Advance Warning: The Twelve Days of Classic Comics Christmas 2012

[METAROG]

Okay, I read through this thread and have compiled a list of 17 favorite series that fit the criteria as I understand it. Now I just have to go back and read a few of them to refresh my memory, get some scans, write up an explanation for each, pare the list to 12 and rank them. Does that about cover it? I will hopefully have all or most of them done by this weekend unless something else comes up.

[Polar Bear]

I finally have a starter list, having gone through all my long boxes. It was pretty easy to drop my top 21 down to 16, and I also found it simple to rate my top 5.

Then it gets more ... difficult ...

At present, with my 16, I have:
50s - 1
60s - 0
70s - 3
80s - 5
90s - 7

Marvel - 5
DC - 4
Other - 7

As with many others, I'm pretending Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns didn't exist, and I'm disqualifying reprint series on principle. I'm also favoring a slight bias towards the obscure.

I'll be fascinated to see what others came up with from before 1970.

UPDATE: Using a stunningly cruel application of the above-mentioned bias, I've reduced the list to 13 (eliminating two more Kurt Busiek titles, unfortunately--just not obscure enough!). Now, I'm going to read eight comic book runs before December 14th. Somehow.

[dan bailey]

Now, I'm going to read eight comic book runs before December 14th. Somehow.

Helpful hint: They go a lot quicker if you ignore the words.

[berk]

Helpful hint: They go a lot quicker if you ignore the words.

If they were contemporary comics there'd be no problem: all the time in the world!

[foxley]

Damn! Just had another one of those moments. I saw a reference online that reminded me of another title that deserves a spot on my list. Now I have to work out which of my existing 12 gets bumped.

Addendum: False alarm. I just checked the dates and realised the title I was planning to add ended in 2003, and so is ineligible.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

It's too bad that I didn't pick more modern comics for my list. All of the comics I'm reading are densely packed--compressed not decompressed. They demand a lot of attention and can't be read in five minutes like the modern variety of comic. What was wrong with those old writers and artists? Didn't they know they could get away with a lot less? Why did they have to pack every panel with so much meaning and story development?

[Scott Harris]

Just realized one of my picks isn't eligible, so now I've got to figure out what to put in its place. Decisions, decisions.

[shaxper]

Fun new stat to add:

Series that I expect to be on others' lists: 5
Series that I expect others to have read, but not to have liked as much as me: 3
Series that I expect few others to actually know of: 4

Series that I have loved since my early days of comic reading: 4
Series that I first encountered within the past five years: 5
Series that I first encountered within the past year: 5
Series that I read for the first time while trying to come up with this list: 3

[shaxper]

(eliminating two more Kurt Busiek titles, unfortunately--just not obscure enough!)

I say this knowing he's an active member here, but I've got to be honest: I don't understand why people love his work as much as they do. To be fair, I've never read Astro City nor Marvels, but I've read a lot of what he's written for DC and, while I don't recall actively disliking any of it, I've never found any of it particularly awesome either. What am I missing?

[foxley]

I say this knowing he's an active member here, but I've got to be honest: I don't understand why people love his work as much as they do. To be fair, I've never read Astro City nor Marvels, but I've read a lot of what he's written for DC and, while I don't recall actively disliking any of it, I've never found any of it particularly awesome either. What am I missing?

It's all a matter of personal taste. I cannot fathom why people rave about the artwork of Jack Kirby.

(And, of course, you love that Batman boxing story, so I've always known that your taste was suspect. )

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

I've read Astro City and I've read Avengers (haven't read Marvels). Busiek earned a great deal of my respect doing those A-list comics. I also admire what he tried to do with Power Company--even though he was probably swimming against the tide on that one (trying to exploit DC's deep continuity, just as he had exploited Marvel's continuity on Avengers--but in a time when DC would rather just murder their continuity and put it out of reach). If you haven't read Astro City, maybe someone will convince you to do so. I didn't put it on my list this year--because I read all of it in TPB form and I'm more interested in championing the obscure series over those more well-known--but someone else might have it on theirs.

[Chris N]

Ahem.



And I know we do things backward from the song but it's not like I ever gave a rat's ass. After all, this started out as the Ten Days of Classic Comics Christmas.

Cei-U!
I summon the good old days... of 2005!

Also, of course, we do these on the days leading up to Christmas, when the real 12 days of Christmas begins Christmas day.

[Chris N]

I say this knowing he's an active member here, but I've got to be honest: I don't understand why people love his work as much as they do. To be fair, I've never read Astro City nor Marvels, but I've read a lot of what he's written for DC and, while I don't recall actively disliking any of it, I've never found any of it particularly awesome either. What am I missing?

You're missing Astro City and Marvels, respectively my 3rd and 4th favorite comic series of all time (in some order. (They will not both make this list because I like to avoid redundancy)

I also like him because of: Superman Secret Identity, Arrowsmith, A Wizard's Tale, Conan, Thunderbolts, Avengers...

But really, Marvels and Astro City. Nothing better for my money. (Well, nothing not by Steve Ditko or Bill Watterson at least)

[Chris N]

Fun new stat to add:

Series that I expect to be on others' lists: 5
Series that I expect others to have read, but not to have liked as much as me: 3
Series that I expect few others to actually know of: 4

Series that I have loved since my early days of comic reading: 4
Series that I first encountered within the past five years: 5
Series that I first encountered within the past year: 5
Series that I read for the first time while trying to come up with this list: 3

Series on my current draft I'm certain will make the final cut: 1

Coming down to the wire...

[Polar Bear]

I say this knowing he's an active member here, but I've got to be honest: I don't understand why people love his work as much as they do. To be fair, I've never read Astro City nor Marvels, but I've read a lot of what he's written for DC and, while I don't recall actively disliking any of it, I've never found any of it particularly awesome either. What am I missing?

Kurt Busiek is an unusual authors. Yes, that is no typo--he is an unusual authors.

One Kurt Busiek writes just fun stories, some entertaining (Thunderbolts, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, etc.) and some not so entertaining (probably the ones you're basing your judgment on).

The other Kurt Busiek writes literary comics stories (Astro City, Marvels, Superman: Secret Identity). He referenced this fact in a letters column one day, explaining that his medical issues at the time allowed the "fun" part of his comics-writing brain to work but really slowed down the "literary" side. It really is like the GCBD should have listings for Kurt Busiek A and Kurt Busiek B.

Hope that helps.

P.S. Buy Astro City: Confession. If you don't like it, I'll send you a check.