Eighty Reasons Why I Love Comics

I'm not much of a meme guy. Hell, I barely post here nowadays. But a blog called seebelow unveiled a meme based on Fred Hembeck's list of 100 things he loved about comic books. Soon, the meme infiltrated comic blogs I frequented, including Christopher Bird (of MightyGodKing.com) posting forty sets of panels as evidence that he'll love comics forever.

I sat down and I listed stuff that I've liked reading over the years. And I kept writing. And since I stink at writing lists, I came up with eighty reasons in total. There's probably a lot more that I can think of, but a. there would be more overlap of reasons that I have right now, and b. I need to stop while I'm still relatively sane. If I included cartoons and manga, the list would be even long, so I stuck with comics. Most of the links are from my Flickr account, where I've posted sketches that I've been getting since 2000. If I ever get back to blogging on a regular basis, I might explain some of my picks. But in the meantime, enjoy the list and leave a comment if you'd like.

1. Kingdom Come
2. Marvels
3. Impulse (by Mark Waid & Humberto Ramos)
4. Young Justice (Peter David & Todd Nauck)
5. Top Ten (Alan Moore, Gene Ha, Zander Cannon)
6. Black Panther (by Christopher Priest)
7. Quantum & Woody (Priest & MD Bright)
8. Gail Simone
9. Evan Dorkin
10. Pedro & Me
11. The Adventures of Barry Ween
12. "Do you seriously think I'd explain my masterstroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago." (Ozymandias, Watchmen #11)
13. No, I was a failure. If I were a real hero . . . I would have been here in time to stop the first plane." (Mayor Mitchell Hundred, Ex Macchina #1)
14. Adam Warren
15. Deadpool (by Joe Kelly)
16. Danny the Street (Doom Patrol)
17. Kemlo "Hyperdog" Caesar (Top Ten)
18. Joe Pi (Top Ten)
19. "The Intervention" (Dork! #9)
20. Kyle Rayner: The Last Green Lantern (as written by Ron Marz and Judd Winick)
21. "Maybe Next Year" (Peter Parker: Spider-Man #33)
22. Mogo and Rot Lop Fan (introduced by Alan Moore, Green Lantern #188 and Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #3, respectively)
23. All-Star Superman (Grant Morrison & Frank Quietly)
24. Tommy Monaghan (Hitman)
25. "Mad About The Boy" (Wonder Woman #153)
26. "She's A Wonder" (Wonder Woman #170)
27. "So there was only one Green Lantern . . . and I'm it. Everybody better get used to the idea." (Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern #0
28. "How To Win Friends And Influence People" (Impulse #3)
29. Spider Jerusalem (Transmetropolitan)
30. Everett K. Ross (Black Panther)
31. Vincent Van Goat, aka H.A.E.D.U.S (Heavily Armored Espionage Deadly Uber-Sheep) (Quantum & Woody)
32. "Captain Traynor, sir? All due respect sir . . . Permission to use extreme force." " Break her &$%!ing neck, son." "Yessir." (Jeff Smax and Steve "Jetman" Traynor, after Commissioner Ultima killed Girl One, Top Ten #10)
33. Empowered (by Adam Warren)
34. "Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?" (Superman #423 & Action Comics #583)
35. "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, & the American Way?" (Action Comics #775)
36. Deadpool kicks a possessed Captain America in the balls before saving the world (Deadpool #25)
37. Nextwave
38. Transmetropolitan: Lust For Life trade paperback
39. Ghost Rider 2099 #1-12
40. Ryan Choi (The All-New Atom, by Gail Simone)
41. Secret Six (Gail Simone)
42. 7 Guys Of Justice (Brian Joines)
43. Action Philosophers
44. Starman (by James Robinson)
45. The Shade (as written by James Robinson)
46. Couch-bound ex-baddies: Caged Demonwolf (Empowered) and Head (The All-New Atom)
47. Barbara Gordon wiggles her toes (Birds Of Prey #85)
48. Reverend Doctor Michael ibn al-Hajj Achebe (and Daki the handpuppet) (Black Panther)
49. "Kiss Me" (Hitman #21)
50. Steve Englehart's contributions to the Ultraverse: The Strangers and The Night Man
51. "Beginning's End" (Green Lantern #150)
52. The Shift/Indigo romance (Outsiders)
53. The short-lived Ragdoll/Mad Hatter friendship (Secret Six #6)
54. Grunge & Twenty-Man Tommy settling a dispute through ferretlegging (Gen13 #65)
55. Bizarro Comics and Bizarro World
56. "Uptown" (Black Panther #17)
57. Superman/Batman: World's Funnest (written by Evan Dorkin)
58. "The Santa Contract" (Hitman #22)
59. Easter Eggs in Top Ten from Gene Ha
60. Joker, Green Lantern, and Superman from Tangent Comics (pre-Superman's Reign)
61. Spider-Boy (Amalgam Comics)
62. Livewires
63. Spider Man/Human Torch: I'm With Stupid
64. The Golden Age
65. T'Challa sucker-punches Mephisto, sells his soul for the safety of his people, and walks away victorious (Black Panther #4-5)
66. "Cluttered Like My Head" (Dork! #7)
67. Milk & Cheese
68. "Failed Universes" (Gen 13 #69-70)
69. Wally West makes Reverse-Flash his bitch, finally comes into his own as Flash (Flash #80)
70. The William/Josh "trivia-off" ("Bring Me The Head Of Boba Fett" by Evan Dorkin)
71. "Running From The Past" (Impulse #16)
72. "Stop Me if You've Heard This One..." (Superman/Batman Annual #1)
73. Supergirl/Batgirl: World's Finest
74. Wildguard
75. Amish Kal-El vs. Kryptonian DNA-infused Jimmy Olsen (JLA: The Nail #3)
76. Dr. Thirteen: Architects Of Morality trade paperback
77. "With Great Powers Comes Great Coincidence" (Deadpool #11)
78. "Switch" (Quantum & Woody #10)
79. "Shazam! SHAZAM! SHAZAM!" (Captain Marvel, Kingdom Come #4)

And finally . . .

80. "Spinach and cottage cheese? That's a Spectre Platter?" "Look at it this way. It's flattering to be remembered somehow." (Jim Corrigan and Norman McKay, Kingdom Come)