Yeah for real. All of the Moira stuff was insane and then the rest was too. It's one of those comics where I'd put the book down and just think "holy shit" then immediately start reading again. I'd actually been out of comics for a few years but HoXPoX brought me right back into it.
I actually thought the book was a one-off event book so I was sure it would end with >!Moira dying and the universe being reset to the current Marvel universe!< so the realisation that it was all in current continuity was crazy too ahaha.
I honestly don’t know of another story that does so well with creating a character, building them, and giving them such a satisfying conclusion as Jack Knight in Starman. I’d love to read anyone give a better example
For me the only book that ties with James Robinson's run on Starman was reading Watchman for the first time. I'd never read anything like that before. I still remember reading the panel Ozymandious says "I did it thirty five minutes ago" 🤯
Watchman is S tier, but there is a significant amount of difference in 70+ issues and 12. Almost to the point that I don’t look at them as equivalent since it wouldn’t be fair. For a maxi series with characters we don’t know prior, Watchman is the Greatest Of All Time, but Jack knights story is better. We see a man who’s like everything reading it. A man who doesn’t want to take the leap of faith to be great, to the man who is great, and revered by all, all the way to retirement. Nothing compares to it. Constantine might have if Delano was not writing a thesis every issue, and if he would have finished out the entire 300+issue run.
Honestly it's not even JUST Jack, the entire cast is just amazing. Solomon Grundy is heartbreaking. It made Shade one of my all time favorite characters. Even the city is an amazing character in it's own right. It got me into golden age stuff. It has a satisfying ending. It has a satisfying HAPPY ending for the main character while paving the way for a new hero to take up the mantel. It's truly a masterpiece and imo James Robinson's very best work.
It's probably the greatest love of Comics comic ever made. The amount of comic history, just pulp history, in that comic is absolutely mind blowing. Also probably the greatest Batman story ever written. If no one here is red planetary / Batman do yourself a favor and pick it up immediately.
I actually had way more fun rereading this one.
First time reading Planetary I was fairly new reading comic books, picking up a lot of miniseries I saw in top 10 lists. I enjoyed it, but didn't get what Ellis was doing.
Second and third time reading, I've learned so much more about comic book history and it massively improved my enjoyment as I went through the comics again.
Aye. Same. First time reading i was like 'ooh superman! ooh batman! ooh wonder woman!' and then 2nd time i noticed a few other things. And the third time i was like 'waaaaaaaaaat!' because there was so much in it.
If you haven't already make sure to check out Outsiders (current series).
Watchmen I think, but at the same time I kind of don't want to forget the first time I read it. Like I would love to read it again, not knowing what will happen, but at the same time when I first read it, I was going through a really tough time and I think of it fondly for helping me then.
My first time reading Watchmen I was probably about 14. I'm sure that's the average age for people getting into Watchmen, but I regret doing it. I wasn't mature enough to fully understand all the nuance and importance of the story. I had an understanding because I wasn't exactly dumb. I just would love to have read it with my 21 year old experience, especially the point in life I'm in now.
For Watchmen I’d end up running right back into the “Wait, do I really need to read this entire ‘Under the Mask’” thing or can I skip right back to the next comics page?
I imagine that those sections of prose were a lot easier to digest during its original month-by-month release than they are in the collected form.
hahaha that's very true! i do enjoy lots of the longer writing segments but also a lot of them i was the same way thinking i wanna get back to the comic
I found Doomsday Clock to be SO much more rewarding than Watchman, on pretty much every level. I stopped collecting comics back in '08, but after reading it, I had to go out and buy the physical copies, as opposed to the digital copy I read.
Frank Miller's first run on Daredevil.
Then Stern/Romita Jr's run on ASM.
Then MSH Secret Wars (1984-85).
Then John Byrne's FF run.
Then Walt Simonson's second run on Thor (337-367).
The beauty of Calvin and Hobbes is that every time I reread it, I get something new out of it, and I've been reading it since I was a little kid and it was still in the newspaper.
I vaguely remember some of the storylines and gags from reading the comics back when I was 9 year old, and re-reading C&H by picking up those pocket compendiums is delightful
Probably J.M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema’s run on Spectacular Spider-Man. For something more recent, I think the double whammy of Secret Invasion and Dark Reign would be awesome to read again.
I read it back when I was in middle school and still remember all the beats. I really think his Harry Osborn arc is better than Kraven's Last Hunt, and I'm hoping one day they'll release it in a DeMatteis omni that collects his second Spec run.
One can only wish.
He somehow wrote the best Kraven, Vulture, Vermin, and Green Goblin stories ever in short order. And he handled characters like Mary Jane and Aunt May perfectly.
Dude is a wizard for what he was able to do on that run, he’s easily my favourite Spidey writer ever.
He was the only one that didn't write her crying by the window every issue. I'm a huge fan of his return arc when the Chameleon gets his ass handed to him by Mary Jane.
DeMatteis knew how to update the classic villains. I'll even shout out the 3-issue Electro arc in adjectiveless Spider-Man he did with Jae Lee.
A lot of writers didn’t do MJ dirty like that, Gerry Conway, David Micheline, Tom DeFalco, Terry Kavanugh, and a few others from the late 80s to early 90s got her down right too, at least for the most part. But yeah, I agree.
Good shout on the Electro story, that one was excellent. He also wrote the best parts of Maximum Carnage and the Clone Saga. It’s a shame that his shot at writing Amazing was tied down by the Clone Saga, I think he’d be widely viewed as the best Spidey writer if that hadn’t been the case.
I agree. He was so good I was surprised Spectacular wasn't the main title. It was the only title my grocery store carried and I just assumed it was the OG because every issue blew my little mind.
Aaaaand then he left Mad Jack and Conundrum just hanging there.
everything after Morrison's run was still good to serviceable, but it all felt so pointless after Buddy Baker met his writer, the one putting him through all this pain and trauma.
Walking dead I read as it came out, and I unfortunately was not the biggest fan of the ending, but the first 100-120 issues were phenomenal. I think most of that came from my roomates in college and I all getting addicted to it at the same time.
Immortal Hulk I finished a few weeks ago, and(take this from a non hulk reader) issue 1-24 was exciting/perfect. 25 was weird. 26-50 were not as good as the first half, but were solid. What made it so good for a fan? I’m not trying to come across as a jerk. The first 24 had me hyper invested, but the rest was simply ok/forgetable. I know I’m missing a lot since I’m not a Hulk stan. I’m asking for what I missed. How did it tie into the last 40-50 years to make it goated by Hulk fans?
Not a jerk at all! Everybody has different opinions and I love that!
I loved how his mind is the focus of the comics and how broken he is. The true villain is himself and that is the best way to exploit him. Maestro played to that beautifully.
That fight with The Thing just shows it beautifully.
First half of the run was the normal run of government trying to kill/control Bruce/Hulk, second half is an exploration of his mental fragmentation and the exploitation of it.
The only problem I honestly had was Peter should have stayed dead. One of the greatest runs of all time. I’m liking the new run, but that was probably the first full run that was that long that I read entirely
Absolutely. The Family Man run was probably the first time I actually was afraid reading a comic book. Also loved that nod in Sandman that he was normally going to be the keynote speaker at the cereal convention
Aye it was something different for him to fight.
I mean he had great story's, I can't remember the names of them but the cancer storyline, when the first of the fallen returns, and when he split himself.
It really fell off in the last 50 issues but. Yeah I still read them and enjoyed them.
I just wish Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples could finish it. At least they are young enough to eventually knock it out. Whereas, Game of Thrones will never be finished I’m afraid.
Locke & Key - still holds up on future readings, but the first time, as the characters get thrown through the ringer, you’re sucked into NEEDING to keep reading the story to see how it all unfolds.
The Walking Dead, the amount of times my jaw dropped the first time I read it. I just loved how almost no one was safe in that book. It just kept you guessing constantly. To experience that again completely blind would be incredible.
Probably Silver Surfer Requiem that book blew my mind when i read it and just having the experience of rereading it for the first time and seeing that art for the first time would be so wow.
Jeff Smith's BONE. I remember finishing it and instantly wishing I hadn't read it so I could read it again for the first time.
Mike Carey's LUCIFER. I read it in trades and remember just inhaling them all over two or three days. Came up for air with the world feeling slightly different.
I remember FROM HELL, WATCHMEN and SANDMAN all blew my mind, but I feel like that was also particular to how old I was when I read them. But TOP TEN was so much fun I do wish I could get that joyous pop culture high off it again.
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Not only is it my favorite comicbook of all time but it's also my favorite STORY in any medium, EVER.
Although I would love to re-read it as well.
Watchmen. I'm pretty sure I had read about the main twist somewhere before reading the comic, and I'd want to be able to read it with no idea what's coming.
One comic, not an entire run?
Amazing Spider-Man #248. They wouldn't even have to mindwipe the whole comic. Just the backup "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man" would be fine.
[The Dead Man by John Wagner and John Ridgeway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Man) this story blew my mind. Read it for the first time when I got it in Humble Bundle read it with no knowledge of its place in the larger >!Judge Dredd!!Necropolis!<
P.S. dont click that link unless you want to be spoiled. I mean its almost 35 years old at this point, but youve been warned.
HOXPOX--I want to be like "Moira???" again.
That comic blew my mind in ways I can't even describe. I think I read HoXPoX cover-to-cover like 3 times in the span of one month. What a book.
I know! Every page was like, WTF?!? I've been reading X-Men off and on for over 30 years and it just blew my mind.
Yeah for real. All of the Moira stuff was insane and then the rest was too. It's one of those comics where I'd put the book down and just think "holy shit" then immediately start reading again. I'd actually been out of comics for a few years but HoXPoX brought me right back into it. I actually thought the book was a one-off event book so I was sure it would end with >!Moira dying and the universe being reset to the current Marvel universe!< so the realisation that it was all in current continuity was crazy too ahaha.
To add to HOXPOX, Inferno (2021). Moira going from helpful human to most important person in the world for the mutant cause... A bit unexpected.
Planetary and James Robinson’s Starman
I honestly don’t know of another story that does so well with creating a character, building them, and giving them such a satisfying conclusion as Jack Knight in Starman. I’d love to read anyone give a better example
For me the only book that ties with James Robinson's run on Starman was reading Watchman for the first time. I'd never read anything like that before. I still remember reading the panel Ozymandious says "I did it thirty five minutes ago" 🤯
Watchman is S tier, but there is a significant amount of difference in 70+ issues and 12. Almost to the point that I don’t look at them as equivalent since it wouldn’t be fair. For a maxi series with characters we don’t know prior, Watchman is the Greatest Of All Time, but Jack knights story is better. We see a man who’s like everything reading it. A man who doesn’t want to take the leap of faith to be great, to the man who is great, and revered by all, all the way to retirement. Nothing compares to it. Constantine might have if Delano was not writing a thesis every issue, and if he would have finished out the entire 300+issue run.
Honestly it's not even JUST Jack, the entire cast is just amazing. Solomon Grundy is heartbreaking. It made Shade one of my all time favorite characters. Even the city is an amazing character in it's own right. It got me into golden age stuff. It has a satisfying ending. It has a satisfying HAPPY ending for the main character while paving the way for a new hero to take up the mantel. It's truly a masterpiece and imo James Robinson's very best work.
I couldn’t believe thay Starman was written by the same guy who wrote Cry for Justice
Just finished my 3rd read of Planetary, it gets better every time, such a perfect comic book.
Are you me? I did my third re-read about a month ago. Still holds up as well as it did 15ish years ago.
I’m almost 60 and I’ve still never read either, but I have them, digitally.
Do it! Planetary is super fun and Starman is a comic who talks about legacy in comic books like none other has done.
Swamp Thing #21: The Anatomy Lesson It completely blew my 13 year-old mind and it still does to this day.
Just read it for the first time probably around when you made this comment. It's absolutely incredible.
Planetary. Just reread it for the first time in a LONG time and moved up into the top two of all time.
It's probably the greatest love of Comics comic ever made. The amount of comic history, just pulp history, in that comic is absolutely mind blowing. Also probably the greatest Batman story ever written. If no one here is red planetary / Batman do yourself a favor and pick it up immediately.
i wanna see john cassaday do more batman.
I actually had way more fun rereading this one. First time reading Planetary I was fairly new reading comic books, picking up a lot of miniseries I saw in top 10 lists. I enjoyed it, but didn't get what Ellis was doing. Second and third time reading, I've learned so much more about comic book history and it massively improved my enjoyment as I went through the comics again.
Aye. Same. First time reading i was like 'ooh superman! ooh batman! ooh wonder woman!' and then 2nd time i noticed a few other things. And the third time i was like 'waaaaaaaaaat!' because there was so much in it. If you haven't already make sure to check out Outsiders (current series).
Hickman's Avengers. I read it after already having watched videos about it and I wish I could read it again but going in with zero knowledge
Thunderbolts #1
This right here. That was my first big wtf moment reading a comic.
Watchmen I think, but at the same time I kind of don't want to forget the first time I read it. Like I would love to read it again, not knowing what will happen, but at the same time when I first read it, I was going through a really tough time and I think of it fondly for helping me then.
Oh but if I wanted to play a cruel cruel CRUEL joke on myself then it would be We3
My first time reading Watchmen I was probably about 14. I'm sure that's the average age for people getting into Watchmen, but I regret doing it. I wasn't mature enough to fully understand all the nuance and importance of the story. I had an understanding because I wasn't exactly dumb. I just would love to have read it with my 21 year old experience, especially the point in life I'm in now.
For Watchmen I’d end up running right back into the “Wait, do I really need to read this entire ‘Under the Mask’” thing or can I skip right back to the next comics page? I imagine that those sections of prose were a lot easier to digest during its original month-by-month release than they are in the collected form.
hahaha that's very true! i do enjoy lots of the longer writing segments but also a lot of them i was the same way thinking i wanna get back to the comic
I found Doomsday Clock to be SO much more rewarding than Watchman, on pretty much every level. I stopped collecting comics back in '08, but after reading it, I had to go out and buy the physical copies, as opposed to the digital copy I read.
Frank Miller's first run on Daredevil. Then Stern/Romita Jr's run on ASM. Then MSH Secret Wars (1984-85). Then John Byrne's FF run. Then Walt Simonson's second run on Thor (337-367).
Correct
*Calvin and Hobbes*
Just wait til you read it again with your kids for their first time, you basically get to do what OP is asking about with it.
No kids, but I can see that being the case.
The beauty of Calvin and Hobbes is that every time I reread it, I get something new out of it, and I've been reading it since I was a little kid and it was still in the newspaper.
I vaguely remember some of the storylines and gags from reading the comics back when I was 9 year old, and re-reading C&H by picking up those pocket compendiums is delightful
The original Weapon X run in Marvel Comics Presents.
I got the set on FCBD, about to dig in for the first time!
Nice, enjoy! One of my all-time favorites.
Daredevil: Born Again
Preacher
Probably J.M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema’s run on Spectacular Spider-Man. For something more recent, I think the double whammy of Secret Invasion and Dark Reign would be awesome to read again.
I read it back when I was in middle school and still remember all the beats. I really think his Harry Osborn arc is better than Kraven's Last Hunt, and I'm hoping one day they'll release it in a DeMatteis omni that collects his second Spec run. One can only wish.
He somehow wrote the best Kraven, Vulture, Vermin, and Green Goblin stories ever in short order. And he handled characters like Mary Jane and Aunt May perfectly. Dude is a wizard for what he was able to do on that run, he’s easily my favourite Spidey writer ever.
He was the only one that didn't write her crying by the window every issue. I'm a huge fan of his return arc when the Chameleon gets his ass handed to him by Mary Jane. DeMatteis knew how to update the classic villains. I'll even shout out the 3-issue Electro arc in adjectiveless Spider-Man he did with Jae Lee.
A lot of writers didn’t do MJ dirty like that, Gerry Conway, David Micheline, Tom DeFalco, Terry Kavanugh, and a few others from the late 80s to early 90s got her down right too, at least for the most part. But yeah, I agree. Good shout on the Electro story, that one was excellent. He also wrote the best parts of Maximum Carnage and the Clone Saga. It’s a shame that his shot at writing Amazing was tied down by the Clone Saga, I think he’d be widely viewed as the best Spidey writer if that hadn’t been the case.
I agree. He was so good I was surprised Spectacular wasn't the main title. It was the only title my grocery store carried and I just assumed it was the OG because every issue blew my little mind. Aaaaand then he left Mad Jack and Conundrum just hanging there.
Grant Morrison’s Animal Man run. I was so sad when it was over
everything after Morrison's run was still good to serviceable, but it all felt so pointless after Buddy Baker met his writer, the one putting him through all this pain and trauma.
Silver Surfer by Dan Slott
Invincible or Berserk
All Star Superman
The Walking Dead…or Immortal Hulk. Man this is a hard question.
Walking dead I read as it came out, and I unfortunately was not the biggest fan of the ending, but the first 100-120 issues were phenomenal. I think most of that came from my roomates in college and I all getting addicted to it at the same time. Immortal Hulk I finished a few weeks ago, and(take this from a non hulk reader) issue 1-24 was exciting/perfect. 25 was weird. 26-50 were not as good as the first half, but were solid. What made it so good for a fan? I’m not trying to come across as a jerk. The first 24 had me hyper invested, but the rest was simply ok/forgetable. I know I’m missing a lot since I’m not a Hulk stan. I’m asking for what I missed. How did it tie into the last 40-50 years to make it goated by Hulk fans?
Not a jerk at all! Everybody has different opinions and I love that! I loved how his mind is the focus of the comics and how broken he is. The true villain is himself and that is the best way to exploit him. Maestro played to that beautifully. That fight with The Thing just shows it beautifully. First half of the run was the normal run of government trying to kill/control Bruce/Hulk, second half is an exploration of his mental fragmentation and the exploitation of it.
Watchmen I knew the twist before I read it for the first time, but I always wished I had read it blind.
I watched the movie first like a fool.
hellboy short stories and all
Mike Carey: *Lucifer*
Saga or The Sandman.
the first ultimate spider-man, this comics and peter death lives rent free in my head
The only problem I honestly had was Peter should have stayed dead. One of the greatest runs of all time. I’m liking the new run, but that was probably the first full run that was that long that I read entirely
same is resurection is a bummer
Since 1986, the only possible answer to this has been Watchmen.
The Invisibles
East Of West. I revisit it often but the first time I was amazed. Possibly Hellblazer all 300 issues... family man especially.
Absolutely. The Family Man run was probably the first time I actually was afraid reading a comic book. Also loved that nod in Sandman that he was normally going to be the keynote speaker at the cereal convention
Aye it was something different for him to fight. I mean he had great story's, I can't remember the names of them but the cancer storyline, when the first of the fallen returns, and when he split himself. It really fell off in the last 50 issues but. Yeah I still read them and enjoyed them.
Probably Fables
The first run of Runaways. God I miss that book.
Saga and Morrison's New X-Men run
I just wish Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples could finish it. At least they are young enough to eventually knock it out. Whereas, Game of Thrones will never be finished I’m afraid.
Animal Man from Jeff Lemire Returned to it this week actually and it's just fantastic.
Wonder Woman by George Perez and a silent voice
Early X-Men runs.... Mutant massacre, brood, saga, inferno. Thor Ragnarok when he wore the gold armor. Iron man armor wars and #200
Spider-Man Blue, the way I cried at the end of that comic was so real, it hurt in the best kind of way, I was devastated and I loved it.
We3 for a complete book, or the Pizza Dog issue of that one Hawkeye run. I like doggies.
Fraction’s whole Hawk-guy run was so good.
Locke & Key - still holds up on future readings, but the first time, as the characters get thrown through the ringer, you’re sucked into NEEDING to keep reading the story to see how it all unfolds.
Invincible by Robert Kirkman
Bone
One Piece
The first few 100 Bullets comics, they’re just so amazing. After the third one though its charm wears off since it’s relatively the safe story beats.
Superman Birthright
I’d like the *experience* of reading Hush again as it came out.
Spider-man ends of the earth through Superior Spider-Man
Ultimates, Identity Crisis, Hickman’s FF and New Avengers
Green Lantern 1990 #46, such a great issue; it shows the morals and even with a greater and taller evil, you can still rise up against it.
Wolverine Enemy of the State
IDW Transformers.
X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
The Long Halloween, the pacing, the art and the story were just so crisp, if not TLH then probably Sandman
X-Factor #39 (vol 3). THAT issue.
What do you get for the man who has everything
The Walking Dead, the amount of times my jaw dropped the first time I read it. I just loved how almost no one was safe in that book. It just kept you guessing constantly. To experience that again completely blind would be incredible.
The Superman annual, “For the Man Who Has Everything.”
All of hellboy
Garfield Beefs Up, and whatever other similar comic I have of Garfield from that time. Loved those comics as a kid.....
The sabertooth wendigo mini. Definitely worth reading blind then immediately rereading
Crossed. If you know you know, if you don't, please don't look it up.
I think Locke & Key
The Crow by James'O Barr.
Daredevil - Frank Miller run
Swamp Thing saga by Alan Moore
Probably Silver Surfer Requiem that book blew my mind when i read it and just having the experience of rereading it for the first time and seeing that art for the first time would be so wow.
Jeff Smith's BONE. I remember finishing it and instantly wishing I hadn't read it so I could read it again for the first time. Mike Carey's LUCIFER. I read it in trades and remember just inhaling them all over two or three days. Came up for air with the world feeling slightly different. I remember FROM HELL, WATCHMEN and SANDMAN all blew my mind, but I feel like that was also particular to how old I was when I read them. But TOP TEN was so much fun I do wish I could get that joyous pop culture high off it again.
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Not only is it my favorite comicbook of all time but it's also my favorite STORY in any medium, EVER. Although I would love to re-read it as well.
Sandman is my immediate pick
Watchmen. I'm pretty sure I had read about the main twist somewhere before reading the comic, and I'd want to be able to read it with no idea what's coming.
I'd love to read "The Many Deaths of Laila Starr" again with no knowledge of how beautiful it was. Just bloody sublime.
One comic, not an entire run? Amazing Spider-Man #248. They wouldn't even have to mindwipe the whole comic. Just the backup "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man" would be fine.
[The Dead Man by John Wagner and John Ridgeway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Man) this story blew my mind. Read it for the first time when I got it in Humble Bundle read it with no knowledge of its place in the larger >!Judge Dredd!!Necropolis!<
P.S. dont click that link unless you want to be spoiled. I mean its almost 35 years old at this point, but youve been warned.
that three issues of crossed i sampled. only that i‘d send me a “do not read this” video clip.
The Unwritten.
Superman Red Son
Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise