Author: Walt

THE GREATEST COMICS OF THE 21st CENTURY By WALT STILES Batman has always been billed as the world’s greatest detective an unparalleled fighter and a great strategist and the smartest person in the room. So what happens if the Batman is not Bruce Wayne but Dick Grayson the original Robin. Turns out it is not that much of a step down from the original Dark Knight. In Detective Comics #871, this story by Scott Snyder Grayson sets up a period when Bruce Wayne was busy running Batman Incorporated, leaving his…

THE GREATEST COMICS OF THE 21st CENTURY By WALT STILES Rairly is there a comic book story that is so epic as Mighty Thor #705. It began with people complaining that Odinson had lost the mantle of Thor and become unworthy then Jane Foster picked up Mjolmir and became the Mighty Thor even though it wasn’t revealed till later in the series who the new Thor was. Even the All-Father Odin did not know her identity. Odinson later said of her you made Mjolmir do things I never did and…

THE GREATEST COMICS OF THE 21st CENTURY By WALT STILES Grant Morrison is at his best with this 12-issue miniseries All-Star Superman. The series took almost three years to finish its original 2005 run but was worth the wait. Morrison created a Superman story that was both a fresh and timeless classic. He brilliantly shows the world of comic book readers how Superman would spend his last days on Earth. Unlike his death at the hands of the monster Doomsday in Superman 75 in the 1990s, Superman completes a series…

THE GREATEST COMICS OF THE 21st CENTURY By WALT STILES Spider-Man has been very popular for many years because he is a person that everyone can relate to. Perhaps not the greatest of heroes in strength or speed or power he is someone who has the same everyday problems that we do. He is not rich or from another planet or gets his power from a ring or chants an oath. Although he is smart he is a nerd. There’s a little ‘nerd’ in everybody. He makes mistakes and is…

THE GREATEST COMICS OF THE 21st CENTURY By WALT STILES X-Men 207 Chapter 13 in the Messiah CompleX is a definitive story of the X-Men in the 21st century. Almost extinct as mutants the X-Men have their future in the birth of a baby. On M-Day Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch used her reality-warping mutant powers to obliterate the X-gene that distinguishes mutants from humans. At that moment nearly all mutants lost their powers. Once a race of millions they now number a few hundred. There have been no new…

THE GREATEST COMICS OF THE 21st CENTURY By WALT STILES Captain America first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), from Marvel Comics’ 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Captain America was Timely Comics’ most popular character during the wartime period. After the war ended, the character’s popularity waned and he disappeared by the 1950s aside from an ill-fated revival in 1953. Captain America was reintroduced during the Silver Age of comics when he was revived from suspended animation by the superhero…

THE GREATEST COMICS OF THE 21st CENTURY By WALT STILES Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time. Civil War #2 was the second-best seller of the decade behind the famous Amazing Spider-Man #583 the Barack Obama commemorative issue. This $2.99 comic sold over 341,900 copies. This is outstanding for any comic book publication, and with total sales, the 7 part…

THE GREATEST COMICS OF THE 21st CENTURY By WALT STILES Wonder Woman is a member of an all-female tribe of Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) who was created by Marston as a “distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to ‘a world torn by the hatred of men.’ She is one of the big three in the DC Universe which includes Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Her first appearance was in All-Star Comics #8 (December 1941)…

THE GREATEST COMICS OF THE 21st CENTURY By WALT STILES The Mighty Thor is what Marvel called their version of the Norse God. Marvel’s God of Thunder did not have red hair from legend but was a very powerful guy. The character first appears in Journey into Mystery #83 (August 1962) and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby. Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, the character is based on the Thor of Norse mythology. Before this issue Thor had been gone…

In 1994, DC Comics decided to do away with Hal Jordan, who had been the primary Green Lantern of Earth since his first DC Comics appearance in 1959, and replace him with a new character to carry on the Green Lantern legacy, Kyle Rayner. The storyline, ”Emerald Twilight”, which began in Green Lantern (vol. 3) #48 (January 1994), involved Hal Jordan descending into madness following the complete destruction of his hometown, Coast City, by the villain Cyborg Superman and becoming the villain Parallax. Emerald Twilight, as scripted by Ron Marz,…