What are your personal Top Ten favorite comic book issues of all time?

I'm not talking about bound editions of multiple issues. I'm not talking about graphic novels. So Watchmen, for example, separates out as 12 issues (not one graphic novel).

On the bright side, an annual or double-sized issue of a standard comic counts as 1 comic (not two).

When you pick your Top Ten, feel free to say something about why you like those issues best!!!

This is my single favorite comic of all time.   From one of my favorite runs of comics all all time.   This one has such good story telling in it.   Superman lands on a rooftop to talk to what he thinks is a loney guy.   Superman is depressed cause he failed to save everyone in a space shuttle.    What happens is a great philosophical conversation on what it means to be a hero, an American and an immigrant.  I won't ruin the ending for you, but it is a great comic.

Marvel Fanfare #15, it's just straight fun and I pull it out and share it with anyone I can. The Human Torch plans an April Fools day to remember for the Thing.

And of course the issue that times into Avengers Annual #10... I just love the time disruptions!

Aslan, you're right on my wavelength!

Two of my faves as well!

Chello!

I have to start with:



I've always liked Doom and thought he needed to be a hero. Back each day as I ruminate on my favs.

Chello!

Thanks, but I've been lurking for about a year...lolz!

Let's see for today, the classic, which if I had been coherent last night, would have been my first:



The Hero from which all others ultimately have their source and being, Superman.

Chello again!

Well, are we up to #4 already? Excellent!

Number 4 has a special place in my heart; it's Detective Comics #450, August, 1975.



Why is a pretty mediocre issue in my top ten? Well, glad you asked. That's because it's the first comic I ever bought myself.

It was summer and my grandmother took me to the grocery store with her. Next door to the grocery was a drug store (Louis-Morgan, to be precise, on the corner of Marshall Ave. and Alpine, Longview, TX). She gave me a quarter and told me to "go and buy a funny book." Really? All by myself? Cool! (I was only 5!)

Well, I went in and looked and saw..Batman! Now, even as kid, Supes was my favorite, but Bats was "ok." (As I got older and more "mature," Bats would win out. The circle is now complete and I'm more of a Supes fan these days. )

Well, I went to the counter where a teenage girl was working to pay for my "funny book." "26 cents," she said, after ringing it up.

26? I only had a quarter (sales tax was beyond me at the time). I must have looked crestfallen, because she laughed and said that the quarter would be fine. Ecstatic, I took my purchase outside to read on the curb while granny finished shopping.

I still have that comic. It's not as good as the one in the picture, probably fair to good. A lot of my comics didn't survive over the years--they were scribbled in, lost covers, had pictures cut out. But, somehow, this particular one has made it with me, to the army and now in my own home. It's the pride of my collection.

Louis-Morgan Drugs is no more. There are a couple left around East Texas (it was a chain), but that store was tore down in the early 90s to make way for a bigger and better "super market." My grandmother died last year. But I have my memories of her and the comic she gave me a quarter to buy.

Chello!

Thanks, Majestic! When I do have something to write about, I can be quite prolific. The flaw of being a history teacher, I guess.

That said, I'm reposting and expanding on this list on my blog; the order there is close to "in this order" for preference or ranking. It's at:

http://isungr.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-top-10-comics-1-where-it-all-began.html

But here we're up to #5. The choices are starting to get harder!! Well, today a bit of whimsy, I guess. Let's go with Web of Spiderman #70.



This issue is part two of a two-part story. The cover alone is  terrific! "Spider smash!" It's also representative of the craziness that is Peter Parker's life and indicative of a more subtle and profound change in the Spidey's comics.

In the 90s, Peter's life would get very complicated. It was like the writers at Marvel decided that nothing good could happen to Peter. Oh, there were bad things prior to this time [cf. Gwen Stacy, 1st app of the Punisher (gunning for Spidey)], but mostly his life wasn't the parody that it would become in the movies.

But, by itself, this is a great storythat links all the way back to Fantastic Four #51 with its villain. It's all just plain out FUN. Spidey pulling off the Bruce Banner signature move of getting angry and big and green. You have to read it to get it.

Later,

Tony