TOP 10 RETELLINGS OF AN ORIGIN STORY

Uggggggh! That’s the sound most of us diehard comic fans make when we hear that a character will be rebooted from the ground up. It means another rehash of an origin story that, in all likelihood, will never, ever compare to the original. No Spider-Man comic has ever told the origin better than Amazing Fantasy #15. There have been more Superman origin stories than I can count, and all but a few are terrible. Wonder Woman, Thor, and Captain America have never seen a comic that drastically improved on their Golden Age origins—and that’s saying something.

But occasionally, a diamond is cut from rough coal. Sometimes, an origin story reboot either improves on the original or adds something unique and special to it.

These are my favorites.

A few caveats before I begin my list: These are origin retellings, not origin first-tellings. That’s why Amazing Fantasy #15, the single greatest comic of all time, isn’t on here. It’s also not a list of reboots. DC’s new 52 is largely forgettable, but the great Wonder Woman title doesn’t count as an origin story since it really hasn’t told her origin in a single story: It’s parsing out backstory issue by issue, without a grand “origin story” that unveils all you need to know about the character’s inception in one fell swoop. That’s why Grant Morrison’s Action Comics wouldn’t apply here either (also, it’s not quite good enough).

And finally, the classic retelling is from Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman, it’s one page that looks like this:

But that’s not an origin story. That’s a summation. A recap page. It isn’t a blown-out origin tale. Same thing with Morrison’s “Animal Man” work: No real “origin story,” just lots of little bits and pieces dropped throughout the stories. In both of these cases, the overall story was much more complex and satisfying—but it wasn’t an origin story.

Let’s begin.

THE TOP 10 MARK WAID COMICS

Mark Waid.

He is an incredibly prolific, Eisner-award winner.  He part of the trailblazers who are breaking new ground in the work of digital comics, taking real risks and spearheading new ways to tell comic book stories in both the creator-owned area of Thrillbent and for Marvel.  He’s written seminal stories on just about every major hero: Superman.  Flash.  Spider-Man.  Hulk.  The JLA.  Green Lantern.
In short, I can’t even pretend to have read everything he’s written.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t have ten favorites!

Hit the break to get your trade paperback buying list for this great comic author!

WHO THE HELL IS KEITH GIFFEN? (His Top 10 Works)

Note: This post is based on a post that originally appeared at my other site.  It has been updated.

All the real geeks can easily answer the question posed by the title of this post: He’s the mad comic writer/artist and genius behind the semi-satirical Justice League International, and the creator of Lobo. But with a Guardians of the Galaxy movie on the way, I thought it was time that this man got a feature.

Hit the break.

THE TOP 20 COMIC BOOKS OF 2012

Yesterday, I wrote about the ones that were too new to tell or didn’t quite make the top 20 (or were flat out failures).  Today: My 20 favorite books of 2012.  These are the ones I most looked forward to reading, month in and month out, as well as a few graphic novels that really hit hard and stayed with me.

Hit the break to read the list, then drop me a comment to let me know if I missed any!

THE TOP TEN JASON AARON COMICS

On my old site, I wrote about the top 5 Jason Aaron Marvel comic books.  I’m updating that post today, for a comprehensive look at Aaron’s major works.  Dude is prolific, so I can’t say as I’ve read everything he’s ever done, but I’ve tasted quite a bit of his menu and find it widely variable—in both quality and genre. 

After the break, my personal top 10.