Let's Name The Top 100 Comic Book Storylines/Events Together

[shaxper]

I want to add something Moench to this list, but I'm well aware that I've yet to read his "best" works. Anyone who's read them want to advocate for Master of Kung Fu, Moon Knight, or the like?

I'd also like to list Creepy and Eerie, but I've only read a handful of issues and haven't experienced a wide enough breadth of the series to speak for them myself.

Same with 2000 AD.

Someone be the Lorax and speak for these trees!

[FanboyStranger]

I want to add something Moench to this list, but I'm well aware that I've yet to read his "best" works. Anyone who's read them want to advocate for Master of Kung Fu, Moon Knight, or the like?

I'd also like to list Creepy and Eerie, but I've only read a handful of issues and haven't experienced a wide enough breadth of the series to speak for them myself.

Same with 2000 AD.

Someone be the Lorax and speak for these trees!

I'll speak for 2000AD as I was going to add this book at some point, but I didn't want to use the same author back to back. My pick would be Slaine: The Horned God by Pat Mills and Simon Bisley, considered by many to be 2000AD's finest hour. Slaine was Mills' attempt to fuse Celtic mythology into the framework of a Conan style barbarian comic, but to really point out the different values of those mythological cycles rather than the tropes of modern heroic fiction. After a certain point, Slaine started delving into sci-fi territory, and while the art by the likes of people like Glenn Fabry was still strong, the stories lost some of their initial vitality. Then came The Horned God which dove into the Celtic waters head first and presented a complex story of matriarchy, magic, revenge, and all-out war. Simon Bisley turns in a virtuoso performance with painted work that emphasized the beauty of nature and the power of violence, and his art on the title seems cutting-edge and remains a wonder to behold twenty years later.

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81)
5. Eightball
6. Jingle Jangle Tales
7. Maus
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387)
9. Conan the Barbarian
10.Preacher
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez
12. Sandman Mystery Theater
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!
15. Usagi Yojimbo
16. Bone
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You"
21. Sandman
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR
26. All star superman Morrison
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets
28. Thor-Simonson
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson
30. Lee/Ditko Spider-Man
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance
32. Planetary
33. Promethea
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin
36. Box Office Poison
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run
45. V for Vendetta
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
48. Charley's War
49) Hard Time
50) Spectacular Spider-Man: Death of Jean DeWollf
51) Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2
52) Tintin
53) Yotsuba & !
54) Suicide Squad (original run by John Ostrander)
55) Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers
56) Nexus
57) Fables
58) Watchmen
59) Kingdom Come
60) Wolverine LS
61) Slaine: The Horned God

[Francis Dawson]

The Weirdo-era R. Crumb stories

[CromagnonMan]

I think Jack Kirby's Fourth World stuff is a worthy mention on grounds of pure inventiveness and artwork (rather than any clarity or precision of the storytelling)

so,
1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81)
5. Eightball
6. Jingle Jangle Tales
7. Maus
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387)
9. Conan the Barbarian
10.Preacher
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez
12. Sandman Mystery Theater
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!
15. Usagi Yojimbo
16. Bone
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You"
21. Sandman
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR
26. All star superman Morrison
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets
28. Thor-Simonson
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson
30. Lee/Ditko Spider-Man
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance
32. Planetary
33. Promethea
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin
36. Box Office Poison
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run
45. V for Vendetta
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
48. Charley's War
49) Hard Time
50) Spectacular Spider-Man: Death of Jean DeWollf
51) Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2
52) Tintin
53) Yotsuba & !
54) Suicide Squad (original run by John Ostrander)
55) Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers
56) Nexus
57) Fables
58) Watchmen
59) Kingdom Come
60) Wolverine LS
61) Slaine: The Horned God
62) Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga

[Gothos]

I'm maybe stretching the definition a little bit of storyline/event, but no more than a few of the previous entries I think. So my pick is Roy Thomas' Avengers #52-71 (plus Avengers Special #2), which I consider to be the pinnacle of Silver Age superheroics. This 20 issue run consists of pretty much one classic story after another:

#52 - First appearance of Grim Reaper, Black Panther joins the team
#53 - X-Men crossover
#54-55 - classic Masters of Evil story, first appearance of Ultron
#56 + Special #2 - classic alternate universe / Scarlet Centurion story
#57-58 - classic origin and first appearance of Vision storyline
#59-60 - classic first Yellowjacket, wedding of Hank and Jan
#61-62 - nice one off stories
#63-65 - the Clint Barton trilogy where we first learn Hawkeye's name and history
#66-68 - classic Ultron story, first appearance adamantium, art by BWS
#69-71 - classic Kang story, first appearance of the Invaders, first Grandmaster, Black Knight joins the team

A run that for my money is unmatched in superhero comics.

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81)
5. Eightball
6. Jingle Jangle Tales
7. Maus
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387)
9. Conan the Barbarian
10.Preacher
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez
12. Sandman Mystery Theater
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!
15. Usagi Yojimbo
16. Bone
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You"
21. Sandman
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR
26. All star superman Morrison
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets
28. Thor-Simonson
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson
30. Lee/Ditko Spider-Man
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance
32. Planetary
33. Promethea
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin
36. Box Office Poison
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run
45. V for Vendetta
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
48. Charley's War
49. Hard Time
50. Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man: The Death of Jean DeWolff
51. Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2

To each his own, but why leave AVENGERS SPECIAL (or ANNUAL?), where you've got the heroes squaring off with all their favorite foes in the closest they ever got to a Justice Society adventure?

[Gothos]

Interestingly, I note, we have not a single manga entry, despite its roots going back to the 1950s...

I wasn't sure if we were sticking with Eng-language comics or not.

I would hope best comic STRIPS would get its own thread.

[Gothos]

I'll definitely nominate the Moench/Gulacy/etc. MASTER OF KUNG FU

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81)
5. Eightball
6. Jingle Jangle Tales
7. Maus
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387)
9. Conan the Barbarian
10.Preacher
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez
12. Sandman Mystery Theater
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!
15. Usagi Yojimbo
16. Bone
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You"
21. Sandman
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR
26. All star superman Morrison
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets
28. Thor-Simonson
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson
30. Lee/Ditko Spider-Man
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance
32. Planetary
33. Promethea
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin
36. Box Office Poison
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run
45. V for Vendetta
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
48. Charley's War
49) Hard Time
50) Spectacular Spider-Man: Death of Jean DeWollf
51) Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2
52) Tintin
53) Yotsuba & !
54) Suicide Squad (original run by John Ostrander)
55) Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers
56) Nexus
57) Fables
58) Watchmen
59) Kingdom Come
60) Wolverine LS
61) Slaine: The Horned God
62) Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga
63) Master of Kung Fu

[pakehafulla]

Thats a damn fine reading list. As much as I want to nominate a few to make up for lost time like Authority, Byrne's Fantastic Four, Steranko's Captain America stories, and the Great Darkness Saga from Legion of Super-Heroes, I feel compelled to go with something more modern for my one vote at the moment...

Jason Aaron's Scalped. This has impressed me more than any other new comic I read. Utterly fantastic from the start, a well realised and believable world, a tortured hero, and not a cape in sight. This should appeal to any fan of the classic Jonah Hex, well any fan of great comic writing period.


1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81)
5. Eightball
6. Jingle Jangle Tales
7. Maus
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387)
9. Conan the Barbarian
10.Preacher
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez
12. Sandman Mystery Theater
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!
15. Usagi Yojimbo
16. Bone
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You"
21. Sandman
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR
26. All star superman Morrison
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets
28. Thor-Simonson
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson
30. Lee/Ditko Spider-Man
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance
32. Planetary
33. Promethea
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin
36. Box Office Poison
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run
45. V for Vendetta
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
48. Charley's War
49) Hard Time
50) Spectacular Spider-Man: Death of Jean DeWollf
51) Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2
52) Tintin
53) Yotsuba & !
54) Suicide Squad (original run by John Ostrander)
55) Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers
56) Nexus
57) Fables
58) Watchmen
59) Kingdom Come
60) Wolverine LS
61) Slaine: The Horned God
62) Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga
63) Master of Kung Fu
64) Scalped

[mrc1214]

Im going to steal from pakehafullu and go with Byrnes Fantastic Four.
What a list so far we may have to go over 100. Just so everyone know and since this is just for fun you can put minis, maxis,limited series as well. No strips though we can do another thread down the road for that.

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81)
5. Eightball
6. Jingle Jangle Tales
7. Maus
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387)
9. Conan the Barbarian
10.Preacher
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez
12. Sandman Mystery Theater
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!
15. Usagi Yojimbo
16. Bone
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You"
21. Sandman
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR
26. All star superman Morrison
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets
28. Thor-Simonson
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson
30. Lee/Ditko Spider-Man
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance
32. Planetary
33. Promethea
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin
36. Box Office Poison
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run
45. V for Vendetta
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
48. Charley's War
49) Hard Time
50) Spectacular Spider-Man: Death of Jean DeWollf
51) Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2
52) Tintin
53) Yotsuba & !
54) Suicide Squad (original run by John Ostrander)
55) Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers
56) Nexus
57) Fables
58) Watchmen
59) Kingdom Come
60) Wolverine LS
61) Slaine: The Horned God
62) Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga
63) Master of Kung Fu
64) Scalped
65) Fantastic Four-Byrne

[mrc1214]

53) Yotsuba & !
I had been considering Fables as well, but personally I would have specified #1-75. The series is still good, but I think the original epic contains the best stuff and hasn't yet been matched by the follow-up stories. But, that's just my opinion.

I should have said that as well. In my opinion as I am assuming yours the series could have ended at #75.

[yvahed]

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81)
5. Eightball
6. Jingle Jangle Tales
7. Maus
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387)
9. Conan the Barbarian
10.Preacher
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez
12. Sandman Mystery Theater
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!
15. Usagi Yojimbo
16. Bone
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You"
21. Sandman
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR
26. All star superman Morrison
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets
28. Thor-Simonson
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson
30. Lee/Ditko Spider-Man
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance
32. Planetary
33. Promethea
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin
36. Box Office Poison
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run
45. V for Vendetta
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
48. Charley's War
49) Hard Time
50) Spectacular Spider-Man: Death of Jean DeWollf
51) Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2
52) Tintin
53) Yotsuba & !
54) Suicide Squad (original run by John Ostrander)
55) Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers
56) Nexus
57) Fables
58) Watchmen
59) Kingdom Come
60) Wolverine LS
61) Slaine: The Horned God
62) Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga
63) Master of Kung Fu
64) Scalped
65) Fantastic Four-Byrne
66) Justice League by Giffen & DeMatteis

This includes JLI, JLE and JLIQ but especially the collaborations with Adam Hughes, Bart Sears and Kevin Maguire

[Scott Harris]

To each his own, but why leave AVENGERS SPECIAL (or ANNUAL?), where you've got the heroes squaring off with all their favorite foes in the closest they ever got to a Justice Society adventure?

Well, it's mainly timing. Avengers Annual #1 came out with a date of September, 1967, the same month as Avengers #44. It's not really part of the same era of comics I'm highlighting here. It's a fine story and if someone wants to nominate it separately that's cool, but I don't consider #44-51 to be quite up to the same level as the issues I selected, so I didn't want to include them.

[Scott Harris]

One entry got left off, so I have restored it to the list. I also added the caveat that Fables is for #1-75.

And I am adding my own new entry as well. I notice we don't have any one issue, stand alone stories on the list here, but that's about to change. And those of you who recognize my avatar will be unsurprised that my choice is Our Fighting Forces #152.



A true Jack Kirby masterpiece, Our Fighting Forces #152 has a terribly simple premise: The Losers, four soldiers during World War II, find themselves stuck in a town controlled by the Germans. Then they spend the entire issue trying to stay alive as the Germans fight them from building to building, on rooftops and in the streets. It's Kirby at his most visceral, most brutal and most powerful, with art that approaches pure abstraction at some points. This is a full decade after his issues of Sgt. Fury, and this is a Kirby war story unrestrained by Stan and Marvel; people are shot, people are stabbed, people die. A must read for fans of Kirby and war comics.

Here's a link giant essay a guy wrote about this issue. Heck, I could probably write an essay about this two page spread above; I love how Kirby works his way down the line in the first four panels, and how he makes the Losers look like actual Allied soldiers, with the only distinguishing features being their hats. Someone also posted the entire story on their blog, but I'm not going to link to it; it can be easily found if you want to find it.



1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81)
5. Eightball
6. Jingle Jangle Tales
7. Maus
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387)
9. Conan the Barbarian
10.Preacher
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez
12. Sandman Mystery Theater
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!
15. Usagi Yojimbo
16. Bone
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You"
21. Sandman
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR
26. All star superman Morrison
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets
28. Thor-Simonson
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson
30. Lee/Ditko Spider-Man
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance
32. Planetary
33. Promethea
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin
36. Box Office Poison
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run
45. V for Vendetta
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
48. Charley's War
49) Hard Time
50) Spectacular Spider-Man: Death of Jean DeWollf
51) Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2
52) Tintin
53) Yotsuba & !
54) Suicide Squad (original run by John Ostrander)
55) Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers
56) Nexus
57) Fables #1-75
58) Watchmen
59) Kingdom Come
60) Wolverine LS
61) Slaine: The Horned God
62) Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga
63) Master of Kung Fu
64) Scalped
65) Fantastic Four-Byrne
66) Justice League by Giffen & DeMatteis
67) The Weirdo-era R. Crumb stories
68) Our Fighting Forces #152

[Scott Harris]

Check out this four page sequence from Our Fighting Forces #152 for Kirby at his most dynamic, abstract and powerful:

[Scott Harris]