Thor 385 features an unbelievably epic Hulk vs Thor fight that has never been matched before or since.
Amazing Spider-Man #400 is an absolutely beautiful issue when Aunt May dies as Peter recites from memory the directions on how Peter Pan tells Wendy to get to Never Never Land - fly to the star "Second to the right, and straight on 'til morning!"
The Siege on Avengers Mansion from Avengers #277 is a fantastic issue. At what cost - victory?
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #20 features an enraged Spider-Man taking on a foe he could never beat - Iron Man 2020! Simply Spider-Man at his best.
Warlock and the Infinity Watch #1 is epic on another scale. This one features every single cosmic entity in the Marvel Universe as an omnipotent Adam Warlock struggles with his own selfishness. Tons of mind-bending cosmic philosophy in this one.
I could go on and on and on... trust me. Perhaps I will someday. Each of the above mentioned comics is certainly worthy of its own posting. But as I said... have I read the best the comic book medium has to offer? Well, the recently released book "1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die" may hold the answer. I'm certainly interested in taking a peak at this book to see how many of the comics I've read. I wonder if any of the above mentioned gems made the cut?
I guess the problem I'd have is... if I haven't read the comics what can I do? Buy hundreds of trade paperbacks? Seek out expensive and hard-to-find comics online? Borrow what I can from friends? The shame of it is - if you haven't read a comic from this list you'd have a hard time getting your hands on it without laying out some cold, hard cash. Doesn't this mean that the best works in the comic book medium are destined to be forgotten sooner or later? Perhaps some of these 1001 comics could be made available for free online as a part of a "comic book ambassador" movement... A fellow can dream, can't he?
