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

[dan bailey]

Your inclusion of a single issue (with which I was previously unfamliar; I have to say, even for a nonfan of '70s Kirby, that that looks great ... too bad he didn't stick to war books that decade) reminds me that my #4 listing above certainly needs to include the Greatest Single Comic Ever™, Sgt. Fury Annual #4.

[dan bailey]

And another non-surprise from me --

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4
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
69) "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380.

[Cei-U!]

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4
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
69) "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380.
70) Little Lulu by John Stanley

Arguably the best kid strip ever,brilliantly executed by a master storyteller.

Cei-U!
I summon The Spider!

[MDG]

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4
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
69) "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380.
70) Little Lulu by John Stanley
71) The USS Stevens stories of Sam Glanzman

[dan bailey]

In light of Kurt's latest addition, now I remember the single issue I was thinking about before the LoSH snagged my attention ...

... & Marty's (which showed up while I was typing the previous sentence) makes me think (by a rather more indirect route) of another.

[dan bailey]

Though it occurs to me that it might be worthwhile to try this same approach with single issues. We did that (albeit with a scant 10, not 100) for Kurt's very first Christmas listing back in '05, but we've had a considerable amount of turnover since then. For that matter, my own choices wouldn't necessarily be the same even for 10; I've read (or re-read) a whole lot of great comics since then.

Thoughts, anyone?

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

One story but it stands for so much more (by Edmond Hamilton, Dick Sprang, Charles Paris).


1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4
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
69) "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380.
70) Little Lulu by John Stanley
71) The USS Stevens stories of Sam Glanzman
72) Batman: "The Jungle Cat Queen" Detective 211

[mrc1214]

Though it occurs to me that it might be worthwhile to try this same approach with single issues. We did that (albeit with a scant 10, not 100) for Kurt's very first Christmas listing back in '05, but we've had a considerable amount of turnover since then. For that matter, my own choices wouldn't necessarily be the same even for 10; I've read (or re-read) a whole lot of great comics since then.

Thoughts, anyone?

I am all for that. If you start it I can already think of single issues I would list.

[dan bailey]

If no one has any objections (one never knows what ideas Kurt might have up his sleeve for the upcoming Christmas installment, though obviously so far he hasn't gone back & covered old ground in any way, shape or form), I'll do so as soon as we've reached 100 on this one ...

... which by the way has been a blast. Great idea, Chris!

[mrc1214]

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4
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
69) "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380.
70) Little Lulu by John Stanley
71) The USS Stevens stories of Sam Glanzman
72) Batman: "The Jungle Cat Queen" Detective 211
73) Incredible Hulk-Peter David

[mrc1214]

If no one has any objections (one never knows what ideas Kurt might have up his sleeve for the upcoming Christmas installment, though obviously so far he hasn't gone back & covered old ground in any way, shape or form), I'll do so as soon as we've reached 100 on this one ...

... which by the way has been a blast. Great idea, Chris!

What was that book 1000 comics to read before you die? The Classic boards should have our own version of this. There are books on the list I haven't of.

[MRP]

Adding to the list The Ostrander-Mandrake Spectre series. One of my favorite reads of all time and it ends with Corrigan finally achieving peace (and should have ended the Spectre as well as appearances since have been less than stellar.

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4
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
69) "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380.
70) Little Lulu by John Stanley
71) The USS Stevens stories of Sam Glanzman
72) Batman: "The Jungle Cat Queen" Detective 211
73) Incredible Hulk-Peter David
74) Spectre by Ostrander/Mandrake

[dan bailey]

What was that book 1000 comics to read before you die? The Classic boards should have our own version of this. There are books on the list I haven't of.

Excellent point.

There are at least two books along those lines -- one (that I was previously utterly unaware of) mentioned here just last week or so, & an earlier one by Tony Isabella that I don't own but have looked through at Books-a-Million.

[Reptisaurus!]

Excellent point.

There are at least two books along those lines -- one (that I was previously utterly unaware of) mentioned here just last week or so, & an earlier one by Tony Isabella that I don't own but have looked through at Books-a-Million.

I liked both of 'em quite a bit, although Isabella's book was as much "good fun" as "vital reference."

Anyway...


1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4
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
69) "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380.
70) Little Lulu by John Stanley
71) The USS Stevens stories of Sam Glanzman
72) Batman: "The Jungle Cat Queen" Detective 211
73) Incredible Hulk-Peter David
74) Spectre by Ostrander/Mandrake
75) The Zabime Sisters by Aristophane

[mrc1214]

1. Astro City
2. Cerebus
3. X-Men (Claremont)
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4
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
69) "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380.
70) Little Lulu by John Stanley
71) The USS Stevens stories of Sam Glanzman
72) Batman: "The Jungle Cat Queen" Detective 211
73) Incredible Hulk-Peter David
74) Spectre by Ostrander/Mandrake
75) The Zabime Sisters by Aristophane
76) Brat Pack-Veitch
Not for the feint of heart but a must read in my opinion.