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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2014 13:27:38 GMT -5
How wonderfully well-written. Makes me glad, really, that this time around I lacked the psychological fortitude to churn out my usual long screeds on my picks ... nothing I could've come up with could come anywhere near what you've shared with us here, shax.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 24, 2014 13:35:14 GMT -5
You almost made me cry, Shax.  |
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Post by badwolf on Dec 24, 2014 13:37:33 GMT -5
2. X-Men #153 (Marvel 1981) Lovely story and a great write-up of a delightful issue from my own childhood! (I had never seen that Mignola/Russell cover - nice!) (and I did have a crush on Kitty back then!) |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 24, 2014 14:52:33 GMT -5
For a guy who didn't think he could relate to other people's personal attachments to their favorite comics, Jeff, you've certainly worked extra hard to prove me right. Great story. Cei-U! I summon the vindication! |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,862
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Post by shaxper on Dec 24, 2014 15:15:14 GMT -5
For a guy who didn't think he could relate to other people's personal attachments to their favorite comics, Jeff, you've certainly worked extra hard to prove me right. Great story. Cei-U! I summon the vindication! This is one time in which I'm happy to have had you prove me wrong. Truly, I've been touched by more of these stories than I've had time to reply to. We'll done, Sir. |
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Post by berkley on Dec 24, 2014 16:29:15 GMT -5
Thor #157August 1968 (cover date Oct 1968)  This was a scary story to me as a 6 year old. I hadn't seen the first 3 instalments of this 4-part epic, but this one opens with Thor confronting the Mangog and it's soon apparent that not only is he no match for this monster, neither are the entire forces of Asgard. It really seemed like a hopeless struggle as I turned the pages and the Kirby/Colletta artwork enhanced that feeling with a dark, raw, carved-from-stone look that not only raised the drama to epic levels but lent a kind of awesome, fateful aspect to the whole thing. This wasn't just another bunch of colourful superheroes punching each other out, it was something more raw and basic and at the same time more elevated, more significant - an existential struggle between beings of incredible power. Obviously I wouldn't have expressed myself in those terms back then, but I think that's an accurate description of the unarticulated feelings that passed through me as I read this comic as a child. And it's still able to elicit those feelings when I look at it today, which I can't say about every comic I liked back then.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2014 0:05:45 GMT -5
On the eleventh day of Christmas Jim Starlin brought to me....  Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 Have I mentioned I was a huge Avengers fan as a kid....it was a toss up between this and Avengers Annual 7 to represent this, but as a kid I had to work harder to get this one than the Avengers Annual, so it meant more. This story just blew me away in the summer of '77 when I was 8. I was already a hardcore Avengers fan, and this was story was my intro to the work of Jim Starlin, plus Thanos died. Comic deaths are a dime a dozen nowadays, but in '77 that was a huge occurrence. Plus SPidey (I was a huge Spidey fan in the 70s too) and the ever lovin' blue eyed Thing. This one had it all and it resounded with me, and its echoes are still felt in my comic reading. -M |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 25, 2014 1:57:59 GMT -5
On the eleventh day of Christmas Jim Starlin brought to me.... Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 Have I mentioned I was a huge Avengers fan as a kid....it was a toss up between this and Avengers Annual 7 to represent this, but as a kid I had to work harder to get this one than the Avengers Annual, so it meant more. This story just blew me away in the summer of '77 when I was 8. I was already a hardcore Avengers fan, and this was story was my intro to the work of Jim Starlin, plus Thanos died. Comic deaths are a dime a dozen nowadays, but in '77 that was a huge occurrence. Plus SPidey (I was a huge Spidey fan in the 70s too) and the ever lovin' blue eyed Thing. This one had it all and it resounded with me, and its echoes are still felt in my comic reading. -M If you look at my #1 pick, you'll deduce I too am a fan. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2014 12:16:20 GMT -5
On the face of it, this is a fairly bizarre cross-over, but it just works, wonderfully well, as the Planetary team bounce around the DC multiverse encountering various different incarnations of a certain flying-squirrel character, and get variously intrigued, impressed or infuriated by them, in a rollicking romp of a tale. Stand aside, citizen! There's a micreant loose in Gotham City:
Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth |
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Post by paulie on Dec 25, 2014 15:01:24 GMT -5
Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #5; October, 1968
This pick is one that goes beyond Cei-U's criteria for this year's event.
I do believe this is probably the greatest comic of all-time. I own a beautiful copy and I have read it hundreds of times... very carefully.
Steranko is simply blowing minds here and this issue informs almost all of my comics reading and appreciating to this very day.
Really folks... for this one... I'll leave it at 'Nuff Said."
 
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 25, 2014 17:44:23 GMT -5
X-Men #139  I love this issue. I feel like it has the beginnings of figuring out who Wolverine is as a character. He'd had his iconic moment battling the Hellfire Club, and now we got to see a little more introspective take on the character. |
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Dec 27, 2014 19:54:27 GMT -5
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my collection gave to me...11 Ditko's drawing!
This is my oldest issue of Spidey that I own. And in going with my jingle, I believe it is Ditko's eleventh work on Spidey overall (counting AF #15, the Strange Tales annual and the FF annual as the others he did before this one). Ditko is a real favourite of mine and I only wish I had the funds to be able to own more of his Spidey issues. I never thought I would be able to own an early issue like this one but a little over a year ago, I fought a copy in the condition I liked and pulled the trigger. I love this issue. For many reasons. One, Human Torch and Spidey are always a good time. You also get Spidey battling an evil computer and Parker fighting Flash! I can only imagine young kids/teens loving this issue (hell it was marketed for them!) and I enjoyed it immensely. Ditko had to be near the top of my list, because as much as Stan Lee deserves credit, Steve was the one who made this character into what he is today with his artwork. Eventually, I want to get around to other books Ditko worked on (like Mr. A and Shade) but for now, this is my holy grail as far as Spider-Man is concerned as is my collection's silver age representative. |
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Post by Pól Rua on Dec 28, 2014 13:26:33 GMT -5
As soon as I got the invite to take part in this thing, I KNEW this issue would be in the list somewhere near the top. Unlike a lot of my other selections, it doesn't feature a character I have a particular fondness for, a huge clump of cool, odd superheroes, ties to the Golden Age, weird postmodern genre shenanigans, or any of those triggers which'll usually get me to shell out for something. It's just a damn good story, told REALLY well. 'Flash' #54 - 'Nobody Dies' (September, 1991)  From William Messner-Loebs' vastly underrated 'Flash' run, this is a very simple story. Our hero, Wally West is flying home from a previous adventure. Throughout the flight, he's been chatting to his flight attendant, who knows about his special dietary needs and has been stopping by and chatting with him. All is going well until Terrorists attack. Wally deals with them pretty handily, but during the melee, the cabin is breached, and while almost all the passengers are safe, the flight attendant Wally's been talking to has been hurled out into the sky. At this point, Wally doesn't have access to the crazy, physics bending mad science powers that Barry had in the Golden Age. He's just a guy who runs real fast. But he does the right thing and follows her out, because "Nobody dies today". The rest of the story is Wally desperately trying to figure out how he, as a guy who can't fly, is going to save them both. Part of the reason I love this comic so much is Spite. I'm sick of comics about heroes put in impossible situations where they have to choose the lesser of two evils, make terrible sacrifices and take the least worst option, all the while being filled with angst and self-loathing. Wally takes one look at that and says, "Screw that. I'm a SUPERHERO. My JOB is to do the Impossible Thing and save the damn day." Like I say, PART of the reason is spite, but the main reason is that reading it makes me happy. It reminds me that heroism is about doing the dumb thing you don't want to do because it's the right thing to do. This is just a straight-up wonderful comic. |
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Post by berkley on Dec 29, 2014 2:50:43 GMT -5
CLASSIC COMICS CHRISTMAS #2
DC SPECIAL #29
"THE UNTOLD ORIGIN OF THE JUSTICE SOCIETY"
On Sale May 9, 1977 Written by Paul Levitz Penciled by Joe Staton Inked by Bob Layton Edited by Joe Orlando Cover by Neal Adams Regular JSA fighting with the JLA or in their own comic was great. Having them fight Nazis in WWII? Off the charts awesome. I eagerly anticipated the day when DC would publish new JSA stories from back in the 1940s and I didn't have to wait long. I love the sort of chaotic way the team is put together in this adventure. The President summons three heroes, Dr. Fate gets involved and starts dragging others into it. When all looks lost, this happens... And yet the biggest save of the day is provided by the Atom...  Since everyone knows you can't split an atom, he's ok and so is FDR. up next...My favorite team's secret origin I always loved the JSA stories from that time, that creative team rocked. Didnt they do the death of Earth-2 Batman ? That "German War-Goddess" Valkyrie looks great. DC should revive her as a heroine - though I suppose Marvel might raise some objections. |
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Post by foxley on Dec 29, 2014 4:01:31 GMT -5
I always loved the JSA stories from that time, that creative team rocked. Didnt they do the death of Earth-2 Batman ? That "German War-Goddess" Valkyrie looks great. DC should revive her as a heroine - though I suppose Marvel might raise some objections. They did revive her as villain, one of the members of Axis Amerika, in Young All-Stars. |
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