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100 Greatest Comic Books

Started by adamstrange,

93 posts in this topic

adamstrange

adamstrange

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Posted

This is from Jerry Wiest's recent book and it included input from 44 fans, historians, creators, and dealers. Your mileage may vary; mine does.

 

Top100comics_part1.jpg

 

Top100comics_part2.jpg

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adamstrange

adamstrange

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Nice to see Our Army at War #81 in there (though I would have chosen #83.) War books rarely get any cred on these kinds of lists.

 

Shep

 

OAAW #83 for me as well. While there have been lots of war books and lots and lots of war-influenced books, when it comes to key issues there's Rock and then there's everybody else like Haunted Tank, Enemy Ace, Sgt. Fury, etc.

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chrisco37

chrisco37

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What the hell was the ranking criteria for this list!!!! So far out of whack!

 

There can't be anyone here that possibly agrees with the Top 20. screwy.gif

 

How can Tec' 27 not crack the Top 25? It's a Top 5 book, no? Where's Pep 22?

 

Nice to see some newer books in there, but the rankings are nuts. Tec 38 before Tec 27?

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october

october

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Mad 1 and Mickey Mouse Magazine 1 are more important than Marvel 1 and AF 15? screwy.gif

 

Batman 1 and Archie 1 are more important than Tec 27? screwy.gif

 

Don't even get me started on what's ahead of FF 1. screwy.gif

 

Sorry, this list makes zero sense. I don't care where the input came from.

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Socratic Wonder

Socratic Wonder

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If I told you three different comics' issue #22 were on that list, would you have guessed Crime Does Not Pay #22, Crime Suspenstories #22, and Showcase #22 before you guessed Pep #22?

 

27_laughing.gif Of course.......I mean who was that dorky high school kid in pep #22....arkie whats his face!

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adamstrange

adamstrange

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What the hell was the ranking criteria for this list!!!! So far out of whack!

 

 

The criteria included (drumroll, please):

 

Historical Impact

Quality

Intro of New Concept

Rarity

Popularity

 

Wiest notes that most voters weighted the first 3 criteria more heavily than the last two. There was general consensus on the first 25. The last 75? Not so much.

 

Voters included Jerry Bails, John Benson, Jon Berk, Mark Evanier, Al Feldstein, Bruce Hamilton, Denis Kitchen, Paul Levitz, Michelle Nolan, Bob Overstreet, Maggie Thompson, Jim Steranko, John Snyder etc. I know of almost all of the voters and it's a good list but I do think we ended up with some really wacky results.

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adamstrange

adamstrange

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Mad 1 and Mickey Mouse Magazine 1 are more important than Marvel 1 and AF 15? screwy.gif

 

Batman 1 and Archie 1 are more important than Tec 27? screwy.gif

 

Don't even get me started on what's ahead of FF 1. screwy.gif

 

Sorry, this list makes zero sense. I don't care where the input came from.

 

The cultural impact of Mad magazine probably dwarfs that of Marvel 1. I would have Mad 1 in any Top 10 list I tried to put together.

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Sal

Sal

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I guess the Joker and Robin are both of greater Historical impact than ole Bats himself.

 

 

Love Funnies on Parade at two. 27_laughing.gif FTW.

 

 

Big love from the listmakers for the Lone Ranger. ooookay, sure

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chrisco37

chrisco37

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The criteria included (drumroll, please):

 

Historical Impact

Quality

Intro of New Concept

Rarity

Popularity

 

Wiest notes that most voters weighted the first 3 criteria more heavily than the last two. There was general consensus on the first 25. The last 75? Not so much.

 

 

Thanks for posting, Adam. Now we can do them for ourselves. Let's assume each category is on a 10-pt scale (1 being the lowest, 10 being highest).

 

Using that, wouldn't Tec 27 get a 10 in at least 3 of those categories (Impact, Concept, and Popularity), at least a 7 in Rarity, and at least a 5 for Quality?

 

How does Tec 38 rank higher? I don't get it?

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143ksk

143ksk

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If I told you three different comics' issue #22 were on that list, would you have guessed Crime Does Not Pay #22, Crime Suspenstories #22, and Showcase #22 before you guessed Pep #22?

 

It's hard to rationalize how Archie #1 made the list and Pep #22 didn't (I guess it was the intro of Squoimy the Woim and Bumbee the BeeTective that gave Archie #1 that extra boost 27_laughing.gif)

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Crowzilla

Crowzilla

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Using that, wouldn't Tec 27 get a 10 in at least 3 of those categories (Impact, Concept, and Popularity), at least a 7 in Rarity, and at least a 5 for Quality?

How does Tec 38 rank higher? I don't get it?

 

Not saying I agree with it, but I kind of understand it.

The first superhero sidekick had a huge impact (Bucky, Toro, Sandy, etc) and was a brand new concept, while the concept of Batman was already lifted from The Shadow and Spider pulps. No doubt he eclipsed them in popularity, but the concept of the nighttime shadowy avenger wasn't new in Tec #27.

So if you discount Tec #27 a bit in those two area, Tec #38 could rank slightly higher.

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Theagenes

Theagenes

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Just to play devil's advocate....

 

Funnies on Parade is the first comic book which is structurely in the modern comic book magazine format -- i.e. saddle-stitched newsprint pages, stapled with a slick cover. That's pretty damn important.

 

As AdamStrange said, Mad has had an enormous influence on later pop culture outside of the comic industry.

 

If you look at the entire history of modern comics, the only genre that might eclipse sales of superhero comics is Disney, especially if international sales are taken into account. Hence MMM #1 and WDC&S #1.

 

Zap=beginning of direct sales which ultimately transformed the whole industry.

 

Tec 38 and and Batman 1 - First sidekick and first app. of the most important villain ever. Not saying they should be ahead of Tec 27, but that was probably the line of reasoning there.

 

Famous Funnies 1, ser. 2 - First monthly newstand comic.

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SuperBird

SuperBird

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the lack of key bronze and modern books is a joke. Where's Watchmen, DKR, Swamp Thing 21, GSX-Men #1, TMNT #1...?

 

'rarity' is a factor, but Sandman #1 and Superman: Peace on Earth are included... an then these are not?

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chrisco37

chrisco37

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the lack of key bronze and modern books is a joke. Where's Watchmen, DKR, Swamp Thing 21, GSX-Men #1, TMNT #1...?

 

'rarity' is a factor, but Sandman #1 and Superman: Peace on Earth are included... an then these are not?

 

GS Xmen - #40

DKR - #67

Watchmen - #74

 

No Turtles though or Swamp Thing #21. frown.gif

 

Why is Swamp Thing #1 on the list at all?

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SuperBird

SuperBird

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the lack of key bronze and modern books is a joke. Where's Watchmen, DKR, Swamp Thing 21, GSX-Men #1, TMNT #1...?

 

'rarity' is a factor, but Sandman #1 and Superman: Peace on Earth are included... an then these are not?

 

GS Xmen - #40

DKR - #67

Watchmen - #74

 

No Turtles though or Swamp Thing #21. frown.gif

 

Why is Swamp Thing #1 on the list at all?

 

blush.gifsorry.gif

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