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

[Cei-U!]

The latter might've been the stated goal (in so many words) at the beginning, but in my eyes it became the former pretty quickly, & if anything I for one found that to be the more fun approach, if only because it required an infinitely smaller amount of intellectual heavy lifting, as it were.

Like I said, if this is our Top 100 favorites, I'm totally down with the list compiled. I just require some clarity on this point.

I don't think anyone would really assert that, say, Hawkworld #s 1-14 (to cite one of my own choices) surpasses any given run of EC horror titles or "Capt. Marvel vs. The Monster Society of Evil" or the first XX issues of Action or Detective or All-Star or Captain America or whatever ... but I strongly suspect most of us (you're obviously an exception, & you know very well that I respect the hell out of your for it) aren't sufficiently grounded in pre-Silver Age or -Bronze Age stuff to intelligently address the relative heft of those earlier works. So we've gone with what we know & love, absent any real historical or critical filter.

It's not so much the pre-Silver Age material I find under-represented but foreign comics, undergrounds, indies, etc. But again, if we aren't attempting to make this the Best. Comics. Ever list, that doesn't much matter.

Cei-U!
Not completely unreasonable!

[Ramage]

1. Each poster can either give a +1 or a -1 to an item on the list
2. Honor system -- don't vote for your own suggestion or against something you haven't read at least most of the way through
3. No explanations. I think that prevents this from becoming personal or heated. A -1 simply means you don't feel this book is cream of the crop material, not that you dislike it or think the person who suggested it has bad taste.
4. You may only vote once every two hours

All books start with a +3 score. Once a book hits +0, it's off the list. We stop when we've narrowed the list to 25.

(Please copy and paste the rules AND complete list if you choose to participate).


1. Astro City +4
2. Cerebus +3
3. X-Men (Claremont) +3
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4 +3
5. Eightball +3
6. Jingle Jangle Tales +3
7. Maus +3
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387) +3
9. Conan the Barbarian +3
10.Preacher +3
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez +3
12. Sandman Mystery Theater +3
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing +3
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg! +3
15. Usagi Yojimbo +3
16. Bone +3
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner +3
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec +3
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14 +3
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You" +3
21. Sandman by Neil Gaiman +3
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller +3
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans +3
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar +3
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR +3
26. All star superman Morrison +2
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets +3
28. Thor-Simonson +3
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson +3
30. Lee/Ditko's Spider-Man +3
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance +3
32. Planetary +3
33. Promethea +3
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD +3
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin +3
36. Box Office Poison +3
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe +3
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective +3
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks +3
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud +3
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics +3
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck +3
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola +3
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run +3
45. V for Vendetta +3
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck +3
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth +3
48. Charley's War +3
49. Hard Time +3
50. Spectacular Spider-Man: Death of Jean DeWollf +2
51. Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2 +3
52. Tintin +3
53. Yotsuba & ! +3
54. Suicide Squad (original run by John Ostrander) +3
55. Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers +3
56. Nexus +3
57. Fables #1-75 +3
58. Watchmen +3
59. Kingdom Come +3
60. Wolverine LS +3
61. Slaine: The Horned God +3
62. Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga +3
63. Master of Kung Fu +3
64. Scalped +3
65. Fantastic Four-Byrne +3
66. Justice League by Giffen & DeMatteis +3
67. The Weirdo-era R. Crumb stories +3
68. Our Fighting Forces #152 +3
69. "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380. +3
70. Little Lulu by John Stanley +3
71. The USS Stevens stories of Sam Glanzman +3
72. Batman: "The Jungle Cat Queen" Detective 211 +3
73. Incredible Hulk-Peter David +3
74. Spectre by Ostrander/Mandrake +3
75. The Zabime Sisters by Aristophane +3
76. Brat Pack-Veitch +3
77. Enigma by Milligan and Fegredo +3
78. The Authority by Ellis and Hitch +3
79. Strange Tales #130-141 +3
80. Strange Tales #151-168, Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD 1-3, 5(Steranko's run) +3
81. Starman by James Robinson +3
82. Kona (Dell Comics/breathtaking Sam Glanzman art) +3
83. From Hell (Moore Campbell) +3
84. Blazing Combat (Warren) +3
85. Dr. Strange by Englehart & Brunner +3
86. Sheldon Mayer's Sugar and Spike +3
87. Fleischer and Aparo's Spectre +3
88. Micronauts #1-12 by Mantlo & Golden +3
89. ROM Spaceknight by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Steve Ditko, P. Craig Russell +3
90. JLA, Grant Morrison's run +3
91. Panthers Rage (Jungle Action #6-24) +3
92. Captain America vol 4 (5?) Brubaker and Epting/Guice +3
93. Star Wars (Marvel) #39-81 +3
94. Lee/Romita's Amazing Spider-Man +3
95. Y: The Last Man +3
96. Defenders #s 20-60 +3
97. Planet of the Apes Magazine 1-29 +3
98. the Death of Speedy Ortiz by Xaime Hernandez +3
99. Gray & Palmiotti's Jonah Hex +3
100. Ghost Rider #67-81 by DeMatteis +3

[Cei-U!]

Yes, I've changed my mind.

1. Each poster can either give a +1 or a -1 to an item on the list
2. Honor system -- don't vote for your own suggestion or against something you haven't read at least most of the way through
3. No explanations. I think that prevents this from becoming personal or heated. A -1 simply means you don't feel this book is cream of the crop material, not that you dislike it or think the person who suggested it has bad taste.
4. You may only vote once every two hours

All books start with a +3 score. Once a book hits +0, it's off the list. We stop when we've narrowed the list to 25.

(Please copy and paste the rules AND complete list if you choose to participate).


1. Astro City +4
2. Cerebus +3
3. X-Men (Claremont) +3
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4 +3
5. Eightball +3
6. Jingle Jangle Tales +3
7. Maus +3
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387) +3
9. Conan the Barbarian +3
10.Preacher +3
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez +3
12. Sandman Mystery Theater +3
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing +3
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg! +3
15. Usagi Yojimbo +3
16. Bone +3
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner +3
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec +3
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14 +3
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You" +3
21. Sandman by Neil Gaiman +3
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller +3
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans +3
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar +3
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR +3
26. All star superman Morrison +2
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets +3
28. Thor-Simonson +3
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson +3
30. Lee/Ditko's Spider-Man +3
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance +3
32. Planetary +3
33. Promethea +3
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD +3
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin +3
36. Box Office Poison +3
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe +3
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective +3
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks +3
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud +3
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics +3
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck +3
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola +3
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run +3
45. V for Vendetta +3
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck +3
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth +3
48. Charley's War +3
49. Hard Time +3
50. Spectacular Spider-Man: Death of Jean DeWollf +2
51. Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2 +3
52. Tintin +3
53. Yotsuba & ! +3
54. Suicide Squad (original run by John Ostrander) +3
55. Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers +3
56. Nexus +3
57. Fables #1-75 +3
58. Watchmen +3
59. Kingdom Come +3
60. Wolverine LS +3
61. Slaine: The Horned God +3
62. Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga +3
63. Master of Kung Fu +3
64. Scalped +3
65. Fantastic Four-Byrne +3
66. Justice League by Giffen & DeMatteis +3
67. The Weirdo-era R. Crumb stories +3
68. Our Fighting Forces #152 +3
69. "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380. +3
70. Little Lulu by John Stanley +3
71. The USS Stevens stories of Sam Glanzman +3
72. Batman: "The Jungle Cat Queen" Detective 211 +3
73. Incredible Hulk-Peter David +3
74. Spectre by Ostrander/Mandrake +3
75. The Zabime Sisters by Aristophane +3
76. Brat Pack-Veitch +3
77. Enigma by Milligan and Fegredo +3
78. The Authority by Ellis and Hitch +3
79. Strange Tales #130-141 +3
80. Strange Tales #151-168, Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD 1-3, 5(Steranko's run) +3
81. Starman by James Robinson +3
82. Kona (Dell Comics/breathtaking Sam Glanzman art) +3
83. From Hell (Moore Campbell) +3
84. Blazing Combat (Warren) +3
85. Dr. Strange by Englehart & Brunner +3
86. Sheldon Mayer's Sugar and Spike +3
87. Fleischer and Aparo's Spectre +3
88. Micronauts #1-12 by Mantlo & Golden +3
89. ROM Spaceknight by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Steve Ditko, P. Craig Russell +2
90. JLA, Grant Morrison's run +3
91. Panthers Rage (Jungle Action #6-24) +3
92. Captain America vol 4 (5?) Brubaker and Epting/Guice +3
93. Star Wars (Marvel) #39-81 +3
94. Lee/Romita's Amazing Spider-Man +3
95. Y: The Last Man +3
96. Defenders #s 20-60 +3
97. Planet of the Apes Magazine 1-29 +3
98. the Death of Speedy Ortiz by Xaime Hernandez +3
99. Gray & Palmiotti's Jonah Hex +3
100. Ghost Rider #67-81 by DeMatteis +3[/QUOTE]

[dan bailey]

It's not so much the pre-Silver Age material I find under-represented but foreign comics, undergrounds, indies, etc.

Which I, for one, am even less acquainted with overall than I am Golden Age stuff. And I suspect I'm far from alone.

[mrc1214]

Alot of indies are missing, Grimjack (I havent read the whole thing), Elementals, Scout,Aztec Ace etc

[Cei-U!]

Which I, for one, am even less acquainted with overall than I am Golden Age stuff. And I suspect I'm far from alone.

Definitely not. My own knowledge of foreign comics doesn't extend much past Tintin and Asterix. I don't think I've ever read any manga.

Cei-U!
I summon the knowledge gap!

[mrc1214]

May I be candid? This would be a fine list if our goal is to list our favorite comics but if this is supposed to be The Top 100 in terms of quality and/or importance, then at least a third of the entries simply don't belong. There is waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much Marvel/DC super-hero crap that I'd feel obligated to "vote off" and since I'm not interested in dissing anyone's particular tastes, I'm just gonna put a halt to my own participation. I'll still be following its progress, though, so have at it guys!

Cei-U!
Sorry to be such a party pooper!

I agree. Thats why I wanted the list to keep going because I know we missed so much. I am just glad nothing silly has showed up on the list. The Classic Comics boards have great tastes

[dan bailey]

Alot of indies are missing, Grimjack (I havent read the whole thing), Elementals, Scout,Aztec Ace etc

Those first 2 occurred to me as well; the second 2 would have if I'd sat down & really thought about it. And of course dozens of others.

There are tons of comics out there; I'm so far behind in my reading that I should probably quit acting like I have the slightest idea of what I'm talking about when it comes to comics, no matter the subject.

Hell ... & rest assured that I'm not suggesting this actually occur ... we could easily generate similar activities for "Top 100 Independents," "Top 100 Foreign Comics," "Top 100 Undergrounds," "Top 100 Golden Age," "Top 100 Sliver Age," "Top 100 Bronze Age," respectively, & probably other categories that simply aren't occurring to me at the moment, & barely scratch the surface in most.

[hondobrode]

I'm going to opt out of the filtering process down to 25. I'm not familiar with some of the works cited and would eventually be voting for or against works I haven't read.

mrc1214 has said twice now that there's more than 100 we could have listed and we could continue that if we like. I hopped on late last night and nominated ROM since a lot of the runs previously mentioned had already been posted.

I would put a twist on this and start a new thread "YOUR Top 100 Issues". Everyone gets to post their individual top 100 issues. If you liked Stan & Jack's FF, and thought that was the ultimate read, pick your top 100 issues and list them in order from top to bottom with 1 being your single favorite issue ever down to 100 being the least favorite of the 100 and we'll see what comes up. That gives all of us plenty of time to assemble their own list without trying to beat the clock and is fluid enough to include singles, manga, graphic novels, runs, arcs, titles, one-shots, whatever.

Honestly, this is my favorite thread on the boards and you guys have great taste. The posters we have are the best and I think all of us learn a little more insight by sharing with each other.

The rest of you feel free to add, subtract or whatever. It'll still be fun to watch.

Dan's right. There's so many sub-categories we could do, but then again, like manga, I hardly have any, and no way could I list 100.

I'm holding off as I see Dan's already got his thread going.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I was confused by the difference between the thread topic--LET'S NAME THE TOP 100 COMIC BOOK STORYLINES/EVENTS TOGETHER--and the original post heading--Let's Name The Top 100 Comic Book Series.

If the 100 was going to be storylines/events, I was hoping to see more essential issues represented--the Galactus Trilogy or the Kree-Skrull War for example. Also, since later stories and events are influenced by earlier stories and events, I was hoping to see more classic stuff--going back to the roots of major comic book story types--the Heap's first appearance in Air Fighters or the death of Meatball in Daredevil Comics for example. But it is what it is.

[The Confessor]

This would be a fine list if our goal is to list our favorite comics but if this is supposed to be The Top 100 in terms of quality and/or importance, then at least a third of the entries simply don't belong.

The latter might've been the stated goal (in so many words) at the beginning, but in my eyes it became the former pretty quickly, & if anything I for one found that to be the more fun approach, if only because it required an infinitely smaller amount of intellectual heavy lifting, as it were.

I'm feeling lazy at the moment, so I'm just going to say that I whole-heartedly agree with what the two above quoted gentlemen are saying.

Of course, that said, if anyone tries to delete any of my 3 picks, we'll be travelling to Battleworld for a quick dust up!

[CromagnonMan]

i dont think we should be able to add a point - if everyone can add a point to their own votes this will defeat the purpose of the exercise!

1. Each poster can either give a +1 or a -1 to an item on the list
2. Honor system -- don't vote for your own suggestion or against something you haven't read at least most of the way through
3. No explanations. I think that prevents this from becoming personal or heated. A -1 simply means you don't feel this book is cream of the crop material, not that you dislike it or think the person who suggested it has bad taste.
4. You may only vote once every two hours

All books start with a +3 score. Once a book hits +0, it's off the list. We stop when we've narrowed the list to 25.

(Please copy and paste the rules AND complete list if you choose to participate).


1. Astro City +4
2. Cerebus +3
3. X-Men (Claremont) +3
4. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (44-81) & Annual #4 +3
5. Eightball +3
6. Jingle Jangle Tales +3
7. Maus +3
8. The Immortal Superman (Action Comics #385-387) +3
9. Conan the Barbarian +3
10.Preacher +3
11. Avengers- Busiek/Perez +3
12. Sandman Mystery Theater +3
13. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing +3
14. Howard Chaykin's American Flagg! +3
15. Usagi Yojimbo +3
16. Bone +3
17. The Spirit by Will Eisner +3
18. Eddie Campbell's Alec +3
19. Hawkworld, especially #s 1-14 +3
20. Strangers in Paradise, "I Dream of You" +3
21. Sandman by Neil Gaiman +3
22. Daredevil by Frank Miller +3
23. Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans +3
24. Jim Starlin's Dreadstar +3
25. Lee-Kirby FANTASTIC FOUR +3
26. All star superman Morrison +2
27. Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" cycle from Love & Rockets +3
28. Thor-Simonson +3
29. Manhunter--Goodwin & Simonson +3
30. Lee/Ditko's Spider-Man +3
31. Simon & Kirby's Young Romance +3
32. Planetary +3
33. Promethea +3
34. Harvey Kurtzman's MAD +3
35. Thanos saga by Jim Starlin +3
36. Box Office Poison +3
37. Jim Shooter's Valiant Universe +3
38. Englehart, Rogers, and Austin's run on Detective +3
39. Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks +3
40. Zot! by Scott McCloud +3
41. Walt Kelly's Pogo stories in Animal Comics +3
42. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck +3
43. Hellboy by Mike Mignola +3
44. Astonishing X-Men, the Joss Whedon run +2
45. V for Vendetta +3
46. Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck +3
47. Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth +3
48. Charley's War +3
49. Hard Time +3
50. Spectacular Spider-Man: Death of Jean DeWollf +2
51. Roy Thomas Avengers #51-71, Special #2 +3
52. Tintin +3
53. Yotsuba & ! +3
54. Suicide Squad (original run by John Ostrander) +3
55. Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers +3
56. Nexus +3
57. Fables #1-75 +3
58. Watchmen +3
59. Kingdom Come +3
60. Wolverine LS +3
61. Slaine: The Horned God +3
62. Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga +3
63. Master of Kung Fu +3
64. Scalped +3
65. Fantastic Four-Byrne +3
66. Justice League by Giffen & DeMatteis +3
67. The Weirdo-era R. Crumb stories +3
68. Our Fighting Forces #152 +3
69. "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure #s 300-380. +3
70. Little Lulu by John Stanley +3
71. The USS Stevens stories of Sam Glanzman +3
72. Batman: "The Jungle Cat Queen" Detective 211 +3
73. Incredible Hulk-Peter David +3
74. Spectre by Ostrander/Mandrake +3
75. The Zabime Sisters by Aristophane +3
76. Brat Pack-Veitch +3
77. Enigma by Milligan and Fegredo +3
78. The Authority by Ellis and Hitch +3
79. Strange Tales #130-141 +3
80. Strange Tales #151-168, Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD 1-3, 5(Steranko's run) +3
81. Starman by James Robinson +3
82. Kona (Dell Comics/breathtaking Sam Glanzman art) +3
83. From Hell (Moore Campbell) +3
84. Blazing Combat (Warren) +3
85. Dr. Strange by Englehart & Brunner +3
86. Sheldon Mayer's Sugar and Spike +3
87. Fleischer and Aparo's Spectre +3
88. Micronauts #1-12 by Mantlo & Golden +3
89. ROM Spaceknight by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Steve Ditko, P. Craig Russell +2
90. JLA, Grant Morrison's run +3
91. Panthers Rage (Jungle Action #6-24) +3
92. Captain America vol 4 (5?) Brubaker and Epting/Guice +3
93. Star Wars (Marvel) #39-81 +3
94. Lee/Romita's Amazing Spider-Man +3
95. Y: The Last Man +3
96. Defenders #s 20-60 +3
97. Planet of the Apes Magazine 1-29 +3
98. the Death of Speedy Ortiz by Xaime Hernandez +3
99. Gray & Palmiotti's Jonah Hex +3
100. Ghost Rider #67-81 by DeMatteis +3

[shaxper]

This would be a fine list if our goal is to list our favorite comics but if this is supposed to be The Top 100 in terms of quality and/or importance, then at least a third of the entries simply don't belong.

I'm not sure that's fair. I certainly went with the highest quality comics that I have come in contact with, not personal favorites (though sometimes the two were the same). I'm nowhere near as widely read in the world of comics as you or many of the other experts on this forum, but then, why weren't you more involved in the nominating process?

The list may not come close to accurately reflectin the Top 100 quality and/or important comics, but I think it does reflect our best effort to compile such a list, not just a simple blurring of what we like with what we consider quality.

[Scott Harris]

I'm pretty happy with the list the way it is, personally. I agree mostly with what Kurt is saying, but as dan points out, I just don't think most of us know enough about other genres and time periods to really broaden this too much. I mean, when I was trying to think of things to add I really felt like there should be some more foreign stuff, some Archie, some EC horror -- but I haven't read enough of any of those to actually nominate anything. So I went with the good stuff that I have read.

For the same reason, I don't think i will be adding any + or - to the current scoring; I've only read about a quarter or maybe a third of the stuff we picked, so I can't really score this accurately.

It's a pretty great list, though. Maybe instead of Top 100 Comic Book Storylines we should rename this the Classic Comic Forum's 100 Essential Reads. I think that splits the difference between "favorite" and "best" nicely. I know I left off some of my favorite things because I didn't think they were really the best, so I don't consider this to be a straight "favorite" list, as I was trying to be critical. But since we can only really vote for what we know, acknowledging it as a sort of "the best of what the forum posters have read" is maybe more fitting and accurate.

Hell, I think we should call this list the Classic Comic Forum's 100 Essential Reads and slap a sticky on it as a guide to new readers and posters who come to the forum. It's a very good place to start for those wondering what we're all about.

[The Confessor]

Definitely not. My own knowledge of foreign comics doesn't extend much past Tintin and Asterix. I don't think I've ever read any manga.

Cei-U!
I summon the knowledge gap!

If you like Tintin, you might enjoy Edgar P. Jacobs' Blake & Mortimer. I only read the two-part adventure The Mystery Of The Great Pyramid very recently myself, but I really enjoyed it (after a slow start). If you're interested in checking it out, I can e-mail you a small package of wonderment (I think we both know what I'm talking about here). Mum's the word!