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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 21, 2021 10:34:50 GMT -5
Just like the title says. How do you rank 'em?
Here are mine:
1. Hawkeye (1983) 2. West Coast Avengers (1984) 3. Marvel Superhero Contest of Champions (1982) I just loved this when it comed out. I loved the internation flavor of the book, with all of those new (if stereotypical) heroes, plus I also really loved the Olympic feel of the book, but since this was a repurposed Olympic special made for the 1980 Summer Olympics, that's not surprising. 4. Elongated Man (1992) I love me some Ralph and Sue Dibney! 5. Hercules (1982) Very fun series by Bob Layton 6. Hercules (1984) Very fun follow-up series by Bob Layton 7. Jonni Thunder (1985) Neat Roy & Dann Thomas series that was part superhero comic, part hardboiled detective novel. 8. Nightcrawler (1986) Fun Dave Cockrum series. This is the real Nightcrawler, as far as I'm concerned. 9. Crimson Avenger (1988) Cool Roy/Dann Thomas Golden Age style minieries. 10. Wolverine (1982) Claremont Frank Miller. Wolvie was still cool at this point, though that wouldn't last might longer.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2021 10:41:38 GMT -5
An easy one for me. A series that the UN itself described as one of the best ever. A series that had 16 printings and sold nearly 30 billion copies. What else could it be? What’s not to love? This was reprinted in the 80s (UK annual), which is where I first saw it. At that time, I’d seen DC movies but read only a handful of comics. I thank this for really “booting up” my interest in DC. So colourful, so epic, so cartoony, so damn good.
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Post by profh0011 on Dec 21, 2021 11:59:23 GMT -5
I'm not sure this really qualifies, as it was serialized in a magazine and then collected as a pair of books, but it definitely was a short, complete story...
ULYSSES by Lob & Picard
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Dec 21, 2021 12:36:26 GMT -5
Union (1994) Micheal Heisler & Mark Texeria
In a time when Image was putting out a lot that was bad or a mixed bag I found this to be a nice little hidden gem. Simple story with good character development that was backed by, in my opinion, good art as well.
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Post by kirby101 on Dec 21, 2021 12:48:08 GMT -5
I'd say the original Marvels by Busiek and Ross
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2021 12:51:27 GMT -5
Sticking to intended mini series, 10 favorites in no particular order off the top of my head...
Guns of the Dragon (by Tim Truman) Usagi Yojimbo: Senso (by Sakai) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (by Miller) Hellboy: The Conqueror Worm (by Mignola) Doctor Strange: The Oath (by Vaughan and Martin) Scene of the Crime (by Brubaker and Lark) DC: A New Frontier (by Darwyn Cooke) Book of Ballads and Sagas (by Charles Vess and friends) The Books of Magic (by Gaiman and friends) Motor Girl (by Terry Moore)
I am sure I am forgetting a ton of minis, and I didn't include things that were intended as ongoings and got cut short. And in an hour, I will probably have 10 different ones I think of, but that's a start.
-M
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 21, 2021 13:03:13 GMT -5
Hard to say, overall; but I have a few that I really enjoyed.
Guns of the Dragon-Tim Truman's pulp romp of the interwar years, with Bat Lash, Enemy Ace, Biff Bradley and Chop-Chop, as they tangle with Vandal Savage and Miss Fear, on Dinosaur Island.
The Griffin-by Dan Vado and Norman Felche. Rather different take on a superhero. A high school jock gets whisked away by an alien ship and becomes a proud warrior for their space fleet. Then, he tires of war and decides to go home and has to defend himself against his former masters.
Grendel Tales-hard to cite just one, there, as it was a series of mini-series, with various creative teams providing their own take on the Grendel entity. If I had to pick a favorite out of it, it would be the pair of minis done by Darko Macan and Edvin Biukovic, with the same Grendel character, whose war reflected the ongoing wars in the former Yugoslavia (at least, I think there was still fighting when the two books came out, or had only recently ended....my memory is fuzzy with that timeline).
Jonny Quest Classics-Comico turned 3 issues over to Doug Wildey, to adapt his favorite stories from the cartoons. He chose "Calcutta Adventure" (which showed how Hadji met the Quest Team), "Shadow of the Condor" (where Race is forced into a dogfight with a former German WW1 pilot, in the Andes) and "Werewolf of the Timberland," where gold smugglers try to drive away the Quests to cover their operation.
The Marvels Project-Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting take a page from Busiek & Ross and depict the earliest days of the new mystery men, linking one of them, The Angel, to The Two-Gun Kid, who is a dying old man. This was a very rare look at the Angel, who was one of the earliest Marvel heroes, from Paul Gustavson. It also showcases a revised history of the Super Soldier Project and has Nick Fury involved in getting Prof Erskine out of Germany, grafting that story onto a previous story about Nick's pre-WW2 adventure, with Sam Sawyer. We also see the beginnings of the Invaders, with some new, revised detail, plus the German attempts at a Super Soldier Formula, including the one taken by Brian Falsworth, that turned him into the Destroyer (then , later, Union Jack, after he took over his father's role). Brubaker also added some of the lesser Timely heroes that Joe Straczynski featured, in The Twelve, as well as a back-up feature, John Steele, about a super soldier from WW1. Steele became the catalyst for a super soldier program, then turned up decades later, in Secret Avengers.
Tag & Bink Are Dead-rollicking fun with a pair of Rebels, who act as a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, for Star Wars. Started out as a spoof on Star Wars, then moved on to Empire and Jedi, before going back to savage the prequels. Tons of fun, from Kevin Rubio, who created the Troopers short film.
Formerly Known as Justice League and I Can't Believe It's Not Justice League-Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire are reunited for a pair of minis, bringing back the BWAHAHA version of the League, for more fun, proving that they were a hell of a lot more fun than the current batch, no matter how hard Didio and his cronies tried to bury and destroy that legacy.
The Black Terror-Beau Smith and Chuck Dixon teamed up with new artist Dan Brerton to do a new Black Terror. This dude is fighting Al Capone, in the modern era. Capone didn't go to jail and controls a corrupt empire of legitimate government and criminal enterprises. The Terror masquerades as a hood, but dons his costume to wreak havoc on Capone's organization. Mix of men's adventure pulp and 1940s pulpy comics.
The Golden Age-James Robinson and Paul Smith's Elseworlds mini about the post-WW2 JSA and the rise of McCarthyism, via Tex Thompson, the Americommando. Thompson puts in motion the enxt step in mystery men, with a project that mixes atomic science with previous research, turning Dan Dunbar into Dyna-Man, the hero for the Atomic Age. meanwhile, Manhunter has snuck back into the US, with assassins hot on his trail, as he tries to unlock the memories buried in his head, that reveal a secret about the end of the war that someone doesn't want to get out. Robinson was at the top of his game and Smith channels the styles of Alex Raymond and Reed Crandall to give it the right period look.
JSA: The Liberty Files-Dan Jolly & Tony Harris present a pulpy alternate take on the JSA, with 1940s-style costuming to give it some depth. This is like the JSA, if written by Walter Gibson or Norvell Paige.
Radioactive Man-originally done as a six issue mini-series (then further expanded by one-shots, later), which featured the period exploits of Bart's favorite superhero. Each issue was a satire of comics of a certain period in comic history. The debut issue was pure 1950s Atomic Age stuff, complete with glow-in-the-dark skeleton, for Radioactive Man, on the cover. The next issues parodied 60s Marvel, 70s Green Lantern/Green Arrow, 80s X-Men and 90s Image.
Damage Control- trio of minis, from Dwayne McDuffie, about a company that is tasked with cleaning up after superhero battles. Loads of fun, at the edges of the Marvel Universe, with some super characters and the down-to-Earth team at Damage Control. One of the aspects that I felt the MCU screwed up, by making it a government department. Should have been a great tv series but they only produced a pilot, then buried it. McDuffie deserved better.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2021 13:58:13 GMT -5
"Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Comics Magazine!" 12 issue (if a "maxi series" counts) limited series from 2001. A huge love letter to not only the early FF, but classic Marvel as a whole, and wonderfully executed.
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 21, 2021 16:16:12 GMT -5
Wow, I've never heard of a lot of these!
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Post by SJNeal on Dec 21, 2021 17:44:35 GMT -5
This underrated gem is still a standout for me. I hated Abnett & Lanning for killing my favorite Avenger in Force Works #1, but their tribute to him in this series made that bitter pill a little easier to swallow.
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Post by SJNeal on Dec 21, 2021 17:47:15 GMT -5
I was thrilled when they paired 2 of my favorite X-people, and even more so when they got their own mini several years later. It barely makes the "classic" cutoff (being released in 1997), but it's been a classic to me since I first read it.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 21, 2021 20:00:12 GMT -5
The ones that immediately come to mind...
Wolverine, by Claremont and Miller. It opened a whole new dimension for a character who, while sort of popular, was not a major star. Heck, back then, even ninjas were not yet overused!
Twilight, by José Luis García Lopez and Howard Chaykin. Sort of bleak, but a fascinating reinterpretation of many of DC's future space heroes.
Hellblazer: Bad Blood, in which a cranky old John Constantine (in his '70s) may end up as the genitor of Great Britain's future sovereigns!
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, Brian Talbot's dense and mind-bending exploration into a parallel history, worthy of a Jerry Cornelius tale!
The Dark Knight Returns, which I read and reread and never got tired of (although I don't much care for the impact it had on the Batman books).
Give Me Liberty, Frank Miller's dystopic but often hilarious caricature of the world to come... a vision that turned out to be frightfully prophetic.
Watchmen, of course. I've read it enough, but man! did I enjoy it.
The Books of Magic, with the BEST Zatanna I've ever seen. (John Constantine too, come to think of it).
The New Frontier, of course. Darwyn Cooke distilled all that's great about comic-books.
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Post by foxley on Dec 21, 2021 21:32:33 GMT -5
A few that come immediately to mind: Guns of the Dragon: See codystarbuck's description. Blaze of Glory: A gritty western detailing the final stand of many of Marvel's western heroes. Camelot 3000: King Arthur returns to defend Britain during her darkest hour, which turns out to be an alien invasion in the year 3000. Cinder & Ashe: A team of private investigators are hired to find a kidnapped girl--but as they travel across the U.S. on her trail, their own traumatic pasts come back to haunt them.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 21, 2021 21:57:32 GMT -5
I couple that haven't been mentioned yet:
Bozz Chronicles : Someone here recommended this to me at some point... great stuff. A bit of a mystery, and alot of 80s.
Proposition Player : What happens when Gods don't have many followers? Apparently they gamble with souls. Great stuff from Bill Willingham
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Post by tarkintino on Dec 21, 2021 22:37:11 GMT -5
Kingdom Come (1996): Mark Waid & Alex Ross showing the world how to capture the mythic qualities of DC's best, with a realistic edge of the way characters relate to one another. Easily one of the best DC books of the century.
Marvels (1994): Alex Ross' legendary talent and feel for how superheroes should look in the real world was simply astounding, with the Busiek "you are there" story perfectly recalling many of the publisher's defining storylines. Like Kingdom Come for DC, Marvels was one of the best stories for the publisher, and any attempts to capture the feel of this landmark work have paled by comparison.
Sword of the Atom (1983). Kane reunited with the character that helped him become one of the greats, and revitalizing the Atom who simply had no purpose throughout most of the 70s. SOTA gave him a fantasy saga all his own, never needing to drag the JLA into it, like any run-of-the-mill "guest star" title.
History of the DC Universe (1986): If anyone believed it was damn near impossible to build on the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths by establishing a tight history for a universe, then they were quite incorrect. Wolfman and Perez continued their grand, unparalleled restructuring of DC in this miniseries, laying out the perfect road to a coherent, shared world going forward...if only writers and editors did not swerve from that road in the years to follow...
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