favorite runs/story arcs

[General Nerditry]

My top three Marvel arcs in the past 15-ish years are below. Some have already mentioned them, but I have also explained why.

Grant Morrison's run on New X-Men. At the time it was a welcome shot in the arm the X-books needed. It reinvigorated the line and was a fresh take. It had that excitement all the way down to your gut feeling that is so hard to find. The artwork is grossly uneven, and the ending isn't as good as it could have been, but overall it is my favorite X-run bar none.

Punisher MAX by Garth Ennis - This is a realistic, unfiltered crime story and somewhat of a character study of the Punisher. No super powers, no tights. Lots of scum of the earth getting what's coming. It is grounded and not at all in the regular MU and it was one of, if not the only consistently good book on my pull list every month. Every issue was good. Some were better than others, but it was a great run. Good rotating pool of artists, too.

Would you believe I forgot number three as I was typing? Anyway, here are my honorable mentions. It's possible one of these was the other one.

Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men." If you like nostalgia, classic X-Men, and witty dialogue you can't really go wrong. Stunning artwork in the first arc, too. The first arc is by far the best.

Ed Brubaker's Captain America - This was the first time I've been interested in Cap. Great writing like a spy thriller and great art. It gets a little wonky once all of the events interfere, but the core plot and Winter Soldier story are fantastic.

Peter Allen David's X-Factor (2000s) - While this one suffered a bit due to editorial interference (direction changes, cast changes, working around events) PAD just works wonder with these characters, and it's pleasant to read. It's like a soap opera a bit in it's more about following the characters than the plot, but very enjoyable.

[The Whovian]

-Miller's Daredevil run
-Bendis and Brubaker's Daredevil run
-Brubaker's Captain America - Winter Soldier run
-Stern/Byrne Captain America run
-Hickman's FF run
-Hickman's Secret Warriors run
-Byrne's FF run
-Walt Simonson's Thor run
-PAD's Hulk run
-Pak's Hulk run
-Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man run
-Claremont/Byrne's Uncanny X-Men run
-Busiek/Perez Avengers run
-Busiek/Pacheco's Avengers Forever
-Brubaker/Fraction's Immortal Iron Fist run
-Annihilation/Realm of Kings/Nova/GotG cosmic complete run
-Thunderbolts v1
-Exiles v1
-Age of Apocalypse
-Secret Wars v1

[The Whovian]

Secret Warriors by Jonathan Hickman
Captain America by Brubaker
Immortal Iron Fist by Brubaker and Fraction
Annihilation and prequels by Giffen and DnA
Kang Dynasty by Busiek
Avengers Forever by Busiek
Thor God of Thunder by Aaron
Fantastic Four by Hickman

We seem to have the same taste in comics. For the record, I think Hickman is the best writer in comics right now

[Baron Samedi]

Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men."

That was a fine read indeed. And the cover of the 6th issue is still to this day one of my all time favorite.

[General Nerditry]

That was a fine read indeed. And the cover of the 6th issue is still to this day one of my all time favorite.

Oh, yeah, beautiful covers. Cassaday's artwork is amazing when he isn't rushed.

Oh, I forgot one! It should go in the honorable mention list. Exiles by Judd Winnick. At the time, it also had that exuberant excitement and just engrossing quality about it that Morrison's NXM had. The core concept was really cool. It was like an ongoing What-If story with a group displaced from time repairing universe's gone wrong to repair the fabric of time. The characters were amazing. Very believable relationships and dynamics. Now, the downside.... after Winnick left, the quality of the book absolutely tanked so there was no proper "real ending" that feels right. It was taken over by Tony Bedard and later Chris Claremont. Opinions vary on when it really began to nosedive. For me, it was the last arc by Winnick and just about everything after. Austen's fill-ins were good surprisingly. The first few trades are some of my favorite Marvel reading, though. Thinking about it, the book was bad for a far longer time than it was good. Shame.

[Nomads1]

I haven't been that active a reader (or, at the very least, that happy a reader) in the last 10 or 15 years, but, let's see.

Kurt Busiek's Avengers, with special mention to Avengers Forever, Kang Dynasty, and Ultron Unlimited.
Joss Whedosn Astonishing X-Men.
Geoff Johns Avengers, with special mention to THe Red Zone.
Giffen and DnA's Annihilation (including the GotG and the Nova series and all the other cosmic events) right up to Thanos Imperative.
Pak and Van Lente's Incredible Hercules.
Ellis and Deodato's Thunderbolts
Slott's Mighty Avengers (though that might have been my good Avengers starved mind).

And, I guess, that's it. There were other series, runs and arcs that I liked, but can't call them favorites, such as Avengers the Initiative and Academy, but nothing that I would call a favorite. Now, if we went back more the list would certainly be larger.

Peace