“The Death of Gwen Stacy” Voted The #1 Marvel Comic of All Time

26 Comments

1. it was horrible we can agree on that much.

2. The whole thing was lyihg rubbish, because Stark’s side wasn’t conservative, but was implied to be. It was more like Socialists vs Libertarians.

3. @23 – I can’t speak about Flash in Vietnam or Cap’s issues because I haven’t read any Cap and haven’t read all of the Flash in Vietnam issues (except for Brother Power Sister Sun).

   But I think something like Civil War is exactly like assigning a political leaning to pretty much every character involved. Because that story was such a blatant analogy for the you’re-either-with-us-or-you’re-against-us mindset after 9/11, it painted Iron Man and everyone on his side as Conservative, and Cap and everyone on his side as Democrats. Marvel was telling their readers “pick a side!” Literally – I think that was part of the Civil War advertising.

4. @#20-I don’t mean bringing in politics like that. I just meant touching on political issues, like what Stan did when he sent Flash the Vietnam or how Cap ostensibly became Nomad because of Watergate or how basically Captain America comics have been saying for the passed 70-80 years Nazis and the extreme right suck.

   I think for some characters, they’re political alignments Can be part of them but with Spider-Man, even though if you look at him one would assume he isn’t exactly nodding in agreement with the Tea Party, it’s better to not touch on the subject.

   It’s like popularity by association. It’s the same reason why Venom’s popularity exploded after the 1994 cartoon and everyone ASSUMED the Alien Costume Saga played out in the comics in a similar way to the cartoon.

5. @20 – If you bring politics into a comic story you can potentially piss off up to half of the audience. Remember when Aunt May said she was glad she voted for that Al Gore and not that other awful man? (can’t remember the exact quote) Way to annoy all the Republican readers. It would be like one of the main Marvel characters declaring they were pro-choice or pro-life. There’s no way you wouldn’t be pissing some of your audience off. Just don’t do it.

   @21 – If people who voted for that list voted for Maximum Carnage because they enjoyed the video game and can’t realize that a video game and a series of comic books are two separate things, I fear for the future of our world.

6. @19 – Carnage has a huge fan following of comic readers who would vote for the story regardless of it’s quality because they think Carnage is really “awesome” and “dark”.
   Also while Maximum Carnage is an incredibly stupid story it seems to have seen a popularity revival because of the nostalgia that people have for the tie in video game that was released for it. So that’s probably why it’s so high on the list.

7. @#17-Oh okay then that’s asinine. The Clone Saga was more an era than a story.

   I don’t think it’s inherently stupid to bring politics into comics. Captain America thrived on that. But it was doing a mock 9/11/Patriot act story which was stupid and treated the Marvel universe TOO realistically to the point where past and future continuity made little sense. I don’t think ALL of Civil War was done to set up OMD, but I think that was part of it defiantly.

   @#19-I’m sorry but any list which claims Maximum Carnage is better than the Master Planner Trilogy goes beyond just personal opinion.

   Honestly I think this was more a popularity poll than a quality poll. Maximum Carnage had a video game and has Carnage in it. Therefore people vote for it. ASM #700 is very recent and a centennial issue, thus people vote for it more than THE COMIC WHICH BEGAN THE X-MEN AS WE KNOW THEM TODAY!

8. @18 – You’re right of course, and arguing about this list is therefore pointless. However, this *is* the internet, so let’s all continue to state our opinions pointing out how wrong this list is. 🙂

   Seriously, I know everyone is not going to agree, but there should be certain entries on this list that the majority of people can agree that their inclusion is ridiculous. I know I’m sounding like a broken record (ask your parents what a record is, kids) , but how did Maximum Carnage make it on this list while ASM #400 did not? Who are these people that voted for Maximum Carnage and how can we get them the help they so desperately need?

9. It would be impossible to create a list like this that everyone agreed was right on. I was 12 years old when I read 121. I was shocked! I always thought it was one of the best comics I have ever read.
   I wish the “drug” issues were represented.

10. @16 – “@#5-In fairness I think they were talking about the Clone Saga mini-series from 2009-2010 not the 90s megaevent”. That’s what I thought too but if you go to the list on Marvel.com they have screenshots for some of the list entries, and the screenshot for this one is the Web issue with Peter and the Clone facing off.

    Yeah, Civil War is an interesting idea, but then you should realize it’s a terrible idea to bring politics into the comic book world and assign political views to characters. And that’s what they were doing. Plus I suspect the whole thing was created as a way to get Peter to unmask because that was step 1 in Quesada’s plan to undo the marriage.

11. @#2-You’ve got to remember though back in 1973 something like ASM #121 had NEVER been done before.
    @#3-forget that Slott’s ASM #700 is apparently better than the comic which launched the X-Men as we know them today. This list is a joke.
    @#5-In fairness I think they were talking about the Clone Saga mini-series from 2009-2010 not the 90s megaevent
    @#14-How? How writing God knows how many characters out of character to make a heavy handed political message everyone already knew is better than, IDK, an actual super hero story where they kick villain’s asses.

12. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (“The Sinister Six!”) didn’t make the cut?! Phooey.

13. Honestly? Civil War is the best crossover event by Marvel. There, I said it.

14. It’s quite hard to take a best-of list seriously which has “Civil War” on its second place. Sorry…

15. @Mike K — Well, technically, Amazing Spider-Man #122, while being a separate issue, is considered part of The Death of Gwen Stacy story, and will be reprinted along with “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” (Amazing Spider-Man #122) in the 75th Anniversary Omnibus.

16. @2: It’s listed as being from 1999 because that was when the volume two relaunch started.

17. Death of Jean Dewolfe, Death and Destiny, ASM #39 – 40 and Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #1 – 12 are just some of the many Spider-Man stories that should have been on this list. Maximum Carnage, the 9/11 issue and ASM #700 are all really weird picks for a best of list.

    I’m glad that Daredevil: Born Again was so high on this list though, such a great story.

18. I will never part with my copy of #17!

19. It’s quite obvious most people can’t tell the difference, between those concepts, because they just voted for the most relevant comic in Marvel history.

20. Yeah, they really should have required single issues only to give the poll a bit more coherence. Trying not to split hairs too much, but some people may interpret “great” different than “best” with the former going beyond the quality of the story to also include the historical impact of an issue. I’m a little surprised that ASM 122, 252 or 300 did not make the list. IMO, “Last Hunt” is rated too high & master planner too low.

21. Spider-Man: Blue is on this list. The art is beautiful, but it’s not original material, just a retelling of Lee/Romita stories. Whey didn’t Spider-Man: The Gwen Romance (Lee/Romita issues) take this spot?

    I gotta stop looking at this list, it’s just making me more frustrated. I mean, Deadpool Kills??? What is that? I don’t recognize that title and I’m a Deadpool fan that recognizes the huge amount of overexposure the character has received over the years. Do they mean Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe? Are they serious? There’s a Deadpool Kills Deadpool series out now but I can’t seriously believe that’s what this entry is.

    Maximum Carnage, oh my head.

22. @4 – I mean, they have the Clone Saga on there. The Clone Saga. So they’re saying that ~3 years of Spidey comics (4 comics a month, plus Unlimited, plus mini-series) should occupy a single spot on this list? That makes no sense, considering the CS had some of the best and some of the worst Spidey stories ever written.

23. #2
    I also agree on the fact that is not such a great comic, it only made it to place 95 of my Top 100. And to make it worse, in this poll, it was competing with Born Again and the like, but what can you expect from polls?

    #3
    Rules are indeed necessary for any serious Top list. Quoting myself:

    “A quick Internet search for the keywords “top spiderman comics” will list a series of articles that, despite the query, deal with storylines. They will usually range from 10 to 25, and mix together entire runs and single issues. There is some logic behind that, but presented in this fashion, stand-alone issues have more weight than those which aren’t. For example, a 12 issue story arc, occupies the same space on the list as a half-issue story.”

    In this case we’re talking about a poll, so any likelihood of seriousness goes out the door from the beginning.

24. Some of the entries are single issues, while others are arcs and a few are whole titles. Some consistency in the rules would have been nice.

    A list that not only includes Maximum Carnage but puts it ahead of The Master Planner Saga doesn’t hold much weight with me. Plus Civil War is #2? I call shenanigans.

25. I’m not the biggest fan of that story, I never found it to be amazing as a story, the impact it left on the series is amazing, but the story itself is pretty standard, and Gwen was annoying for more than 20 issues at that point
    I certainly prefer Sins Past, although the sex thing does not match well with continuity, or the dialogue of the classic Story by Conway and Kane

    How come a post September 2001 issue is listed as a comic from 1999?

26. Notice how Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (the Wedding) made the list but none of the OMD or OMIT issues. I dare Marvel to ask for the worst comics in the history of the House of Ideas.