1. The Amazing Spider-Man #229-230 (1982)
“Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut.” That’s what it said on the cover of #229. I had never heard of Juggernaut. But neither had many people. He premiered in 1965 in a two-part X-Men story, disappeared for over the year, returned for another two issues in 1967, and then had only a handful of appearances through the 1970s. It really wasn’t until these two issues that Juggernaut became a character that meant something in the Marvel Universe. This brilliant story, which is basically just two pages of Spider-Man trying to stop the Juggernaut (despite the fact that, as the cover says, “nothing” can stop him). Spidey gets pounded on, dragged through walls, crushed, beaten, and shredded, but keeps on going. Yes, John Romita Jr.’s art was essential to selling this story, but the grit, the grim, the steadfast sense of duty and defiance…That was all Roger Stern.
I’ve written about these two issues frequently, and the more I write, the more clear it becomes that they are my two favorite comic books of all time.
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.