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which arcs completely and forever defined a character or characters in your eyes?

i'll start with a couple. logan for me will always be the logan from his first miller mini-series. THAT to me was the best wolverine ever done. i loved the character in that series.

i've mentioned this before, but the avengers were defined by the nefaria arc and the original korvac arc.

i've others, but i'd like to hear yours.

The Thor run under Walt Simonson was what I'd call a quintessential arc (and not just for the debut of Beta Ray Bill). To date, it remains one of my all time favorite arcs period, and definitely my favorite Thor one.

Speaking of Avengers, I really loved the Heroes Return Busiek/Perez epic for the Avengers, specifically the Ultron Unlimited and Kang War arcs.

Daredevil: Born Again (Runner up: Bendis' entire run, specifically Hardcore)
Cap: Captain America No More (Runner Up: Mark Waid's Man Out of Time and the enterity of Bru's run)
Spider-man: Death of Gwen Stacy (Runner up: Kraven's Last Hunt)
Punisher: Born (Runner up: Welcome Back Frank)
Wolverine: Bloody Choices (Runner up: Claremont and Miller's Wolverine mini or BWS's Weapon X)

Avengers Forever shaped Kang and the Avengers for future generations, it reads as a gigantic reset button.

Nod to Brubaker's Cap.

Thanos: The Infinity Gauntlet (of course)

Spidey: Maximum Carnage

The art, the personality, the moral conflicts and eventual decisions, it's all him. Nothing else comes close for him, imo.

Originally posted by srankmissingnin
Daredevil: Born Again (Runner up: Bendis' entire run, specifically Hardcore)
Cap: Captain America No More (Runner Up: Mark Waid's Man Out of Time and the enterity of Bru's run)
Spider-man: Death of Gwen Stacy (Runner up: Kraven's Last Hunt)
Punisher: Born (Runner up: Welcome Back Frank)
Wolverine: Bloody Choices (Runner up: Claremont and Miller's Wolverine mini or BWS's Weapon X)

damn srank, you named THREE that i would have named had i continued my list--born again, out of time (best cap ever done imo) and kraven's last hunt.

also loved the killing joke--defined bats and joker for me.

I have to read Killing Joke. That's easily the most seminal work that's eluded my attention.

yeah, you need to get on that....

Superman: All star superman. One of the greatest comics of all time IMHO.( Runner up: For the man who has everything. Kal saying goodbye to his son and BURN.)

Originally posted by leonidas
yeah, you need to get on that....

Pftt. crackers

Originally posted by Digi
I have to read Killing Joke. That's easily the most seminal work that's eluded my attention.
And apparently one of Alan Moore's least favorite works. Though I think that's just him possessing a healthy ability to self-criticize.

All-Star Superman. This was Morrison at his best, imo. It is a beautiful tale of Superman exactly how he was meant to be portrayed.

Green Lantern: Will World. If you haven't read this, do so ASAP. It is an absolutely brilliant read. Bar none the best GL material I've ever read.

Batman: The Long Halloween. I'm usually not a fan of Bat-books, but this story still holds up as one of the best ever published. It is an almost eerie tale which superbly depicts the Batman/Joker dynamic.

Grendel: Behold the Devil. This may as well have been called "Grendel: Year One." It is a very nice glimpse into the, otherwise cloudy, early years of Grendel--from pages not even mentioned in his private journal.


There are more, but those were the first that came to mind.

Captain Marvel: The Death of Captain Marvel. All Mar-Vell bias aside, this really is a wonderful graphic novel and one of the best handled deaths in comicdom.

Dr. Doom: Books of Doom. This really cemented Dr. Doom as a character to me. Excellent work.

I thought it was bring as hell to be honest. But captain marvel sucked as a character anyways. Good to get rid of him.

Originally posted by Dum Dum Dugan
I thought it was bring as hell to be honest. But captain marvel sucked as a character anyways. Good to get rid of him.

http://i578.photobucket.com/albums/ss225/OdinBorson/y2jshifty.gif

Originally posted by Dum Dum Dugan
I thought it was bring as hell to be honest. But captain marvel sucked as a character anyways. Good to get rid of him. lolwhat

The Death of Captain Marvel

The Killing Joke

And Triumph and Torment for Dr Doom. It showed what Doom actually cared about. Doom's magic backround, and farther highlighted his ongoing plight with Mephisto

Originally posted by Sr J-Bieb
lolwhat

The Death of Captain Marvel




I thought the death of captain marvel was boring, and that captain marvel was a shitty character and glad he was killed off. What was that the early nighties or was that even the eighties.

Originally posted by Galan007
Batman: The Long Halloween. I'm usually not a fan of Bat-books, but this story still holds up as one of the best ever published. It is an almost eerie tale which superbly depicts the Batman/Joker dynamic.

Oh, I forgot about this one. Yes yes, agreed in full, an excellent story.

Originally posted by Omega Vision
And apparently one of Alan Moore's least favorite works. Though I think that's just him possessing a healthy ability to self-criticize.

A lot of artists can't even watch/read their own work. As much an authority as he is, his opinion once his work is out there means very little.

Originally posted by Galan007
All-Star Superman. This was Morrison at his best, imo. It is a beautiful tale of Superman exactly how he was meant to be portrayed.

Green Lantern: Will World. If you haven't read this, do so ASAP. It is an absolutely brilliant read. Bar none the best GL material I've ever read.

Batman: The Long Halloween. I'm usually not a fan of Bat-books, but this story still holds up as one of the best ever published. It is an almost eerie tale which superbly depicts the Batman/Joker dynamic.

Grendel: Behold the Devil. This may as well have been called "Grendel: Year One." It is a very nice glimpse into the, otherwise cloudy, early years of Grendel--from pages not even mentioned in his private journal.


There are more, but those were the first that came to mind.

the long halloween WAS great. forgot all about that arc.....

and you went grendel!!? nice, and great choice. i've tried a few grendel threads in the past and thought i was maybe the only guy who knew who he was.

if you can believe it, i've not read all-star superman.

also not sure about that gl arc. i'll look it up. one of the reasons i made this thread was to see if i could find some good new stuff to read.

Originally posted by Dum Dum Dugan
I thought the death of captain marvel was boring, and that captain marvel was a shitty character and glad he was killed off. What was that the early nighties or was that even the eighties. ...

You going to add to the thread or just going to complain about a character you know nothing about?

Anyway.

Silver Surfer: Requiem
It was simply a great piece of work. It might not have been canon, but that Surfer was spot on all the way. Showed a high level character on the verge of death, and what he'd do with his time. Actually succeeded in being touching too.

Nova: Annihilation
It was Nova's big moment in a big event. While the sighs and grumbles about him being the big guy were amidst readers before the event, there was no doubt who the star of the series was when it was over. I highly doubt we'll see another Nova story like this anytime soon.

Originally posted by leonidas
and you went grendel!!? nice, and great choice. i've tried a few grendel threads in the past and thought i was maybe the only guy who knew who he was.

if you can believe it, i've not read all-star superman.

also not sure about that gl arc. i'll look it up. one of the reasons i made this thread was to see if i could find some good new stuff to read. I've been a fan of Grendel for a long time. I, too, tend not to mention him much around the forum mainly because no one usually knows wtf I'm talking about lol.

I'm tempted to e-slap you for having not read All-Star Superman. Trust me, it's worth all the hype.

GL: Will World isn't an actual GL arc, it was released exclusively as a TPB. If you're a Lantern fan, and if you enjoy material that borders on the obscure, you'll like this comic. I guarantee it is unlike any other GL book you've read.

Originally posted by leonidas
damn srank, you named THREE that i would have named had i continued my list--born again, out of time (best cap ever done imo) and kraven's last hunt.

also loved the killing joke--defined bats and joker for me.

Yeah, I know whats up.

For me personally I have Batman Year One above The Killing Joke or Long Halloween.

Originally posted by srankmissingnin
Yeah, I know whats up.

For me personally I have Batman Year One above The Killing Joke or Long Halloween. I was going back and fourth between BYO and TLH. Both are very good in all aspects--I just enjoyed TLH's story a bit more.

It is awesome to think that the dude who created ****in' Rulk is also the dude who wrote the masterpiece that is Batman: The Long Halloween.

^ Makes you wonder wtf happened to him over the years, right?

I'd guess it was the personal tragedy. His career took a sharp turn after that, sadly.

I didn't like the Long Halloween that much, but is still the best Loeb story I've read.

Originally posted by Galan007
I'm tempted to e-slap you for having not read All-Star Superman. Trust me, it's worth all the hype.


i know.... i'll get to it for sure.

batman year one was very good. also loved 10 nights of the beast. there really are a lot of great batman arcs.

Hellblazer -dangerous habits- A definitive take on John Constantine.
ARES god of war- such a great take on an otherwise background villian
Batman- The killing joke, the man who laughs, the long halloween.
Transmetropolitan -back on the street- Everything you need to know about Spider Jerusalem in 3 issues.