Favorite Comic Book Stories?

~~Leo656~~ · 10-18-2013, 10:32 PM

If this has been done before, it's probably been a while and I probably missed out, so sorry about that. But anyway, I was just wondering: What are some of your favorite comic book stories, and why? What made those stories stand out to you? It doesn't have to be super-heroes, since a lot of people here don't seem to strictly read super-hero comics. I'll throw out a few to get started:

Superman:
-"The Man Of Steel": Still my favorite look at the Superman origin (although Geoff Johns did a great job with "Secret Origin", my second favorite take on it). John Byrne managed to streamline 50 years of mythology into a tidy 6-issue mini-series that established all the important facts and characters and made everything fresh for the 1980s and beyond. There really was no need for it to be tinkered with ever since, other than Mark Waid insisting he could do it better with "Birthright", and he did the opposite of good there, actually screwing up large chunks of the mythology that had been established prior and accidentally laying the seeds for his *own* origin to be retconned just a few years later by Johns's book. Change just for change's sake is almost always bad; this Superman origin got it right and to me will always be "The Real One."

-"Death and Return of Superman": You can't just read the Death part and leave it there, because that was only the set-up. "Funeral For A Friend" was brilliant and memorable, with lots of truly sad and emotional moments throughout, and "Reign of the Supermen", while a bit too action-heavy near the end where you could tell the writers were just rushing to get it over with and Superman back to "normal", is still a great action story despite its flaws and was especially great in that it brought Superman back from the dead without doing anything hokey or "cheating", like everyone had expected. Everything from Clark dying in Lois's arms, to Bibbo asking God how Superman could be dead while a "poor schlub" like Bibbo was still alive, to Clark and Pa Kent travelling through "The Other Side" together and Clark having to choose life or death, to the revelation of the villain, to the battles between the four "Supermen", to Superman's return and final moment of triumph, had such impact on an emotional level as well as the visceral. Plus, the creation of modern-day Superboy as a bonus. Taken together I think this year and a half-long storyline was the greatest Superman story ever told.

Batman:
-"The Killing Joke": The definitive Joker origin story. DC likes to claim it may not be "true" and just some made-up Joker bullsh*t (in the story he claims not to really remember how he came to be), but that's just because the editors hope one day, someone will come along and tell the story better. They won't.

-"A Death In The Family": Spiritually a sequel to "Killing Joke", as it happens shortly after and references those events. After rejecting Batman's offer of rehabilitation in TKJ, Joker seemingly becomes worse than ever in a killing spree that spans the globe, almost causes a nuclear holocaust, and results in the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin, one of the most historically important events in the history of Batman comics. Almost every Batman story for the next 15 years made some reference to events from this story, that's how important it was.

-"A Lonely Place Of Dying": Often overlooked because it didn't get a ton of press hype (coming off the red-hot "Death In The Family" story), but it was vital in showing Batman's mental collapse following Robin's death, and historically important because it foreshadowed what would come next for several major characters. Operating recklessly, brutally, and seemingly trying to get himself killed, Batman has to come to terms with his grief and guilt while Two-Face returns to Gotham more sadistic and damaged than ever. Steps are taken to reconcile Bruce and Nightwing's relationship, and Tim Drake, who would later become the third Robin, is introduced.

The Flash:
-"The Return Of Barry Allen": Wally West, the third Flash, has always struggled to live up to his beloved uncle Barry Allen's legacy and his own guilt following his death. So what happens when his hero Barry returns, and not only resumes his role as "The REAL Flash", but seemingly wants to erase anything Wally ever accomplished on his own? Was his hero worship misguided from the start, or is "Barry" not what he seems? When it inevitably comes to super-speed blows, how can Wally possibly defeat an opponent who's even more powerful than he is? Amidst the wreckage of The Flash Museum during a severe lightning storm, Wally must stop "Barry" from destroying the Flash's legacy while fighting for his own. The story gut-wrenching at times with some of the twists, and the revelation of the villain was superb, hints given along the way until the final reveal (which was a HUGE deal at the time that, believe it or not, NO ONE saw coming, although it seems obvious now). By the end, Wally's long-standing guilt and mental blocks which had kept him from reaching his true power and potential are gone, and he takes his deserved, rightful place as the One, True Flash. Deserves points just for being a comic book story involving time travel that actually makes sense.

Green Lantern:
-"Green Lantern: Rebirth": I never liked Hal Jordan. I liked Green Lantern but not him, specifically. Once they made him a villain and later, The Spectre, I was honestly glad to be rid of him. When I heard they were bringing him back, I cried foul, feeling his return from the dead would be cheesy and that they were going to undo everything that had happened in the books since then. I was wrong. This book not only logically ties everything together, it actually explains everything anyone would ever need to know about the entire Green Lantern mythology from the very beginning, and celebrates it. It's epic, going from Earth to space and through the spaces between life and death as Hal Jordan fights not just for his life or his legacy, but for his very soul. Is he fated to save the universe, or destroy it? As the title says, it wasn't just a "Rebirth" for Hal Jordan, it brought the entire GL franchise back to life in a huge way. Any book that showcases Guy Gardner as an Alpha-Level Bad-Ass automatically gets my stamp, but this book did what I thought was impossible in making me a huge fan of Hal Jordan.

Those are just a few of my VERY favorite stories. I'll add a few more after some other people add theirs.

10-18-2013, 10:32 PM	#1
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	Favorite Comic Book Stories? If this has been done before, it's probably been a while and I probably missed out, so sorry about that. But anyway, I was just wondering: What are some of your favorite comic book stories, and why? What made those stories stand out to you? It doesn't have to be super-heroes, since a lot of people here don't seem to strictly read super-hero comics. I'll throw out a few to get started: Superman: -"The Man Of Steel": Still my favorite look at the Superman origin (although Geoff Johns did a great job with "Secret Origin", my second favorite take on it). John Byrne managed to streamline 50 years of mythology into a tidy 6-issue mini-series that established all the important facts and characters and made everything fresh for the 1980s and beyond. There really was no need for it to be tinkered with ever since, other than Mark Waid insisting he could do it better with "Birthright", and he did the opposite of good there, actually screwing up large chunks of the mythology that had been established prior and accidentally laying the seeds for his own origin to be retconned just a few years later by Johns's book. Change just for change's sake is almost always bad; this Superman origin got it right and to me will always be "The Real One." -"Death and Return of Superman": You can't just read the Death part and leave it there, because that was only the set-up. "Funeral For A Friend" was brilliant and memorable, with lots of truly sad and emotional moments throughout, and "Reign of the Supermen", while a bit too action-heavy near the end where you could tell the writers were just rushing to get it over with and Superman back to "normal", is still a great action story despite its flaws and was especially great in that it brought Superman back from the dead without doing anything hokey or "cheating", like everyone had expected. Everything from Clark dying in Lois's arms, to Bibbo asking God how Superman could be dead while a "poor schlub" like Bibbo was still alive, to Clark and Pa Kent travelling through "The Other Side" together and Clark having to choose life or death, to the revelation of the villain, to the battles between the four "Supermen", to Superman's return and final moment of triumph, had such impact on an emotional level as well as the visceral. Plus, the creation of modern-day Superboy as a bonus. Taken together I think this year and a half-long storyline was the greatest Superman story ever told. Batman: -"The Killing Joke": The definitive Joker origin story. DC likes to claim it may not be "true" and just some made-up Joker bullsht (in the story he claims not to really remember how he came to be), but that's just because the editors hope one day, someone will come along and tell the story better. They won't. -"A Death In The Family": Spiritually a sequel to "Killing Joke", as it happens shortly after and references those events. After rejecting Batman's offer of rehabilitation in TKJ, Joker seemingly becomes worse than ever in a killing spree that spans the globe, almost causes a nuclear holocaust, and results in the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin, one of the most historically important events in the history of Batman comics. Almost every Batman story for the next 15 years made some reference to events from this story, that's how important it was. -"A Lonely Place Of Dying": Often overlooked because it didn't get a ton of press hype (coming off the red-hot "Death In The Family" story), but it was vital in showing Batman's mental collapse following Robin's death, and historically important because it foreshadowed what would come next for several major characters. Operating recklessly, brutally, and seemingly trying to get himself killed, Batman has to come to terms with his grief and guilt while Two-Face returns to Gotham more sadistic and damaged than ever. Steps are taken to reconcile Bruce and Nightwing's relationship, and Tim Drake, who would later become the third Robin, is introduced. The Flash:* -"The Return Of Barry Allen": Wally West, the third Flash, has always struggled to live up to his beloved uncle Barry Allen's legacy and his own guilt following his death. So what happens when his hero Barry returns, and not only resumes his role as "The REAL Flash", but seemingly wants to erase anything Wally ever accomplished on his own? Was his hero worship misguided from the start, or is "Barry" not what he seems? When it inevitably comes to super-speed blows, how can Wally possibly defeat an opponent who's even more powerful than he is? Amidst the wreckage of The Flash Museum during a severe lightning storm, Wally must stop "Barry" from destroying the Flash's legacy while fighting for his own. The story gut-wrenching at times with some of the twists, and the revelation of the villain was superb, hints given along the way until the final reveal (which was a HUGE deal at the time that, believe it or not, NO ONE saw coming, although it seems obvious now). By the end, Wally's long-standing guilt and mental blocks which had kept him from reaching his true power and potential are gone, and he takes his deserved, rightful place as the One, True Flash. Deserves points just for being a comic book story involving time travel that actually makes sense. Green Lantern: -"Green Lantern: Rebirth": I never liked Hal Jordan. I liked Green Lantern but not him, specifically. Once they made him a villain and later, The Spectre, I was honestly glad to be rid of him. When I heard they were bringing him back, I cried foul, feeling his return from the dead would be cheesy and that they were going to undo everything that had happened in the books since then. I was wrong. This book not only logically ties everything together, it actually explains everything anyone would ever need to know about the entire Green Lantern mythology from the very beginning, and celebrates it. It's epic, going from Earth to space and through the spaces between life and death as Hal Jordan fights not just for his life or his legacy, but for his very soul. Is he fated to save the universe, or destroy it? As the title says, it wasn't just a "Rebirth" for Hal Jordan, it brought the entire GL franchise back to life in a huge way. Any book that showcases Guy Gardner as an Alpha-Level Bad-Ass automatically gets my stamp, but this book did what I thought was impossible in making me a huge fan of Hal Jordan. Those are just a few of my VERY favorite stories. I'll add a few more after some other people add theirs.