Four comics
(5 minutes reading time)
There was a cool hashtag trending that I spotted on Instagram. You post #fourcomics that had some sort of impact on you. Most people put their favourites, what they grew up with or the ones that were influential.
A friend of mine went with his first four. I was impressed at how he was able to remember them - I’ve no idea what were my very first comics. But I do know what I started collecting for myself. The comics I started actively collecting off my own efforts. Here they are:
Let me tell you a bit more about each of these.
Transformers UK
I of course fell in love with Transformers first through the toys and cartoons like most other kids of the 80s, but this awesome series by Marvel UK really made me care about the characters. The cover here is from a storyline that gave Ultra Magnus a real depth of character - a scarred veteran of war who was now utterly petrified, and hunted, by the unstoppable monster Galvatron.
I loved this book for its colour, its fortnightly release and the fairly decent pagination. Others my age probably cite 2000AD as their favourite prog but I never got into the very short serials in each issue. Transformers UK had enough meat to satisfy me.
X-Factor
The original X-Men reunited! But as with most epically anticipated reunions it was a messy affair. Jean Grey never died nor had she turned into the Dark Phoenix. That was a copy of her made by the cosmic Phoenix, and the original Jean Grey lay deposited in the depths of the ocean for her protection (Marvel likes this Captain America thing). Thank you Kurt Busiek for this typically nutty X-Men development.
And Cyclops? He abandons his wife Madelyne Pryor (a clone of Jean!) and their newborn son to be with Jean again. This kicked off Scott’s descent from golden mutant boy to the deeply flawed and complicated man some of us know today.
This is why X-Factor hooked me. It was the first to reveal Cyclops not as the perfect character that superheroes are normally portrayed as. His is a character that fascinates me. Standing out from the rest of all mainstream superhero leaders with many facets to his personality.
He is a devoted, highly principled man possesing tactical genius. But he’s also a maverick with bravado that masks a huge sense of self-loathing. These traits drive him to be the contraversial figure he is seen as. An image he almost willingly creates - a symptom of his self-esteem.
He is an unsung legend who doesn’t share the same standing as Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America or Wolverine (thanks Jackman) and I think it’s a real shame.
From the pages of X-Factor right through to the Uncanny series post X-Men vs Avengers, Cyclops is the vilified but just leader of mutants.
Batman Adventures
Although we had Knightfall and Legends of the Dark Knight during the 90s, overall the Batman books were pretty lame to me.
This one shining jewel of a book was the highlight of my pull list. I’d seen many cartoon adaptation books before and they were pretty cheap license cash ins. This however reflected the quality of TV’s Batman the Animated Series. Consistently good, readable, standalone adventures in each issue. I loved this book already but on top of the great writing Kelley Puckett, the artwork was also outstanding.
Though Ty Templeton is a fine Batman Animated artist (as his later runs prove to be just as enjoyable) it was Mike Parobeck’s dynamic, clean style that made me love this book even more. He had pretty much become the de facto artist on the book. The only other Batman Animated artist I consider Parobeck’s better is Bruce Timm!
The Dark Knight Returns
Quite a few of the #fourcomics posts included this book and I definitely have to for it was the first book that made me look at Batman with any real introspection. Yes we’d always seen Bruce as the grieving orphan (maybe not during the Adam West days) but never before as a vengeful psychopath. I really got into this idea. That a trauma didn’t just drive him to justice through grief. It was through anger.
Seems I love my flawed heroes.
Final four
These were my initial four books but I had another batch that I had to share - the ones that always make me smile when I read them. No further explanation needed.