Favourite One Shots

[Guest Karnage]

What are some good one shots?

[Guest Cerebus The Aardvark]

I hear Batman: The Killing Joke is pretty good.

[Guest MaskedWombat]

my personal favorite has to be superman: kal. it's such a great read

[Guest starvenger]

- X-Men/Teen Titans

- Superman/Spider-Man (the first crossover - the second one was called Spider-Man/Superman)

- Lobo: Paramilitary X-Mas Special

- Green Lantern: In Darkest Knight

 

I haven't read The Killing Joke, but I hear good things about it as well.

[Guest pochorenella]

Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe is pretty good.

 

I remember way, waaay back, maybe early seventies, there was a one-shot with the Thing and Hulk fighting (what a concept, I know) but each other's minds were in the other's body and at the end they actually made it to a wrestling (boxing?) ring. Pretty cool stuff from yesteryear. If anybody remembers it (I'm sure Sassquatch does, if he's still around) we could discuss it.

[Guest J*ingus]

Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe

Eh? What was that, a "What If" title?

 

Personally, even though Killing Joke was pretty good, I'd have to go with Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? Now THAT'S some damn fine storytelling.

[Guest MaskedDanger]

Personally, even though Killing Joke was pretty good, I'd have to go with Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? Now THAT'S some damn fine storytelling.

 

Agreed. Excellent comic, great story by Alan Moore, complemented by amazing art courtesy of Superman legend Curt Swan. It's like a dream project. Possibly the finest Superman story ever, with the possible exceptions of "For the Man Who Has Everything" and the Superman / Swamp Thing "team-up" from DC Comics Presents 85 (now THAT'S an interesting Superman story, and both of the aforementioned books qualify as excellent one shots as well).

 

Another personal favorite was The Killing Joke. Best Joker story ever.

 

One not mentioned yet was a Batman Annual from 1987 or 1988 (don't remember the number off hand...the title on the cover, which had Clayface III and Penguin standing in a spotlight with Batman swooping down on them, was "Villains in Love!"). The Penguin story inside is whatever, but the Clayface story (yes, I know, another by Alan Moore...sorry) is excellent. It's just a neat, sad little story, one I've always had a soft spot for. That's all I can think of now, but I'll post more if I think of any (and if they're not by Moore).

 

Excellent topic, by the way.

[Guest pochorenella]

QUOTE (pochorenella @ Aug 19 2002, 10:42 AM)

Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe

 

Eh? What was that, a "What If" title?

 

I don't think it was a "What if?". It's one of the very first (if not the first) Marvel works by Garth Ennis and was recently reprinted due to the new popularity of the Punisher.

 

I've heard some great things about that Supes story "Whatever happened..." but I've never read it. It may just be me, but I've never liked Curt Swan's art. Can someone name any specific comics with him so that I'm sure I'm referring to the same guy? He had a looong Superman and Action Comics run, didn't he?

[Guest MaskedDanger]

I've heard some great things about that Supes story "Whatever happened..." but I've never read it. It may just be me, but I've never liked Curt Swan's art. Can someone name any specific comics with him so that I'm sure I'm referring to the same guy? He had a looong Superman and Action Comics run, didn't he?

 

For me, at least, it wasn't so much Curt Swan's artistic prowess that wowed me on the book (although I do like his work, specifically his attention to background detail and just the way he draws people), it was the style, that iconographic, almost cartoony classic Superman style buttressed up against this often sad, sometimes violent, emotionally ultra-realistic story about the last run of a mythic hero. Perfect mix of the real world balanced against the fantasy of comic books.

 

As for specific Swan issues, you'd have an easier time trying finding a Superman issue pre-1986 that wasn't drawn by Swan. That's only half-way a joke, as he was all over the pre-Crisis Superman books for decades. For more info about Swan's work (and about dozens of other pre-Crisis Superman creators) go to:

 

Fortress of Solitude Super Network

 

and look around, especially under "Creators". For a pre-Crisis Superman geek like me, this page is the best.

 

Hope that helps.

[Guest J*ingus]

Personally, although I prefer the modern style overall, I think Swan's work was perfect for WHTTMOT. When the main characters starting dying left and right, it added a lot of poignancy that it was all happening in the old-fashioned drawing style.

[Guest pochorenella]

I think that was around the time that I started to dislike Superman, as a character, his stories, the art, and everything else, and turned to Marvel Comics instead. I specifically remember all those great covers ( I think Neal Adams did most of them) and then looking at the art inside and the story had little to do with the cover. I remember one cover with Supes all green and glowing with Kryptonite poisoning with a menacing face, and saying to Metallo (out of sight) that he'd kill him before the Kryptonite did the trick. Surprise! The story had nothing about this. Supes PAINTED himself green to fool Metallo and there was no big fight. That was a decisive point for me and it was bye-bye DC Comics. If I'm not mistaken, Curt Swan was the artist in that one and in many other dissapointments, like "The Kid Who Knew Superman's Identity", and the like.

 

Thanks to everybody who clarified this for me.

[Guest cynicalprofit]

Recommened in no real order

Batman Killing Joke

The Good Old Boys (Preacher)

One Man's Army(or war) (Preacher)

Theres an AWESOME Superman one where hes back in medevil times, but i dont know the name of it

Punisher kills the marvel universe

 

(Never read it but its pretty infamous and if someone knows its name, please let me know) It was some Englad Batman/Superman special that had to be recalled because there was like cow utter sucking and all sorts of other fun stuff that dc didnt want, i think there was like 2000 copies, but from what i heard it was hilarious because it was so wrong

 

The Lobo X-mas was great

 

and i cant think of anything else really....the 3 part, each one is self contained batman becoems a vampire ones were cool stories but bad art.

[Guest MaskedWombat]

Theres an AWESOME Superman one where hes back in medevil times, but i dont know the name of it

it was kal

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Anyone read X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills?

 

That was awesome.

[Guest pochorenella]

Anyone read X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills?

 

I was just about to mention that one, MrZsasz, but I wasn't sure because it was originally what you call a "Graphic Novel", like "The Death of Captain Marvel" (also a truly awesome book, perhaps Jim Starlin's finest work). Now it's come out as a TPB, but the original hardcover gave it a grand feel IMO.

Anyway, you're right, it's a truly great story, terrific art, and somewhat of a departure of mainstream comics. Go read it NOW.

[Guest areacode212]

Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe

Eh? What was that, a "What If" title?

It was kind of a "What If" title. When it was first published, it came out under Marvel's short-lived "Alterniverse" imprint (which also covered What If). It was really pretty stupid, but a blast to read.

 

Punisher killing Dr. Doom: "klangklangklangklangklang*SQUISH*"

 

Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl is one of my favorite DC Elseworlds one-shots.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

I also enjoyed Batman: Arkham Asylum

[Guest MaskedWombat]

Anyone read X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills?

 

That was awesome.

it's in the rumor mill, that x-men 2 is going to be based on that book. right now it's just a rumor

[Guest areacode212]

If that's true, that would be great news. They should retain the comic's opening scene for the movie.

 

Anyone ever read Superman/Hulk? It's probably the best of the recent Marvel/DC crossovers. Steve Rude's art was gorgeous.

[Guest pochorenella]

I believe I read somewhere that Bryan Singer was indeed going to use that opening scene from "God Loves..." on X2. Wether the movie itself is based on that story is anybody's guess. He's always mantained that he wanted to use the Sentinels so it's a possibility. But I agree that that storyline would rule on the big screen.

[Guest danielisthor]

I would have to agree with the Lobo: Paramilitary X-Mas Special. That was one of the funniest books i have ever read.

 

Simple plot is that the Easter Bunny hires Lobo to take out Santa. Funny stuff.

[Guest areacode212]

This just came out in hardcover, so it's somewhat pricey ($24.95), but Selina's Big Score was truly awesome. It helps if you've read the Slam Bradley backups from Detective from about a year ago (these may or may not be reprinted in the recent Catwoman TPB), but it's not necessary.

 

If Brubaker ever leaves Catwoman, Darywn Cooke should be next in line to take over the title.

[Guest raptor]

I enjoyed the recent Spider-Man/Daredevil from Marvel Knights. Light, fun, and well worth three bucks.

 

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills is great, as is X-Men: Heroes Against Hunger. It's a charity jam issue with all different writers and artists. Also, I recommend the Spider-Man The Movie adaption by Stan Lee.

[Guest starvenger]

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills is great, as is X-Men: Heroes Against Hunger. It's a charity jam issue with all different writers and artists.

Is that new, or are you talking about Heroes for Hope? I've got that one, and it's got art by a lot of the older artists. It's also got a couple of pages written by Stephen King - which I think may constitute his only comic work ever...

[Guest HellSpawn]

My pick goes to Sin City: Family Values.

Dwight n' Miho (on rollerblades) vs a few hitmen and Basin City's mafia bosses.

Miho is so F'n Great.

btw, this is a 128 pages one shot, $10 bucks.

[Guest Sassquatch]

"I remember way, waaay back, maybe early seventies, there was a one-shot with the Thing and Hulk fighting (what a concept, I know) but each other's minds were in the other's body and at the end they actually made it to a wrestling (boxing?) ring. Pretty cool stuff from yesteryear. If anybody remembers it (I'm sure Sassquatch does, if he's still around) we could discuss it. "

 

- pochorenella

 

 

The issue you are asking about is Giant-Size Superstars #1 featuring the Fantastic Four. The Thing and the Hulk battle it out in the middle of a wrestling ring. Aftre this issue, Marvel just made the series part of the FF family and the next issue was Giant-Size Fantastic Four #2.

 

And yes I am around. This time I plan on sticking around a bit longer.

 

[Guest Sassquatch]

Batman: Birth Of The Demon.

 

Easily my favorite one-shot of all time.

 

The Runner-Up goes to Batman: The Killing Joke. Awesome stuff. Perhaps one of the (if not THE) greatest stories looking into what makes a person go wrong and what makes him/her tick and turn into a remorseless killer.

[Guest raptor]

It is Heroes For Hope. I just went through my comics and realized my mistake.

[Guest pochorenella]

The issue you are asking about is Giant-Size Superstars #1 featuring the Fantastic Four. The Thing and the Hulk battle it out in the middle of a wrestling ring. Aftre this issue, Marvel just made the series part of the FF family and the next issue was Giant-Size Fantastic Four #2.

 

And yes I am around. This time I plan on sticking around a bit longer

 

Thanks for the info, Sassquatch. If recall correctly, wasn't it John Buscema that did the artwork? The only thing I found odd was that Mr. Fantastic actually used an injection against the Hulk (really the Thing). How could this be? The needle wasn't adamantium-made, was it?

 

God, I used to have a lot of great stuff in my comics colection. Most of it is gone now, how stupid.

[Guest Sassquatch]

John Buscema did in fact draw the issue in question which came out in May of 1974.

 

Two years later Sal Buscema started drawing the Hulk with issue #194 of the Incredible Hulk and his run on the series lasted until issue #312 which is an impressive run for Sal.

 

As for your needle and the Hulk question, it's just sloppy writing or the writer is unable to come up with a way to drug the Hulk up..

 

Honest.

 

Adamantium was introduced in Avengers #66 yet it didn't really become "the" metal of metal's in Marvel until Wolverine showed up in the Giant-Size X-Men #1 (October 1975). Hell, in Wolvie's 1st apperance in the Hulk #181 he cuts the Hulk but the Hulk never truly bleeds like he really would if Wolverine had done the same number on the Hulk with let's say...Peter David as the writer of the story.

 

Writers have always dabbled around with the Hulk's durability and ability to withstand attacks. Roy Thomas would have the Hulk withstand sonar blasts while Peter David might have the Hulk bleed from a simple knife cut.

 

It all depends on who the writer of the Hulk is and how he feels in regards to how tough the Hulk's hide is.

 

So I doubt the needle was adamantium because the metal did not play a significant role in the MU until Wolvie came along. The Hulk's hide has been able to withstand nuke blasts while also bleeding a gusher from a simple knife wound.

 

A roll of the dice if you will.