The ending of Number One by Gary Scott Beatty. I really don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, so I'll just say that it's a nice one-shot story about an honest man who perseveres and gets what he deserves. Honestly, this entire comic is beautiful and I feel I owe it to everyone I meet to share it with them to honor the writer and main character.
I'm going ignore the two biggies I'd instinctively post - Ozy in Watchmen and Terra in Titans - and go with one of my personal faves from the manga world.
SPOILERS ABOUND IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU HAVEN'T READ DEATH NOTE AND PLAN TO DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND STOP READING NOW BECAUSE DUDE IT'S A GREAT STORY AND YOU REALLY SHOULD READ IT BUT MAN THERE'S A HUGE PLOT TWIST ABOUT MIDWAY THROUGH THE BOOK THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING AND YOU SHOULD TOTALLY LET IT CATCH YOU OFF GUARD...
Good? Okay. To make it even harder, I'll type it backwards. After this you've no excuse if I ruin the series for you.
L llik ot eton htaed eht esu ot yaw a serugif thgiL.
Blew my mind but also ensured I'd read this series right up to the end.
Day Nine: A Comic That Totally Blew Your Mind The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, 1986. I actually wound up getting back into comics around this time and picked up the Complete Frank Miller Batman a couple of years after this came out. It.blew.me.away. Any comics reader could tell that this story (along with Watchmen which came out shortly before this) would denote a sea change in how comics were written and how they began to place a greater reliance on an older and more sophisticated audience.
Day Ten: The Most Beautiful Scene in Any Comic Far too many for me to choose from, but a good place to start would be almost every page of Alex Ross and Kurt Busiek’s Marvels series.
Day Eleven: Old Comic You Love Superman #236 from April 1971. ‘The Planet Of The Angels’ story sees the Man of Steel flitting between Heaven and Hell, battling angels and devils. The cover is great, showing two devils with pitchforks at the gates of Hell, goading the Man of Steel as Lois Lane screams from the flames within. “Only the dead may enter the gates of HELL!” says the first devil. “Dare you, Superman?” challenges the second. I will not ruin the story for you, except to say the grounding of the story is more outer space than it is afterlife, but still it remains a good yarn and the imagery is priceless, plus there's a pretty good twist as things are not exactly as they seem.
Day Twelve - A Great Holiday Comic Cover dated March of 1976, Amazing Spider-Man #166 hands down. Peter Parker planned to join a friend at a holiday party but, wouldn't you know it, he's needed over at Central Park where dinosaurs are on the rampage. The spindly superhero saves the day (again) and bellows a greeting to the frosty skyscrapers: ''Merry Christmas, New York — you great big shiny apple you! And God bless us...everyone!'' I've mentioned this book on this forum more than once, but when you have Stegron and the Lizard in the same issue, it's a very special Christmas for Spidey fans and worth mentioning again.
Day Thirteen - Great Plot Twist Thunderbolts #1 from April 1997. After their appearance in the Hulk, this title was solicited and played largely as a straight superhero story, until the revelation of the Thunderbolts' true nature on the last page of the comic. One of the most well-conceived plot twists in the history of American comic books courtesy of Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley.
Day Thirteen: Great Plot Twist I've gotta twist a bit on this one myself. The first dozen or so issues of American Flagg! had more great plot twists per square inch than any other series I can think of. Off the bat, I'll pick the first big one, "Hammerhead" Kreiger's murder.
Day Thirteen - Great Plot Twist Infinity #4. Most of the civilized worlds have fallen to the Builders. Captain America, leader of the allied army, agrees to surrender and sends Thor as his emissary to accept their terms. When Thor arrives, the Builders take exception that he came "armed" with his hammer and order him to toss it aside. With the surrender being broadcast to all of the conquered worlds, Thor, as if to capitulate, throws the hammer deep into space, only to have it slingshot around the sun and return to him ... right through the chest of the Builder general. This then prompts the allied forces to mount instantaneous strikes on the Builder-conquered worlds and proves to be the war's turning point.
A Great Plot Twist: Reflecto is actually Superboy! From the classic Reflecto Saga in Legion of Superheroes #277-280. Al along hints were planted that Reflecto was actually Ultra Boy, so the reveal was very unexpected to my 6 year old self. This story of course gets bonus points for nostalgia as it was oe of the first comics I ever read.
Tough one. I'm going with The Tomb of Dracula #40. Dracula trying to convert Rachel. Although you really could pick any part of this Gene Colan goodness.
Shazam! #18 (1975). This is one of those comics that just came into my possession at exactly the right time. I picked this up in late 2013 after just coming back to comics from a five-year hiatus and I was already second-guessing my decision because I was completely underwhelmed by my initial introduction to the New 52. I saw this at a local flea market and the cover made me laugh. I read it, loved it and became a Captain Marvel fan that day.
Comic That You Love That You'll Never Read Again: Never say never, but I don't see myself going back and re-reading any of the Crossed books from Avatar. I have read the first 3 story arcs and they were so dark, visceral and just down right brutal, that I don't feel the need to re-visit them. They were very engrossing and I certainly thought they were well done, but even as I was reading them they made me feel ... uncomfortable I guess you could say. The little catholic school boy in me thinking. "I am going to hell for reading this" =P
Day Fourteen - A Comic That You Love That You'll Never Read Again:
Sovereign Seven - I loved Claremont's writing on it, I loved the artwork on it, I loved that they kept trying to make it relevant and failing, I loved that they tried to bring Power Girl into the mix, I even liked the rushed, convoluted St. Elsewhere type ending they gave it. But as much as I enjoyed it at the time I have zero interest in revisiting the world of the outcasts again.
Day Fourteen - A Comic That You Love That You'll Never Read Again:
The modern era Blackhawk run from the 70s. Issues 244-250. I may go back and reread the two issues with Bio-Lord, but the rest of it is so oddly abrupt - They bring it back after an 8 year hiatus to suddenly through the Blackhawks in jet fighters with flight suits that, by design are V-necked down to the navel, tell one overarching story and then put it back to bed for another 6 years? Still, Bio-Lord was sooooo cool and this arc was the first place that I ever saw a War Wheel!
Day Fourteen - A Comic That You Love That You'll Never Read Again
Y: The Last Man. Great book, but it's not like you can just pick up a couple of issues and read them. The entire series is one long story. Couldn't do it again.
Day Fourteen - A Comic That You Love That You'll Never Read Again 52 The experience of reading it in "real time" with the rest of this community was so perfect, I don't want to diminish it by revisitation.
A Comic That Makes You Smile: Peter Porker The Spectacular Spider-Ham, great fun with all the animal analogues of the Marvel Universe. My favorite was always the Pun-fisher, but I alwaus liked Deerdevil and Goose Rider. Oh and Ducktor Doom, Kingpig ..... hehe they were all great.
Day Ten: The Most Beautiful Scene in Any Comic - Still thinking this one over, not easy.
Day Eleven: Old Comic You Love - Amazing Spider-Man #143 1975
Day Twelve: Favorite Holiday Comic - Can't say that I have one.
Day Thirteen: A Great Plot Twist - Some good ones I would have said were already mentioned. I'm picking Prowl's betrayal in Robots in Disguise #13
Day Fourteen: Comic That You Love That You'll Never Read Again - I don't remember what it was. It was one of the few fantasy comics that my mom allowed me to pickout and buy. All I remember is that it took place on ship in a storm.
Day Fifteen: A Comic That Makes You Smile - There's a lot of those. Anything from Bronze Age Marvel, more recently just about any issue of Skullkickers or Rat Queens.
I also got behind because i totally had to get my appendix taken out.
Day Nine:A Comic That Totally Blew Your Mind
It is sort of an on-the-nose choice, but I will also go with Watchmen. Part of it was the timing-- there was a newsstand in my hometown that dabbled in the direct market, and a guy that worked there that, heck, was probably only an older teenager, but he seemed a lot older to me at the time. I already loved comics, but didn't know much. And this guy became my guru. My rabbi. It was the late 80s, and the direct market was a thing, and he could point out the cool stuff. He showed me Dark Knight Returns. He showed me Watchmen. And, well, I was probably 12. So, on his (in retrospect, questionable) recommendation, I bought a first printing of the original, yellow-color Watchmen trade. And it is fair to say it blew my mind.
Would I give Watchmen to a 12 year old? Probably not. I guess I would have to know them first. I don't think it was actually bad for me. Sure, there were some things to process, so things I didn't really get. But the fact that-- for the first time-- a comic book. Heck, a book at all, was a portal to something complex, adult, mature, and worth trying to untangle was a big deal for me. I think it not only made me a lifelong comics reader, it was also a part of making me a lifelong reader. So even if I was that guys manager I would not be pleased, I am grateful for him.
Day Ten: The Most Beautiful Scene in Any Comic
Superlatives like "most" are always hard, so sometimes I go with the first thing that comes to me. A completely beautiful, moving, legitimately tearjerking scene that was also a perfectly constructed page is (NO SPOILER) a certain goodbye between two characters in the last issue of Y: The Last Man. I actually still remember where I was when I read it.
Day Eleven: Old Comic You Love
It makes me sad that these might now count as old, but I get a good feeling around any of my classic Vertigo, and especially pre-Vertigo stuff. My old Animal Mans and Hellblazers especially.
Day Twelve: Favorite Holiday Comic
I will go with a bit of adolescent 90s naughtiness, The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special by Giffen, Grant, and Bisley. Lobo was Deadpool before Deadpool was Deadpool. But, better. And I was 16 when it came out, so that is pretty good timing.
Day Thirteen: A Great Plot Twist
Walking Dead #6
In which-- 10 YEAR OLD WALKING DEAD SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
The love/jealousy triangle between Rick, Shane, and Lori ends when Carl shoots Shane before he can kill Rick. An excellent twist, and one that continues to resonate in Carl's character 10 years later.
Day Fourteen: Comic That You Love That You'll Never Read Again
That's a really interesting question. Never sounds so final, and makes me only think of my death (which is not hard to do). And also I would say most comics I've read I will never read again, since there are so many great ones I haven't done yet. Maybe the love part is harder to find. Combined with leaving it behind.
But I would say that I have a nostalgic, formative love for the original Marvel Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye series. It, along with G.I. Joe, are what got me in. What I had my first subscriptions to. I could imagine re-reading G.I. Joe someday. But from what I have heard, and am guessing, Transformers does not hold up the same way. And, I figure, is best left to warm memory.
Day Fifteen: A Comic That Makes You Smile
Like Lobo, this is another dark, from the spleen one, but I will go with Ennis and Robertson's The Boys. I rarely get actual laughs or shocks from a book, but this one had a number of those moments. And, also, had a lot of very sophisticated and empathetic stories and relationships, too. More than I think it got credit for (as the shock and spectacle grab more of the attention). But that is something I often find and love in Ennis' work.
Comments
The ending of Number One by Gary Scott Beatty. I really don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, so I'll just say that it's a nice one-shot story about an honest man who perseveres and gets what he deserves. Honestly, this entire comic is beautiful and I feel I owe it to everyone I meet to share it with them to honor the writer and main character.
I'm going ignore the two biggies I'd instinctively post - Ozy in Watchmen and Terra in Titans - and go with one of my personal faves from the manga world.
SPOILERS ABOUND IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU HAVEN'T READ DEATH NOTE AND PLAN TO DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND STOP READING NOW BECAUSE DUDE IT'S A GREAT STORY AND YOU REALLY SHOULD READ IT BUT MAN THERE'S A HUGE PLOT TWIST ABOUT MIDWAY THROUGH THE BOOK THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING AND YOU SHOULD TOTALLY LET IT CATCH YOU OFF GUARD...
Good? Okay. To make it even harder, I'll type it backwards. After this you've no excuse if I ruin the series for you.
L llik ot eton htaed eht esu ot yaw a serugif thgiL.
Blew my mind but also ensured I'd read this series right up to the end.
Day Nine: A Comic That Totally Blew Your Mind
The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, 1986. I actually wound up getting back into comics around this time and picked up the Complete Frank Miller Batman a couple of years after this came out. It.blew.me.away. Any comics reader could tell that this story (along with Watchmen which came out shortly before this) would denote a sea change in how comics were written and how they began to place a greater reliance on an older and more sophisticated audience.
Day Ten: The Most Beautiful Scene in Any Comic
Far too many for me to choose from, but a good place to start would be almost every page of Alex Ross and Kurt Busiek’s Marvels series.
Day Eleven: Old Comic You Love
Superman #236 from April 1971. ‘The Planet Of The Angels’ story sees the Man of Steel flitting between Heaven and Hell, battling angels and devils. The cover is great, showing two devils with pitchforks at the gates of Hell, goading the Man of Steel as Lois Lane screams from the flames within. “Only the dead may enter the gates of HELL!” says the first devil. “Dare you, Superman?” challenges the second. I will not ruin the story for you, except to say the grounding of the story is more outer space than it is afterlife, but still it remains a good yarn and the imagery is priceless, plus there's a pretty good twist as things are not exactly as they seem.
Day Twelve - A Great Holiday Comic
Cover dated March of 1976, Amazing Spider-Man #166 hands down. Peter Parker planned to join a friend at a holiday party but, wouldn't you know it, he's needed over at Central Park where dinosaurs are on the rampage. The spindly superhero saves the day (again) and bellows a greeting to the frosty skyscrapers: ''Merry Christmas, New York — you great big shiny apple you! And God bless us...everyone!'' I've mentioned this book on this forum more than once, but when you have Stegron and the Lizard in the same issue, it's a very special Christmas for Spidey fans and worth mentioning again.
Day Thirteen - Great Plot Twist
Thunderbolts #1 from April 1997. After their appearance in the Hulk, this title was solicited and played largely as a straight superhero story, until the revelation of the Thunderbolts' true nature on the last page of the comic. One of the most well-conceived plot twists in the history of American comic books courtesy of Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley.
I've gotta twist a bit on this one myself.
The first dozen or so issues of American Flagg! had more great plot twists per square inch than any other series I can think of.
Off the bat, I'll pick the first big one, "Hammerhead" Kreiger's murder.
Infinity #4. Most of the civilized worlds have fallen to the Builders. Captain America, leader of the allied army, agrees to surrender and sends Thor as his emissary to accept their terms. When Thor arrives, the Builders take exception that he came "armed" with his hammer and order him to toss it aside. With the surrender being broadcast to all of the conquered worlds, Thor, as if to capitulate, throws the hammer deep into space, only to have it slingshot around the sun and return to him ... right through the chest of the Builder general. This then prompts the allied forces to mount instantaneous strikes on the Builder-conquered worlds and proves to be the war's turning point.
"I did it 35 minutes ago"
Reflecto is actually Superboy! From the classic Reflecto Saga in Legion of Superheroes #277-280. Al along hints were planted that Reflecto was actually Ultra Boy, so the reveal was very unexpected to my 6 year old self. This story of course gets bonus points for nostalgia as it was oe of the first comics I ever read.
If we're going Legion-y, I gotta got with the identities of Miss-Terious and Sir-Prise!
Tough one.
I'm going with The Tomb of Dracula #40. Dracula trying to convert Rachel.
Although you really could pick any part of this Gene Colan goodness.
Day Thirteen - A Great Plot Twist
I can't recall the exact Prog of 2000 AD, but it would have been right near the 680's. Dredd takes the Long Walk.
Alternate would be the return of the Anti-Monitor in Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1.
Shazam! #18 (1975). This is one of those comics that just came into my possession at exactly the right time. I picked this up in late 2013 after just coming back to comics from a five-year hiatus and I was already second-guessing my decision because I was completely underwhelmed by my initial introduction to the New 52. I saw this at a local flea market and the cover made me laugh. I read it, loved it and became a Captain Marvel fan that day.
Never say never, but I don't see myself going back and re-reading any of the Crossed books from Avatar. I have read the first 3 story arcs and they were so dark, visceral and just down right brutal, that I don't feel the need to re-visit them. They were very engrossing and I certainly thought they were well done, but even as I was reading them they made me feel ... uncomfortable I guess you could say. The little catholic school boy in me thinking. "I am going to hell for reading this" =P
Sovereign Seven - I loved Claremont's writing on it, I loved the artwork on it, I loved that they kept trying to make it relevant and failing, I loved that they tried to bring Power Girl into the mix, I even liked the rushed, convoluted St. Elsewhere type ending they gave it. But as much as I enjoyed it at the time I have zero interest in revisiting the world of the outcasts again.
The modern era Blackhawk run from the 70s. Issues 244-250. I may go back and reread the two issues with Bio-Lord, but the rest of it is so oddly abrupt - They bring it back after an 8 year hiatus to suddenly through the Blackhawks in jet fighters with flight suits that, by design are V-necked down to the navel, tell one overarching story and then put it back to bed for another 6 years? Still, Bio-Lord was sooooo cool and this arc was the first place that I ever saw a War Wheel!
Superman #149 - 1961
Death of Superman. The original one.
X-Men #143. Kitty alone with the brood queen. Great book!
Thunderbolts #1
Sorry to mooch this one, @bralinator, but it really was great!
The first X-O Manowar series. Loved it, but I'll never go back.
Y: The Last Man. Great book, but it's not like you can just pick up a couple of issues and read them. The entire series is one long story. Couldn't do it again.
Maus
52
The experience of reading it in "real time" with the rest of this community was so perfect, I don't want to diminish it by revisitation.
Not even a contest. Yotsuba@! runs away with this category and doesn't look back.
Peter Porker The Spectacular Spider-Ham, great fun with all the animal analogues of the Marvel Universe. My favorite was always the Pun-fisher, but I alwaus liked Deerdevil and Goose Rider. Oh and Ducktor Doom, Kingpig ..... hehe they were all great.
Scott McCloud's other masterpiece.
D.R. And Quinch
Superior Foes of Spider-Man. So funny throughout it's entire run. Okay, I guess it makes me laugh, more than smile, but close enough.
Day Ten: The Most Beautiful Scene in Any Comic - Still thinking this one over, not easy.
Day Eleven: Old Comic You Love - Amazing Spider-Man #143 1975
Day Twelve: Favorite Holiday Comic - Can't say that I have one.
Day Thirteen: A Great Plot Twist - Some good ones I would have said were already mentioned. I'm picking Prowl's betrayal in Robots in Disguise #13
Day Fourteen: Comic That You Love That You'll Never Read Again - I don't remember what it was. It was one of the few fantasy comics that my mom allowed me to pickout and buy. All I remember is that it took place on ship in a storm.
Day Fifteen: A Comic That Makes You Smile - There's a lot of those. Anything from Bronze Age Marvel, more recently just about any issue of Skullkickers or Rat Queens.
Day Nine:A Comic That Totally Blew Your Mind
It is sort of an on-the-nose choice, but I will also go with Watchmen. Part of it was the timing-- there was a newsstand in my hometown that dabbled in the direct market, and a guy that worked there that, heck, was probably only an older teenager, but he seemed a lot older to me at the time. I already loved comics, but didn't know much. And this guy became my guru. My rabbi. It was the late 80s, and the direct market was a thing, and he could point out the cool stuff. He showed me Dark Knight Returns. He showed me Watchmen. And, well, I was probably 12. So, on his (in retrospect, questionable) recommendation, I bought a first printing of the original, yellow-color Watchmen trade. And it is fair to say it blew my mind.
Would I give Watchmen to a 12 year old? Probably not. I guess I would have to know them first. I don't think it was actually bad for me. Sure, there were some things to process, so things I didn't really get. But the fact that-- for the first time-- a comic book. Heck, a book at all, was a portal to something complex, adult, mature, and worth trying to untangle was a big deal for me. I think it not only made me a lifelong comics reader, it was also a part of making me a lifelong reader. So even if I was that guys manager I would not be pleased, I am grateful for him.
Day Ten: The Most Beautiful Scene in Any Comic
Superlatives like "most" are always hard, so sometimes I go with the first thing that comes to me. A completely beautiful, moving, legitimately tearjerking scene that was also a perfectly constructed page is (NO SPOILER) a certain goodbye between two characters in the last issue of Y: The Last Man. I actually still remember where I was when I read it.
Day Eleven: Old Comic You Love
It makes me sad that these might now count as old, but I get a good feeling around any of my classic Vertigo, and especially pre-Vertigo stuff. My old Animal Mans and Hellblazers especially.
Day Twelve: Favorite Holiday Comic
I will go with a bit of adolescent 90s naughtiness, The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special by Giffen, Grant, and Bisley. Lobo was Deadpool before Deadpool was Deadpool. But, better. And I was 16 when it came out, so that is pretty good timing.
Day Thirteen: A Great Plot Twist
Walking Dead #6
In which-- 10 YEAR OLD WALKING DEAD SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
The love/jealousy triangle between Rick, Shane, and Lori ends when Carl shoots Shane before he can kill Rick. An excellent twist, and one that continues to resonate in Carl's character 10 years later.
Day Fourteen: Comic That You Love That You'll Never Read Again
That's a really interesting question. Never sounds so final, and makes me only think of my death (which is not hard to do). And also I would say most comics I've read I will never read again, since there are so many great ones I haven't done yet. Maybe the love part is harder to find. Combined with leaving it behind.
But I would say that I have a nostalgic, formative love for the original Marvel Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye series. It, along with G.I. Joe, are what got me in. What I had my first subscriptions to. I could imagine re-reading G.I. Joe someday. But from what I have heard, and am guessing, Transformers does not hold up the same way. And, I figure, is best left to warm memory.
Day Fifteen: A Comic That Makes You Smile
Like Lobo, this is another dark, from the spleen one, but I will go with Ennis and Robertson's The Boys. I rarely get actual laughs or shocks from a book, but this one had a number of those moments. And, also, had a lot of very sophisticated and empathetic stories and relationships, too. More than I think it got credit for (as the shock and spectacle grab more of the attention). But that is something I often find and love in Ennis' work.