Yes, it’s that time of the year again, when our thoughts turn to voting … for the best agglomeration of comic book stories by a single creator or a consistent collection of creators (otherwise known colloquially as a “run”) in comic book history! Every year, our old bro Brian Cronin puts together a poll at Comic Book Resources to celebrate certain aspects of comics, and my favorite has always been the Top 100 Runs of All Time, because it’s, to me, the most fun. I am a schmuck, though, so I’ve only actually voted once in this poll, despite the fact that he’s done it three times (2008, 2012, and 2016). But it’s time again to have a good think and come up with your ten best runs you’ve ever read, and then mock those that make the cut and bemoan the fact that the 246-issue run of Ben Raab’s epic Do I Have Something In My Teeth? isn’t included.
You can find Brian’s explanations about things (mainly what counts and what doesn’t) and how to vote (by email, basically, but it’s a tad more in-depth than that) at this link. My top two haven’t changed, but there have been some books recently that, for me, might make the cut. I love diving into this list when it actually comes out and ranting about the fact that people vote for things that haven’t ended yet (how can you judge something that hasn’t ended yet?!?!?!?), so I’m looking forward to seeing what gets voted on and where everything ends up (Sandman and the Lee/Kirby FF will probably take the top spots again, as they often do, but we shall see) and the horrible, horrible mistakes people make (Scott Snyder’s Batman and Tom King’s Batman will undoubtedly be on this list, both of which will be so very, very wrong). It’s fun!
So head on over, check it out, and if you’re in the mood, submit a list. I always agonize way too much over these things – should Chew replace something this time, or does it not quite make it? Should Sandman be higher than Shade, or vice versa? Which Alan Moore run do I like slightly more than another? These things keep me up at night!!!!!
I’ve cast my vote. And yes, it is very tough! There are always some runs I feel bad about leaving out of my top ten.
I know – the final two spots for me are MUCH harder than the first 8!
I wonder how Tom King’s ‘Vision’ and ‘Strange Adventures’ can be so good and then his Batman run be so underwhelming.
I think Simonson’s Thor still takes top spot though.
Thor winning would be a HUGE upset, unless it’s gained a lot in popularity over the past few years (I wonder how influential the Marvel movies will be in this). I can’t remember what won last time, but I don’t remember Simonson’s Thor having the broad appeal of some of them. It would be cool, though!
The winner for 2016 was Claremont/Byrne/Austin’s X-men finally dethroning the previous two time winner Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.
I voted last week when I saw this posted at Cbr. So here’s my list:
1. Grant Morrison’s “Batman”
2. Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin’s “X-men”
3. Frank Miller and Klaus Janson’s “Daredevil”
4. Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, and John Dell’s “JLA”
5. Marv Wolfman/George Perez “New Teen Titans”
6. Chris Claremont’s post-Byrne/Cockrum “Uncanny X-men”
7. Stan Lee/Steve Ditko “Amazing Spider-man”
8. James Robinson’s “Starman”
9. Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson’s “Astro City”
10. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s “Batman”
So yeah it looks like I got at least one horribly wrong lol. My criteria was simple, I just voted for the stuff I loved but I also agree with your rule about a run ending before it should be eligible for vote.
This is also my favorite poll and I look forward to your (hopefully) eventual analysis.
DarkKnight: Thanks for the info. I don’t know if I knew that and forgot or if I missed the list that year. We’ll see if it stays there!
That’s a good list, except for #10, which you got so very, very wrong. 🙂 But yeah, that’s a good list. I have fun breaking these down to the nitty-gritty!
One thing I always want to say to people who are about to vote – whether on favourite comic runs, or the tetrannual penguin parade (my “state” election is coming up tomorrow, your federal election soon):
This isn’t a betting pool, and you don’t get a prize for guessing right. Vote for who you think *should* win, not who you think *will* win.
Yeah, I don’t want to guess at motives of people (that always gets me in trouble), but I always wonder if people really love the Lee/Kirby FF (which I enjoy, but don’t think it’s in the top ten) or if they vote for its influence, as it’s so important.
I’m not guessing at people’s motives when I say that – I’m remembering mine. 🙂
It isn’t as I’ve described; I know people don’t think it’s a betting pool (or I haven’t when I’ve done it), but more a sense of despair: “I’m going to vote for Byrne’s Alpha Flight, but there’s no way it’s going to make it on, so what’s the point?” kind of thing.
My list (have to think about the order):
Atomic Robo
Chew
Savage Dragon
Irredeemable
Thor by Simonson
Suïcide Squad by Ostrander
Tiny Titans
Secret Six by Gail Simone
Planetary
Runaways by Vaughan
Eric: That’s a very good list. I wouldn’t count Atomic Robo and Savage Dragon, as they’re not done yet (I know Atomic Robo is a bit funky in that situation, as each series is fairly self-contained), but that’s still a very good list!
For the record, he may be your “old bro,” but he’s not mine.
My votes broke down into a few categories:
-Landmark superhero runs:
Moore/Bissette/Totleben Swamp Thing
Morrison/Porter JLA
Lee/Ditko Spider-Man
Miller/Janson Daredevil
Simonson (and Buscema) Thor
-Idiosyncratic favorites of mine:
Baron/Rude Nexus
Milligan/Pulido/Chiang Human Target
Gerber/Buscema Defenders
-Stuff I read in the last four years that jumped onto my list:
Lapham Stray Bullets
Hill/Rodriguez Locke & Key
It will be fun to see the final results!