Episode 1434 Talkback: Top 5 Marvel Series
Adam_Murdough
Posts: 506
Face Front, True Believers! Two years ago we picked our 'Top 5' favorite DC series, and now that Jamie D is running the show, it's finally time to give the House of Ideas its due. 'Nuff Said! (2:30:23)
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My personal Top 5 List (in no particular order)
Ultimate X-Men: This is the series that got my friends (and even girls, gasp) into reading comics when I was in high school. Millar had a lot of fun with the classics too. Loved his version of the Proteus story. Also really dug Brian K. Vaughn's Mojo/Arcade story.
Daredevil Volume 2: Starting with the Kevin Smith arc and all the way through to Shadowland. This series was consistently great. The Bendis run was probably the high point, but Brubaker and Diggle had good arcs as well.
She-Hulk by Dan Slott: Great book. Hilarious and sometimes quite thoughtful. She has since become my favorite heroine.
Deadpool: This series started with the Joe Kelly run, which are just great comics. There's kind of a lull in the middle then Gail Simone came on to close out the series and reboot the character as Agent X.
The Loeb/Sale "Color" Books: I cheated and lumped these minis into one. Each one was a great read, with Spider-Man:Blue being my favorite. Sale's art is gorgeous as always. Here's me hoping they get around to Captain America: White someday...
My honorable mentions would be the Kirkman Marvel Team-Up and the third volume of Avengers which started with Busiek/Perez and later had a few cool arcs by Geoff Johns.
Although they usually cost me dearly. There is always stuff I yet have to read.
I'll have to give it some thought and come back with my list.
2. Uncanny X-Men -- From Claremont era & a large leap forward to the Matt Fraction era 500-530 (for me). I had a great ride w/ the title even if got loopey w/ another reboot & another new #1.
3. X-Men Forever -- Yes what if Jim Lee DIDN'T have his way & what would have happened next. The question is finally answered. I had a blast reading this over 2 volumes & would welcome a return to the series if Claremont returned to his X-Men writing duties.
4. Sensational She Hulk -- Byrne + She Hulk + breaking the 4th wall equals fun time for all.
5. JLA/Avengers -- What you didn't think I would leave DC off this list entirely did you? Of course not, it is Perez & Busiek working their magic & I was blown away from the start.
Matthew
Transformers Universe - The TF done OHOTMU style.
Fantastic Four - I'm cheating and saying all of it, because the FF has been my comfort comic for a long, long time. Kirby/Lee, Byrne, Hickman, Fraction, and even the Heroes Reborn and Ultimate stuff.
Rom Spaceknight - Pure sci-fi goodness. It may not have been the greatest comic but it was fun I enjoyed each and every issue.
Marvel Two-In-One - The Thing is one of my favorite heroes, and this series from start to finish is pure gold to me.
My Top 5 (ask me tomorrow and it may change) in no particular order:
Captain Britain/Excalibur (once you excise all the stories Alan Davis was not a part of): I’m including Captain Britain here, because Excalibur in many ways was just a continuation of Alan Davis’ run on the Marvel UK Captain Britain mag, and I read that Captain Britain stuff (in a trade paperback collection) before I read Excalibur.
Tomb of Dracula: I would say this title was Marvel’s most consistently strong series of 50 issues or more.
Master of Kung-Fu: And this may be Marvel’s most consistently strong series of 100 issues or more. Combine the best of Bruce Lee, the pulp of the Fu Manchu novels, and a bit of James Bond, and you have a really cool story. And a lot of great artists worked on the book.
Captain America (2005 series): Brubaker’s Cap was hands down my favorite Marvel series of the 2000s. Superb all the way up to the last story arc, which was a bit of a letdown, but still a decent finish.
X-Statix: You can throw in the issues of X-Force that proceeded this series, as well. Just a brilliant, funny, often poignant series. Great from start to finish.
Honorable Mentions:
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.: Very fun, if short-lived, series.
Peter David’s run on X-Factor for all the reasons mentioned on the show. Too much drek in other parts of the series dragged the title out of the top five for me though.
Same goes for Peter David’s run (well, the first two-thirds of it anyway) on Hulk.
Byrne’s She-Hulk. Once he left, so did I, but it was fun while it lasted.
Daredevil (current series): I love this series, particularly the first year. It just missed by top five.
Hawkeye (current series): If this goes on for a while longer, it could very possibly move onto the list.
I think The Shadow was probably his best comic book work, but The Invaders was probably his best superhero stuff. He wasn’t a big fan of doing the superheroes, but it paid the bills, so he did it anyway. And, like I said, I understand it’s not for everyone, but he did pack a lot of energy into his drawings.
Moonshadow was one of the first non-super comics that really grabbed me. Love it and try to dig it out and read it every so often.
As for straight up Marvel titles:
I want to echo the Pimps love for Marvel Team-Up.
Strange Tales/Warlock:
This book/s actually changed my life and what I thought a hero, or leader should be. I'm thinking specifically about the issue 179 of Strange Tales, Death Ship. Go read it.
All-New/All-Different X-Men;
The one and only time Adam Hughes made his way to a convention in Colorado, I had the opportunity to speak with him for quite a few minutes. We share the same love for All-New/All-Different. Hughes compared the first couple of years to a great garage band. All banging, crashing, love. Beautiful stuff. This title made me start collecting comics.
Lee and Kirby, Fantastic Four
Might be the most important run in all of comics. The MU was built here.
As a LONG time Marvel fan, this top 5 Marvel episode is one of my favorites so far. I don't know about a top 5 of my own, I haven't read a lot of Marvel since the late '80's, but for a top 2, I have to go old school with the original FF run by Lee and Kirby, and the original Spiderman run by Lee, Ditko, and Romita. These runs are definitely what the Marvel universe was built on. If you have not read the original Lee, Ditko Spiderman issues, do yourself a favor and read them as soon as possible. The story telling in those 38 issues (and 2 annuals) was clever and fun. It's interesting that it took Lee and Ditko only a few issues to find their groove with Spiderman, whereas it took Lee and Kirby, arguably, maybe 20 issues to do the same with the FF. Some people would probably disagree with that, it's only my opinion, but as early as Spiderman issue 3, the story telling style was pretty much in place. I would probably have to put the Avengers third, X-men fourth. X-Men was never a favorite of mine, but there have been a LOT of fantastic X-books in Marvel's history. If I have to stick with old school Marvel, Jim Steranko's run on S.H.I.E.L.D. would be my number 5, simply because I love Steranko's art, and the impact he had on comic art in just the few short years and handful of comics he created can't be denied. I still see his influence from time-to-time on comic artists.
Most of my own favorite Marvel titles were mentioned in this episode:
#5 - Marvel Team-Up / Marvel Two-In-One (tie)
#4 - Incredible Hulk (Buscema era & Peter David / Dale Keown run)
#3 - Uncanny X-Men (Claremont's run)
#2 - Amazing Spider-Man (bronze age)
#1 - Fantastic Four (Lee, Kirby, Perez, Byrne, Bendis, et al)
Alternates: Avengers (bronze age),Invaders, Sensational She Hulk, Conan the Barbarian, Silver Surfer (Ron Lim), and What If...? (volume 1)
As with most of the better CGS episodes, this one had some discussion of titles that I was not as familiar with and made me want to seek out those back issues to check out. (i.e. Alpha Flight, Daredevil, Marvel Premiere, etc.) Furthermore, it brought up titles that I forgot I liked so much, like Adam being a fan of the OHOTMU - I would REALLY like to complete my own collection of those volumes. I'll be on ebay shortly.
This could be a great future CGS episode topic to use for other publishers as well, such as Image, Dark Horse, Valiant, Boom!, etc maybe list your top 5 other or indie publisher titles. Could make for a fun discussion.
Also, it occurred to me, except for episode #107 and the movie review, there hasn't been an extensive discussion of the first family of comic-dom, the Fantastic Four in quite a while. It was good to hear about them again here. Being such a historic and integral part of all things Marvel, they could be the origin point of a CGS Spotlight on Marvel Cosmic. Up to the challenge? Chris Eberle might be a worthy comrade in such a daunting endeavor... my campaign continues...
2. Captain Marvel: He went through more changes within his short run than any character I can think of, from his coming from space to sharing bodies with Rick Jones in the Negative Zone, to costume changes, Jim Starlin's run and The Death of Captain Marvel, there's a lot to love here.
3. Master Of Kung Fu: You can't go wrong with Doug Moench writing and some of the best art you'll find anywhere from Paul Gulacy, Mike Zeck and Gene Day. You also get supporting characters from the noir world of Fu Manchu
4. Tomb Of Dracula: More Doug Moench writing and some great art from Gene Colan 'Nuff Said
5. Captain America: Pretty much everything, but my favorite runs are Steve Englehart and Ed Brubaker. There was some really bad stuff in the 90's (the Diamondback era. I'm pretty sure there was a Skrull replacement for Cap back then.), but I still read it when I find them.
1. OHOTMU - I think I started buying comics of the rack in 1984. If I only had $2.00 to spend and there was a Who's Who or an OHOTMU, they won hands down.
2. Marvel Saga - A chronological view of the history of the Marvel Universe. Mostly prose style with panels from the comics, but it cited the specific issues as sources.
3. Marvel Team-Up - Some of my earliest comics. I definietely remember the team-up with the Fabulous Frog-Man that introduced White Rabbit, and the Annual with Spider-Man and Alpha Flight that pitted them against the Collector.
4. Marvel Two-in-One/The Thing (I think people forget Ben Grimm was the Wolverine of the late 70's early 80's).
5. West Coast Avengers - I really dug the first twelve issues or so: The Thing hanging around, Ultron 11 vs. Ultron 12, the Grim Reaper, etc.
6. Defenders - This was my team book. I don't know what attracted me, but I stayed with it through the New Defenders years.
7. Howard the Duck - When I sold my first collection upon entering college in '94, then started back in '98, one of the first back issues I tracked back down? Howard the Duck Vol. 1 #3 -- Master of Quack-Fu!
Also: neat criteria to have different volumes count as different titles.
Just off the top of my head, it's hard to me to pick a top 5 here but Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) would have to be #1. The '60s stuff wasn't quite as good as early issues of FF or Spider-Man, but it was still enjoyable, with many storylines that would become important in later years. Of course, the lion's share of my affection comes from the Claremont run, but even into the mid-'90s I was still looking at Uncanny X-Men as my flagship Marvel title. The art of Joe Mad helped in that regard.
Speaking of Joe Mad, it was great to hear Adam mention those two Excalibur issues he did. I loved his art way back then more than I like his more recent stuff...
Good stuff!
Like @JamieD, I too was caught out by the Avengers TV programme. I was only wee at the time, and begged my parents to let me stay up late to watch it. Imagine my disappointment when it didn't feature the Vision, Iron Man, Beast, etc.
Also, stoked to hear Chris is joining the crew full time. His appearances are always a joy.
I disagree on the impractical nature. As they have done spotlights on the X-Men, Spider-Man, and others over the course of many eras and multiple parts, the same formula could be done with Marvel Cosmic in chapters or eras. It doesn't have to be too in-depth, but could merely touch on significant issues, titles, and runs. Or, perhaps even simpler, focus on particular characters and their significance in the Marvel Cosmic. This could be an excellent run up to the Guardians of the Galaxy release.
I'm not saying it wouldn't be a daunting effort, but if anyone can tackle it, it's team CGS. Don't think I've missed the irony of disagreeing with someone named @Mr_Cosmic about the viability of a Cosmic spotlight... LOL
Btw, any discussion of Marvel Cosmic should happen after a Fantastic Four Spotlight. FF is the soil that Marvel Cosmic sprang from. You don't have Marvel Cosmic without Galactus, Silver Surfer, Celestials, The Watcher, The Skrull, Him (Adam Warlock), etc.
My Favorite Marvel Series of All-Time:
1) Uncanny X-Men - This is my longest running collection of anything in my collection, so how else could anything else be number one for me? I love the characters, the drama, the powers, etc. Great series (and almost like Shane, I got involved right before the Blue & Gold team era with the Muir Island Saga).
2) Amazing Spider-Man - I grew up watching Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends and the 90s Spider-Man animated series. I gravitated to Spider-Man because of this and I remember some of my first issues were the Round Robin story arc with so many guest cameos. And, Shane, I love Maximum Carnage story also, much for the same reason you mentioned.
3) Star Wars - Almost my entire life, Star Wars was the number one thing in my geek life. My first comic I can ever remember having was a Marvel issue version of Return of the Jedi. Yes, the Marvel adventures in Star Wars comics were crazy and weird at times (especially when they still didn't know Luke and Leia were siblings), but there were some great stories. It was also at a time that I liked Chaykin's artwork (don't care for his modern day work).
4) G.I. Joe - While I have to admit that I didn't read a lot of the G.I. Joe comics early in my life, I have read a lot more now. G.I. Joe is a big part of my life now and was as a kid. I absolutely love this series and look forward reading through all of it to take in the parts I missed. Great art, and great Hama stories.
5) Marvel Cosmic starting with Annihilation - It is cheating I know, but I never was big on Marvel Cosmic stuff until I picked up Annihilation Prologue on a whim. I was hooked after that and read every mini-series and sequel associated. Then the series of Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova came. Really when you read it all together from the start of Annihilation until the event Thanos Imperative, it all reads very much like one ongoing series.
My Favorite Current Ongoing Marvel Series:
1) Hawkeye
2) Guardians of the Galaxy
3) All-New X-Men
4) Nova
5) Superior Spider-Man
With runners up going to Wolverine & the X-Men and Superior Foes of Spider-Man