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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Dec 18, 2014 23:01:57 GMT -5
Bodyslide by Two to 1999 for this entry... Number 7THE AUTHORITY #1 Year of Release: May 1999 Written by: Warren Ellis Drawn by: Brian Hitch (inks by Paul Neary and color by Laura Depuy) Synopsis: Coming off the explosive ending to the short lived Stormwatch series and the WildC.A.T.S/Aliens one-shot, The Authority comes out with an explosion...literally. A hoard of super people attack Moscow and leave a wake of carnage. Former members of the now defunct Stormwatch just sit idly by as the UN cut off funding to be Earth's protectors. But out of time and space, former Stormwatch Black member Jenny Sparks arrives and said it won't happen again. Now, the attack of the same super people attack another major city....enter The Authority: -Jenny Sparks! "The Spirit of the 20th Century" -Apollo "The Sun God" -Midnighter "Night's Bringer of War" -The Doctor "The Shaman" -The Engineer "The Make" -John Hawksmoor "The King of Cities" -Swift "The World's Greatest Huntress"  Former Stormwatch villain Kaizen Gamorra had lead the charge against Earth.... Why This Is a Classic: Before modern superhero films, The Authority were multi-million superhero films before they became chic. Ellis and Hitch created a new language for modern comics readers to learn, taking a page from movies; the birth of widescreen comics were born. Hitch, using Ellis' scripts took the look and well, cinematography of comics to Michael Bay-like proportions. Pages were densely layered with action, splash pages ala Kirby-like grandiose awe. Also the The Authority were everything the Justice League and the Avengers weren't; they were there to make the world a better place by any force necessary. I think today we take for granted with the gluttony of Marvel and DC films, the next step in regular comics was to emulate modern cinema. Warren Ellis, whose one of the few modern writers that are ahead of the game by taking modern technology and infusing it into comics, took the standard of these Bruckheimer/Simpson films and added thought provoking scripts and action to a new level. {{whispers}} hey bro...you okay if I just copy and paste tomorra...yup...sweet you beat me to it...great choice brother |
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 18, 2014 23:06:57 GMT -5
#7 - Batman: The Killing Joke (March 1988)  When comics got all dark and gritty in the late '80s, it was The Killing Joke that was my gateway into all that. I had heard about these new "graphic novels" with mysterious titles like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns (although I wouldn't read either until around 1990 or so), but I hadn't actually read any of these new "mature" comic books. When I saw an advert for The Killing Joke in an early 1988 issue from DC, the crazed image of the joker and the accompanying blurb that promised "a shocking look at the terror and violence of insanity" (I'm paraphrasing here), meant that I had to get hold of this thing. However, with this being a prestige format book, I knew that the one local newsagents shop that stocked American Marvels and DCs would never have it in. No, I was gonna have to go up to the big, bad city of London and enter an honest-to-goodness comic shop, if I wanted this graphic novel. I talked with my comic book collecting friends at school and they told me about a really cool comic shop called Paradise Alley that was hidden, appropriately enough, down a narrow alley off of Oxford Street. So, some weeks or even a month or two later (my memory is a little hazy here) I made the journey up to London by train alone, from my hometown in Buckinghamshire. I was only 15 at the time and such an expedition up to "the big smoke" on my own was quite daunting and scarey. I dunno, maybe I was a bit of a sheltered kid. Anyway, I located the comic shop in question. It was cramped and small, but it was an Aladdin's cave of vintage U.S. comics and trading cards. Sure enough I found a copy of The Killing Joke and I also bought a couple of other old Marvels (more of them later), since that was all I could afford with my limited funds, made up of paper round money. Getting home and reading the book, I was blown away by how good it was. Here was a level of complexity and maturity that I had never encountered in a comic book before. But more than that, it was also a seriously gripping story. One that hit you like a sledgehammer. It was violent -- shockingly so, actually -- and it was all exquisitely drawn by Brian Bolland. This was like nothing I had ever read before. The ending in particularly made a profound impression on me. The Killing Joke immediately became my favourite comic book and, although it has slipped down from that high pedestal in the years since, it's still an amazingly well written, well drawn and well executed graphic novel. And it's still one of my favourite comics ever. What Confessor said. I never have exactly looked to DC for continuity so yes... a well-written and engrossing, Batman- Joker story. And I totally understand why people are outraged about the ambiguous ending and what happened to the Gordon's. But as a standalone issue I still love it. I agree with the above statements. This was a great book. Too many fans savage it without enjoying that 2 GREAT creators came together to produce it. |
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Dec 18, 2014 23:16:14 GMT -5
This entire era of Avengers... from about 155 to the end of the Korvac saga was on my shortlist. I'm glad to see it made someone's Classic Comics Christmas. I take it back to 142, which I had started writing up, through to 200/201 or so. About 5 years of sheer excellence, dominated by so much gorgeous George Perez artwork. I was tempted by Avengers Forever as well, but couldnt nail down 1 issue, which is why the likes of JLA/Avengers and Kingdom Come havent made my list. While I'm a big fan of John Buscema, and I do love those early books of his, I'm not a huge fan of the issues in the 200s which I feel are too dominated by Tom Palmer as he is wont to do (I know JB did breakdowns on a lot of them but thats another problem I have). |
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Dec 18, 2014 23:20:48 GMT -5
#7: The Legion of Super-Heroes #294 (DC, 1982)  "You have won, children of the light. The darkness is fading, even as we watch. But remember, the darkness cannot surrender. It is always with you, always on the fringe of dawn...and the instant you gaze at it in fear...your time will come." This was such a frickin great time to be a Legion fan, the book was an absolute gem for about 5 years. One of my all-time favourites. ...and that quote would make a great signature here too. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2014 23:26:59 GMT -5
Day 6 #7 Today's choice is here because it was a wonderful, serendipitous find for me. But bear with me; this one is going to take some set-up. Before I started buying my own comics, I was reading my brothers' and sometime my sister's boyfriend's. (Later husband.) His I didn't get to keep. But I remembered really liking this one story. It involved Superman being attacked by some villain. As he lays dying on a beach, three women from his life show up to save him - his steady girlfriend, a mermaid he knew, and somebody from the future or something. I remembered reading it along with a story with Gold Kryptonite and a Phantom Zone villain. Some years later, I was able to track that second story to Superman # 157. I found a copy and read it, and sure enough, that Gold K story was there. But not the one I was really looking for. I checked descriptions of other Superman issues around that time, but nothing. So I was stuck. Then one day I'm at the LCS, going through a '4 for $1' box, and I found some of the old Archie super-hero books. For the hell of it, I picked one up. Adventures of the Jaguar #9Archie Oct 1962 'The Jaguar's Last Stand!' Writer - Robert Bernstein Artist - John Rosenberger  See where this is going? This story features the Jaguar fighting an enemy on a beach, and seemingly being killed. He is saved through the combined efforts of 3 women in his life - his current girlfriend, a mer-woman, and a time-traveling Egyptian. As I read it, I recognized scenes, panels, and it finally dawned on me that here was my missing Superman story. I had messed up; easy enough, since the character was written as a generic super-type here. He was basically a Superman clone, even down to his supporting cast. But here it was at last, just as I remembered it; you know, except for that whole not-having-Superman-in-it thing. |
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 18, 2014 23:27:31 GMT -5
There's a wonder to being a kid, experiencing things for the first time, seeing new ideas, stories, art that blows your mind. That's what becomes nostalgia. Not the thing itself, but the memory of that feeling. I bought this comic off the stands in 1987. I was 14. And my mind was blown in a way that probably hasn't been possible since, simply because I'm older and have experienced too much to be that amazed any more. There's only one thing that can really bring back that feeling: Reading this comic again. 7. Avengers Annual #16 Continued from WCA Annual #2, the story as we start is this: The Avengers suddenly and mysteriously dropped dead, so the West Coast Avengers all committed suicide in order to follow them into the afterlife to save them! On the other side, they discover what's really going on. Long time nemesis The Grandmaster is back with another one of his games. As always, it involves one player choosing the Avengers as their champion - usually, this is Grandmaster's foe - and one player choosing... their own champions. The players? Grandmaster vs. Death herself! The stakes? Oh, you know, only reality and existence. But it's not Death trying to wipe out all life, it's the Grandmaster! Death, you see, is trying to save all existence, because without life, there is no death. She therefore chooses the Avengers as the champions of life! And in response, the Grandmaster decides to emply a little poetic irony, for his champions are the most powerful dead heroes and villains in the Marvel Universe. The game: Grandmaster has set up five bombs in different corners of the universe. Each one will wipe one fifth of the universe out of existence. The Avengers win by defusing the bombs. The villains win if the bombs go off. Go! The result is violent, horrifying, amazing action as the Avengers and their foes battle to the death, no holds barred, with the fate of existence itself in the balance. And each chapter is drawn by a different, crazy and unexpected art team: John Romita Jr. and Bill Sienkiewicz! Dr. Pym, Hawkeye and Thor vs. The Executioner, Swordsman and Nighthawk!  Keith Pollard and Al Williamson?! Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Moon Knight and Tigra vs. Captain Marvel, Drax the Destroyer, the Green Goblin and Death Adder!  Marshall Rogers and Bob Layton!!!Silver Surfer vs. Korvac!!  Jackson Guice and Kevin Nowlan!Iron Man, Mockingbird, Black Knight and Doctor Druid vs. Terrax, Red Guardian, Black Knight and Dracula!  Ron Frenz and Bob Wiacek!Captain America, Wasp and Wonder Man vs. Bucky, Baron Blood and Hyperion!  I couldn't believe what I was reading, as the Avengers were killed, dying heroically in some cases, tragically and senselessly in others. It wasn't fair when Captain Marvel destroyed her bomb, only for the villains to gang up on her and kill her anyway after she had won! And when Iron Man's team failed, their bomb went off, obliterating a fifth of the universe! Only Captain America and Hawkeye - the two team leaders and least powerful members - survived. But they had won, 4-1, right? Then, the twist reveal: That was just round one, and now Cap and Hawkeye would have to take on not just the entire Legion of Unliving by themselves, they would also have to fight their own zombified Avenger friends, returned from the dead to destroy them! It was hopeless - until the absolute greatest, and most iconic moment in Hawkeye's history, an absolutely perfect bit of character work: In the end, Death rewards the Avengers by bringing them all back to life. Gobsmacked! Added to list of issues to get. I had no idea. |
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Post by benday-dot on Dec 19, 2014 0:39:59 GMT -5
Day 6 #7 Today's choice is here because it was a wonderful, serendipitous find for me. But bear with me; this one is going to take some set-up. Before I started buying my own comics, I was reading my brothers' and sometime my sister's boyfriend's. (Later husband.) His I didn't get to keep. But I remembered really liking this one story. It involved Superman being attacked by some villain. As he lays dying on a beach, three women from his life show up to save him - his steady girlfriend, a mermaid he knew, and somebody from the future or something. I remembered reading it along with a story with Gold Kryptonite and a Phantom Zone villain. Some years later, I was able to track that second story to Superman # 157. I found a copy and read it, and sure enough, that Gold K story was there. But not the one I was really looking for. I checked descriptions of other Superman issues around that time, but nothing. So I was stuck. Then one day I'm at the LCS, going through a '4 for $1' box, and I found some of the old Archie super-hero books. For the hell of it, I picked one up. Adventures of the Jaguar #9Archie Oct 1962 'The Jaguar's Last Stand!' Writer - Robert Bernstein Artist - John Rosenberger See where this is going? This story features the Jaguar fighting an enemy on a beach, and seemingly being killed. He is saved through the combined efforts of 3 women in his life - his current girlfriend, a mer-woman, and a time-traveling Egyptian. As I read it, I recognized scenes, panels, and it finally dawned on me that here was my missing Superman story. And it was just as I remembered it; you know, except for that whole not-having-Superman-in-it thing. Do I ever love that cover Jodoc. Nice pick! |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 19, 2014 5:15:21 GMT -5
7. Avengers #343 "First Night" by Bob Harras, Steve Epting, and Tom Palmer January, 1992 (Marvel)  My first comic ever was Avengers #309.  The Avengers travel into the Negative Zone in search of Olympia and the lost Eternals. I had picked it up at Walgreens. I grabbed it as I recognized Captain America, Thor, and Sub-Mariner, from television shows I'd rented on VHS. It's possible I also recognized She-Hulk. Obviously, I was unfamiliar with the Eternals, particularly Sersi and Gilgamesh. And they are really what fascinated me. The whole idea of Olympia and The Negative Zone. This idea of a giant tapestry just waiting to be discovered. I loved everything I didn't understand and wanted to find out more about all these characters. I followed Avengers as regularly as I followed anything, and have fond memories of their battle with Nebula alongside Spider-Man, and the coming of a new line-up just in time to battle the Tetrarchs of Entropy. And then the face-off with Dr. Doom alongside a host of other superheroes that would forever establish in my mind Doom as one of the most badass villains of the Marvel Universe. My first true love within Avengers came when Bob Harras and Steve Epting took over. I could have spotlighted several of the above-mentioned stories, but it's really their run that I fell in love with. The prelude to their run was the 6 part Collection Obsession, which introduced me to The Collector, The Inhumans, and maybe even The Watcher. The story focused on a species which escaped the collection to ravage earth, basically a humanoid virus called the Bretheren. And I loved it. But shortly after that, the team started their run proper. The first issue spotlighted here began the epic Gatherers Saga, which would snake throughout most of their run, interwoven in particular with Operation: Galactic Storm and its aftermath. It actually confused me at first, that this story was unresolved while a new one was starting. But it's a saga I love dearly. Each issue ends with cool melodramatic dialogue, and it's a good sweeping epic, with some mystery and intrigue, and cool alternate versions of the Avengers. This issue is the start of the saga, which really begins when Swordman, long thought dead, shows up at the end of the issue. The rest of the issue is focused on a forming of a new lineup, including Crystal and Eric Masterson as Thor. It has a lot of good character work, and some humor, stemming from the complicated relationship between Jarvis and Marilla, nursemaid of the Inhumans. For those who want to one day read the Gatherers Saga, I highly recommend it. I find the key issues to be: Avengers #343-344,348-349,355-363,372-375. And issue 367 may help. It may also confuse. It is an introspective story about Vision going about his day, and features a lot of threads of different arcs. The Gatherers Saga is on the short list of stories that really made me fall in love with superheroes and cemented a love of Avengers which continues to this day. So many great eras and creators: Thomas, Englehart, Michelinie, Gerber, Stern, Simonson, Busiek, Buscema, Perez, etc. etc. And every character from the lineup of 343 has been cemented as one of my favorite superheroes, particularly Vision and Black Knight. |
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Polar Bear
Full Member
Married, father of six
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Post by Polar Bear on Dec 19, 2014 17:44:40 GMT -5
 Swamp Thing Annual #2, "Down Amongst the Dead Men," by Moore, Bissette, & Totleben This issue served as a tour of the bizarre side of the DC Universe, a template for the future Shadowpact, Demon Knights, Justice League Dark, and Del Toro's Dark Universe project. Oh, and a welcome to hell ... yet, an escape from it. A horror story ... with a happy, romantic ending. Great writing, great art, great storytelling, and highly influential. Hard to live without. Honorable Mention: The Dark Knight Returns #3 (Batman v. Joker), Miller & Janson |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 19, 2014 17:57:25 GMT -5
Ha, I love Bissette and Totleben! Infact I love them both so much they made it into my 7th day entry.
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Post by Calamas on Dec 19, 2014 19:37:20 GMT -5
 Jon Sable, Freelance #1 June 1983 “The Iron Monster!” Mike Grell I don’t remember the case. I remember the story. More to the point, I remember the way the story introduced the supporting characters. This was Mike Grell unleashed. Not just unleashed from DC Comics and confines of superheroes. This was Grell unleashed from himself. That’s why Starslayer was not as successful. While displaying some of his interests, he was still thinking in terms of what he was taught made good comics. Jon Sable freed him. He wasn’t required to do anything. He could introduce characters that had nothing to do with the plot. He only needed to be interesting. And he was that for years to come. |
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Post by The Captain on Dec 20, 2014 19:16:46 GMT -5
Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #19
Why this one? Because I like clever solutions to problems.
This is the most oddball book on my list from an underappreciated series. The first year of Hellstorm was mainly a hodge-podge of writers and artists trying to write a horror book but largely failing (issue #6 is an exception). However, with issue #12, they handed the writing duties to Warren Ellis, with art by Leonardo Manco (who'd joined the book the previous issue).
In this issue, Daimon is informed of a unique possession in a small town in Utah; it isn't of a demonic nature, but rather angelic. He travels there and finds some Satanists stuck in a house with one of their buddies, who has been possessed by an angel, who has done so in order to punish those who would worship Satan in the name of the Lord. After a discussion about the nature of free will, Daimon comes up with a way to take care of both the angel and the Satanists that he feels will solve problems for him down the road.
Unfortunately, as with many books like this, the series didn't last much longer, only making it to issue #21 before being cancelled; this was unfortunate, as Ellis and Manco were producing some quality stories up until the end. They would team up again for the four-issue Druid miniseries, the conclusion of which found Daimon killing Doctor Druid and burning him in a garbage can.
I like this issue because the art is great, the writing is superb, and the way Daimon handles his problems always makes me smile. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 20, 2014 20:52:57 GMT -5
Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #19
Why this one? Because I like clever solutions to problems.
This is the most oddball book on my list from an underappreciated series. The first year of Hellstorm was mainly a hodge-podge of writers and artists trying to write a horror book but largely failing (issue #6 is an exception). However, with issue #12, they handed the writing duties to Warren Ellis, with art by Leonardo Manco (who'd joined the book the previous issue).
In this issue, Daimon is informed of a unique possession in a small town in Utah; it isn't of a demonic nature, but rather angelic. He travels there and finds some Satanists stuck in a house with one of their buddies, who has been possessed by an angel, who has done so in order to punish those who would worship Satan in the name of the Lord. After a discussion about the nature of free will, Daimon comes up with a way to take care of both the angel and the Satanists that he feels will solve problems for him down the road.
Unfortunately, as with many books like this, the series didn't last much longer, only making it to issue #21 before being cancelled; this was unfortunate, as Ellis and Manco were producing some quality stories up until the end. They would team up again for the four-issue Druid miniseries, the conclusion of which found Daimon killing Doctor Druid and burning him in a garbage can.
I like this issue because the art is great, the writing is superb, and the way Daimon handles his problems always makes me smile. I have seriously never heard of this character but he sounds interesting in a sort of Constantine sort of way. |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 20, 2014 21:02:29 GMT -5
I never made it that far in my reading of that Hellstorm series. I read the first few issues, found them terrible, and never went back. I may have to give some of the later issues a try.
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Post by cattysquaw on Dec 20, 2014 22:54:30 GMT -5
Jughead #49
In the 80's Archie Comics started expanding their comic titles and their characters, so they decided to make Jughead a big brother. They did a smart thing by not dragging the story out and within about 6 or 7 issues the baby was here. How appropriate that the girl hating Jughead got a little sister. The lead up was very enjoyable. Jughead has always been my favorite Archie character. The fact that her name was similar to Jughead's real name, Forsythe, her's being the female version of his name was an interesting little twist. I love the fact they let Jughead choose her nickname, Jellybean.
The lead up to whether it was a boy or girl was played out nicely with no hints as to what it would be, and of course the shocker, Jughead's parents apparently had sex, that was not discussed, of course. All the characters parents looked older, but his looked younger, at least for awhile after.
I really liked the baby tales storyline, wish they would have done more with the new character, they did bring her into the life with Archie stories as a teenager, would have been nice to see her grow up and interfere with Jughead and the gang.
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