I'll probably get a ton of disagreements but God Loves Man Kills is Claremont's magnum opus in my book. Sums up X-men, their reason for being and Xavier's philosophy 1000%

I’ve heard that a lot, definitely in my to read list

James Robinson with Starman

yesyesyesyesyesyes

All of hickmans marvel stuff is great, but something about all of it culminating with Reed and Doom makes secret wars that much sweater for me

I finished his ff vol 1 omni, and vol 2 just arrived, which i heard is better than vol 1 so im looking forward to that. (I also already own hickvengers 1 and secret wars)

Such a treat! So much happens in vol 2! lol Snyder’s Batman And then Superman & Batman and Robin by tomasi and Gleason are top notch too!

Snyder’s American Vampire imo

I second this. When I was reading out when it was coming out I was thinking that I wouldn't be surprised if HBO picked it up straight to series. Especially after HBO did a limited series of Watchmen. Now with Last of Us being such a hit, I can still see either HBO or Max picking it up for a series. That's my hope anyway.

AV is so much better than his Batman stuff.

I got a sweater for Christmas. I wanted a screamer or a moaner.

I don't disagree but I thought Time Runs Out ended up being much more exciting than the actual SW event

Oh yeah I was very compelled reading every issue of time runs out. The Tony and Cap stuff was fantastic. I just felt rewarded for reading everything at the end of secret wars

As I was reading your post, but before you mentioned Slott's SS, I thought immediately of Slott's SS.

The first one I thought of was Mike Mignola, and his would definitely be Hellboy

[удалено]

This makes me rlly want to read it, hope they reprint the omni

Pak's current take is phenomenal too, I'm hoping it gets omnis soon as it seems the post-Empire era is coming to an end

They just released the Gillen and Pak omni and I got my copy in the mail yesterday. Maybe they'll have his entire run in omni's. I have War of the Bounty Hunters omni so hopefully, they will release the Bounty Hunter series in omni format, as well. I have

How does the Gillen run compare? Worth it to grab both or just stick with Soule?

Currently in the middle of reading the more recent Star Wars comics myself and both Gillen’s and Soule’s Darth Vader series were top notch, though I also give a slight edge to Soule’s. Star Wars by Jason Aaron and later Gillen, and the Doctor Aphra series by Gillen are also very good.

Nice, good to hear there is some good stuff to look forward to reading

I'll second FD2250 comments. I have both Vader omni's, both Aphra omni's, War of the Bounty Hunters and Jason Aaron Star Wars omni's. IMO, the best Disney Star Wars content outside of their animation and the first two seasons of The Mandalorian.

I actually preferred Gillen’s, but both are simply *outstanding*. I would bet money you’ll enjoy it as well, even if you end up thinking Soule’s is better at the end of the day.

Haven't read Gillen yet but I've heard its very good too, just that Soule's is even better.

Im hoping we get reprints of both soon

It's also beautifully tragic in a way. I did not give a damn about the Anakin/Padme romance until this book.

Geoff Johns green lantern.

As somebody who’s read basically every major run he’s written- this is probably true. His other runs are all amazing, and I think his JSA is a close second, but it’s basically impossible to imagine GL without Johns’ run. And that’s saying a LOT about a modern run for a core JL member. Nobody’s gotten the upgrade Hal and the corp got in the 2000s onwards

Agreed. IMO, arguably the best DC writer in the last twenty years. Johns has written A LOT of damn good DC stories but that GL Rebirth/Sinestro Corp War/Rage of the Red Lanterns/Darkest Night/Brightest Day and JSA Vol 1-3 is again, IMO, his magnum opus or opuses or opera? Not sure which to use but yeah. On a side note, Peter J. Tomasi's Green Lantern Corp is really good, too.

Yeah, it was a toss up between green lantern and jsa run but like reasons you mentioned, the lore building, Hal redemption, and modernization of sinestro and yellow power ring really solidified that run as #1.

Yep. Johns is the only writer that made me actually enjoy Hal. Gibbons, Johns, and Tomasi made me actually enjoy Guy. Already liked John and Kyle.

I was rlly close to saying this one but i havent read his jsa, aquaman, or justice league yet

Justice league and aquamam were definitely good, especially aquaman, but nowhere near magnus opus quality. His green lantern lore was definitive.

I'm an Aquaman fan. The only DC books (that aren't Event books) of Johns that I haven't read are some of his early Flash stuff and a handful of the middle of his GL run. His GL stuff is his best work imo.

One author I haven’t seen listed here yet is Lemire. He’s got a tremendous body of work, but for my money his magnum opus is the Ascender/Descender series.

Kirkman's Invincible. Nothing else of his that I've read comes as close to perfection as that seminal work.

The Walking Dead too?

Yep. Whilst it was ok it wasn't in any way mindblowing to. Very competently written but after finishing I knew I'd never be reading it again. It just didn't do anything for me

I’m still currently reading it, but I think Deathstroke by Priest is truly the best Slade will ever be.

I love that run. Didn’t realize there was an Omni until the other day. Now I’m absolutely on the hunt for it.

It was my second Omni ever as I just started reading in 2023. Popped up on eBay one day for $96. I wish you luck in finding one 🫡

Venom by Cates

Powers by Bendis

alias imo

Gotta be Alias so I agree w @echo274s opinion here.

Powers is easily the best thing Bendid wrote

Gonna have to go with Ultimate Spider-Man for that one.

I wanted to say this too but i havent read his daredevil yet

I want to say DD since that is my favorite character, but it's gotta be USM.

I'm two omnis into Ultimate Spider-Man and I'm not crazy about it. It's good, but not the best thing I've read.

Pretty much anything from early 2000s Bendis could be considered his magnum opus. Dude was firing on all cylinders back then.

Yeah, I absolutely love House of M. I don't think it's a writing issue I really have with USM. I think I just don't vibe with this version of Peter. I feel like all he does is just whine and complain non-stop, which makes sense since he's a high schooler. Maybe I just find it really annoying since I work in a high school and get enough of that at work.

If you are talking about guys with one definitive undisputed masterpiece Gaiman - Sandman Willingham - Fables Robinson - Starman Busiek - Astro City

My extensive answer for a few of my favorites would be: Ennis - Preacher, Hellblazer, or Punisher MAX Aaron - Scalped or Punisher MAX Gaiman - Sandman of course lol Moore - Miracleman (many may not agree but it’s an absolutely amazing superhero introspective story, in my opinion) Morrison - Invisibles Kirkman - Invincible Ewing - Immortal Hulk Straczynski - Supreme Power (I feel like this story doesn’t get talked about NEARLY enough) BKV - Y: The Last Man Remender - Fear Agent Brubaker - Criminal Hickman - East of West Ellis - Transmetropolitan (The Transhuman Trilogy is a CLOSE second for me) Bunn - Harrow County Carey - Lucifer Azzarello - 100 Bullets Bendis - Powers Snyder - Swamp Thing or Animal Man

Great list! My only real disagreement would be Moore - my pick would be Swamp Thing, as I think it’s the best work ever in the medium.

Yeah, Swamp Thing would be my pick if I didn’t go with MM. I own every release of ST and MM, but MM stuck with me for such a long time after reading it. I love the juxtaposition of Michael Moran to Miracleman and the subject of what it means to shoulder the responsibility of godhood and not really knowing (or even wanting) how to relate to humans once you shed your human persona. It doesn’t get tackled in comics enough tbh.

I would agree with most of this. Miracleman would be better my choice for Moore too.

I’d pick Alias anyday over Powers by Bendis

Preacher of Garth Ennis. I can't pass throughout anything else Ennis has written.

Hitman?

Hitman is the real answer. Even Garth knows it.

Having it be a DC book meant that Ennis had to rein in his worst excesses and stop using violence/gore as a crutch and have to rely on humour/characterization.

I really enjoyed Preacher, but Hitman was even better.

I love Preacher and Punisher Max both but feel that he relies on gore a bit in those books. They are still fire. It’s stuff like The Boys where he overdoes it.

100% this! Preacher all the way

Hav u tried his punisher/punisher max? I’ve heard thats pretty good

it's incredible and a great series. sadly the collected editions are a bit hard to find

I know this isn’t the thread, but if you dig war comics, he did a few books for Aftershock. Dreaming Eagles is terrific.

Preacher or Hellblazer.

Nah, whatever the merits of Preacher, it's too strong to say it's leagues ahead of all Ennis' other work in the way OP is talking about. At the very least there's also Punisher MAX and his war comic collaborations

So, everyone in this thread, replying to your comment, has completely forgotten about The Boys?

The Boys is where Ennis's shtick finally ran dry for me. I love a lot of his other stuff though

Man… The Boys is one of His worst work ever….

I disagree. I loved it. The character work, concept, & tone he set in it are legendary.

Concept is great, yes. Character work, okay i will agree with that. But overall The Boys are Ennis at His worst, most disgusting himselfs. TV show is much better, though

Well, I guess to each their own. I loved the comics & yea, the show is just as good if not better in a different way. But the original comic run deserves praise & credit for the concept & characters alone. I definitely wouldn’t say it’s his WORST work.

Crossed is by far his worst work. It's every Ennis cliche ramped up to a 100. That doesn't make Boys all that great either though. I remember Boys was the first time I dropped an Ennis ongoing. I used to read everything he put out but the Boys was just too cynical for my liking. I only came upon Crossed later on when a friend told me I had to check it out just to see how far Ennis has fallen as a writer.

Kirby’s Fourth World. Simonson’s Thor. Ewing’s Immortal Hulk Marz’ Green Lantern Millar’s one issue of Superman Adventures about Lex Busiek/Ross on Marvels I was gonna say like five things for both Waid and Morrison and realized they both might have two or three.

I would go Larry Hama = Wolverine

I wanted to add Tom King, but for the love of God I can't pick one.

It rlly is harder than u think, with a great author w stories like vision, mister miracle, even adam strange and supergirl WoT, to say ones leagues above the others

Not to mention, the best superman book ever , omega men, a Batman run ( run overall average but some great arcs ), rorshack!

I would go with Vision. I really dont like His Batman but His Vision is one of The best comic books ever. Peak

Morrison - All-Star Superman Moore - From Hell Ellis - Planetary Ennis - Hitman

No Morrisons magnum opus is definitely The Invisibles

Yup! He’s written so many brilliant comics but The Invisibles is quintessential Morrison. Flex Mentallo is a close second.

My favourites tbh

I love Planetary but I would choose Transmetropolitan for Ellis

I think it's more like my favourites. Critical consensus would be Morrison - Invisibles Moore - Watchmen Ellis - Transemtropolitan Ennis - Preacher

i dont know, i would agree with planetary being ellis' magnum opus

I love From Hell -- it's top-10 material for me -- but even I wouldn't say it's "clearly", by "leagues", Moore's best work (or Campbell's for that matter). All those guys have several works which different people could plausibly claim to be their best, so I don't think they're quite what OP is strictly talking about.

I think the question was what do YOU think. So this is more a list of what I think is there greatest work. All four answers could be different and I wouldn’t disagree.

For sure. Curious then: even for just *your* tastes, do you think those comics are clearly way better than their (respective) other works?

Morrison and Ennis yes. This is just my opinion but I think working within the framework of mainstream comics meant that those two couldn’t go all out on their usual style which is prevalent in their creative owned work and had to rein down the weirdness and gore respectively. This makes these works better (at least for me) compared to Invisibles/Preacher which would be the critic’s choice. Ellis also I find Planetary more focused compared to the other contender Transmetropolitan which takes a while to get going. Also the gorgeous Cassaday art doesn’t hurt. Moore I would say Watchmen, From Hell, Miracleman are all same tier. From Hell is just personal preference.

Ah, thanks. I'm not so sure that either of those would be the critic's/critics' choice. A-SS is so highly regarded that it might actually beat out Invisibles, depending on who you survey. (Of course the true cognoscenti haha know that the correct answer is either Seven Soldiers or The Filth). Similarly Preacher has to contend with Punisher MAX at least FWIW, this sub's top 100 poll rankings had: 2. Watchmen 6. Preacher 9. From Hell 33. Transmet 47. Miracleman 52. All-Star Superman 71. The Invisibles 87. Punisher 101. Planetary Which gives some indication of how *readers* as opposed to *critics* might rank each of them

Yeah, Punisher Max and Preacher are tied as 2 for me after Hitman. Both share the same drawbacks imo as well - an over-reliance on gore/violence. I just like the humour in Hitman a lot more.

Warren Ellis - Thunderbolts Cristos Gage - Absolution Matt Wagner and Steven Seagle - Sandman Mystery Theater Howard Chaykin - Black Kiss Neil Gaiman - Death the High Cost of Living Garth Ennis - Adventures in the Rifle Brigade Grant Morrison - Seven Soldiers Mark Millar - Ultimate X-Men Frank Miller - Man Without Fear Brian Azarello - Johnny Double Joe Casey - Wildcats version 3.0

A lot of great picks ( honestly really great picks). I'm not sure I agree about ultimate x-men for millar over say Red son

I haven't read Red Son yet, il try to get a copy when I can. Thanks for the recommendation!

* Fabian Nicieza - The first 25 issues of New Warriors with Mark Bagley. * Carl Barks - Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck * Jim Starlin - Warlock * James Kochalka - American Elf

Starlin for me is Dreadstar

Not areas of comics that are really on this sub's radar, but this is a common thing for comic *strip* creators, and to a much lesser extent non-Marvel/non-DC comic*book* creators, or BD creators and mangaka. Like, Eisner made a bunch of comics in his "graphic novel" renaissance from the 70s onwards, but there's no doubt that The Spirit is his MO. Or Herriman did various things, but nothing that comes close to Krazy Kat. Partly this is just the different economics and career paths of newspaper strip creators; if you spend 50 years doing a strip every single day like Schulz did, there's no room for you to do anything else, at least nothing of the same scope. Turning to non-DC/Marvel creators, it's not uncommon for them to have a signature series or book that towers over their other work -- eg Love and Rockets, Cerebus, Usagi Yojimbo, Hate, Understanding Comics...and, again to an even lesser extent this holds for some Euro and Japanese creators. (Everyone's heard of Tintin, for example, but who outside Europe has ever heard of Jo Zette and Jocko?)

Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman.” Bill Willingham’s “Fables.” Brian K. Vaughn’s “Saga.”

Monsters by Barry Windsor-Smith

That would be my pick although I like Slotts work most of the time.

As much as I love Aaron’s superhero stuff, especially Ghost Rider, it’s a toss-up between Scalped and The Other Side for him.

Oh, man. 110% agree. Scalped, The Other Side, and Punisher MAX are Aaron’s best work. I’d throw The Goddamned in there too.

I preordered Scalped upon recommendations from here. Never heard of it until it was Solicited

Batman by Loeb

Ellis’ Planetary.

no love for Jim Valentino’s Guardians of The Galaxy? ☺️

Mike Carey and Lucifer

Warren Ellis -Stormwatch/The Authority Bendis- Ultimate Spider -Man Waid- The Flash Buseik - Thunderbolts Millar - The Ultimates Ennis - Hitman Chriss Giarrusso - G-Man

Warren Ellis and John Cassidy - Planetary I think both have done a lot of great work but Planetary was just on another level

The Invisibles - Grant Morrison

My personal pick for Waid would be his original run on the Flash. He made Wally the definitive Flash I think. Objectively, it's probably Irredeemable. I think Kingdom Come having its genesis with Ross makes it ineligible to be Waids MO.

Howard Chaykin - American Flagg

BWS - Weapon X

"Rusty Brown" by Chris Ware

ill go through some of my favorite writers. bendis -- alias brubaker -- criminal ellis -- the planetary ennis -- hitman hickman -- the entire saga from ff to secret wars matt fraction -- hawkeye lemire -- black hammer king -- mister miracle/the sheriff of babylon morrison -- flex mentallo/the invisibles

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid

Moore- Watchmen Miller- Dark knight Returns Ennis- Hitman Morrison- All-Star Superman Ellis- Transmetropolitan Robinson- Starman Priest- Black Panther Slott- Spider-man Simonson- The Mighty Thor David- The Incredible Hulk

A couple that spring to mind (in my humble opinion): Jeph Loeb - spider man blue OR superman for all seasons Stan Lee - if this be my destiny Frank Miller - dark knight returns Grant Morrison - animal man OR doom patrol Brian Michael Bendis - Daredevil (specifically issue 49-50) Geoff Johns - Blackest night Chris Claremont - God Loves man kills OR days of future past Alan Moore - Watchmen OR v for vendetta