Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Greatest Comic Book Moments.

Since I'm sitting here in school, with nothing else to do, I figured I'd go over some of my all time favorite comic book moments. You know, those times when you read a comic and actually get goosebumps, or some other strong emotional response to what you are reading. I'm sure I'm going to miss tons of stuff, but I'll start by listing the stuff I remember, I can always add new stuff later.

The first thing that stands out would be Magneto tearing the adamantium out of Wolverine in X-Men #25. The visual of Magneto just totally KILLING Wolverine, is something I will never forget. The reaction of all the X-Men present at the battle was great as well. Xavier's violent outburst at Mags afterwards was also a great moment.

Another great moment involving Magneto would have to be when he revealed that he had been Xorn to a horrified Prof. X. The whole scene, with the doors all ominously locking, and the Professor losing his mobility was great, but the capper was when the Xorn helmet floated off, revealing the X-men's greatest enemy, standing right within their midst.

The death scene in the "Death of Captain Marvel Graphic Novel" is also something that will always stand out to me. Watching Mar-Vell, the great super-hero slowly waste away, while his friends tried desperately to save his life, is one of the most touching comic books I had ever read. When Mar-Vell finally succumbed to his cancer, I can honestly say I had tears in my eyes...

Another great moment was during the third Captain Marvel series, which dealt with Mar-Vell's son, Genis-Vell. For my money, the two Captain Marvel series with Genis were some of the greatest comics written in the early 2000's, and unfortunately, almost nobody knew about them. The issue in question, though, was when Genis realized that his future son was going to grow up to be one of the greatest villains the universe had ever known. In order to prevent his future son from carrying out his genocidal plans, Genis makes the horrible decision to smother his infant son while he was still in his crib, in order to save the universe. The horrible choice Genis is faced with, as well as the fact that he carries out the terrible act, left me feeling as numb as Genis felt.

Even though I wasn't a fan of DC Comics in my youth, I would occasionally buy certain "special" DC Comic books. One of these issues was the one where Batman gets his back broken by Bane. Looking back on this issue, after getting to know the Batman character better, makes this issue even more powerful to me now. Here was Batman, assaulted on all sides by some of the worst villains Gotham had to offer, returning home, to find Bane waiting for him. Bane thrashing Baman through out the Batcave, and his subsequent breaking of Batman is a pretty powerful read, even though we all know that nothing really came of this act.

Another powerful issue was back in the 80's when Captain America gives up his costume, after growing sick and tired of the corruption in the U.S. Government. Watching Cap agonize over his decision is pretty powerful stuff, even though we all know Steve Rogers can't stay away from Captain America for long.

The entire "Identity Crisis" crossover was pretty powerful, but the death of Jack Drake was especially dramatic. The scene where Robin finds his dead father and Batman is there to comfort him goes such a long way in showing that Batman isn't just the ice cold vigilante, but can also be a caring human being. Robin being hugged by Batman, with the blood of Jack Drake all over the kitchen floor, is one of the more powerful visuals I can remember seeing in any comic book.

I also enjoyed the issue of X-Man (#4 I think), where Nate realizes it was Mr. Sinister who killed his "father" Forge, and literally beats Sinister to death with his bare hands. This action always stuck with me, because it was right around this time that I knew I would be a huge X-Man fan.

On a happier note, the wedding of Scott Summers and Jean Grey was probably by far my favorite wedding issue of all time. Scott and Jean had been together for so long, it was nice to see them finally get married. Jean's "dance" with the Professor stands out as a really touching moment, and the comic as a whole was very nicely done. It was nice to have a wedding that was a celebration, as opposed to turning into the typical big comic book wedding fight.

I'm sure there are many moments I'm missing, but my next class is starting in like 10 minutes, so I'd better start to wrap this up. If anyone would like to post some favorite moments of their own, I would love to read about them, as that gives me a reason to try to buy those comics! If you agree with my picks or not, like I said, I'd love to hear about what you think, as well as your own favorite comic book moments.

No comments:

Post a Comment