Favorite 5?

[wundagoreborn]

Over in the "New to the Board" thread, Lord Volstagg pointed to me with a drumstick and called "Ho, sir! Regale us with your favorite five issues." Who am I to say no to one of the Warriors Three?

I always struggle with 'favorite' questions because I can never choose the top one of anything. There are so many things that I enjoy for such different reasons, I can't rank them. So these are not ranked, just 5 stand out issues that are memorable to me. I could do favorite 10 or favorite 20 and include books that I react to as strongly, or nearly, but for different reasons.

#186 - Go figure, huh? The book where I started, so there can be no experience quite like it. Modred, Chthon, Wundagore, Bova, High Evolutionary, the Book of Darkhold, mutants, babes, bureaucrats. Smoke was coming out of my ears when I put it down and a faint wisp rises when I read again to this day. Plus, spoiled by Byrne art right out of the box.

#196 - The idea of Taskmaster's photographic reflexes still informs my imagination all the time. Watching a shortstop make an incredible diving catch or a lead guitarist shred a blistering lead, I immediately picture myself gifted like Taskmaster and using that to make it big on the field or stage. I also love stories that feature Wasp and Ant-Man making contributions out of proportion to their size.

#59 - As HB noted elsewhere, one of the great issue ending lines of all time. A capsule of Hank and Jan that distills and foreshadows so much of the promise, dynamism and tragedy of both of them and their relationship.

#201 - Jarvis, baby! Nuff said.

#247 - Cuz the Uni-Mind also blows my mind. Starfox not only finds out his heritage, but gets pulled into a communal consciousness in the bargain. Plus it set up what is possibly the greatest cover word balloon ever in 248 - "It's Raining Eternals!" Or maybe I just really really dig the Eternals. Could be...

Forgive me if there was a thread for this already. I saw one for "your team" and such, but no fave 5. Interested to learn others' lists.

W

[Marvel Boy]

Oooh, favorite 5 issues? Tough call, may have to ponder on that for a bit before replying.

Although I will agree with you on #196, Taskmaster is a terrific villain, one of my all-time favorites to appear in the Avengers. Always thought the initial storyline of him training the average thugs and goons was kinda weak though.

[humanbelly]

Gosh, I'd better try to make some sort of contribution to a thread that I so casually thrust onto someone else's shoulders, eh?

I'm starting to sound like a hopelessly broken record, but my TRUE top 5 of all time would still probably all fall in that one run from #57 through 66. And geeze, I'd have a hard time picking my favorite five from even that limited span. Which one do I leave off the list?

#57- with that brilliant Ozymandius epilogue?
#58- with the Vision's tears at the end?
#59- with the turmoil of the introduction of Yellowjacket, and his kidnapping Jan (Ooooooh, John B at his finest when showing a progression of YJ's faces as his mood suddenly shifts-- enough that some readers were able to guess his identity).
#60- with the Wedding and the splash page of guests?
#61- with the Fire & Ice armegeddon?
#62- with T'challa re-claiming his throne?
#63- with Clint becoming Goliath, and having a major slugfest w/ a confused gigantic android?
#64- Like a Deathray from the Sky?
#65- Return of that louse, Swordy? And the death of Clint's brother?
#66- with that groovy early Barry Smith art, and the return of Ultron?

I mean, this is my Desert Island run, y'know?

Okay, I'll. . . I'll pick just one from this chunk, and that'll be traumatic enough for today. . . I'll have to return to the thread later. . .

I'm going with #60, for the combination of exemplary art, VERY fun script on top of a story with something going on below the surface, and a hootin' passel o' guest stars. Great pace, and (for the time being) and extremely satisfying wrap-up.

Ask me tomorrow, though, and I could've changed my mind. . .

HB

[humanbelly]

Okay, I'm going to go with issue #190 as one of my fave 5. John Byrne's art/visual story-telling + the INCREDIBLY satisfying stand-off in court w/ Petey Gyrich (Hank McCoy at his best!) + a particularly apt script from the relatively un-sung Steven Grant. What's funny about it is that the strange ambulatory monolithic nemisis is FAR more interesting in this issue than when he's finally later revealed to be D-Lister Grey Gargoyle.

But it's an issue that always sticks with me as being good, solid, Avengery fun-!

HB

[wundagoreborn]

"So long, Petey! Forget to write!" CLASSIC.

And then when they meet up much later in The Initiative:
"Petey! Where's my hug?"

[tomspasic]

My choices are not necessarily based on the best stories or art, or even significant events. Mine are issues which have a personal significance to me.
Here's the first three of my five.

In no particular order other than chronological:
Avengers Vol1 #69:

We had just moved house. I was 9, and rather out of sorts with the whole business of moving. I wanted to go home. There was a newsagent at the top of the street with a spinner rack with comics in, and this issue was the first of many I got there. The continuity of being able to find comics reassured me that life could continue despite the house move.
Great Sal Buscema cover and interior art, leading into a relatively long 3-part story that introduced the Squadron Sinister (marvels JLA tribute band), and also the Invaders (though not called that for a decade or so yet), and the Grandmaster.

Avengers Vol 1 #82.

A perennial favourite I read and re-read till my original copy fair disintegrated..
This was the first issue I really felt the Avengers was my Favourite comic.
The gorgeous, iconic Marie Severin/Tom Palmer pin-up cover, to the the simply breathtaking John Buscema/Tom Palmer art.
It's a fast moving, big Summer Blockbuster of a story, tying up a bunch of story threads from previous issues with guest stars galore, and plenty of action and a lot of Avengers.
This comic was "Widescreen Comics" minus the decompression and cynicism, 30 years before "Widescreen Comics" were "invented".
One of Roy Thomas' best issues.
This one isn't just a sentimental choice, but a stand-out issue that I think holds up against the very best of the Avengers, and almost any other book, in terms of story and art.

Avengers Vol 1 #115.

September 1973, and on a shopping trip to buy carpets with my mother I chance into a newsagent I've never been in before, in a part of town I'm unfamiliar with.
In it I find a big stack of Marvel comics, (which the local newsagent mentioned above has long ceased to carry with any regularity).
Most important for me is this issue. A John Romita cover that is typically colourful and eye-grabbing, with some familiar heroes in peril.
Probably a completely forgettable issue for everybody else, with OK Bob Brown/ Mike Esposito art, and an odd Englehart story never referenced since about cave dwelling english troglodyte types who fled underground in medieval times.
It had plenty of good character stuff, setting up storylines for Mantis, Swordsman and others.
But most significantly was the prelude to the Awesomeness of the Avengers/Defenders war.
Englehart was just hitting his stride as a writer, and could carry pretty much any artistic team just on the strength of his ideas and character work, for me.
Needless to say, I went back to this new newsagent many times over the next two decades.

[humanbelly]

Y'know, tomspasic has reminded me that "Pure Sentiment" is a totally acceptable (perhaps even over-riding?) criteria for this list! So I do believe that'll make the task much easier-- or at least give me a legitimate from-the-hip grouping. . . .

So, here were my first two:



This is also one of my favorite covers, even though it crosses the border into. . . macabre absurdism?. . . if you look at it w/out any context whatsoever.

And then:

Another good cover, too, wasn't it? This was a very cool creature-design on Byrne's part.

So, next?


This was one of the first Avengers comics I bought off the rack, although my buddy and I had started our ritual of "borrowing" his older brothers' comics back and forth between us. But I DISTINCTLY remember getting this issue off of a spinner rack at a KOA campground store in the evening somewhere in New Mexico. It was our Big Family Pilgrimage to Disneyland in the early summer of 1970. Driving from Michigan. Eerily echoed years later in National Lampoon's "Vacation". I don't know why my Dad bought it for me-- wildly out of character-- but I was taken with the cover, and then it was a great, engaging "mystery" type of plot inside, along with fantastic art. I loved it--- and of course it was YEARS before I ever got hold of issue #81 to see how it turned out!

And then-

Two of my favorite Avengers seen, in a way, in their finest hours:
Mr. "Do I Have Emotions?" Vision TOTALLY surrendering to his rage and beating the bejeepers out of that Skrull commander, and--
Goliath SAVING THE ENTIRE EARTH by effectively returning to his improvisational Hawkeye form at the last possible second, and managing to keep a delightfully amusing narrative w/ himself going throughout. Ohhhhh, another great cover, too.

And finally, a true surprise:

I was often not liking the art at this point in the title; the decompressed stories were killing and/or boring me; the direction with some of the characters was horrifying, but. . . . my god, this issue made me cry. The heroic depiction of poor, doomed, damaged Kelsey. . . her resolve to not surrender and to protect Cap in an absolutely hopeless situation, even though she was hurt and scared to death. . . just doing the right thing because she was the only person there to do it. It was immensely moving to me at a time when I didn't think things like origin stories could move me anymore.
(The cover? Blichh-- not a Scott Kollins fan, NOR an appreciator of the endless, generic "Poster" covers.)

And one more, to make it an even, er, half-dozen:



Similar to Avengers#80, this was the first issue of the Hulk that I bought off a spinner rack at our local grocery store, although again I'd become very familiar already with issues 110-123. And although Greenskin was already my main man, I was very intrigued to see this new Avengers team (Ish #66 being the last one I'd read at that point) with the mysterious (to me) Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch on board. And the book really is a very enjoyable read, as Roy was writing both titles at the time, and had a great handle on all of the different character voices. Particularly nice moment with T-Bolt Ross wondering where the "real" Avengers were. And Goliath (Clint) taunting the Hulk even while knowing he was overmatched was very deftly handled. Such a great job of it being the same man underneath the different outfit.

Annnnnnnd w/ that, I gotta run!

HB

[spiderwasp]

Mar 23, 2013 18:36:05 GMT -5 humanbelly said:

I was often not liking the art at this point in the title; the decompressed stories were killing and/or boring me; the direction with some of the characters was horrifying, but. . . . my god, this issue made me cry. The heroic depiction of poor, doomed, damaged Kelsey. . . her resolve to not surrender and to protect Cap in an absolutely hopeless situation, even though she was hurt and scared to death. . . just doing the right thing because she was the only person there to do it. It was immensely moving to me at a time when I didn't think things like origin stories could move me anymore.

I agree with you on this one. I remember being very moved. The crazy thing was inconsistency of this story. One issue I was bored to tears, the next I was moved to tears, then the next I was bored again.

[ultron69]

Oh, if we're talking sentiment, and which comics simply jump to mind first as being important in my Avengers reading carrer, that makes it easier for me.

Starting with the first Avengers comics I ever owned:


Another very early issue for me, which I think I got from a firend in a trade. I've always loved the Guardians of the Galaxy, especially when drawn by George Perez!


The first back issue I ever bought - why do I remember stuff like this?



Finally, this Treasury size Edition, which was double the size, double the excitement for me back in the day. I'm pretty sure I didn't realize that it was a reprint, not that it would have mattered.

[wundagoreborn]

Thanks for putting Annual #1 in the mix for 'pure sentiment' discussion. I'll never forget that one.

As a pre-teen c. 1980, I had an older brother who ragged on me endlessly about reading comics. Did some really fine work at making me feel stupid, childish, etc at times, but he didn't succeed at getting me to put them down. Mainly just got on my nerves in a big way.

Then come Christmas, I open my present from him and it is a boarded, bagged copy of that Annual #1. I can still remember my joy, not only that I got a great comic but that big brother wasn't entirely a jerk. He actually cared about what would make me happy enough to get past his own biases. Pretty cool.

[ultron69]

I got halfway through your post, wundarogreborn, and I was thinking "I'm glad I was an only child" and then you threw that surprise ending at me!

[comaboy]

If we're talking Volume One, my picks are 147, 166, 184, Annual 6 and 126. (With a ton of honorable mentions).

If Volume Three is included then the list goes kaflooey because there were so many good issues during those first three years.

[Marvel Boy]

For 'Pure Sentiment', these are some issues that immediately spring to my mind whenever I think of the Avengers.......




#219 was the first Avengers issue I'd ever read but #227 is the first issue I ever bought. I'm a sucker for split covers, how they entice you with showing all the awesome things that happen within it's pages, all the for low, low price of 60 cents.





I acquired this issue through a comic bundle trade with a neighborhood friend. I was also growing to love Ghost Rider at that time so this issue was a huge double bonus.




I can't recall if I bought this issue or acquired it through a trade. My favorite Avengers split cover, my copy is almost in tatters I've read it so much. I recently came across a reprint of it in Essential X-Men Vol. 3. While the art still looks great in black-and-white, I think it was the coloring that really made it pop and memorable for me. The reprint version felt flat to me.





Growing up, I never got to watch Letterman that much, seeing as how his show came on past my bedtime. Back then, he was kinda the underground rebel, always doing crazy stuff and stunts (at least that's what I'd heard)

The few times I did get to see him was whenever I woke up feeling sick after I went to bed. I loved watching him. So when this issue showed up in my mailbox, I devoured it, enjoyed it, loved it.

(On a side-note, Assistant Editor's Month saw some great comics besides this one. The Trial of Reed Richards in FF# 262, the destruction of the Pit and death of General Flagg in G.I. Joe #19, The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man in ASM #248 and Beta Ray Bill gets his own hammer in Thor #339. Crazy month indeed)

[wundagoreborn]

The Letterman issue was so much fun. It's not much further down on my list of faves either. The backwards heads was also a nice touch.

[fourcolorfigs]

I have three easy ones right off the bat: Avengers 164 - 166, soon to be reprinted in the upcoming Epic Collection!