Jonah Hex may well be the best DC title of the '70s. It's certainly the era's best western.

Cei-U!
I summon the spaghetti sauce!

Oh hell yeah !!!

10. Magnus Robot Fighter #1 (Gold Key 1963)




As an adolescent, money didn't mean all that much to me. I had a lucrative dog walking business and no bills to pay, so, while I was never going to be padding my collection with $100 comics, I rarely thought twice about buying a $40 key issue when the opportunity presented itself.

But, by the time I returned to comics in 2002, I was a poor working 22 year old trying to make my way in the world and earning only a little more per week than I had been when I was 12 and walking dogs. Discretionary income came infrequently and was used cautiously. And, as mine and my new wife's funds continued to dwindle, while we worked odd jobs to make ends meet and tried to pay off student loans, discretionary income ceased to exist all together, and soon we were borrowing creatively just to make rent.

It was during this time that my adult love for comics really began to ignite, but I lacked the funds to expand my collection of six long boxes from my adolescence. Still, I was fortunate in the fact that I'd recently met a friend with whom I quickly developed a deep bond. We'd both grown up on comics, and he was thrilled by my blowing the dust off of my old collection. Inspired by my example, he dredged up his own childhood collection, and we both found ourselves excited and yearning for more.

We were also attending church together, and one week, the sermon was about not worshipping deficits. When you worried about what you were lacking to the point that you deprived and emotionally starved yourself, it caused spiritual and, often subsequently, material consequences. In essence, it fostered a self-fulfilling prophecy. This hit home for us. We were both tired, not of BEING poor, but of FEELING poor all the time, of depriving ourselves of things to the point that life began to feel like a continual hardship. So, with my wife's approval, we made a pact: once a month, we'd spend the day driving around, hitting up the local comic shops, and would spend money we didn't have. $15 a month wasn't going to make a big difference in the larger scheme of things, and the emotional benefits were clear. My wife similarly agreed that she'd start spending a little on herself, and she had fun hitting up thrift stores for zany attire. It ended up making for some of the most fun memories of our lives.

As our financial situation improved, we remained good at maintaining the balance – small discretionary spending, lots of fiscal responsibility. There was no discussion; it had just become instinct. So, one day, my buddy and I were in one of the local comic shops (we still hadn't tried attending shows yet), and (amazingly enough) they'd gotten in new old comics. And proudly displayed at the checkout, on a little eisel, was the original Magnus Robot Fighter #1.

Now, in recent months, I'd been re-reading my Valiant Magnus Robot Fighter comics and had completely fallen in love with the character and premise, but here was his very first appearance! I couldn't believe it was there, in the same room with me. The shop owner even allowed me to pick it up and hold it. I asked the price out of sheer curiosity, expecting him to tell me it was going for hundreds of dollars (I had no concept of its market value). He told me it was $45.

I was astounded by the low price, but put it down all the same. My buddy tried to goad me into buying it, but I didn't have $45 to spend on comics.

It was only later, after a lot of obsessing over the missed opportunity, that it occurred to me that I wasn't poor anymore. We weren't exactly rolling in the dough, but there was a good chance I DID, in fact, have $45 to spend on that issue; I was just so used to not having nice things.

So we went back a few days later, I bought it, took it out of the bag almost immediately, and (for the first time in my life) really breathed the pages and caressed the textures of the printing. I don't know that I've ever felt quite as wealthy as when that book became mine. There was guilt at first, mind you; to this day I can't explain why any comic is worth more than the initial cost to print it, but it was priceless to me all the same, and I had a tremendous sense that a burden had been lifted from within. I had given myself permission to spoil myself.

And that was the gateway drug. My buddy and I went on to start buying a lot of key issues (spread out over a long period of time, of course, and only when the deal was particularly good) and as our finances improved, our spending budgets increased. We spent a few years buying up most of our dream books, and while most of them were far more impressive than Magnus #1, few left a bigger impression upon me.

Beyond the memory, this is a great book in general, of course. Those fantastic painted Gold Key covers, the brilliant Russ Manning visuals, and even the awesome The Aliens backup feature. It was a first class book, but, like all books on my list this year, its significance transcends what's in the book. It's the memory attached that matters most each time I hold it again: the feeling of being recalled to life after spending so long budgeting our lives down to the dollar.

We backslide from 1985 to 1984 for today's selection...

Number 10
MANHUNTER SPECIAL

Year of Release: May 1984
Written by: Archie Goodwin
Drawn by: Walt Simsonson



Synopsis:  Golden Age hero Paul Kirk was killed by a stampeding elephant, cryogentically frozen and resurrected by the mysterious Council.  The Council is a secret society that wants to rule the world.  Bred by the Council to kill all that oppose their views, the Council underestimated Kirk's morals and Kirk was deemed an enemy of the Council.  Kirk enlist the help of Interpol agent Christine St Clair to help take down the Council.  Originally backup stories in Detective Comics, this is a collection of the 8 page stories.

Why This Is A Classic:  I remember seeing this in a comic store in Los Angeles when I was 8 and I knew I had to get this.  While having a steady diet of GI Joe, we all became fans of Snake Eyes and his ninja training.  So I also read as much about Eastern combat, samurai swords and other cool stuff.  So seeing Simsonson's cover and noticing the shurikens, this was a must buy.  I mowed a ton of lawns, cleaned the hill above the house from sagebrush, anything to get money to own this collection.  When I got it, it didn't fail.  At that time, I wasn't fully paying attention to writers and artists, but the name Archie Goodwin caught my eye. What he did in 8 pages amazed me of such dense storytelling of action, drama, and sense of awe compared to what people were drawing in 22.  I knew that I could write that...HA!  Me at 8 years old, comparing myself to Archie.  And Walt Simonson... I knew I had to follow this gentleman.  Luckily he was drawing Thor and I devoured his run.  
Its a special book to me not because it's considered one of the greatest examples of comic storytelling, it was the first time I actually cared about who I was reading.  I had found writers and artists to follow and also began learning the history of comics.  From this comic, I began to learn Walt's history; what books he was doing, and who his contemporaries were, and their admirers.  From there I learned the Marvel Bullpen, followed those artists I liked.  As for Archie, I was a bit too young to read his Warren magazine back issue, but I looked for his works and who he hired.  In essence, Manhunter began my Comic History 101.

C'mon...how can you not love this art!

CLASSIC COMICS CHRISTMAS #10




JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #40

"Indestructible Creatures of Nightmare Island"

On sale September 16, 1965

Written by Gardner Fox
Penciled by Mike Sekowsky
Inked by Bernard Sachs
Edited by Julius Schwartz
Cover by Mike Sekowsky


This one starts with me reading the 100 Issues Ago feature in Justice League of America #140. From that brief outline I knew I had to read this comic. I had read two Fox/ Sekowsky stories in the JLA Tabloid comic in 1976 and enjoyed both of them immensely. As a kid, I thought this might be another Dr. Destiny story. If I had started to read comics a few months earlier, I would have gotten this in a 100 Page Giant. As it was, I just reread #140 every so often and wondered if I'd ever get to read the story for real. Then came the Justice League Archives. I loved the entire Fox/ Sekowsky era, but I was waiting for the reprints to get to #40 so I could finally read it. In 1999 I finally got to read this comic and it was even better than I had hoped. I've read every Justice League comic ever made and this one is among the best. It was the hope of finally getting to read the story that's one reason that it made my list. The other would be my eternal thanks to all those who have worked to bring back the comics of the past for me to enjoy. DC Archives, Showcases, Marvel Essentials and the literal gold mine of newspaper reprints that have appeared in the last quarter century have brought me untold enjoyment.

In 2002, I finally bought a copy of the issue itself. I think my favorite part is that Aquaman's ability to talk to fish and Hawkman's ability to talk to birds were essential in saving the day.

Up next....a violent, blood drenched comic book from 2004

This came so close to making my top 12.  It blew my mind when I read it as a kid; I mean, Superman fixes the whole world.  Wow.