Here's one for Karmic-Angel, quickly becoming one of the coolest gals I (don't) know. (Any other fans out there? Speak up!)
This is a pretty ambitious list. I mean, top ten of all time? Wow. Where do you start? I like this particular list, for the most part, but I sense that that's because Hilary Goldstein and I share many of the same influences. Heck, I own half these issues.
Here's the list, for quick reference:
10. Thunderbolts really Masters of Evil
Can't really speak on this one since I don't know it. But the idea that a team of villains would masquerade as heroes (and actually kinda like it) as part of a greater scheme is awesome.
9. Angel's wings clipped
I own the Classic X-Men version of this one. It was a cool visual, but...all time?
8. Joker cripples Barbara Gordon
Should definitely be on this list and maybe higher. This was so bad because it was so cold. She answers the door, Joker blows her away. Just - like - that. And unlike some other storylines, things did not later revert to normal.
7. Magneto rips out Wolverine's adamantium
Magneto finally crossed the line with the troublesome Canuck and put him down, but good. It was in the next issue that we realized Wolverine's claws weren't a product of the adamantium grafting process - the bones had been there the whole time. The last panel of that ish was awesome. Of course, he got the adamantium back and Magneto's labotomy courtesy of Professor X went away, too.
6. Doomsday kills Superman
This was of course the storyline for that year. It was in the papers, on tv, everywhere. Like most fans, I couldn't resist collecting each of the lead-up issues and a couple of copies (one to be left unopened in the plastic cover) of the climax issue. This led to the silly multiple Supermen arc, but was also the genesis of Parallax - a troubling but cool arc. Superman? Uh...yeah...he came back, too. I've got that issue as well.
5. Ozymandias Drops "Alien Menace" on New York
Part of The Watchmen. Shame on me for not having read it yet.
4. Bane breaks Batman's back
Batman finally beaten - badly. Remember when Bane was cool - not a punchline? (same thing happened to KGBeast) A neat story arc, but it led to all that Knightquest crap with Azrael. Meh. This was definitely an event, though.
3. Bullseye kills Elektra
Every major Daredevil story arc seems to have something to do with this.
2. Death of Gwen Stacy
One of my all time favs for sure (partly because I own it and it's one of my most valuable comics). I can't remember seeing a major character killed in a comic book before reading "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" (the title was not revealed until the last panel). It formed much of the inspiration for the climax in the Spider-Man movie (the bridge, the "death" of Green Goblin - which came in the next ish) with Mary Jane substituted in place of Gwen. It has so many great moments, including Peter's vow: "YOU'RE THE CREEP WHO'S GOING TO PAY! I'm going to get you, Goblin! I'm going to destroy you slowly - and when you start begging for me to end it, I'm going to remind you of one thing - YOU KILLED THE WOMAN I LOVE, AND FOR THAT, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!" I only wish they had honoured this moment by leaving Norman Osborne dead.
1. Joker Blows up Jason Todd
This probably deserves the number one spot because it wasn't just the Joker who killed the second Robin - it was the fans. At a buck per vote, thousands of ballots were cast and fewer than one hundred votes sealed Jason's fate. It's actually a pretty lame issue (it takes place in the desert, not exactly conducive to a dramatic Batman mood), but the consequences were enormous for the Dark Knight.
Good list. You know, I can't really think of a moment I would add... Sounds like a good excuse to rifle through my collection...
Maybe Kraven The Hunter burying Spidey alive? ("Kraven's Last Hunt") That was a neat arc and a pretty good mindf**king of the ol' webslinger.
3 comments:
Holy lists, Batman, this is a gauntlet throw-down if I've ever read one!
Here is my top 10 (which is very close to yours - huge surprise!)
10. Bullseye kills Elektra - didn't effect me that much really. She annoys me... not sure why...
9. The death of the Tomorrow Woman - this was a robot created by the mad professors Professor Ivo and Professor T. O. Morrow to infiltrate and destroy the JLA, but who 'gains a soul' instead of following her programming and sacrifices herself to save her new teamates instead.
8. The execution of the Blue Beetle - just because he was such a sweet character.
7. Joker cripples Barbara Gordon - yes, a terrible moment and one that leads to so many other ones in the Bat saga.
6. Deathstroke stabs his son Jericho through the heart - Jericho's entire life is such a sad story, that his death [he later came back] at the hands of his psycho-assassin dad was wrenching.
5. Nitro blowing up The New Warriors and like 600 civilians - leading into the Civil War series. Nitro explodes, destroying a local school and the surrounding neighborhood and killing all of the New Warriors except Speedball... who ends up taking a lot of the blame.
4. Bane breaks Batman's back
HUGE. He did what no other evil could... broke Batman's spirit AND body..
3. Death of Gwen Stacy - Haunts the poor Parker to this day, and the question that hangs over it (who ACTUALLY killed her - Peter or Goblin) makes it all the more evil.
2. Joker Blows up Jason Todd
OF COURSE. It was so sad and so horrific... somehow worse than the torture and death of Samantha Brown (the only girl to ever don the green tights)
1. Doomsday kills Superman - stands as the ONLY comic that ever made me cry. I still remember where I was, and how I felt looking at that last scene of Lois cradling the man of steel.. sniff..sniff... tearing up here!
Yeah, if I had to come up with my top ten...geez...lots of these would be on there...and, yeah, I might add Beetle's death just because it was so sad - he tried to enlist help but no one took him seriously.
I might toss in Parallax's actions in Zero Hour, (killing the Guardians and the GL Corps, destroying and re-making the universe?!) though he thought he was acting with good intentions.
Depending on how much of an impact Civil War has on the Marvel U, Nitro might make the list...but I doubt it.
Deathstroke is one of my favourite characters! I've loved his character since the "Terra" betrayal storyline in Teen Titans. But his "merciful" killing of his son Jericho wouldn't make the list since he asked him to do it. (And he was working with the Titans at the time)
The fact that Deathstroke walks the line between good and evil makes him one of the most interesting characters in comics. I'd love to see him and Batman go one-on-one for a whole issue.
Oh yeah, Parallax.. although 'evil' - he wasn't really evil... and Nitro killed A LOT of people, driving us into a Marvel world with forced hero registration. It is significant. Trust me. Grab the graphic novel now that the series is done. And Deathstroke IS a really neat character, like Catwoman that way... that he moves between good and evil depending on his emotions and how his life is going. Though right now, his pursuit of Rose and the newly resurected Jericho makes me think he is on the dark side for a little while...
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