50 Things I Love About Comics

Woohoo! I love this meme. So, following the example of Ragnell and Kalinara and others, I give you some of my favorite things.

l. The Green Lantern Corps. Well, duh, this surprises you? It is just such a wonderful concept with the Guardians, and the history, and Cops in Spaaaaaaaace!

2. The JSA. A bunch of old farts that can still show the young whippersnappers how it's done. I also love the whole family/legacy aspect of the Justice Society.

3. Reading about reading comics. I admit it, I really love going and visiting all my favorite blogs in the morning.

4. Really stupendous artwork. Yeah, there is some dreadful stuff out there, (I'm looking at the 90's) but there is also some heartbreakingly beautiful work as well. Aparo, Moebius, Alex Ross, Ivan Reis, Pat Gleason, John Buscema, Neil Adams, Curt Swan, Ethan Van Sciver, Hugo Pratt, Milo Manara, Craig Russell, Darwynn Cooke, Kevin Maguire and tons of others.

5. Silver Age Insanity. I love it, you love it, you know you do.

6. FUN comics. I actually love funny books, as delivered by Giffen & DeMatteis's JLI, the Damage Control mini-series, Nextwave, the new Blue Beetle, anything with the Defenders, the Punisher vs. Archie, Hitman...and so on.

7. European comics. I love DC and Marvel, but there is some fabulous other goodies out there, such as Asterix, Tintin, Lt. Blueberry, Corto Maltese and Lucky Luke for starters.

8. Guy Gardner.

9. Blue Beetle. I love Jaime, although I still love Ted Kord more. Bring back Ted!

10. They're bringing back Thor! Not Clor! My very first comic book, purchased with my own hard-earned money back as a mere slip of a girl was a Thor comic. I loved his hair.

11. Hal Jordan.

12. Back issues, reprints, Showcase Collections, and all the ways to find the old stories without going completely broke.

13. Jonah Hex. And Westerns in general.

14. Birds of Prey and Manhunter. Two excellent books that I came late to, but have fallen in love with.

15. ACTUAL comic books. I love buying them, I love the look of them, the feel of them and even the smell of the old ones. It is a tactile and visual experience that should never go away.

16. Kyle Rayner.

17. 52. 52 was a fun book, it came out every week, and it came out on TIME!

18. Kilowog.

19. Friendships. I love Ted and Booster together, Hal and Barry, Hal and Ollie, Wolverine and Nightcrawler, Luke & Danny, Fire & Ice, and Babs and Dinah. Just makes me all smooshy inside.

20. Marriages. I'm SUCH a sap. Ralph and Sue, Barda and Scott, Reed and Sue, Clark and Lois, Alan & Molly, Jay and Joan, Wally and Linda, Peter and Mary Jane, Barry and Iris. So sweet.

21. John Stewart.

22. Cliffhangers. I like cliffhangers, and that feeling of oh my gosh! I can't wait till next issue!

23. Sandman. ALL the versions of Sandman. Wesley Dobbs, Sandy, and Hector Hall, as well as Morpheus. Darn good stuff.

24. The history, or continuity. Yes, it gets convoluted, but it is still fun knowing all the ins and outs of your favorite characters.

25. Being able to completely ignore continuity. Sometimes, you just have to wash out your brain. Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage for example never took place, and we will never speak of it again.

26. The Guardians. Omnipotent tiny blue men in red jammies, who aren't quite as benevolent as they like to appear. Sneaky little devils.

27. The Justice League. And the Avengers too, I suppose. There is a need for heroes to get together and gang up on the criminals and alien invasions.

28. The Brave & the Bold. Like the Justice League, but on a smaller scale. Marvel Team-Up for the same reason. Let's put Batman and Hal Jordan together for fun.

29. Dr. Doom. He's SUCH a cool villain.

30. Those ridiculous fan-generated matchups. Can Batman whup Wolverine or vice versa? Who's REALLy stronger, or faster, or whatever. It is silly, but still fun.

31. Super Hero Headquarters. Who wouldn't like to hang out at the JLA's Watchtower, or Xavier's Home for Wayward Mutants? The Batcave is cool, as is the Avenger's mansion.

32. The Big Three. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. They aren't my absolute favorite characters, but we still need them. At least on occasion.

33. Nazis, Dinosaurs and talking Apes. Comics GOLD!

34. Great writing in addition to great art. Kanigher, Stan Lee, Broome, Fox, Geoff Johns, Giffen, and so on and so on.

35. Kicks to the face. Chris Sims is right, it is always a lot of fun to have gratuitous violence.

36. Vertigo. I went through a stage when that was about all that I was reading, and there have been some sensational books from Vertigo. Still are for that matter.

37. Power Girl AND her cat.

38. Annoying characters that you love to hate. Snapper Carr and General Glory fall into this category, as does Stiltman and lately, Tony Stark.

39. The IN-justice League. Incompetent villains are always a lot of fun.

40. Warriors. We NEED to have a super hero bar. Guy doesn't have to run it, but they should bring back Warriors.

41. Super hero relatives. For some reason, I like knowing that Clark had wonderful parents in the Kents, that Hal Jordan has brothers, and that Maxine Hunkel is Ma Hunkel's grand daughter, that Alan Scott had twins and so on.

42. Comic book locations. The Daily Planet, the Bugle, LexCorp, places like Bialya and Khandaq.

43. Soranik Natu, Arisia, Katma Tui and Iolande.

44. The Bat Signal. I'm not really much of a Bat fan, (although I adore Alfred), but the Bat Signal just gives me tingles for some reason.

45. Oracle. SUCH a wonderful concept.

46. "Rebirth" by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. We got Hal and the Corps back, dammit!

47. Wolverine. I admit it, I'm fond of the little carnivore. And, he's Canadian!

48. Wednesdays. My favorite day of the week. A religious experience if you will.

49. Fables. Bill Willingham is a genius on this book. I can no longer look at Disney in the same way.

50. Green Lantern behinds. C'mon, you KNEW I was going to have that in there at some point. They just ALL have such fabulous fabulous backsides. *sigh*