Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Comics you should have hated...but strangely bought and enjoyed

There are lots of comics that we're prone to hate, but then buy for some reason or another and end up enjoying them. Here's an example I found while going through my old comic the other day:

I loathe the Punisher. I missed the era of the Punisher being a Spider-Man supporting character (supposedly a good era for him), and by the time I started reading any Marvel Comics (I'm a DC girl), he was everywhere. He was guest-starring in every other title, had three ongoing series, one-shots, mini-series...and all of them written rather poorly.

By chance, I picked up Punisher: War Zone , although I can't for the life of me tell you why. Oddly...I loved it. A character I can't stand, a genre that just doesn't do it for me, and yet I really got into it. The first 12 issues of this comic were highly enjoyable, and the only Punisher stories I've ever liked. A lot of it had to do with Chuck Dixon, who had such a different, more direct writing style back in the early/mid-90's. Things moved along quickly, and the action was balanced with good dialogue and two good stories. Dixon's writing here made me a fan of his for life, and got me to buy Birds of Prey and Nightwing when they came out.

The art by Johnny Romita Jr. was another factor that just did it for me. IMO, he's *thee* Marvel artist of the last twenty years, and his artwork usually equals a quality comic book. He does gritty urban scenes better than any other, and actually made me like that genre for a time. He's the reason I'll give Wolverine a try in a few months, even though I'm very unfamiliar with Mark Millar (as controversial as he is).

For a whole year, Punisher: War Zone became a comic I loved, which shocked me since I loathed Frank Castle. After about #12, the series went to hell though .

What comics were geared to be something you didn't like at all, and then pleasantly surprised you?

As a die-hard New Mutants/X-Force fan, you can only imagine the spite I had for these new 'cartoony' looking mutants that were to take over the title with Milligan and Allred in #116. I ignored all the phrase for the book and went about my way with other X-Titles.

I ended up reading X-Statix #10, a stand-alone issue, about two years later. I positively loved it. The initial hatred for this group had worn off since X-Force was in shambles anyway when they got replaced. I quickly swooped up the three trades of X-Force & X-Statix and was solidly hooked until its conclusion.

What a mistake I almost made in not picking this up! Good writing is good writing and fun characters are fun characters, even if they're packaged as something else I liked at the time.

Well, I expected to hate the Marvel Knights title "4", since it seemed like a stupid premise with them being broke (Reed is a genius after all), and Marvel Knights titles in general haven't been very good (Daredevil being the major exception). But I have to say that I enjoy waaaaay more than Waid's Fantastic Four--great art, the characters are at their most likeable, and the interaction b/t all four has been top-notch (especially Reed and Johnny lately, the two who interact the least). I highly reccomend it.

I have better examples, I know it, but can't seem to think of any right off the top of my head.

I really, really, really love the latest canceled Silver Surfer series... don't know why.

Negation. Actually just about anything published by the late lamented CrossGen. I rarely try to get into those 'other' publishers because they seem to fade so quickly. But I bought up their collection books (Forge and Edge) and got hooked.

I wish they could have at least finished Negation:War.

Cancelled already? How long did it last?

14 issues... there is one more issue to be released (#13 just came out)

Wow. I only ever saw three issues of it at any rate.

Thanks for the info.

I really enjoyed the issue of X-Men Mutatn Academy (or whatever it's called) I bought last month and will probably buy it again.

I also really enjoy Ultimate X-Men! I know no one over the age 0f 15 is "supposed" to be an X-Men fan, but I really like the series. If you haven't seen the new rock-chic incarnation of Dazzler check it out!

Comet, I totally agree about Ultimate X-Men. Especially since Vaughn took over.

The rock-chic Dazzler rocks, and I love Kitty and Rogue. Even Angel is cool in it, which is hard to pull off. Storm has really been the star IMO lately, and I like what how she's changing.

And is it just me, or is Collosus gay with a crush on Wolverine? I can't tell if this is intentional.

I highly recomend it to everyone!