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Dazzler wasn't a Byrne/Claremont creation, so it seemed wrong mentioning her.
At May 2, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
Yeah, I was just heading to bed too. My thoughts tomorrow.

Thanks again, Brian.
At May 2, 2008, dhole wrote:
Re: X-men

Can't resist pointing out that all Claremont's runs made this list with two notable exceptions:

1) Runs with Cockrum, who ...
At May 2, 2008, Bill Reed wrote:
Well, so long as Claremont and Byrne didn't win...

What? Me? Evil? Pshaw.
At May 2, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
Yeah, but Dazzler first appeared in these pages, so even though they didn't create her, they gave her LIFE!!!! ...
At May 2, 2008, sleeper wrote:
Brilliant. The #1 spot couldn't have gone to a more deserving candidate.

Thanks for doing this! It's ...
At May 2, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Not surprised. But still, glad to see X-men, with these creators, making it so high in the run.
At May 2, 2008, Anthony Coleman wrote:
Damnation!

I was so close with my prediction, but the right run won. I love the Claremont/ Byrne X-men, but ...
At May 2, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

The Jim Lee run was fairly disjointed, and he wasnâ€™t on the book all that long, so I wonder if ...
At May 2, 2008, Joe wrote:
I just want to say that I really enjoyed this list. I know there was some argument in a few ...
At May 2, 2008, Rhod wrote:
Every step of this countodwn had me more and more worried that Sandman would make the top spot, but I ...
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
I'm pretty satisfied too. #1 is one of the best comic books of all time. #2 is one of the ...
At May 2, 2008, dhole wrote:
I also guessed 4 out of 5 entries in the contest, but not in the right order (except for DD ...
At May 2, 2008, sleeper wrote:
I agree with Joe. I'm a huge nerd, but I don't have the time or money to read everything ...
At May 2, 2008, Annoyed Grunt wrote:
Thanks for putting the list together, Brian.

Personally, I'm most surprised that Sin City didn't make the list. ...
At May 2, 2008, Rhod wrote:
I should add my thanks to Brian for starting this off, and also cursing him, since I will end up ...
At May 2, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
Yes, MarkAndrew. The three-part Psylocke story was excellent, and the Captain America flashback was cool, and the issues in ...
At May 2, 2008, Matt K wrote:
I find it interesting that Starman had more 1st place votes than any book except Sandman (best I can tell). ...
At May 2, 2008, Da Fug wrote:
YAY! Thanks, Brian! You always come up with fun stuff to do on the blog.

I think ...
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
Before going to bed, a final tally. Comments later.

We have 102 runs (and 29877 pts)

- 38 runs are set in ...
At May 2, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Thanks for the list!

Byrne's X-Men was on my list until the very end, when I re-arranged things and it ended ...
At May 2, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Hey! I used to wince every time I read it, but only now, after the very last entry, do ...
At May 2, 2008, Eric wrote:
THanks so much for putting this list together. It's been fun.
Too bad about Young Justice and Birds of Prey, though.
At May 2, 2008, buttler wrote:
I do like that a Cockrum cover kicks off the Claremont/Byrne entry.
At May 2, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Burgas - OK. I don't think I've read any of the Pre X-men run.

Those... were not ...
At May 2, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
So are we all going to share our top tens now?

Just in case, let me. I've already said what most ...
At May 2, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
Hey, great call, buttler, that's really funny. Brian I take it back , you need to work harder.
At May 2, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
That's the first issue of Byrne's run, right?
At May 2, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
Oh crap I just dug it out to check and you're right.
Never mind.
Um, keep up the good work, ...
At May 2, 2008, buttler wrote:
Eh, it's hardly the first time we've had a different cover artist for something like this. It's just a ...
At May 2, 2008, Pyro wrote:
I just want to make sure everyone's aware of another great run that didn't make the list:

Ty Templeton, Dan Slott, ...
At May 2, 2008, jackdaw53 wrote:
The Chris Claremont/ John Byrne X-Men run I've simply never read. (Allergic to X-men, and not that keen on large ...
At May 2, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:
One small nitpick in the X-Men write-up, Issue #110 didn't feature Cockrum but instead was drawn by Tony DeZuniga. It ...
At May 3, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Not to nitpick myself, but that story featured a guy called Warhawk, I believe, who was installing bugs at the ...
At May 3, 2008, Fielding wrote:
Rene, I think you've undercounted DC. By my reckoning, we've got 40 Marvel runs and 36 DC runs.
At May 3, 2008, Kai wrote:
This has probably been my favourite feature ever on CSBG Brian - so thanks for putting it together.
Particularly grateful for ...
At May 3, 2008, Said wrote:
hey! why rob liefeld didnt make it? he deserved #1!!!!!

(just kiddin. dont kill me)
At May 3, 2008, Stefan wrote:
I said this in another thread, but I just love this...

Claremont's X-Men is what brought e to comics in the ...
At May 3, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
Neither of these made my list, but I can't say I'm surprised or disapointed at where they placed. I like ...
At May 3, 2008, Bernard the Poet wrote:
I re-read my Claremont/Byrne X-Men not so long ago and I was surprised at how well they stood up. So ...
At May 3, 2008, Black Rabbit wrote:
When the war started, and there were pictures of Baghdad in rubble and reports of the museum being looted and ...
At May 3, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
"19) It was sexy. Okay, maybe this one was just me, but the whole seduction of Jean Grey away from ...
At May 3, 2008, wombat wrote:
Haha. The whiny, kitsch flavored poetry Goth fest that is known as Sandman!

It's official this blog's readers don't got no ...
At May 3, 2008, BDaly wrote:
"Haha. The whiny, kitsch flavored poetry Goth fest that is known as Sandman!

Itâ€™s official this blogâ€™s readers donâ€™t got no ...
At May 3, 2008, BDaly wrote:
I'd like to add that I certainly don't think awards (or polls for that matter) are the last word in ...
At May 3, 2008, BDaly wrote:
Sorry there are a couple of typos above.

I'm also surprised that there's no Buffy. I've never read it myself, but ...
At May 3, 2008, Stefan wrote:
Only one of my Top 10* didn't make the list, and that was THE DESERT PEACH by Donna Barr, a ...
At May 3, 2008, onion3000 wrote:
"On the other hand, there is bound to be some overlap with this poll if we do storylines rather than ...
At May 3, 2008, Stefan wrote:
I'd love a storylines poll! I think it's the most evenhanded way to do it. Series, as we ...
At May 3, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
So basically, you want to engineer a list that fits more to your tastes? I don't writers like Morrison or ...
At May 3, 2008, Stefan wrote:
Ummm, yeah, I want to engineer a list that fits more to my tastes, so that ALL writers are included, ...
At May 3, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Starting a sentence with Ummm is kinda rude. I was just pointing out that many writers were represented by this ...
At May 3, 2008, Sallyp wrote:
Hey Stefan, I thought I was the only other person who had ever heard of Deser Peach and Stinz, both ...
At May 3, 2008, jj wrote:
the only thing on my list that disappointed by not making the top 100 was the Roy Thomas/ Barry Windsor-Smith ...
At May 3, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

Haha. The whiny, kitsch flavored poetry Goth fest that is known as Sandman!

Itâ€™s official this blogâ€™s readers donâ€™t got no ...
At May 3, 2008, Stefan wrote:
Sally- Cool! Yeah, you're the only person I've "met" too actually. I got into them because I used ...
At May 3, 2008, ks wrote:
One big reoccuring theme in the majority of books that are in the top 100 (not these two) is that ...
At May 3, 2008, Rene wrote:
Fielding,

That tally for DC only included comic books with some tie to the DC Universe. They were for the DC ...
At May 3, 2008, Vic wrote:
"I suppose the people who give out the Eisners also have no taste, as well as the people ho give ...
At May 3, 2008, Billy F wrote:
Both of these made my list! In fact, Sandman was my number one.

I think the only ...
At May 3, 2008, Dasbender wrote:
Brian, any chance of listing out a quick dump of the complete top 300 (or even just 150)? I've ...
At May 3, 2008, Cully wrote:
Thank you for this poll. It's inspired me to re-read some of the great runs I have in my ...
At May 3, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:
Hrm. I thought the order would've been reversed. I like both of these, though I don't vote for either ...
At May 3, 2008, BDaly wrote:
Vic: I did qualify my statement in the following comment.

The Eisners do sometimes go to comics/crestors I think are undeserving, ...
At May 3, 2008, jccalhoun wrote:
"this story has one of the most famous single panels in comic history."

Ummm, a little help? For those of ...
At May 3, 2008, Henry wrote:
jccalhoun - I'm not entirely sure, but I believe he means this panel: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/ScarComics/ComicsFragments/Uncanny-X-Men-132-pic1-Wolverine.jpg
At May 3, 2008, dhole wrote:
Just threw this up on another thread, but I'll put it here too!

One breakdown of the list that I havenâ€™t ...
At May 3, 2008, Mason King wrote:
JC â€” I assume Brian is talking about the reveal at the very end of #132. We believe that Logan ...
At May 3, 2008, Jono11 wrote:
My Top Ten...

1) Michael A. Stackpole on X-Wing Rogue Squadron - I owe that comic book series for getting me ...
At May 3, 2008, Jono11 wrote:
Mason, the words are something to the effect of "Now it's my turn."
At May 3, 2008, dhole wrote:
Favorite Sandman arc was Season of Mists. Gaiman's depiction of Lucifer was so charismatic and original. Mike Carey did fantastic ...
At May 3, 2008, Brendan H. wrote:
My only notable exception to the 100: where was Priest & Bright's "Quantum & Woody"?
At May 3, 2008, Warren Newsom wrote:
I think my list got lost in that big losing of lists at the beginning of the listing of lists.

But ...
At May 3, 2008, Dean wrote:
The Claremont-Byrne run on "Uncanny X-Men" is a close second to Grant Morrison's "New X-Men" in the running for best ...
At May 3, 2008, buttler wrote:
The Claremont/Byrne X-Men was pretty much my favorite thing when I was 12, and it was a long way into ...
At May 3, 2008, Dean wrote:
Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" kept me reading comics.

By the early '90s, I was pretty burnt out on super-heroes. I hated ...
At May 3, 2008, Supermancho wrote:
I don't know why I haven't read Gaiman's Sandman. Well...I'll get up and go buy it
At May 3, 2008, stephen cade wrote:
I get that people really like the top 5, but none of them made my top 10--and frankly--none of them ...
At May 3, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
For me, Sandman was the bridge between super-hero comics and other types of comics. "Season of the Mist" and "Brief ...
At May 3, 2008, Stefan wrote:
Brief Lives and World's End were my favorite Sandman arcs, by far.

Brief Lives' "title scene," if you will, with ...
At May 3, 2008, Rene wrote:
Dean, it's interesting that what you described of your relationship to the X-Men and Sandman and also of how the ...
At May 3, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Here's the list I submitted, with hindsight comments in square brackets.

1. Steve Gerber, Defenders (before this, I didn't even have ...
At May 3, 2008, Josh wrote:
Excellent choices for #1 & #2, I approve thoroughly.

I love Sandman. It covers so much territory and so many ...
At May 3, 2008, David wrote:
"I suppose the people who give out the Eisners also have no taste, as well as the people ho give ...
At May 3, 2008, Random Stranger wrote:
"I suppose the people who give out the Eisners also have no taste, as well as the people ho give ...
At May 3, 2008, Didn'tsendalist wrote:
Yay for Sandman! It sure deserves the top spot. I read it last year, thinking it couldn't be as good ...
At May 3, 2008, Bill K wrote:
"Gerard Jones/Cully Hamner on Green Lantern Mosaic - Best Green Lantern book ever published, and nobody read it. Go out ...
At May 3, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Actually, 2 of my favorite runs never sold well, and neither were ever fully completed as published. They were Hepcats ...
At May 4, 2008, wombat wrote:
Eisner`? is that the same award that nominated a brad meltzer justice league issue this year?
Hahahhaha.
At May 4, 2008, BDaly wrote:
Random Stranger: My bad. It was nominated but didn't actually win.

David: What exactly do you mean? It seems you're implying ...
At May 4, 2008, Colin wrote:
Bit late in the day but can I just add my thanks to Brian for all this effort in putting ...
At May 4, 2008, Fielding wrote:
Yeah, Rene, I was counting according to publisher and it's definitely 36 to DC. I didn't assign Powers to Marvel, ...
At May 4, 2008, Rene wrote:
Particularly with some of the older non-Marvel/DC stuff, like Nexus and Concrete, I think the stuff was published by several ...
At May 4, 2008, Mason King wrote:
Colin: I totally agree. This list has really sucked me into the CBR site. I'm very impressed with the discourse ...
At May 4, 2008, krypto wrote:
Sandman??? Really?????
It's good, to be sure but the "Greatest Run"????
At May 4, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
I have to say, I think Sandman deserves the top spot. It, like the #2 and #3 entries, fundamentally changed ...
At May 4, 2008, Corey wrote:
Fun list!

I should've voted but just couldn't decide on my ten favorite.

The only thing I think is missing is ...
At May 4, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! (Or do I mean "dreading"?) This post started out as a ...
At May 4, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
The Nicieza/Robertson run of New Warriors was also really good, Corey. I like it just as much. Nicieza may not ...
At May 4, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Yay! Love for Conway, Colan and Newton's Batman/Detective run! I LOVE this run and it does not get ...
At May 4, 2008, Corey wrote:
wwk5d, yes I agree about the Nicieza/Robertson run. That's probably a close runner-up for me, sometimes neck and neck, depending ...
At May 5, 2008, Paeng wrote:
I would love to see Claremont's run re-scripted just to remove the extraneous dialogue and narration. that's the only ...
At May 5, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:
"...when I first started buying those (and other monthly titles) regularly in 1982."

Wow. You've been reading comics for over a ...
At May 5, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Alan Coil -- Yes, I have. My collection fills up something over 50 long boxes, the last time I counted. ...
At May 5, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Matt Bird -- yeah, I find I still like Don Newton's depictions of of Batman better than I like those ...
At May 5, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
I made a couple of small mistakes in the post that included my ballot with extra commentary. I said the ...
At May 5, 2008, Hondo wrote:
Jono11 - Blind Justice was by the great Denys Cowan, not the equally great Jim Aparo.

I said X-Men would be ...
At May 5, 2008, durkadurka wrote:
Really glad to see Gaiman got #1 for Sandman. In my opinion he deserves it. Just one thing ...
At May 5, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:
Time for a little pedantry:
The Sandman run should definitely also include Sandman Special #1 (Orpheus), as well as the 8 ...
At May 5, 2008, Redmond wrote:
"Sandman is the highest echelon a monthly comic book can ever achieve."

Sandman wasn't monthly at all. From Kindly Ones and ...
At May 5, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
That's true. The current inability any company has now to hold a schedule also seems to be a descendant of ...
At May 5, 2008, Redmond wrote:
"Iâ€™m sorry that cute lâ€™il goth girl didnâ€™t want to go to the prom with you in ninth grade."

More like ...
At May 5, 2008, monel wrote:
Sandman was amazing because it was written at such a higher level of great art than most comics. It ...
At May 6, 2008, Stefan wrote:
Claremont and Lee didn't write the Bishop intro actually; they began the adjectiveless X-Men title while Uncanny (Bishop's first appearance) ...
At May 6, 2008, Corey wrote:
According to Comics.org, Bishop's first appearances were plotted by Whilce Portacio and scripted by John Byrne. Jim Lee was co-plotting ...
At May 6, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Claremomt never wrote any of the early Bishop stuff, since he did leave after the first 3 issues of adjectiveless ...
At June 6, 2008, RichYan33 wrote:
The X Men Run really should be the Claremont Cockrum Byrne issues but that's nit picky. Although the book did ...
At June 6, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Here's the key, Rich - this run is being separated (and Claremont's run split up, period) because Byrne co-wrote the ...
At August 2, 2008, Orion101 wrote:
Wow, nice list. DC definitely came out on top with all it's imprints. Wildstorm, ABC, and Vertigo.
At September 10, 2008, Reveen wrote:
Can't really argue with much of this list it makes for fascinating reading. Just from a UK perspective the following ...
At April 29, 2009, Iain’s blog » Blog Archive » The Sandman Now wrote:
[...] a lot of point in me throwing in my two bob worth on Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. It regularly ...
At May 23, 2009, The Sandman Now « Thick Ear Comics Talk wrote:
[...] not a lot of point in me throwing in my two bob worth on Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. It ...

Top 100 Comic Book Runs Notes

Brian Cronin — Sat, 03 May 2008 02:32:42 +0000

Before delivering the top two runs, I figure I'd address some questions/concerns I have seen here and there.

1. Yes, this is a "favorites" list. I think I saw someone say, "They should just make this a 'favorites' list," but that's what this is.

2. On the note of "favorites," that is why I'm allowing current runs, because a big part of this list is to be as inclusionary as possible, I want to see what the readers of this blog think, not "readers of this blog who have read enough older works to qualify" or whatever. This is just to see what folks who read this blog are into, which is why current runs are allowed (as quite a number of voters ONLY listed recent runs - okay, not quite a number, but more than, like, twenty!).

3. Top Ten only ended up as 12 issues, but that was not the intent when it was written (same with Nextwave). League of Extraordinary Gentlemen counts because it is, you know, STILL GOING, hence it counting as an ONGOING title (Moore plans on publishing new League stories indefinitely). It's just like Hellboy.

4. Claremont's X-Men and Lee's Spider-Man are unique cases because the most prominent artists on the runs actually WROTE the comics with them. You can't call it "Lee's Spider-Man" when Ditko was coming up with the plots. Similarly, while most of Claremont's run was only Claremont, the most famous run was co-written by John Byrne. So you have to count that as separate, because it wasn't Claremont writing, it was Claremont AND Byrne. This is different from other long runs of one writer that had different "eras," like, say, Peter David's Hulk or Mark Gruenwald's Captain America, which were all written by David and Gruenwald, respectively. And once you've split up the Byrne stuff, you might as well split up the other artists, too, right? Especially since Jim Lee also co-plotted the book (I forget, did Cockrum co-plot as well?).

5. 682 people is a LOT of people for a survey, especially for something as niche-y as "comic book fans."

Hmmm...I think that's it.

Okay, on to the top two!

22 Comments

At May 2, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
When I was voting, I decided to ignore the many questions of what qualified and go with "comics that made ...
At May 2, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:
Hurry! It's almost Saturday here in the Eastern time zone.
At May 2, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:
And...
your clock is off by a few hours. It says 7:38 on my previous post, but it is 10:40 now. ...
At May 2, 2008, Josh Alexander wrote:
Im sure Brian is burnt out on the Top 100, but as soon as he gears up for another, ...
At May 2, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
I must admit I probably counted out a few series I should/could have counted in, but the most important thing ...
At May 2, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
Josh, you are so right. Before Brian did the Top 100 Characters list, I had never been so eager to ...
At May 2, 2008, Rhod wrote:
Thanks for this Brian , it seems like a few respondents missed the initial brief.

What I really need to know ...
At May 2, 2008, Ariel S. wrote:
I think that these rankings are useful for many different things: to see what other people like, to know other ...
At May 2, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
You've been reading my drafts, haven't you? Damn you, Cronin!
At May 2, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
I think it would be fascinating to do the Top 100 Characters again, just to see how much the list ...
At May 2, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Youâ€™ve been reading my drafts, havenâ€™t you? Damn you, Cronin! I plead the fifth. ;)

Seriously, though, all these questions/concerned have ...
At May 2, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Andâ€¦
your clock is off by a few hours. It says 7:38 on my previous post, but it is 10:40 now. ...
At May 2, 2008, Michael wrote:
Cockrum did a degree of co-plotting, but I don't think as much as Byrne. His biggest contribution was bringing in ...
At May 2, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Didn't Cockrum create Nightcrawler, too? I swear that was an Urban Legend about that.
At May 3, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
I had John Wagner's Judge Dredd in my top 10. I think it was # 8 or 9. I love ...
At May 3, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
Rhod...

I assumed it was US comics only, I must admit. While 2000AD has many of the best stories in ...
At May 3, 2008, Biggles wrote:
I had some Brit choices in my top ten although not Wagner's Dredd. But it really should have been. Hopefully ...
At May 3, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Yeah, you made it pretty clear at the beginning that it was "favourite runs" and it 's kind of funny ...
At May 3, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
A list of favourites on a site dedicated primarily to American superhero comics was never going to be filled with ...
At May 3, 2008, Shawn Hill wrote:
Thanks for the clarification, Brian. All very reasonable points. Do some people really wish there was some objective qualitative list ...
At May 4, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Rhod said:
Thanks for this Brian , it seems like a few respondents missed the initial brief.

No kidding! It seemed I'd ...
At May 5, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
MarkAndrew, he did create Nightcrawler, who was originally as a character for a LSH spin-off. Storm was also a creation ...

Top 100 Comic Book Runs #3

Brian Cronin — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:17:38 +0000

We're in the top three now!

The final two runs tomorrow!

Enjoy!

3. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four - 1030 points (37 first place votes)

Fantastic Four #1-102, Fantastic Four Annual #1-6

To put the over 100-issue run on Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby into perspective, take into consideration that its now about forty years after they FINISHED on the book, and writers are still working off the stories they did in those issues, that is how deep and realized the universe was that they created in those 100-plus issues.

Their run was a hit from the get go, so much so that by the fourth issue (in the second issue, they introduced the Skrulls, who are kinda important now), they were already using it to bring back Golden Age characters, like Namor...

To go from the return of a classic character to the introduction of an even MORE classic character is no small feat, but that's what Lee and Kirby did with the introduction of Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four #5.

Doctor Doom is one of, heck, he IS the greatest supervillain in comic history, and he made the rest of Kirby and Lee's run a little easier, as they knew they could always go back to Doom if they needed a cool story.

The best part about their run, though, was that (until the later stages) they DIDN'T go back to the well - they just kept creating and innovating, like with the Inhumans...

Galactus...

and the Silver Surfer.

In one of the great changeups in comic history, they went from the epic Inhumans story DIRECTLY into the epic Galactus story and then WHAMMO - they hit you with the inspired one-off humanity-inspired piece, This Man, This Monster...

Who else could go from epic to touching small scale stories like that?

All with Stan Lee's impressive dialogue (boy, he sure was a good dialoguer, just like on Spider-Man, he made all the character's personalities shine and connect with the readers in a cool manner - except Sue, Stan wasn't great with Sue, he could definitely have done a lot better when it came to writing Sue) and Kirby's absolutely brilliant design work and bombastic storytelling.

This was a rollercoaster ride of epic proportions, and it's too bad it ended when it did...

with a bit of a whimper rather than a bang.

Still, the run as a whole was a masterpiece of superhero comic fiction.

157 Comments

At May 1, 2008, Josh Alexander wrote:
I convinced myself this was going to be #1, but now I'm going with Claremont/Byrne's X-Men. Are you going ...
At May 1, 2008, Chris Jones wrote:
"Stan Lee was great with dialogue"? Is that some kind of joke?
At May 1, 2008, Anthony Coleman wrote:
I have a feeling that my prediction of Claremont and Byrne's X-MEN is going to win. It will be interesting ...
At May 1, 2008, Grant wrote:
Compared to other super hero comic writers at the time his stuff holds up pretty well. Compare it to an ...
At May 1, 2008, Chuck D wrote:
Stan Lee was much better with dialog than many give him credit for. Just compare what he was doing ...
At May 1, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Stan Lee was much better with dialog than many give him credit for. Just compare what he was doing on ...
At May 1, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
My number five and the last of mine to make the list, assuming that Mantlo's Hulk isn't number one or ...
At May 1, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Oh, and it was actually the second issue that introduced the Skrulls. The third issue introduced the original Miracle ...
At May 1, 2008, Stefan wrote:
Wow, so X-Men and Sandman are the top two. I'll be equally happy with whishever one wins.

The ...
At May 1, 2008, Maurice F wrote:
Shoulda been #1.
At May 1, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:
Lee was better than the others working at the time, and FF was his greatest work (and the only '60s ...
At May 1, 2008, jackdaw53 wrote:
So even Ben Grimm, the blue eyed hero of my distant youth, can't take down the Lord of the Night ...
At May 1, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
Even the villains had personalities of their own. Read the early Frightful Four dialogue and the distinctive tones and vocab ...
At May 1, 2008, Jono11 wrote:
Just because Stan Lee was better with dialogue than his colleagues, it doesn't mean he was GOOD. He was ...
At May 1, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Just because Stan Lee was better with dialogue than his colleagues, it doesnâ€™t mean he was GOOD Oh, totally agreed. ...
At May 1, 2008, Evan Waters wrote:
Comics haven't gotten better, just different. The whole idea that comic book characters should speak "realistically", or at least like ...
At May 1, 2008, Dean wrote:
Great run, but it was not the instant hit that you describe. In its second year, it was not ...
At May 1, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Nope, comics have gotten worse. But don't worry, they still reprint the old stuff. The modern IS the ...
At May 1, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Relative terms, Dean.

As you note, Marvel only had a few titles in the Top 50. so Fantastic Four was an ...
At May 1, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
Sue, Sue, Sue.

Brian, I'm getting the sense you maybe had a big sister.
At May 1, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
Or the scripting for Sue was just really bad, which it was. I'm a fan of Stan Lee, but even ...
At May 2, 2008, BIll K wrote:
There's a story of someone complaining that they finally read "Hamlet", and didn't understand what all the fuss is about. ...
At May 2, 2008, Sam wrote:
Stan deserves the title of the best comic book dialogue-r ever for just being ABLE to put punchy, readable dialogue ...
At May 2, 2008, Colin wrote:
Well since the Lee Ditko Spidey didn't win I was sure this would. Have to be honest quite glad it ...
At May 2, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Actually, most people back then didn't write women in general all that well. Look at X-men, Jean was the weakest ...
At May 2, 2008, Dean wrote:
(By the by, for 1964â€™s list, Miller notes that he didnâ€™t have the numbers for FF that year, as he ...
At May 2, 2008, Neil64 wrote:
It's baffling how anyone could have the gall to question Lee's ability to dialogue with the best of them. When ...
At May 2, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Stan deserves the title of the best comic book dialogue-r ever for just being ABLE to put punchy, readable dialogue ...
At May 2, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Well, he lists a lot of Marvel titles, so I figured it was a safe assumption. Also, in â€˜65 he ...
At May 2, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Actually, most people back then didnâ€™t write women in general all that well. Look at X-men, Jean was the weakest ...
At May 2, 2008, John wrote:
Stan Lee's dialogue in Fantastic Four was incredible and really well done especially when you compare it to .... Stan ...
At May 2, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
You want the truth? If you had asked me at the very beginning of all this, I would have said ...
At May 2, 2008, onion3000 wrote:
Published figures for FF:

"Also significant about 1966 is that Marvel finally ran its first figures for Fantastic Four and Amazing ...
At May 2, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Lorendiac, I think Alan Moore brought this up briefly in the FF pastiche he did for 1963 with...what was her ...
At May 2, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
wwk5d -- Suddenly I realize it's been a heck of a long time since I actually sat down and reread ...
At May 2, 2008, Matt D wrote:
Only 2 more first place votes than Starman.
At May 2, 2008, jackdaw53 wrote:
Guys. Has anybody started a "I can't believe this didn't make the top 100" thread yet?? If so, point me ...
At May 2, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Guys. Has anybody started a â€œI canâ€™t believe this didnâ€™t make the top 100â€³ thread yet?? If so, point me ...
At May 2, 2008, John Seavey wrote:
It really is a joke to call Stan Lee a good dialoguer. He's a FANTASTIC dialoguer. Yes, his scripting is ...
At May 2, 2008, DKing wrote:
Actually I think Stan was far better at coming up with characters (Spidey, X-Men, Fantastic Four) and plots than actually ...
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
Stan Lee pratically created moral complexity in superhero comics. The earlier Ben Grimm, that would as sooner punch a teammate ...
At May 2, 2008, ADD wrote:
So will American Splendor be #1 or #2? I'd put Eightball at #1 and American Splendor at #2, but you ...
At May 2, 2008, Mason King wrote:
So much love for Stan Lee. That's awesome. Evan really nailed it: Back when big stories were compressed into a ...
At May 2, 2008, Goobereek wrote:
FF #51 always blows my mind. You would think it would be a big letdown after the Inhumans/Silver Surfer/Galactus storyline, ...
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
With these last two runs (and Claremont/Byrne's X-Men to come) we'll finish it with the Marvel Universe with a comfortable ...
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
"So will American Splendor be #1 or #2? Iâ€™d put Eightball at #1 and American Splendor at #2, but you ...
At May 2, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
To be fair, I did wish in retrospect that I'd voted for Eightball.

Because that's a great book.
At May 2, 2008, dhole wrote:
Surprised this wasn't number 1 just for sheer accomplishment (100 solid issues that built the Marvel Universe and redefined superheroes) ...
At May 2, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
No Kanigher. No Kubert. No Haney. No Aparo.

~sigh~
At May 2, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
Also, I'm no Stan Lee fan, as I've mentioned in other threads, but FF is by far my favorite of ...
At May 2, 2008, David wrote:
Stan Lee and John Byrne brought ideas and plots to comic books that simply had never been seen before and, ...
At May 2, 2008, Teebore wrote:
Kind of surprised this didn't make #1; it certainly deserves it.

One of the things surprises me whenever I go ...
At May 2, 2008, Teebore wrote:
Oh, and I should add there is humor to be found beyond the hilarious-by-today's-standards sexism leveled at Sue :)
At May 2, 2008, Thenodrin wrote:
I wonder if the people who think that Stan Lee can't write dialogue are thinking of his AWFUL job on ...
At May 2, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Which Luthor, the whiny scientist who started on the road to villainy because Super-boy accidentally burned his hair off? Awesomest ...
At May 2, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Er, I meant the 1980s for the Joker...
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
Hey, David.

What is so special about pre-Crisis Lex Luthor, except the fact he was the arch-enemy of the greatest superhero ...
At May 2, 2008, John Jackson Miller wrote:
>>Great run, but it was not the instant hit that you describe. In its second year, it was not even ...
At May 2, 2008, Cully wrote:
I love this run of the F.F. It's my number 1. I've always had issues with Stan's sometimes ...
At May 2, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
When he's on - And, well, he often isn't - I think Stan's the best writer in comics ...
At May 2, 2008, Nick Poole wrote:
Personally I will be happy to Sandman at number 1. I was hoping Spidey (and the FF) would be fighting ...
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
"Stan could not write dialouge to save his life when it came to characters like the Avengers, Thor, Iron Man, ...
At May 2, 2008, joecab wrote:
Yeah the FF entry should have been number one. The stories were epic. Jack's art was at its peak. And ...
At May 2, 2008, Sean C. wrote:
Now it's down to the X-Men vs. Sandman; I like Sandman, but I'll have to cheer for my childhood heroes, ...
At May 2, 2008, Sean C. wrote:
Regarding villains, I'd say Magneto is the greatest supervillain (though because of Claremont, not Lee), though Doom is great too.
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
"God forbid that the stale old Cyclops-Wolverine-Phoenix love triangle (that recycled the Cyclops-Angel-Marvel Girl of the earlier X-men) should be ...
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
A myth "fed" or perpetrated would be better. Sorry, English isn't my first language.
At May 2, 2008, Nick Poole wrote:
That's true. I tend to think of Cockrum & Byrne as the same run. Even though Byrne could draw a ...
At May 2, 2008, Michael Scheu wrote:
This run would have been my choice for #1, if I'd met the deadline.
At May 2, 2008, Patrick Joseph wrote:
Thought I'd check back to see if I misread this earlier. Nope. Still number 3.
At May 2, 2008, Hondo wrote:
I'm glad to see this at # 3, though, I'll sound blasphemous when I say it wasn't on my Top ...
At May 2, 2008, Nick Poole wrote:
I prefer "ambitious" for Sandman, rather than "pretentious".

Comic Book writers should be bold, don't you think? All writers, in fact.
At May 2, 2008, Hondo wrote:
Perhaps that is a better appropriate term.

It's good that Neil shook things up and helped to advance the medium and ...
At May 2, 2008, Stefan wrote:
"If one looks past the superficialities of the 'currently' fashionable conventions (then and now) of both the creators and their ...
At May 2, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Hondo said:
Iâ€™m glad to see this at # 3, though, Iâ€™ll sound blasphemous when I say it wasnâ€™t on my ...
At May 2, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Stan Lee could define his characters, explain away mistakes in the art, and inject humor into or wring sentiment out ...
At May 2, 2008, jj wrote:
this should have been #1 - even though it wasn't my personal #1 (Excalibur 1-24 got my #1 vote) - ...
At May 2, 2008, Spiffy wrote:
Stan Lee was definitely EFFECTIVE at dialogue, if you compare him to the competition he had in those days. ...
At May 2, 2008, Hondo wrote:
Lorendiac,

I'm certainly not looking at being a martyr, but I'm not trying to slight the greatness that is this Lee ...
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
Hondo, I didn't vote for Stan and Jack either.

But they were truly a dream team. A lot more than just ...
At May 2, 2008, Didn'tsendalist wrote:
Geee, really? Fantastic Bore? Comic fans REALLY are a nostalgic bunch, ain't it? Personally, I can't stand anything written before ...
At May 2, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
oh my god. you guys are CRAZY. i can't believe you are all so myopically nostalgic that you ...
At May 2, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

Geee, really? Fantastic Bore? Comic fans REALLY are a nostalgic bunch, ainâ€™t it?

Well, no. Because I don't think ...
At May 2, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Scott robotdg - You're being stupid. Stop being stupid.
At May 2, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
mark andrew - you're are being rude. stop being rude.

and talk about stupid... you think that you have to ...
At May 2, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

and now they are getting quality mixed up with what they loved as a kidâ€¦

Oh, I get It!

If I ignore ...
At May 2, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
I dunno, Mark, you DO seem to be acting pretty rude. Like when you came into the thread and called ...
At May 2, 2008, Mason King wrote:
Brainstorm while I'm waiting for Iron Man to start: I agree that it'd be tough to run a conventional Top ...
At May 2, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

But I wouldnâ€™t say the dialogue issue is entirely about fashion. James Robinsonâ€™s characters talk like real people.

Really? The Shade ...
At May 2, 2008, BIll K wrote:
Brian: "I dunno, Mark, you DO seem to be acting pretty rude. Like when you came into the thread and ...
At May 2, 2008, Nick Poole wrote:
On the subject of dialogue: ALL dialogue is unrealistic. It's representative of speech, no more. Have a listen on the ...
At May 2, 2008, stealthwise wrote:
Gotta jump on the "Stan Lee didn't write good dialogue" bandwagon here. True, most writers back then didn't either, ...
At May 2, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
BillK, I think that's Brian's point... ;)
At May 2, 2008, BIll K wrote:
I know I tend to write too lengthily, so just a few scattershot short points this time.

Scott Robotdg: "to say ...
At May 2, 2008, BIll K wrote:
Lynxara: "BillK, I think thatâ€™s Brianâ€™s pointâ€¦ "

Whoops - now I see. How does one do a blushing smiley on ...
At May 2, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Stealthwise,

You went and did it.

The Big "O."

Now we'll be mired in semantics, people will quote the dictionary, someone will ...
At May 2, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Stefan said:
James Robinsonâ€™s characters talk like real people.

"O" the Humanatee! said:
Really? The Shade spoke like a real person? You must ...
At May 2, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
I don't think you have to have been alive when a run first appeared to truly appreciate it, but it ...
At May 2, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Yeah, that is a bummer. Kubert's my single favorite comics artist. (And I did vote for one of ...
At May 2, 2008, Dean wrote:
â€¦so they are not included in earlier rankings for that reason. Publishers would wait to run sales figures until a ...
At May 2, 2008, Hondo wrote:
Yeah, guys like Haney, Aparo, Kubert, Kanigher, etc. from DC's Silver Age all did some really great stuff too, but ...
At May 2, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
Say, how about a poll of Comics Greatest Adaptations/Licensed Titles? Kubert's Tarzan is sure to come out on top.
At May 2, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
brian cronin: i meant myopically nostalgic in a sweet way. don't be a cry baby.

mike andrew: my god, you ...
At May 2, 2008, Walid wrote:
Scott, why is it so hard to accept that some people prefer Lee? Do we really have to be such ...
At May 2, 2008, Walid wrote:
...don't always finish their sentences. And the way they...and the way they just...they just...it's like get on with it already!
At May 2, 2008, Walid wrote:
(Do people really speak like this?)
At May 2, 2008, Walid wrote:
Sorry for the multiple posts, but i just wanted to point out, you can really pick apart anyone's dialogue and ...
At May 2, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
walid: fair enough. but just to be clear my point was less that lee fans are philstines and ...
At May 2, 2008, Rene wrote:
Walid, I think I that Bendis IS the mainstream comic book writer that is the most realistic at dialogue. And ...
At May 2, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
To me Rene, it just doesn't ring true. I mean, it does to a certain point, I feel that he ...
At May 2, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Whoop, meant to say I'm Walid lol...I need more caffeine!
At May 2, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

mike andrew: my god, you are an idiot. i donâ€™t want to hurt your head with semantics but the argument ...
At May 2, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
scott I honestly am finding you a little obnoxious. OK, a "little wide-swinging" if you prefer.

Honestly, judging Lee's dialogue from ...
At May 2, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
That said, I still think that Stan Lee's single greatest gift to Marvel Comics were his letters pages and Bullpen ...
At May 2, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
fourthworlder: yeah, i prefer wide-swinging, let's use that one. it's so much more fun-sounding than obnoxious.

personal attacks aside, ...
At May 3, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
I do see your point Scott. And sorry for the personal attack. I would also prefer to call it wide-swinging ...
At May 3, 2008, BIll K wrote:
Scott robotdg: Need it even be said? Compare Bendis and Brubaker to Austen, Welles, etc and they are nowhere, also. ...
At May 3, 2008, BIll K wrote:
Of course (he added) Lee himself spearheaded the expansion of the superhero comic story genre in the 60s by ...
At May 3, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
fourthworlder/bill k: okay, good points, great points... fair points... and i think your point about comparing bendis/etc to welles/etc ...
At May 3, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
Still wondering which 60's scripters you prefer to Lee, though.
At May 3, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
You could have added:

And wwk5d is bored.

Sleep inducing.

And this would be good dialogue. But not good enough.

See an earlier post ...
At May 3, 2008, BIll K wrote:
Scott

Nice examples. Most of them gain immensely from the context they are in, in my opinion - i.e. they earn ...
At May 3, 2008, John Seavey wrote:
Look, I'm about the biggest booster of Stan Lee you're going to find on these boards. You want to know ...
At May 3, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
Scott, if you're going to back up your arguments with examples from prose and film, could you... please know what ...
At May 3, 2008, Rene wrote:
I have to confess that I usually avoid watching movies or reading novels produced before the late-70s, because I can't ...
At May 3, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Well said, Lynxara. I would go further to say that once you've learned to read older material as a ...
At May 3, 2008, BIll K wrote:
Matt - I very much agree

For everyone who struggles to enjoy older works in whatever medium: I've said it before, ...
At May 3, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
lynxara -- well you do point out that any casual discussion of art is going to swim in a sea ...
At May 3, 2008, BIll K wrote:
Scott - Since an assertion like "Stan Lee writes great dialog" makes you want to compare him to Shakespeare and ...
At May 3, 2008, Dean wrote:
Iâ€™m curious to read the Weisinger Superman stories everyone says are so great, but I didnâ€™t get around to them ...
At May 3, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
bill k--okay, so we have dragged this on for a while so let me sum up where i think we ...
At May 3, 2008, Bill K wrote:
Scott (not sure if our last posts crossed)

" 1) people go easy on stan's actual writing b/c they love the ...
At May 3, 2008, Evan Waters wrote:
I think the nostalgia thing is a bit of a straw man. I've never brought up nostalgia, I didn't even ...
At May 3, 2008, Hondo wrote:
Dialogue can't be separated from the entire work it's a vital part of. Comics, or comix as some called ...
At May 3, 2008, Dean wrote:
... I canâ€™t bring back the results of the 30 year anniversary edition of this poll, but my predictions ...
At May 3, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
This comparison of Stan Lee and Shakespeare reminds me of an interview I remember with Gene Simmons of Kiss in ...
At May 3, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
omg. that is the BEST story ever.
At May 3, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Remember that Stan Lee's dialogue, good or bad, was not the entirety of FF et al's success. Jack Kirby and ...
At May 3, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
Mike Andrew:

"It amuses me you can't spell my name."

Calling you "Mike" when your name is "Mark" is less about not ...
At May 3, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
Hey since you're still having "a comment war", let me ask for the THIRD TIME, SCOTT - - -

What ...
At May 3, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
Oh sorry 4thworlder... yeah, the truth is that i don't know much about the other writers of that period... i ...
At May 3, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
Funny, I peddle words for a living, and typing with capitals isn't so hard for me... :D

But I've traditionally ...
At May 3, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
lynxara:

"typing with capitals isn't so hard for..."

that is because you are awesome.

trust me, harping on grammar makes you look like ...
At May 3, 2008, hondo wrote:
scott robotdg,

You are being an annoying troll whether you mean to or not. Even if posters agree with your ...
At May 3, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
hondo:

honestly if you read your last message you will truly see that it is much more of an attack, far ...
At May 3, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Scott, your very first post was oh my god. you guys are CRAZY. i canâ€™t believe you are all so ...
At May 3, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Dean:

"Donâ€™t get me wrong, there are a lot of Gold and Silver Age stories that Iâ€™d be perfectly happy to ...
At May 3, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
That's kind of what bothered me with Ultimate. When the line launched, there seemed to be a sincere interest in ...
At May 4, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
Honestly, Scott, I can't help having a bit of a response to your dismissal of everything that pre-dated Swamp Thing ...
At May 4, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
fourthworlder:

you think i should do some history lesson reading on writers from the sixties? are you sure that is ...
At May 4, 2008, John Seavey wrote:
scott robotdg said:

"â€¦does anyone here honestly believe that leeâ€™s writing would hold up in any significant way? do you really ...
At May 4, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
My answer is "yes", as well.
At May 4, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
john seavey/matt bird:

okay, fair enough, you think the answer is yes. i can't dispute that you think that...

...but it ...
At May 4, 2008, Lynxara wrote:
I am pretty sure that schools that actually provide curricula specific to comics do actually teach Lee's writing. The overall ...
At May 4, 2008, scott robotdg wrote:
oh no, not really making an argument like that... was just thinking about seavey's comment that he wouldn't be surprised ...
At May 4, 2008, John Seavey wrote:
I would say that it's just taking time for comics to establish themselves as a respected medium, basically, just like ...
At May 5, 2008, David wrote:
Dialog is not character development. Stan's dialog was dreadful by any standard but - and this is a big ...

Top 100 Comic Book Runs #4

Brian Cronin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:29:28 +0000

Here is the fourth highest ranking comic book run, as voted on by about 700 Comics Should Be Good readers.

Enjoy!

4. Frank Miller and Klaus Janson on Daredevil - 988 points (12 first place votes)

Daredevil #158-161, 163-167 (Frank Miller as artist, with Klaus Janson inks), #168-176 (Miller as writer/artist, with Janson as inker), 177-184 (Miller as writer/co-artist with Klaus Janson), #185-190 (Miller as writer, with Janson as artist), #191 (Miller as writer/artist, no Janson as inker)

Frank Miller was already an up and coming artist when he took over the penciling duties on Daredevil, under writer Roger McKenzie, with the book's inker, Klaus Janson, staying on to give the book some continuity between departing artist, Gene Colan, and Miller.

Soon, the book began to get a buzz around it due to Miller and Janson's impressive artwork, which managed to give a totally different look to the book despite McKenzie's fairly standard plots (not that McKenzie was bad, just that his style did not necessarily match the style Miller and Janson were going for). The book soon became popular enough that Miller was promoted to the writer of the book, as well.

His first issue dramatically changed Daredevil, especially the introduction of Matt Murdock's college love, Elektra, who was now an assassin.

Another change in Miller's run was that Daredevil was now a lot more like a ninja than ever before, including introducing Stick, the man who mentored Murdock in the ways of being a ninja.

Isn't that cover cool?

Notable during this time was the fact that Miller and Janson were absolutely amazing on the artwork on the book. They were bringing in a Will Eisner/manga look (specifically Lone Wolf and Cub) that was quite striking.

The Kingpin became a major Daredevil villain during Miller's run (soon into Miller's run, by the way, the book went from bi-monthly to monthly, a sign that the book was becoming popular again).

Towards the end of his run, Miller had Bullseye (a character Miller used to great effect) kill off Elektra.

After a few more issues (Janson was totally drawing the book by this time), Miller left with one fairly depressing issue (with inks by Terry Austin).

Marvel has nicely collected Miller's entire run into three trades, and they smartly split the trades into Vol.1 (only Miller art) and Vols. 2 and 3 (Miller as writer).

Good stuff.

Tomorrow, #3!!

79 Comments

At April 30, 2008, Sean C. wrote:
Not surprised at this being in fourth place; extremely popular, but I couldn't see it beat Lee/Kirby FF or Claremont/Byrne ...
At April 30, 2008, T. wrote:
Wait, has Lee/Ditko Spider-Man appeared yet?
At April 30, 2008, Choirsoftheeye wrote:
It was #6.
At April 30, 2008, Mason King wrote:
I remember how much impact Miller's art had at the time. So cinematic, with so much motion. Suddenly, half of ...
At April 30, 2008, jcrews21 wrote:
a lot of older buildings in NYC actually have water towers, its kinda funny how FM took small aspect of ...
At April 30, 2008, Grico wrote:
Hmm, I remember having some reprint of at least part of this run. I think I will dig it out ...
At April 30, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:
Two things about the Miller run that I think are often overlooked are, well, overlooked here:

1) Roger McKenzie doesn't ...
At April 30, 2008, dhole wrote:
Yay for my #1 pick.

Just superhero-y enough to appease my pre-teen sensibilities, but the noir-ish elements set it apart in ...
At April 30, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
All right, fine, I was wrong. You all suck. :)

I still wouldn't have been surprised if this hadn't ...
At April 30, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
My number 4! You people finally got one in exactly the right place! Hmm, either Brian hasn't read ...
At April 30, 2008, dhole wrote:
I guess while I was typing, Omar was pointing out the humor angle in much greater detail than I. It ...
At April 30, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
So. there it is. All right.

I've never read an issue of this. I don't much like Miller or Daredevil. ...
At April 30, 2008, Mason King wrote:
Good call, Omar. To again reference the "Devils" issue, there's a hilarious meta sequence where Bullseye is hiding in a ...
At April 30, 2008, brak wrote:
Is it just me or is the cover to 189 just unrealistic. granted its a comic and not ...
At April 30, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:
I think the #189 cover is meant to have more of that "symbolic movie poster" kind of thing going on.
At April 30, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Well Greg, not every comic can be the current Moon Knight. :)
At April 30, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:
Hmm, either Brian hasnâ€™t read this run in a while, or he doesnâ€™t actually like it. His write-up is as ...
At April 30, 2008, entzauberung wrote:
"I still wouldnâ€™t have been surprised if this hadnâ€™t made the top 100. I have no problem with it ranking ...
At April 30, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
Well, I don't exactly like the Lee/Kirby FF, so there's that. But that is far more influential and more ...
At April 30, 2008, Rene wrote:
It's not about your likings or even quality, it is just about popularity, and Miller's DD is hugely popular, man.

And, ...
At April 30, 2008, Rene wrote:
Cementing Marvel's lead a bit more. This will increase further, since we have 2 more Marvel runs, and only 1 ...
At April 30, 2008, Harold wrote:
As far as the cover to #189 being unrealistic; sure it is unrealistic, but I think you're being overly literal. ...
At April 30, 2008, T. wrote:
And who can forget the rampant water towers?

Old Marvel comics in the 60s were already rampant with water towers. ...
At April 30, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Greg Burgas said:
I still wouldnâ€™t have been surprised if this hadnâ€™t made the top 100. I have no problem with ...
At April 30, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
I read these comics as a teen, and liked them a whole lot. I prefer Born Again and Man Without ...
At April 30, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
About future things for us to vote on . . . I suggested, several threads ago, that it might be ...
At April 30, 2008, The Dane wrote:
Sooo glad this wasn't higher. I have tried so many times to get into Miller-era Daredevil but I'm just not ...
At April 30, 2008, Rene wrote:
To me, it was pretty simple, choosing my picks.

First, I asked myself which runs gave me the most pleasure when ...
At April 30, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Well said, Rene. That pretty much sums up my criteria as well.
At April 30, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
I don't think my criteria were any more detailed and defined then "I voted for crap I really like."
At April 30, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
My criteria were also pretty similar to Rene's. Damn, next to Brian, does anyone do more work for this site ...
At May 1, 2008, Olav The Hairy wrote:
Whoever it was that reminded me of the great Franklin "Guts" Nelson issue - thank you.

Especially when the same poster ...
At May 1, 2008, Colin wrote:
I love Daredevil and when I was first reading comics back in the 80s he was my favourite character. Ok ...
At May 1, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
I think Miller's Daredevil run is amazing, so any terseness in the review was simply a matter of me rushing ...
At May 1, 2008, Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone remember an Alan Moore Daredevil parody from about 1983? I think it was called Grit. Moore and I-think-it-was-Mike ...
At May 1, 2008, Gremlinclr wrote:
As for things to do next ( after Brian takes a breather, I'm sure) I have several suggestions. A lot ...
At May 1, 2008, sterg wrote:
2 quick things:
1. Issue #191 in this run is awesome! Although now I realize Marvel (at the time) never would ...
At May 1, 2008, BDaly wrote:
I also think top limited series should come next (though we all know what one and two will be).

This run ...
At May 1, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
I think the next one (by the by, how long is a goodly amount of time to wait until the ...
At May 1, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
BDaly said:
I also think top limited series should come next (though we all know what one and two will be).

Well, ...
At May 1, 2008, HellRazor wrote:
And let's not forget that Miller essentially rescued Daredevil from oblivion. DD hadn't been selling very well for years ...
At May 1, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Hellrazor -- years and years ago, I think I read an interview with Jim Starlin in which he talked about ...
At May 1, 2008, joshschr wrote:
T. said:

Nothing has ever been as good before or after Lee/Ditko Spider-Man.

That implies a long time of stagnation or ...
At May 1, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Ah! Glad to hear that your lack of effusiveness was just due to a lack of time, Brian.
At May 1, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Isn't it interesting that many of these runs were preceded by runs that weren't fondly remembered? They either saved the ...
At May 1, 2008, Teebore wrote:
"Daredevil is a blind horny ninja with a sense of humour. Thanks Frank."

Heh. Well said.

But don't forget the Catholic guilt. ...
At May 1, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Yes, we should make sure that everybody understands that DD doesn't suffer from hand-gigantism on the inside, only on the ...
At May 1, 2008, Mason King wrote:
Brian Cronin â€” hardest working man on the Internet. Take a breather for a couple months. We all should be ...
At May 1, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Actually, wasn't Frank's art much more proportional back then? Granted, about as proportional as people with perfect physique's always seem ...
At May 1, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Sure, we're saying the same thing, wwk5d: the gigantism is on the covers of the trades Brian is showing, not ...
At May 1, 2008, Thenodrin wrote:
Daredevil didn't make my Top 10, but I am relieved to know that I'm not the only one whose favourite ...
At May 1, 2008, Rene wrote:
Thanks, Jazzbo. :) But my participation is mostly in the Top 100 runs, I post very little in the rest ...
At May 1, 2008, Sam wrote:
I see the distinction between including Ultimate Marvel with regular Marvel and DC and Wildstorm, but totalling up the publishers ...
At May 1, 2008, joshschr wrote:
Ok, that's what I thought, although with the Planetary/JLA crossover and Authority/JLA crossovers there might be a weak argument to ...
At May 1, 2008, BDaly wrote:
I don't know if stroylines would be the best idea. It's a bit too broad, and something that's a top ...
At May 1, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
Like with single issues, there aren't enough of them to fill a good Top 100.

With the former, you'd be ...
At May 1, 2008, David wrote:
Never read (or cared for) Daredevil, but this run has been talked about for years and years so I'm not ...
At May 1, 2008, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:
There's probably something to the argument that the artistic freedom granted to creators coming onto low-selling (and presumably - though ...
At May 1, 2008, Teebore wrote:
"in those days stories tended to overlap with one another: One plot would be building as a subplot while a ...
At May 1, 2008, guillermo wrote:
hi brian!!! Loving your top 100 lists. i Â´ll say why wait for another one if we can make a ...
At May 1, 2008, The Dane wrote:
Or maybe Top 100 books (series/one-shots/limiteds) not published by the Big Two. It'd be cool to see what less-dependent stuff ...
At May 1, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:
I think "top 100 single issues" would be fun.
At May 1, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
DeMatteis on "The Defenders" had a really neat, formalized way of seeding his subplots. His book had the the ...
At May 1, 2008, BDaly wrote:
"Like with single issues, there arenâ€™t enough of them to fill a good Top 100.

With the former, youâ€™d be ...
At May 1, 2008, Dale G wrote:
The cover of 189 was what got me buying Daredevil.

I had just rediscovered comics ala New Teen Titans # 39 ...
At May 1, 2008, Rene wrote:
Sam, I've included Morrison's Animal Man in the DCU proper tally. It's very much a DCU run, not Vertigo. Ennis's ...
At May 1, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
If it came to a poll of movies and/or TV shows based on comic books, I would prefer to rule ...
At May 1, 2008, Rene wrote:
I know this is probably off-topic, but since it is related to one run that has made the Top 100 ...
At May 1, 2008, Anthony Coleman wrote:
"I also didnâ€™t know Sim was such a fan of Abrahamic religions. I donâ€™t mean to be a bigot myself, ...
At May 1, 2008, Hondo wrote:
I am in shock and awe to find so many posters not seeing the greatness of Miller's Daredevil run. ...
At May 1, 2008, Rene wrote:
Anthony, I said "activist" homophobes, not just homophobes. Yes, I see a whole lot of secular guys who are disgusted ...
At May 1, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
I think â€™storylineâ€™ is a bit broad, and if you try narrow it to criteria that suit you, youâ€™ll have ...
At May 2, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Hondo, you should def check out Nocenti's DD. While it did go off the rails somewhat, once DD left NYC ...
At May 2, 2008, Hondo wrote:
wwk5d,

Thanks for the input ! I've heard over the years that the Nocenti run had some really good stuff. ...
At May 2, 2008, monel wrote:
All of you who are detracting from this run fail to mention that this is what brought us....

THE TEENAGE MUTANT ...
At May 3, 2008, Spike wrote:
If I remember correctly, this run contains one of the most powerful scenes ever. The Avengers jet lands in Hell's ...
At May 5, 2008, Paeng wrote:
^ nope, that was in Born Again. with Mazuchelli.
At May 5, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Hondo, don't misunderstand me. The Nocenti run as a whole was great. The first part in NYC is just as ...
At May 8, 2008, mike mckenzie wrote:
[...] on Daredevil ?? 988 points 12 first place votes Daredevil 158-161, 163-167 Frank Miller as artisthttp://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/04/30/top-100-comic-book-runs-4/Community Sports: Community Scoreboard ...

Top 100 Comic Book Runs #5

Brian Cronin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:34:16 +0000

We're in the top five now!

Enjoy!

5. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing - 942 points (30 first place votes)

Saga of the Swamp Thing/Swamp Thing #20-58, 60-61, 63-64, Annual 2

Something that I think often gets lost when discussing Alan Moore's tremendous run on Swamp Thing is how the run started. Everyone remembers Moore's SECOND issue, "Anatomy Lesson," but Moore actually started on the book one issue earlier, tying up the loose plotlines of previous writer Marty Pasko. It's quite interesting to read the care and attention Moore puts into Pasko's storylines, while still managing to wrap it all up in one issue in a much different style than Pasko.

And then, of course, with the Pasko storylines finished, Moore dropped the big one - "Anatomy Lesson."

There have been a number of other significant retcons with titles before (Anyone remember Steve Gerber's strange retcons during his Captain America run?), but they all paled in comparison to what Alan Moore did with "Anatomy Lesson," which revealed that the entire origin of Swamp Thing was false - Alec Holland was not transformed into Swamp Thing during a chemical explosion - instead, the chemicals animated a group of vegetation into THINKING it was Alec Holland.

Later, Moore would also explain the various inconsistencies of Swamp Thing's origin by saying that there were many different Swamp Things who all had the same basic origin. Clever meta-fiction work by Moore.

Moore was ably assisted by the art team that was there when he joined the book, penciler Stephen R. Bissette and inker John Totleben - together, Bissette and Totleben delivered a stunningly rich art style, that was perfect for the moody stories Moore told.

Throughout his run, Moore would tell deep character-based stories, most notably the relationship between Swamp Thing and Abigal Arcane (being one of the first comic to show two characters having sex, although in a rather odd manner, seeing as how he is a plant). Also notable in Moore's work was when he would touch on the DC Universe, and give us drastically different takes on various famous superheroes. Moore's early work with the Justice League in an issue of Swamp Thing informs pretty much every modern writer of the Justice League.

During his run, Moore also introduced John Constantine, who would be Swamp Thing's guide on a number of stories (more accurately, he would con Swamp Thing into getting involved in stuff).

Towards the end of his run, Rick Veitch became the artist on the book, and while he had a much different style than Bissette and Totleben, it was still excellent artwork, and it was Veitch who would end up following Moore on the title as writer (and doing a fine job, himself).

Without Moore's Swamp Thing, we likely wouldn't have seen Vertigo and all the comics that spun out of Vertigo, or if we did see them, it would have taken a long time to get there, so its influence is massive.

#4 tomorrow!!

80 Comments

At April 29, 2008, Jazzy wrote:
Represent.....Gaiman is Number One
At April 29, 2008, Zach wrote:
I found Saga of the Swamp Thing #28, "The Burial," in a box of comics my uncle gave me. ...
At April 29, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
Has DC decided to include issue #20 in the new trades? The fact that they skip it is odd, ...
At April 29, 2008, Rene wrote:
Swamp Thing, wonderful comic! I've only read the entirety of it's run pretty recently, though.

Predictable that it would come in ...
At April 29, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
Why is everyone convinced Daredevil will make the Top 5? I doubt if it will, actually.
At April 29, 2008, John wrote:
Way to high, this isn't even Moore's best work.
At April 29, 2008, Dildo Baggins wrote:
How could you possibly think Miller's DD wouldn't be top 5 if it hasn't shown up yet?
At April 29, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:
I tend to agree with Mr. Burgas regarding Alan Moore SotST # 20.

It's very incomplete of DC not to include ...
At April 29, 2008, Jack Norris wrote:
Millers DD in the top 4?
...God, I hope not.
At April 29, 2008, Rene wrote:
New Totals.

Alan Moore jumped to the second position. He and Morrison are the creators with the most runs included ...
At April 29, 2008, Rene wrote:
Now you got me curious, Greg.

What comic do you think will appear in the Top 4, if not Miller's ...
At April 29, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
My number 8. The first one to finish higher on the actual list than it was on mine. ...
At April 29, 2008, Dave wrote:
When I was about 9, one of my relatives on my dad's side gave me a few of her son's ...
At April 29, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:
There's no way Miller's DD doesn't crack the top 100 at all.
At April 29, 2008, Rich wrote:
I don't have a problem with a final four of Claremont/ Byrne --- Gaiman --- Lee/Kirby --- and Miller, but ...
At April 29, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Right. Nobody mentions Maus because it's not even remotely a run, and disqualified by the rules.

RAW was in my ...
At April 29, 2008, Fielding wrote:
OK, Rene, I'm curious about your arithmetic - why are you counting only 28 DC runs if you've listed 25 ...
At April 29, 2008, Bill K wrote:
There were many, many brilliant things in this run, so I won't try to even summarise them. Instead, I'll mention ...
At April 29, 2008, Mason King wrote:
What do you think? Was the "Vegetable Sex" issue a game-changer for modern comics, or just a great individual issue?
At April 29, 2008, Randy wrote:
dont worry, Millers run on daredevil will be coming up. I know it.
At April 29, 2008, Mike wrote:
Mommmiiieee... neeeduuunnnt... knnnowww...
At April 29, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
My number two pick, after JLI. I'm not gonna try to claim that they're similar, because they obviously aren't. But ...
At April 29, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
I've read 2 or 3 TPB collections of Moore's "Swamp Thing" run, and while I agree it's very well-written, it ...
At April 29, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
Rene: I have no idea what else would be on here if not Daredevil. I just don't find ...
At April 29, 2008, Rene wrote:
Fielding, that counting is supposed to take into account everything that is linked to the DC Universe. The DC Universe ...
At April 29, 2008, Maurice F wrote:
I had Swamp Thing as my number four. A beautiful book that was clearly written by an adult who read ...
At April 29, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Moore's Swamp Thing still creeps me out. "Say uncle." Brrr. Steve Bissette (especially with Totleban's finishes) remains an incredibly underrated ...
At April 29, 2008, Chris Nowlin wrote:
Sorry Greg. I think Rene and everybody else is pretty right here. There's no question what the next ...
At April 29, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
Mike - I agree the space story isn't the best overall, but "My Blue Heaven" just might be my favorite ...
At April 29, 2008, JKline wrote:
I think it's very possible that we'll see two more X-men runs. Why do all the posters seem so ...
At April 29, 2008, avengers63 wrote:
I've been meaning to pick up the trades of this run for some time now. I do believe it's ...
At April 29, 2008, Tommy wrote:
Even though this was on my list, I didn't know until this thread started just how popular this run is. ...
At April 29, 2008, Rene wrote:
Greg, at this point, I just can't think of any other run left that is more popular than Miller's Daredevil. ...
At April 29, 2008, Thok wrote:
The only superhero run I could see as an alternative for the top 5 would be Jurgens' Superman, which would ...
At April 29, 2008, dhole wrote:
Swamp Thing was second on my list. Actually thought it would place higher than five since it's groundbreaking, influential and ...
At April 29, 2008, sterg wrote:
My stab at runs potentially more popular than Miller DD (first run): Claremont/Byrne X-Men, Claremont/Lee X-Men (both runs that I ...
At April 29, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:
What about Miller's Ronin?
or
Miller's The Dark Knight Returns?

I kinda thought they were better than Miller's DD.
At April 29, 2008, sterg wrote:
They're also limited series, not runs.
At April 29, 2008, jccalhoun wrote:
I have to say that Pasko's run is pretty unfairly ignored. I was reading it at the time (because ...
At April 29, 2008, Andrew Collins wrote:
Another one on my list. It looks like Scott McCloud's Zot and Gail Simone's Birds Of Prey will be the ...
At April 29, 2008, Eddie C wrote:
Gaiman's Sandman has to be in the Top Five and I can't imagine Miller's DD not being there. That would ...
At April 29, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
It is strange that this finished so high and Wein and Wrightson's run didn't place at all. It's pretty ...
At April 29, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Whoops, make that "last four" and include Claremont/Byrne, of course
At April 29, 2008, jazzbo wrote:
Hama's G.I. Joe in the top 4!! Woo-hoo!!!!

I'm sure it'll happen.
At April 29, 2008, sterg wrote:
Maybe Curt Swan on Superman. He only lasted 30 years on the character...
At April 29, 2008, entzauberung wrote:
"Rene: I have no idea what else would be on here if not Daredevil. I just donâ€™t find Millerâ€™s first ...
At April 29, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
I disagree that every writer who wrote the Justice League took their cues from that one issue of Swamp Thing- ...
At April 29, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
So "modern" meant "within the last dozen years, max"? :)

I remember -- more or less -- Moore's handling of the ...
At April 29, 2008, buttler wrote:
So the final four are Pfeifer/Woods' Amazons Attack, Starlin's Death of the New Gods, Hudlin's Black Panther, and . . ...
At April 29, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
I had this at #8, just ahead of LXG. My favorite issues were Pog and the awesome Gotham City-as-hostage stories, ...
At April 30, 2008, Graham Vingoe wrote:
this run had to be top 5 no question. I was a fan of Alan Moores work from the 1st ...
At April 30, 2008, Stefan wrote:
"So the final four are Pfeifer/Woodsâ€™ Amazons Attack, Starlinâ€™s Death of the New Gods, Hudlinâ€™s Black Panther, and . . ...
At April 30, 2008, Joe Gualtieri wrote:
"Give that almost everything before 1970 was ignored in the voting, maybe we should do a second vote of just ...
At April 30, 2008, Colin wrote:
Well a bit off topic but way up the comments there Andrew Collins (surely not the famous British broadcaster - ...
At April 30, 2008, Chris Nowlin wrote:
Boy do I love Zot!

Unfortunately I've only read the first 10 issues in trade. I have the issues starting ...
At April 30, 2008, Marc Caputo wrote:
For those looking for Zot! Check this out:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6482554.html

The first 10, the color ones WON'T be in that book - I ...
At April 30, 2008, will_butler wrote:
Moore's Swamp Thing is amazing. I've only read the first 24 issues that were reprinted in black and white ...
At April 30, 2008, Random Stranger wrote:
My favorite single issue of Moore's run is the one with the psuedo-Winchester house. Creepy in so many different ...
At April 30, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
I also started reading Moore's Swamp Thing with the b&w reprints. I went out and tracked down the remaining issues ...
At April 30, 2008, GremlinClr wrote:
With Swamp Thing my entire list is represented except Sandman, sure to be in the top 4. I almost voted ...
At April 30, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
entzauberung: Not the opinions about Miller's DD, but the opinions about this list in general seem to be pretty ...
At April 30, 2008, Blair wrote:
C'mon buttler, you know the run we're missing - Byrne's Doom Patrol! Much better than Morrison!
At April 30, 2008, TooDarkMark wrote:
Great choice. This series changed my life and I may have re-read many of these issues from this run at ...
At April 30, 2008, jackdaw53 wrote:
The popularity of this run... not a surprise... but it's the sort of thing makes me wonder just how canny ...
At April 30, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:
As well as modern JLA treatments, well, it's certainly obvious to me that the Avengers appearance in Daredevil:Born Again was ...
At April 30, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Was the run the first to regularly put creator credits on the cover? If so, that's a big deal ...
At April 30, 2008, dhole wrote:
My vote for favorite hypothetical upset in the top 4:

James Owsley's Conan the Barbarian!

I liked it.
At April 30, 2008, Rene wrote:
Nah, there are just no runs left that are more popular than Miller's DD.

And yeah, pretty interesting that a relatively ...
At April 30, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:
To be Technical about it, Moore did a character-redefining retcon over in Marvelman before he did it in Swamp Thing. ...
At April 30, 2008, buttler wrote:
Interesting also that the Swamp Thing character himself hasnâ€™t become popular.

It's true, he still has a heck of a time ...
At April 30, 2008, Graeme Burk wrote:
I've said this before but I actually managed to start with Moore's run on Swamp Thing from the very start: ...
At April 30, 2008, joecab wrote:
Of course this belongs in the top five. If you were there when it was first coming out you couldn't ...
At April 30, 2008, David wrote:
I recently bought and read #50. Even 25 years later and numerous Moore stories under my reading belt, that ...
At April 30, 2008, Black Rabbit wrote:
My top ten Moore Swamp Thing stories:

10. Mysteries in Space - "We Earthmen may not be much for the 6 ...
At April 30, 2008, Hondo wrote:
Fantastic that we see Moore's Swamp Thing at # 5. Much as I'm crazy nuts about it, I ranked ...
At April 30, 2008, John wrote:
If O'Neil/Adams Batman didn't make the top 100, it will be a horrible injustice.
At April 30, 2008, Hondo wrote:
I understand your sentiment about the O'Neil / Adams Batman not being listed, but, in all fairness, it's because those ...
At April 30, 2008, Jono11 wrote:
Rene: If the Marvel U. can get credit for the Ultimate books, shouldn't the DCU get credit for WildStorm books ...
At April 30, 2008, stealthwise wrote:
This run informs, if not downright influences, every subsequent series that includes major retcons and/or attempts to reconcile past continuity ...
At May 2, 2008, The Mutt wrote:
"Mommmiiieeeâ€¦ neeeduuunnntâ€¦ knnnowwwâ€¦"

To this day, it's still the creepiest, scariest, most horrifying thing I've ever read in a comic book. ...

Top 100 Comic Book Runs #6

Brian Cronin — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:45:32 +0000

Okay, let us see which run ended up at #6, thereby ruining about 75% of all top five guesses!

Enjoy!

6. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Spider-Man - 926 points (19 first place votes)

Amazing Fantasy #15, Amazing Spider-Man #1-38, plus two Annuals

Introduced in the last issue of the anthology, Amazing Fantasy (which had its name changed from Amazing Adult Fantasy to Amazing Fantasy in the last issue), Spider-Man quickly got his own title, also written and drawn by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Really, it is extremely hard to quantify the impact of this run by Lee and Ditko, particularly on Ditko's end, who soon became the driving force behind the comic strip during probably the greatest period of comics in Marvel's most famous superhero.

During this period, characters who were introduced include Spider-Man, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy, Betty Brant, Liz Allen plus pretty much every notable Spider-Man villain - Dr. Octopus, Electro, Sandman, Mysterio, The Vulture, and one of the most notable villains - the Green Goblin.

Ditko's style was one of great economy, so readers got a great deal of story in every issue of Spider-Man, and Ditko manages to make the book so realistic and so down-to-Earth, which was aided greatly by Stan Lee's clever dialogue, which made the stories a great deal more appealing to the populace than they would have been if Lee was not present.

Perhaps their greatest moment on the title happened towards the end of the run, with the classic storyline that was so influential that it must have been homaged about three gazillion times since then - where Spider-Man is trapped under heavy rubble and is forced to fight against all odds to escape with the cure for Aunt May (suffering one of her many illnesses).

Such a brilliantly told story.

Ditko's last issue was Amazing Spdier-Man #38...

Here is my pal Michael Pullmann on why this run was #1 on his list:

Stan Lee likes to tell the story that he took his pen name because he wanted to write the Great American Novel one day under his own name, and didn't want it associated with his work in comics. What Stan, or anyone else, could never foretell was that he would go on to write, with Steve Ditko, the Great American Graphic Novel, the tale of Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man, serialized in Amazing Fantasy 15 and Amazing Spider-Man 1-33 and Annual 1-2.

You didn't read that wrong, True Believers; the Spidey story as told in those issues comprise a classic mid-20th Century American Bildungsroman. Peter Parker as portrayed in these issues joins the ranks of Huckleberry Finn, Holden Caulfield, Valentine Michael Smith, and more, as he journeys from being the "Timid Teenager" to Marvel's greatest hero, and, more importantly, a man.

As Amazing Fantasy 15 begins, Peter is, well, a twerp. Obsessed with science, socially awkward, and more than a little solipsistic, he is not the stuff of heroes. Even after the spider bite, his abortive career as a novelty act, and even Uncle Ben's tragic fate, he's still a callow, untested youth. The very first panel of Amazing Spider-Man 1 shows Peter throwing a tantrum in his room, tossing his mask to the ground and wishing he'd never become Spider-Man. But he doesn't stay that way for very long; duty and the growing pile of unpaid bills on Aunt May's desk call, and so he ventures out unsteadily into the world to make his way the only way he can think of: as Spider-Man.

Danger and defeat taunt him at every corner: J. Jonah Jameson begins his eternal smear campaign that bans him from the variety shows and brands him a criminal; Vulture, Dr. Octopus, Sandman, and even Dr. Doom all hand him devastating defeats; he's consistently shown up by the brash and more popular Human Torch, whose cavalier attitude is mirrored in Peter's perpetual high school nemesis, Flash Thompson. And yet, he perseveres; in just the first ten issues, he courageously risks his own life to save others, builds the confidence to begin dating the lovely Betty Brant, and says "farewell" to those pesky coke-bottles when he challenges Flash to a boxing match in the school gym.

And so it continues, success and setback. The defeat of Doc Ock creates the death of Bennett Brant. The first meeting of the Spider-Man Fan Club ends in disaster as Peter runs out on a fight with the Green Goblin to rush to the ailing Aunt May's side. The friendship and rivalry with the Torch solidifies, even as Peter ducks and avoids the attentions of Liz Allen and constant blind dates with the mysterious Mary Jane Watson. Victory over the Sinister Six drives yet another wedge between Peter and Betty. A full scholarship to college lands Peter once again in unsure territory, as he meets and snubs Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy.

And all of it builds to an unforgettable climax, where, as Aunt May lies dying of radiation poisoning from a transfusion of Peter's own blood, Spider-Man battles the crime lord Master Planner, alias his old enemy Doc Ock, in an undersea laboratory, for the rare isotope that can save May's life. Trapped under a massive piece of machinery, with seawater rushing into the base in torrents, Peter faces the Hero's Choice as never before: Die, and end the struggle, or live, and stand tall as a man of honor and dignity. The moment when he lifts that machinery off of his back, straining muscle and sinew like never before, is the climax, not just of this issue, or this story, but of Peter's entire life to this point. Afterwards, we see that he is not the same person, as he tosses off Dr. Bromwell's concerns for his health with grim determination, gives Jonah an ultimatum that leaves the old publisher speechless, and silently accepts that he's lost Betty for good. Greater adventures and loves are yet to come, but the Story of Peter Parker, the Boy Who Called Himself A Man, has reached its conclusion. The tired but triumphant hero limps off into the night, now and forever worthy of the name that will pass into legend: Spider-Man.

It's an age-old story told from the point of view of the unlimited possibilities of the 1960s, given life by two great artists at the top of their game. It's the Marvel Way of Storytelling in microcosm, a comics epic as never seen before or since. It's an inspiration to generations of young readers as callow and afraid as Peter, about to step forth into the uncertain world of adulthood. It's a friggin' humongous $99 hardcover.

It's the Story of Spider-Man, and it's my favorite comic book run of all time.

Thanks, Michael!

Okay, tomorrow - the top five begins!!

90 Comments

At April 28, 2008, Supermancho wrote:
A rightful place inside the top ten.
At April 28, 2008, DKing wrote:
No one can ignore this as being a true meisterowrk. This was so pure, maybe because back then they wrote ...
At April 28, 2008, buttler wrote:
The suspense is killing me. Which Liefeld run will be number one?!
At April 28, 2008, stephen cade wrote:
Well--there goes the last of my top 10--I don't expect the 3 that haven't appeared to be in the top ...
At April 28, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Honestly, I can't believe this run isn't Top 5. I'll chalk it up to Ditko's art not being to everyone's ...
At April 28, 2008, David M wrote:
HOW IS THIS NOT #1?! !?!?!?!

I repeat: HOW IS THIS NOT #1?!?!

My heart aches.

Put this collection into any 13-year-old's hands ...
At April 28, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:
I've read the first two Spider-Man Essentials, and I just don't get it.

But, I just can't stand the way Stan ...
At April 28, 2008, Mason King wrote:
No. 6? Blasphemy! ... Can Lee/Kirby FF be next?

Yes, it's an antique ... so explain to me why Marvel keeps ...
At April 28, 2008, sononsj wrote:
I've been rereading these issue, and the plot and Ditko's layouts and expressions were truly years ahead of their time. ...
At April 28, 2008, John wrote:
SWAMP THING BEAT THIS!!!!!!!!

HOW DARE YOU PEOPLE

go back to you coffee shops playing on you MAC's and listening to depeche ...
At April 28, 2008, Sean C. wrote:
Yes, itâ€™s an antique â€¦ so explain to me why Marvel keeps rebooting to this original run?

The setting, not the ...
At April 28, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Okay, this was #1 on my list. That's the last of my picks which I've long expected to see make ...
At April 28, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:
I just hope Chris Nowlin's going to be okay.
At April 28, 2008, Tariq Leslie wrote:
"Notice how Peter Parker rushes through H.School in what 35 issues, then once the character became a phenom he was ...
At April 28, 2008, Chris Jones wrote:
I've never been a fan of Ditko's artwork on Spider Man. The dude couldn't draw a face consistently to save ...
At April 28, 2008, Da Fug wrote:
Drat. My contest entry = completely kablooey. I wonder if anyone is going to win it outright i.e. ...
At April 28, 2008, Michael wrote:
I, too, am rather surprised that this rated this low.
At April 28, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:
I figured this would be higher. What I didn't figure was that it would be so overplayed in the ...
At April 28, 2008, jcrews21 wrote:
I assume this means Claremont and Cockrum's X-Men run made the top 5? I wasn't sure it'd make it ...
At April 28, 2008, DanLarkin wrote:
I'm pretty sure it means that Claremont/Cockrum's X-Men didn't crack the top 100. Which does seem odd, though not ...
At April 28, 2008, Chris Nowlin wrote:
Rene argued this is where Spidey would end up, but it makes me sad. I was really, really hoping ...
At April 28, 2008, Hondo wrote:
I called this one, but will be the first to say I don't necessarily agree with where this ranked.

First of ...
At April 28, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
Well, I had this as my number 6 so for once I was spot on.
If we were selecting our ...
At April 28, 2008, stealthwise wrote:
Historically, a great superhero story. Artistically, above-average superhero stuff.
At April 28, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:
Da Fug: Well, I'm going to post my top ten, plus some annoying thoughts on the top 100. ...
At April 28, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Dalarsco said:
People remember things like the death of Bennet Brant and forget the things like the robot that figured out ...
At April 28, 2008, Rene wrote:
So, do I get to say it? Can I say it? Can I?

I told you so.

And I say this as ...
At April 28, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:
9 - Millerâ€™s DD (The birth of the noir superhero, a pity Miller got crazier as he got older)

I dunno, ...
At April 28, 2008, Rene wrote:
New Totals.

The major effect of this run was to push Stan Lee right to the 3rd place in the ...
At April 28, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
One quick question, Rene -- Miller's worked on DD three times that I can think of, years apart. We could ...
At April 28, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Chris Jones- Everyone's entitled to their opinions, but to say that Ditko had no talent for facial expressions or ...
At April 28, 2008, Rene wrote:
Omar, I didn't read Spirit, but I think Daredevil is closer to the modern conception of superhero, while the Spirit ...
At April 28, 2008, Rene wrote:
Lorendiac, the run I was thinking of when I voted was the first one, with Elektra. But I only said ...
At April 28, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
One reason it occurred to me to wonder was that when I sent in my ballot, I voted for what ...
At April 28, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:
Aaaand the third (and almost certainly final) one of my picks to make the top 100.

Unless, ...
At April 28, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:
But I only said â€œMillerâ€™s Daredevilâ€, so I donâ€™t know how Brian counted it. I counted it toward John Jackson ...
At April 28, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

I counted it toward John Jackson Millerâ€™s Iron Man.

That kind of creative accountancy does a lot to explain why Joe ...
At April 28, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: a list with 700 other people voting could've turned out very ...
At April 28, 2008, DBish wrote:
I guess its safe to say that Young Justice is nowhere near this list :D

maybe its in the top 300 ...
At April 28, 2008, dhole wrote:
I didn't have Kirby FF or Ditko Spidey on my personal list (just way more attached to slightly more modern ...
At April 28, 2008, Lorendiac wrote:
Well, I didn't quite go "superheroes all the way," but I think they did get 8 slots out of 10 ...
At April 28, 2008, dhole wrote:
My personal list had Sandman and Swamp Thing in the non-superhero category (and to an extent, Warlock, which I kind ...
At April 28, 2008, Ben Herman wrote:
Peter didnâ€™t even try to translate the answer, so who knows what it might have said?

It would have said "Spider-Man ...
At April 28, 2008, jackdaw53 wrote:
I joined too late to vote, alas. Not sure if I'd considered voting for stuff from this era. Let ...
At April 29, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
My number three! It's shocking to see it do so poorly-- only five points ahead of "Starman", a comic ...
At April 29, 2008, Bill K wrote:
Hondo said: "MY top 10 favorite runs. That to me meant the runs that immediately popped into my consciousness and ...
At April 29, 2008, DKing wrote:
Uh, do you know how long it takes most people to get their degrees?

What I meant was the first 38 ...
At April 29, 2008, jackdaw53 wrote:
Bill K. You're patently right about the subjectivity of the voting. But just for a bit of fun I tried ...
At April 29, 2008, BIll K wrote:
jackdaw53 You're absolutely right, O'Neil/Adams Batman stories in consecutive issues of Batman or 'Tec were the exception rather than the ...
At April 29, 2008, hamahakkimies wrote:
Sean C.:"I think itâ€™s official at this point: no one can beat Grant Morrisonâ€™s point total; Lee was the only ...
At April 29, 2008, Scott wrote:
Also surprised at Lee/Ditko's Spidey being this low. But it reminds me of one of my favorite scenes ever in ...
At April 29, 2008, Stephen wrote:
As much as I appreciate the significance of these issues... I've always preferred the Romita era. JRSR is probably in ...
At April 29, 2008, BDaly wrote:
It should easily be in the top 5.
At April 29, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
Wow! I've never been a huge Spidey fan personally, but I still expected this to be #1 as I ...
At April 29, 2008, Teebore wrote:
"If youâ€™ve grown up on Jim Lee-esque bombast I can see how it would be hard to work your head ...
At April 29, 2008, Nick Poole wrote:
I think the dawn of the Romita Sr era was a surefire signal that Marvel was abandoning art for commerce. ...
At April 29, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:
And of course the weird development was that when Ditko left and Romita came in sales went UP.
Bad news for ...
At April 29, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:
Dalarsco said:

"This is certainly a great Spidey run, but I would hardly call it â€œthe greatest period.â€ The JMS/JRJR run ...
At April 29, 2008, Rene wrote:
Teebore, I've always thought the Harras/Epting Avengers weren't as bad as people say it is. Very readable. I thought it ...
At April 29, 2008, Ryan R wrote:
This is a great one, all right. I think it deserves to be a bit higher if only for ...
At April 29, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

I think the dawn of the Romita Sr era was a surefire signal that Marvel was abandoning art for commerce

Nah. ...
At April 29, 2008, Teebore wrote:
Rene, yeah, I had both Stern's and Englehart's Avengers on my list, both higher than Harras/Epting's. The Harras/Epting run was ...
At April 29, 2008, Rene wrote:
â€œThis is certainly a great Spidey run, but I would hardly call it â€œthe greatest period.â€ The JMS/JRJR run has ...
At April 29, 2008, Teebore wrote:
"I liked how he worked with Mary Jane and Aunt May, though (before One More Day, of course)."

Agreed. I think ...
At April 29, 2008, Andrew wrote:
This is my number one favorite run, not what I think should be number one or deserves to be, but ...
At April 29, 2008, David wrote:
9 of mine have shown up. The only one left is the Gerry Conway JLofA but given how few ...
At April 29, 2008, Graeme Burk wrote:
This might be bad form, but I'm copying and pasting a comment I made back when Spider-Man was one of ...
At April 29, 2008, Rene wrote:
I was just reading Michael's text. Great stuff!

It's easy to forget, because we've lived in the shadow of Spider-Man and ...
At April 29, 2008, Nick Poole wrote:
And John Romita Sr took the template apart. Peter Parker became cool and popular. The Green Goblin was revealed (ongoing ...
At April 29, 2008, Sean C. wrote:
Things got brighter in Romita's era, sure, but this was also the time of "Spider Man No More", among other ...
At April 29, 2008, Rene wrote:
Yes, even the Romita Spider-Man could never be considered something close to a DC Silver Age hero.

I think Spider-Man only ...
At April 29, 2008, Stefan wrote:
I think it's so bizarre that people are so upset that this run could be ranked so low, or so ...
At April 29, 2008, Nick Poole wrote:
It wasn't Lee. It was Steve Ditko & Stan Lee.

I'm a big fan of Moore & Gaiman (never seen ...
At April 29, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Ditko's plots were tight, his images were memorable, his choreography was breathtaking, his characters' body language was spot-on- really, I ...
At April 29, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

But Iâ€™ll say this: If any one of Stan Leeâ€™s superhero comics WAS the absolute best run that comics has ...
At April 29, 2008, Hondo wrote:
I very much agree that while today's artists are phenomenal, the more I look towards the Silver and Golden Ages ...
At April 29, 2008, Thenodrin wrote:
I wonder how different a Top Ten Titles would be? Especially considering how many runs on the list are entire ...
At April 29, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:
Lorendiac: Ya, I just looked at the issue again and you're right. The robot didn't figure it out. ...
At April 29, 2008, wwk5d wrote:
Two things I always thought were interesting:

1)Without Lee, Kirby, and Ditko, I doubt we would have the stories of Grant ...
At April 29, 2008, Bill K wrote:
I think a lot of the perception of "quality" in genre work in any medium springs from matters of individual ...
At April 29, 2008, Nick Poole wrote:
Very wise words from Bill K.

It goes beyond Comics. How do you compare Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler to Chuck ...
At April 29, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

Almost every writer today can out-dialog Lee

Holy shit. That might be the single most wrong statement I have ever ...
At April 30, 2008, Dalarsco wrote:
Now Bill K is a good debater. While conventions are something to look at, I still don't think that ...
At April 30, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:
Here's a simple proof: whole chunks of Lee's dialog from this series were put into the mouths of actual human ...
At May 1, 2008, game torrents wrote:
[...] seawater rushing into the base in torrents, Peter faces the Hero??s Choice as never before: Die, ...http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/04/28/top-100-comic-book-runs-6/CLASH OF THE ...
At May 1, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
I think one thing which has to be kept in mind when comparing Stan Lee to modern writers is that ...
At May 1, 2008, Hondo wrote:
That's actually a very good point.
At May 1, 2008, Bill K wrote:
Not only did Stan successfully write for kids, but for kids of almost all different ages and reading levels, deftly ...
At May 2, 2008, Hondo wrote:
Stan Lee was of course very accessible to us all or we probably wouldn't be following this thread, let alone ...
At May 2, 2008, Elliot Kane wrote:
Creators are not entirely consistent throughout their careers. Sometimes they just keep getting better, other times they stall or ...