Stories that "made" a character for you?

[Crimson]

Have you ever had a character that everyone seems to love but you just don’t get why? You don’t understand the hype for the character and they aren’t the slightest bit interesting and then one story with the character totally blows you away and you like them from that moment on?

One of my main ones is Doctor Doom. Every appearance I had off him he was just a cardboard cut out "I'm going to rule the world" guy and then got beat at the end of the issue. Then earlier this year I picked up Secret War and fell in love with the scheming, double crossing, badass that is Doctor Doom!

[Mikl C]

I never knew why anyone would consider themselves a "fan" of Longshot until I read his mini.

[Magneto Rocks]

Quick note- I actually had the opposite once. I kept well clear of the X-Men until after the movie, where Magneto BLEW me away with sheer awesomeness. I then decided to pick up an X-Men book- Fatal Attractions. Breezed my way through these Magneto stories, LOVING the conflicted character... and catastrophically chose 'Planet X', which defiled the character beyond memory. Put me off him ever since- he simply hasn't been used well in years. Still, I remember the REAL Magneto. hence the name ;)

Anyway....

This one will get a lot of people gaping but....

I could never understand why ANYONE would like Iron Man until Civil War. He seemed like a third-rate Batman rip-off, even in the Avengers. But CW has redefined the character for me. He's brave, he's courageous, he's ruthless and he does what has to be done. He has by FAR the hardest job of any hero in the Marvel Universe right now, but that doesn't matter because it's the right thing to do. He doesn't follow his cause with blind conviction, he tortures himself over whether it really is the only way but in the end he KNOWS it is and does everything he can to bring an end to the conflict.

He is, without doubt, a true hero.

Oh, and I stiull can't understand why anyone would like the Hulk.

Just... why?

[The Confessor]

Oh, and I still can't understand why anyone would like the Hulk.

Just... why?

Nah, I never 'got' The Hulk either. I just don't see the attraction. I mean, if we're talking about muscle bound, super-strong guys who smash things in the Marvel Universe, surely you've gotta go for The Thing haven't you? He's a much more likable character with a great catchphrase - "It's Clobberin' Time!". Let's face it, "Hulk smash!" hardly has the same ring to it, does it?

Anyway, as for comics that changed my opinion of a certain character or characters, I'm gonna pick Busiek and Ross' wonderful 'Marvels' series. I could never understand why anyone would be into the Fantastic Four until I read this. I'd long been a fan of The Thing from his appearances in 'Marvel Two-In-One' but as for the other three members of the Fantastic Four, forget it.

The FF weren't even featured that prominently in Marvels but I think it was just seeing the public fascination with Reed & Sue's marriage, as well as seeing them face off against Galactus that did it. Somehow I suddenly saw how they fitted into the larger Marvel Universe and just what all the fuss was about.

Now, I'm not the greatest FF fan in the world these days by any means, but I have the Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 1, a few scattered 70s issues and I currently have the Fantastic Four on my pull list...which would’ve been unthinkable before I read Marvels.

So, in short, I've learned to like and understand Mr. Fantastic and his gang much more than I used to.

[Kevinroc]

Oh, and I stiull can't understand why anyone would like the Hulk.

Just... why?

It's a story of man vs. the beast within. And whether or not The Hulk is truly the monster or the man, Bruce Banner, is the monster.

Some stories you should check out.

Hulk: Future Imperfect

Hulk: The End (out of continuity but an incredible Hulk story)

Pretty much the entire PAD run.

The Paul Jenkins run (definitely an underrated run).

Planet Hulk.

[cactusmaac]

The graphic novel team-up with Dr Strange made me a big fan of Doom.

[ducklord]

That Thing Two-In-One Annual where he boxes the Champion.

Defined the character for me.

Of course, I also love Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, so maybe I just have a thing about boxing comics.

Mike

[Babylon23]

I could never understand why ANYONE would like Iron Man until Civil War. He seemed like a third-rate Batman rip-off, even in the Avengers. But CW has redefined the character for me. He's brave, he's courageous, he's ruthless and he does what has to be done. He has by FAR the hardest job of any hero in the Marvel Universe right now, but that doesn't matter because it's the right thing to do. He doesn't follow his cause with blind conviction, he tortures himself over whether it really is the only way but in the end he KNOWS it is and does everything he can to bring an end to the conflict.

He is, without doubt, a true hero.

That's interesting, because CW has had the exact opposite effect on me. I used to love Iron Man, but I can't stand meglomaniacal, hero-cloning supervillain Tony Stark at all. This story has also turned me off Reed Richards as well.

As for stories that turned me around on a character, the obvious ones would be:

Daredevil: DD always seemed kind of lame to me, until Miller came along. Miller's run turned me into a lifelong DD fan.

Bishop: I could never stand Bishop, until Claremont began writing him in X-Treme. He moved him away from the whole time paradox thing, and gave him a different purpose.

Justice: I was never much of a New Warriors fan (except for Firestar), but Busiek's depiction of Justice in Avengers turned me into a fan.

[Mariah]

I never knew why anyone would consider themselves a "fan" of Longshot until I read his mini.

I felt the sameway about the Firestar mini. OMG, it was the shiznit!

[MakeMineMarvel]

I felt the sameway about the Firestar mini. OMG, it was the shiznit!

Is this the same Firestar mini from the 80's that you are referring to?

[Mariah]

Is this the same Firestar mini from the 80's that you are referring to?

That would be the one. The only thing that would have made it better for me, is if Steve Leialoha had done the full pencils.

[MakeMineMarvel]

That would be the one. The only thing that would have made it better for me, is if Steve Leialoha had done the full pencils.

Haven't read that in ages. I did pick up the digest when it came out no to long ago. I am gonna have to re-read it. Angelica is hot :D

[Mean Mr Mustard]

Thor. Two stories.

The first one was Thor: I whom the gods would destroy. I fell in love not only with Thor but also with Dr Blake. Thor's love for humanity and the contrast between his inmortal form and his not only painfuly mortal but crippled human body and the conflict that both worlds caused to Thor was great. Thor and Blake were one and the same and to this day that's my favorite interpretation. Heck, it gives him a Marvel Flaw.
The second was much more recent: Thor: Blood Oath. It reminded me of Asterix... Yeah, I know. You probably don't see where I'm coming from but it did! Mostly the structure. And the Warrior Three were awesome here.

Thor could have lots of timeless (though this particular story happened in a specific period) asgardian adventures like this. Just plain old fun/funny fantasy adventures set in the classical Asgard that you can read in basically any order.

[Niro]

I always used to wonder why ppl loved the fantastic four so much, but during civil war i've found respect for 3 of their team members; The Thing for saying enough is enough and leaving, well Johnny i always liked cos to me he had like mutant powers lol, and Invisible woman for leaving the man she loves temporarily because she doesnt agree with what hes doing.

Reed i still dnt feel anything for him.

But i still wouldnt buy any fantastic four issues unless they teamed with the guys i really like

[Magneto_X]

Guardian Devil - Daredevil, Bullseye (DD #1-8 Vol.2)

The Heroes Reborn FF Origin (#1-6 Vol.2) - FF

Captain America vs Lady Shiva - Cap, Shiva (Cap #1 Vol.3)

X-men vs Post - Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Cannonball (X-men #50 Vol.2)

Secret Wars - Doom

Deadpool #11 - Deadpool, Blind Al

(Demattius' run) Spectular Spiderman - Alyosha Kraven, Chameleon

Maverick #1-12 - Maverick, Sabretooth