Let's Name the Top Single Issues Together

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

My impression is that you go predate me by a bit as a DC reader, so this surprises me just a smidge ... in that my own first issue of the mag was #359, of course featuring "The Million-Dollar Debut of Batgirl."

We probably got into DC comics around the same time. I read the DC issues that my older siblings had (mostly Sugar and Spike and Bob Hope), but I didn't get interested in buying my own comics until after the Batman TV show hit and even then it took me awhile. So the first comic I ever bought was Batman 188, which actually came out a month before Detective 359. But I didn't discover you could get Batman stories in Detective Comics until a few months later, so I missed the Million Dollar Debut of the Dominoed Daredoll--and I still kick myself for that.

[dan bailey]

Plus, there's a demon monkey to keep Dr. Chimps happy.

And we've all learned that it's veeeeerrrrrrryyyyyyyy important to keep him happy.

[MRP]

1. Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos Annual #4
2. Avengers Annual #10
3. The Flash #123
4. Nexus : The Origin
5. Superman 162 (Superman Red/Superman Blue)
6. Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
7. Death of Captain Marvel
8. Detective Comics 361
9. Uncanny X-Men #150
10. Astro City #1/2
11. Adventure Comics 352 (Sun-Eater story)
12. Daredevil # 191
13. Zap Comics #0
14. Superman 164
15. Flash #173
16. Silver Surfer (1968) #1
17. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
18. Hellblazer 84
19. Avengers #4

Avengers #4 The Return of Captain America, a classic from the Kirby cover on that made the Avengers what it was and solidified the links between the Golden and Silver Age MU.

-M

[Richard Bishop]

1. Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos Annual #4
2. Avengers Annual #10
3. The Flash #123
4. Nexus : The Origin
5. Superman 162 (Superman Red/Superman Blue)
6. Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
7. Death of Captain Marvel
8. Detective Comics 361
9. Uncanny X-Men #150
10. Astro City #1/2
11. Adventure Comics 352 (Sun-Eater story)
12. Daredevil # 191
13. Zap Comics #0
14. Superman 164
15. Flash #173
16. Silver Surfer (1968) #1
17. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
18. Hellblazer 84
19. Avengers #4
20. X-Factor #87

"X-Amination" finds the members of X-Factor joining Doc Samson for counseling sessions, peeling back their layers to reveal some hard truths, especially for Quicksilver. If you love one-in-done character studies, this book is great, written by the always-awesome Peter David.

[dan bailey]

When Cei-U! mentioned John Stanley's Little Lulu in the Storylines/Events thread, I realized that I had to include this Stanley-written masterwork ... which of course I then decided not to, because that's the point at which the idea for this thread, highlighting single issues, occurred to me.

1. Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos Annual #4
2. Avengers Annual #10
3. The Flash #123
4. Nexus : The Origin
5. Superman 162 (Superman Red/Superman Blue)
6. Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
7. Death of Captain Marvel
8. Detective Comics 361
9. Uncanny X-Men #150
10. Astro City #1/2
11. Adventure Comics 352 (Sun-Eater story)
12. Daredevil # 191
13. Zap Comics #0
14. Superman 164
15. Flash #173
16. Silver Surfer (1968) #1
17. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
18. Hellblazer 84
19. Avengers #4
20. X-Factor #87
21. Ghost Stories #1

[adam_warlock_2099]

1. Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos Annual #4
2. Avengers Annual #10
3. The Flash #123
4. Nexus : The Origin
5. Superman 162 (Superman Red/Superman Blue)
6. Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
7. Death of Captain Marvel
8. Detective Comics 361
9. Uncanny X-Men #150
10. Astro City #1/2
11. Adventure Comics 352 (Sun-Eater story)
12. Daredevil # 191
13. Zap Comics #0
14. Superman 164
15. Flash #173
16. Silver Surfer (1968) #1
17. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
18. Hellblazer 84
19. Avengers #4
20. X-Factor #87
21. Ghost Stories #1
22. Iron Man #55

I mean come on look at who you are talking to. Cosmic? Starlin fan? I know there are a lot of comments about the similarities with Darksied but come on ... this is great cosmic villain goodness.

[CromagnonMan]

1. Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos Annual #4
2. Avengers Annual #10
3. The Flash #123
4. Nexus : The Origin
5. Superman 162 (Superman Red/Superman Blue)
6. Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
7. Death of Captain Marvel
8. Detective Comics 361
9. Uncanny X-Men #150
10. Astro City #1/2
11. Adventure Comics 352 (Sun-Eater story)
12. Daredevil # 191
13. Zap Comics #0
14. Superman 164
15. Flash #173
16. Silver Surfer (1968) #1
17. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
18. Hellblazer 84
19. Avengers #4
20. X-Factor #87
21. Ghost Stories #1
22. Iron Man #55
23. Conan the Barbarian #4 (Tower of the Elephant)

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

1. Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos Annual #4
2. Avengers Annual #10
3. The Flash #123
4. Nexus : The Origin
5. Superman 162 (Superman Red/Superman Blue)
6. Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
7. Death of Captain Marvel
8. Detective Comics 361
9. Uncanny X-Men #150
10. Astro City #1/2
11. Adventure Comics 352 (Sun-Eater story)
12. Daredevil # 191
13. Zap Comics #0
14. Superman 164
15. Flash #173
16. Silver Surfer (1968) #1
17. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
18. Hellblazer 84
19. Avengers #4
20. X-Factor #87
21. Ghost Stories #1
22. Iron Man #55
23. Conan the Barbarian #4 (Tower of the Elephant)
24. Super Heroes Versus Super Villains (Archie/Radio)

I'm vague on how I got a lot of my comics in the 60s. This Giant Mighty Crusaders comic was coverless and I'm not sure where it came from, but I read it over and over and over. It was years later that I found out it reprinted stories from other Mighty Crusaders or Flyman comics and I finally got a back issue of the Giant with a cover (and a few of the original comics, too). It holds a place in my imagination as one of the most epic comics I ever read. All written by Jerry Siegel (hurray!) with almost all art by Paul Reinman, with one story pencilled by Mike Sekowsky.

[hondobrode]

1. Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos Annual #4
2. Avengers Annual #10
3. The Flash #123
4. Nexus : The Origin
5. Superman 162 (Superman Red/Superman Blue)
6. Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
7. Death of Captain Marvel
8. Detective Comics 361
9. Uncanny X-Men #150
10. Astro City #1/2
11. Adventure Comics 352 (Sun-Eater story)
12. Daredevil # 191
13. Zap Comics #0
14. Superman 164
15. Flash #173
16. Silver Surfer (1968) #1
17. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
18. Hellblazer 84
19. Avengers #4
20. X-Factor #87
21. Ghost Stories #1
22. Iron Man #55
23. Conan the Barbarian #4 (Tower of the Elephant)
24. Super Heroes Versus Super Villains (Archie/Radio)
25. Brave and the Bold # 197

"The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne !" by Alan Brennert and Joe Staton. Batman and Catwoman versus the Scarecrow. Earth-2 Bruce and Selina get married.

[dan bailey]

24. Super Heroes Versus Super Villains (Archie/Radio)

I'm vague on how I got a lot of my comics in the 60s. This Giant Mighty Crusaders comic was coverless and I'm not sure where it came from, but I read it over and over and over. It was years later that I found out it reprinted stories from other Mighty Crusaders or Flyman comics and I finally got a back issue of the Giant with a cover (and a few of the original comics, too). It holds a place in my imagination as one of the most epic comics I ever read. All written by Jerry Siegel (hurray!) with almost all art by Paul Reinman, with one story pencilled by Mike Sekowsky.

I've never read or even seen this, but this is the second reference I've seen to it (can't remember the first one, but I think it was in print, rather than here) within the last few weeks, I'm pretty sure.

After reading what you've written, I really, really, really have to find a copy.

(And thank goodness -- assuming that I'm correct & this is the first such inclusion -- that someone went ahead & cited a reprint collection. I was wavering on whether to include any of my beloved 80-Page Giants [which account for #s 2-4 on my list of favorite comics ever in Cei-U!'s epochal 2005 Christmas listings] this time around.)

[hondobrode]

That's why these threads are so excellent. I learn something new all the time.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

Checking the GCD, it says all the stories in Super Heroes Versus Super Villains were originally published in Fly Man--not Mighty Crusaders as I said (I guess Mighty Crusaders was spun off after those issues). Some of the content was reprinted in the Mighty Crusaders TPB that Archie put out a few years back.

[dan bailey]

We probably got into DC comics around the same time. I read the DC issues that my older siblings had (mostly Sugar and Spike and Bob Hope), but I didn't get interested in buying my own comics until after the Batman TV show hit and even then it took me awhile. So the first comic I ever bought was Batman 188, which actually came out a month before Detective 359. But I didn't discover you could get Batman stories in Detective Comics until a few months later, so I missed the Million Dollar Debut of the Dominoed Daredoll--and I still kick myself for that.

Not sure what my first Batman-related issue would've been, except that I'm pretty sure it contained a double-page pin-up & would've probably come out during the Adam West TV show's first year. When I inquired about it here a few years ago, I was pointed to a very likely candidate, but obviously I can't remember the info now.

A quick glance at Lone Star's issue notes reveals only Batman #181, which featured the debut of Poison Ivy & would've come out some 7 months before 'Tec 359, but (a) I'm 99+ percent positive that wasn't the one mentioned here when I first asked, & (b) I have a pretty firm memory of reading, but not buying, that issue at the Piggly Wiggly in my hometown. The GCD's Advanced Search function is being quite unhelpful; I'm probably using it wrong.

First time I ever encountered Batman would've been before the TV show (which started shortly after I began first grade), because I couldn't read. It was an ad for an Aurora model, & for some reason I decided the character's name had to be Super-Charger. Vague memory tells me the ad appeared on the back cover of what must've been an 1964-or-so issue of Adventure, because I remember it as featuring the Legion; it would've belonged to one of the older of the four girls whose family lived in the house right behind ours at the time.

Otherwise, some 4 months before 'Tec 359, Batman's cover presence would've definitely been the reason I bought Brave & the Bold #67.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

Like I say my memory is vague, but I remember a boy down the block from us, a couple years older than me, loaned me a stack of his comics which included Batman 180, 181, 183, and Detective 350 (and probably some others, but those are the ones I distinctly remember). Years later I tracked down all these comics. Batman 181 had the centrespread--Detective 352, which came out in the same month, also had a centre-spread pin-up. I don't remember any other Batman pin-ups from comics around that time.

Batman was all new to me when the TV show debuted. I was surprised to find that he had existed for so long. I bought the bubble gum cards and read the comic strips in our newspaper, before I actually read the comic books.

[dan bailey]

Detective 352, which came out in the same month, also had a centre-spread pin-up.

That's the one -- thanks! Odd that neither source I mentioned above mentioned that.

I've still got one of the bubblegum cards at home. How in god's name it's lasted 46 or so years when virtually nothing else of such an ephemeral nature in my possession has, I have no idea.