We talked about comics that can convert easily to V&V, but we haven't talked about our favorite comics.  Here are some of my favorite comic runs in the order that they come to me.

I have to start with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four.  I mean, come on, this pretty much started the whole shebang.   Character driven stories,  heroes with flaws, and not just gimmics like Kryponite.  Some villains that have yet to be topped.  Man those 102 comics were gold. 

John Byrne's Fantastic Four run.   In my mind, the second best run on the Fantastic Four.  And what did he do?  He pretty much copied Stan and Jack.  Man I have to say, I love this run.

  Mark Waid's Fantastic Four.  It was a modern touch, yet very much an homage to Stan and Jack.  The issue when Ben died, and Reed stormed the gates of heaven to get his friend back, only to find out god looked a bit like our favorite FF penciler was a real tear jerker.   

Avengers 150-200.   While 200 was definitatly a poor issue,  this 50 run was pure comic joy.  The fights were exactly what you wanted from comics; notably the Avengers Nefaria battle in 164-166.  This run has some amazing artists;  Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnote, John Byrne,  George Perez, I mean come on,  these were some real legends here.  And I don't care what anyone says,  Jim Shooter was a godsend to the Avengers and to my next entry...


Legion of Superheros!   From the Great Darkness Saga and on till the book was cancelled, this was comic gold.   The art was superb.  Geffen,  Lighte,  Cockrum what can be better?    The characters became individuals, each with their own voice.  And that was no easy task when we were talking about a team with about 30 members.

  The New Teen Titans and Clairmont and Byrnes X Men.  These books are legendary.   These two were revolutionary among comics.  They change the way stories are told, they changed the way dialogue is written, and character interaction.  And they both hold up well.

For me, the Marv Wolfman/George Perez run on New Teen Titans (issue one is what got me collecting comics), the Chris Claremont/John Byrne run on Uncanny X-Men, The Keith Giffen run on Legion of Super Heroes (The Great Darkness Saga still ranks in my top ten storylines), Kingdom Come, Bill Willingham's Elementals, The Byrne run on Fantastic Four, the initial run of The Micronauts, Crisis on Infinite Earths, all good reads.

I will be adding more as my failing memory permits.

As mentioned above;  Bill Willingham's Elementals.   This comic changed comics.   This comic was the harbinger of Alan Moore,  Vertigo,  the Dark Knight, you name it.   The art was amazing when Willingham drew it, and his characters dealt with their problems in a real world way.   This was the first mature comic, mature in the best sense of the word, I ever read.

A couple I forgot to add were Morrison's run on Animal Man, Doom Patrol, and the Justice League, the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire run on Justice League.

Hitman by Garth Ennis with art by John McCrea.  This is a brilliant run of comics.  While I admit, its not everyones cup of tea,  I LOVE this comic.  Its up there in the top five most best comics of all time.
  This comic had everything from the silliest of stories ( a mad scientist that hid an extradimensional storage unit in his ass), to the most touching ( the story of Tommy's mother and Tommy's birth), to the most philosphical ( issue 34, my favorite single comic of all time*).

Hitman was the story of Tommy Monahan, a hitman that gained the powers of telepathy and X ray vision from the crappy Bloodlines event in DC.  In fact, Hitman was ONLY good thing to come out of that crappy event.
     Garth did what ever he wanted.  He told no holds barred stories of violence,  guns, and violence.  Again, if a guy who shoots and kills people is not your cup of tea, I won't hold it against you.  But I will say, while its not a superhero comic, it is a comic with superheroes in it.   Its just that one of the superheroes is not the star of the comic.  He is not a hero, but you do get to see him evolve into a hero.
  The first year is good, but it doesn't kick into high gear till the second year.    



* this issue has Superman just landing near Tommy and they have a talk.  It turns out Superman just thought Tommy was a lonely guy in nead of a friend.   Tommy ends up comforting Superman as he is in need of a friend as he failed at saving everyone in a shuttle diaster.  He had to leave one guy behind.   Tommy explains to Superman how he can't beat himself up over not being able to save everyone.  He then explains to Superman what he means to the average person, and American.  Then they have a talk about what it means to be American,  the greatness of America, and the tragic flaw in America.     All in one issue!    You learn why we all love  Superman,  why Superman is so damn cool,  why America is a great nation, and why we will just fuck it all up anyway.   And then, as Superman flies away...well I won't ruin the ending,  go buy it. Its only 3 bucks or so.

Right on with most of the initial post and Replies 2, 4, 5 and 9!
We have to be the same age.

Plus, more currently:
The Goon!
Mignola's Hellboy!
Jack Staff!
Secret Six!

It's an homage to Marvel's Union Jack and the Invaders, along with some homegrown British heroes.
I'd start at the beginning with the tpb.

The new ones come out so infrequently though, it's hard to hang in there.

For the Elementals fans out there, you may want to check out a comic called Pantheon, from Lone Star Press - http://www.lonestarpress.com/ ; It's written by Bill Willingham, with artwork by Mike Leeke. It's a decent read, with several cool characters.

If you get the chance, read over the Pantheon Script Book, I bought a copy, but the publishers have made it available for free online. It's got a lot of additional info, and notes from Bill Willingham. He states that he used a lot of his plans for the Elementals in Pantheon.

Yes, Pantheon is very good (especially for Elementals fans)!

I didn't know about the Script Book; will have to check that out some time.

Chase was outstanding.  Long live the Justice Experience!

The Doug Moenick and Bill Seinkeivecheachedvjkl;asd or how ever you spell his name Moon Knights were great.  I just re read them and They stand up as some good comics.