Comfort Food Death

MY FAVORITE COMIC BOOK RUNS OF ALL TIME.....that I physically own every original floppy issue of

I've recently been narrowing down my collection into a few longboxes I keep calling "fire boxes" with my boy Kyle, due to the fact if my house was on fire I would grab those boxes of comics gold and run for my life. During that process I realized how hard it is to not just own a complete run of those special comics and noticed how many floppies of those certain runs I already owned. So, I decided to hunt down what I was missing and own, complete from start to finish, my favorite comic runs of all time that call out to be owned in that crisp original floppy format. Naturally I decided to rank them too.

Uncanny X-Men #94-280 (Annuals, Classic X-Men, etc) by Chris Claremont

Spectacular Spider-Man #178-200 by J.M. DeMatteis & Sal Buscema

Daredevil #236-291 by Ann Nocenti

New X-Men #20-43 by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost

X-Men #188-204, Annual #1 by Mike Carey

Green Lantern Vol. 3 #48-125 plus extras by Ron Marz

Swamp Thing Vol. 2 #20-64, Annual 2 by Alan Moore

Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie & Todd McFarlane

Thor by Walter Simonson

New Avengers (and Mighty Avengers & Dark Avengers & House of M, Secret Invasion & Siege) by Brian Bendis

After making a top 10 I decided to collect more of those special comfort food comic runs in their entirety:

Alpha Flight by John Byrne

Spider-Girl by Tom DeFalco, Patrick Olliffe, Ron Frenz & Sal Buscema

Copra by Michel Fiffe

Nights by Wyatt Kennedy & Luigi Formisano

Sensational Spider-Man by Todd Dezago

Santos Sisters (and American Nature Presents) by Greg & Fake

Daredevil by D.G. Chichester

Hawkworld by John Ostrander & Graham Nolan

Detective Comics #742-753,755-765 by Greg Rucka

Casanova by  Matt Fraction, Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon

Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski & John Romita Jr.

Batgirl Vol. 1 2000-2006 - Cassandra Cain

As much as I have come to appreciate owning the original release single issues of my favorite runs, some of them just have superior collected editions. I still reserve the right to change my mind and own both versions someday, too. Here is the list of those:

Batman by Grant Morrison - Omnibus Vol. 1-3 (the Absolutes are also good - both contain new updated artwork by Chris Burnham and Yanick Paquette near the end that renders the original issues worthless.)

Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko - Taschen's Marvel Comics Library Vol. 1-2 (The greatest collected editions ever made)

Captain Britain by Dave Thorpe, Alan Moore and Alan Davis - 2022 Expanded Omnibus (Quite possibly the greatest Marvel Comic story of all time. I have read this run in original, sometimes black and white scans, I own the X-Men Archives issues, and I bought the original Omnibus on release and still have it. I now also own this expanded edition. I love having all the, admittedly "just ok to awful", early Cap stories before this seminal run, and the also one of my fave runs, the Jamie Delano/Alan Davis issues after. You don't need it all, but I love the archivist approach to it all. The restoration work and the extras in the Omnis is a wonderful effort. )

Starman by James Robinson - Omnibus Vol. 1-6 (I may still get the single issues too because as much as I love this reproduction, it's cover art and the new commentary by Robinson, I lose the letter columns and old commentary from the single issues.)

Sandman by Neil Gaiman - Absolute Editions (The best format for this series I've yet to encounter and I've tried them all.)

Suicide Squad by John Ostrander - Omnibus Vol. 1-? (I originally had every single issue and crossover custom bound into hardcovers, but the pure love and soul, and 100+ pages of extras and commentary from Ostrander on nearly every issue in the first Omni convinced me to upgrade)

Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Bendis - Omnibus Vol. 1-5 - (Collects everything I could possibly ever need for Ultimate Peter Parker. This is a series that is so foundational to me but I have always despised the trade dress, aesthetic, and graphic design of the single issues, so I vastly prefer having these five hefty tomes.

Justice League International - Omnibus Vol. 1-3 (I actually own nearly all of this in single issues custom bound. The Omnis aren't perfect, but their new cover art, mapping, larger size and paper stock really won me over. It's just nice to see this legendary run get the deluxe treatment.)

Jack Kirby's Fourth World - Absolute Edition Vol. 1-2 (I've owned single issues, baxter reprints, the original smaller omnis, the bigger omni with the misprint, the corrected omni, and now these Absolutes. They are my preferred way to experience these magical comics. I love the coloring, the paper stock, the sheer heft and size, and the unique extras in these editions.)

JLA by Grant Morrison - Deluxe Edition Hardcovers Vol. 1-4 and DC 1,000,000 Omnibus (This is a completely subjective pick. I own a few of the stories in single issue but I bought these hardcovers as they were being released from 2008-2010 and they were some of my first DC collected editions and how I first read this run, so they are very near and dear to me. I love their larger size and presentation, the choice just to include Morrison issues including Earth 2 and the JLA Classified story, and their length for each volume. The One Million Omni is another all time fave collected edition and slots in with these deluxe editions on the shelf so well.)

King City by Brandon Graham - (A comic that feels like it shouldve been a collected edition to start. I've had a few single issues of it and they just do not compare to this phone book-esque treasure with inside cover flaps, amazing graphic design, new art, and extras!!)

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen by Matt Fraction & Steve Lieber - Deluxe Edition Harcover (Most modern comics these days are just nicer to have in a larger format hardcover where someone in the collected editions department really pays attention to and loves the collection. I waited and waited until they finally came out with this one and it does not disappoint. Perfect collection.)

THB by Paul Pope - Total THB Vol. 1-? (I've never had a full run of THB and it's always been so spotty and confusing and published in Japan or as backups or in all types of sizes and formats. Being a THB fan has been an exercise in embracing the chaos. Since the early oughts, Paul Pope has talked about collecting it all into a run of handsome editions and only now is it finally happening. The first volume is wonderful and I cannot wait to have each book on my shelf.)

Warlock and Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin - The Thanos Wars: Infinity Origin Omnibus (Some of the finest Marvel Comics of all time. I own some single issues, the Baxter reprints, I've owned the trades, the Marvel Masterworks and the Warlock Omnibus. All of those are great but nothing beats having every single issue Jim Starlin does in his grand cosmic epic pre Infinity Gauntlet in one big ass book.

Superman Triangle Era - Superman: The Triangle Era Omnibus Vol. 1-? (This entire years long crossover title era contains several of my favorite title and creator centric runs on the various Supes books. Conveniently, DC FINALLY threw everything together in order for us.)

Journey Into Mystery #646-655 by Kathryn Immonen & Valerio Schiti

Fantastic Four #304-333, Annual 20-21 by Steve Englehart

Starman by James Robinson (Yes, even though I listed the omnis, I went and bought the single issues. There's just too much great backmatter and letter page extras in the single issues, I needed them. I also consider Starman to be the quintessential love letter to the DC Universe, so having all the DC House Ads, etc while reading it is such a nice experience.)

Thunderbolts #110-121 by Warren Ellis

Daredevil by Ed Brubaker

MY FAVORITE COMIC BOOK RUNS OF ALL TIME.....that I physically own every original floppy issue of

I've recently been narrowing down my collection into a few longboxes I keep calling "fire boxes" with my boy Kyle, due to the fact if my house was on fire I would grab those boxes of comics gold and run for my life. During that process I realized how hard it is to not just own a complete run of those special comics and noticed how many floppies of those certain runs I already owned. So, I decided to hunt down what I was missing and own, complete from start to finish, my favorite comic runs of all time that call out to be owned in that crisp original floppy format. Naturally I decided to rank them too.

Uncanny X-Men #94-280 (Annuals, Classic X-Men, etc) by Chris Claremont

Spectacular Spider-Man #178-200 by J.M. DeMatteis & Sal Buscema

Daredevil #236-291 by Ann Nocenti

New X-Men #20-43 by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost

X-Men #188-204, Annual #1 by Mike Carey

Green Lantern Vol. 3 #48-125 plus extras by Ron Marz

Swamp Thing Vol. 2 #20-64, Annual 2 by Alan Moore

Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie & Todd McFarlane

Thor by Walter Simonson

New Avengers (and Mighty Avengers & Dark Avengers & House of M, Secret Invasion & Siege) by Brian Bendis

After making a top 10 I decided to collect more of those special comfort food comic runs in their entirety:

Alpha Flight by John Byrne

Spider-Girl by Tom DeFalco, Patrick Olliffe, Ron Frenz & Sal Buscema

Copra by Michel Fiffe

Nights by Wyatt Kennedy & Luigi Formisano

Sensational Spider-Man by Todd Dezago

Santos Sisters (and American Nature Presents) by Greg & Fake

Daredevil by D.G. Chichester

Hawkworld by John Ostrander & Graham Nolan

Detective Comics #742-753,755-765 by Greg Rucka

Casanova by  Matt Fraction, Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon

Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski & John Romita Jr.

Batgirl Vol. 1 2000-2006 - Cassandra Cain

As much as I have come to appreciate owning the original release single issues of my favorite runs, some of them just have superior collected editions. I still reserve the right to change my mind and own both versions someday, too. Here is the list of those:

Batman by Grant Morrison - Omnibus Vol. 1-3 (the Absolutes are also good - both contain new updated artwork by Chris Burnham and Yanick Paquette near the end that renders the original issues worthless.)

Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko - Taschen's Marvel Comics Library Vol. 1-2 (The greatest collected editions ever made)

Captain Britain by Dave Thorpe, Alan Moore and Alan Davis - 2022 Expanded Omnibus (Quite possibly the greatest Marvel Comic story of all time. I have read this run in original, sometimes black and white scans, I own the X-Men Archives issues, and I bought the original Omnibus on release and still have it. I now also own this expanded edition. I love having all the, admittedly "just ok to awful", early Cap stories before this seminal run, and the also one of my fave runs, the Jamie Delano/Alan Davis issues after. You don't need it all, but I love the archivist approach to it all. The restoration work and the extras in the Omnis is a wonderful effort. )

Starman by James Robinson - Omnibus Vol. 1-6 (I may still get the single issues too because as much as I love this reproduction, it's cover art and the new commentary by Robinson, I lose the letter columns and old commentary from the single issues.)

Sandman by Neil Gaiman - Absolute Editions (The best format for this series I've yet to encounter and I've tried them all.)

Suicide Squad by John Ostrander - Omnibus Vol. 1-? (I originally had every single issue and crossover custom bound into hardcovers, but the pure love and soul, and 100+ pages of extras and commentary from Ostrander on nearly every issue in the first Omni convinced me to upgrade)

Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Bendis - Omnibus Vol. 1-5 - (Collects everything I could possibly ever need for Ultimate Peter Parker. This is a series that is so foundational to me but I have always despised the trade dress, aesthetic, and graphic design of the single issues, so I vastly prefer having these five hefty tomes.

Justice League International - Omnibus Vol. 1-3 (I actually own nearly all of this in single issues custom bound. The Omnis aren't perfect, but their new cover art, mapping, larger size and paper stock really won me over. It's just nice to see this legendary run get the deluxe treatment.)

Jack Kirby's Fourth World - Absolute Edition Vol. 1-2 (I've owned single issues, baxter reprints, the original smaller omnis, the bigger omni with the misprint, the corrected omni, and now these Absolutes. They are my preferred way to experience these magical comics. I love the coloring, the paper stock, the sheer heft and size, and the unique extras in these editions.)

JLA by Grant Morrison - Deluxe Edition Hardcovers Vol. 1-4 and DC 1,000,000 Omnibus (This is a completely subjective pick. I own a few of the stories in single issue but I bought these hardcovers as they were being released from 2008-2010 and they were some of my first DC collected editions and how I first read this run, so they are very near and dear to me. I love their larger size and presentation, the choice just to include Morrison issues including Earth 2 and the JLA Classified story, and their length for each volume. The One Million Omni is another all time fave collected edition and slots in with these deluxe editions on the shelf so well.)

King City by Brandon Graham - (A comic that feels like it shouldve been a collected edition to start. I've had a few single issues of it and they just do not compare to this phone book-esque treasure with inside cover flaps, amazing graphic design, new art, and extras!!)

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen by Matt Fraction & Steve Lieber - Deluxe Edition Harcover (Most modern comics these days are just nicer to have in a larger format hardcover where someone in the collected editions department really pays attention to and loves the collection. I waited and waited until they finally came out with this one and it does not disappoint. Perfect collection.)

THB by Paul Pope - Total THB Vol. 1-? (I've never had a full run of THB and it's always been so spotty and confusing and published in Japan or as backups or in all types of sizes and formats. Being a THB fan has been an exercise in embracing the chaos. Since the early oughts, Paul Pope has talked about collecting it all into a run of handsome editions and only now is it finally happening. The first volume is wonderful and I cannot wait to have each book on my shelf.)

Warlock and Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin - The Thanos Wars: Infinity Origin Omnibus (Some of the finest Marvel Comics of all time. I own some single issues, the Baxter reprints, I've owned the trades, the Marvel Masterworks and the Warlock Omnibus. All of those are great but nothing beats having every single issue Jim Starlin does in his grand cosmic epic pre Infinity Gauntlet in one big ass book.

Superman Triangle Era - Superman: The Triangle Era Omnibus Vol. 1-? (This entire years long crossover title era contains several of my favorite title and creator centric runs on the various Supes books. Conveniently, DC FINALLY threw everything together in order for us.)

Spider-Girl #22

Fuck off everyone who is honestly so up their own asses they believe this is sexist.

Most of the time in all dynamics Dad’s feel uneasy over their daughter’s first boyfriend and Mom’s over their son’s first girlfriend.

But let’s even put that aside for a moment. 

Peter’s kid is dating the grandson of his old boss that sabotaged his career in show business, built Spider Slayers, funded super villains to kill him and also wrecked his public reputation…oh, and ALSO was often screaming at him out of the costume.

Yeah, maybe  Peter would take issue with JJ dating his daughter.

Ah, but there is still this underlying idea that Peter is concerned about Mayday having sex right? That’s still going on right?

Yeah…this comic book was published in the year 2000.

RENT the musical had been on Broadway for less than 5 years at this point. 

AIDs and HIV were still a fairly serious issue in society and the media was reporting teen pregnancies with ever more frequency. 

Do we think maybe  the most angst ridden and neurotic superhero ever, who blames himself for everything out of a desire to feel in control, might possibly worry about what could go down between his 15 y/o daughter and her first boyfriend?

Yeah she has super powers but she’s only had them for less than 6 months. It’s not like he’s had ages to adjust to the idea of her being able to handle herself no matter what.

Amazing Spider-Man volume 1 #397-398 and Spectacular Spider-Man volume 1 #220-221

Spectacular Spider-Man volume 1 #240, Sensational Spider-Man Volume 1 #11, Amazing Spider-Man volume 1 #418 and Peter Parker: Spider-Man volume 1 #75