Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Your 5 CURRENT favorite titles

I'm tempted to just type 'Legion' to encapsulate the Superman stuff, too, Shady- but I don't quite enjoy it as much as you do. Parts of it, yeah.

1. HERCULES-- between THOR and WW, comic book mythological characters have had a pretty good showing recently. Oops- except for the deaths of at least three gods, so far. Ah, well. The mythological guys and gals are characters that even the most 'comic book deaths should be final' readers will give free resurrection passes. Anyway, Herc's been the most consistently enjoyable solo title I read. Humor, exotic settings, lots of guest stars and what seems to be a definite master plan that hasn't been too upset by Dark Ages, Sieges, etc.

The only drawback? The title's run has come to an end (apparently) to be replaced by an Amadeus Cho starring PRINCE OF POWER title.

2. SECRET SIX-- Fun reading month in and month out. Great (if sick and twisted at times) humor, unique characters, stories that just wouldn't appear in other team books. I forget how 'bad' these villains really are. Love the new sixer, Jeanette (though she needs an alias). The book successfully navigated the BLACKEST NIGHT tie-in with a fun guest-starring turn by the much missed original (mostly) SUICIDE SQUAD featuring a last-page revelation that should lead somewhere verrrry interesting. I wish the original SECRET SIX would be featured somehow-- that was a groovy title.

3. WONDER WOMAN-- I'm glad someone else mentioned this title, as it's probably the least 'loved' book on my list. I really dug the long (OK- probably too long) recent storyline, though I did dislike the whole Genocide part of it. I really, really like some of the additions to Wondy's supporting cast-- Achilles, the white apes who love Diana, the villainous bald chick, Alkyone (apparently dead- but c'mon, a despicable, unredeemable villainess is GOLD!) Not everyone's gonna like this, from other reader's comments, though I don't really get why so many don't?

4. REALM OF KINGS-- A bit of a cheat, since any given month I'd pick INHUMANS or IMPERIAL GUARD or NOVA or GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY for this spot. Unfortunately, every title doesn't belong here every month. This is my sentimental pick, as it's my love for some of the characters that gets these interconnected books a mention. I'm sad that Havok and Polaris have been bounced from the title, as Lorna's interaction with her one-time sister-in-law and niece were nice ancillary touches. Besides, as little panel-time as they got, it's more than they'll likely get in the very crowded X-verse.

5. NEW MUTANTS-- OK, I guess this is a sentimental pick, too. I really like seeing the old gang back together (though I wish their adventures could be more detached by everything going on back on Utopia Island). The series opened with one of my least favorite New Mutant foes (Legion) and made me appreciate that character much more than I formerly did. Their participation in the NECROSHA storyline brought them some attention, but did sort of bring any characterization, new title momentum to a halt. (New titles should get a pass for crossovers- or have split storylines or something. I don't know what the solution is.) I miss Rahne and think her reunion with her Wolf Prince from the Asgard stories in the 1980's should've crossed over with NM. That would've made the whole thing worthwhile. Or more worthwhile, as the returns of Doug Ramsey (written admirably) and Warlock earned that description. The story around Dani Moonstar seems to be driving the title. I'd be more certain if panel hogs like Cyclops and White Queen would keep to *supporting* status for this title, instead of spreading their leading role title into anything in which their overexposed faces stray.

I was tempted to include TEEN TITANS and TITANS, just to read Cobie's reaction! I like those titles a bit more than terrorist-supporting porno (would non-terrorist supporting porno be equally reviled, I wonder?), but mainly just because of my affection for many of the characters, rather than actual enjoyment of some of the stories. They haven't *all* been bad. At the least, I liked being reacquainted with an old favorite that I frankly thought I'd never read in a mainstream DCU title again- Kid Eternity. (Whose treatment in TT sort of did read like something an anti-KE terrorist would come up with...)

Sad not to include JSA or an AVENGERS title. There's still lots to like about those titles- but there's been enough to equally feel put off by to render them neutral. For me, anyway.

Hmm, My favourites are:

1. New Mutants
2. Dark Wolverine
3. Wonder Woman
4. X-Force
5. Adventure Comics

Those last two were hard to come up with. I'm not reading a lot of titles rigth now, and most of them are x-books. Some of those may get dropped after Second Coming.

Also, I just read Making Comics and Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud and I couldn't put them down.

1. Madame Xanadu
2. The Guild (but i think it just ended with issue 3?)
3. Black Widow
4. Astonishing X-men: Exogeneis (I'm intrigued and Storm has a mowhawk again)
5. The Avengers (I'm intrigued - good start)


6. Power Girl


Also:
7. X-Men (which ever one Greg Land happens to draw - he was doing uncanny then did legacy ---- despite my being picky about the story)
8. X-force (despite the carnage but i like the action and love Mike Choi's art)
9. Dark Wolverine


Titles that just ended:
1. New Avengers
2. Witchfinder: Sir Edward Grey
3. Spider Woman


Short term:
1. The Authority: The lost year (a 2 issue funny by Giffen + DeMatteis)

1. The Walking Dead - No other comic can make you anticipate the next issue as much as this one.

2. Chew - Great comic that throws twists and turns into every issue.

3. The Legion of Super Heroes - So glad to have them back.

4. The Flash - This is turning into a great classic feel comic.

5. Secret Six - Have not had this much fun with a bunch of villians since the Suicide Squad.

1. Supergirl - Not proper Kara yet. But getting there.

2. Legion of Super-Heroes - A great first issue and high hopes for the future.

3. Madame Xanadu - Great stories, gorgeous art and in the current story line Jonn Jonzz!

4. Incorruptible - The flip side of Irredeemable and by far the better book.

5. Fantastic Four - A great return to form under Hickman

In no particular order...

Legion of Super-Heroes, Secret Six, Grimm Fairy Tales, Batman and Robin, Power Girl

So I just reviewed this entire thread and thought I'd tally up and dicuss the titles that I mentioned in my top 5 each time...


FEB 04

INHUMANS... lasted 12 issues

TEEN TITANS... was a fave for a long time

OUTSIDERS... that all changed with issue 26 of that title

SUPREME POWER... died a slow, painful death

JSA... long-time favorite


AUG 05

YOUNG AVENGERS... I hear the orignal creative team is doinga return engagement for this!

HAWKMAN... GrayPal's run was golden

JSA... of course

TEEN TITANS... more Geoff

LEGION of SUPER-HEROES... WaK's first few issues before it all went tits-up


FEB 06

YOUNG AVENGERS... Ready for the next one!

SHE-HULK... Slott's relaunch/2nd series

THE THING... Lasted 8 issues but was so fun (Slott)

JSA... Yep

TEEN TIANS... Yep x2


FEB 07

JUSTICE SOCIETY of AMERICA... Geoff's great relaunch

TEEN TITANS... Geoff/Tony Daniel's **great*** run

HEROES FOR HIRE... GrayPal's run was Giffen/DeMatties/Maguire Justice League-level awesome. Went straight to the shitter when they left.

SHE-HULK... Slott

52... Pretty darned good


OCT 07

THE WALKING DEAD... By now, Scott had gotten me hooked on TWD.

WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY... Lasted 12 issues; I hear a new one is coming.

BIRDS OF PREY... Bedard's done-in-1 tales.

JUSTICE SOCIETY of AMERICA... Geoff still rockin'

JUSTICE LEAGUE of AMERICA... I'm as surprised as you are.


NOV 09

THE WALKING DEAD... Standard # 1 now

BLACKEST NIGHT... Geoff

DOOM PATROL/METAL MEN... Loved the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire run of Metal Men

GUARDIANS of the GALAXY... Good run.

SECRET SIX... An excellent series.


<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

SO all that leads us to CURRENT faves!


THE WALKING DEAD... read 74 last night... Still love this book... Am so excited for the TV Show I could burst.

BOOSTER GOLD... the Giffen/DeMatteis/Batista team is golden.

SECRET SIX... Maybe DC's most consistently-good book.

DOOM PATROL... Ambush Bug. Crazy Jane. Good stuff.

The 5th slot is hard to choose. JUSTICE LEAGUE GENERATION LOST has been excellent but isn't open-ended. LSH just relaunched... # 2 showed major promise of return to greatness but enough for the 5th slot yet?? Levitz' first ADVENTURE story was great but it's still so new... Oh, wait... I know...

I ZOMBIE... Mike Allred art at its POPpiest. A cast of characters I can truly appreciate. A premise that is both gross and fascinating. I'm glad I ZOMBIE made the cut.

Lash, great idea! I’m stealing your structure and doing my own! Each post I had was filled with honorable mentions and all that because I’m a wordy sonuvagun but I’ll give the basics.

FEB 04

Daredevil – from the get-go of Lash doing these, Daredevil was one of the premiere comics in the industry in terms of quality. 2004 was still Bendis and it was still rocking.

JSA – ditto for JSA. At this point it was already one of the best in the industry and still kicking.

Flash – the run that put Geoff on the map IMO; his first Flash run was so incredible.

Supreme Power – I just bumped the “Dropped Balls” thread thinking about this title which at one time felt so prominent among the most quality comics. Like Lash said, died a slow painful death.

The Human Target – a great title and the fact that it was in my top 5 underscores that.

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AUG 05

Young Avengers – like so many others, I was totally blown away by Young Avengers.

JSA – still was king.

Legion of Super-Heroes – totally bought into LSH, my fave franchise, before truly letting it stand up on its own. Joke was on me—the threeboot was totally sucktacular and a pukefest in story.

Captain America – Bru’s Cap debuts and floors me with its excellence, becoming a top 5 reg for years.

Hawkman – Graypal’s Hawkman was one damn fine run and the best the character ever had.

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FEB 07

JSA – Three in a row at this point; man this was so good for so long its sad that its no longer that good.

52 – A high point in comics history.

Captain America – things changed but it was still Bru & Epting and still fantastic.

Daredevil – It should have never left the top 10 in the first place (stupid LSH); from Bendis to Bru it only got BETTER.

Fables – I’d been collecting for awhile by now but by now it was clear this was the gold standard of the industry.

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OCT 07

Fables – clearly the best title in comics

Justice Society of America – relaunched with Geoff I thought for sure it’d regain its quality…but it never happened. The entire 2nd Geoff run was a bit of a bummer actually.

Captain America – yup

Daredevil – yup; it was only with Bru’s run that the quality dipped slightly to fall out of the top 5 (but is still a solid comic book IMO and definitely worth reading).

Green Lantern – Geoff’s GL clearly was fantastic and by now cracks my top 5. I think around this time it had truly hit its stride.

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BIG JUMP almost 2 and ½ years:

Feb 10 (tail end of Comic Book Review Month in Jan 2010)

Fables – Still the industry’s best

Green Lantern – DC’s premiere superhero comic, still kicking ass

Captain America – others disagree but I feel it still holds up. I’m hard-pressed to find many better titles.

Scalped – Lardy turned me on to this and I’m still floored by its quality. One of the greatest comics EVER, let alone right now. I’m confident this will stay in the top 5 until it one day ends.

The Walking Dead – I came late to the party but once I got there, I dived right in. There is a reason this gets so much praise and after loving every second of making my way through 75 issues I’m so thrilled I can experience this as its happening, perhaps the single best comic book experience in our lifetimes.

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It’s only a few months later since my last one so I’m inclined not to do an update. The top 5 is probably just about the same with only GL and Cap in any danger, and that’s only because there are so many other great titles out right now (Atomic Robo, Mice Templar, Secret Six, Jonah Hex, SHIELD). I’ll let things play out a few more months and see how it goes.

I can't say... does it still count if I'm not paying for them?

1. Legion of Superheroes
2. Green Hornet
3. REBELS
4. Birds of Prey
5. Ironman

Wow... after reading my current batch I think I would have a hard time narrowing down to 5.

^You've come THAT far after considering dropping comics altogether, like, 2 minutes ago?

Leave him alone Chief...you know how he gets.

I was over them until I read them

It may have helped that I recently did drop a lot of my borderline titles.

It's been a year-plus since I updated this.

With the axe about to fall on the current DCU next month, I figured I'd go ahead and update now, for future reference.

My top 5 in JULY 2010 were:

THE WALKING DEAD... read 74 last night... Still love this book... Am so excited for the TV Show I could burst.

BOOSTER GOLD... the Giffen/DeMatteis/Batista team is golden.

SECRET SIX... Maybe DC's most consistently-good book.

DOOM PATROL... Ambush Bug. Crazy Jane. Good stuff.

I ZOMBIE... Mike Allred art at its POPpiest. A cast of characters I can truly appreciate. A premise that is both gross and fascinating.

NOWADAYS (in no particular order):


THE WALKING DEAD... pretty much a mainstay

SECRET SIX... there really is nothing else like it.

YOUNG AVENGERS... Children's Crusade still has 3 more issues which will probably take the better part of a year to come out, so I don't feel guilty about listing this one... besides, I consider it pretty much a series of miniseries these days anyway.

ZATANNA... I think DC is about to lose one of its current best titles next month.

I ZOMBIE... I swim in the lovely ocean of Allred's art. The story's picking up pretty well too!

Sadly, I've learned today that Aaron announced at CCI that Scalped ends with issue 60. (51 was just released today.) I know it's going to end the way it's intended to end, but I was hoping for about 70-75 issues.

Hopefully, Aaron and Guera will tell some untold tales as OGNs and what-not as they have said they might. I'm gonna miss this book!!!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

At least it's ending as it should. It's been so mind-blowingly good.

FYI, my little brother(age 23) just read the first 6 trades.

Only Walking Dead and Fables approach Scalped in terms of quality.

Gonna have to check the trades of this out.

Lash ordered me to come to this thread (because I am just now discovering Secret Six) I feel like a bad puppy ... that pooped on the carpet ...

But I am hard pressed to come up with 5.

1. Secret Seven 3 issue limited series
(It just ended and I could be more thrilled about the ending ... but it's still grrr eat)

2. X-Men Legacy
(yeah i kinda think so, I love Frenzy's dialogue, and I like the tracking down Legion's alternate personalities plot, and the characters are actually doing something rather than going on and on about something big that is coming that will change everything. )

3. IZombie

4. Journey Into Mystery
(It's more of a back story but I love the schemes/efforts of innocent little Loki)

5. Young Avengers Children's Crusade (whew I had a hard time thinking of five)

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The big events have really taken the wind out of many titles for me. Before Fear Itself, another Avengers title or another X title might have made it on the list. The reboot has also totally juggled what I want to read, I'm trying a lot of stuff that will go away in September. I'm giving Power Girl and Zatanna another try and I'm pretty happy with them.

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Some honorable mentions that I appreciate but don't love unconditionally

The Mighty Thor sizzles off the page because of Coipel.
Uncanny X-Force is well done all around.

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I'm actually currently reading A LOT of back issues I missed the first time around.

Giffen did a short run on Outsiders recently I'm trying to track down. Tons of old Action Comics, and X-Force/X-Statics.

I'm devouring and in LOVE with Jack Knight Starman!! This has jumped into one of my all time favorite titles ... and is a contender for that desert island.

I'm waiting to read the Walking Dead and Irredeemable in the trades. so I'm a few months behind the rack on those.

I'm also just geting to know Secret Six and Birds of Prey through back issues. I quite like them!!


I'd like to give Batwoman and Batgirl Year One a go but I haven't been able to find them at the store.

It seems like my top 5 can change every few months based on the creative team and the big events.
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AHH I almost forgot. Dark Wolverine! Daken is still cool. He's Number 6.

PB, I'm with you on Journey into Mystery--I'm loving it! Loki's schemes are great, and it's loaded with characters I like reading about (Tyr--yes!).

The best Thor writer in recent years was Kieron Gillen and he proves it again here. Loki is incredibly cunning yet his youthful boy status quo gives him an underdog / naive type quality your root for.

Well-written comic!

July/August Top 5:

Xombi
Batman Inc.
Secret Six
Adventure Comics
Secret Seven


Hmmm, looks like my list will be radically different come September.... because NONE of those titles will be published!

From 2008 in the "Roundtable" thread (when I didn't know of this thread's existence ):

August 2011:

Walking Dead: Still there and the only book I read as soon as it comes out! Totally addicted to it and all its twist and turns.

Scalped: Such a great, great saga with compelling characters that live, breathe and constantly surprise you.

American Vampire: It was tempting to put Snyder's run on Detective here instead, but this is where he lets loose with his own characters! Snyder is the next big writer in comics. He's not much of a secret anymore, but if you try AmVamp out, I'm sure you'll see his rep is deserved!

Morning Glories: Before Scott Snyder was Nick Spencer. MG is an addicting mystery full of unexpected twists and turns. It's the comics equivalent of Lost with its layered mysteries. Like Lost, it's the characters that keep you coming back for more!

Chew: Awesome, twisted and, yes, funny comic book set in a world where chicken has been outlawed. John Layman & Rob Guilloroy may be the best writer/artist team in comics right now, for my money!

I'll give it some more thought but my list may actual totally mimic yours, Lardy! I'd only sub-in Fables (which remains fantastic) but it's too hard to figure out which one it'd replace!

Also, Green Hornet: Year One! Okay, maybe that's 7.

Thunder Agents? I better stop...

Wow--all of mine are creator-owned this go-round! I suspect this will be true in future updates as well, given where my tastes are heading...

Closest corporate-owned books to getting in were Detective Comics (written by AmVamp's Snyder) and Amazing Spider-man!

Hmm... I think I'm going to have a hard time thinking of 5 titles that I really like. let's see:
- Green Lantern: Always a big fan of Hal, Johns's stories aren't my favorite, but they are big and feel important to the mythos.
- Moon Knight: I'm listing this mostly because I'm a fan of the character. I'm not really taken by Bendis's interpretation and I find Maleev's art attractive, but the photoreferencing makes people look too stiff.
- Hmmm.... Ok, I give up already. Everything else I'm currently buying is just kinda ... eh