Must Have Single Issues

[boow]

So for 2019, I am trying to give up buying new issues. I've been reading for 25 years or so, and my pull list has fluctuated up and down quite a bit. But a couple years ago I bought Marvel Unlimited and am finally using that as my excuse to give up print issues.

So, I figure I would use those monthly savings to buy up older issues that I've always been interested in...

What are some older issues/storylines that folks keep as crown jewels of their collections? First issues, first appearances, best storyline etc.

I am mostly a Marvel fan, but am also a Batman Rogues fan.

Anyway, here's my first run at my list:

Amazing Spider-Man #300 (Venom 1st full story) (incidentally I used to own this and was probably the most valuable comic I've owned, but it got stolen out of a storage unit!)
Amazing Spider-Man #238-239 (Hobgoblin)
ASM #121-122 (Death of Gwen Stacy/Green Goblin)
ASM #361-363 (Carnage issues)
FF #5 (1st Dr. Doom)
FF #48 (Silver Surfer/Galactus)
Infinity Gauntlet #1-6 (Thanos)
Incredible Hulk #181
X-men #14-16 (Sentinels)
X-men #13 (Juggernaut)
Giant Sized X-Men #1
Uncanny X-Men #94 (1st new team in UXM)
UXM #129-137 (Dark Phoenix)
X-Factor #5-6 (1st Apocalypse)

Batman 404-407 (Year One issues)
Joker (killing joke issues? kills robin issues?)
Poison Ivy
Two-Face
Riddler
Clayface
Scarecrow
Man-Bat
Bane

I dunno what stories are actually good for Batman's rogues. I grew on the Animated Series, and otherwise like the Tim Sale/Jeph Loeb stories, but know there are better stories out there.

So two things:
1) Help me out identifying issues/stories that I might be missing
2) What's on your list?

[Henrik K. Kristensen]

I just love that you have X-men #14-16 in your list.
There sems to be so much hate for Silver Age -Men, but this is a great multi-issue story.

[boow]

Haha, thanks! I have the Omnibus editions of XM,/UXM so I've read the first 140 issues or so just through those editions, which I really like. The omnibus volumes almost defeat the need for the single issues, but I thought I'd try to collect some of the stories I liked.

But the campiness of some of those old stories is one reason why I have no idea which stories of the batman characters to get!

[Ishmael]

I just love that you have X-men #14-16 in your list.
There sems to be so much hate for Silver Age -Men, but this is a great multi-issue story.

I agree. This is a really great story - definitely the best of the early X-men, imo.

And I'd suggest Swamp Thing #7 for your list (from the Bronze Age). It guest stars Batman and has some amazing Berni Wrightson artwork.

Also some classic the Brave and the Bold stories: #85 (introduces Green Arrows new costume, amazing art by Neal Adams) -- #111 (classic team-up with the Joker) -- and #118 (another classic with Batman, Wildcat, and the Joker).

[boow]

And I'd suggest Swamp Thing #7 for your list (from the Bronze Age). It guest stars Batman and has some amazing Berni Wrightson artwork.

Also some classic the Brave and the Bold stories: #85 (introduces Green Arrows new costume, amazing art by Neal Adams) -- #111 (classic team-up with the Joker) -- and #118 (another classic with Batman, Wildcat, and the Joker).

Thanks for the suggestions!

Just out of curiosity, is the DC comics online app better than Marvel's, or does it have a large library of older issues like the ones you suggest?

[Ishmael]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Just out of curiosity, is the DC comics online app better than Marvel's, or does it have a large library of older issues like the ones you suggest?

I have no idea -- maybe someone else can answer that?

[MRP]

The DC Universe library of comics is much smaller than Marvel Unlimited, and it is a curated collection, so things may be dropped as others are added. There are very few full runs up now, mostly selected issues or story arcs. For the entire 1940s Batman series, there are only 90 issues available for instance, and the 1938 Detective Comics series has only 81 issues.

The DC Universe selection is a good start for a nascent service, but it has nowhere near the scope or depth of Marvel Unlimited yet. Of course, Marvel Unlimited was much more limited in scope and depth when it started as well and has been adding content for years.

-M

[Fromper]

So I know I'm late, but I'm relatively new around here, and just exploring sections of the forums that I haven't spent as much time on.

I don't know the Marvel stuff, but I used to read a lot of Batman. Unfortunately, it's been a while since I read my two longboxes of Batman comics (see my signature), but I can still answer some of your questions there.

Batman 404-407 (Year One issues)
Joker (killing joke issues? kills robin issues?)
Poison Ivy
Two-Face
Riddler
Clayface
Scarecrow
Man-Bat
Bane

I dunno what stories are actually good for Batman's rogues. I grew on the Animated Series, and otherwise like the Tim Sale/Jeph Loeb stories, but know there are better stories out there.

So two things:
1) Help me out identifying issues/stories that I might be missing
2) What's on your list?

Batman: The Killing Joke was a one shot special, and well worth getting. It was reprinted several times, so if you're interested in the valuable collectible version, you'll need to research how to spot the first printing. Otherwise, you can probably get a reprint cheap. Well worth it.

Batman: Death in the Family, in which Joker killed the second Robin, took place in Batman #426-429. Though it's not as villain focused as you're looking for, if you're interested in good Batman stories, I'd also recommend the followup story to that, A Lonely Place of Dying, which introduced the third Robin in Batman 440-442 and New Titans 60-61. The crossover is because the original Robin, now operating as Nightwing, was a member (and frequently leader) of the Titans for much of their history.

If you're interested in Bane, and for that matter Batman's entire rogue's gallery, then you should pick up the entire epic Knightfall storyline, which introduced Bane. This was issues 492-500 of Batman and 659-666 of Detective, with occasional spillover into other Bat-related books, and possibly Showcase '93 (don't remember now). The story is that a brand new villain named Bane shows up in Gotham with the goal of "breaking" Batman. He starts by blowing a hole in the side of Arkham Asylum, so that ALL of Batman's rogue's gallery was freed. This led to Batman, and every other hero in Gotham (Robin, Commissioner Gordon, the rest of the GCPD, Huntress, etc) running themselves ragged working overtime to recapture them all. It also led to a lot of unusual and interesting villain team ups, some of which made sense, and others were just based on convenience and had the villains fighting each other as much as the good guys. Once Batman was bruised and exhausted from weeks of nonstop action and not enough sleep, Bane finally fights him, and wins. Overall, it's well worth checking out. I'm not sure how many of the single issues are expensive, but the whole thing's available as trade paperbacks if you want to check it out and decide on your favorite issues before spending bigger money.

Since you said you grew up on the Animated Series, you should know that it actually had it's own comic: The Batman Adventures. There was also The Batman and Robin Adventures later. Basically, all the DC comics with "Adventures" in the title that way, such as Superman Adventures and Justice League Adventures, are based on the cartoons. But not Adventures of Superman, which was actually a renaming of the original Superman comic series.