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 A Nearly Perfect First Issue Thunderbolts #1 (April 1997) Writer: Kurt Busiek Penciller: Mark Bagley Inker: Vince Russell Colorist: Joe Rosas * Superhero comic books promise "an ending that will shock you!" all the time, but rarely do they deliver. Just over a quarter of a century ago, Thunderbolts #1 presented readers with a twist that still stands as one of the most genuinely surprising final pages in all of comic book history. It was a surprise that  wasn't just a clever bit of plotting, it was a bait-and-switch of the entire concept of the book. Thunderbolts was presented in the pre-release hype as a team of brand-new heroes who would be stepping in to fill the void filled by the apparent deaths of the Avengers and Fantastic Four at the hands of a villain called Onslaught. (At the risk of curtailing my momentum, I'll pause her to share that Onslaught was the in-story explanation for the awful one-year "reboot" of the Avengers, Captain America, Fantastic

On Earth as It Is in Heaven Kingdom Come #1 (May 1996) Writer: Mark Waid Artist: Alex Ross * As I write these essays I keep having to remind myself that in the 1990s I was very very concerned with legitimacy. In those days when Kevin Smith was the only famous comic book fan, when comic book movies were largely terrible, and when many of the comics themselves were embarassing, things were pretty difficult for those of us trying to make an argument that comics should be considered art. So Alex Ross was a godsend.  Ross was born in Portland, Oregon but raised in Lubbock, Texas. His father was a minister and his mother was a commercial artist who proved to be his first artistic influence. Born in 1970, Ross developed a love of superheroes thanks the Super Friends Saturday morning cartoon and Spider-Man's appearances on Electric Company, and began trying to draw them. When he got into comic books, he gravitated toward the work of John Romita, Neal Adams, and George Perez.  He decided t

My Greatest Adventures Batman Adventures   #36  Writer: Ty Templeton Penciller: Mike Parobeck Inker: Rick Burchett Colorist: Rick Taylor * You can't underestimate the influence of the 1992-1995 Fox Kids show Batman: The Animated Series. The series showed that a superhero cartoon could made for kids without insulting their intelligence. It introdcued the actor - Kevin Contry - who many hail as the best Batman actor of all time. It led to an entire interconnected animated DC universe that has encompassed multiple TV shows and films, including the much-loved 2001-2006 Justice League animated series. It introduced the most popular new comic character of the past 30 years, Harley Quinn. It also - improbably - had a huge impact on its own source material, the comics. Batman Adventures was very likely intended is a quick cash-in. It debuted in October 1992, a month after the series premiere of Batman: The Animated Series on Fox. DC likely thought that if they could get some of the show&#

A Legion of My Own Legionnaires Annual #2 Writers: Mark Waid, Tom Peyer, Tom McCraw Penciller: Jeffrey Moy Inker: W.C. Carani Colorist: Tom McCraw * Superhero comics inherently present a challenge for those who are interested but don't know where to start. With decades of monthly storytelling and the most popular characters appearing in multiple books at once, most heroes and villains have so much backstory that it's nearly impossible to prepare one's self before diving in. Most comics diehards had to go through an uncomfortable period where we were making sense of things the best we could until we found our footing. But even within that,  there are concepts that are daunting even for the most experienced of us. The Legion of Super-Heroes fall firmly into that category. In fact, they may belong at the top of the list. The Legion were introduced in Adventure Comics  in 1958 as a group of teenage heroes from the 30th centry who had been inspired by Superboy. They traveled bac

And Justice for Some Justice League America  #100  Writer: Gerard Jones Penciller: Chuck Wojtkiewicz Inker: Bob Dvorak Colorist: Gene D'Angelo * When one thinks of the Justice League, one thinks of the most recognizable DC heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman. And for two decades, that was the team, give or take a few members. But since the 1980s, the team has been more often comprised of one or two of the heavy hitters and a cast of lesser-knowns. It started in the mid-1980s with the "Detroit" era, in which Aquaman and Martian Manhunter headed up a group of newcomers including Vibe and Vixen. In 1987, following Crisis on Infinite Earths , a new team emerged. The soft reboots of Superman and Wonder Woman led to a team that was anchored by Batman and Martian Manhunter. They were joined by a colorful array of B-listers such as Booster Gold, Dr. Light, and Mister Miracle. A bit later they were joined by a second team in their own title, Jus

A Ray(ner) of Light Green Lantern  #62  Writer: Ron Marz Penciller: Daryl Banks and Joe St. Pierre Inker: Romeo Tanghal Colorist: Steve Mattsson * Much more so than their Marvel counterparts, DC superheroes have a foundation of legacy. Because several of their Silver Age heroes - Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Atom - were updates of Golden Age ones, the fictional universe gained a sense of history and lineage, a connection that was made explicit with the Justice League / Justice Society team-ups of the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s this was furthered by the company's decision to have the grown children of the Justice Society become a team (Infinity Inc.) and the sidekicks of the Justice League grow into the New Teen Titans. The problem was that the Silver Age heroes became way more popular and iconic than their predecsssors, and that made it difficult to continue the cycle of having a younger generation come in and take over.  But credit where credit is due, DC went ahead and