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Karl Wiebe
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 8:37am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

I read an article online recently ("100 Greatest Marvels of all Time") and of course it ends with Amazing Fantasy #15.  I think many people agree that the height of Kirby/Lee's FF are issues #48-50.  And of course people love Amazing Spider-Man #121-122.  But here's a question: do you have any "hidden gem" issues that you are among your favorite, even though they may not be historically significant? 

Example: the first FF issue I ever read was King-Sized Annual #11 (1976).  The Fantastic Four travel back in time to 1946 London and meet up with the Invaders.  It was written by Roy Thomas and drawn by John Buscema.  It literally blew my mind—the time travel, the artwork, the way the FF look, Ben Grimm's exoskeleton—I wanted more!!  It was the issue that got me hooked on Fantastic Four as a kid. 



Anyone else have any obscure, "hidden gems" from their past (any titles) they can recommend?
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Robbie Parry
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 8:49am | IP Logged | 2 post reply


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Joseph Gauthier
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 10:30am | IP Logged | 3 post reply



The demons of Limbo attempt to transport Manhattan to Limbo, and it's up to Power Pack and the New Mutants to stop them.
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Bill Collins
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 11:32am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

I can`t remember the issue number off hand, but there is
a Batman story by Harlan Ellison, drawn by Gene Colan
where Batman`s night shift sees him un-needed.
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 12:35pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Jospeh, I remember that issue of Power Pack with great fondness also. Mignola cover as well!

I was very fond of this issue of New Mutants:


It had some really nice art inside by Jackson Guice and though the issue wrapped up a couple of storylines from previous issues, it wove them in really well so that you didn't feel like you had to read them first. The team worked well as a team together, with Professor X guiding them, and it all came together in one satisfying conclusion.
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David Miller
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 1:17pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply



I guess these don't really count as obscure anymore, but they sure were in 1985 when I was a 12 year old new comic book reader. I saw them advertised in a back issue -- of GODZILLA, I think -- and made a point of seeking them out the next time I visited Geppi's Comic World. I think I paid something insane like $3 each for them. Maybe $3.50? Some part of my memory says $7, but my mother would never have let me spend that much on a single comic (not yet, anyway) so that was probably the total.

I think I recognized Jim Starlin's art -- before I started reading comics the poster for THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL jumped out at me, hanging in the window of the comic shop that briefly occupied a local strip mall, from which my parents wisely steered me away.

From there I read Starlin's runs on CAPTAIN MARVEL and  WARLOCK, and eventually realized not all the flashbacks were recaps. Here was this awesome, self-contained story none of my friends had heard of, and then a few years Marvel revived the characters in as many the stupid ways as possible, one of the early of a thousand cuts that eventually killed my childhood dead.
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Brian Hague
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 3:23pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

I have a great many comics in mind that could fit here. I meet with a friend every week or two at a nearby restaurant to compare and recommend issues the other might not be aware of or ones we think pack a special punch. 

Karl, were we only supposed to offer one or two issues in response to this question, or can we vamp a little bit? In case we're only supposed to answer with one, I'm going to offer at random Ghost Rider #68.

If you read this single comic, you don't need any other Ghost Rider issues. Everything important about the character is summed up and done in one. 

Ghost Rider enters a small adobe church in the desert and steps into the confessional where he tells his life's story to the man in the white collar, from the beginning of his pact with Satan, right up to that day. Aside from serving as an origin and an album issue ala' X-Men #138 and Cap #255, the comic tells a complete story of its own, and it's a good one. 



Edited by Brian Hague on 17 April 2018 at 3:24pm
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Roberto Melendrez
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 4:02pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply


Arguably one of the best Batman comics ever- in my opinion! Easily one of the best of it's era!

Artwork by Michael Nasser, Michael Golden & Marshall Rogers! The Michael Golden story is particularly sweet artwise but also a solid story (where Batman is married by Ra's Al Ghul to his Ra's daughter Talia- when Batman is incapacitated)

Fantastic issue!
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Doug Centers
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

This Haney, Aparo gem was my intro to Metamorpho.
Image result for brave and the bold 121

Man Aparo is so my Batman artist!
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Karl Wiebe
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 4:07pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

I am loving this!  Great question about multiple "best gems" - I would vote for one best issue (at least for that character) - trying to avoid a post where someone just lists 37 books without any backstory.  I am actually going to be reading these suggestions so if I am being totally selfish, I love the one issue per post with a bit of explanation.  This is like the virtual coffee shop where we meet to brag about a favorite book from our past!  Thanks, these are great!
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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 4:52pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

I take it is this was an inventory fill-in issue since it has a bit of a framing sequence, but it's still just a perfect issue!  Jim Starlin writes and draws (with some inking by Steve Leialoha if I recall correctly) a tale that has Ghost Rider racing literal Death in the desert.  Every so often, Starlin would just come in and show everybody and how to do a comic.



Edited by Eric Jansen on 17 April 2018 at 4:57pm
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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 17 April 2018 at 5:09pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

I was able to tell Jim Starlin a few years ago at a Comic-Con panel that this issue of SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (#239) was probably my favorite comic of all time.  He was cool and gracious, but he did mention that he didn't really like the Legion and he did this as a favor to the editor.  I was surprised, but then I wonder if that dislike pushed him to make the feature something that he WOULD like.  Anyhow, this tale of Ultra Boy framed for murder and on the run, while Chameleon Boy shows his deducing chops to figure out the true murderer, with Joe Rubinstein's flawless inks and Paul Levitz scripting, is just amazing.


Edited by Eric Jansen on 17 April 2018 at 5:15pm
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