IGN published a top 100 comic book heroes that made me crazy, both in its predictability (Hey! Superman and Bats are #s 1 and 2!), overinclusiveness (every single Robin except Damian Wayne (who is the most interesting one by far), as well as Superboy and Supergirl? Really?) and its attempts to be esoteric without providing sufficient justification (Groo makes the list, but they don’t really say what makes him so essential; James Gordon makes the list, but Aunt May and Uncle Ben don’t–nor does Jarvis; and Nova makes the list, but nobody really gives a shit about Nova). Maybe it was the list’s sketchy criteria for placement: “Picked by their cultural impact, character development, social relevance, general cool factor, and importance of storylines, these are the best of the best.
It made me so nuts, I made my own list. Yes, there’s a lot of overlap. But mine is better. Because I said so.
Note: If you’re just looking for a list without supporting arguments, you can jump to the last page of this post. But you can’t tell me I was wrong to put Thor at #33 unless you go and read why. So, read every page and then tell me why I’m full of $#!+.
Enjoy!
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Tags: Captain America, Comic books, Daredevil, Ed Brubaker, Fantastic 4, Filthy Muties, Flash, Frank Miller, Garth Freakin Ennis, Grant Morrison Sucks, Green Lantern, Hulk, Iron Man, Punisher, Spider-Man, Superman, The Avengers, The Caped Crusader, Wonder Woman, Zombies
We’re looking at Ennis’ entire run on PunisherMax. One of the greatest runs in the history of comic books. 
review another important book: PunisherMax. I can’t write about every issue of every Punisher book because between the miniserieses and one-shots and various volumes of “Punisher” titles there’s probably twenty or so separate series, and most of them are . . . Well . . . Shite. I could start with the Marvel Knights Punisher revival of the series, also written by Garth Ennis, but that was a very different sort of book. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but it was still Marvel Universe material without anything truly unique. Good for what it was, and great to see 
For kicks and giggles, I’m assembling my list of the top comic book writers of all time. And as I go through the names, I realize that so few of them were also able to draw their own words. So I thought I’d do this list as a prelude: The best comic book writer-artists of all time. Plus, this helps me take some names off the best writers list that I’m working on, ‘cause they’re already here.
Marvel calls it an Omnibus. D.C. appears to call it “Absolute.” Dynamite seems to call it “Definitive.” By any name, it’s a hardcover, comprehensive collection of reprints on high-quality paper that’s a little bit bigger than the average comic book, so it has room to breathe. You hold it in your hands, it’s art. I’ve got editions of Garth Ennis’ “The Boys” and “Punisher,” as well as JMS’ Squadron Supreme relaunch, the second Bendis/Maleev Daredevil Omnibus, Brubaker’s Death of Cap Omnibus, and a few others, and they make a handsome addition to any bookshelf. But why aren’t there more? Why can’t we get comprehensive reprints of some of the other series that found a niche audience who will spring open their wallets for the extra bucks it takes to put these works out in volumes that will last forever, rather than grinding out the paperback editions?
