# What's the single greatest run in comics history? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 13, 2004, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569 "2004-12-13T08:51:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/21 "2004-12-14T01:30:09Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > _The Shadow_ by Andy Helfer and Kyle Baker > – Genuinely funny, a great take on the characters, and Baker’s best art ever. The expressions on the characters’ faces are just priceless. I can’t beleive I didn’t think of this. I don’t think in my entire comic book reading career, I anticipated the next issue of a comic with such enthusiasm. I was so disappointed when the canceled this. Apparantly, they had planned on doing a one issue shot to wrap up the story line, but it never surfaced. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/22 "2004-12-14T01:36:45Z")
I’ve been reading comics for over 20 years. Between reprints, TPBs, regular issues, and “Essentials”, I feel like I’ve read damn near the entire Marvel Universe from the Silver-Age until now. Not to mention all the DC and independent titles. For pure, unadulterated, strap-yourself-in-and-get-to-ready-to-have-fun bang for your buck, nothing even comes close to _Preacher_. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/23 "2004-12-14T05:06:53Z")
Hands down, Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire on Justice League (Whatever). My second choice would be Peter David on Incredible Hulk, especially when working with either Keown or Frank. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/24 "2004-12-14T07:39:24Z")
I’ll pull out two obscure submissions to avoid saying “me too” all over the place: Peter Gillis/Brent Anderson – **Strikeforce: Morituri,** issues #1-20. A very human, non-superheroic, sci-f story that had me on the edge of my seat every month. I _really_ wish someone would collect this as a TPB. Christopher Priest/M.D. Bright – **Quantum and Woody.** Not really much of a super-hero book, but it really works as comedy, adventure, and social insight. I find Q&W’s bickering over race relations to be more interesting and insightful than anything that gets tossed out by the mainstream media. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/25 "2004-12-14T11:41:57Z")
Peter David - Hulk (already mentioned but my personal favourite) Alan Grant - The Demon, very funny. other than that the usual Lee, Kirby et al. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/26 "2004-12-14T12:31:48Z")
Lee/Ditko-Spider-Man. They broke so many rules (the character aged and changed. If he’d been created at DC at the time, he’d _still_ be in high-school today with snoopy Liz Allen trying to figure out his identity) and innovated so many comic-book storytelling techniques (the soap-opera thing…FF played with it, but _generally_ the FF had single issue or two-issue stories as a whole until after Spidey hit it big…and even FF focused more on the punch-em-inna-face action than the soap-opera stuff) that it’s probably my number one pick. For sheer imagination and fun, Fox/Broome(?) and Infantino/Anderson on Adam Strange in Mystery in Space. No one has _ever_ captured motion and flight like Infantino and the scripts were just fun. Plus Alanna was the one Silver-Aged female super-hero who _wasn’t_ a wimp. More later ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/27 "2004-12-14T13:32:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Dave Sim’s _Cerebus_. From 1977 to early this year, 300 issues. Won’t somebody please remeber Gerhard? 🙂 But I agree, when compared to what they were doing at the time, suddenly \*Watchmen \* and \*DKR \* aren’t so impressive. (Social commentary? Been there. Dark Humor? Sigh. Creative use of comics form? Oh, about 40 years too late. Hitting the nail on the head at just the right time and really knocking apart the zeitgeist? That’s really why these books were so powerful. Released earlier and I don’t know that they would have had the same power). While I thought \*Guys \* was the most brilliant part of the series, \*Church and State \* is, IMO, the most visionary/ambitious story arc that ever was (10 years :eek:) Going out on a limb, I’ll also nominate Ennis’ _Welcome Back Frank_. He did what nobody else was able to do: make the Punisher an actual character. He did it in three panels and three word balloons. Of course, with the exception of issue #23 (or was it #24?), the rest of the run has been varying degrees of not good. ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/28 "2004-12-14T13:46:32Z")
Peter David’s entire Supergirl series. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/29 "2004-12-14T17:41:18Z")
_Stray Bullets_ by David Lapham _Love and Rockets_ by Los Bros. Hernandez ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/30 "2004-12-14T18:32:00Z")
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned this one yet, but I’ll bet a lot of folks will slap themselves and say, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that!”: \*Zot! \* by Scott McCloud. The entire run, both black & white and color issues, but especially the first long story arc. Great writing, memorable characters, and a real sense of wonder. I haven’t read anything quite like it since. And I second the vote for Walt Simonson’s _Thor_ run. I had read lots of comics before Thor #337, but that was the first one that made me realize I HAD to get the next issue. Simonson is still one of my favorite writer/artists, and I’ll buy pretty much anything he does. And of course, he gets the All Time Coolest Single Issue Title award for “Ragnarok and Roll!” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/31 "2004-12-14T19:19:41Z")
> [@cstamets](#): > > Aragones/Evanier - _Groo_ > > As any fool can plainly see… I can plainly see that. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/32 "2004-12-14T19:26:08Z")
You guys are missing a whole continent, practically. _Maison Ikkoku_ by Rumiko Takahashi is clearly, IMHO, the greatest single long-term story told in graphical form. 7 years or so to complete in near weekly installments. And the story telling is at times subtle, humorous and tragic. It’s the best there is. But if you’re sticking to the North American paradigm of comic books then it’s clearly Cerebus. Nothing else comes close. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/33 "2004-12-14T19:36:13Z")
I’m a big fan of Whedon’s _Fray_. Although, I admit, I don’t really read comic books. (Except for the ‘60s Superman comics my uncle left at my grandparents’ place.) ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/34 "2004-12-14T19:43:49Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > Going out on a limb, I’ll also nominate Ennis’ _Welcome Back Frank_. He did what nobody else was able to do: make the Punisher an actual character. He did it in three panels and three word balloons. Ooh, I agree. And I nominate James Robinson’s _Starman_, issues 1-80. Also John Ostrander’s run on _Spectre_. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/35 "2004-12-14T20:03:35Z")
Jim Shotter’s Legion has been mentioned. He took a simple idea and made it comic book history. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/36 "2004-12-15T21:14:00Z")
No matter that you won’t find his name on any TPB, I loved Waid/Kubert’s run on _Captain America_ Come to think of it, their _Ka-Zar_ was mighty good too. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/37 "2004-12-15T21:15:42Z")
Argh! And I meant to make mention of my 3000th post when it happened! Well I used it in praise of Mark Waid and Andy Kubert so at least it wasn’t a waste. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/38 "2004-12-15T21:57:17Z")
I’ll put a plug in for Matt Groening’s “Simpsons” comic book line. IINM, he writes and draws them all himself. And they are often as funny as (and in recent times, probably MUCH funnier than) the television series. Sorry for going off-topic, but IMO Chris Claremont’s run in “X-Men” is, in hindsight, perhaps the single-most OVER-rated run. His storylines were murky and frequently incoherent, rife with dangling plot-threads that disappeared / appeared / disappeared again faster than Nightcrawler, and included some of the hokiest “character development”, most contrived plot-twists, and just plain worst dialogue in any comic book run I’ve read. (Storm going ‘punk’, Nightcrawler’s “mystery relationship” to Mystique, Forge’s “mutant de-powering gun” that was only used once, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/39 "2004-12-16T01:19:58Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > Sorry for going off-topic, but IMO Chris Claremont’s run in “X-Men” is, in hindsight, perhaps the single-most OVER-rated run. His storylines were murky and frequently incoherent, rife with dangling plot-threads that disappeared / appeared / disappeared again faster than Nightcrawler, and included some of the hokiest “character development”, most contrived plot-twists, and just plain worst dialogue in any comic book run I’ve read. (Storm going ‘punk’, Nightcrawler’s “mystery relationship” to Mystique, Forge’s “mutant de-powering gun” that was only used once, etc.) Yeah, but it’s arguably the most influential mainstream run. It’s also the time that most fans who are now the main comics buying demographic started their collections (like myself) and so there’s a great nostalgia value. Also, I think Marc Silvestri’s art is absolutely perfect for his portion of that run (esp. Inferno). Lee also got his start there (and Liefeld kind of tagged along) and look what happened to comics after Claremont ended his run. Crap for about 10 years. I know it’s just not the 10 year old me talking. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569/40 "2004-12-16T03:29:17Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > Sorry for going off-topic, but IMO Chris Claremont’s run in “X-Men” is, in hindsight, perhaps the single-most OVER-rated run. His storylines were murky and frequently incoherent, rife with dangling plot-threads that disappeared / appeared / disappeared again faster than Nightcrawler, and included some of the hokiest “character development”, most contrived plot-twists, and just plain worst dialogue in any comic book run I’ve read. (Storm going ‘punk’, Nightcrawler’s “mystery relationship” to Mystique, Forge’s “mutant de-powering gun” that was only used once, etc.) I can’t disagree with this as a whole. However, you should keep in mind that most of what you refer to happens later on in the run. The first 4-5 years–especially when Claremont was co-plotting with John Byrne–are really top-notch stuff. If you take the run up to a good stopping point–say issue 138 or 150–and consider that separately from the later excesses, you have some of the best comics to come out of the late 70’s and early 80’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-single-greatest-run-in-comics-history/279569.md?page=3)