Your Favourite Story Arcs

[Elliot Kane]

Inspired by Venom's favourite single issue thread.

What are your favourite story arcs? Can be from any series you like...

I'll list mine later.

[Elliot Kane]

For me, this one is easier as I tend to think in complete stories rather than parts thereof

In no particular order:

The first series of Top Ten, by Alan Moore. It's basically all one story, and it's great Hill Street Blues with superheroes... Only Moore would have thought of that

Hitman: Who Dares Wins - the story arc from Hitman featuring an elite SAS team sent to kill the main character because of a stupid SNAFU from his army days - and a bit of army politics. Tommy is completely and utterly outclassed from first to last, as he should be, and flukes it. I really want Garth Ennis to do a straight SAS comic just on the strength of this.

The New Mutants: Demon Bear Saga. From early in the series, this features the first serious sorcerous threat to face the NM - and some of Illyana's best early moments. Claremont plays to his strengths as a storyteller, and this is arguably the best arc of his best ever series.

Hawk & Dove: the arc where Hank & Dawn discover the source of their power. They get an incidental power upgrade, but boy do they have to earn it

Captain America: The Superia Stratagem. How can you not love the ultimate Feminist villainess, who wants to rule the world by enslaving all men to do her bidding? Not to mention Cap having to fight about a billion villainesses...

Scion: the arc where Ethan & Ashleigh go underwater in search of allies, and finally admit their love for each other. Awww... Probably the best realised couple in comics at that point, too.

Lucifer: The House Of Windowless Rooms. Lucifer is on his own and powerless, walking into a place where he is hated to recover his stolen wings. His only weapon is his brain... Will it be enough? You bet!

The Demon: the arc where Etrigan & Lobo search through hell for a new heart for Etrigan's father. Absolutely hilarious from beginning to end. Especially the songs


Might add more later

[hector]

Continuing..

I don't think the Hawk and Dove one has a name for the arc. Anyway, it happens in Hawk and Dove v.2 #14-17.

The Demon arc is called "The Eternity Quest" and happens in Demon v.2 #31-39

[Elliot Kane]

Yeesh! The Encyclopaedica Hectica is still the supreme source of all comic knowledge

[hector]

It's incomplete, tough.

I know nothing about Crossgen. Their titles never piqued my interest enough.

But having read such a load of comics makes it really hard to participate in threads like these. I can list my favorite runs, and If it came to series I would definitely pick Starman and Sandman, but getting more specific like arcs or single issues? too hard for me.

[Elliot Kane]

I tend to just mention the stuff that has either been favourites for many years or that I truly love from recently. Ad only one from each series in any case. Otherwise I'd end up with far too many. I doubt I've read a tenth of the comics you have though, Hec.

I should be able to beat you on CrossGen, though. In theory

[Gray Lensman]

He's not kidding either. I've seen some of his write-ups on CG. ;D

Favorite story arcs... this will take some thinking about. I'll list a few that come to mind offhand, though...

Kitty Pryde & Wolverine. For my money, the definitive Kitty story. This mini tore down Kitty's entire life, and forced her to rebuild herself up into a stronger heroine. Ogun was also rather a great villain, and sadly poorly utilized since this story. It's an absolute crime that this mini was never reprinted, IMO.

I'll agree with the first Top Ten series. Some of Alan Moore's greatest and most daring work, and that is really saying quite a lot. This is the right way to build a universe and a series, even if what came afterwards wasn't quite as good.

Astro City: Confession. Probably my favorite Astro City arc ever. The story focuses on a young man with no powers who is trying to make his fortune as a hero's sidekick. Confession really deals with discovering the truth, about oneself and others, and about standing up for the right thing even if it's unpopular. I also rather loved the Confessor, who was an intriguing and yet tragic character. Astro City is a consistently excellent series, but Confession is the story I usually go back to.

The Magus arc at the end of Claremont's run on New Mutants (#46-50). I love Demon Bear, but this one speaks to me more somehow. It starts with the NM in the middle of the Mutant Massacre, and then being hunted across space and time by the Magus. This storyline offered a serious threat to the entire team, and shook the team dynamics to the foundation. My only regret about it is that CC never got a chance to explore the consequences of what he'd set up here.

The Great Darkness Saga. Darkseid at his absolute worst against the entire Pre-Crisis Legion of Super-Heroes. I actually started reading DC at the end of this story, so I have fond memories of it. Some wonderful stuff from Levitz and Giffen.

The Judas Contract. The definitive Deathstroke story in Teen Titans, and it's worth reading at least once. This story placed Slade Wilson on the map as one of DC's most dangerous villains, where he remains to this day.

"How Strange My Destiny" from Jim Starlin's 70's run on Warlock. Adam Warlock's first team-up with Thanos against the Magus and the Universal Church of Truth. A lot of really interesting commentary about sanity, religion, and changing one's path in life.

Waid and Guice's first arc on Ruse. Imagine Sherlock Holmes by way of Moonlighting, and you've got a pretty good idea of it. It's some truly remarkable writing, and probably ranks among Waid's best ever.

Miracleman: Olympus. Alan Moore's ultimate statement on superheroes trying to change the world. That it's inspired so many imitators, and that said imitators haven't even approached the impact of this work, speaks for itself, I think...