#Gerry Conway Story

[keycomicbooks]

Justice League of America #234 (1984) Todd Klein & Dick Giordano Cover, Gerry Conway Story, Chuck Patton Art, Dick Giordano Inks, 1st Appearance of Cadre & Black Mass

#JusticeLeagueofAmerica #234 (1984) #ToddKlein & #DickGiordano Cover, #GerryConway Story, #ChuckPatton Art, #DickGiordano Inks, 1st Appearance of #Cadre & #BlackMass "REBIRTH PART 2" Vixen overtakes and captures a car driven by three terrorists who are, she is horrified to learn, working for the Red Dawn group which is led by her uncle, General Mustapha Maksai. https://www.rarecomicbooks.fashionablewebs.com/Justice%20League%20of%20America.html#234 @rarecomicbooks Website Link In Bio Page If Applicable. SAVE ON SHIPPING COST - NOW AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL PICK UP IN DELTONA, FLORIDA #KeyComicBooks #DCComics #DCU #DCUniverse #KeyIssue

[weirdlookindog]

Bookworm

by Richard Corben (art) & Gerry Conway (script)

from Creepy #103, November 1978

source

[balu8]

The Flash #289: A Matter of Good Taste

by Gerry Conway; George Perez; Bob Smith; Gene D'Angelo and Ben Oda

DC

[wanderingmind867]

I shockingly don't like Spiderman that much. Sure, I like Spiderman tv shows and stuff sometimes (I still have some memories of the spectacular spider-man tv show, for example), but I don't love the character himself. His supporting cast and villians are more interesting than him to me. Plus, all his comics have death. Death of Gwen Stacy, Death of George Stacy, Death of Norman Osbourne, etc. Spiderman is a walking death magnet! The only other hero with this much death might be Iron Man? Maybe? 60s and 70s Iron Man seemed to have a lot of characters die or almost die. But most characters didn't have nearly this much death.

Also, even his early stories aren't great. I don't remember liking the book, and I fully blame Steve Ditko. Spiderman often reeks of selfishness to me. He's not great. Dare I say it, I may very well be on J. Jonah Jameson's side back then. Because all the other heroes? They're mostly all good (I have hangups on Captain America, but besides that they're all good). Spiderman? Awful. Little selfish menace. And when I can bring myself to sympathize with the guy who hates our hero: that's probably a bad thing for getting me to enjoy the stories.

[shokuto]

If I had to pair MJ off with someone new I think it’d be a screenwriter she went to school with before she moved to NY, who witnessed her awkward class clown phase but also empathized with the obvious loneliness behind it, despite being too timid to actually approach her back then. Years later, sometime after his divorce, MJ would be approached to play the lead role of a movie he wrote and they would reconnect after the initial awkwardness of her not remembering him lmao

[misterdtour]

When Spidey Jumped the Shark, Pt. 4: The Len Wein Era

Looking back at the Len Wein era of Spider-Man. #spiderman #marvel #LenWein

This should be a relatively quiet and easy post, particularly compared to the previous one in this series. Continue reading Untitled

[heroesriseandfall]

Introduction to Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying, April 1990

Introduction by Dennis O'Neil for Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying (1990 collected edition)

Transcription below the cut/readmore.

INTRODUCTION by DENNIS O'NEIL

Robin was gone. We needed a new Boy Wonder. There had been two previous Robins. The original first appeared less than a year after a new costumed hero called Batman made his debut in DETECTIVE COMICS #27, to instant success. Some time within the next eleven months, his creators, artist Bob Kane and his writer-collaborator Bill Finger, decided to give their dark, obsessed hero a kind of surrogate son, Robin, who was hailed on the cover of DETECTIVE #36 as “the sensational character-find of 1940—Robin, The Boy Wonder.” Over the next 40 years, Batman’s fortunes varied: always, however, Robin was at Batman’s side.

He served a couple of functions. If Batman were real (and it may shock some of our more avid readers to learn he isn’t), and if he were the grim, obsessed loner he is often portrayed as, Robin, with some help from Batman's faithful butler Alfred, would keep him sane; a man whose every waking hour is focused on the grimmest aspects of society, who is unable to release the effects of seeing his parents murdered, whose life is an amalgam of sudden violence and lonely vigilance, would soon skew into a nasty insanity if he did not have someone to care for, someone to maintain a link with common humanity. But Batman is, of course, not real. (My apologies to avid readers.) He isn’t exactly a fictional character—more on that shortly—but he does not and could not exist as a living, breathing human being. That doesn’t make Robin any less useful: he serves the same functions in the Batman stories as Watson served in the Sherlock Holmes canon and the gravedigger serves in Hamlet: like Holmes’s faithful doctor, Robin is a sounding board, a person with whom the hero can have dialogues and thus let the reader know how brilliantly he’s handling matters and like the gravedigger, he occasionally provides a bright note in an otherwise relentlessly morose narrative.

Which is why I was a trifle uneasy when we—the editorial staff of DC Comics—decided to let our audience decide whether he would live or die. It came to be known in our offices as the “telephone stunt.” We had a character, Robin, the readers didn’t seem terribly fond of. This wasn’t the original Robin, the “character-find of 1940”; that Robin was Dick Grayson and he had graduated from sidekick to bona fide hero who fronted a group of evil-fighting adolescents, The Teen Titans. In 1983, it was decreed that Robin should grow up and assume a crime-fighting identity of his own—become his own man, as befitted the leader of the mighty Titans. He left Batman’s world to assume the name, costume, and persona of Nightwing. Gerry Conway and Don Newton replaced him with a second Robin, Jason Todd, whose biography was virtually identical to that of Dick Grayson. Why not? Gerry and Don were not trying to innovate, they were simply filling a void. The assignment they were given was simple: Provide another Robin. Quickly and with as little fuss as possible.

In 1986, Max Allan Collins inherited the Batman writing assignment and told his editor he had an idea for an improved Jason Todd. Make him a street kid, Collins said. Make his parents criminals. Have him and Batman on opposite sides at first. Sounded fine to the editor and, since DC was in the middle of a vast, company-wide overhaul of storylines anyway, Collins was told to go ahead. I was the editor; I did the telling. And I’d do it again, today. Collins’s Robin was dramatic, did have story potential. But readers didn’t take to him. I don't know now, and will probably never know why. Jason was accepted as long as he was a Dick Grayson clone, but when he acquired a distinct and, Collins and I still believe, more interesting backstory, their affection cooled. Maybe we—me and the writers who followed Collins—should have worked harder at making Jason likeable. Or maybe, I guessed, on some subconscious level our most loyal readers felt Jason was a usurper. For whatever reason, Jason was not the favorite Dick had been. He wasn’t hated, exactly, but he wasn’t loved, either. Should we write him out of the continuity? It didn’t seem like a bad idea, and when we thought of the experiment that became the telephone stunt, Jason seemed the perfect subject for it. The mechanics were pretty simple: we put Jason in an explosion and gave the readers two telephone numbers they could call, the first to vote that Jason would survive the blast, the second to vote that he wouldn't.

It was successful—oh my, yes. We expected to generate some interest, but not the amount or intensity we got. As soon as the final vote was tallied—5271 for Jasons survival, a deciding 5343 against—the calls began. For most of three days, I talked to journalists, disc jockeys, television reporters. We got a lot of compliments. They ranged from a critic’s liking our stunt to the participatory drama of avant garde theater to the brilliant comedy team of Penn and Teller expressing mock envy that we beat them to “the kill-your-partner-900-number scam.” But then came the backlash, ugly and, to me at least, totally unexpected: one reporter claimed that the whole event had been rigged—that, in fact, we had decided on Jason’s demise ahead of time and staged an elaborate charade; a teary grandmother said that her grandchildren loved Jason and now we’d killed him; several colleagues accused us of turning our magazines into a “Roman circus.” Cynical was a word used. And exploitive. Sleazy. Dishonorable. Wait a minute, I wanted to reply. Jason Todd is just a phantom, a figment of several imaginations. No real kid died. No real anything died. It’s all just stories—

I would have been wrong. Batman, and Superman, and Wonder Woman and their supporting casts are quite a bit more than “just stories” if, by “stories,” we mean ephemeral amusements. They’ve been in continuous magazine publication for a half-century, and they’ve been in movies, and television shows, and in novels, and on cereal boxes and T-shirts and underwear and candy bars and yo-yos and games—thousands of ventures. For fifty years. Fifty years! Although the circulation of our magazines is relatively modest, these characters have been so enduring, so pervasive, they have permeated our collective consciousness. Everybody recognizes them. They are our post-industrial folklore and, as such, they mean much more to people than a few minutes’ idle amusement. They’re part of the psychic family. The public and apparently callous slaying of one of their number was, to some, a vicious attack on the special part of their souls that needs awe, magic, heroism.

We had promised to abide by the telephone poll, and we would. But within a few days, it became apparent that we’d have to begin growing another Robin. We had forgotten that Batman exists outside the pages of our comics, is not the exclusive property of DC’s editorial staff; because he is both popular and imperishable, hundreds of others have some legitimate interest in him (not the least of whom are the readers who, for one reason or another, had missed the voting.) Our medium may have kept him alive, but others have added immeasurably to his success. When we began hearing from them, the consensus was that a Batman without a Robin wasn't quite a Batman. I wasn’t surprised. Nor did I disagree, particularly. So our problem became: how to create Robin III without generating the hostility that plagued poor Jason. Dick Grayson was the answer. If, as we thought, readers felt Jason had somehow usurped Dick’s place, then we should link the new Robin to Dick—give Robin III his predecessor’s stamp of approval. One writer had done almost all of the Dick Grayson material DC had published for a decade: Marv Wolfman, co-creator (with George Pérez) of the New Teen Titans. That made Mary the first, and really only, choice to undertake the task of giving Batman a new helper. And if we were using Marv, why not have some of the story happen in the pages of THE NEW TITANS, which he was already writing, and thus be able to take advantage of the very considerable talents of Marv's collaborator on the Titans, George Pérez? George volunteered to co-plot the story with Mary and do layouts on the TITANS episodes, and editor Mike Carlin enlisted Tom Grummett and Bob McLeod to complete George's graphics work. I asked the regular BATMAN artists, Jim Aparo and Mike DeCarlo, to handle the BATMAN issues. Finally, we chose a name for Robin III—Tim Drake—and, after a couple of editorial conferences, six gifted gentlemen retired to do what they do best.

The result seemed worthy of being collected between one set of covers, to be read as a graphic novel. We decided to do that and you’re holding the result. I hope you enjoy it. But please don’t think it’s the end of the Robin III saga. Dick Grayson’s lasted 50 years, after all, and Tim Drake does have his blessing.

Dennis O’Neil

April 1990

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

BHOC: MARVEL TALES #104

MARVEL TALES continued to carry on, reprinting stories from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN that had originally been published only a relatively few years prior. But as I was still in the process of filling in the gaps in my Marvel knowledge, these reprints were invaluable to me, and I followed them as avidly as any new comic book. We were entering the crux of writer Gerry Conway’s run on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN,…

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

It has been over 17 years since One More Day.

During that time we have had:

The equivalent of 6 runs on Amazing Spider-Man, if one counts Brand New Day and the Beyond era as runs unto themselves.

Several runs in sister titles like Avenging Spider-Man, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, etc

Over 300 issues of ASM, even if one discounts Superior, which Marvel themselves do not

All of this is frankly MORE than enough ‘field testing’ for us to look back with the benefit of hindsight and draw some conclusions. And those conclusions are rather damning.

Whilst it was objectively bad, Superior Spider-Man is the most remembered and referenced and (undeservedly) well received period of time in the post-OMD era. This means the ‘highlight’ (if you want to call that vile story such a thing) is a time period that Peter Parker wasn’t even the main character of the narrative

We have literally had TWO eras where Peter Parker is not even the main character of Spider-Man. Superior, and Beyond

Dan Slott’s run invested time in redressing mistakes perpetuated during Brand new Day, and Nick Spencer’s run spent A LOT of time repairing damage done in BND and Slott’s run.

In the entire 60+ year history of Spider-Man who have been the writer’s with the most ‘prestige’ attached to their name in the wider culture, not specifically within the comic book industry? Who has the ‘star power’ in other words? Kevin Smith for a mini-series in the early-mid 2000s that was just 6 issues (his 2020s Spider-Man work will be happening when his star has fallen into disgrace) and J. Michael Straczynski. In other words, despite the claims that an unmarried Spider-Man will attract more ‘high profile talent’, none of the talent who has worked on 616 Spidey since 2007 has ever had a profile remotely as prestigious as the person who was writing Spidey pre-OMD and wanted to write him married. And again, the second highest profile guy was also writing him pre-OMD.

The ‘high profile talent’ Spidey attracted frankly was front loaded and obviously hired to offset the fallout from OMD. Spider-Man even during BND, saw an exodus of ‘Big Name Creators’ with Slott hanging on until the end of BND and then getting his solo run. Since then it took over 10 years for Joe Kelly to return to the title and in the interim the Spider-Man office got so desperate they hired a fill-in writer from the 2000s, Zeb Wells, to take over ASM. So, actually Spider-Man has had MORE trouble attracting talent long-term post-OMD than pre-OMD. Whilst this is to an extent a problem in the mainstream industry, it is particularly acute with Spider-Man.

The highest profile writers to have worked on Spider-Man in the 2020s have been JMS for a non-canon one shot (in which he was married) and Jonathan Hickman in a non-canon ongoing (in which he is married with kids and this is the centrepiece of its promotion).

All those creators who worked on BND who said they would prefer to write an unmarried Spider-Man proved themselves summarily unqualified to write for Spider-Man in the first place. They got to write the Spider-Man they wanted and did so via nuclear levels of mischaracterisation, character assassination, plot holes, a disrespect for consistency, a disrespect for the readers time/money/intelligence and tired tropes. They claimed everyone deserved the Spider-Man they grew up with but they never even wrote the Spider-Man they grew up with.

Looking back at the actual best Spider-Man creators of the pre-OMD era (1962-2007) it is striking that ONLY Roger Stern and Marv Wolfman were staunchly anti-marriage. Stern delivered arguably the most consistently great Spider-Man run of all time, whilst Wolfman was a lot more contentious but did lots of good stuff. Gerry Conway might be included in that trio but he has massively vacillated his views on the subject. What I am saying is, the overwhelming majority of people who were accepting or supportive of Spider-Man being married delivered solid-all time great stories. By contrast, the overwhelming majority of people who were opposed to a married Spider-Man delivered at best mediocre stories but more often than not bad stories. I say bad, what I mean is the top 20 WORST Spider-Man stories to have ever been made were largely made by people who are of the anti-marriage camp and largely made after One More Day.

In fact, even if we use the anti-marriage camp’s golden boy, Roger Stern, his best work, whilst awesome, is not on the same level as quality as certain stories delivered by pro-marriage creators. Be honest, removing your own subjective enjoyment from the discussion, on a purely literary level, is the Kid Who Collects Spider-Man or Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut even remotely close to the same quality level as Kraven’s Last Hunt, which actively utilises Spider-Man’s marital status? No.

Even removing the subject of Spider-Man’s marital status or continuity, 2007-2025 Spider-Man has largely been creatively inconsistent, by which I mean disastrous. These would be the WORST Spider-Man stories of all time all on their own regardless of OMD setting us up for them. Character assassination is rife. Disdain for the customers is a regular occurrence.

Marvel have an institionalised misinterpretation of Spider-Man that requires the rats at the very top to be removed from office. Many of you out there are thinking this is a Nick Lowe problem. It isn’t. It’s a Nick Lowe/Tom Brevoort/Alan Fine/Dan Buckley/C.B. Cebulski problem. They all need to go and NOT be allowed to choose their successors

[keycomicbooks]

FANTASTIC FOUR #142 (1974) Rich Buckler Sr. Cover & Pencils, Gerry Conway Story, 1st Appearance of Darkoth (Desmond Pitt)

#FANTASTICFOUR #206 (1979) #KeithPollard Cover & Pencils, #MarvWolfman Story, 1st Appearance of Empress R'Klll "The Death of... the Fantastic Four!" Aboard the Skrull flagship, Emperor Dorrek gloats in victory at the three captive members of the Fantastic Four, and promises them they will face the full brunt of Skrull justice for their continued defiance of the race’s plans for universal conquest. https://www.rarecomicbooks.fashionablewebs.com/FantasticFour%202.html#142 @rarecomicbooks Website Link In Bio Page If Applicable. SAVE ON SHIPPING COST - NOW AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL PICK UP IN DELTONA, FLORIDA #RareComicBooks #KeyComicBooks #MCU #MarvelComics #MarvelUniverse #KeyComic #ComicBooks

[kurtbusiek]

Ok! Good, I just wanted to check. You never know in this day of misinformation and the lengths people will go.

I’ve always wanted to ask you this at a convention, but of course, I live out in the middle of nowhere haven’t gotten the opportunity.

MARVELS is one of my favorite comics thanks to you and Alex Ross. No other comic I feel captures the essence of Jack and Stan’s Galactus as this god passing judgement on what are ants to him. I recently read the annotated MARVELS just as my Marvel Unlimited subscription ran out last week.

What’s always burned in my brain is the last issue. I know MARVELS was written under the (duh) Marvel Method, so I don’t know where some of the plotting begins and ends between you and Alex Ross. But I’ve always wondered, what is your opinion on how #4’s interpretation of The Night Gwen Stacy Died, unlike most of the rest of MARVELS, has become viewed as this equivalent representation, if not replacement to the original story?

I’ve always noticed how the first 3 issues are very delicate in what they change from their source material, and 4 is no exception either. But I always interpreted it as you and Alex Ross trying to not rock the boat, show what these moments would have felt like in-universe and to readers at their times, without stepping on the toes of the original creators. It must be weird to have this interpretation of what is considered the turning point of the Silver/Bronze Age that you wanted to pay homage to, suddenly be put on equal level to Gerry Conway’s own work. Not that you don’t deserve it, god no, but I assume it must have been surreal.

MARVELS was written full-script, not "Marvel method." But Alex and I talked through things a lot, so while the plots are mostly mine, Alex certainly had a fair amount of input, and each issue is built around characters Alex had wanted to explore in his original conception of the series. I'm not sure what you mean by saying our treatment of Gwen's death replaces what Gerry, Gil and John did -- we didn't change anything. We show it through Phil's eyes, but the events are the same as what's in the original comics, and we used original dialogue and even panel layouts fairly often, as we did with the other issues.

It was a trip, though, to see MARVELS become such a significant book -- I had no idea that would happen when we started out.

[loopyarts]

Batman #350 Nightmare In Crimson Bronze Age pre crisis released in August 10th 1982 writers Gerry Conway and Paul Levitz artists Gene Colan and Tony de Zuniga letterer Ben Oda Colourist Adrienne Roy editor Dick Giordano.

Aw this panel is so sweet, I love it when Bruce refers to Dick as his son. Also with context this panel is quite grim and Bruce has every right to be concerned by how Dick is acting.

Note: Yes, I am aware that the word son is also a more old fashioned American English slang a term used usually by older men or usually by older men with authority/wisdom/seniority. Which is either used to refer to a young boy or man who is a stranger.

Or used as a casual gesture of endearment to the young boy or man and can also be used to refer the younger boy/man as a usually affectionate way to say close/good friend by an older man depending on the context it could also be familial in tone as well.

However it can also be used by an older man to demean/belittle or act superior to the young boy or man. So yeah so many meanings to one singular word of slang.

But hey this is Gerry’s Batman run which he had established Dick seeing Bruce as like a second father to him check Batman #339 for that context.

So, I see it having a double meaning to it because well Dick isn’t a stranger Bruce so that context wouldn’t make sense. So it must be the endearment kind which is just so sweet of Bruce, it also has some familial vibes to it as well due to how he worries for Dick’s well-being. To an outsider Robin is the close young friend to Batman but between Bruce and Dick they’re both father/son and close friends.

Also, I can see in Dick’s mind being quite happy when Bruce calls him his son in a way not that he’ll say it out loud. Also, while we know Dick see Bruce as like another father to him. Bruce however is a bit more vague on it but let’s be honest he acts like such a dad to Dick especially in Gerry’s Batman run.

God, I want to bash these two heads in for that. They’re truly in a way father/son in all but blood when comes to being so trash at communicating their feelings to others. Either way it just means they’re just very close in their case practically family.

Anyway, the comic book story this panel is from is really fun read and the art is really great as well with beautiful moody lighting, shading and atmosphere to it. So if you like Batman with some classic movie horror vibes to it, then I say give it a read if you can. I mean it’s got vampires in it what’s not to love lol.

The story starts from detective comics #515 detective comics #516 Batman comics #349 Batman comics #350 detective comics #517 Batman comics #351 and lastly comes to it conclusion at detective comic #518. :3c

[dorothylarouge]

Dorothy's Big List of Comic Book Recs - Marvel Comics Edition

I often get asks about getting into comic books, and how daunting it seems, given the huge back catalog of titles and issues available. I'm here to tell you it doesn't have to be scary! From miniseries that act as good introductions to characters to runs on ongoing titles by individual creators that serve on jumping-on points, there's lots of ways to get into comics without having to have a lot of background knowledge, and I'm going to give you a lot of potential places to start. Please note that this post only covers Marvel Comics; this is a companion to my DC list and I will also have a list for indie comics and smaller companies at some point. Also note that I haven't read everything, and I won't recommend something I haven't read, so a few runs or books some consider must-reads may not be on here. This is based purely on books I have read and enjoy, and that I think are suitable for new readers.

SPIDER-MAN

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) by Stan Lee, with artists Steve Ditko and John Romita, Sr.: The classic Spider-Man stories which laid the foundation for the character. These stories are filled with the melodrama and pathos that really makes Spider-Man shine, and with two of the greatest artists of the Silver Age on deck, you really can't go wrong. Ditko stays on the book until issue 38, and Lee's run ends at issue 110.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) by Gerry Conway, with artists John Romita, Sr., Gil Kane, and Ross Andru: Picking up immediately after the end of Stan Lee's run, Gerry Conway wrote issues 111 to 149. This run includes a number of vital Spider-Man stories, including Spidey's climactic tussle with the Green Goblin and his first brush with the nightmares of cloning.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) by Roger Stern: Spanning issues 229 to 252, this brief but memorable run includes several iconic Spider-Man stories and the debut of the Hobgoblin.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz: DeFalco wrote the book from 253 to 285, and this run included the debut of Silver Sable as well as Spider-Man's black suit.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) by J. Michael Straczynski: This should be read in omnibus format as the numbering is a little weird; the run starts during volume 2 of Amazing but the book switched back to volume 1 and original numbering partway through. One of my favorite runs on the book! The creator of Babylon 5 brings Peter Parker into the 21st century, giving him a job as a science teacher and first hinting there might be some destiny at play in how he got his powers. There are a few warts on this run, however, mainly due to editorial mandates: it contains the dreadful "Sins Past" storyline and it ends on the wet fart that is "One More Day."

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) by Bill Mantlo and Al Milgrom: The sister book to Amazing often goes a little overlooked, but this is a great run on it, including one of the best Doctor Octopus stories in Spider-Man history.

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (2017) by Chip Zdarsky: Spectacular was brought back in 2017 with writer Chip Zdarsky at the helm, and it's great. The standout story is probably issue 6, "My Dinner with Jonah," which is one of my favorite Spider-Man issues ever.

Spectacular Spider-Man (1988) by J.M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema: This run spans issues 178 to 203, and includes Spider-Man's final battle with the second Green Goblin, the standout storyline of the run. DeMatteis also had a turn writing Amazing, but I wouldn't wish the Clone Saga on any new reader.

Spider-Girl (1998) by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz: An alternate universe title set in the future and starring the daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane, it's great superhero fun featuring everything that made classic Spider-Man great.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley: Another alternate universe book which sought to reintroduce Spider-Man to a new generation. It's a solid book and a good read, but it is very dated to the 2000s for good and for ill.

Ultimate Spider-Man (2023) by Jonathan Hickman: Another alternate-universe take on Spider-Man, this time reimagining him as a family man who gets his powers in his 30s. Whereas most Spider-Man takes start Peter off as a kid with power but no responsibility, this flips the script by having him as an adult with responsibility but no power, as he finds himself drafted into a war against the forces that have taken control of the world.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2019) by Saladin Ahmed: Hot off the heels of Into the Spider-Verse, Ahmed's run on Miles' title pushes him forward and secures his place as a leading light of the Marvel Universe, and even gives him his own Clone Saga.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) by Cody Ziglar: This title is ongoing, but it's a great read that continues the work of carving out Miles' niche in the Marvel Universe and taking him in new directions.

Spider-Man: Life Story (2019) by Chip Zdarsky and Mark Bagley: A thoughtful and heartfelt story that takes Peter Parker on a real-time adventure through the decades, beginning in the 1960s.

Spider-Man 2099 (1992) by Peter David: A cyberpunk romp through a futuristic New York, featuring corporate oppression and intrigue. Miguel O'Hara's best run as Spider-Man.

X-MEN

X-Men (1963) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby: The initial run of the X-Men lays the groundwork for everything to come, but the book didn't sell well or retain Stan's attention the way Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four could, and he left the book after issue 19. Roy Thomas took over for the rest of the 60s, and there's some good stories in there too, but the real great stuff was still to come.

X-Men by Chris Claremont: MUST be read in omnibus format, because this mammoth run spanned over a decade and a half, including multiple titles - not only the main X-Men book but the New Mutants and the stellar graphic novel "God Loves, Man Kills." THE definitive X-Men run, featuring most of the team's most iconic stories.

New X-Men (2001) by Grant Morrison: Not my favorite work by Morrison, but this is probably the most important run after Claremont. Morrison brings a more militant spirit and a focus on radical activism to the X-Men, and the run opens with a bang - though I have to admit that it closes with two of my least favorite X-Men stories.

X-Men (1991) by Mike Carey: Fun stories featuring an eclectic assortment of characters and interesting team dynamics, but the real treat comes when the book becomes X-Men: Legacy, and a character study on Professor X and his son Legion.

New X-Men (2004): Of course, a classic element of X-Men stories is the school setting, and this book brings that concept into the 2000s, focusing on students at the Xavier School and their interpersonal drama. Degrassi with superpowers.

Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) by Jason Aaron: Another school-set book, this one focuses on Wolverine's efforts to run a school filled with mutant teenagers.

X-Factor (1986) by Louise and Walter Simonson: A very 80s team book focusing on the original X-Men, reconnecting after several years apart, and the conflicts they get drawn into, often the result of their own mistakes. Also features the debut of Apocalypse, one of the best X-villains.

X-Factor (1986) by Peter David: After David took over the book, the focus of X-Factor was shifted from being the original X-Men to an oddball group of government-sanctioned mutants. This book also helped flesh out the character of Mystique.

X-Factor (2006) by Peter David: X-Factor returned under David in the 2000s, this time as a detective agency specializing in cases involving mutants. There's a cynical edge to this book which was common in the 2000s but it really works for this title.

X-Force (1991) issues 116 to 129 and X-Statix by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred: Allred's art is worth the price of admission. Imagine a team where every character is expendable, most of them are liable to die in really nasty ways, and they all have weird and uncomfortable powers. That's X-Statix.

Ultimate X-Men (2024) by Peach Momoko: Probably my favorite of the new Ultimate line. Very different vibes to basically any other X-Men book - this one is essentially a horror manga in the vein of Junji Ito or Shigeru Mizuki.

THE HULK

Hulk: Gray by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale: A moody and gorgeously-illustrated take on the Hulk's earliest days.

The Incredible Hulk (1962) by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema: Buscema is one of the best Hulk artists of all time, and while Mantlo's writing can be hit or miss, when he hits he really hits, as in issue 312, one of the best Hulk issues ever written.

The Incredible Hulk (1962) by Peter David: David's run is considered the definitive Hulk run, and for good reason. It is best read in omnibus format because it is very long, and packs a lot into that long tenure. Bruce Banner's Joe Fixit alter debuts here, as does his Professor persona.

The Incredible Hulk (2000) by Greg Pak: This run includes the Planet Hulk storyline! Exiled from Earth, the Hulk rises to power as a warlord on a hostile alien world. Really scratches that Conan the Barbarian itch.

The Indestructible Hulk (2013): A different take on the Hulk, this time recasting him as an agent of SHIELD with all the adventures and difficulties that brings.

The Immortal Hulk (2018) by Al Ewing: Here we see the difference between "definitive" and "best." While David's run is the definitive Hulk run, for my money Immortal Hulk is the best. It is both a gnarly piece of body horror and a deeply thoughtful title that muses on the nature of anger, of suffering, and of pain, drawing heavily on Kabbalistic imagery and themes.

She-Hulk (2004 and 2005) by Dan Slott: An offbeat workplace comedy set in a law office specializing in cases involving superhumans. The best She-Hulk run in my book, not least because it does not involve John Byrne.

DAREDEVIL AND STREET LEVEL STUFF

Daredevil (1964) by Frank Miller: Probably the definitive Daredevil run, and the only time I've been able to stand Frank Miller, this run features some great art as well as some of the most important Daredevil stories in the character's history.

Daredevil (1964) by Ann Nocenti: Carries on from the Miller run and takes the character of Daredevil, his supporting cast, and Hell's Kitchen in some totally new directions. Includes the story of the excellent villain Typhoid Mary.

Daredevil (1998) by Brian Michael Bendis: A gritty, very 2000s take on Daredevil, Bendis' strengths as a writer are on full display during this run, with grungy art to match.

Daredevil (2011 and 2014) by Mark Waid: A much lighter and more superhero-y run than Daredevil often gets, this excellent run features Matt going up against criminal syndicates, old enemies coming back for revenge, and more.

Hawkeye (2012) by Matt Fraction: Easily the best book Hawkeye has ever had. Spectacular art and excellent scripting featuring both Clint Barton and Kate Bishop in a firmly street-level narrative focusing on threats to the local community.

The Punisher (2011) by Greg Rucka: For my money the best the Punisher (whom I usually don't like) has ever been. A genuinely thoughtful examination of Frank Castle as a human. Many people swear by the Garth Ennis run on the character, but to me this is the definitive Punisher run.

Mockingbird (2016) by Chelsea Cain: A short but fun series focusing on Mockingbird in a number of spy thriller scenarios.

Alias (2001) by Brian Michael Bendis: A mature mystery series starring a former superheroine. It goes into some gnarly territory but it really displays Bendis' strengths in writing street-level, grounded stories within the Marvel Universe.

Moon Knight (1980) by Doug Moench: Moon Knight fans will be mad that this is the only run I have on this list but it's the only one I've read! It's a fantastic read though.

Ms. Marvel (2014 and 2016) by G. Willow Wilson: There's a reason that Kamala Khan has been one of Marvel's biggest breakout characters in recent history, and it all starts in this initial run of comics. Great art and fantastic scripts by Wilson.

Runaways (2004 and 2005) by Brian K. Vaughan: One of my favorite setups in a comic, with a group of teenagers learning that their parents are actually a supervillainous cabal and running away from home in response. Great teen drama with a superpowered twist. The second volume also has a run by Joss Whedon (bear with me) that's also pretty good.

TEAMS AND TEAM-UPS

Fantastic Four (1961) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby: One of the greatest comic books ever written. Both Lee and Kirby poured their heart and soul into these early adventures, and you can really tell. The first Galactus story is still one of my favorites. Essential reading.

Fantastic Four (1998) by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo: Probably my favorite Fantastic Four run, with a great focus on Doctor Doom, Mister Fantastic, and Ben Grimm.

Fantastic Four (2022) by Ryan North: The current FF run, this one goes all-out on wacky science fiction adventure, with most stories only taking one or two issues to tell. Bite-size superhero fun, with fantastic characterization. Made me stan Alicia Masters.

The Avengers (1963) by Roy Thomas: The initial run of the Avengers by Lee, Kirby, and Heck, is serviceable, but the team came into their own under Roy Thomas, who introduced mainstays of the team like Vision and Black Panther to the roster, in this run which also incldues the classic "Kree-Skrull War" storyline. Throw in art by legends like John Buscema, Sal Buscema, and Neal Adams, and you've got a great run to get into the Avengers with.

The Avengers (1963) by Roger Stern: Another great Avengers run, this one solidified a roster for the team which included members like Hercules, Black Knight, and the best Captain Marvel aka Monica Rambeau, and includes the best "Avengers Mansion is attacked" story.

The Avengers (1997) by Kurt Buseik and George Perez: A creative dream team relaunched the Avengers in the late 90s to fantastic effect, with several excellent storylines and gorgeous art. This is, for my money, the definitive Avengers run.

Young Avengers (2013) by Kieron Gillan: The Young Avengers have mostly been supplanted as Marvel's premiere team of teenage superheroes, but this is their best book in my view, featuring the team's best roster and some of their best stories.

Champions (2016) by Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos: A great teen team book, the Champions have basically replaced the Young Avengers in no small part due to this run. Makes me yearn for a Waid-penned Teen Titans ongoing.

Defenders (1972): I'm just gonna recommend the whole comic. If you want off-beat and unusual superhero team dynamics and out-there storytelling, this is a good bet. Special attention should go to Steve Gerber's run around issue 20 or so.

MAGIC MARVEL

Doctor Strange: The Oath (2006) by Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin: A good entry point to Doctor Strange and his weird world, featuring some really great art.

Strange Tales (1951) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko: Never has Steve Ditko's art been better than in those first Doctor Strange stories, weird and wonderful and surreal.

Journey Into Mystery (1951) and Thor (1966) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby: The first Thor stories are not only great, they feature Kirby's excellent Tales of Asgard backups which he would eventually develop into his Fourth World at DC.

Thor by Jason Aaron: Read in omnibus format. A true epic worthy of Norse legend. Includes some all-time great Thor stories.

The Immortal Thor (2023) by Al Ewing: The current Thor run, with a strong focus on mythology and how stories are constructed and passed down across the years.

Scarlet Witch (2023 and 2024) by Steve Orlando: A fun ongoing that finally made Wanda Maximoff a worthy headliner in Marvel, featuring her protecting a small town from magical threats.

COSMIC MARVEL

Silver Surfer (1968) by Stan Lee and John Buscema: One of my favorite comics as a teenager, this book combines space opera and melodrama to great effect.

Silver Surfer (1987) by Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin, and Ron Marz: The definitive Silver Surfer run. Includes some excellent stories, including some from the master of cosmic Marvel, Jim Starlin.

Silver Surfer (1988) by Stan Lee and Moebius: Must be read for the art alone.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning: This is where the MCU team originated, and it's still the best run the Guardians have ever had.

Quasar (1989) by Mark Gruenwald: Has the energy of a Silver Age comic with none of the baggage. Definition of a hidden gem.

Nova (2007) by San Abnett and Andy Lanning: Probably the definitive Nova run? Spun out of Annihilation which as an event comic I haven't included here but is still a great read.

Eternals (1976) by Jack Kirby: It's kind of Fourth World backwash, but it's Kirby doing wacky cosmic stuff so you know it's a good time.

AND THE REST

Power Pack (1984): What if a bunch of kids got superpowers? No, not teenagers, little kids? It's a thoroughly 1980s premise and one that shines best in the original series from that era.

Captain America (2005, 2011) by Ed Brubaker: A high-octane action-spy thriller which reintroduced Bucky and made him Cap for a while. The definitive modern Captain America run.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1976): A short adaptation of the novel and film, and then like 10 issues of wacky Kirby sci-fi. Really great hidden gem.

Black Panther (1998) by Christopher Priest: The definitive Black Panther run, that set the stage for everything to follow.

Black Panther (2016) by Ta-Nehisi Coates: Another great run exploring the nature of power. Many comic fans do not like it because they are philistines.

Vision (2015) by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walla: Tom King is hit or miss, but this book is great, with the Vision building a family - of a kind - for himself.

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Marvel Team-Up Omnibus Volume 1 by Len Wein, Gerry Conway, Gil Kane, Glynis Oliver, Ross Andru and more. Cover by Kane and Frank Giacoia. Direct Market cover by Jim Starlin. Out in December.

"Get ready for all of Marvel’s most-famous characters piled into one amazing title!

In the world of interconnected heroes that Marvel Comics pioneered, TEAM-UP made that formula into a franchise and gave fans a much-desired, twice-a-month Spider-Man fix. When that wasn’t enough, Marvel launched GIANT-SIZE SPIDER-MAN, featuring double-sized extravaganzas – and it’s all collected here in the inaugural MARVEL TEAM-UP OMNIBUS. Featuring stories by the same top-flight talents that brought you AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, MTU brings Spidey together with the Human Torch, the X-Men, the Vision, the Thing, Thor, the Cat, Iron Man – and that’s just for starters. TEAM-UP will have you full up with classic comic-book adventure! Collecting MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #1-30, DAREDEVIL (1964) #103, GIANT-SIZE SUPER-HEROES #1 and GIANT-SIZE SPIDER-MAN (1974) #1-2."

[wanderingmind867]

E. Nelson Bridwell has gotten to take over as head writer for the Captain Carrot stories, which made me remember he wrote a superfriends comic book. I'm so indecisive that this memory froze me, making me unsure if I should change books midstream. But I know I probably shouldn't. It's just... it's so hard to commit to things. Honestly. I wish that was an easier task for me...(Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew #11):

[vertigoartgore]

1971's Astonishing Tales Vol.1 #8 page 12. Script by Gerry Conway, art by Gene Colan, inks/colors by Tom Palmer and lettering by Jean Izzo.

A rather significant story since it's the one that revealed that Doctor Doom was trying each years to save his mother's soul from Hell (to no avail). A plot that would finally culminate nearly 20 years later in 1988 with the GN Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment (by Roger Stern, Mike Mignola and Mark Bagder).