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Comic Books:
Let me list some of the benefits of comic books:
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Teaches you values (only if you read the classic style comics) |
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Gets young children hooked on reading |
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It is exciting and thrilling |
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Finally, who cannot get a blast out of Batman or Superman tearing through some evil butt. Nuff' said... |
My personal opinion about comics is that they are a crucial part of American culture. Every American should read at least one comic book. Preferably something like Superman, Spider-man, or X-Men... Stay away from Spawn and crap like that.
DC and Marvel are the two best companies out there now. When the two are compared, it is hard to say which is best. DC has the classic heavy hitters like (once again I will mention them) Superman, Batman, and (yeah I know he has been around awhile but he is cool) Captain Marvel. Marvel has other icons that have stood the test of time, such as; Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Captain America, and (the best comic book) X-Men.
Ok these are going to be my top five comic books from each comic book era:
Golden Age Comics (1930's-1959) The birth and expansion of superheros. DC Triumphs
Top Five
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1. Action Comics #1 (DC)- First appearence of Superman. The first superhero, 'nuff said.($182,500) |
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2. Detective Comics #27 (DC)- First appearence of Batman. Batman was a dark kind of hero that used the "darkness" to overcome evil without becoming evil himself. ($160,000) |
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3. Marvel Comics #1 (Marvel)- The first appearence of The Human Torch (the android not the human), The Angel, and Ka-Zar. Plus, the origin of the Sub-Mariner. Another reason that this book is awesome is because it is Marvel's first comic book. Woohoo! ($112,000) |
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4. All Star Comics #3 (DC)- Introduction of the Justice Society of America, the first "super team." At first they consisted of The Flash (Golden Age Version), Hawkman, Hourman, Sandman, Spectre, Green Lantern (The original, this is before Hal Jordan became GL), Dr. Fate, and The Atom. ($30,000) |
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5. Captain America Comics #1 (Marvel)- Captain America, the epitome of what it means to be an American, is introduced in this issue. He battles Nazis and other evils that try to overcome the Free World. I mean how much better can it get. This issue also introduced his partner Bucky. ($55,000) |
Silver Age Comics (1960-1979) Marvel's breakthrough into the business, DC slacks in their area.
Top Five
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1. Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel)- Spiderman's first appearence and origin. Also the first appearence of characters like, Aunt May and Flash Thompson. Spidey is still one of Marvel's most recognized heros today. ($27,500) |
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2. Uncanny X-Men #1 (Marvel)- The origins and first appearences of not only the original five X-Men but also Magneto. This book introduces us to Scott Summers (Cyclops), Jean Grey (Marvel Girl), Hank McCoy (The Beast), Warren Worthington III (Angel), Bobby Drake (Iceman), Magneto, and who can forget Prof. Xavier himself. This book introduces on of the most popular superhero teams of comics. Most comics that are produced with a team setting in mind follow the template of the X-Men for a guide. ($6,000) |
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3. Amazing Spiderman #121 (Marvel)- The death of Gwen Stacy. Gwen was the love of Spiderman's life and she was dropped off a building by the Green Goblin and Spiderman was too late to catch her. This is something that still torments Spidey to this day. Another thing about this issue is that Marvel still hasn't brought Gwen back from the dead, like they do with every other dead character. ($125) |
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4. Giant Size X-Men #1 (Marvel)- "All new, all differnt X-Men." This was the issue that brought the X-Men books back from the dead. The original team was captured by the mutant island Karoka, so Prof. X had to get a whole new team of mutants together. This issue gave us our first look at characters like, Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Thunderbolt. Also this marks the beginning of Wolverine's stay on with the X-Men. His first appearence was back in Incredible Hulk #181. ($550) |
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5. Fantastic Four #1 (Vol 1) (Marvel)- Marvel's first superhero team since the Golden Age of comics. The FF consist of Mr Fantastic (Reed Richards), Invisible Woman (Sue Richards), The Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and The Thing (Ben Grimm). The FF were a force to be reckoned with in the beginning. They had everything; Reed had the brains, Sue added temperment and beauty to the team; Johnny had comic relief and his boisterious youth; and Ben had the blunt roughness and strength that blanced everything out. |
Modern Age (1980-Now) Marvel and DC are seemingly on equal footing (eventhough Marvel has better books).
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1. Marvel Graphic Novel #1: The Death of Captain Marvel (Marvel)- Well in this issue Captain Marvel dies (as if you couldn't tell). The thing that makes this book a great milestone in Comics is because Captain Marvel didn't die from an epic battle; he died from cancer. He died a death that lacked the glory, the importance that other heros got when they died in great battles and big death scenes. The thing is though, Marvel (the company) made a statement with this issue; they were bringing their characters down to a more readible level, a more "down to earth level." I have to give a hand to Marvel too, they didn't bring the Captain back. If they did that it will make them killing him off a waste. Their is a current Captain Marvel, but I am not sure who he is. I think he is the son of the original. ($20) |
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2. Kingdom Come TPB (DC)- This is the collection of the Kingdom Come mini-series by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. KC is a story that takes place in the near future of the DC Universe. Most of the DC heros have retired or gone underground by this time, and the younger, more brash new heros don't have the morals or ideals that their previous counterparts had. The series is a dark story that delves into exactly what it means to be a hero. Also the battle between Superman and Captain Marvel(the DC character not the Marvel one) is enough to make anyone stop and admire this book. This is a must read. ($14.95) |
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3. The Dark Knight Returns TPB (DC)- A Frank Miller Batman mini-series. This takes place about ten years in the future and Batman retired a long time ago, but.... new gangs are claiming Gotham city as their own and you know the Caped Crusader won't stand for that. And do you really think that Batman would actually stay out of the scene for that long and not get ansey. At then end there is an awesome battle with Superman and Batman, and in the suprise ending, the 'winnah' is.... Naww I'll let you read the book to find that one out. Also this is the first prestige format comic book, with glossy paper and all the extras it was pretty cool. ($12.95) |
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4. X-Factor #6 (Marvel)- The first ever appearance of Apocolypse. Back then everyone probably thought "Oh boy, another villian to keep track of..." OH man what a villian. From this point on he just got meaner. He began by just trying to pit mutants against mutants so that the most powerful would survive (aka "Survival of the Fittest"), he then went to transform the Angel (of the original X-Men) into Archangel by ripping off his wings and replacing them with techno-organic wings (X-Factor #24). He recently made his return and he killed Cyclops by merging their bodies. Prof. X says that Scott is dead but I'll give him about another three months until he is back and Apocolypse is suppossedly dead again. |
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5. Batman #428 (DC)- The death of Jason Todd, the second person to be Robin. It seems that the readers didn't much like our boy Jason, b/c DC held a poll to determine if he would live or die and the readers voted to have him killed off. The Joker blew him up with some sort of explosive. The thing is, the readers might have hated Jason Todd but liked the concept of Robin. That is why a new Robin was crafted in the form of Tim Drake. Meanwhile, Jason Todd remains the butt of many comic book corpse jokes. Poor guy. ($5.00) |
Here are some links to some comic related websites:
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