The Top 100 Comics Of A Lifetime (#10 – 6)

And we are back! Let’s read some allegedly great comics! From Wizard’s 2006 list of the Top 100 Single Issues of all time!

#10. Daredevil #191

Image Credit: Marvel Comics

In the wake of Bullseye murdering Elektra and being left paralyzed by Daredevil, ol’ Hornhead visits his enemy in the hospital… for a game of Russian Roulette.

As he takes turns aiming and clicking the gun between them, Daredevil “tells” (all in his own head) Bullseye the story of the boy of his client. The child is obsessed with Daredevil and watches DD beat up his own dad. In his confusion and dismay, he gets a gun and shoots one of his own classmates.

Before the final shot of the deadly “game”, Matt is reminded of a time his own dad beat him for getting into a fight. He is reminded of the confusion it caused and the path it put him on. Where would Chuckie, the child, end up?

Then he fires the final round to reveal there were no bullets in the revolver at all.

BUT HERE’S THE THING!

Picture this story from Bullseye’s POV. Daredevil is in your hospital room, aiming a gun at himself, then you, then himself, then you… and in the meantime, he’s just walking around, sitting down, looking out windows. He’s doing anything but talking. And either of you might die at any time! But then the gun is empty, and he just leaves, I guess. How fucking creepy and weird is that!

I really want this comic written from his inner monologue now!

#9. Gotham By Gaslight

Image Credit: DC Comics

Last time we did this list, I talked about Matt Smith’s Mignola-esque art. Now we get the real deal!

You know what I think my problem always was with this story? I am one of the few that preferred The Doom That Came To Gotham over this. That always felt a bit more Mignola-esque, featured more of Batman’s regular supporting cast, and didn’t try to tie Jack The Ripper into Batman’s origin.

Between this and the 100 Bullets issue from last time, it turns out I may just prefer my comics not try to squeeze themselves too hard into real life circumstances. In some instances, anyway.

Regardless, I LOVE Mignola art, so I can’t come down too harshly on this.

#8. Ultimate Spider-Man #28

Image Credit: Marvel Comics

One of the many things of which Wizard was enamored in the mid-2000’s–many of which have been on display across this list–Ultimate Spider-Man was one of them. We haven’t even seen the last of it on this list, and there are only seven more books to go!

But you know what? I, too, loved and still love Ultimate Spider-Man. It’s why Brian Michael Bendis is basically bulletproof by me. Does he write some bad stuff? Heck yeah. But he also wrote USM, which was a gem for basically its entire run… and that run was LONG.

I am not sure this story should be as high as it is, but it’s fun. Peter is in school and Mary Jane lets him know Rhino is destroying downtown New York. Peter tries his best to escape his classes, but one distraction after another–a surprise conference with Aunt May and his math teacher, a sobbing Gwen Stacy in a dumpster, Flash Thompson throwing a football at his head–cause a seemingly endless delay.

When he FINALLY makes it out and gets to the scene, Iron Man has already stopped the rampage, and the standers-by yell at him for being late.

It’s all the humor and high school shenanigans that USM was known for, encapsulated in one entertaining issue.

#7. Swamp Thing #21

Image Credit: DC Comics

Ah, such a famous comic book, and from the mind of Alan Moore.

The point of this story, which I assume almost all long-term comics fans know by now, is the revelation that Swamp Thing is not and never was a man turned into vegetation. The Swamp Thing was vegetation turned into a man by ingesting the biodegrading corpse of Alex Holland and mutating to think it WAS him.

But look past that mind-blowing development in the character, and you are left with a very well told story of The Floronic Man making this discovery and utilizing it against the man who had been demeaning him to make it.

He talks about the lungs of the Swamp Thing and how they could never possibly work. He finds a plant-brain without synapses. He reads about a study on Planarian Worms. And he puts it all together. In one issue!

Powerful stuff.

#6 Astro City – The Nearness Of You

Image Credit: DC Comics

Oh, this story. I love this story. Look, Astro City was an unimpeachable comic from head to toe. It took a world full of colorful, bombastic heroes and looked at how a world would function on the smaller levels. Busiek could have spun wonderful tales of battles and cosmic shifts, but instead focused on the humanity of such a universe.

And never did he create more grounded and relatable stakes than here, in the story of Michael Tenicek and the woman who haunts his dreams. I’m positive I’ve talked about this comic before. It remains as powerful as ever.

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Time to restack the list to this point and see what I’d put where if I were in charge of this!

1. Astro City: The Nearness Of You
2. Action Comics #775
3. The Flash #182
4. Hitman #34
5. Daredevil #191
6. Sandman #18
7. Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #1
8. Swamp Thing #21
9. Fantastic Four #60 / #489 (legacy numbering)
10. Animal Man #7
11. Incredible Hulk #420
12. What If…? #4
13. Superman #9
14. Incredible Hulk #341
15. Sandman #17
16. Uncanny X-Men #159
17. X-Factor #87
18. Batman #424
19. Batman: Holy Terror
20. Amazing Spider-Man #248
21. Astro City #1
22. Captain America #7
23. Ultimate Spider-Man #28
24. Starman #11
25. Tangled Web #4
26. Nightwing #25
27. Birds of Prey #8
28. Incredible Hulk #393
29. HERO #11
30. Green Lantern #188
31. Gotham By Gaslight
32. Hitman #22
33. Sandman #40
34. Ghost Rider Annual #2
35. 100 Bullets #11
36. Uncanny X-Men #268
37. New Teen Titans #38
38. Amazing Spider-Man #239
39. Planetary: Night On Earth
40. Planetary #13
41. Iron Man #237
42. Avengers #217
43. Animal Man #16
44. Flinch #1
45. Justice League #1
46. Batman B&W #4
47. Iron Man #128
48. 100 Bullets #27
49. Robin #46
50. Omega Men #26
51. Preacher Special: Cassidy – Blood & Whiskey
52. GI Joe #21
53. Incredible Hulk #340
54. Fables: The Last Castle
55. Legion of Superheroes #13
56. Sandman #50
57. Avengers Annual #10
58. Batman B&W #1
59. Gotham Knights #8
60. Fantastic Four #245
61. Web of Spider-Man #1
62. Spider-Man Vs Wolverine
63. The Thing #2
64. Preacher #50
65. Secret Origins Special #1
66. Exiles #16
67. Ghost Rider #68
68. Spectre #5
69. New Teen Titans #20
70. Planetary #3
71. Adventure Comics #466
72. Justice League Annual #1
73. Legion of Superheroes #3
74. Preacher #18
75. Batman Adventures Annual #1
76. Lex Luthor Special
77. Preacher: Tall In The Saddle
78. Classic X-Men #25
79. Adventures of Superman #474
80. Legion of Superheroes Annual #1
81. Batman: Devil’s Asylum
82. Avengers #189
83. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15
84. Dark Horse Presents #1
85. Conan The Barbarian #100
86. Dr. Strange #56
87. Alias #3
88. Hellblazer #63
89. Tales of the New Teen Titans: Cyborg
90. Fantastic Four #3 / #432
91. Punisher #10
92. Legion of Superheroes #296
93. American Century #9
94. Demo #3
95. Semper Fi #1

That was a strong list of comics, but we are in the homestretch of this list, so it had damn well better be, I guess.

One more chunk to go!

Until next time… take care!