Our occasional trip through DC crossoverville now brings us to Millennium, the 1987/88 event that has bafflingly recently been collected in trade form (while the far superior likes of Armageddon 2001 are spoken of in the same breath as Marvel’s Clone Saga). Before DC had hit upon the technique of setting these annual crossovers’ in the respective books’ annuals, with individual tales that were largely standalone but at least followed the theme of the crossover, such events would tend to simply weave their entire narrative through a limited miniseries and various spin-off books. It’s not a hugely satisfying way of doing things, especially when the story is as weak as this (basically, the Manhunters are a bunch of red robotty things created by the Guardians of the Universe as a first attempt to run an “intergalactic police force” - the second attempt being the Green Lantern Corps. Manhunters now attacking the Guardians as well as Earth, yadda yadda yadda, secret sleeper agents planted among the supporting cast of various DC books in a Secret Invasionish kind of way, etc. etc.).

But as with all crossovers, it’s not like you can’t get decent issues out of it, depending on the creative teams at their time. Giffen, deMatteis and Maguire were at the absolute height of their Justice League powers at this point, and the curious thing about this issue - which sees a group of heroes, some of whom are current JL members, some former, mounting an assault on the Manhunters’ homeworld - is that it gives us the opportunity to see how they would have coped had they been allowed to have A-list characters in their team (in addition to JLI members J’onn J’onnz and Captain Atom, the team here includes Superman, Hal Jordan and Hawkman/Hawkwoman).

And the answer is… very well, as it happens. In the absence of characters like Blue Beetle and Guy Gardner, there’s less in the way of laugh-out-loud, outright character comedy. But deMatteis’ dialogue still absolutely zings, and there are a lot of character moments to enjoy. Most notably, there’s an excellent portrayal of the relationship between the two Hawks (Shayera having a blast, Katar grumpily wondering “why everyone feels so compelled to make jokes all the time”), but there are great little lines dotted throughout. Superman gets played entirely straight, of course, but his earnestness is used playfully rather than being made fun of.

The other thing the issue is notable for is the introduction of probably Giffen/deMatteis’ most famous creation - the woefully underqualified, walking catastrophe of a Green Lantern known as G’Nort. Despite the fact that his design hadn’t really been nailed down yet - he’s more “furry bloke” than out-and-out “walking dog” - he’s great fun in his first two-page appearance, cheerfully telling Katma Tui (apropos of nothing) that “They don’t even have a john in here!”, while being saluted by Superman for his bravery in taking on the manhunters alone (”By the way… uh… what’s a manhunter?”). It also draws some great comedy out of the usually-strait-laced Jordan: “Do you really think it’s fair, calling him a yo-yo?” “Believe me, Superman - I’m being kind.”

Topping it all off, as ever in the early part of the JLI run, is Kevin Maguire’s excellent art. Right from the first time I read this - and we’re talking almost twenty years ago, here - it made me think what a great job he’d do on a main Superman title, as he gets the character spot-on with a very Christopher Reeve-esque interpretation. He and colourist Gene D’Angelo also cope well with the storytelling handicap of having to draw almost an entire issue against a yellow background (the Manhunters having built their homeworld specifically to defend against Green Lanterns).

Despite being hampered by the constraints of a slightly naff crossover, team JLI were still able to turn out great comics. If anything, it’s only a shame that they were only given some of these characters for one issue - although, of course, you’d never want to trade Beetle, Booster and Guy for anybody. Nowadays, though, this particular issue still stands up well - it’s a little jarring if you try to just read it in sequence with the rest of JLI, but as a part of Millennium itself, it was by far the standout moment.

While her compatriots in the monthly title are facing the twin threats of a rampaging super-skrull and some shockingly poor artwork, Layla Miller remains in the distopian future glimpsed during Messiah Complex. After a short introduction set in an interment camp, the bulk of the story charts Miller’s journey across America, igniting a mutant rights uprising, almost accidentally, as she goes. All the stapes of a standard Days of Future Past comics world are found here; the children of present day characters, the shadow of a dark time ahead and an aged & mutilated present day hero living out his final days. Peter David prevents his tale from feeling clichéd, however, by actually rounding out this world from what was seen of it in last year’s crossover. We are shown people being able to live relatively normal lives, and an active debate in progress about the body politic.

What sells the storyline is David’s longevity as a writer. While the likes of Mike Carey would be left looking rather fan-ish if they revived some elements of the franchise, David’s use of ideas he was present for the gestation of somehow feels more acceptable, as he forges links between his previous X-Factor work and the title’s present incarnation. Besides, it’s always a pleasure to see David writing for Miller. A sharp break in tradition from the franchise’s Destiny/ Blindfold eccentric soothsayers, the teen feels both comfort and confinement from knowing how “stuff” will turn out, and there’s an interesting character moment when the latter overwhelms her, slightly increasing her credibility.

The story could quite easily just be a fun day out for Peter David with the character he’s made his own, but the emphasis the issue’s advance publicity placed on the Summers Rebellion elements suggests that the events here will mesh into the tapestry that the X-titles are becoming. Messiah Complex suggested that time travel will play a considerable part in the X-Men’s lives over the next few months, and it’s not hard to foresee the likes of Cable or Bishop having to pick up the pieces from the events here. Until that day, fortunately, this is one special that can stand on its own feet.

The issue opens with Captain America and the Falcon on the trail of the broken Grand Director, when a tip-off from Dr Faustus puts them in a position to thwart the Red Skull’s plans with more precision than they expected. Like so many parts of this storyline, the mesmerist’s defection is a shock development that makes perfect sense when viewed in retrospect. Faustus’s errors have been slowly accumulating throughout the arc, and the physiatrist’s long-term health would not be guaranteed even if the Red Skull were to triumph. However, it’s unfortunate that this plot twist overshadows the issue. With Bucky and Sam already hot on A.I.M.’s trail, the information volunteered only slightly accelerates the plot, with the result that the writer is a little to obviously putting the moustachioed megalomaniac into storage for future use. Faustus could have slipped away unnoticed in the chaos that is undoubtedly in store next month, but presumably the page count for issue forty-two is already stretched to the limit…

Despite the hype behind events such as Secret Invasion and Final Crisis, the next issue of this book has been in the making for just as long, with the writer having to remind readers of old plot elements such as the Skull being present in the body of Lukin and the mysterious apparatus which he went to such pains to obtain from Dr Doom. However, the demands of the Marvel Universe, desperate to play with its literally shiny new toy, require a break in the narrative for Bucky to undertake a meet & greet exercise. In surrendering to the inevitable, Brubaker has set himself a very demanding test, as the entire four-year story now hinges on the revelation of the Skull’s actual plan and the purpose of the Doom-constructed device. It’s hard to see how it can unify all the elements we’ve been introduced to into a coherent agenda, but Brubaker’s plotting hasn’t disappointed so far. The writer’s rock-solid grip on the title has taken it into new territory, and it’s something of a relief to realise that the end of this particular saga won’t signal the end of his approach. Whether the slow progression of a multiple story strands is to your taste or not, it’s hard to think of another book like it.

James is away at Reading this week, so TSP is left in my hands. Muah hah hah hah hah. It’s a quiet one as a result, but some of our favourite creators - Gillen/McKelvie and Bryan Lee O’Malley - have put excellent and/or teasing things online this week, plus there’s the rather bizarre statement by that bloke at Warner Bros. about DC movies, and some infuriating spoilers courtesy of Kick-Ass movie news…

First of all, over at McKelvieBlog you’ll find the really rather lovely cover to issue #1 of Phonogram : Singles Club, the hotly-anticipated sequel to Gillen and McKelvie’s original six-issue masterpiece. The artwork itself is as excellent as you’d expect from Jamie, but it’s the concept that really makes this - each cover will be a different club flier (flyer? I’ve never got to grips with that one, even when I was making the damned things for nights in Oxford), and we can presumably expect drastically different styles and layouts for each one. The list of “likes” suddenly turning into something dark and unexpected, the Pipettes references, the “Entrance Fee”, the “Guest DJs” including Marc Ellerby… brilliant stuff, all of which demonstrates that these guys are among the best at high-concept, cutting-edge comics imagery. Phonogram 2 is going to be an absolute blast, and if you haven’t already got your order in, DO IT, DO IT NOW.

Meanwhile, Scott Pilgrim uberstar Bryan Lee O’Malley has teamed up with his missus, Hope Larson, to create an excellent little mini-webcomic called Bear Creek Apartments. It’s a fairly simple story, with a dark little twist that’s hardly original but still entertaining, and O’Malley’s artwork is lovely - the pencils/inks are reminiscent of Pilgrim, but the watercolour and crayon colouring job lends it a distinctive look and feel all of its own. Nice to see him branching out artistically, and nice to see some more writing from Hope, as well. Well worth ten minutes of your time to read.

This is kind of weird, and I’m not sure what to make of it. It appears to be missing the point somewhat. Yes, The Dark Knight was massively successful. Yes, it was pretty bloody dark. But that does not mean that “dark” will work and be successful for all available characters. Not only is it a rehash of all the things that ruined comics in the post-Watchmen/DKR rush to give every conceivable character angst and anger, but it flies in the face of all available evidence. Yes, TDK was the most successful comic book film of the year. But what was the second? The decidedly un-dark, witty, sharp and downright *fun* Iron Man. Meanwhile, the “darker” Spider-Man 3 ended up being something of a mess. In other words, in comic book movies, as with ALL movies, there’s a place for balance. Yes, a good Batman story will usually be dark and gritty, reflecting the life that Bruce Wayne chooses to lead. On the other hand, though - when has there ever been a good “dark” Superman story? Mark Millar’s Red Son is probably the closest, but that’s not even really a Superman story at all. Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?, All-Star Superman, Secret Identity, even Superman For All Seasons - these are stories that take the essence of why Superman works, and distil it into engaging, inspiring and beautiful stories. That’s what the original Christopher Reeve Superman movie is, and that’s what any future Superman movie needs to be if it’s going to be a success - or, at least, if it’s going to be a successful Superman film. The Dark Knight was a great film, but it was a great *Batman* film. Do that to Superman, and you might get a successful film, but you won’t have a Superman film. I’d rather not see a film at all, than see one that compromised the inherent values and attributes of the character and his world. And either way, this statement is a simple indicator that there are people in charge who simply don’t get it - they don’t understand why both TDK and Iron Man were successful, they don’t understand that there isn’t necessarily a prevailing mood for one particular style, and so can’t fathom that extremely different films released around the same time can be a valid enterprise. Sigh.

Elsewhere in comic book movie land, Empire report that Nic Cage has been cast in the inevitable movie adaptation of Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass. Interesting enough, but what really makes this story stand out is that it manages to spoil things that we haven’t seen in the comic yet. Apparently Cage “will play a former cop who, in his quest to bring down a druglord, has trained his teenage daughter (Chloe Moretz) to be a lethal weapon.” All well and good, but we haven’t encountered his character. We have no idea (yet) who the mysterious girl is who showed up and committed all kinds of brutal and wanton violence at the end of issue #3, because issue #4 is only just due out this coming week! I know it’s not unusual nowadays for Hollywood writers/directors to be given info about comics they’re adapting before said comics have finished (Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim will be based on all six books, even though there’s a very real possibility that book six won’t have been released by the time they start and/or finish filming), and it’s simply a side-effect of comics being such a valuable resource for film ideas nowadays - but at the very least, could they not have a bit of respect for the source material by not ruining it for those of us who would rather, you know, have the chance to read the damned thing first?

After an arc which felt as if Brubaker was just marking time, there’s a noticeably more secure grasp of these iconic characters. The writer makes Cyclops in particular his own, showing a more rational reason for his steely “protect mutants” policy than those offered by Warren Ellis. The light-hearted team banter manages to underline just how long the core cast have known each other, a vast improvement on the somewhat stale characterisation seen in the book post-Messiah Complex. Adding to this, we have the arrival of the poster girl for Brubaker & Fraction’s younger, hipper Uncanny. Pixie’s promotion to the X-Men’s a-list has been trailed for so long that the novelty factor has long since worn off, with a Brubaker interview giving the game away last year. New X-Men’s comedy character is considerably more interesting than the transparent Kitty Pryde-replacement making up the numbers in Astonishing, with a power-set that boarders on genius, but it’s hard not to have some reservations. Under Joe Quesada, Marvel has acquired a habit of prematurely seizing and flogging to death the neat little ideas its writers come up with, such as Marvel Zombies, instead of allowing them to grow organically. Hopefully Megan will avoid becoming the next Doop.

The X-titles have been addicted to banner tags lately, but while Endangered Species, Messiah Complex and the less-successful Divided We Stand all sprang from identifiable events and then explored their themes, Manifest Destiny is still at an embryonic stage. I’m confident that a coherent story will emerge across the X-titles over the next few months, but for now, the tagline feels like an imposition, constraining a reconceptualised book that is buzzing with energy. There are still some glitches in the storytelling, such as a seriously-injured Pixie walking several miles to Graymalkin Industries instead of heading to the nearest hospital, and the “shock” revelation of a mysterious redhead leading the Hellfire Cult only two issues after Mystique was seen plotting the X-Men’s downfall. More seriously, the usually brazen narration falls noticeably silent on the subject of whether the partying teens on the first page have been drinking. It’s a curious little piece of censorship, and raises some doubts about the ability of the book to do justice to the lifestyle its heroes have adopted.

The writing team is throwing new ideas out at a tremendous pace. In only two issues, we’ve seen classic series events used as the basis of modern art, a new political liaison methodology for the team, the injection of flashiness into the X-Men’s M.O., a bondage cult on villain duties and the possibility of an unofficial mutant breading programme. The pace of change is putting the series’ flagship book to shame, but parallels with the title exactly one hundred issues ago raise a question mark. Joe Casey’s Uncanny run added new concepts to the X-Men’s vocabulary, but the writer was unable to truly get to grips with the elements he referenced, using them as mere window-dressing for his plots. If Brubaker & Fraction can keep up this innovation while fully riding-out the shockwaves of what they’ve brought to the book, then this will be a title-defining run. But for now, it’s merely very, very, promising.

And from that excellent cover onwards, he doesn’t disappoint. He’s joined by regular cohort Klaus Janson, who impressively reins in his inks so that they’re closer to Romita’s pencils, rather than his usual, somewhat looser style. It’s about halfway between the classic Romita/Janson look and the tighter one established in the days of Scott Hanna inking during JMS’ run - and it works brilliantly, aided by a strong colouring job. Romita Jr’s Spidey just feels like the character as he should be, twisting and contorting off walls - and a sequence in which our hero frees himself from a pile of rubble before taking a tired moment of reflection is a particular highlight. As with almost all of Romita’s work, it positively leaps off the page with its energy, and it’s a visual delight.

Not that there isn’t still work to do with the title as a whole. The bitter taste of One More Day still hasn’t been fully washed away, primarily because barely anything has been done so far that couldn’t have been by tweaking, rather than scrubbing, the previous status quo. And there are still countless unanswered questions, particularly surrounding Harry Osborn - such as Why Is He Alive and What’s The Point? And I’m not sure whether the reintroduction of Norman O into Peter’s life at the end of this issue - when he’d been happily carving out a niche of his own over in Ellis’ Thunderbolts - is deliberately designed to tackle said questions head on, or if it’s going to awkwardly draw further attention to them.

Still. If we’ve been able to take one thing from the relaunch so far, it’s that of all the “Brain Trust”, it’s Dan Slott who can really do his Spidey. Argue with the details of the setup if you want, but you can’t argue that he nails the character beats, the blend of action and humour, and the sheer vibrancy that all good webslinger stories need. Perhaps the first truly interesting aspect of the new setup - Peter joining Ben Urich and Robbie Robertson at their ‘underground’ paper - is established here, and it’ll be intriguing to see where Slott takes it. Then there’s the fact that all that Aunt May soup kitchen stuff is finally given a point, as an old villain makes a surprise (cover notwithstanding) reappearance - and it remains to be seen just how deliberate a choice of target for Mr Li-slash-Mr Negative’s “healing” Eddie Brock is, but I got the sense that the re-emergence of Venom just might have wound up being an accidental side-effect, and if so, that’s a neat twist.

There’s almost too much going on in this extra-long issue (extra-priced, too, a cheeky move when you consider that fans are already paying three times as much every month just to keep up) to adequately cover, but Slott rolls on with the Menace “mystery”, a bit of Thunderbolts, a bit of Osborn, a bit of Dexter Bennett and so on in swift and assured fashion, while also finding time to give us a two-page recap (complete with lovely retro JRJr art) of just who this Spider-Bloke is. You know, in case you weren’t sure. And because there haven’t been enough jumping-on points recently.

And six hundred words in and I still haven’t even got to the backup story - which sees Mark Waid and Adi Granov fleshing out Brock’s story a bit, infusing it with further tragedy (people wanting to do the right thing but having it all go wrong appears like it’s something of a theme for this story thread). It’s a solid little character piece, although it draws perhaps a bit too heavily on the sort of thing DC have been doing with Two-Face for years. And while Granov is technically a very gifted artist, there’s something a bit waxy and static about his people - and so a story consisting largely of talking heads isn’t really the best showcase for him. It’s in his flash shots of a creepy and very alien Venom that he really excels.

There’s a definite spark to this, perhaps more so than in any of Brand New Day. You can put it down to Slott being the best of the current bunch of writers, Romita’s brilliant art, the return of some more classic foes or the coming together of various slow-burning plot threats - or indeed any combination of all the above. I still can’t say the series is a must-buy, and I reserve judgement on the use of both Osborns, but the art alone means this was no waste of money for me - and the fact that the story is on the up is a bonus, really.

By all reports, David hastily came up with a bunch of stories to fill the gap, re-inventing the Hulk’s personality once again as a thuggish loner unable to contain his own power. In what one expects might’ve been an attempt to bolster sales of the almost-cancelled title, David was eventually teamed with former X-Men/Wolverine artist Adam Kubert and immediately used the opportunity to bring the industry’s most popular characters in for a short guest-run.

Following a fight with Wolverine in the Savage Land, the Hulk’s unconscious body has been brought back to the X-Mansion. David’s mastery of comedy takes prime position during the issue, as the X-Men present are individually shown realising what’s going on and Wolverine has to explain his decision.  Eventually, the Hulk wakes up and tries to escape, and the X-Men’s plan to contain him in the Danger Room fails. In the ensuing fight, the Hulk is faced down by Forge, who has a weapon he believes can harm the Hulk. Forge shoots him, and as he does the Hulk disappears. As Forge explains to a horrified Storm that the weapon isn’t possible of disintegrating him, it’s revealed that Hulk has, in fact, been teleported to safety by… Apocalypse!

Peter David’s Hulk run is full of enjoyable action-comedy issues along these lines, and David manages to nail the X-Men’s characterisation in a few short scenes. The humour mixes perfectly with the action, and Kubert’s depiction of the same is faultless. The later years of David’s turn on the title are often forgotten, but the short X-Men related run which began with the Savage Land fight and included run-ins with both Apocalypse and Juggernaut, before it ended with Hulk accidentally crippling Rick Jones a few issues later, is a particularly enjoyable arc in a classic Marvel tradition. The amount of X-Content does make it fairly certain that it was designed to grab a few extra readers, but when the stories are that memorable purely on the strength of their writing, it’s easy to forgive such a gimmick.

The run begins with Incredible Hulk #454, and is well worth tracking down - especially if you’re looking to read some great Hulk stories and feel like saving a little cash on all this Red Hulk nonsense.

The over-arching plot does feel a bit like stock Ellis-Sci Fi with the X-Men dropped in - whatever a “Ghost Box” is, we can be fairly sure it’s not mutant-themed - but there’s still a strong threat at work that makes the story engaging. The X-Men, as an organisation, handle this situation in a noticeably differently manner to any other Marvel Universe team, so in that respect they’re well-placed for Ellis’ tone, if not necessarily his themes.

Ellis manages to continue the sharp dialogue and character moments that elevated Whedon’s run even when the story faltered. Wolverine, as ever, is the focal point of the best jokes, though it’s nice to see a writer not afraid to use the character sparingly - when Wolverine is in a team book he can overpower the other characters, but under Ellis he has a definite function - even if he’s used as a bit of a crowd-pleaser, there’s never too much.

Elsewhere, Cyclops’ new gimmick of telling everyone how he’ll kill if he has to is both a justifiable and entertaining direction for the character, though in this issue it seems a little misplaced. By Scott’s “protect mutants at any cost” reasoning, anyone who attacks the X-Men is automatically eligible for death - admittedly, the guy they’re tracking killed one mutant unprovoked, but it’s not like he’s a mutant serial-killer.

Bianchi’s art is still amazing to look out, and looks unlike almost any other artist in the industy - his work certainly resembles no other superhero artist. Unfortunately, the art is still directly at odds with the printing, and the muted colour pallette combined with Bianchi’s detailed shading causes everything to bleed into one giant, dark mess on the page. Hopefully this has been noticed, and there’ll be some correction within an issue or two, because at this point it’s really the only flaw in an otherwise A-List title.

As a finale, it’s as rousing as the series has been up to this point, as Braddock and Wisdom take the fight to the Skrulls; and in classic fashion the thing the invaders are seeking - magic - turns out to be the thing that undoes them. Victory doesn’t come without cost, however, and it’s tremendously disappointing that not every member of this immensely likeable burgeoning team (we realise come the closing pages that what we’ve been reading all along is an origin story) makes it to the end. But rather than feeling cheap, it’s a natural and appropriate end to this character’s story - and besides, as Wisdom subsequently muses, there’s always loss involved in what he does (there’s a pleasing nod at this point not only to the original Wisdom mini, but to an X-related  association, controversial as it is, that’s as old as the character himself).

In interviews leading up to the beginning of this series, Cornell stated that one of his goals was to make Captain Britain a proper hero again - rather than simply a slightly lame Captain America knock-off that we Brits were characteristically slightly ashamed of. In addition to redefining (or, perhaps, restating) notions of heroism (as Wisdom makes the distinction from “bring a hero back” to “bring hero back”), one of the strongest points of the way the story wraps up is that the British characters aren’t simply reliant on however Brian Michael Bendis decides to defeat the Skrulls over in the main title - they solve the problem their own way, and defend their own territory (even if, okay, there is a rather unsubtle - but funny - nod to how Bendis wrapped up a completely different story). Rather than simply being an annexe of the same battle, it’s an entirely separate struggle, and one that they independently win. At the same time, Cornell recognises that dressing up in a flag simply doesn’t mean the same thing here as in the US - “You have no idea what this flag means,” says Braddock, almost every line out of his mouth in this series so far an iconic one, “it isn’t popular, it’s not a gesture.”

The job is done, and Britain has a hero again - in fact, it has plenty, and a brief amusing cameo by Merlin confirms the creation of yet another. Successfully navigating out of a crossover that isn’t even finished yet while constructing a brand new lineup for an instantly classic, old-fashioned superhero yarn (albeit one with certain modern touches) is no mean feat, but Cornell and Kirk have achieved it with aplomb. All we await now is to see how they get on when the series begins to strike out on its own - but on the evidence so far, it’s going to be a lot of fun finding out.

It’s a special edition this week as, a week or so behind the rest of the internet, we take up the Hembeck Challenge and each list fifty things we love about comics…
We’re pretty cutting edge here at Comics Daily. So when a new meme hits the internet comics fraternity, courtesy of popular LiveJournal comics discussion community seebelow, naturally we’re quick to catch on. And by “quick”, I of course mean “two weeks late”. Nevertheless, the Hembeck Challenge - in which, inspired by Fred Hembeck the normally cynical and pessimistic comics-buying public are asked to list fifty things they actually love about comics - was a pretty appealing prospect, and so we figured that rather than spend the week trawling CBR and Newsarama for worthy stories upon which to pass comment, we’d offer you an insight into the comics-reading brains of two-thirds of the site’s team (Julian passed on the idea). James and I have both been reading comics from a young age, and there’s a hell of a lot of titles, issues, writers, artists, quirks, industry drama and general unique comicsness that have gone into our respective experiences over that time. The lists are, of course, fairly spur-of-the-moment - ask us again in a year and they’d probably look quite different - but nevertheless I think all of the top fifties people have posted have provided an intriguing insight into the scope of comics fandom. Without further wotsit, then, here are our lists… (SP)

Seb’s list

1. Animal Man #26
2. Giffen and deMatteis’ Justice League
3. The Shade
4. Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?
5. “My parents are DEAD!”
6. Frank Quitely drawing dogs, cats, Superman, and just about anything else, in fact
7. Miracleman #15
8. Non-glossy paper stock
9. Wolfman and Perez’s New Teen Titans
10. John Constantine
11. Hob Gadling
12. An original Shelton sketch of Fat Freddy’s Cat hanging on my wall
13. Early ’90s DC crossovers
14. 20 comics for a pound at Bristol
15. London’s “square mile” of comic shops on a Thursday lunchtime
16. Superman drawn by Curt Swan
17. Superman drawn by John Byrne (in the eighties)
18. John Romita Jr defying his dad and drawing Spider-Man and Peter Parker as grown-up versions of Ditko’s original characters
19. Roy of the Rovers
20. Hot Shot Hamish
21. Olympic Sales Club adverts. “Ask for Sally. She or another Captain “O” operator is waiting to give another pre-teen the chance to sell crap stationary for the sake of a cheap digital watch!” But the “prizes” all looked incredibly exciting when I was nine.
22. Marvel’s character-specific sound-effects, most notably “SNIKT!”, “BAMF!” and “THWIPP!”
23. Discovering Sandman as an angsty teenage dreamer
24. Discovering V For Vendetta as an angry left-wing student
25. Discovering Scott Pilgrim as a nerdy bass-playing mid-20s slacker
26. “Alan Moore knows the score”
27. Knowing that Johnny Alpha is better than Judge Dredd
28. Comics’ unique method of progressing, and manipulating, time and narrative
29. Alias
30. “The Death of Superman” (the Silver Age one)
31. “The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man”
32. The rare occasions when someone remembers how to tell a complete, satisfying story in 22 pages. Or in 10 pages, come to that.
33. The Totally Stonking, Surprisingly Educational And Utterly Mindboggling Comic Relief Comic
34. Ultimate Spider-Man
35. When people remember to call Scott Summers “Slim”
36. Planetary, for the first ten issues or so before it did an X-Files and sacrified wonderful individual stories for getting too wrapped up in its main plot
37. The Twilight of the Superheroes proposal
38. The symmetry of Watchmen issue #5
39. George Perez’s ability to shrink massive, epic imagery into teeny tiny panels meaning that you get approximately 10x as much story in any issue he draws
40. The Ben Reilly Spider-Man costume
41. Jim Mahfood
42. Two binders’ worth of Who’s Who in the DC Universe
43. “So! They laugh at my boner, will they? I’ll show them! I’ll show them how many boners the Joker can make!”
44. Superdickery
45. Longboxes
46. Samuel L Jackson being cast as Nick Fury in a movie because he’d already played him in The Ultimates. See also Patrick Stewart in Marvels (shame Timothy Dalton was too old for Tony Stark)
47. The UK Sonic the Comic, home to some of Mark Millar’s earliest work and the best Sonic origin story
48. Scott McCloud, comics’ foremost professor
49. Jamie McKelvie’s use of facial expression. And of hot punk girls.
50. “We just don’t like to make a fuss.”

James’ list
1. The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix
2. The Age of Apocalypse
3. Peter David’s last few years on Hulk
4. Discovering Channel Zero as an angry left-wing teenager.
5. When people call Scott Summers “Cyke”
6. Paul Pope
7. Absolute Editions
8. Marvel Omnibuses
9. Busiek and Perez’s Avengers run
10. Maximum Carnage on the SNES
11. References to late-90s X-Men continuity
12. Buffy, Season 8
13. Wolverine with bone claws
14. Being the right age to think that the Onslaught crossover was awesome.
15. Explaining obscure references in comic movies to my friends
16. Discovering Johnny the Homicidal Maniac as an angsty student slacker.
17. A cinema one-tenth full of geeks cheering at Nick Fury in Iron Man
18. Kevin Smith’s Daredevil
19. Art imitating life (Phonogram #1)
20. Seeing a Monkey Island reference in the first volume of Scott Pilgrim and knowing I was hooked for the duration.
21. X-Men Vs. Street Fighter on the PSX
22. Choosing a “New Avengers” team in Ultimate Alliance and getting a stat boost for being nerdy enough to do so.
23. Scott & Emma
24. Logan & Jean
25. Wolverine being a sickly blouse-wearing rich boy when he was a kid
26. “I did it thirty-five minutes ago.”
27. The fact that there are people out there de-slabbing comics
28. Neil Gaiman’s Journal
29. Getting the Complete Sam & Max hardcover after over 10 years of waiting.
30. Thunderbolts
31. Everyone looking bleary and fragile on Sundays at the Bristol Comic Con
32. Feeling justified in liking Frank Miller because Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore agree with me.
33. “Are you retarded? I’M THE GODDAMN BATMAN”
34. Kill Your Boyfriend
35. All-Star Superman
36. The way Jeffrey Brown draws himself as a child
37. The fact that the American comics industry is dominated by Brits
38. When indie comics artists mock their own artwork in the margins
39. “I… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…Miracleman”
40. The mind-boggling detail in an Alan Moore script
41. The 3 seconds of my life where I forgot Captain America was fictional
42. Scouring longboxes for that one gem of an issue you need, which no-one else cares about
43. The Simpsons comics being funnier than the cartoon is now
44. Finding anatomical impossibilities in Rob Liefeld’s art
45. Genshiken
46. The Perry Bible Fellowship proving that not all webcomics are creatively desolate.
47. When Jim Mahfood crams about 25 tiny panels onto one page
48. The fact that the Matrix comics were the best of all the Matrix spin-offs, adaptations and sequels.
49. The Beano and Dandy
50. Den Ketch but not Johnny Blaze