The 10 best comics stories of all time (or at least my favorites)
A completely objective, totally not personal list of the ten greatest comics stories ever published. I've been reading comics my whole life and drawing them for most of it. These aren't necessarily the most important — just the ones that I'll never forget.
1. The Dark Knight Returns
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: Frank Miller (pencils/inks), Klaus Janson (inks), Lynn Varley (colors)
When I finished reading DKR for the first time in the mid 90's, I set it down and stared into nothing for awhile. It's just masterfully done in every respect. Amazing art, drama, action, surprises. I only wish I was old enough to read and understand it as it was coming out in 1986, but as a 8 year old if it wasn't Star Wars I probably didn't care.
2. Akira
Writer: Katsuhiro Otomo
Artist: Katsuhiro Otomo
I go back and forth if DKR or Akira is #1. Akira is some of the most accomplished draftsmanship in the history of comics. Like super-human level of drawing. And the story just moves. It's hard to put it down once you get going.
3. The Authority, Vol. 1
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Bryan Hitch
One day at the comic shop in 1990-something, I see Stormwatch #47 on the rack and Jim Lee is the artist. "Cool" I thought, I'll check that out. That single issue turned made me a lifelong Warren Ellis fan. I bought everything I could find going back, and immediately had Stormwatch put on my pull list. Then it became The Authority. That first year with Ellis and Hitch is just amazingly constructed and drawn. Ellis and Hitch invented "widescreen comics" here. So many comics since have attempted it, few succeeded.
4. We3
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
Quitely and Morrison make great comics together. This is the best. Some of the comics meta-techniques to show time passing differently for the animals is simply inspired.
5. Wanted
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: J.G. Jones
I love many of Millar's books, and I could include a bunch of them here. But Wanted is still one of his best with surprise (shock) twists and turns galore. That's what keeps me buying Millar books, he does the unexpected better than anyone else in comics today.
6. Sin City, Vol. 1: The Hard Goodbye
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: Frank Miller
How can this not be on any top 10 comic list? Miller doing what he does best. I hope we get those new volumes I heard about a couple years ago.
7. Planetary
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: John Cassaday
When Planetary started around the same time as Authority, it was a great time to be an Ellis fan. And Planetary was John Cassaday's (R.I.P) star making book. Planetary was definitely fresh at the time. More sci-fi than superhero really, with one and done stories connected via the throughlines of the main characters. As it progresses and you realize the underlying theme of the book: "Oh. OOOOOOHHHHHH, whoa"
8. Wolverine #75
Writer: Larry Hama
Artist: Adam Kubert
Magneto tears the adamantium out of Logan's skeleton. This is the fallout. In an era where much of mainstream comics were forgettable or downright bleh, this particular book stands out. While it suffers from much of the 90s-isms (hologram cover), Larry Hama wrote the only comic that's ever choked me up. Hey, I was 15 or so. Logan's goodbye letter to Jubilee got me.
9. Kabuki: Metamorphosis
Writer: David Mack
Artist: David Mack
At the time this originally started at Image, I had been buying all the usual suspects: Spawn, Maxx, Pitt, Wildstorm stuff, X-men...everything you'd expect from a mainstream comics fan in the 90s. But I was also very into Gustav Klimpt, Bob Peak, Drew Struzan, Picasso, Modigliani, Frazetta...just tons and tons of artists outside comics. So when grabbed issue 1 off the rack and opened it to find Mack's blend of delicate, careful realism and chaotic, experimental expressionism, my mind was blown (and never got unblown). Still possibly the most artistically inspring book ever.
10. Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Mike Zeck
This one I had a few parts of as it came out (or shortly thereafter from trading with friends). I was young enough to believe that Spiderman getting "killed" meant he wasn't coming back, so it was extra-powerful for my young mind. But it still holds up as one of the greatest comics of all time, and I can't think of a better Spiderman story.
Honorable Mention: Walking Dead #24
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Charlie Adlard
In a series with soooooo many moments, it's hard to pick a single story to include and just taking the whole 193 issues felt incongruous with the rest of my list. So I picked one of the early "oh damn" moments to represent Walking Dead here. Love the series, wished it would never end.