Your Top Marvel Events/Plots/Issues?

[JewishHobbit]

So in a discussion in another thread I was presented with the challenge of listing my top 10 favorite events (for reasons unnecessary to mention here). I had fun thinking about it so I thought I'd create a thread.

My challenge to you is to create a favorites "story" list... exclusively Marvel. It can be an event, a mini, an ongoing plot, a single issue, etc. Just list as many as you want in favorite order.... have fun with it, tell us why.

I'll start (though the why's and discussion will have to come later, I'm tired)

1. Legion Quest/Age of Apocalypse
2. Onslaught (including build up)
3. Harry Osborn/Green Goblin Saga (Spectacular Spider-Man 178-184, 189-190, 200)
4. Spider-Man: The Clone Saga
5. Web of Spider-Man 81 (my first comic)
6. The Xorn plot of Morrison's New X-Men
7. Generation X begins (Phalanx Covenant: Generation Next - Generation X 17)
8. Annihilation
9. Childhood's End (New X-Men 20-31)
10. Amazing Spider-Man 121-122 (Death of Gwen and Norman)
11. The Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix
12. Secret Invasion
13. Carnage (Amazing Spider-Man 361-363)
14. The original Hobgoblin Saga
15. X-Men 2099 (whole series)
16. Amazing Spider-Man 655-656 (Funeral for Marla Jameson/Massacre)
17. Spider-Man 17 (Spider-Man vs. Thanos)
18. Skaar: Son of Hulk (Son of Hulk ongoing, mini, Incredible Hulk 601-Dark Son)
19. X-Men: Fatal Attractions
20. Bishop: The Last X-Man 1-14 (the culmination of Bishop vs Fitzroy)
21. The Immortal Iron Fist (whole series)
22. Maximum Carnage
23. Spider-Man 2099 1-7
24. Amazing Spider-Man 248 (The Boy Who Collects Spider-Man)
25. 2099: One Nation Under Doom (Doom 2099 28-38 and various oneshots and tie-ins)
25. War of Kings (with tie-ins)

 

[moraldeficiency]

Hmmm.... and I'm not sure of this order:

1. Loki (the mini, now I think it's called blood brothers)
Great story and art. A very interesting take on the characters from a different perspective that really had some good points. No one's a villain in their own eyes and lots of heroes aren't really so heroic.

2. Inferno
What's not to love about this event? Demons invade the earth. The tie ins were also epic, especially spider-man. I really loved seeing JJJ as something other than just a raving guy that hates spider-man but as a real leader. Also a big fan of seeing forge and storm in their relationship.

3. Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
Yes it's a cartoon, I don't care, the story is great. The characters are great. Twists and turns and nonstop action. It's the essence of what makes the avengers awesome.

4. Spider-Man: New Avengers
Awesome art and story. Brilliant plan by a much scarier hydra. Best New Avengers story out there period. The scenes with aunt may dressing down logan or peter punching him out the window alone can't help but make you smile.

5. Exiles: The evil hyperion story (several arcs)
This is what makes the exiles great. Epic villian, great battles, major plotlines dealt with brilliantly. Evil serial killer spider-man was also a lot of fun.

6. Annihilation
What is there not to like about the best space event in marvel or any other comic franchise? I can't think of a thing. Plus rocket raccoon, that's twenty bonus points right there.

7. Spider-Man: Reign
Yeah, yeah, say what you will about whatever, this is a great story. Spider-Man is funnier in this than in most spider-man stories. The art is awesome. Great action. Hypno Hustler. I loved the concept (and yes I know it was a knock off of TDK, but what story isn't a knock off of something?) that spider-man isn't about fixing the problem, he's about showing people what's right, inspiring them to fight even against hopeless odds. Also this version is the best rendition of venom ever. Finally, the scene with sandman's daughter actually made me cry. Shut up.

8. The Immortal Iron Fist
This is what an awesome kung fu story is all about. Tournaments, intrigue, non stop action all backed by a solid story and character development. Adds new characters which have actually been well received, which is no easy task.

9. Acts of Vengence
A simple concept but incredibly fun. Let's get all the villains together and switch opponents. What's not to love?

10. Revenge of the Sinister Six
An even simpler concept but it was very well done. Action, action, action. The heroes were well represented. Seeing Sue Storm make spider-man invisible to take out electro gave me a very serious thought that as powerful as her force fields are her best power is probably the most underutilized which is a shame.

 

[CConn]

Here's a few off the top of my head, in no particular order...


Daredevil: The Devil in Cell Block D and The Devil Inside and Out
by Brubaker and Lark

Rumaways
By BKV and Alphona

The Immortal Iron Fist
By Brubaker and Aja

The Ultimates
By Millar and Hitch

Ultimate Fantastic Four (UFF #21-32)
By Millar and Land

Astonishing X-Men: Gifted and Dangerous
By Whedon and Cassiday

Fantastic Four
By Waid and Wieringo

Captain America Vol. 5
By Brubaker and Epting, Guice, Ross, etc., etc.

PunisherMAX
By Aaron and Dillon

X-Factor (X-Factor #1-7)
By David and Sook

Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine
By Lindelof and Yu

Young Avengers
By Heinberg and Chang

Uncanny X-Men (#100...to like 150)
By Claremont and Cockrum and Byrne

The Death of Gwen Stacy
By Conway and Romita

Spider-Man: Blue, Daredevil: Yellow, and Hulk: Grey
By Loeb and Sale

War of Kings
By DnA

The Thranos Imperative
By DnA

 

[Franklin Richards]

I have about 13 in mind right now. So I'll just post them one at a time periodically. Cool?




Let us begin.

#51 - This Man...This Monster June 1966

Plot Summary from Comic Vine
The story begins with The Thing wandering around town in the rain . He is depressed over his appearance and decides to take a walk. Passing by a house, a strange man calls to Thing and invites him inside for some coffee. The man(who isn't given a name) tells Ben to tell him his problems ,Ben does and the man reveals himself to be a mocked and ridiculed scientist , who wishes to be like Reed Richards. Ben decides to leave but the scientist (who for arguments sake will be referred to as "The Doc ") insists that Ben rest on The Doc's sofa and rest . Its revealed the coffe was drugged and Ben is asleep .

The Doc removes a machine from a closet , and in a monologue, reveals how envious he is of Reed Richards . The machine is a duplication device and he hooks it up to Ben and he takes on the form (and voice) of The Thing . Ben is back to his human form, but is still drugged . The Doc leaves Ben there and sets out to destroy the Fantastic Four.

At the Baxter Building , Reed is discussing going into sub-space(the Negative Zone) to Sue. when The Doc (as The Thing ) walks in . Reed has him move some machinery around to get ready . The real Ben Grimm shows up to warn Sue and Reed that the "Ben " in front of them is fake. They view him as a imposter , and tell him to leave, and Ben storms off angrily . Reed sets up the portal to enter sub-space and has The doc hold a safety line should anything happen he can pull him back home. Reed is amazed at what he sees but finds due to instabilities in this dimension , he will be drawn to earth's atmosphere and explode (negative matter meeting postive matter , and the kind) he calls out to "Ben" to draw him back . The Doc leaves him to die, until Sue talks to him As Ben Grimm and tells him to save Reed. The Doc realizes that he must do the right thing and pulls the line , it snaps leaving Reed on his collision course! The Doc jumps into the portal and throws Reed back through the portal and home safe . The Doc sits and awaits death knowing he did one last decent act . Reed and Sue mourn their friend , as Ben is about to tell Alicia Masters that he is normal , when at the exact moment The Doc dies , Ben is reverted back to The Thing ,. Excited he runs back home and Sue and Reed apologize for not believe Ben the first time and wonder who was the imposter and why did he sacrifice himself like that . They group hug and put the matter behind them .

This comic stands out for me because of the artwork and the title. Over the course of the FF's run we've seen better stories surrounding Ben's Elephant Man predicament. And in this one Stan kinda stumbles a bit what with Reed and Sue not trusting Ben over someone they just met. But that still doesn't sour this title for me.

Kirby shines in this mag. The Thing is not an easy draw. Not even for the man who created him. In this issue we finally start looking past Ben's one dimensional gimmick and finally start to empathize with his plight. We look past the "sock puppet" and finally start to see Yoda --- if you will.

Kirby creates life and we all get to witness it.

The cover is one of the most iconic of all times. Yes, Sue is a bit lopsided but that's the sort of artistic leeway that I have no problem with. It looks great.

Oh and the title is perfect.


More to come...

 

[Franklin Richards]

Squadron Supreme #9 - Borrowed Time! May, 1986

Plot Summary by Comic Vine

With Hyperion blinded, Power Princess takes her place as the new leader of the team. Meanwhile, Tom Thumb learns he doesn't have much time left, so he and Lamprey travel to the future once again to steal a sample of the Scarlet Centurion's Pancea potion. But when the potion is analyzed, Tom realizes what a fool he has been and returns to work, shortly before passing away.

This one is all about story. Long before Alan Moore deconstructed the superhero, Gruenwald wrote this great 12 issue series. But in the middle of all that, there was a story about Tom Thumb and how circumstances interrupt even grand campaigns.

What a meticulous story. Not only are we in the middle of the big plot, but we get to see how even the best intentions can have unforeseen outcomes. The predicament Ape X gets into when she must go against her Behavior Modification to actually help the man she loves, Tom, is tragic and beautiful.

This series is a winner. And in the middle of it all is a very unsuper human story about the biggest hero in the Squadron.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Fantastic Four #245 - Childhood's End. August 1982

Plot Summary by Comic Vine.

Sue Richards does a television interview and returns home using her powers in a unique way.

She returns to a wrecked Baxter Building and finds her team members unconscious. She spots the intruder, battle ensues until finally she recognizes him for who he is -- her own son, Franklin, aged to adulthood.

#17 on Wizard Magazine's "100 Best Single Issue Comics Since You Were Born" list.

Sue Storm Richards has arguably the largest character arc in the history of comics. She went from a 60's Mad Men second fiddle hostage to a genuine modern women. And her changes certainly echo the times. In the 80's, this was her biggest stride.

Not only does she save the day, but she takes the road less traveled and uses her brains instead of just her power. She also uses her heart.

This is a pivotal issue for Franklin's growth as well. We start to see what the future holds for one of the most powerful mutants on the planet. Reality is Franklin's power and this is where we start to figure that out.

Bonus. We get to see Sue take down Babba Wawa.

 

[The Morningstar]

Annihilation. Best comic event ever.
Thanos Quest and Infinity Gauntlet.
Deadpool MAX.
Joe Kelly's Deadpool run.
Ultron Unlimited.
Kang Dynasty.
Knauf's Iron Man run.
DnA's Guardians of the Galaxy.
DnA's Nova.
Jeff Parker's Agents of Atlas.
Warren Ellis' T-Bolts.
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E
Cornell's Captain Britain and MI-13
Loki: Blood Brothers.

 

[Themanofbat]

Amazing Spider-Man#1 to 251...

 

[Max J Power]

Marvels
Brubaker's Captain America, especially up through the Death of Captain America arc
The Immortal Iron Fist (Brubaker/Fraction/Swierczynski series)
Daredevil Volume 2, minus David Mack's arcs and the Shadowland stuff
Straczynski's Spider-Man
Days of Future Past, and other Claremont X-Men stuff
Simonson's Thor
Waid's Fantastic Four
Daredevil: Born Again
Ultimate Spider-Man, prior to the Ultimatum stuff

 

[YoungE808]

Alias MAX
Amazing Spider-Man 655-656
Avengers Forever
Captain America (Brubaker)
Daredevil (Bendis)
Exiles
Marvels
New X-Men (Morrison and Childhood's End)
Thunderbolts (Warren Ellis)
Young Avengers
X-23: Target X and Innocent Lost

 

[THANOSRULES]

Annhilation 1
New Warriors Vol 1 issue 1-25
Infinity Guantlet (including Thanos Quest in SS)
John Byrne X-men
Captain America John Walker Saga
Captain America Brubaker..
Cap Gruenwald Era
Avengers Forever
Busiek's Avenger's run
Byrne's She Hulk
Spidey Death of Captain Stacey
Spidey "inferno crossover" books
Spider Man Mcfarlane
GOTG- DnA
NOVA-DnA
GOTG-Valentino
Silver Surfer-Starlin
Thor-Kirby stuff
Thunder Bolts-Busiek/Nicenza
Exiles-the whole run

 

[JewishHobbit]

Amazing Spider-Man#1 to 251...

No love for the Black Costume Saga?