Continuing my list of fiction to know me after my lists of television and film, I now present comics. I debated on if I should do complete runs, creator runs, or individual arcs/issues, but ultimately tried to thread the needle and base it on collected editions (although I do try to note if the story is available in a larger edition with other stories) I also tried to avoid the stories that tend to make “best of” lists like Watchmen, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come, Batman: The Long Halloween, X-Men: God Loves Man Kills, Y: The Last Man, Batman: Tales of the Demon, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Life and Death of Captain Marvel and Batman: The Killing Joke which, as you can see, could make a list of its own. I also avoided runs that are currently on going like Saga and Astro City.
Honorable Mention: The New Teen Titans: Who is Donna Troy?
By Marv Wolfman & George Perez
The New Teen Titans #38 (Jan. 1984), Tales of the Teen Titans #50 (Feb. 1985), The New Titans #50-55 (Dec. 1988 - June 1989), Teen Titans/Outsider Secret Files and Origins 2003
The Wolfman and Perez run on The New Teen Titans is frequently hailed as one of the best in comics. Their last collaboration on the series would kick off the rebranding of the series from The New Teen Titans to simply The New Titans as most of the main characters were in their twenties. The five-part “Who is Wonder Girl?” (#50-54) allowed Donna Troy to move on past her kid side-kick persona as Wonder Girl emerging as Troia in The New Titans #55 (“Transitions”) and while it was not their best arc, this collection makes my list because it includes two of the best done-in-one stories ever printed. The first is “Who is Donna Troy?” (The New Teen Titans #38) which is such a masterpiece in storytelling and art, that they use it for the title of the entire volume. Robin uses his detective skills to try to unravel the mystery of Donna Troy’s past. Emotional and character-based drama take center stage without a single fight or supervillain to be seen. When anyone says a single-issue story can’t have the impact of a multi-issue story, I point to this one. Much of the same can be said of the oversized issue of Tales of the Teen Titans #50 (“We are Gathered Here Today…”) which features the wedding of Wonder Girl. Again, no big villain or battles just the interactions of characters with long histories and deep friendships (not just limited to Wonder Girl, the scene between Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne is pitch perfect). This collection was put out in 2005 to capitalize on the death and resurrection of the character in Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day (2003) and DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy (2005).
These issues can also be found in other collections including:
The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 3 First Edition (collecting The New Teen Titans #38, Tales of the Teen Titans #45-50, The New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #1-6 and The New Titans #50-61, 66-67, and Secret Origins Annual #3)
The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 2 Second Edition (collecting The New Teen Titans #21-40, Annual #1-2, Tales of the Teen Titans #41 and Batman and the Outsiders #5)
The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 3 Second Edition (collecting Tales of the Teen Titans #41-58, Annual #3, The New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #1-9)
The New Teen Titans (Trade Paperback) Vol. 6 (collecting The New Teen Titans #35-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41 and Batman and the Outsiders #5)
The New Teen Titans (Trade Paperback) Vol. 8 (collecting Tales of the Teen Titans #49-58)
10: Batman: Strange Apparitions
by Steve Englehart & Marshall Rogers (with Len Wein and Walt Simonson)
Detective Comics #469-476, 478-479 (May 1977 to October 1978)
(Reprinted in Shadow of the Batman #1-5 Dec 1985 to April 1986)
This ten-issue collection that contains six stories is mainly an attempt to collect the original Batman work of Englehart and Rogers, both of whom worked on the Detective Comics for eight consecutive issues (over lapping to great effect for six issues). The collection starts with a great two-part Dr. Phosphorus tale by Englehart and Walt Simonson (“By Death’s Eerie Light and The Origin of Doctor Phosphorus”/”The Master Pan of Doctor Phosphorus”). The Englehart/Rogers collaborations then starts in earnest with a two-part Hugo Strange story that reigns as the best use of the character ever (“The Dead Yet Live”/”I am the Batman”), followed by a duo of excellent done-in-one stories featuring Penguin and Deadshot (“The Malay Penguin”/”The Deadshot Ricochet”) then wrapping up their collaboration with a two parter that is, to this day, best Joker story ever published, titled “The Laughing Fish”/“Sign of the Joker!” (yes, even better than the 1988 Alan Moore and Brian Bolland classic, Batman: The Killing Joke). The collection wraps up with a two-part Clayface tale by Len Wein and Rogers (“The Coming of Clayface III”/”If a Man be Made of Clay”). Never before have a creative team made such a lasting impression with so few issues. Their work perfectly complimented the great work Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams did returning Batman to his darker roots after the popularity of the campy 1966 tv show. They would both return to the character many times in each of their careers but usually paired with other writers and artists. It would be almost thirty years later before they would reteam on Batman again in a series of Dark Detective miniseries. The only drawback to this collection is that it doesn’t include Detective Comics #477 which was a reprint of Detective Comics #408 “The House that Haunted Batman.” It was originally written by Wein and Marv Wolfman and illustrated by Neal Adams, but Wein and Englehart constructed a new three-page framing story (two at the beginning and one at the end) to keep it in continuity with the surrounding issues.
These issues can also be found in other collections
including:
Tales of the Batman: Steve Englehart (collecting
Detective Comics, #439, 469-476, Batman #311, Batman: Legends of the Dark
Knight #109-111, Batman Chronicles #19, Legends of the DC Universe #26-27, and
Batman: Dark Detective #1-6)
Legends of the Dark Knight: Marshall Rogers
(collecting Detective Comics #468, 471-476, 478-479, 481, DC Special Series
#15, Secret Origins #6, Batman Legends of the Dark Knight #132-136, and Batman:
Dark Detective #1-6)
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein (collecting Detective
#408, #444-448, 466, 478-479, 500, 514, World’s Finest #207, Batman #255,
307-310, 312-319, 321-324, 326-327, Untold Legend of the Batman #1-3, DC
Retroactive Batman – The 70s #1, Batman Black and White #5)
9. The Flash: Year One - Born to Run
By Mark Waid and Greg LaRocque
The Flash (Vol. 2) #62-65 (May 1992- June 1992)
While most people consider Waid’s “The Return of Barry Allen” the best Flash story ever written, I side with “Year One – Born to Run” as my favorite because it made me fall in love with the character again after being mis-managed by the previous creative team. I was a fan of Wally West since I first started reading comics with Teen Titans, but when the character got a promotion from Kid-Flash to the Flash when his mentor was killed off in Crisis on Infinite Earths, I was thrilled. Wally was always more interesting as a character than Barry Allen ever was. This story served as the post-Crisis reboot of his origin with a fantastic twist at the climax. This arc began Waid’s 67 issue run on the book that cemented him as one of the best to ever write the character (it was tempting to include his entire run as this entry). The Flash: Born to Run collected edition not only includes the four issue “Year One – Born to Run” arc from The Flash (Vol. 2) #62-65, Annual #8 but Speed Force #1 (Nov. 1997), The Flash 80-Page Giant #1 (Aug. 1998)
The “Year One – Born to Run” arc is also included in:
The Flash by Mark Waid Volume One which collects The Flash (Vol. 2) #62-68, Annual #4, 8 and The Flash 50th Anniversary Special.
The Flash by Mark Waid Omnibus Volume One which collects The Flash (Vol. 2) #62-91, Annual #4-6, The Flash 50th Anniversary Special, Justice League Quarterly #10, Green Lantern (Vol. 3) #30-31 and #40
8. Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters
By Mike Grell
Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters # 1- 3 (August – October 1987)
This miniseries, originally consisting of three oversized issues, was written and fully painted by Grell and served as a pilot to the very first Green Arrow ongoing series by DC Comics. Grell was the first artist to draw Green Arrow after Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams revamped the character a decade earlier when he replaced Adams as the artist on Green Lantern (which co-starred Green Arrow at the time). Having him face off with serial killers and professional assassins, this story has the title character questioning his direction in life and moves him to be more of an urban hunter rather than a simple adventurer. The maturity of the characterization has him both wrestling with the moral aftermath of taking a human life and, as a costumed adventurer without any superpowers, the impact of aging has on his activities. Grell would end up writing around 90 issues of Green Arrow and is consistently considered one of the high-water marks for the character. Admittedly, while I enjoyed Judd Winnick’s overall run compared to Grell’s (and it was considered for this list), I could not deny the strength of this individual work that stands as a high point for the character.
Multiple hardcover and softcover collections have been printed of the three issue minis series. It also appears in: Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunter Saga Omnibus Volume One which also includes Green Arrow (Vol. 2) #1-50 and Secret Origins #38. Issue #1 is also collected in Green Arrow/Black Canary: For Better or For Worse along with Justice League of America #75, Action Comics #428, 434, The Joker #4, Green Lantern (Vol. 2) #94-95, Detective Comics #549-550, Green Arrow (Vol. 2) #75, 101, Green Arrow (Vol. 3) #4-5, 12, and 21)
7. Spider-Man: Fearful Symmetry - Kraven’s Last Hunt
By J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck
Web of Spider-Man #31-32, The Amazing Spider-Man #293-294, and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132, (September – November 1986)
Kraven hunts down Spider-Man (who had just married Mary Jane) and seemingly shoots him to death. Kraven buries Spider-Man and begins wearing a copy of his costume to prove he is better at fighting crime than Spider-Man was. After spending weeks brutally attacking criminals, Kraven finally single handedly catches Vermin, whom Spider-Man previously needed help to defeat. The pacing and darkness contributed to a story that was the most unexpected post-wedding event any reader cold imagine, but it works due to the combination of DeMatteis’ noir style script and Zeck’s powerful art.
Multiple hardcover and softcover editions collect the core six-part story (usually printed usually under the shortened title “Kraven’s Last Hunt”) Including the “Select” edition hardcover and the standard trade paperback.
Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt: The Epic Collection trade paperback edition includes The Amazing Spider-Man #289-294, Annual #20-21, Spider-Man Versus Wolverine, Web of Spider-Man #29-32 and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132.
Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt: The Deluxe Edition Hardcover includes Web of Spider-Man #31-32, The Amazing Spider-Man #15, 293-294, 634-637, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132, The Amazing Spider-Man: Soul of the Hunter, What If #17, Sensational Spider-Man Annual ’96, and What The -- ?! #3.
6. Batman: Year One
by Frank Miller and Dave Mazzucchelli
Batman #404 - #407 (February 1987 to May 1987)
The retelling of Bruce Wayne’s first year working as a vigilante in Gotham City served as the bases of the post-Crisis reboot for DC Comics post 50th Anniversary. It was written by Miller who was fresh off Batman: The Dark Knight Returns which was a pivotal landmark in comics publishing. DKR along with Watchmen were the one-two-punch that made critics start to see comic books as legitimate literature. However, I must admit I always thought Year One was a far more grounded and character driven piece that deserves just as much acclaim.
Multiple hard cover and soft cover collections have been printed.
5. The New Teen Titans: The Terror of Trigon
By Marv Wolfman & George Perez
The New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #1-5 (Aug. 1984-Feb. 1985)
The Wolfman and Perez run on The New Teen Titans was legendary and four years after their debut DC decided to launch a second monthly title. (They changed the name of The New Teen Titans to Tales of the Teen Titans with issue #40 and not long after launched The New Teen Titans Volume 2). Since The New Teen Titans were formed by Raven to battle the demonic Trigon the Terrible in the previous series and they defeated him with relative ease the two-part story from The New Teen Titans #5 & 6 (“Trigon Lives” and “Last Kill”), it made since to bring him back to kick off the new run. They did so, but in a bigger much more dangerous way. Despite this being his first appearance in four years, this arc establishes the character as a major villain of the Teen Titans mythology. The story works not just because of the plot but the deep character work put into our heroes. The lineup consisting of Nightwing, Starfire, Wonder Girl, Changeling, Cyborg, Jericho and Raven (and quickly brings back former Titans, Kid-Flash and Lilith, into the story) try to stop Trigon from conquering the world and turning it into a nightmarishly literal hell on Earth.
These issues can also be found in other collections including:
The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 3 First Edition (collects The New Teen Titans #38, Tales of the Teen Titans #45-50, The New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #1-6 and The New Titans #50-61, 66-67, and Secret Origins Annual #3)
The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 3 Second Edition (collects Tales of the Teen Titans #41-58, Annual #3, The New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #1-9)
The New Teen Titans (Trade Paperback) Vol. 9 (collects The New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #1-9)
4. Spider-Man: The Death of Jean DeWolff
By Peter David and Rich Buckler
Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110 (October 1985 – January 1986)
Spider-Man goes on the hunt for the Sin-Eater, a serial killer who murdered of one of his friends, Capt. DeWolff of the NYPD. This was the first thing I ever read by Peter David (it was only his second job for Marvel Comics) and many would say any number of the stories from his run on The Incredible Hulk would be more deserving to make this list and they probably would be correct, but when I first read this story it simply floored me. The cliff hangers were jaw droppers, and the use of guest star Daredevil was pitch perfect. David’s characterization of Spider-Man remains one of my favorite and while he would become more known for comedy, anyone wanting a tightly plotted “who-done-it?” will love this arc.
Multiple hardcover and tradepaper back collections have been printed. Some editions also include the three-part sequel by David and Sal Buscema published in The Spectacular Spider-Man #134-136 (Jan-Mar 1988)
3. Crisis on Infinite Earths
By Marv Wolfman and George Perez
Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12 (April 1985 – March 1986)
DC published this year long mini-series to both celebrate DC’s 50th Anniversary and to streamline/reboot their universe. Every character ever published by DC appears at least once (and recently acquired characters from Charlton Comics made their debut) and the story crossed though fifteen titles (40 issues) published that year. It was so pivotal to DC that it became the turning point of the history of their universe. Everything is now referred to as pre-Crisis and post-Crisis. Wolfman and Perez were hot off their popular run on The New Teen Titans and crafted a story that was more than just crossovers and guest stars but an epic with long term impacts on the status quo and the beloved characters of the DC universe. Often imitated (even by DC themselves) but never duplicated either in scope or success, the story follows the Anti-Monitor who begins to destroy the various parallel Earths in the Multiverse, while the Monitor (the Anti-Monitor’s more benign counterpart) tries to recruit heroes to stop the universal destruction.
Multiple hard cover and soft cover collections have been printed as well as collections of the crossover issues. Some editions also include the two-part History of the DC Universe.
2. Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes
By Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams
Green Lantern (Vol. 2) #76-87, 89 and The Flash (Vol 1.) # 217-219, 226
Reprinted in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #1-7 (October 1983-April 1984)
After spending years policing the universe, Green Lantern Hal Jordan is challenged by Green Arrow to confront menaces of a different kind: racism, poverty, drugs, and other social ills on Earth. While the Watchmen and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns are frequently credited as the time when comics grew up, that’s only true superficially. Dennis O’Neil challenged readers with mature issues by tackling real world problems in the backdrop of right vs. left with a newly revamped Green Arrow challenging Green Lantern’s preconceptions of society and he did it over a decade earlier than Moore or Miller. While it may lack the language, sex, and violence of DKR and Watchmen it still ups the intellectual quality of storytelling with parables and debate.
It’s been collected multiple times, first as two TPB volumes Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes and Green Lantern/Green Arrow: More Hard Traveling Heroes then as Green Lantern/Green Arrow Volumes 1 and 2, then again as Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Hard Traveling Heroes in a single volume TPB, Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Absolute Edition hardcover and Green Lantern/Green Arrow: Deluxe Edition hardcover.
1. The New Teen Titans: Terra Incognito AND The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract
By Marv Wolfman & George Perez
The New Teen Titans #28-34, 39-40, Annual #2, Tales of the Teen Titans #41-44 and Annual #3 (Feb. 1983-July 1984)
I debated greatly on this entry. Should I just do the lone story arc, “The Judas Contract” (Tales of the Teen Titans #42-44 and Annual #3) which was the four issue cumulation of four years’ worth of storytelling? Threads and seeds planted as early as the first issue were set up and paid off in that story. Even the collected edition included more than just the four-part story, adding three additional issues of buildup (The New Teen Titans #39 “Crossroads,” and a two-part Brother Blood story from The New Teen Titans #40 “Lifeblood” and Tales of the Teen Titans #41 “Baptism of Blood”). I even debated doing a complete series entry but to keep it manageable and since many of the issues building up to it appear in “Terra Incognito” I thought a good compromise would be to just combine the two collections for the entry. While some of the dialogue has become dated in the last four decades, the depth of characterization and pre-panning on long term sub-plots still work by contemporary standards perhaps even more so, since so much writing is done with the trade paperback reprint being a consideration for structuring long form stories. The backstory going into these collections is simple: A contract on the lives of the Teen Titans (whose roster at the time was: Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid-Flash, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy, now going by the name Changeling) has been taken out with the terrorist organization H.I.V.E. (Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Eliminations) who has hired Deathstroke, The Terminator to fulfill the contract. Deathstroke blames the Titans for the death on his eldest son and after being defeated or fighting to a standstill multiple times during the first year of publication, Deathstroke decides to play a longer game and enlists the aid of a traitor to take them down from within.
“Terra Incognito” starts with the introduction of Terra (the little sister of Geo-Force from Batman and the Outsiders) who is being forced by terrorists holding her parents (the ruler of the nation of Markovia) to commit crimes. Changeling befriends Terra but the other Titans have some doubts about her story. Around this time OG Titan and recovering drug addict Speedy returns to the team as well as the super-powered Frances Kane (Magenta), a childhood friend of Kid-Flash who is a reluctant hero due to mental health issues. Meanwhile, a new brutal masked avenger has taken to the streets taking the name Vigilante. Since it’s not a straightforward arc there is a lot going on here. The team battles the Brotherhood of Evil and the Church of Brother Blood, Robin is partnering with the DA and Judge Adrian Chace to take down a mob boss, a villain named Trident is murdered and Thunder and Lightning, a pair of super powered twins, are introduced.
The Gap: There is a gap of five issues between collections. None have a huge impact on the bigger arc but allowing the audience knows who the traitor is while playing out innocuous done-in-one tales really ratcheted up the tension, that’s the biggest downside of limiting oneself to two collected editions instead of the full run or the subsequent sequential TPB releases. In addition, Issue #35 (“Seige!”) pays off a Cyborg subplot established in issues #30 (“Nightmare!”) and #34 (“Endings… And Beginnings.” Issue #36 (“Feedback”) follows up the story “Thunder and Lightning” (Issue #32). Issue #37 (“Light’s Out, Everyone”) is the first of a two part crossover with Batman and the Outsiders #5 (“Psimon Says…”) and #38 is the classic done-in-one “Who is Donna Troy?” which I discussed above in the Honorable Mention entry. Again, none of the main narrative is lost just the tension of knowing who is working with Deathstroke while the Titans go about their business unaware.
“The Judas Contract” starts three issues before the classic four-part story with Kid Flash and Robin sub-plots coming to a head as well and the conclusion of the Church of Blood arc. Deathstroke and his infiltrator finally spring their trap to take out the Titans. Wolfman expertly plays against expectations as the story barrels toward it climax. The story, known for Dick Grayson giving up his role as Robin and creating a new persona and the gut punch of the resolution that was almost four years in the making, cemented the Wolfman/Perez collaboration and the series as one of the best runs in comics. If I had any complaint about the collection is that there are some loose ends, many of which were cleaned up in the following three-part story appearing in #45-47 (“Old Times, Old Friends,” “Showdown!,” “Final Conflict”), and even though those issues are worth reading they are definitely anti-climactic compared to the events of “The Judas Contract, part 4: Finale” (Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3) which closes out the collection.
The issues from these two collections can also be found in other collections including:
The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 2 First Edition (collecting The New Teen Titans #21-37, 39-40, Annual #1-2, Tales of the Teen Titans #41-44 and Annual #3)
The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 2 Second Edition (collecting The New Teen Titans #21-40, Annual #1-2, Tales of the Teen Titans #41 and Batman and the Outsiders #5)
The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 3 Second Edition (collecting Tales of the Teen Titans #41-58, Annual #3, The New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #1-9)
The New Teen Titans (Trade Paperback) Vol. 5 (collecting The New Teen Titans #28-34, and Annual #2)
The New Teen Titans (Trade Paperback) Vol. 6 (collecting The New Teen Titans #35-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41 and Batman and the Outsiders #5)
The New Teen Titans (Trade Paperback) Vol. 7 (collecting Tales of the Teen Titans #42-48 and Annual #3)
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