Top 100 Comic Book Storylines #30-21

We continue our countdown of your picks for with #30-21!

Thanks to everyone who voted – we received over 1,100 ballots! You ranked your favorite storylines from best to worst, assigning points from 10 (for your #1 pick) down to 1 (for your #10 pick). I’ve tallied all the scores, and now we can see the results!

30. “Life as a Weapon” by Matt Fraction, David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth (with Javier Pulido, Steve Lieber, Jesse Hamm, Annie Wu and Francesco Francavilla) (Hawkeye #1-11) – 372 points (4 first place votes)

Matt Fraction and David Aja reimagined Hawkeye by introducing Kate Bishop as Clint Barton’s protégé and partner. The story also follows Clint’s involvement with a local apartment building and his attempts to protect it from criminals. Hawkeye buys the building hoping to help people, but as usual, things don’t go as planned. Despite being surrounded by heroes like Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man, Clint often feels isolated.

Aja’s work on this comic was incredibly innovative, featuring artistic experimentation rarely seen in the medium.

The recent 11th issue brilliantly showed this, focusing on Hawkeye’s dog, nicknamed “Pizza Dog,” and telling the story entirely from the dog’s point of view – without any words!

The popularity of Hawkeye came as a surprise – even to the writer, Matt Fraction, who felt he put the same amount of work into it as his other titles like The Order and Defenders. But for some reason, it really resonated with readers. This success played a key role in Marvel’s decision to experiment with more unique and unconventional superhero stories, such as Ms. Marvel and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. Hawkeye fundamentally changed the landscape of superhero comics, and things were very different after its run.

29. “The Man of Steel” by John Byrne and Dick Giordano (The Man of Steel #1-6) – 381 points (3 first place votes)

This fantastic miniseries by John Byrne and Dick Giordano essentially reinvented the Superman story, setting the stage for a fresh start with all the Superman comics. Surprisingly, the biggest impact of Byrne’s reboot wasn’t what he changed, but how much he kept consistent with the existing lore.

The Superman stories were reimagined, most notably with Lex Luthor portrayed as a successful and admired businessman. Key changes included the removal of Superboy from the timeline and a depiction of Krypton as a harsh, barren world. Superman wasn’t ‘born’ on Krypton, but rather began his life when his ship landed on Earth, where he was raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who were still alive when Clark reached adulthood. Clark Kent’s personality also shifted; while not entirely abandoning his humble side, this version aimed to recapture the original, less passive Clark, differing from later, more subdued portrayals.

John Byrne’s six-issue run on Superman effectively reset key elements of the character’s history. The first issue revisited Clark Kent gaining his powers, followed by the introduction of Lois Lane in the second. Issues three and four featured the first meeting between Superman and Batman, and the debut of Lex Luthor, respectively. Bizarro appeared in issue five, and the final issue revealed Clark Kent’s Kryptonian origins.

It’s tough to highlight a single moment because the story jumps around so much and each part is unique. But I’ll choose a scene I really enjoy: Lois Lane goes to great lengths trying to interview Superman, only to discover a new Daily Planet employee has already gotten the story.

28. “Winter Soldier” by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Michael Lark and Michael Perkins (Captain America #1-6, 8-9, 11-14) – 385 points (3 first place votes)

Ed Brubaker’s “Winter Soldier” was a surprising success. Even his editor doubted the initial idea, but Brubaker convinced them – and readers – that he had found a clever and effective way to revive the character of Bucky!

Brubaker crafted a series of interconnected stories, with the central plot revealing that Bucky Barnes didn’t die in the explosion that seemingly killed Captain America. Instead, he was rescued by the Russians, brainwashed, and turned into a highly skilled assassin. This allowed him to operate undetected – as he remained physically younger than people expected, avoiding recognition after several years. It was during this time that he became known as the Winter Soldier.

Just as the Red Skull is launching another scheme against Captain America, a new villain unexpectedly appears and seemingly kills him. This new enemy, Aleksander Lukin, was the person running the Winter Soldier program and used Bucky to eliminate the Skull and take the powerful Cosmic Cube.

This led to a number of daring attacks and a tragic assault on the city of Philadelphia.

Captain America had been struggling emotionally since the events of Avengers Disassembled. That’s why he was especially upset to learn that his old partner had become a dangerous killer.

but even when he’s down, Cap’s greatest strength is still his compassion…

Brubaker skillfully handles the characters and their unique personalities throughout the series, all while keeping the action intense. Steve Epting’s artwork takes a fantastic new direction with this series, and Mike Perkins provides excellent support. Michael Lark also delivers his signature impressive style in the flashback scenes.

Ed Brubaker started this series with a fantastic first issue, and somehow, he actually improved from there!

27. “The New Frontier” by Darwyn Cooke (DC: The New Frontier #1-6) – 398 points (3 first place votes)

New Frontier was Darwyn Cooke’s love letter to the Silver Age of the DC Universe.

The series aimed to show how the Silver Age of comics developed alongside the real events of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Cooke draws parallels between the historical period of McCarthyism and the world of superheroes, suggesting a troubling future for those heroes.

Okay, so in New Frontier, I’d say the story really focuses on J’onn J’onnz and Hal Jordan. It basically shows you everything about how they both became heroes, from the very beginning of their journeys. It’s cool seeing their whole origin stories laid out like that.

The rest of the story features a fantastic lineup of DC characters, all beautifully illustrated by Cooke.

This book feels like a series of individual stories featuring different heroes – a tale about the Losers, one about Superman, another about Hal Jordan, and so on. These stories build towards a massive alien invasion that forces all the heroes to team up. The central idea is that Superman had become so powerful and relied upon that everyone depended on him for everything. When the villain manages to defeat Superman, it’s up to the lesser-known, Silver Age DC characters – whom the author clearly loves – to rise to the occasion and save the day. This sets the stage for a remarkably drawn-out and impactful sequence.

Darwyn Cooke had worked in animation for years, but this series marked his real breakthrough into comics. It’s wonderful that he returned to the medium, because he profoundly improved it and brought a lot of joy to fans during his final decade.

26. “Infinity Gauntlet” by Jim Starlin, George Perez, Ron Lim, Joe Rubinstein and a couple of other inkers (Infinity Gauntlet #1-6) – 415 points (4 first place votes)

Thanos, a powerful and obsessed being, dedicated his life – and even his returns from death – to winning the affection of Death. When Death requires a champion, she revives Thanos, and he embarks on a quest to find the Infinity Gems – incredibly powerful objects that seem to be the source of power for many ancient cosmic beings.

Thanos gathers all the powerful gems and combines them into the Infinity Gauntlet—a glove that grants its wearer ultimate control over the entire universe. The story of what Thanos does with this incredible power is told in the 1991 Marvel mini-series, Infinity Gauntlet, written by Jim Starlin and illustrated by George Perez (issues #1-3) and Ron Lim (issues #4-6).

In his debut, Thanos attempts to impress Death by instantly eliminating half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers. Understandably, the surviving half immediately tries to stop him. They receive help from Adam Warlock, who has been brought back to life and is a long-time enemy of Thanos.

Warlock rallies a huge team of heroes – even Doctor Doom – to confront Thanos at his base. Meanwhile, Thanos is trying to win the favor of Death (on the advice of the tricky Mephisto) and has deliberately weakened himself using the Gauntlet, giving the heroes a fighting chance.

By issue #3, the heroes have departed, and the battle begins in #4. Thanos easily defeats them – it’s a brutal fight. Cyclops is choked, Iron Man is decapitated, and Thor is shattered into pieces. Ultimately, only Captain America is left, and he bravely faces Thanos alone.

Just as Thanos is about to defeat Captain America, the true purpose of the attack becomes clear. The Silver Surfer arrives incredibly quickly and grabs the gauntlet from Thanos. The entire fight was a distraction, allowing Surfer to steal it.

Only the Surfer misses.

To find out what happens next, you’ll need to continue with the series, but it’s safe to say that Jim Starlin really delivered with this team-up.

25. “The Sinestro Corps War” by Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons, Peter Tomasi, Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver, Patrick Gleason plus a whole lot of other pencilers and inkers (Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Special #1, Green Lantern Vol. 4 #21-25, Green Lantern Corps #14-19) – 442 points (6 first place votes)

This exciting crossover event built on ideas first presented in Green Lantern Rebirth, the story that brought Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps back to life. That storyline also reintroduced Sinestro, and now he’s back with his own team – the Sinestro Corps! The concept of a group of villains using yellow power rings – chosen for their ability to inspire fear – was brilliant, and this story kicked off with a truly spectacular and thrilling first issue.

Kyle Rayner had briefly possessed “Ion,” the source of power for the Green Lanterns. However, in the first issue of this storyline, Sinestro didn’t just take Ion away from Kyle – he replaced it with Parallax, the yellow energy being that Geoff Johns had previously introduced in the Green Lantern Rebirth story.

Wow, that opening sequence was incredible! They turned Kyle into the very thing he fought against way back in the ’90s, and he’s even wearing this messed-up version of his classic outfit from that time. Seriously, what a way to kick off this crossover – it totally grabbed my attention!

This story arc marked the conclusion of the initial phase of Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern series, setting the stage for the introduction of different colored power rings and the expansion of the Corps concept – a storyline that would fully unfold in the Blackest Night event. Importantly, this period also saw a shift in the Green Lantern Corps, becoming more focused on military action and reluctantly accepting the necessity of lethal force in response to the brutal attacks from Sinestro and his Corps.

The story included several large battles, culminating in a final showdown on Earth – the planet that has produced the most Green Lanterns. Ultimately, the author uses this conflict to explore a compelling idea: the strength we find when facing fear together, and what can be achieved by a unified stand against it. It’s truly inspiring.

24. “Avengers Forever” by Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino (Avengers Forever #1-12) – 450 points (5 first place votes)

This well-known time-travel story features an unusual group of Avengers brought together from different eras – the past, present, and future. They must confront Immortus and the Time Keepers, a formidable group who have secretly been controlling the Avengers for a long time. As shown in this scene from the second issue, writer Kurt Busiek and artists Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino carefully select each team member based on a crucial moment in their history.

Pacheco really excelled at giving each character a unique appearance. What’s even better is that when all the heroes are together, you can easily understand how each one is feeling just by looking at the artwork. He truly captured a lot of personality in every drawing – he’s incredibly talented!

In this sweeping story by Busiek and Stern, a mismatched group of Avengers travels through time and across alternate realities, determined to forge their own paths. Surprisingly, they find an ally in one of their most formidable enemies, Kang the Conqueror, who also wants to escape the control of Immortus and the Time-Keepers. The story emphasizes limitless potential, and both the Avengers and Kang battle to achieve it—but can Kang truly be trusted?

Throughout the story, Busiek also resolves some long-standing questions from Avengers lore. It’s a grand, action-packed adventure deeply rooted in Avengers history, but always focused on the genuine, relatable emotions of the characters.

23. “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” by Alan Moore, Curt Swan, Kurt Schaffenberger and George Perez (Superman #423 and Action Comics #583) – 462 points (5 first place votes)

As DC prepared for John Byrne’s reimagining of Superman, they wanted one final story featuring the classic version of the character. Editor Julie Schwartz was thrilled that Alan Moore agreed to write this farewell.

I just finished playing “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” and wow, it was a really emotional ride. It basically showed the final days of Superman, throwing in every villain and supporting character you could think of. It was both super dark and surprisingly touching – a great story overall.

The story centers around Superman facing increasingly dangerous enemies, where typical villains escalate to committing murder.

Now that a surge of lesser villains is creating chaos, Superman is facing serious threats from major enemies like Lex Luthor and Brainiac. He’s gathered his allies at the Fortress of Solitude to prepare for an inevitable attack.

What follows next is a mix of horror and heroism and love and loss.

Two particularly touching scenes involve Superman’s friends, Jimmy Olsen and Lana Lang, who both offer him support in moving and heartfelt ways.

It absolutely breaks my heart watching Lana’s enhanced hearing pick up Superman talking about Lois. And even after that, she still bravely puts herself in danger to save him! It’s just so bittersweet and shows how much she cares.

Ultimately, Moore used every idea and element he had for the book, reaching a natural stopping point that made it ideal for a fresh start with a new title.

Curt Swan’s artwork truly elevated the story—especially with George Pérez inking the first issue and Superman legend Kurt Schaffenberger handling the second. Seeing Swan depict those emotional death scenes was incredibly moving.

22. “Civil War” by Mark Millar, Steve McNiven and Dexter Vines (Civil War #1-7) – 471 points (4 first place votes)

Mark Millar, Steve McNiven, and Dexter Vines created a pivotal Marvel storyline that sparked a major conflict between Captain America and Iron Man. The story centered on whether superheroes should be required to register their identities with the government. At its core, it asked a crucial question: are unchecked superheroes as dangerous as the villains they fight, and should they be held accountable through government oversight?

The story begins with a tragic event: a battle between the New Warriors and supervillains ends with the villain Nitro exploding, killing most of the Warriors and hundreds of innocent people, including schoolchildren nearby. This disaster leads to a critical question: could better training have prevented the fight from happening near a school? This question deeply affects Iron Man, prompting him to support government registration of superheroes, despite his reservations. He’s joined by his young protégé, Peter Parker, who surprisingly reveals his identity to the world in support of the initiative.

Captain America believes forcing superheroes to reveal their identities is a breach of privacy, especially considering his past experiences with government distrust. He and other like-minded heroes are ultimately forced to become fugitives to continue their work. Iron Man and Mister Fantastic, on the other hand, accept the new regulations and work within the system, even developing questionable projects like a prison for unregistered super-powered individuals in the Negative Zone.

Millar excels in this series by wisely allowing Steve McNiven’s incredible art to shine, such as during the scene where Captain America’s team infiltrates the prison and encounters a shocking surprise from Iron Man. But is it really a surprise? And is one of Iron Man’s supposed allies actually betraying him, or is something else going on?

And then that stunning double page splash…

This storyline dramatically changed the Marvel Universe, particularly the Avengers. The team fractured into two groups—one approved by the authorities and another operating outside the law. As Captain America predicted, the government soon fell under the control of the villain Norman Osborn.

21. “Blackest Night” by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis and Oclair Albert (Blackest Night #1-8) – 478 points (4 first place votes)

The story of Blackest Night centers around the common comic book trope of characters returning from the dead. It explores the idea that no one really stays dead in comics, as a new, mysterious force appears with the power to bring deceased characters back to life using Black Lantern Rings.

This method eventually extends even to characters who were previously deceased, as seen in a particularly notable scene in the story’s fifth installment…

At its heart, this story explores the full range of emotions. For some time, Geoff Johns had been developing this idea in Green Lantern, showcasing different emotions as colors – like the Red Lanterns fueled by rage and the Purple Lanterns by love. To defeat Nekron and the power of death itself, all these emotional forces will be necessary.

Ivan Reis delivers a truly epic and dramatic storyline that beautifully wraps up years of Green Lantern history. It provides satisfying conclusions to long-running plots while also cleverly paving the way for future adventures, particularly in the subsequent maxi-series, Brightest Day.

2025-12-30 17:19