THE TOP 10 MARVEL ROGER STERN COMICS ACCORDING TO ME
Runner ups: Amazing Spider-Man #227, Avengers #239, Fantastic Four #300, Superman vs. Hulk, Avengers #251-254, and Doctor Strange #60-62.
10. The West Coast Avengers #1-4
The first offshoot team of The Avengers arrived in 1984, created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall, and it was so popular it spawned several volumes of regular series. Unfortunately, Stern didn’t write them. Editorial wouldn’t let him have the characters he wanted, he argued about it, and, eventually, he was fired from the entire Avengers franchise.He left to gokill Superman at DC, having a hand in creating one of the best-publicized events (and best-selling comics)in history.
9. Avengers # 1.5 (1999)
The famous “half issue” of The Avengers, written in the style of Stan Lee, complete with humorous pokes and references to the Silver Age. Super-fun.
8. Amazing Spider-Man #248
“The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man.” Just about everyone knows this one. It’s widely recognized as one of the greatest short stories in comic history. It’s also the first time Stern worked with artist Ron Frenz. Stern left Spider-Man in part because Romita was leaving, but he’s said in interviews since then that if he’d known Frenz would take over the art chores, he might have stayed on.
7. Avengers #227-230 (1983): The trial of Hank Pym
The Trial of Hank Pym was the first time I ever thought about superheroes having legal consequences for their actions. The groundwork had been laid by some great writing from Jim Shooter, but Stern is the one who handled the actual courtmartial.Also, Egghead was never a decent villain before or after this story. This arc also served as the platform to bring Monica Rambeau on board, who Stern had introduced in a great Amazing Spider-Man annual. Stern is one of the few writers of his time who wrote women well: She Hulk was just a licensing placeholder before Stern wrote her into The Avengers. His work with The Wasp is probably the best that character has ever been written. He handled the relationship between Wanda and Vision with a deftness rarely seen in other books. His work with The Black Cat in Amazing Spider-Man turned her from a Catwoman wannabe into a fan-favorite. I would have rated this story higher if not for Al Milgrom, who was always a better editor than artist.
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Actually, the very first “Avengers Versus X-Men” clashes were in ‘X-Men’#9 ( 1964 ) and ‘Avengers’#53, ( 1968 ). I think you are being a little hard on the ‘Dr. Strange’ series- I get that it’s not everybody’s cup of Joe, ( like ‘Batman’, ‘Spider-Man’, ‘X-Men’, ‘Avengers’, etc., ) but nevertheless, Marvel’s ‘Dr. Strange’ series has given the world some seriously deep and mind-expanding literature. Sort-of the “Preacher” of it’s day. I wish I could have financially afforded to follow all of Dr. Strange’s adventures from the Sixties through the Eighties, but, in those days, the amounts of time and money I had to spend on comics in those days were not as great as from the Nineties to the present. So, my exposure to ‘Dr. Strange’ is not as extensive as my exposure to, say, Captain America or the X-Men. I regret it, but it is what it is. Being a mild Biblio-scholar, the Good Book tells us that all “good” magic comes straight from God, ( for instance, the conclusion of ‘Dr.Strange’#14- “The Tomb of Dr. Strange” ) and all “bad” magic comes from Satan and Hell. ( extended into comics, this would include Satannish, Thog, Mephisto, Dormammu, Trigon, and the Hellstrom siblings, Daimon and Satana ) This means that the politics of the ‘Dr. Strange’ character and series walks a very slim tightrope that Marvel’s various “Son of Satan” series have failed to do, so I have always been able to understand why any comics consumer would choose to avoid it. ( I have never seen or read “The Exorcist”- and never will- for the same reason ) So- you’re being a little hard on an extremely excellent product of Marvel Comics that the vast majority of the comics reading market has chosen to pass on, for whatever their reasons. Just my 411.
Ok..Grant never treated Superman as a god that steps over humans. If you think that you do not fuckong understand Superman.
OK. You may be right. At a minimum, I’m sure my little blurb is an oversimplication of a very complicated writer.