Your Obscure Top 10?

[shaxper]

Yes, we occasionally kindle threads in this section in which we list and discuss our favorite or most important comics in our collection. What I'd like to discuss instead are those comics in your collection that have tremendous importance to you but would be practically meaningless to almost anyone else. What are your obscure picks?

Mine would be:

1. Batman #428

The death of Jason Todd. This issue rocked my world when I was a child. It was the first comic I ever tried to preserve. I didn't know about bags and boards back then, so I kept it flat in a drawer for several years before learning how to properly store comics. This issue is practically worthless now, but the nostalgia is still priceless to me.


2. Detective Comics #552

There's absolutely nothing important about this issue other than the fact that it was my very first comic book. I bought it when I was five years old and never really meant to hold on to it. I just happened to come across it again by total accident in my mother's basement twelve years later. Now that's luck!


3. Action Comics #662

Clark Kent reveals his identity to Lois Lane after nearly sixty years of secrecy. Why isn't this issue a bigger deal?


4. Warriors #1

The first installment/appearance of Alan Moore's V For Vendetta (my favorite comic of all time). Miracle Man also makes his first appearance here, though that doesn't matter half as much to me. This comic actually totes a nice price tag, but that doesn't mean anyone's looking for it or actually cares about it.


5. Avengers #213

In a moment of desperation, Yellow Jacket savagely beats his wife (Janet Pym). Writers later explained that aliens were possessing him at the time, but holy sh**!


6. Usagi Yojimbo (vol. 1) #25

The first issue I ever bought/read of Usagi Yojimbo. It's now my favorite ongoing title of all time.


7. Uncanny X-Men #153

My absolute favorite X-Men story of all time. This was also one of the first ones I ever read.


8. Adventure Comics #432

Just the best Spectre story of all time. So deeply screwed up.


9. Super Mario Brothers Special Edition

The first comic book ever published by Valiant (a favorite publisher of mine).


10. Daredevil #102

Chris Claremont's first writing stint on a superhero title. Not very good, but I do adore '70s/'80s Claremont.


I'm sure I'll think of better ones later. I'm mostly just curious to read yours.

[Reptisaurus!]

I'm not sure what the rules are here.

Top ten dollar box comics?

Seems like Batman 428, ferinstance, had an effect on a lot of people.

At the VERY least it made my dad stop buying comics forever.

[spoon_jenkins]

I'm not sure what the rules are here.

Top ten dollar box comics?

Seems like Batman 428, ferinstance, had an effect on a lot of people.

At the VERY least it made my dad stop buying comics forever.
Yeah, I think the Batman, Avengers, Action Comics and X-Men issues that you mentioned are considered really significant rather than obscure. Just because Kitty's Fairy Tale is light-hearted doesn't make it obscure.

[Mr. Palmer]

Seems like Batman 428, ferinstance, had an effect on a lot of people.

At the VERY least it made my dad stop buying comics forever.

That's pretty interesting. It upset him that bad, huh?

[swinebread]

My Obscure list includes

X-men #173, the 1st X-men issue I read.
http://www.fm3d.com/collectables/comics/xmen1/173.jpg


Rom #44 my 1st encounter with Rom and the Soviet Heroes.
http://www.romspaceknight.com/cover/large_44.jpg


New Mutants #6, always loved Viper and Silver Samurai since.
http://www.comicsresearch.com/NewMutants/images/NewMutants_px300_05.jpg

Marvel Team Up #134, 1st jack of hearts for me, I liked this guy... *sniff*

Hex #1, I really like post-apocalyptic stories and Hex is so cool.

Ambush Bug #1 Vol 1, changed my view of comics and creators forever.

Astonishing Tales #25 Gotta love the old Deathlok.

New York Year Zero #1, the best Sci-Fi Art around.

PP the Spectacular Spider-Man #85, My 1st encounter with Hobby and Black Cat

Scout #7, 1st time I saw nudity in a comic, and it was well done.
http://www.comiccovers.com/albums/S/Scout%20%5BEclipse%5D%20V1/0007.jpg

[Ronnigon]

My obscure comic list is... Swordquest!

29175

29176

Who remembers these comics?

[shaxper]

Yeah, I think the Batman, Avengers, Action Comics and X-Men issues that you mentioned are considered really significant rather than obscure. Just because Kitty's Fairy Tale is light-hearted doesn't make it obscure.


Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I don't mean obscure titles. I mean obscure selections for a top ten list -- issues most people wouldn't consider to be cornerstones of a collection. Kitty's Fairytale, for example, while well known, wouldn't be considered the pride and joy of most people's collections. Meanwhile, I own three copies and display them proudly.

[Shellhead]

Fantastic Four #118: My first comic book.

The Brave & the Bold #109: My first DC comic book.

Avengers #118: My first Avengers comic and my first exposure to a big crossover story. Still one of my favorite comics.

Jungle Action #6: This comic elevated my expectations for intelligent writing in comic books and made me stop thinking of comics as just for kids, even though I was a kid at the time.

Astonishing Tales #25: my first exposure to cyperpunk.

Amazing Adventures #29 (or #31?): first interracial kiss that I ever saw in a comic.

Teen Titans #20 (Wolfman/Perez run): After a decade as a loyal Marvel Zombie, this comic convinced me to give DC a try again.

Elementals #1: Less than two years before this comic debuted, I played in a superhero roleplaying adventure (Villains & Vigilantes) that Bill Willingham ran at GenCon. I knew that he did some artwork for some TSR games, but it was a shock and a thrill to see his name in a comic I owned.

Grimjack #2: The closing page featured some words that mean a lot to me: "Friends are the family that we choose."

JLA/Avengers #2: This is the comic that I had wanted to read for at least 25 years. Even longer if I factor in my enthusiasm for the old Avengers versus Squadron Supreme/Sinister stories.

[swinebread]

Fantastic Four #118: My first comic book.

Astonishing Tales #25: my first exposure to cyperpunk.

Amazing Adventures #29 (or #31?): first interracial kiss that I ever saw in a comic.

Astonishing Tales #25 is cyberpunk before the term was coined, good catch!
http://www.universohq.com/quadrinhos/2006/imagens/astonishing-tales-25.jpg

Amazing Adventures another fun one! I think it's 31.
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/7/7c/260px-Amazing_Adventures_31.jpg

[spoon_jenkins]

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I don't mean obscure titles. I mean obscure selections for a top ten list -- issues most people wouldn't consider to be cornerstones of a collection.
Nah, I didn't mean the titles weren't obscure. I meant the specific issues weren't obscure. Hank hitting Jan, death of Jason Todd, etc. seem to me to be famous issues.

[shaxper]

Nah, I didn't mean the titles weren't obscure. I meant the specific issues weren't obscure. Hank hitting Jan, death of Jason Todd, etc. seem to me to be famous issues.


Really? I guess the people I know don't have the same quality of taste as the people you know ;)

[Babylon23]

In no specific order:

1) Marvel Premiere #47

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/51845482862.47.gif

This issue introduced me to Scott Lang, one of my favourite characters, and to the amazing work of John Byrne. I loved Ant-Man so much, that I checked out his appearances in Iron Man as well, which introduced me to the amazing Michilenie/Layton/Romita Jr. work on that book.

2) All-Star Squadron #20

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/02902945302.20.gif

All-Star Squadron was the first DC book I collected regularly. This issue is the absolute high point of the run, and is one of the few comics I still have from when I was young. It's an incredibly powerful and moving Green Lantern story. This issue made me a lifelong Alan Scott and JSA fan.

3) Blue Beetle #5

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/11801061740.5.gif

The issue that introduced the Question to the DCU proper. I love the Question, and this issue led me to pick up Denny O'Neill's amazing Question series of the late 80's.

4) Eagle Weekly #127

My first introduction to the incredible world of Dan Dare. I couldn't get enough of this series when I was young. It was so completely different to what I was reading in the US books.

5) Captain Britain #13

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/14671172664.13.gif

My introduction to Captain Britain, Betsy Braddock and Alan Davis. This issue led to a lifelong love of Davis' work, which led me to Batman and the Outsiders, Miracleman and dozens of other great books.

[Babylon23]

6) Avengers #147

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/05815547774.147.gif

My first Avengers issue, and my introduction to the Scarlet Witch, Vision, Hawkeye and the Squadron Supreme

7) New Gods #1

Not really obscure, but the issue that is singlehandedly responsible for making me a lifelong comic book fan. When I was 8, I was getting bored with superheroes. I went looking for something else, and found this wonderful issue (and about 7 more). The sheer scope of this story showed me just what the comic book medium was capable of.

8) Micronauts #7

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/53491064630.7.gif

Not the first comic I ever read, but the first issue I brought with my own pocket money, and my introduction ot the amazing art of Michael Golden.

9) Green Lantern #102

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/37137612952.102.gif

My introduction to Green Lantern and Green Arrow.

10) New Teen Titans #15

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/86228870930.15.gif
One of the most moving comic stories I've ever read, as well as my introduction to the Doom Patrol, my favourite DC team.

[DDM]

Uncanny X-Men Annual #10:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/97904389460.10.GIF

My first experience with the magnificent art of Arthur Adams. I think I bought the book for $2.00. I later bought Longshot #1-6 & various Marvel Comics Adams did.

The New Mutants Annual #3:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/56764845260.3.GIF

My first encounter with the artwork of Alan Davis. This lead me to buy The Outsiders, Detective Comics, Excalibur, & Captain Britian.

Avengers Annual #10:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/05856107888.10.GIF

Rogue was still very new to me, but I was intrigued with her first appearance as a villain??? You have to understand I started reading with Uncanny X-Men in 1987 when Rogue was an established hero. I was also intrigued with this Carol Danvers person, the original Ms. Marvel. I also was blown away by the artwork of Michael Golden!

Uncanny X-Men #221:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/97792366288.221.GIF

My very first off the shelf Uncanny X-Men comic.

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition #6:

My very first Marvel Comic.

[DDM]

Uncanny X-Men #207:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/97792366288.207.GIF

Uncanny X-Men #207 is just a harrowing story of a girl who has survivor's guilt & has a psionic link with Wolverine. Rachel Summers believes she can silence her "ghost" by murdering the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club; as Phoenix, Rachel nearly succeeds in murdering Selene, the Black Queen, but is stopped by her teammate Wolverine. He stabs Phoenix in the heart & lungs. As a teenager, I believed Rachel was right to kill the Black Queen. As an adult, I'm still not sure who is right. Selene kills again. And Phoenix is abducted by Spiral.

Uncanny X-Men #164:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/97792366288.164.GIF

After reading Avengers Annual #10 & The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition #2, I sought out more about this Carol Danvers person. The easiest backissue then was Uncanny X-Men #164 with Carol's transformation into Binary. Binary's powers are amazing. Yet nothing can replace the loss Carol had at the hands of Rogue.

Ms. Marvel #1

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/55283435382.1.GIF

I bought mint condition Ms. Marvel #1 at a flee market for $1.00 in the mid-90's. Gerry Conway wrote her origin issues before Chris Claremont took over in Ms. Marvel #3. Eventually, this book lead me to Captain Marvel #18.

Wonder Woman #15 (volume 2)

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/96913563818.15.GIF

Wonder Woman's relaunch introduced me to George Perez's artwork. I later sought out The New Teen Titans, Crisis On Infinite Earths #1-12, & The Avengers. I also bought the remainder Wonder Woman backissues & bought the series regularly unti #24.

Classic X-Men #15:

My first encounter with John Byrne's artwork. I sought out to find John Byrne's Uncanny X-Men #108-143 throughout the late-80's. I also bought Classic X-Men for the books I could not afford at the time.

[shaxper]

Wonder Woman #15 (volume 2)

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/96913563818.15.GIF

Wonder Woman's relaunch introduced me to George Perez's artwork. I later sought out The New Teen Titans, Crisis On Infinite Earths #1-12, & The Avengers. I also bought the remainder Wonder Woman backissues & bought the series regularly unti #24.



Any particular reason for choosing #15? Just wondering because I've been reading the Perez run lately and, while it's had some very memorable moments, #15 wasn't a big issue for me. The end of Annual #1 has probably been my favorite so far - the reading of Myndi Mayor's will. Pretty powerful stuff for an otherwise unlikable supporting character.

[Jake Lockley]

Here are a few.

Marvel Two-in-One #50. For some reason I go back to this issue time and again and never tire of reading it; probably because Byrne was doing some of his best work at the time. The story was about Ben going back in time in order to cure himself a being the Thing. Reed had a cure that wouldn't work on Ben as he was now, but would have worked on him before his body had gotten used to being the Thing. Ben succeeds, although the past he visited wasn't his own, but an alternate reality, so the cure only works for the other version of himself. Issue #100 revisits the alternate world and explores the affects Ben's actions had on that reality.

Fantastic Four #236. More Byrne. Doc Doom enlists the Puppet Master's aid in thwarting the FF, as he traps them in synthetic bodies in a shruken city where they have no super powers and are living ordinary lives. Doom enters the city himself in order to grind Richards under his foot, since he is Reed's boss. As all of Doom's plans tend to do, this one unravels and all is made right in the end. This is the 20th anniversary issue of the title, and there is a "special all new" Lee-Kirby FF tale, which is an adaptation of a cartoon which was based on FF #5. There is a menagerie of talent working from Kirby's breakdowns, and in the most strict sense the story definitely is not a new collaboration between the Man and Smilin' Jack.

Iron Man #128. After a great build up over the previous months, Tony Stark finally confronts his alcoholism. I was not quite 14 when this issue hit the stands, and it was the first time I had seen something so serious addressed in a comic book. One of the highlights of the Michilinie/JRJR/Layton run.

[DDM]

Any particular reason for choosing #15? Just wondering because I've been reading the Perez run lately and, while it's had some very memorable moments, #15 wasn't a big issue for me. The end of Annual #1 has probably been my favorite so far - the reading of Myndi Mayor's will. Pretty powerful stuff for an otherwise unlikable supporting character.

I bought Wonder Woman #15 off the shelf in 1987 then bought it regularly.

[Rob Allen]

There is a menagerie of talent working from Kirby's breakdowns, and in the most strict sense the story definitely is not a new collaboration between the Man and Smilin' Jack.

Nickname clarification!

Smilin' Jack was a newspaper comic strip about a pilot. It was one of my father's favorites in the 1930s.

Jack Kirby was referred to as Jolly Jack in Marvel comics. Stan Lee was Smilin' Stan. He liked alliteration.

[Slam_Bradley]

My list is on this thread. Most of them are pretty obscure.

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=99453

[dan bailey]

My list is on this thread. Most of them are pretty obscure.

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=99453

same here. unless, say, capt savage #10 is famous for some reason that's completely escaped my attention ...

[dan bailey]

Nickname clarification!

Smilin' Jack was a newspaper comic strip about a pilot. It was one of my father's favorites in the 1930s.


as it happens, what i assume is an original sunday page (though it may be just a vintage newsprint appearance) of the strip is hanging in my department head's office down the hall from me here at civil air patrol headquartersl. turns out the creator, zack mosley, was a lieutenant colonel in cap & often depicted jack's adventures as a member of the organization.

[METAROG]

Here are my top 10 most extreme obscure comics/titles that I have read-

1. Super Green Beret (Lightning)
2. Fatman The Human Flying Saucer (Lightning)
3. Captain Marvel (MF Enterprises) Split!
4. Super Cops (Red Circle)
5. Fast Willie Jackson (Fitzgerald)
6. Neutro (Dell) one of the most unintentionally funny comics ever
7. The Heap (Skywald)
8. Vicki (Atlas-Seaboard)
9. Silly Putty Man vs the Space Pirates/Eggomeany (Promo)
10. Bubble Funnies (Mini comics)

[Jake Lockley]

Jack Kirby was referred to as Jolly Jack in Marvel comics. Stan Lee was Smilin' Stan. He liked alliteration.

Oops. See, I know this under normal circumstances, but somehow it all goes fuzzy on an insomniac night at 3:00 am. At least I didn't refer to him as Joltin', Rascally or Sturdy. :p

[batturtle]

I'm not sure about specific issues, but in terms of obscure stuff I really love:

Captain Carrot & His Amazing Zoo Crew
Atari Force
Flaming Carrot
Weird War Tales
Strikeback
Milk & Cheese
Heckler
&
Ambush Bug

Does Alpha Flight count?
And there's a newer comic called Monkey in a Wagon vs. Lemur on a Big Wheel that's incredibly funny.

[joe bloke]

The Brave and the Bold. no. 118. Batman and Wildcat go head to head, with the Joker thrown in just for jolly. My all-time favourite Bat-team-up, and my all-time favourite Jim Aparo Bat-cover. Sweet.

Marvel Treasury Edition. no. 10. The Mighty Thor. Reprints The Mighty Thor 154 thru 157, the Mangog arc. Lee's grandest. Kirby's finest. Colletta's best. And all for a paltry ten bob! Pure joy.

Rogan Gosh. Vertigo one-shot. Pete Milligan and Brendan McCarthy. Started life as a serial running in the Fleetway monthly Revolver, perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the times. A truly beautiful experience.

The Shadow. no. 7. " Night of the Beast. " The comic that introduced me to Frank Robbins. Yeah, I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, but I loved him when I was a kid.

Captain Marvel. no. 17. Roy Thomas and Gil Kane pull out all the stops. Oh, yes. 'Nuff said, true believer.

Deadline. no. 1. The first appearance of Hewlett and Martin's Tank Girl. Changed the way I looked at comics forever.

My Love. no. 6. Quite simple, it just has my favourite comic cover of all time. " My Song, My Sorrow. To him. . .I'm just a voice." Fantastic.

2000AD. no. 1. You had to be there.

Mighty World of Marvel. no. 1. The Incredible Hulk. The Fantastic Four. The Amazing Spider-man. Stan Lee. Jack Kirby. Steve Ditko. And life would never be the same again.

Plop! no. 1. Brilliant.

A couple of them might be considered obscure, I guess, if you're not familiar with the UK comics scene, but, trust me, they're solid gems, each and every one and all of them.

[MichikoS]

Here are 12 obscure comics/titles that I've read. Some deserve obscurity more than others. Some deserve outright censure; some are, if not lost gems, perhaps semi-precious stones...
Michi

12. Amazing High Adventure (Marvel, 1984-86) Five issues. Superior anthology book, featuring some of the finest writers and artists in the field doing occasionally brilliant work. Unfairly neglected. Issues are usually relegated to the quarter bins, but you'll find some exceptional stuff here, especially from John Severin.

11. Alien Legion (Epic/Marvel, 1984-93). Long-lived space opera series by Carl Potts. Variable in quality, the stories nonetheless develop a consistent and interesting universe. Military SF fans will enjoy these. Two separate series and several minis and one-shots. Checker now has rights to this material, I believe.

10. Keif Llama (Fantagraphics et al, 1988-present). Matt Howarth is an acquired taste. His work is spare, highly stylized, and hermetic. Keif Llama is a xenotech, her job to establish relations with alien species. Howarth dreams up some bizarre and truly alien species here. The stories are low-key, but often quite intellectually stimulating.

9. Airboy spinoff titles: Sky Wolf, Valkyrie, and The Air Maidens. The revival of the old Hillman character, Airboy (Eclipse, 1986-9), was some of Chuck Dixon's finest work. The spinoff mini-series featuring Sky Wolf, Valkyrie, and The Air Maidens were enjoyable for their successful updating of Golden Age war characters. I'd like to see a comprehensive Eclipse Airboy collection with all of the spinoff titles included.

8. Rocket Raccoon (Marvel, 1985). Four issues. Funny animal sci-fi from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, who I'm sure cringes at the mention of this mini-series. It's actually not half-bad. That also means it's half not-good. See Bucky O'Hare, below.

7. Bucky O'Hare (Continuity, 1988-92). Larry Hama created this character in the 1970's, but the strip didn't get fully realized until Continuity published a graphic novel album and a short series in the late '80s/early '90s. I think there might have been an animated TV show, but I never saw it. Michael Golden's art is fantastic. The aniverse if great. I wish Bucky O'Hare would get the revival it deserves. Finding a way to include Rocket Raccoon in Bucky's aniverse would be interesting. Or has that been done already?

6. Conspiracy (Marvel, 1998). Two issue mini-series by Dan Abnett, Igor Kordey. Good example of Marvel's "dark" period (see Marvels Ruins for some seriously dark shit.) Secret manipulations? Powerful forces acting behind the scenes to influence the outcome of crucial events? Been there, done that. Illuminati, eat your heart out. This mini demonstrates how self-referential comics have become. Not 100% successful, but a nifty story, blatantly ripped off later by lesser talents.

5. Super Cops (Red Circle, 1974). One issue. Thanks to Metarog for reminding me about this one! Gray Morrow supplies the art to an urban tale of cops and robbers. Far out, man! Utterly forgettable, and deserving of its obscurity in every way.

4. The Bravados (Skywald, 1971). One issue. Hard to believe this strip actually graduated to its own title after a three-issue try-out in Wild Western Action. Derivative crap, mostly, but no worse than the stuff it was modeled on, i.e., Marvel's Big Three westerns, Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid, and Two-Gun Kid. Obscurity earned, and granted!

3. Wild Animals (Pacific, 1982). One issue. "Anthropomorphic Antics of Funny Fauna." Sergio Aragones and Scott Shaw funny animals. Enjoyable, if forgettable. Maybe Scott can give us the background on this one-shot someday.

2. Tippy Teen (Tower, 1965-69). Twenty-five issues, plus a Special Collectors' Edition; spinoff titles Tippy's Friends Go-Go & Animal, Teen-In. Archie-style teen antics from a much more innocent era. Boys and girls used to read this title indiscriminately--I've seen it with my own eyes. Did you know that girls used to read comics? Bizarre notion, isn't it? Incidentally, some of these stories were repackaged by Atlas/Seabord and published as Vicki. Names were changed, of course. Tippy, Vicki, whatever.

1. Brain Boy (Dell, 1962-3). Six issues. This teenager has such a powerful brain that he can fly and do other cool stuff just with brainpower. Somewhat realistic (Brain Boy has no costume, for example) with plots grounded in contemporary science and politics. Sort of a cousin to the early Fantastic Four in its approach to the idea of normal people gaining superpowers. Some of the finest painted covers ever!

[dan bailey]

Marvel Treasury Edition. no. 10. The Mighty Thor. Reprints The Mighty Thor 154 thru 157, the Mangog arc. Lee's grandest. Kirby's finest. Colletta's best. And all for a paltry ten bob! Pure joy.

Amen. This one's #8 on my above-referenced christmas countdown top 10 list.

[joe bloke]

Action Comics. no. 364? Is that the super-leprosy one?

[dan bailey]

indeed it is. here's what i wrote in selecting it last december --

i have no doubt that this would rank at least a couple of notches higher if i still had the first, third & fourth parts of this death-of-superman saga to relive (they do feature prominently in my latest order from lone star comics, as it happens). looking back, i'm pretty sure they marked the first time i ever looked forward with genuine anxiety to the next issue of a comic because of uncertainty over just how the hero would escape certain doom. (heck, in those done-in-one days of yore it may've even been the first continued story i ever encountered!)

when i read this issue (cover-dated 6/68) i was about halfway into my 8th year & nearing the end of 3rd grade. i'd been reading comics with something approaching avidity (given, god knows, the constraints of a 50-cent-a-week allowance) for maybe 6 months. i definitely didn't realize that, with some 30 years & untold millions of marketing dollars behind him, superman stood absolutely no chance whatsoever of actually dying.

consequently, the story of his encounter with dreadful "virus x," purveyor of "kryptonian leprosy" -- deadly not only to superman but also fatally communicable to any living entity he might come in contact with -- had me on the edge of my seat all spring, & the painful image of superman with ghastly kryptonite-green, leprous flesh was obviously enough to haunt me for more than 80 percent of my life (& counting).

the issue i have is by no means my original copy. rather, i must've gotten it from mile high comics about a year ago, thanks to a grade of "fair" making its price palatable when coupled with whatever discount chuck rozanski (if i'm remembering his name correctly) was running at the time. consequently, when i opened its pages i hadn't read any of the virus x saga for well over 3 decades, so i was surprised to find that this story (like its immediate predecessor & successors) ran a scant 12 pages. just how many issues would today's dc squeeze out of this storyline? an entire tpb's worth, of course.

actually, the second story, supergirl in "the kiss of death," is one page longer than "the untouchable from krypton." this one i didn't recall from childhood at all, & when i read it reprinted in an old, but just-acquired copy of superman family 172 just a couple of months ago, i certainly didn't realize i'd first encountered it as the 2nd half of one of my favorite comics of all time.

(pretty bizarre to see that "kiss of death" was reprinted more than 30 years ago & the virus x stories never have been. in fact, if memory serves, a thread i encountered somewhere on cbr -- most likely in this very forum -- not long after i started frequenting the site more than a year ago featured selections for "tpb you'd most like to see," or something like that, & at least one perceptive soul [no, not me!] listed these.)

truth to tell, i prefer the supergirl story's art (by kurt schaffenberger) to andru & esposito's work on the main story, since i've never found that superlative team particularly well-suited for the adventures of the man of steel. still, i have to say their style really fits the downbeat thrust of the virus x events.

[joe bloke]

I loved Ross Andru's run on Superman. I always thought he was one of the great under-valued comic artists. Although I take your point with the Supergirl story. Kurt Schaffenberger was a god, man. His Lois Lane work was priceless. I don't have the issue, myself, somewhere along the line it went it's own merry way, but I remember it pretty well. Didn't it have a really cool Neal Adams cover?

[dan bailey]

you are correct, sir --

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/arktrav/97_4_0000364.jpg

[Sir Tim Drake]

I edited that post to fix the HTML tag.

[dan bailey]

thanks much -- i think i'd somehow managed to post only half the photobucket url, or something.