What Are Your Favourite Comic Stories, Issues and Runs of All Time?

Can't really give a ranking in order, but here we go across multiple properties:

Superboy: Losin' It and Hypershock. Karl Kessel wrote both these stories for the Kon-El Superboy, and both are nice combinations of high-concept science fiction ideas, with Superboy losing some naivety in his interactions with Knockout, and then seeing the paths-not-taken world of Black Zero.

Tim Drake Robin/Red Robin: the first miniseries by Dixon and Nicieza's run across both solo runs. To me, these showcase what made Tim Drake a unique and cool Robin, both from his early start as a cautious and idealistic-while-self-deprecating rookie to his eventual transformation into a somewhat tarnished character struggling even more with the way his vigilante life has changed him and matured him.

Batman: No Man's Land. This is less of an arc or a run and more of an era; it arguably personifies what all marketing ploys, editorially mandated status quo changes, and family crossovers strive for. It had a dramatic impact across all books, and contained several new intros and plot points that kept going: Cass Cain's rise as Batgirl, Nightwing infiltrating Blackgate and ending the story starting his relationship with Oracle, Lex Luthor hiring Bane and using his good publicity from helping Gotham to become President, Huntress facing down the Joker's crew, and the death of Sara Essen Gordon and the emotional good bye to her at the end.

Superman: Critical Condition. One of the last really well handled Superman arcs from their triangle days, where the stories were almost true weeklies. I love how it handles Batman and Superman's partnership, Lois and Clark's relationship, and just the entire world of Metropolis Post-B13.

Manhunter by John Ostrander, the first four issues. I like John Ostrander. I like the Mark Shaw Manhunter. I like Dumas as a villain, and he's the closest thing the Manhunters ever had to a common rogue.

 

Kingdom Come, basically all of Alan Moore's classic Superman stories, Batman: Year One, Ostrander's Suicide Squad run, NTT by Marv, Man of Steel by John Byrne, Birthright, DoS and associated arcs, Gaiman's Sandman, Kirby's New Gods, Watchmen, and half of TDKR.

 

James Robinson's "Starman" is easily my favorite superhero comic of all time. Aside from running the whole spectrum of the DCU, from the golden age to the gritty crime stuff to the cosmic stuff and everywhere in between, really showcasing how truly great DC is, it is also incredibly literate. It's such a well written, smart book. For me, it's the the reconstruction of superheroes. Where Watchmen deconstructed the genre, Starman rebuilt it and did it marvelously. It's also one of the only comics to move me emotionally. The character relationships, especially between Jack Knight and Ted Knight, are some of the most realistic and emotional to be be found in a comic. It also made me fall in love with Ralph and Sue Dibney, and knowing what DC did to them in Identity Crisis just pisses me off even more. We also get some great stories involving the JSA, Scalphunter, Captain Marvel, Adam Strange, and it has one of the best damn Superman stories I've ever read. If you haven't read it, you need to do everything in your power to track it down because it seems like DC has a hard on for suppressing ready access to it.

I just finished reading John Ostrander's run on Firestorm which was great. Much like his run on The Spectre, which sadly DC has also neglected in TPB form, it meets in the halfway point of Roy Thomas and Alan Moore. That is, it's absolutely wonderful traditional comic book fun and absurdity but with a literate edge that really hits home. It's a shame that no one ever took Ostrander's ideas further later on, as this was the most interesting I think Firestorm's ever been. If you need a definitive run of Firestorm comics, look no further.

Hawkworld vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Timothy Truman's HAWKWORLD 3-issue mini is one of my top 5 favorite comics of all time. Great artwork. Great writing. It really makes the Thanagarian space cop Katar Hol interesting. It's unfortunate that no one pays attention to it. DC just released a TPB of it a few months ago. It's really one of the more profound books DC published in the late 80's. For me, it's up there with Watchmen and DKR. It's just a good book, and a kind of book that you'd be hard pressed to see DC ever publish again.

Hawkworld Vol. 2 is John Ostrander's on-going book that continues where Truman left off. It's a controversial run, but the truth is that Ostrander, as usual, does a phenomenal job plugging the holes. His run really confronts U.S. politics and law, while never losing track that it's a superhero book. That's what I love about Ostrander - he blends important topics with superheroics almost effortlessly, and does it better than most. Everyone accuses this run of polluting the character, but the fact of the matter is that Hawkman was never this interesting before Hawkworld, nor was he ever interesting afterwards. And while people sing praises to Geoff Johns for "saving" Hawkman, he really just ignored everything Ostrander did. He didn't creatively work around it...he just ignored it, never to be spoken of again. Which is a shame. Because Ostrander's Hawkwoman, Shayera Thal is the most interesting, and the best, of the lady Hawks, much more so than Kendra Saunders.

 

I second No Mans Land. I would also throw in Trench, Flashpoint, and Hush.

 

Actually, Geoff Johns' run on Aquaman in general was outstanding. Not just Trench.

 

Ew tough one. Death of Superman, Cataclysm, Superman Man of Tomorrow, Superman Grounded, Batman Under The Hood, Batman Murder and Fugitive, All-Star Superman, Tower Babel. Those are just the ones I can name off the top of my head.

 

Call me crazy but I also love Battle for the Cowl. Nightwing is incredible in that one. I also loved Dick's turn as the Bat in Black Mirror.

 

DKR

Ostrander's Suicide Squad (Except for a lot of the Janus Directive stuff; I didn't care for the event personally)

Sandman

Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others

Hellboy: Wake the Devil

Spawn

 

I love both of those stories. One of them might be in my top 10, maybe not though. I have to sit down and really think about it.

 

I've read them - but along with Man Who Laughs and Year One, they were a chore to finish.

 

Runs:

Grant Morrison's Batman
Geoff Johns' Green Lantern
Stan Lee & Steve Ditko/John Romita's Spider-Man
Grant Morrison's JLA
Dennis O' Neil & Neal Adams' Batman
Steve Engleheart & Marshall Rogers on Detective Comics
Darwyn Cooke's The Spirit
Frank Miller's Daredevil
Brian Bendis' Daredevil

Stories:

Batman: Strange Apparitions
Batman: Tales of the Demon
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Batman: Year One
Batman: R.I.P

All Star Superman
Superman: Red Son
Whatever Happened to the Man of Tommorow?
Superman: Birthright

Spider-Man: Blue
The Dark Phoenix Saga


Issues:

DC Special Series #15 ("I Now Pronounce you Batman and Wife", "Death Strikes at Midnight and Three")
Detective Comics 481 ("Ticket to Tragedy")
The Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1, vol 1
Batman # 1 vol 1

 

I'm just going to stick to DC for this.

Legion of Super-Heroes - Great Darkness Saga, Legion of Super-Villains War / Death of Karate Kid, the Universo Project (my personal favorite).

Teen Titans - Judas Contract, Who Is Donna Troy (standalone story).

Swamp Thing - War of Heaven and Hell.

Young Justice - PADs entire initial run.

Power Company - I think it only lasted a dozen issues, so not really long enough to have any real story arcs, but I was really impressed with how good it was.

Batman and the Outsiders - Sympathy for the Fuhrer (standalone story, but a powerful one).

I'm sure I'll remember more after I hit 'post reply.' That's usually how it works.

 

Okay, I gave it a shot. Probably missing a lot of my favorites, but oh well.

1. Green Lantern: Sinestro Corp War
2. Daredevil: Born Again
3. Saga of the Swamp Thing- 29-31 and Swamp Thing Annual 2
4. Animal Man- 18-26
5. Batman, INC
6. The Sandman: Season of Mists
7. Deadly Class: Reagan Youth
8. Thor: Disassembled
9. 52
10. Avengers: Under Siege

 

I'm curious, why do you like Batman Inc.?

I've always wanted to like that era and I found the concept interesting but didn't like the execution. I'm interested in having my mind changed.

 

I really enjoyed the story and couldn't put it down. It was fun. I love the darker Batman stories, but it was a real interesting change of pace and I was hooked.

 

I wasn't thinking about standalones. Taking those into account I'd say Batman: War on Crime is my favorite. I know it wouldn't be most people's choice but it is just a touching story.

I'm also surprised that I failed to mention Batman Eternal. I loved loved loved that run.

 

I mostly read Batman and some Superman, bits here and there of other things.

Watchmen

Batman: Year One, Dark Knight Returns, Black Mirror, Long Halloween, Arkham Asylum

Gotham Central is incredible. They really should make a series set in the DCEU outta that. And I love No Man's Land, that could make for a great film with a single season series leading up to it, showing the characters surviving before Batman returns to Gotham.

My all time favorite may just be Snyder's run on Batman, at least from what I've read, through Endgame. It's fantastic. The story arcs play out like a blockbuster movie, with a strong emotional core that really explores Bruce and his relationships to Gotham, friends, and foes. I love how he takes all these details from the Batman mythos and reinvents them or gives them new purpose. Like in Black Mirror, bringing Gordon's son back and tying his mental issues possibly to the fall in Year One, or how Gordon got his coat, Joker's origin, all those kinds of things. And how he takes all these interesting tidbits and factoids and incorporates them in the story in some symbolic or metaphorical way, like about Owls or the Sphinx, the bedrock of Gotham, things like that. I would love it if they bought him in to write for the Batman films.


Superman: Red Son, Superman For All Seasons, Secret Identity, Birthright, All Star Superman, Earth One


Kingdom Come

Identity Crisis

Brian Azzarello's Joker


DareDevil: Born Again



And I'm sure I'm missing some

 

Co-signed.

And let's also remember the introduction of you-know-who to comics continuity.