Top 100 Comic Book Storylines

Top 100 Comic Book Storylines Master List

100. “Who Killed Retro Girl?” by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming (Powers #1-6) – 98 points
97 (tie). “Crawling From the Wreckage” by Grant Morrison, Richard Case, Carlos Garzon and Scott Hanna (Doom Patrol #19-22) – 100 points (2 first place votes)
97 (tie). “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck” by Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge #285-296) – 100 points (3 first place votes)
97 (tie). “Jimmy Corrigan, Smartest Boy on Earth” by Chris Ware (Acme Novelty Library #5, 6, 8, 9 and 11-14) – 100 points (5 first place votes)
96. “Love and Death” by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette and John Totleben (Saga of the Swamp Thing 28-34 & Annual #2) – 101 points (2 first place votes)
94 (tie). “The Great Cow Race” by Jeff Smith (Bone #7-11) – 102 points (1 first place vote)
94 (tie). “Blood of Palomar” by Gilbert Hernandez (Love and Rockets #21-26) – 102 points (3 first place votes)
93. “The Slavers” by Garth Ennis, Leandro Fernandez and Scott Koblish (Punisher MAX #25-30) – 103 points (5 first place votes)
91 (tie). “First Tale of the Demon” by Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, Bob Brown, Irv Novick and Dick Giordano (Batman #232, 235, 240, 242-244 and Detective Comics #411) – 105 points (2 first place votes)
91 (tie). “Welcome Back, Frank” by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon (Punisher: Marvel Knights #1-12) – 105 points (2 first place votes)
90. “Weapon X” by Barry Windsor-Smith (Marvel Comics Presents #72-84) – 106 points (1 first place vote)
88 (tie). “March of the Wooden Soldiers” by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha (Fables #19-21, 23-27) – 108 points (2 first place votes)
88 (tie). “Church and State” by Dave Sim and Gerhard (Cerebus #52-111) – 108 points (3 first place votes)
87. “The Death of Speedy” by Jaime Hernandez (Love and Rockets #21-23) – 110 points (4 first place votes)
86. “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume 1″ by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #1-6) – 111 points (1 first place vote)
84 (tie). “Top 10 Season 1″ by Alan Moore, Gene Ha and Zander Cannon (Top 10 #1-12) – 112 points (1 first place vote)
84 (tie). “High Society” by Dave Sim (Cerebus #26–50) – 112 points (5 first place votes)
83. “Immortal Iron Fist” by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, David Aja, Travel Foreman and Various Artists (Immortal Iron Fist #1-16, Civil War: Choosing Sides, Annual #1, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death, and The Origin of Danny Rand) – 115 points (1 first place vote)
82. “Hardcore/King of Hell’s Kitchen” by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev (Daredevil #46-50, 56-60) – 118 points (1 first place vote)
81. “Faith in Monsters/Caged Angels” by Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato (Thunderbolts #110-121) – 120 points (1 first place vote)
80. “Homelands” by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha (Fables #36-38, 40–41) – 126 points (3 first place votes)
79. “Kree/Skrull War” by Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, Sal Buscema and John Buscema (Avengers #89-97) – 127 points (5 first place votes)
78. “Winter Soldier” by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Michael Lark and Michael Perkins (Captain America #1-6, 8-9, 11-14) – 128 points (2 first place votes)
76 (tie). “Unmanned” by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan, Jr. (Y The Last Man #1-6) – 131 points (1 first place vote)
76 (tie). “Annihilation” by Keith Giffen, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Simon Furman, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Scott Kolins, Kev Walker, Renato Arlem, Jorge Lucas, Greg Titus, Andrea DiVito and more (Annihilation: Prologue, Annihilation: Nova #1-4, Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1-4, Annihilation: Ronan #1-4, Annihilation: Super Skrull #1-4, Annihilation #1-6) – 131 points (2 first place votes)
75. “Planetary” by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday (Planetary #1-12) – 132 points (3 first place votes)
74. “Sleeper Season 1″ by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Sleeper #1-12) – 133 points (4 first place votes)
73. “A Game of You” by Neil Gaiman, Colleen Doran, Shawn McManus, Bryan Talbot and many inkers (Sandman #32-37) – 139 points (2 first place votes)
71 (tie). “The Magus Saga” by Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom and Steve Leialoha (Strange Tales #178-181, Warlock #9-11) – 140 points (3 first place votes)
71 (tie). “Coming Home” by J.M. Straczynski, John Romita, Jr. and Scott Hanna (Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #30-35) – 126 points (3 first place votes) – 140 points (6 first place votes)
70. “The Korvac Saga” by Jim Shooter, Roger Stern, David Michelinie, George Pérez, Sal Buscema, David Wenzel and Pablo Marcos (Avengers #167-169, 170-171, 173-177) – 141 points (1 first place vote)
68 (tie). “Knightfall” by Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Jim Aparo, Norm Breyfogle, Graham Nolan, Jim Balent and a number of inkers (Batman #491-500, Detective Comics #659-666) – 142 points (3 first place votes)
68 (tie). “Sins of the Father” by James Robinson, Tony Harris and Wade Von Grawbadger (Starman #0-3) – 142 points (5 first place votes)
67. “Authority” by Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary (Authority #1-12) – 147 points (2 first place votes)
66. “New World Order” by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter and John Dell (JLA #1-4) – 149 points (1 first place vote)
65. “No Man’s Land” by Various Writers (notably Greg Rucka and Devin Grayson) and Various Artists (Notably Alex Maleev and Dale Eaglesham) (Basically every Batman title that came out in 1999) – 160 points (1 first place vote)
64. “The Elektra Saga” by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson (Daredevil #168, 174-182, 187-190) – 162 points (2 first place votes)
63. “Year of the Bastard”/”The New Scum” by Warren Ellis, Darick Robertson and Rodney Ramos (Transmetropolitan #13-24) – 164 points (5 first place votes)
61 (tie). “House of M” by Brian Michael Bendis, Olivier Coipel and Tim Townsend (House of M #1-8) – 165 points (2 first place votes)
61 (tie). “Planet Hulk” by Greg Pak, Gary Frank, Aaron Lopresti and Carlo Pagulayan (Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #92-105) – 165 points (2 first place votes)
60. “Reign of the Supermen” by Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, Jerry Ordway and Gerard Jones (writers), Dan Jurgens, Tom Grummett, Jon Bogdanove, Jackson Guice, Jerry Ordway and M.D. Bright) (pencilers) and Brett Breeding, Doug Hazlewood, Dennis Janke, Denis Rodier and Romeo Tanghal (inkers) Action Comics #687-691, Adventures of Superman #500-505, Superman #78-82, Superman: The Man of Steel #22-26 and Green Lantern Vol. 3 #46) – 167 points (2 first place votes)
59. “Whys and Wherefores” by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan, Jr. (Y The Last Man #55-59) – 169 points (8 first place votes)
58. “From Hell” by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell (From Hell #1-11) – 171 points (1 first place vote)
57. “Avengers Forever” by Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino (Avengers Forever #1-12) – 172 points (4 first place votes)
56. “The Kindly Ones” by Neil Gaiman, Marc Hempel, Richard Case, D’Israeli, Ted Kristiansen, Glyn Dillon, Dean Ormston and Charles Vess (Sandman #57-69) – 173 points (4 first place votes)
55. “We3″ by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (We3 #1-3) – 174 points (3 first place votes)
53 (tie). “Confession” by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Will Blyberg (Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #4-9) – 179 points (2 first place votes)
53 (tie). “The Death of Jean DeWolff” by Peter David and Rich Buckler (plus many inkers) (The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #107-110) – 179 points (6 first place votes)
52. “The Death of Superman” by Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson and Roger Stern (writers), Dan Jurgens, Tom Grummett, Jon Bogdanove and Jackson Guice (pencilers) and Brett Breeding, Doug Hazlewood, Dennis Janke, Denis Rodier and Rich Burchett (inkers) (Superman #74-75, Adventures of Superman #497, Superman: Man of Steel #18-19, Action Comics #684, Justice League America #69) – 181 points (1 first place vote)
51. “Batman R.I.P.” by Grant Morrison, Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea (s #676-681) – 183 points (2 first place votes)
50. “Final Crisis” by Grant Morrison, JG Jones, Doug Mahnke, Carlos Pacheco, Lee Garbett, Matthew Clark, Marco Ruby and a host of inkers (Final Crisis #1-7, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1-2, Final Crisis: Submit #1 plus I would throw in Batman #682-683) – 184 points (3 first place votes)
49. “Marvels” by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross (Marvels #1-4, plus #0, I guess) – 186 points (4 first place votes)
47 (tie). “Rock of Ages” by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, Gary Frank, Greg Land, John Dell and Bob McLeod Doug Mahnke, Carlos Pacheco, Lee Garbett, Matthew Clark, Marco Ruby and a host of inkers (JLA #10-15) – 184 points (3 first place votes)
47 (tie). “Death of Captain America” by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Mike Perkins, Jackson Guice, Roberto De La Torre, Luke Ross plus a bunch of inkers (Captain America Vol. 5 #25-42) – 188 points (4 first place votes)
46. “Seven Soldiers of Victory” by Grant Morrison, JH Williams, Simone Bianchi, Cameron Stewart, Ryan Sook, Pasqual Ferry, Doug Mahnke, Frazer Irving, Yanick Paquette, Billy Patton and Freddie Williams (plus a host of inkers) (Seven Soldiers #0-1, plus four issue mini-series for Shining Knight, Manhattan Guardian, Zatanna, Mister Miracle, Frankenstein, Klarion and Bulleteer) – 186 points (4 first place votes)
45. “Gifted” by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men #1-6) – 195 points (4 first place votes)
44. “Olympus” by Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, John Totleben, Tom Yeates and John Ridgway (Miracleman #11-16) – 197 points (6 first place votes)
43. “If This Be My Destiny” by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee (Amazing Spider-Man #31-33) – 206 points (4 first place votes)
42. “The Surtur Saga” by Walt Simonson (Thor #349-353) – 211 points (5 first place votes)
41. “Mutant Massacre” by Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Walt Simonson, John Romita Jr., Alan Davis, Rick Leonardi, Sal Buscema, Terry Shoemaker, Jon Bogdanove and a host of inkers (Uncanny X-Men #210-213, X-Factor #9-11, Thor #373-374, New Mutants #46 and Power Pack #27) – 218 points (4 first place votes)
39 (tie). “Hush” by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams (Batman #608-619) – 220 points
39 (tie). “Secret Wars” by Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, Bob Layton, John Beatty and a host of other inkers (Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #1-12) – 220 points (3 first place votes)
38. “Dangerous Habits” by Garth Ennis, Will Simpson, Mark Pennington and a host of other inkers (Hellblazer #41-46) – 222 points (3 first place votes)
37. “Green Lantern: Rebirth” by Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver and Prentis Rollins (Green Lantern: Rebirth #1-6) – 231 points (4 first place votes)
36. “The Painting That Ate Paris” by Grant Morrison, Richard Case and John Nyberg (Doom Patrol Vol. 2 #26-29) – 235 points (4 first place votes)
35. “Return of Barry Allen” by Mark Waid, Greg Larocque and Roy Richardson (Flash Vol. 2 #73-79) – 239 points (8 first place votes)
34. “The Death of Gwen Stacy” by Gerry Conway, Gil Kane and John Romita (Amazing Spider-Man #121-122) – 250 points (3 first place votes)
33. “The Long Halloween” by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale (The Long Halloween #1-13) – 254 points (5 first place votes)
32. “Deus ex Machina” by Grant Morrison, Chas Truog, Doug Hazlewood, Mark Farmer and a few other artists (Animal Man #18-26) – 256 points (5 first place votes)
31. “Doll’s House” by Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III (Sandman Vol. 2 #9-16) – 258 points (6 first place votes)
30. “Infinity Gauntlet” by Jim Starlin, George Perez, Ron Lim, Joe Rubinstein and a couple of other inkers (Infinity Gauntlet #1-6) – 268 points (2 first place votes)
29. “Brief Lives” by Neil Gaiman, Jill Thompson, Vince Locke and Dick Giordano (Sandman #41-49) – 269 points (6 first place votes)
28. “Ultimates 2″ by Mark Millar, Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary (Ultimates 2 #1-13) – 294 points (3 first place votes)
26 (tie). “Identity Crisis” by Brad Meltzer, Rags Morales and Michael Bair (Identity Crisis #1-7) – 304 points (2 first place votes)
26 (tie). “Super-Human” by Mark Millar, Bryan Hitch and Andrew Currie (Ultimates #1-6) – 304 points (5 first place votes)
25. “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” by Alan Moore, Curt Swan, Kurt Schaffenberger and George Perez (Superman #423 and Action Comics #583) – 308 points (4 first place votes)
24. “New Frontier” by Darwyn Cooke (New Frontier #1-6) – 314 points (2 first place votes)
23. “All in the Family” by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon (Preacher #8-12) – 318 points (13 first place votes)
22. “American Gothic” by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, Rick Veitch, Stan Woch, Ron Randall, Alfredo Alcala and Tom Mandrake (The Saga of the Swamp Thing #37-38, 42-45, Swamp Thing #39-41, 46-50) – 330 points (5 first place votes)
20 (tie). “Days of Future Past” by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin (X-Men #141 and Uncanny X-Men #142) – 350 points (2 first place votes)
20 (tie). “E is for Extinction” by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely and Tim Townsend (New X-Men #114-116) – 350 points (6 first place votes)
19. “The Galactus Trilogy” by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott (Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #48-50) – 352 points (6 first place votes)
18. “Civil War” by Mark Millar, Steve McNiven and Dexter Vines (Civil War #1-7) – 350 points (2 first place votes)
17. “Under Siege” by Roger Stern, John Buscema and Tom Palmer (Avengers #270-277) – 361 points (5 first place votes)
16. “The Sinestro Corps War” by Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons, Peter Tomasi, Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver, Patrick Gleason plus a whole lot of other pencilers and inkers (Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Special #1, Green Lantern Vol. 4 #21-25, Green Lantern Corps #14-19) – 452 points (9 first place votes)
15. “V for Vendetta” by Alan Moore and David Lloyd (After beginning serialization in Warrior, V for Vendetta #1-10) – 455 points (9 first place votes)
14. “Kraven’s Last Hunt” by J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod (Amazing Spider-Man #293-294, Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132 and Web of Spider-Man #31-32) – 473 points (10 first place votes)
13. “The Judas Contract ” by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Dick Giordano and Mike DeCarlo (Tales of the New Teen Titans #42-44, Tales of the New Teen Titans Annual #3) – 492 points (6 first place votes)
12. “The Age of Apocalypse” by Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, Fabian Nicieza, Andy Kubert, Joe Madureira, Steve Epting, Roger Cruz and a pile of other artists and writers (X-Men: Alpha #1, Amazing X-Men #1-4, Astonishing X-Men #1-4, X-Men: Omega #1 plus a bunch of tie-ins) – 511 points (14 first place votes)
11. “The Great Darkness Saga” by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt (Legion of Super-Heroes #290-294) – 704 points (16 first place votes)
10. “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” by Art Spiegelman (For simplicity’s sake, let’s just say Maus: Book 1 and Book 2) – 723 points (17 first place votes)
9. “Kingdom Come” by Mark Waid and Alex Ross (Kingdom Come #1-4) – 740 points (19 first place votes)
8. “Season of Mists” by Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Matt Wagner, Dick Giordano, George Pratt, and P. Craig Russell (Sandman #21-28) – 752 points (18 first place votes)
7. “Crisis on Infinite Earths” by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Dick Giordano and Jerry Ordway (Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12, plus a bunch of tie-ins) – 782 points (24 first place votes)
6. “All Star Superman” by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (All Star Superman #1-12) – 930 points (34 first place votes)
5. “Dark Knight Returns” by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson (Batman: The Dark Knight #1-4) – 1112 points (24 first place votes)
4. “Year One” by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli (Batman #404-407) – 1149 points (21 first place votes)
3. “Born Again” by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli (Daredevil #227-233) – 1349 (29 first place votes)
2. “The Dark Phoenix Saga” by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin (X-Men #129-137) – 1472 points (59 first place votes)
1. “Watchmen” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (Watchmen #1-12) – 2003 points (78 first place votes)