Avaitor's Top 25 Marvel Stories

[Dr. Insomniac]

And besides what Insommy mentioned, Civil War was partially his fault.

I always hear about how bad Civil War is, but I've never read it. What makes it so awful?

[Avaitor]

Eh, Spidey being an Avenger just seems like a natural progression of his character to me.

I just don't think that Spidey works well in a team. He was an honorary Avenger before, and has helped with the Fantastic Four a bunch, but he always seems out of place. To me, he's a free agent who doesn't work well any other way.

And I still don't get why Spider-Man is stuck in his original way in New Avengers, like OMD didn't happen. I understand that Bendis didn't want to retcon Avengers like that, but he could have easily wrote him out.

[Foggle]

And besides what Insommy mentioned, Civil War was partially his fault.

I always hear about how bad Civil War is, but I've never read it. What makes it so awful?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/ngrey651/bull05.jpg

JESUS CHRIST

I need a new monitor now...

[Spark Of Spirit]

That didn't even make sense.

[Dr. Insomniac]

That didn't even make sense.

Of course it does. How can he be Captain America if he doesn't know his pop culture?

[Daxdiv]

What did I just read people?

[Dr. Insomniac]

What did I just read people?

Civil War, that's what you just read.

[Avaitor]

Err, let's get that bad taste of Captain America out of our mouth with some more good stuff out of the way. And I promise you some good Cap.

15-

Amazing Spider-Man #229-230 "Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut

You do NOT fuck with Peter Parker's loved ones. No matter who you are.

The Juggernaut, Professor Xavier's half-brother, comes into Manhattan on a rampage, and by request, nearly kills Madame Web, Spider-Man's peculiar mentor. As per usual, Parker has been having a bad period going on, and this just takes the icing on the cake.

He takes on the Juggernaut one-on-one, since the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Avengers, all of which have taken him on before, are way. This is pretty crazy when you get down to it, since this guy is fucking built, and as strong and agile as Spidey is, he's no match for him. Does Spidey win? Does the Juggernaut get to complete his job? And how does Madame Web turn out? Read it to find out. All I'll say is that this is one of my favorite Spider-Man tales if only to show how intense Parker can get when he needs to be.and hey, I didn't reference that one meme in here at all... fancy that

14-



Fantastic Four Annual #2 & Fantastic Four #258 "The Origin of Doctor Doom" & "Interlude"

Two totally different stories, made in different decades by different teams, and they aren't even really continuations of one another. I combine them together however since to me, they both capture the best of Victor Von Doom.

The former is exactly what it sounds like- the origin of Doctor Doom. We see that Doom was raised by gypsys, and that he was born by a studier of witchcraft, burned at the cross, while his father was a gypsy healer. Von Doom senior is taken to save a gypsy from dying, but fails. Karma comes back to him shortly after, as he dies and leaves Victor an orphan.

Victor eventually takes it upon himself to study medicine, like his father, and becomes a genius scientist. He leaves the village in Latveria, where he now rules, to study in the United State. The funny thing is we learn that he went to the same alma mater that Reed Richards and Ben Grimm went to, and not only did Von Doom have a potent encounter with Mr. Fantastic, but Richards once again proves why he is the biggest asshole in all of comics and that he's responsible for the creation of Doctor Doom. It's one of the greatest origin stories ever told, so much so that even though it's only 13 pages long, it's far more remembered than the main story in the Annual itself.

The second was written in the John Byrne era, basically as a simple day in the life tale for Doom. Changing pace by not showing any of the Four in it at all, we see how Doom lives his life, both the good and the bad. Byrne's run is famous for adding a bit of light-hearted humor into the action and heart that made the title so revered after all these years, and this is no exception as to why it's so iconic. Two great stories that I just have to put together.

13-

The Infinity Gauntlet

Wanna get pumped for Avengers 2? Read this.

Basically, everyone that ever mattered in the Marvel Universe take on Thanos when he gets rejected by his old flame, Death, and decides to use the allmighty power of the Infinity Gauntlet to fuck the universe up. Even Galactus doesn't stand a chance against Thanos. Of course, if he won, there wouldn't still be a Marvel, would there? But it's the battle that makes the story. And every string you can think of gets pulled, right down to some team-ups you'd never imagine happening, leading to an embarrassing end for Thanos.

But still, how would you describe Thanos here?



Okay, Mephisto.

12-

Captain America #122 "The Sting of the Scorpion"

I have a feeling that Captain America 2 will take some themes from this tale. Here, we see Steve Rogers, still a fish out of water in present-day Manhattan, walk around town and questioning the current state of the country as we were at war and in the midst of unbelievable political turmoil. Is the American Dream dead? Or are we just going through changing times?

Cap ponders all of this, in between an admittedly average fight with the Scorpion. But it does make for some of Lee's sharpest dialogue. Perhaps we should have all battled less and questioned more. And at least there's no references to American Idol in here.

11-

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills

Did you like X2? This is where the inspiration behind it came from, so you need to read this. Didn't like it? Then maybe you'd like the original take on the story here instead, so you need to read this. Have you still not seen X2? It's easily in the top 5, if not top 3 super hero movies ever made, so you need to either watch it or read this first, then get to the other.

Reverend Stryker, a military general-turned evangelist, conducts a TV debate with Xavier, discussing the pros and cons of mutant-dome. While Xavier is cool and collected, bring out very strong points as to why his fellow homo superiors deserve the same rights as us homo sapiens, Stryker knows how to speak to the impressionable home audience, and sounds nice and inviting, despite keeping his evil message intact. Shortly after the interview is done and Cyclops and Storm take Xavier home, Stryker orders a hit out on the three mutants to bring them over to his lair, and finds a way to break Professor X's mutant ability to read into people's minds and do the same to him, bringing God's words into his psyche. For this brief period, Xavier becomes downright scary, and it's hard to believe that he would break his intentions as easily as this.

Meanwhile, the rest of the mutants have an encounter with Magneto, who knows that Stryker is capable of much more, and convinces them to join his fight. It all culminates in a big fight in public where things don't go the way you'd expect them to in an X-Men story.

This is a shockingly graphic tale for the time being. Watchmen was still a year or two away, so it's surprising to see such intense violence and language used. Some of Stryker's actions are downright shocking, particularly his origin explaining how he began to spread "God's word". It's also such a great comic for showing the similar ideals but contrasting methods between Xavier and Magnus. Despite meaning well with hopes of world peace and unity, Magneto himself is too vengeful for Xavier to side with, even though he agrees to an extent that violence might help their cause. It also explores the theme of persecution that Lee's original run was too heavy-handed with, but Claremont handled more efficiently.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I've never read the Infinity Gauntlet, but my friend doesn't seem to like it too much. I'm not sure why, he won't really tell me.

[Lord Dalek]

God Loves Man Kills is probably my favorite X-Men story of all time. Nice to see it on this list.

[Avaitor]

God Loves Man Kills is probably my favorite X-Men story of all time. Nice to see it on this list.

And you were partially wrong! Will your other call on #1 make it to the top?

Stick around and find out.

[Lord Dalek]

God Loves Man Kills is probably my favorite X-Men story of all time. Nice to see it on this list.

And you were partially wrong! Will your other call on #1 make it to the top?

Stick around and find out.

Well as long as it isn't a certain issue of Amazing Fantasy... so sick of that.

[Avaitor]

#15? It's one of the best origin stories to be sure, but yeah, Spidey has seen better days since his debut.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I've read a bit of God Loves, Man Kills. And it's almost disturbing how relevant it is to today's times.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Taking someone else's words and twisting them to your own cause? That will always be relevant.