Underrated runs/stories

[Overhazard]

Ill always have a soft spot for Neil Gaiman's Eternals. Makes me want to back and read Kirby's stuff from the 70's. There's also Jim Valentino's Guardians of the Galaxy. Its very 90's, and it wasn't groundbreaking, but it was fun, certainly more than the current book.

[SoupStainedTie]

The late 90's as a whole really doesn't get enough recognition for what an overall great time it was. The last real hurrah of good old fashioned super hero comics before NuMarvel took over in the early 2000s.

We had:

Heroes Return Avengers books - Busiek/Perez Avengers, Waid/Garney/Kubert Captain America, Busiek/Stern Iron Man, Jurgens/RomitaJr Thor.

First wave of Marvel Knights - Smith/Quesada Daredevil, Priest/Tex Black Panther, Jenkins/Lee Inhumans

X-Men - The wonderful but way too short Seagle/Kelly runs, Joe Kelly Deadpool, John Francis Moore/Pollina/Cheung X-Force, Joe Casey/Ladronn Cable

The rest of MU had Niceiza/Bagley Thunderbolts, Waid/Kubert Ka-Zar, Ostrander Heroes For Hire

On the alternate world side, there was also Earth X and the MC2 books.

There were certainly some duds (Spider-Books, Claremont's Fantastic Excalibur (Four), etc.), but overall it was a fun time with some great stuff.

[Cap808]

Geoff Johns' run on Avengers was great! It had an old school feel to it, while at the same time setting up so many different plotlines for future use.

DnA's Nova and Annihilation. They should be constantly appreciated for setting up the Guardians of the Galaxy, and any other Marvel cosmic storylines from here forward.

Robert Kirkman's Captain America. I found it somewhat campy, but you could tell that he loved the character and the universe he lived in.

[The_Last_Czarnian]

Jenkins/Lee. The Sentry. Yeah, the original "hoax" mini. It was the first non-Punisher MAX comic that I read (this was back in '06), and I loved it. I thought it was one of the best things I'd ever read. Got caught up on Marvel via New Avengers, HoM, Civil War, and Mighty Avengers. Team following the Sentry, really. Then came online and realised how maligned he was by the Internet Community. I didn't get it. But Bendis ruined Sentry. Should've left the character between the covers of his first and best mini.

Someone else mentioned: Aaron's Punisher MAX run. Superb, and sad, and uplifiting all at the same time. Sure. If you're an Ellis-phile, you could consider Punisher: The End to be your ending to MAX if you want. But Aaron's work is awesome. Only drawback? Steve f-king Dillon's art.

Nick Fury MAX, by Garth Ennis. Ties into his Punisher MAX work. Well. Shares the same universe. Brutal, brilliant, thought provoking.

[Nomads1]

The writer's name was Evan Sloknick, who followed Fabian's run with Issue #54.

Yes, Thank you. I knew it was Evan something. I liked his NW run.

I'm not sure how well-received it was but I think the Mark Waid/Mike Wieringo run on Fantastic Four was quite good.

I like it quite a lot. Waid is a favorite of mine, and I think he had a great take on the Four. Though I understand that some people had some issues with his portrail of Doom, thinking his Victor was not honorable enough. I for one think he was scary as hell.
Also agree with SoupStainedTie that the 90's was the last hurrah for good old-fashioned super-hero comics and that it was an awsome period, light-years ahead of anything that Nu marvel has given us. I did Kind of like Claremont's Fantastic Excalibur though. It was an aquired taste, however it was the first Claremont work since he left the X-men in which he didn't seem to be trying to write X-Men. Sure, it had quite a few elements from the mutants books, but it had just as much from the FF and from other spots of the MU. It trule felt like Chris Claremont putting his stamp in FF. For me at least.
Also a big fan of Johns Avengers. IMHO, the last great classic Avengers run.

Peace

[scouse mouse]

Elektra by Blackman and Del Mundo. Why didn't you buy it people?????

[dzub]

The only run i can think of now is Deadpool - Duggan & Posehn
It's hardly on any site's best of list, won't make it to the headlines like female thor or Sam Wilson Cap.
This series has added substance and emotions to a character that was severely lacking it.
The last issue alone was gold

[numberthirty]

Hickman's Secret Warriors was criminally underrated.

This series gets short changed left and right.

I loved Fraction's FF (just the FF title, not Fantastic Four) but no one ever mentions it when they bring up his Marvel work.

This is a shame. It seems like it is a perfect balance between being for the kids and for the fogeys.


The Morrison/Grant "Counter-X" X-Man run. So well done. Concepts that I can't recall seeing anywhere else were introduced there.

[Project Initiative Cascada]

Marv Wolfman's Amazing Spiderman run

Roger Stern's Avengers run (Did I just hear someone on this thread say he was fired? How could Marvel??)

Louise Simonson's New Mutants run

The original Spider Woman solo series was way too underrated in general.

[t hedge coke]

The Morrison/Grant "Counter-X" X-Man run. So well done. Concepts that I can't recall seeing anywhere else were introduced there.

Counter-X, in general, was very strong, though Gen X didn't hold me much. That was Ellis and Grant, though, no Morrison.

[HUTHAIFA]

Peter B Gillis/Denys Cowan Black Panther mini series. Had all the elements that I would want a future BP writer to explore. Politics,Religion,Bigotry,and Romance.

Tom DeFalco/Ron Frenz NU tHOR/THUNDERSTRIKE run is just pure joy. The only Thor run that I have enjoyed as much is Aaron's recent Godbomb run.

Power Pack original series

[HUTHAIFA]

Oh Yeah. Marvel Boy by Morrison and Jones was brilliant. Nothing done with the character since has been worth noting.


The Crew was so short lived and full of promise. Priest was on fire.

Nicieza/Capullo run on X-force run has only Remender and Opena as an equal.

[AJpyro]

There you have to be careful though in which one you mean. The first run that was fun and amazing or the second run that was a confused train wreck that pretty much ruined the character and led to him being killed off? If your talking the first run I agree with you.

That would be vol 4, right?

Oh and:

DnA Guardians and Nova.

[numberthirty]

Counter-X, in general, was very strong, though Gen X didn't hold me much. That was Ellis and Grant, though, no Morrison.

Doh...

You are totally correct. X-Force was decent, but X-Man was truly brilliant. Just the "The Authority" analogs getting wiped out easily.

[shgs]

This is a shame. It seems like it is a perfect balance between being for the kids and for the fogeys.

Yep it had plenty of depth but managed to capture that retro up-beat feeling that everything would work out by the end of the issue.

Fraction's Hawkeye is often stated as a defining book for the modern era of Marvel, but it his FF whose light, breezy, retro-post-modern influence I feel most often in the likes of She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, Squirrel Girl, Rocket Raccoon, even the current vol of Thor with its vibrant colours, thought bubbles and Aaron's stated desire to move away from individual story arcs.

Having said that, in thinking of which comic books might have been influenced by FF, I have realised that Waid's Daredevil predates it by a good year, so maybe that's what started the current trend.