memorable moments in Comics

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In honor of the new Spider-man movie, I wanted to share some of the comics that have stuck with me.

Crisis on Infinite Earths - The first real deliberate ret-con in my lifetime was in my opinion, one of the most amazing comics written. The most memorable moment? At the last part of the last issue, the villain Psycho Pirate is locked up, and he says, "You never know who will die, and who will live."

Squadron Supreme - Marvel did a nice take on "Superheroes take over the world" using their copies of DC heroes, and the series had some interesting moments with debates over freedom vs. security throughout. But the most memorable moment? The last issue, where a group of rebel superheroes faced off with the Squadron. It was like no other super hero battle I have ever seen before - people on both sides lost their lives on the battle field.

Justice League of America, issues 258-261. The Detroit years are not well remembered by JLA fans, but I liked how they rapped it up - Villain Prof Ivo murders Vibe and Steel, and the other members resign as a result of the then-ongoing "Legends" series. The death of Steel especially moved me at the time, and when his grandfather turned off the life support I cried.

Justice League - New World Order. They brought back the heavy hitters for this, and it was amazing as they gave each of the legends their due. Best moment? Superman is held captive, and tells the aliens that Batman is the most dangerous man alive...

Teen titans face Trigon - I loved this. The team had to face the dark sides of themselves to find a way to beat Trigon, and it was amazingly well done. Each member of the team got a chance to be in the spotlight, and they showed a lot of attention had been paid to the histories of all the characters.

There are lots more, but maybe somebody would like a stab at adding some?

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Tough choices!

That's an interesting list Dorothy and I would agree with pretty much everything!

I started reading American comic books (Marvel) in 1984, getting into DC in the middle of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, so for me it had a real impact on me. I also adored J M Dematteis run on the JLA's Detroit years in the way he closed out that chapter of the groups history and agree with you about Steel's death. I was tempted to add 'Legends' to my list too.

Most of my DC choices would be in the period around the end of Crisis and Legends, when the whole DC universe got a reinvigorating shot in the arm that the new 52 has failed to give me. So what would my admittedly very personal list look like?

Spiderman - Kraven's Last Hunt. What's not to like? The black suit, a newly married Peter Parker in one of the best portrayals of the relationship and a whole story structured around questions of self and identity.

Walt Simonson's 1980's Thor run. Beautiful art, engaging story and all wrapped up tightly in Thor's mythology.

Peter David's early run on Supergirl, which just exuded a weird charm unlike very few other stories I've read.

George Perez's beautifully written and drawn Wonder Woman run for reinventing the Amazon and her world. This new Wonder Woman was portrayed as a strong, independent woman completely reinvigorating the character as a genuine warrior.

Booster Gold - The original run. A very different character who helped span the bridge between pre-Crisis and post-Crisis DC and led into the wonderful JLI.

Dematteis / Giffen JLI - Bwah-ha-ha. Superheroes can be fun. :-)

I've tried to keep the list short as there are so many stories I can think of, but these are all fairly special to me. :-)

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Lots

The original Bizarro story in Superboy and the first return of Bizarro in Action. The first appearance of Supergirl in Action which had as backup story the first appearance of Metallo. The first appearance of Lori Lemaris in Superman. The early runs of Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. The first appearance of the Flash in Showcase (one of the very first superhero comics I bought with my own money).

The whole run of Carl Barks on Donald and Scrooge. And the run of John Stanley on Lulu and Tubby. And Dan diCarlo and company's run on Archie et al. The early Madhouse and Cosmo the Martian. Carmine Infantino's art on Rex the Wonder Dog and later The Flash.

Daredevil #7 where the Horned One in his new red suit goes up against Submariner and gets his ass handed to him, again and again and again but he doesn't give up and finally, Submariner concedes the fight out of respect for so much heart. The FF were off in space somewhere, the Avengers back in time, the Hulk was in New Mexico, Dr. Strange had disappeared into his navel, the X-Men were grounded and Spider-Man had a cold, so it was up to the weakest of Marvel's heroes to take down the generally recognized as third strongest being in Marveldom!

The FF#51 where somebody else becomes the Thing and dies in Ben Grimm's place saving the rest of the FF. You have to understand this was the one issue follow up to the first Galactus/Silver Surfer saga and it TOTALLY blew THAT incredible story away. At the top of their game, no one could do a better comic than Stan and Jack.

The "THE" series in Sgt Fury. Too complicated to explain.

The first versions of The Doom Patrol, Deadman, Metamorpho, The Creeper and The Question.

Wonder Warthog and The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers by Gilbert Shelton.

I could do this for hours without even reaching the 80s. :)

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers

ah, yes, I remember it well :) Fat Freddy's Cat anyone? My brother collected them for 5 or 6 years, and they always had a ton of laughs inside :)

Thank you, Erin, for bringing back the memories. And along those lines, I may be imagining it, but wasn't there a small time comic that had little monster cars with something about a rubber baby buggy bumper. Sigh, the ole noggin ain't what it used ta be, its gettin' full!

Fat Freddy's Cat

The cat scratches at the door and Fat Freddy in a drugged stupor yells, "Will somebody put the cat out!" Franklin appears holding a fire extinguisher and sprays the cat thoroughly with foam, then says, "How on earth did he catch fire?"

This was actually a replay of a Popeye gag from a Fleischer Bros cartoon but it was funny enough I still laugh at it. :)

The classic Freak Bros though is the Candid Camera episode where Freddy gets such a monumental case of the munchies the other two are afraid he is going to eat THEM! And that's the first page of a seven page story. :)

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

That cat...

Fat Freddy (holding cat by scruff of neck): I have a talking cat!
Freewheelin' Franklin: Oh really?
Fat Freddy: Oh yes! Cat, who is the chairman of the Chinese communist party? [jerks down hard on tail]
Cat: MAO!

Okay, I'll put in my two cents

I'm no huge comic collector, so don't expect numbers, but a personal favorite of mine is the time when Beta Ray Bill became Beta Ray Thor. I loved the story, and the art was great!

Second, and I'm not sure what the comic was called, but they had a future Spiderman (Spiderman 2025?). There was one exchange that has stayed with me. The bad guy, whose wealthy Bad guy Dad died many years before, says something like, "Do you know what my Father would say if he were alive today?"

Spidey: "Help, let me out of this coffin?"

I loved it!

Lastly on a similar future note, there was a comic about the Juggernaut's son, called "J2". Any issue was good, but especially the conclusion of the series. Just great!

Wren

Note-These are the opinions of the writer, and may not reflect the opinions of Big Closet/Top Shelf, the owner of the site, The US Air Force or my Uncle Bob.

Witchblade and Ultimate spider-man

Witchblade, specifically the entire storyline when the witchblade is shared by two wielders and the First born series.
The new Ultimate spiderman- where Miles Morales is now spiderman.

Ambush Bug FTW!

Also the Claremont / Byrne / Austin run on X-Men (wherein we meet Alpha Flight),
Miller's Dark Knight,
Marvel Team up #74 ( http://www.samruby.com/MarvelTeam-Up/marvelteamup074.htm ),
Avengers #239 ( http://marvel.wikia.com/Avengers_Vol_1_239 ),
and almost every issue of What If.

I'm odd but harmless,
Hugs, Diana

The beginning run of Excalibur

The beginning run of Excalibur was just chock full of transformations, crossdressing, pretty Alice in Wonderland style dresses, and Phoenix (Rachel Summers) transforming Shadowcat's clothing into baby clothes. Like some stories the changes are too numerous to list.