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Everyone and their damn aunt have talked about their favorite comics and so on and so forth, then SO CAN I.

First off you have to know that I got in comics rather late so none of these is motivated by nostalgia... But it's opinion (OWN personal TRUTH in my case !) and this is my "how to enjoy comics events" list ( after I get more time, I am gonna do the same for DC). They're mainly comics that illustrate the full spectrum of fictional characters I appreciate as I see them. They do play a huge part on the way I draw or characterize or see the essence and concepts of particular characters.
If you understand what I'm talking about let's start the countdown and between us... Screw "high standards" and "acclaimed writers", I am old enough to have MY mind telling me the TRUTH.
Also, I'm quite fed up with the internet constantly complaining about past comics that are not that bad while praising some that are in fact cow manure or being completely joyless and pessimistic in their reviews (Seriously, is it me or most comics blogs seem to be bitter and lacking a sense of well, FUN ? Is it me or most reviews are being written by your average snubbish moralising prick ? )
Anyway ON WITH THE SHOW ! With music ! (Because I love to think about comics with some appropriate music ...)

10) AVENGERS/DEFENDERS WAR

Theme Song : Master Of Puppets (Metallica)

See now, the whole Heroes VS heroes has been done to death ... Therefore I only pick THE BEST of all of them ! (And by that, I mean when 2 gentlemen from this gloriousassembly are involved ! fav.me/d571ggn ! )
The premise of the book sees the teams of Avengers and Defenders being tricked by Loki and Dormammu (who wears his sexiest red speedo ever!) to collect the pieces of the Evil Eye, a device that could destroy the universe for either man (Dormammu because he'a badass dimensional tyrant and Loki.... because he loves being a prick. Can I ask for a better combination than ambition and douchiness ?! ). The pieces are scattered across the globe, and as each Avenger and Defender splits up to find them, they're individually met by a member of the other team, which, of course, leads to some titanic brawls... while keeping the heroes with ACTUAL good intentions (not the wretched dipshits that have usurped their places nowadays...).
Eventually the teams work together to take down a common threat (though Loki's treachery did make it easier for them, but there was no other way! When well-written, Dormammu is not some jobber but the fucker who can fingerbang your planet... though yes, Shuma Gorath is even absurdly more destructive !) and boy was it cool ! Also I tip my hat to the Scarlet Witch. Lady knows how to fight even when glued (it makes sense in context !).

9) SECRET WARS

Theme Song : Super Smash Brawl Bros.Main Theme

This is the first Crossover. It is the one who started it all for Marvel, at least in the large-scale sense of it. Sure it is cheesy at times , but this is a comic about David Hasselhoff cosplaying as Elvis Presley pitting villains against heroes, so how realistic can you get ? ( errr... Okay forget , the Elvis part we never saw him until the sequel , which as drawn out as fuck !)
It got the best of the best characters in the Marvel Universe (well at the time...), and not skipping even the mighty Galactus himself. It had many plot-twists, for the good. Great dialogues - it's been a long time now since I actually felt the character's personality via the dialogues, and it fits. To be perfectly honest , everyone remembers it for Spidey getting his black costume and wheile that's important, I was more pleased by OTHER things like :
- Heroes not necessarily trusting each other... But ending up working together despite those differences ! (So rare these days ...)
- Doom at the height of his megalomania (and recording his own history , after all he is modest isn't he ?). And if anyone tells you that Doom is so noble that he would not blablabla, remember that after a calm discussion with Cap America, the good (now Beyonder-powered) Doctor turned the heroes HQ into a fucking crater with the heroes in it ! Such good intentions ! There's a good reason even the other baddies do not trust him...
- Klaw is simply a RIOT ! And the way Ben Grimm and Hawkeye "defeat" him and the Lizard is priceless !
- Janet... just Janet being awesome. Seriously, she escapes the x-men easily, confronts Magneto, takes a lot of hits and even tames the Lizard by telling him "Come here !"...speaking of which..)
- The Lizard has never been more sympathetic than here ( Seriously, he was so cute that he could be calmed down rather easily ... truly a ladies reptile !)
- Absorbing man gets a soulmate in Titania! In fact, I just like all the villains side ! People should learn to appreciate the B and C-listers more , dammit !
- Owen Reece going from wimp to pimp ! (Once he became self-assured , he made Wrecker,Absorbing Man and others his bitches .. except for Doc Ock, who still snaps at him on the right occasions) and he even got hitched with Volcana...lucky bastard.
- Amora's interactions with Thor (I always liked the Enchantress . That sure is a woman who knows WHO she wants!). She almost feels like 2 different persons: nigh-heartless towards even her own allies, but she'd never hurt Thor who she genuinely loves...
And so on and so forth. The few downsides I can think of are that Kang did not have that big a part (But he will be vindicated !) and the whole Colossus subplot left me cold ( never cared much about Colossus anyway ...)

8) DEFENDERS:INDEFENSIBLE

Theme Song : Shikaka (Ace Ventura O.S.T)

This might be odd but not only is this my first Dr Strange story but it will be to this day MY FAVORITE !
It is parodic in tone, but Dormammu at least succeeds in taking over the universe and shows a fair amount of delicious sadism... before getting bitten in the ass due to his cosmic-sized ego (Wellll... back to the dark dimension to build up another scheme I guess...)
Everyone's quirks and mannerisms are taken to a logical extreme. Strange is an arrogant,long-winded ham (read him either with the voice of Dr House or Dr Orpheus to get an optimal experience );Namor is stil a pompous ass (never got why he gets so much love... must be because he's from the "classic" era...Oh well.), Bruce Banner is one huge definition of sarcasm (the poor dude was a hobo at this point XD ) and Silver Surfer discovers the enigma of californian surfers...
But the villians get to steal the entire show.The dread Dormammu is presented as an ambitioud hothead who has to put up with his lustful, sarcastic and insane sister Umar (anyone who has a sibling can relate to the dread one... ). It is actually great to see Dormy in his trivial tribulations before managing to defeat Eternity along with his sister.Seriously, this is part of what makes the dread one a unique Faltine and add this aspect to his already established "essential evil tyrant" personna... (Not to mention that the universe under his influence is wonderfully nightmarish ! Hothead got taste ...).

7) ANNIHILATION : CONQUEST

Theme Song : Niveneh (E.S. Posthumus)

Funny trivia about it : For kanonical reasons I pretty much bid farewell to Marvel events right after this one...
The Prologue reveals that the Phalanx are the primary enemy after they use their technology as well as the devastation of the wake of the Annihilation Wave to take control of the Kree army (the Kree are indeed, with the exception of Ronan, a bunch of pricks... Sooo..).
Welll this is one of those stories that bring back minor, obscure and outright forgotten characters were brought back with new life breathed into them with something GREAT with them. In fact this is my first exposure to those who will be known as the Guardians of the Galaxy (and yes, I am fucking hyped for the movie !). Warlock, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon , and Starlord were brought back to tell one of the most entertaining stories that I've read in decades.
The Phalanx in this story have been buffed and are more threatening than ever ! To counter them the last of the Nova Centurions Richard Rider, a rag tag and rather eclectic group of "Guardians" made up of Rocket Raccoon (No, I do not find Rocket Raccoon weird at all... Remember that one the best Marvel characters was Albert Camus as an anthropomorphic duck .), Groot (He IS Groot BTW), Mantis ( oh yeaaaah...) and Starlord will organise their resistance (though I am not telling who got infected ... See for yourself !). Also joining the fray is Ronan The Accuser, the Kree Empire, the Super Skrull, Quasar, Moondragon , a newly evolved Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora and Wraith, who seems to have the ability to strike fear even into an emotionless race of machines (I call HAXX !).
But the true selling point of this whole story is the BIG BAD: Ultron.
And while I absolutely loved what Busiek did with him, the DnA Ultron looks PERFECT ! And DAMN if his domination/genocide was not cosmic this time around !
All in all, it's simply terrific.

6) THE BURNT OFFERING

Theme Song : Never Wanted to Dance (Mindless Self Indulgence)

I have been singing the praise of the "Cable & Deadpool" for a long time and I am not ready to stop. But If all the arcs of the series rank from entertaining to FUCKING AWESOME (actually all issues that precede the piece of shit that is "Civil War" (seriously FUCK that "event") are simply gold !), this is the story that remains the magnum opus of Marvel's greatest odd couple, not only for showing the contrast between Wade and Nathan, but also to give you anidea of the potential Cable holds as an A-lister in the Marvel Earth (a place always-deserved, never-granted !).
I've heard some pissants saying that Deadpool here was not as interesting as in Kelly's run... ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT. Kelly, Simone and Nicieza's Merc are the exact same (and unmatched) Merc With A Mouth. Not only did Nicieza co-create the character, but what he does here is the perfect , logical conclusion of the evolution that Wade Wilson was going through. I mean he even wrote the "Circle Chase" mini, which was the first time Wade questionned himself and decided to become better.
(Deadpool is not a zany, wacky, random joke with no darkness to him, kids. He started as far more cruel and villainous than a lot of Spidey villains !).
Anyway...
What basically happens is that Cable (having recovered the uber-powerful TK and TP powers that were normally used to keep his virus to devour his body...) has built his refuge, Providence, and has attracted the attention of the world governments. The X-Men (which includes his father, Cyclops in a last cameo before disappearing altogether from circulation...) are the first team to try to take him down, but things don't go as smoothly as anticipated, and Reed Richards is peripherally brought in to call the Silver Surfer... And after that, it will be up to Deadpool to save his frenemy's life!
This fucking story is one I'd kill to see animated , simple as that ! And the only event in this list without a Big Bad ! It is mostly Lawful Good VS Idealistic Good.
I'll agree that it can be a bit confusing if you haven't already read "If Looks Could Kill", but even that can be tweaked nicely in an adaptation.
Plain and simple. This is one of the most important events on Marvel Earth (Cable For President !) from one of the most underrated series of the last 10 years. It was just that great ! www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6A3dD…

5)THE INFINITY GAUNTLET

Theme Song : The Love/Death Song (Periphery)

Well,I am no exception, I am among the many people that fucking enjoyed this story.
For those who don't know, it goes like this: Thanos unites the six Infinity Gems, becoming nigh omnipotent and defeating not only all of Earth’s heroes (and by defeating , I mean they were fighting the uber-haxxed Boss of a video Game !), but also the big cosmic entities of the Marvel Universe. However, after being spurned by Death(The lady he loves but can't get ) Thanos becomes distracted enough for his niece, Nebula, to steal the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos teams with longtime foe Adam Warlock and the other good guys to get the Gauntlet back from Nebula...
Now I won't get into details with this one but it is a blast to be sure . Thanos is an extremely hard character to write and with a specific and narrow range to get RIGHT, and this is considered his best story (but the old titan will get a very nice dust-off in a far better event, all things considered )
Jim Starlin had established in prior stories years earlier all the elements to get to this event , so it didn’t come out of nowhere and was a character-building development rather than a Deus Ex Machina (detractors can whine , but Thanos at least busts his ass and brains to get something accomplished ).
Plus you gotta love the irony that the one thing Thanos always wanted, the love of Death, was the one thing he couldn’t have no matter how powerful he was, and that played into his undoing.Thankfully , he got over it and I tend to ignore whatever they did next with him (with ONE exception...).

4) X-CUTIONER'S SONG

Theme Song : People Hate Me (Murderdolls)
Ending Song : Fist Of The North Star-Ken's Rage OST Main Theme

Stryfe frames Cable for an assassination attempt on Professor Xavier, kidnaps Cyclops and Jean Grey, manipulates Apocalypse, Mr Sinister and various others to play them. By doing so, he has the rest of the X-Men, X-Factor arresting X-force as he still seeks mysterious revenge against all parties (some for understandable reasons and others because he is a trolling bastard !).
This is the story where my enjoyment of the X-men REALLY kicked off (Solo-titles nonwithstanding...). In fact ,THIS is the story that had more of an impact on the team than what a lot of people would ever dare give it credit for. In fact, as I read most runs within the same time frame, I can tell you that for the main books, the Lobdell/Nicieza era is my absolute favorite, flaws and all. They kept the characters heroic (and I mean HEROIC !), but also gave them genuine flaws and concerns, and sometimes had them fail. THESE are the X-men that deserve an anime (Well I do believe in good adaptations... Hell they can make the pacing go smoother !). And boy did they take their chances with the antagonists , instead to overuse the fucking sentinels !
Why do I love this story so much ? Well to put it midly :
- Reimagining Cable as Nathan SUMMERS was a fucking strike of SHEER GENIUS ! This is where his character was FINALLY perfected.
- Same thing with Stryfe, one of the most under-appreciated villains in the whole Marvel library.What was a low-tier threat gets also retooled into one genuinely disturbing (and hammy) motherfucker; he was basically Annie Wilkes in Cable's body (well they're clone/brothers.). Damn does he deserve better...
- The X-Force team gets its own identity ! Though Cable and Domino were still present in that book, they never hog the spotlight for themselves. Cable is a far better mentor figure/guide than he's been given credit for ...
- If Simonson's X-factor is where I really started liking Jean as a character, THIS is the story where I started loving Cyclops as a character. And I know they'll never bring this Scott Summers back... for once he'd be just incompatible with their current bullshit.
- Mr Sinister is reimagined for the occasion and for good measure ! Yeah, I know of Claremont's original plan but what we'll end up getting is a far more fantastic and thoughtful character: Dr Nathaniel Essex.Though the story here only gives us a glimpse of this aspect.
- Apocalypse. Since Louise Simonson was gone from Marvel now, the old guy gets some sort of addition to his character. While the 80's Apoc was a powerful and amoral mentor, the 90's Apoc is one underrated badass that some fools see as another stock world conqueror...which is stupid because I've read the stories up to his origin mini and you know what ? He's one of the most fluid and most (objectively) human characters of the whole franchise ! And as for here, not only is he at his physically weakest but he is perfectly ready to pack and take punches (despite walking on broken bones). He's not even an antagonist here, he is perfectly fine with allying with the "children of the X" (his exchanges with Warren are simply golden !). In fact , I think the best way to sum up the Lobdell/Nicieza style En Sabah Nur comes actually from Bishop (Yep, the epitome of LAWFUL Good !) : "A hard man. His life has been marked by pain and loss". And people claim he's one-dimensional ? Don't make me fucking laugh !
- The entire last battle on the lunar HQ was simply fantastic ! The climax of Cyclops hesitating to condemn Cable and Stryfe to death as he has realized that one of the two is Nathan, the son he had to send to the future years is heavy stuff ! It reminds me at every rereading why I care for these characters.

ALL in all, an awesome consequence to Inferno (which I liked even though it dragged...) and the first part of the Summers Bloodline Trilogy along with the 2 "Cyclops and Phoenix adventures" ! And as for Stryfe being the real deal or a clone, I actually don't give a fuck about that ... He's still a person... a horriying one, but a person nonetheless !

SPECIAL CASES INTERRUPTION ...BEFORE THE MAIN COURSE.

Now these 2 stories are seen as among the worst. But I simply disagree. They simply would benefit from a stronger retooling...

MAXIMUM CARNAGE

Theme Song : Carnage Rules (Green Jelly)

Yes , yes , I'll be the first to tell you that there are far better Carnage stories out there. But it is far from being one of the worst.
What actually did hurt this story is mostly the pacing ( I mean 14 issues for a story that only needed 7 . Really ?) and a rather weak ending plot point ( The happy gun ? Meh...). Also, it was a bit too soon to use Cletus , since it has not been too long since he's been arrested.
But regardless, it's not without its moments ; Anything Venom is fucking hilarious (seriously, the nutbar thinks he's the hero of the story !), Spider-man being heroic (and married) and the Carnage family is a lot of fun (my favorites are Shriek and Doppelganger BTW ...), especially their little motivational motto www.youtube.com/watch?v=2faRkZ… .
Yes, it's over the top and juvenile but there's still some sense of dynamism in it. To this day , it is for me an interesting and fun concept that can be made faster , stronger, better with a steadier and a more epic final fight.
It is also the one big event story focusing on Spidey, since Spider-man's stronger suits are the solo confrontations or the character-driven ones.

ONSLAUGHT

Theme Song : Final Bowser (Mario 64)
Ah yes. THIS story is ,for better or worse ,the end of my favorite X-men era.
It started with "Inferno" and "X-Cutioner's Song", peaked with "Fatal Attractions" and AOA , and concluded with... "Onslaught". You know what? The main problem with Onslaught, is the same problem The Clone saga suffered from : Marvel just chickened the fuck out and DID NOT PULL THROUGH ! While they could have with a single , tiny, little DETAIL... In fact let's start with the good points:
- The fact that Xavier was the antagonist : I mean he lost his son and had to lobotomise a man he saw as a friend. That and the fact that this creature was born from Xavier's own frustration, rage and impulse was a good idea. I mean look at this; 2 stories ago, the X-men did all they could to save and assist the guy and NOW they have to confront him ! That could easily have been the end of an era and a brand new status quo !
- The entire first encounter of the entire team with Onslaught was nothing short of amazing ! Not to mention that he was the traitor that was mentionned in Bishop's future.
- X-Men and the Avengers,joining forces. I absolutely liked the community feel here !
- The Sentinel siege of New York ! (Yeah. I said something postive about the Sentinels. I am the first one to be surprised, to be honest...)
- The Apocalypse & Watcher conversation. In fact all of Apoc's interactions in the book are Gold !
- The whole Juggernaut subplot and an exploration of Cain Marko's character...
- The final battle was epic, with all the heroes joining together.
- It made way for the Thunderbolts and the Heroes for Hire, so there's that.
As for the bad:
- That whole "Xavier caught some of Magneto's evilness". That's BULLSHIT. Onslaught started as Xavier's personal Dark Phoenix and it is HOW it should have been kept all along! And it HAD to end with Xavier's death. It was built up from his fall from grace, it should have ended with his demise , NO NEGOCIATION HERE. Besides , it was the last time the Prof was really interesting to me... And tell me, what was so interesting and crucial to do with him after this story anyway ? Guy just overstayed his welcome.
- Joseph . Bear in mind that he was originally Proteus. Now I facepalm after seeing what they went with... PFAH !
- As I said, by not taking the chance of ending Xavier and Magneto once and for all, it did affect following storylines and weakened them. It could have been the start of something new for the team , but the editors were againt that. A shame , considering that the original idea of Operation Zero Tolerance was to strip the X-MEN of everything (the mansion, the blackbird, the technology, even "the team" itself) and send them on the road, being tracked by an unrelenting adversary who could hide among them even as they could hide among the humans! And that was scrapped , because the editors were clinging way too much to the late 70's. Even the Trial of Gambit suffered because of that overreliance on Magneto (and no, I actually loved the fact that Gambit had to work for Sinister. It made perfect sense for him... But they could have given a better crime ! Just saying...)
- The whole Nate Grey subplot... Now, I do like X-man , but his book had to wait for Counter-X before being worth its while ! As cool his meeting with Sinister was, his subplot was unnecessary ... The character needed , like Blink, to be part of Exiles to properly work !
This is what I have to say about it. It is not the mother of all horrors (FAAAAr from that actually !) as many have claimed, but DAMN if it was not wasted potential. That was actually frustrating as all hell !

And NOW , Back to the top of the list ! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA !
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3) THE KANG DYNASTY

Theme Song : Dawn Of Destiny ( JJBA-ASB O.S.T)
Ending Song : New World Symphony-4th movement (Dvorak)

How is it that so few people seem to know of THIS event ?
Seriously, it may have been one of the hugest thing to ever happen to the Marvel earth and they basically retcon it out by never fucking mentioning it ! This story arc is effectively the end of Marvel earth as we know it (well as I love it!).
I consider the Avengers Forever maxi-series as a prologue to Busiek's take on the Conqueror (though the main flaw of the Forever Maxi-series is that it is a heavy read. It can't be done with in one sitting...) .
Now I admit it does take a little time to get started , but once it does... Damn is it worth it!
And the main star is Nathaniel Richards ! This is a man who got tired of an uneventful nigh-utopic future decided to become Conan the barbarian only guided by his thirst for adventures , conquest & triumph over fate ... and aren't the best characters the ones who try to fight off their fate ? Personally to me that is how true badassery is shown !
This story is the reason I put Kang as the TOP Avengers villain (even outspacing Ultron and Loki for that matter) : he has a tremenduous respect towards them and despite having the deck stacked in his favor , he still seeks adventure and therefore conflict .
Onto the actual story now ; countless villains have attempted to take over the world, but they always wind up getting punked right before their plan is about to go off. But here ? Our good man literally OWNS the damn planet all nice and legal after one big bombing (He even got the Wasp sign the treaty FFS! I have to add that this particular issue was silent , and it shows once again how talented Busiek and Kieron Dwyer are ...).
And from that point ,in a matter of days, Kang has the earth under his thumb and found the way to keep earth's heroes in check by building immense penitenciaries (that issue with WonderMan and Wanda just shows a glimpse of the desperation the world lived under Kang . All his massacres being calculated at the slightest rebellion... Pure Maestria , I tell you !).
Well I can't do this epic justice and I definitely advice to check it out . Granted, I didn't care much about the whacked out sect subplot (even though or the Miss Marvel VS Marcus arc going on as well ! As for the issue where Kang is defeated (and man was Captain America awesome in that finale !) and everyone is FINALLY relieved and freed , this is the EXACT music to do it www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym4-1R…
And as for the final Kang scene, where his true intent is revealed... I didn't see that coming the first tme around !
THESE are the true Bonafide Avengers ! And in case any of you is wondering, yes I watched the movie and it was fun. But to this day, I don't give a fuck about Coulson or whatever... I mean seriously ?

2) AGE OF APOCALYPSE

Opening Theme: Refuse/Resist (Sepultura)
Ending Theme : The End Of Part 6 (JJBA-ASB O.S.T )

Is it even remotely possible that you haven't seen this coming ? If the lack of comments on this fav.me/d5884rl are to be believed, the answer is yes.
It's depressing that there are actually people who don't recognize this story as one of Marvel's best , and unfairly shun it for stuff like the Mutant Massacre... The Mutant Massacre ? Well excccuuuuuse me princess ! The massacre was a fine story , but it was a mere hors d'oeuvre compared to the stuff that came later.Honetly, I felt that many stories preceding this one were mere foreplay ! I just don't see how they can compare to AOA. And the Dark Phoenix Saga ? Puhlease, Gimme a break.
It would not be fair to talk about AOA without talking about Legion's Quest ( Pretty great set-up, all things considered !), so here it is : Professor Xavier's son Legion travels back in time to kill a young Erik Lensherr (Magneto) in hopes of making his father's dream of peace come true. Not far behind him are Bishop, Iceman, Psylocke, and Storm who are trying to stop him. In the meantime, a displacement with the M'Krann Crystal is slowly causing the world in the present to come to an end. Here we see Cyclops, Jean Grey, Professor X, Gambit, Beast, Rogue, Archangel, and Cable await the end of the world. And it happens due to David completely fucking up and offing Prof Baldy instead ( Well first Stryfe and then Legion... am I sensing a theme here ? It's funny how Prof X is a nice plot device, no ?). This does not go unnoticed by Apocalypse who decides to give the world a test of who is gonna survive this attack a little biut too early ... And in 10 years , Apocalypse and his followers turn the earth into a Megadeth song .
Now, why do I praise it so strongly ?
- This story represents everything I love about the x-men : There is something huge at stake , the B-list players get to shine a lot (special mention to Bishop ! Go ahead , I fucking dare ya to say he ain't heroic ! Without him , this world would have stayed the same ... , the duo of the greatest X-villains get their due and the X-men and their allies (though somewhat different here) are flawed YET heroic despite the fucking hellhole they live in !
- Apocalypse FINALLY GETTING HIS DUE (surprisingly, the cartoon did the excellent "Beyond Good and Evil" storline the same year! 1995 was definitely Nur's joy, son !).
He rose to power and conquered most of the world ( Well not exactly a conquest actually , conquerors try to have a growing population under their grasp. He , on the othe hand, is curious to see how humans or mutants can fight him back... so their number sort of diminish under his red boots. His true goal is only revealed at the final issue...). And his costume with the grayish metallic skin, no "A", and cape was perfection. Funny how his death is similar to that of Dio Brando's: split in half because of his own hammy arrogance...
- This is pretty much the only story where I actually see Magneto as a full-fledged hero. It would have been a perfect farewell to the character along with "Fatal Attractions", don't you think ?
- Sinister was excellent both in look and substance. In fact, you could say that a lot of what he does was crucial in helping the heroes.
- Fantastic villains all around; Dark Beast , Holocaust, Sugar-Man , Abyss...
- Various hero teams led by Rogue, Forge, Colossus, Magneto and Gambit . Each team plays a pivotal role in the story and left an impression on me.
- The ending.... Damn. Even when I knew how it'd end...talk about paying a huge price ! Poor Blink and Nate, now having to live with the knowledge of a whole reality now lost. Poor x-men, their situation was pretty much a no-win. Even after killing Apocalypse, they were doomed either by his plan's last procedure or the reality re-writing OR BOTH... everything they knew and loved was destroyed relatively easily. And poor Bishop. While he did succeed he knew that said success would end up condemning an entire reality (and if he did not do anything, the nightmare would have kept going anyway, soooo...)

All in all, this story was a watershed experiment for the writers to just go nuts and crank it up to 11 with the whole dark and harsh universe. You knew it going to be back to (mostly) normal anyway, so why not have things like Gwen Stacy joining the human resistance for example ? If this story has a flaw, however, it's just that I would have loved to see more of Apocalypse and his horsemen advent as well as how some of the heroes ended up the way they were. And the final issue felt slightly rushed. I'd kill to have this story in anime form... though the main atmosphere of the tale should be like this www.youtube.com/watch?v=39qfOr…
And do not bother even THINKING ABOUT THINKING about the sequels... This reality ended WITH ITS STORY. END OF DISCUSSION.

1) ANNIHILATION

Theme Song : Pompeii (E.S. Posthumus)
Ending song : Stand By Your Man (Hellboy)

There we are... the masterwork, the great chef-d'oeuvre, the cosmically orgasmic event in all its glory !. Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is the event that should be renamed PERFECTION ! I can't come up with enough words to describe how much this fucking story ROCKS !
What happens here is a war that will shake the cosmos ! Annihilus has destroyed the Nova Corps, captured Quasar’s Quantum Bands and conquered huge swaths of the universe with his Negative Zone army,and now seks to erase EVERYONE out of paranoia (that he won't tell!). He'll enlist the help of a curious yet deadpan Thanos who will help him turn Galactus into a universal WMD !
Where do I EVEN START ?
- ANNIHILUS IS THE WILL ! ANNIHILUS IS THE WAY ! ANNIHILUS IS FOREVER ! (and damn if his chara-design is not one of the best revamps in the entire Marvel history !)
- Thanos. His design is even better than his classic costume. Giffen focuses on the other traits of the Mad Titan (in fact I really recommend you to start reading from his mini-series by Giffen, that's where everything REALLY builds up ! And rather than going back to the same lovelorn titan of yore, here , he comes off as lethal yet intriguning pilgrimm...) and grants him the dust-off his stature deserved. In fact, any scene with Thanos here is beyond perfect ! So much that, to me, this is the LAST Thanos story . And trust me, it fits.
- Pretty much all the heroes , Nova , Quasar, Starlord, Gamora, Ronan and Super-Skrull are C-listers (I think only Silver Surfer is well-known enough) and look at what can be achieved with them ! So, NEVER mock an obscure character. NEVER.Before this I had never even heard of these characters or their back-stories and holy shit ! They were just amazing !
- Drax the Destroyer becomes Kratos !
- GALACTUS GETS PISSED !
- The final confrontation between Nova and Annihilus is the cherry at the top of a cake of wonder and awe !
- The art is fantastic and exquisite from start to finish !
I will never understand how Marvel have not pushed this event back in 2006 (I swear. I discovered it almost by accident !) but didn't. As for me, I cannot be thankful enough for it ! An as I said for some of its predecessors on this list , an animated adaptation would not scorch anyone's mouth !

Well we can' t finish this list like that , can we ?

0) NEXTWAVE : AGENTS OF H.A.T.E

Theme Song : www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuosmf…

While Nova and co were saving the cosmos, What was going on back on earth ?
NEXTWAVE HAPPENED ! And broccoli men and sapient dinosaurs !
If you haven't read THIS gem, you need to fix that now. It's one the first "minor characters" mini I have ever read and you barely need to know the characters history to enjoy it. It is still hilarious/awesome to this day; Nextwave are super agents who rebelled against their anti-terrorism employer H.A.T.E when they inadvertently discovered that instead of fighting terrorism they were working for a company PROMOTING terrorism by releasing prototype WMDs on an unknowing American populace (THOSE FIENDS !). Now they're fighting against their former employer (BTW, Dirk Anger >>> Nick Fury ...I said it, and you can sue me !) with all the mad powers at their disposal... I won't give away too much BUT THIS IS WHY I LOVE COMICS .
Nextwave:Agents of H.A.T.E : Read it. Quote it. Liv... errr.. no scratch that , this is going way too far !

Well , so that's that ! You make the call now !

Description
Everyone and their damn aunt have talked about their favorite comics and so on and so forth, then SO CAN I.

First off you have to know that I got in comics rather late so none of these is motivated by nostalgia... But it's opinion (OWN personal TRUTH in my case !) and this is my "how to enjoy comics events" list ( after I get more time, I am gonna do the same for DC). They're mainly comics that illustrate the full spectrum of fictional characters I appreciate as I see them. They do play a huge part on the way I draw or characterize or see the essence and concepts of particular characters.
If you understand what I'm talking about let's start the countdown and between us... Screw "high standards" and "acclaimed writers", I am old enough to have MY mind telling me the TRUTH.
Also, I'm quite fed up with the internet constantly complaining about past comics that are not that bad while praising some that are in fact cow manure or being completely joyless and pessimistic in their reviews (Seriously, is it me or most comics blogs seem to be bitter and lacking a sense of well, FUN ? Is it me or most reviews are being written by your average snubbish moralising prick ? )
Anyway ON WITH THE SHOW ! With music ! (Because I love to think about comics with some appropriate music ...)

10) AVENGERS/DEFENDERS WAR

Theme Song : Master Of Puppets (Metallica)

See now, the whole Heroes VS heroes has been done to death ... Therefore I only pick THE BEST of all of them ! (And by that, I mean when 2 gentlemen from this gloriousassembly are involved ! fav.me/d571ggn ! )
The premise of the book sees the teams of Avengers and Defenders being tricked by Loki and Dormammu (who wears his sexiest red speedo ever!) to collect the pieces of the Evil Eye, a device that could destroy the universe for either man (Dormammu because he'a badass dimensional tyrant and Loki.... because he loves being a prick. Can I ask for a better combination than ambition and douchiness ?! ). The pieces are scattered across the globe, and as each Avenger and Defender splits up to find them, they're individually met by a member of the other team, which, of course, leads to some titanic brawls... while keeping the heroes with ACTUAL good intentions (not the wretched dipshits that have usurped their places nowadays...).
Eventually the teams work together to take down a common threat (though Loki's treachery did make it easier for them, but there was no other way! When well-written, Dormammu is not some jobber but the fucker who can fingerbang your planet... though yes, Shuma Gorath is even absurdly more destructive !) and boy was it cool ! Also I tip my hat to the Scarlet Witch. Lady knows how to fight even when glued (it makes sense in context !).

9) SECRET WARS

Theme Song : Super Smash Brawl Bros.Main Theme

This is the first Crossover. It is the one who started it all for Marvel, at least in the large-scale sense of it. Sure it is cheesy at times , but this is a comic about David Hasselhoff cosplaying as Elvis Presley pitting villains against heroes, so how realistic can you get ? ( errr... Okay forget , the Elvis part we never saw him until the sequel , which as drawn out as fuck !)
It got the best of the best characters in the Marvel Universe (well at the time...), and not skipping even the mighty Galactus himself. It had many plot-twists, for the good. Great dialogues - it's been a long time now since I actually felt the character's personality via the dialogues, and it fits. To be perfectly honest , everyone remembers it for Spidey getting his black costume and wheile that's important, I was more pleased by OTHER things like :
- Heroes not necessarily trusting each other... But ending up working together despite those differences ! (So rare these days ...)
- Doom at the height of his megalomania (and recording his own history , after all he is modest isn't he ?). And if anyone tells you that Doom is so noble that he would not blablabla, remember that after a calm discussion with Cap America, the good (now Beyonder-powered) Doctor turned the heroes HQ into a fucking crater with the heroes in it ! Such good intentions ! There's a good reason even the other baddies do not trust him...
- Klaw is simply a RIOT ! And the way Ben Grimm and Hawkeye "defeat" him and the Lizard is priceless !
- Janet... just Janet being awesome. Seriously, she escapes the x-men easily, confronts Magneto, takes a lot of hits and even tames the Lizard by telling him "Come here !"...speaking of which..)
- The Lizard has never been more sympathetic than here ( Seriously, he was so cute that he could be calmed down rather easily ... truly a ladies reptile !)
- Absorbing man gets a soulmate in Titania! In fact, I just like all the villains side ! People should learn to appreciate the B and C-listers more , dammit !
- Owen Reece going from wimp to pimp ! (Once he became self-assured , he made Wrecker,Absorbing Man and others his bitches .. except for Doc Ock, who still snaps at him on the right occasions) and he even got hitched with Volcana...lucky bastard.
- Amora's interactions with Thor (I always liked the Enchantress . That sure is a woman who knows WHO she wants!). She almost feels like 2 different persons: nigh-heartless towards even her own allies, but she'd never hurt Thor who she genuinely loves...
And so on and so forth. The few downsides I can think of are that Kang did not have that big a part (But he will be vindicated !) and the whole Colossus subplot left me cold ( never cared much about Colossus anyway ...)

8) DEFENDERS:INDEFENSIBLE

Theme Song : Shikaka (Ace Ventura O.S.T)

This might be odd but not only is this my first Dr Strange story but it will be to this day MY FAVORITE !
It is parodic in tone, but Dormammu at least succeeds in taking over the universe and shows a fair amount of delicious sadism... before getting bitten in the ass due to his cosmic-sized ego (Wellll... back to the dark dimension to build up another scheme I guess...)
Everyone's quirks and mannerisms are taken to a logical extreme. Strange is an arrogant,long-winded ham (read him either with the voice of Dr House or Dr Orpheus to get an optimal experience );Namor is stil a pompous ass (never got why he gets so much love... must be because he's from the "classic" era...Oh well.), Bruce Banner is one huge definition of sarcasm (the poor dude was a hobo at this point XD ) and Silver Surfer discovers the enigma of californian surfers...
But the villians get to steal the entire show.The dread Dormammu is presented as an ambitioud hothead who has to put up with his lustful, sarcastic and insane sister Umar (anyone who has a sibling can relate to the dread one... ). It is actually great to see Dormy in his trivial tribulations before managing to defeat Eternity along with his sister.Seriously, this is part of what makes the dread one a unique Faltine and add this aspect to his already established "essential evil tyrant" personna... (Not to mention that the universe under his influence is wonderfully nightmarish ! Hothead got taste ...).

7) ANNIHILATION : CONQUEST

Theme Song : Niveneh (E.S. Posthumus)

Funny trivia about it : For kanonical reasons I pretty much bid farewell to Marvel events right after this one...
The Prologue reveals that the Phalanx are the primary enemy after they use their technology as well as the devastation of the wake of the Annihilation Wave to take control of the Kree army (the Kree are indeed, with the exception of Ronan, a bunch of pricks... Sooo..).
Welll this is one of those stories that bring back minor, obscure and outright forgotten characters were brought back with new life breathed into them with something GREAT with them. In fact this is my first exposure to those who will be known as the Guardians of the Galaxy (and yes, I am fucking hyped for the movie !). Warlock, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon , and Starlord were brought back to tell one of the most entertaining stories that I've read in decades.
The Phalanx in this story have been buffed and are more threatening than ever ! To counter them the last of the Nova Centurions Richard Rider, a rag tag and rather eclectic group of "Guardians" made up of Rocket Raccoon (No, I do not find Rocket Raccoon weird at all... Remember that one the best Marvel characters was Albert Camus as an anthropomorphic duck .), Groot (He IS Groot BTW), Mantis ( oh yeaaaah...) and Starlord will organise their resistance (though I am not telling who got infected ... See for yourself !). Also joining the fray is Ronan The Accuser, the Kree Empire, the Super Skrull, Quasar, Moondragon , a newly evolved Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora and Wraith, who seems to have the ability to strike fear even into an emotionless race of machines (I call HAXX !).
But the true selling point of this whole story is the BIG BAD: Ultron.
And while I absolutely loved what Busiek did with him, the DnA Ultron looks PERFECT ! And DAMN if his domination/genocide was not cosmic this time around !
All in all, it's simply terrific.

6) THE BURNT OFFERING

Theme Song : Never Wanted to Dance (Mindless Self Indulgence)

I have been singing the praise of the "Cable & Deadpool" for a long time and I am not ready to stop. But If all the arcs of the series rank from entertaining to FUCKING AWESOME (actually all issues that precede the piece of shit that is "Civil War" (seriously FUCK that "event") are simply gold !), this is the story that remains the magnum opus of Marvel's greatest odd couple, not only for showing the contrast between Wade and Nathan, but also to give you anidea of the potential Cable holds as an A-lister in the Marvel Earth (a place always-deserved, never-granted !).
I've heard some pissants saying that Deadpool here was not as interesting as in Kelly's run... ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT. Kelly, Simone and Nicieza's Merc are the exact same (and unmatched) Merc With A Mouth. Not only did Nicieza co-create the character, but what he does here is the perfect , logical conclusion of the evolution that Wade Wilson was going through. I mean he even wrote the "Circle Chase" mini, which was the first time Wade questionned himself and decided to become better.
(Deadpool is not a zany, wacky, random joke with no darkness to him, kids. He started as far more cruel and villainous than a lot of Spidey villains !).
Anyway...
What basically happens is that Cable (having recovered the uber-powerful TK and TP powers that were normally used to keep his virus to devour his body...) has built his refuge, Providence, and has attracted the attention of the world governments. The X-Men (which includes his father, Cyclops in a last cameo before disappearing altogether from circulation...) are the first team to try to take him down, but things don't go as smoothly as anticipated, and Reed Richards is peripherally brought in to call the Silver Surfer... And after that, it will be up to Deadpool to save his frenemy's life!
This fucking story is one I'd kill to see animated , simple as that ! And the only event in this list without a Big Bad ! It is mostly Lawful Good VS Idealistic Good.
I'll agree that it can be a bit confusing if you haven't already read "If Looks Could Kill", but even that can be tweaked nicely in an adaptation.
Plain and simple. This is one of the most important events on Marvel Earth (Cable For President !) from one of the most underrated series of the last 10 years. It was just that great ! www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6A3dD…

5)THE INFINITY GAUNTLET

Theme Song : The Love/Death Song (Periphery)

Well,I am no exception, I am among the many people that fucking enjoyed this story.
For those who don't know, it goes like this: Thanos unites the six Infinity Gems, becoming nigh omnipotent and defeating not only all of Earth’s heroes (and by defeating , I mean they were fighting the uber-haxxed Boss of a video Game !), but also the big cosmic entities of the Marvel Universe. However, after being spurned by Death(The lady he loves but can't get ) Thanos becomes distracted enough for his niece, Nebula, to steal the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos teams with longtime foe Adam Warlock and the other good guys to get the Gauntlet back from Nebula...
Now I won't get into details with this one but it is a blast to be sure . Thanos is an extremely hard character to write and with a specific and narrow range to get RIGHT, and this is considered his best story (but the old titan will get a very nice dust-off in a far better event, all things considered )
Jim Starlin had established in prior stories years earlier all the elements to get to this event , so it didn’t come out of nowhere and was a character-building development rather than a Deus Ex Machina (detractors can whine , but Thanos at least busts his ass and brains to get something accomplished ).
Plus you gotta love the irony that the one thing Thanos always wanted, the love of Death, was the one thing he couldn’t have no matter how powerful he was, and that played into his undoing.Thankfully , he got over it and I tend to ignore whatever they did next with him (with ONE exception...).

4) X-CUTIONER'S SONG

Theme Song : People Hate Me (Murderdolls)
Ending Song : Fist Of The North Star-Ken's Rage OST Main Theme

Stryfe frames Cable for an assassination attempt on Professor Xavier, kidnaps Cyclops and Jean Grey, manipulates Apocalypse, Mr Sinister and various others to play them. By doing so, he has the rest of the X-Men, X-Factor arresting X-force as he still seeks mysterious revenge against all parties (some for understandable reasons and others because he is a trolling bastard !).
This is the story where my enjoyment of the X-men REALLY kicked off (Solo-titles nonwithstanding...). In fact ,THIS is the story that had more of an impact on the team than what a lot of people would ever dare give it credit for. In fact, as I read most runs within the same time frame, I can tell you that for the main books, the Lobdell/Nicieza era is my absolute favorite, flaws and all. They kept the characters heroic (and I mean HEROIC !), but also gave them genuine flaws and concerns, and sometimes had them fail. THESE are the X-men that deserve an anime (Well I do believe in good adaptations... Hell they can make the pacing go smoother !). And boy did they take their chances with the antagonists , instead to overuse the fucking sentinels !
Why do I love this story so much ? Well to put it midly :
- Reimagining Cable as Nathan SUMMERS was a fucking strike of SHEER GENIUS ! This is where his character was FINALLY perfected.
- Same thing with Stryfe, one of the most under-appreciated villains in the whole Marvel library.What was a low-tier threat gets also retooled into one genuinely disturbing (and hammy) motherfucker; he was basically Annie Wilkes in Cable's body (well they're clone/brothers.). Damn does he deserve better...
- The X-Force team gets its own identity ! Though Cable and Domino were still present in that book, they never hog the spotlight for themselves. Cable is a far better mentor figure/guide than he's been given credit for ...
- If Simonson's X-factor is where I really started liking Jean as a character, THIS is the story where I started loving Cyclops as a character. And I know they'll never bring this Scott Summers back... for once he'd be just incompatible with their current bullshit.
- Mr Sinister is reimagined for the occasion and for good measure ! Yeah, I know of Claremont's original plan but what we'll end up getting is a far more fantastic and thoughtful character: Dr Nathaniel Essex.Though the story here only gives us a glimpse of this aspect.
- Apocalypse. Since Louise Simonson was gone from Marvel now, the old guy gets some sort of addition to his character. While the 80's Apoc was a powerful and amoral mentor, the 90's Apoc is one underrated badass that some fools see as another stock world conqueror...which is stupid because I've read the stories up to his origin mini and you know what ? He's one of the most fluid and most (objectively) human characters of the whole franchise ! And as for here, not only is he at his physically weakest but he is perfectly ready to pack and take punches (despite walking on broken bones). He's not even an antagonist here, he is perfectly fine with allying with the "children of the X" (his exchanges with Warren are simply golden !). In fact , I think the best way to sum up the Lobdell/Nicieza style En Sabah Nur comes actually from Bishop (Yep, the epitome of LAWFUL Good !) : "A hard man. His life has been marked by pain and loss". And people claim he's one-dimensional ? Don't make me fucking laugh !
- The entire last battle on the lunar HQ was simply fantastic ! The climax of Cyclops hesitating to condemn Cable and Stryfe to death as he has realized that one of the two is Nathan, the son he had to send to the future years is heavy stuff ! It reminds me at every rereading why I care for these characters.

ALL in all, an awesome consequence to Inferno (which I liked even though it dragged...) and the first part of the Summers Bloodline Trilogy along with the 2 "Cyclops and Phoenix adventures" ! And as for Stryfe being the real deal or a clone, I actually don't give a fuck about that ... He's still a person... a horriying one, but a person nonetheless !

SPECIAL CASES INTERRUPTION ...BEFORE THE MAIN COURSE.

Now these 2 stories are seen as among the worst. But I simply disagree. They simply would benefit from a stronger retooling...

MAXIMUM CARNAGE

Theme Song : Carnage Rules (Green Jelly)

Yes , yes , I'll be the first to tell you that there are far better Carnage stories out there. But it is far from being one of the worst.
What actually did hurt this story is mostly the pacing ( I mean 14 issues for a story that only needed 7 . Really ?) and a rather weak ending plot point ( The happy gun ? Meh...). Also, it was a bit too soon to use Cletus , since it has not been too long since he's been arrested.
But regardless, it's not without its moments ; Anything Venom is fucking hilarious (seriously, the nutbar thinks he's the hero of the story !), Spider-man being heroic (and married) and the Carnage family is a lot of fun (my favorites are Shriek and Doppelganger BTW ...), especially their little motivational motto www.youtube.com/watch?v=2faRkZ… .
Yes, it's over the top and juvenile but there's still some sense of dynamism in it. To this day , it is for me an interesting and fun concept that can be made faster , stronger, better with a steadier and a more epic final fight.
It is also the one big event story focusing on Spidey, since Spider-man's stronger suits are the solo confrontations or the character-driven ones.

ONSLAUGHT

Theme Song : Final Bowser (Mario 64)
Ah yes. THIS story is ,for better or worse ,the end of my favorite X-men era.
It started with "Inferno" and "X-Cutioner's Song", peaked with "Fatal Attractions" and AOA , and concluded with... "Onslaught". You know what? The main problem with Onslaught, is the same problem The Clone saga suffered from : Marvel just chickened the fuck out and DID NOT PULL THROUGH ! While they could have with a single , tiny, little DETAIL... In fact let's start with the good points:
- The fact that Xavier was the antagonist : I mean he lost his son and had to lobotomise a man he saw as a friend. That and the fact that this creature was born from Xavier's own frustration, rage and impulse was a good idea. I mean look at this; 2 stories ago, the X-men did all they could to save and assist the guy and NOW they have to confront him ! That could easily have been the end of an era and a brand new status quo !
- The entire first encounter of the entire team with Onslaught was nothing short of amazing ! Not to mention that he was the traitor that was mentionned in Bishop's future.
- X-Men and the Avengers,joining forces. I absolutely liked the community feel here !
- The Sentinel siege of New York ! (Yeah. I said something postive about the Sentinels. I am the first one to be surprised, to be honest...)
- The Apocalypse & Watcher conversation. In fact all of Apoc's interactions in the book are Gold !
- The whole Juggernaut subplot and an exploration of Cain Marko's character...
- The final battle was epic, with all the heroes joining together.
- It made way for the Thunderbolts and the Heroes for Hire, so there's that.
As for the bad:
- That whole "Xavier caught some of Magneto's evilness". That's BULLSHIT. Onslaught started as Xavier's personal Dark Phoenix and it is HOW it should have been kept all along! And it HAD to end with Xavier's death. It was built up from his fall from grace, it should have ended with his demise , NO NEGOCIATION HERE. Besides , it was the last time the Prof was really interesting to me... And tell me, what was so interesting and crucial to do with him after this story anyway ? Guy just overstayed his welcome.
- Joseph . Bear in mind that he was originally Proteus. Now I facepalm after seeing what they went with... PFAH !
- As I said, by not taking the chance of ending Xavier and Magneto once and for all, it did affect following storylines and weakened them. It could have been the start of something new for the team , but the editors were againt that. A shame , considering that the original idea of Operation Zero Tolerance was to strip the X-MEN of everything (the mansion, the blackbird, the technology, even "the team" itself) and send them on the road, being tracked by an unrelenting adversary who could hide among them even as they could hide among the humans! And that was scrapped , because the editors were clinging way too much to the late 70's. Even the Trial of Gambit suffered because of that overreliance on Magneto (and no, I actually loved the fact that Gambit had to work for Sinister. It made perfect sense for him... But they could have given a better crime ! Just saying...)
- The whole Nate Grey subplot... Now, I do like X-man , but his book had to wait for Counter-X before being worth its while ! As cool his meeting with Sinister was, his subplot was unnecessary ... The character needed , like Blink, to be part of Exiles to properly work !
This is what I have to say about it. It is not the mother of all horrors (FAAAAr from that actually !) as many have claimed, but DAMN if it was not wasted potential. That was actually frustrating as all hell !

And NOW , Back to the top of the list ! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA !
24.media.tumblr.com/7d7c3a54a1…

3) THE KANG DYNASTY

Theme Song : Dawn Of Destiny ( JJBA-ASB O.S.T)
Ending Song : New World Symphony-4th movement (Dvorak)

How is it that so few people seem to know of THIS event ?
Seriously, it may have been one of the hugest thing to ever happen to the Marvel earth and they basically retcon it out by never fucking mentioning it ! This story arc is effectively the end of Marvel earth as we know it (well as I love it!).
I consider the Avengers Forever maxi-series as a prologue to Busiek's take on the Conqueror (though the main flaw of the Forever Maxi-series is that it is a heavy read. It can't be done with in one sitting...) .
Now I admit it does take a little time to get started , but once it does... Damn is it worth it!
And the main star is Nathaniel Richards ! This is a man who got tired of an uneventful nigh-utopic future decided to become Conan the barbarian only guided by his thirst for adventures , conquest & triumph over fate ... and aren't the best characters the ones who try to fight off their fate ? Personally to me that is how true badassery is shown !
This story is the reason I put Kang as the TOP Avengers villain (even outspacing Ultron and Loki for that matter) : he has a tremenduous respect towards them and despite having the deck stacked in his favor , he still seeks adventure and therefore conflict .
Onto the actual story now ; countless villains have attempted to take over the world, but they always wind up getting punked right before their plan is about to go off. But here ? Our good man literally OWNS the damn planet all nice and legal after one big bombing (He even got the Wasp sign the treaty FFS! I have to add that this particular issue was silent , and it shows once again how talented Busiek and Kieron Dwyer are ...).
And from that point ,in a matter of days, Kang has the earth under his thumb and found the way to keep earth's heroes in check by building immense penitenciaries (that issue with WonderMan and Wanda just shows a glimpse of the desperation the world lived under Kang . All his massacres being calculated at the slightest rebellion... Pure Maestria , I tell you !).
Well I can't do this epic justice and I definitely advice to check it out . Granted, I didn't care much about the whacked out sect subplot (even though or the Miss Marvel VS Marcus arc going on as well ! As for the issue where Kang is defeated (and man was Captain America awesome in that finale !) and everyone is FINALLY relieved and freed , this is the EXACT music to do it www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym4-1R…
And as for the final Kang scene, where his true intent is revealed... I didn't see that coming the first tme around !
THESE are the true Bonafide Avengers ! And in case any of you is wondering, yes I watched the movie and it was fun. But to this day, I don't give a fuck about Coulson or whatever... I mean seriously ?

2) AGE OF APOCALYPSE

Opening Theme: Refuse/Resist (Sepultura)
Ending Theme : The End Of Part 6 (JJBA-ASB O.S.T )

Is it even remotely possible that you haven't seen this coming ? If the lack of comments on this fav.me/d5884rl are to be believed, the answer is yes.
It's depressing that there are actually people who don't recognize this story as one of Marvel's best , and unfairly shun it for stuff like the Mutant Massacre... The Mutant Massacre ? Well excccuuuuuse me princess ! The massacre was a fine story , but it was a mere hors d'oeuvre compared to the stuff that came later.Honetly, I felt that many stories preceding this one were mere foreplay ! I just don't see how they can compare to AOA. And the Dark Phoenix Saga ? Puhlease, Gimme a break.
It would not be fair to talk about AOA without talking about Legion's Quest ( Pretty great set-up, all things considered !), so here it is : Professor Xavier's son Legion travels back in time to kill a young Erik Lensherr (Magneto) in hopes of making his father's dream of peace come true. Not far behind him are Bishop, Iceman, Psylocke, and Storm who are trying to stop him. In the meantime, a displacement with the M'Krann Crystal is slowly causing the world in the present to come to an end. Here we see Cyclops, Jean Grey, Professor X, Gambit, Beast, Rogue, Archangel, and Cable await the end of the world. And it happens due to David completely fucking up and offing Prof Baldy instead ( Well first Stryfe and then Legion... am I sensing a theme here ? It's funny how Prof X is a nice plot device, no ?). This does not go unnoticed by Apocalypse who decides to give the world a test of who is gonna survive this attack a little biut too early ... And in 10 years , Apocalypse and his followers turn the earth into a Megadeth song .
Now, why do I praise it so strongly ?
- This story represents everything I love about the x-men : There is something huge at stake , the B-list players get to shine a lot (special mention to Bishop ! Go ahead , I fucking dare ya to say he ain't heroic ! Without him , this world would have stayed the same ... , the duo of the greatest X-villains get their due and the X-men and their allies (though somewhat different here) are flawed YET heroic despite the fucking hellhole they live in !
- Apocalypse FINALLY GETTING HIS DUE (surprisingly, the cartoon did the excellent "Beyond Good and Evil" storline the same year! 1995 was definitely Nur's joy, son !).
He rose to power and conquered most of the world ( Well not exactly a conquest actually , conquerors try to have a growing population under their grasp. He , on the othe hand, is curious to see how humans or mutants can fight him back... so their number sort of diminish under his red boots. His true goal is only revealed at the final issue...). And his costume with the grayish metallic skin, no "A", and cape was perfection. Funny how his death is similar to that of Dio Brando's: split in half because of his own hammy arrogance...
- This is pretty much the only story where I actually see Magneto as a full-fledged hero. It would have been a perfect farewell to the character along with "Fatal Attractions", don't you think ?
- Sinister was excellent both in look and substance. In fact, you could say that a lot of what he does was crucial in helping the heroes.
- Fantastic villains all around; Dark Beast , Holocaust, Sugar-Man , Abyss...
- Various hero teams led by Rogue, Forge, Colossus, Magneto and Gambit . Each team plays a pivotal role in the story and left an impression on me.
- The ending.... Damn. Even when I knew how it'd end...talk about paying a huge price ! Poor Blink and Nate, now having to live with the knowledge of a whole reality now lost. Poor x-men, their situation was pretty much a no-win. Even after killing Apocalypse, they were doomed either by his plan's last procedure or the reality re-writing OR BOTH... everything they knew and loved was destroyed relatively easily. And poor Bishop. While he did succeed he knew that said success would end up condemning an entire reality (and if he did not do anything, the nightmare would have kept going anyway, soooo...)

All in all, this story was a watershed experiment for the writers to just go nuts and crank it up to 11 with the whole dark and harsh universe. You knew it going to be back to (mostly) normal anyway, so why not have things like Gwen Stacy joining the human resistance for example ? If this story has a flaw, however, it's just that I would have loved to see more of Apocalypse and his horsemen advent as well as how some of the heroes ended up the way they were. And the final issue felt slightly rushed. I'd kill to have this story in anime form... though the main atmosphere of the tale should be like this www.youtube.com/watch?v=39qfOr…
And do not bother even THINKING ABOUT THINKING about the sequels... This reality ended WITH ITS STORY. END OF DISCUSSION.

1) ANNIHILATION

Theme Song : Pompeii (E.S. Posthumus)
Ending song : Stand By Your Man (Hellboy)

There we are... the masterwork, the great chef-d'oeuvre, the cosmically orgasmic event in all its glory !. Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is the event that should be renamed PERFECTION ! I can't come up with enough words to describe how much this fucking story ROCKS !
What happens here is a war that will shake the cosmos ! Annihilus has destroyed the Nova Corps, captured Quasar’s Quantum Bands and conquered huge swaths of the universe with his Negative Zone army,and now seks to erase EVERYONE out of paranoia (that he won't tell!). He'll enlist the help of a curious yet deadpan Thanos who will help him turn Galactus into a universal WMD !
Where do I EVEN START ?
- ANNIHILUS IS THE WILL ! ANNIHILUS IS THE WAY ! ANNIHILUS IS FOREVER ! (and damn if his chara-design is not one of the best revamps in the entire Marvel history !)
- Thanos. His design is even better than his classic costume. Giffen focuses on the other traits of the Mad Titan (in fact I really recommend you to start reading from his mini-series by Giffen, that's where everything REALLY builds up ! And rather than going back to the same lovelorn titan of yore, here , he comes off as lethal yet intriguning pilgrimm...) and grants him the dust-off his stature deserved. In fact, any scene with Thanos here is beyond perfect ! So much that, to me, this is the LAST Thanos story . And trust me, it fits.
- Pretty much all the heroes , Nova , Quasar, Starlord, Gamora, Ronan and Super-Skrull are C-listers (I think only Silver Surfer is well-known enough) and look at what can be achieved with them ! So, NEVER mock an obscure character. NEVER.Before this I had never even heard of these characters or their back-stories and holy shit ! They were just amazing !
- Drax the Destroyer becomes Kratos !
- GALACTUS GETS PISSED !
- The final confrontation between Nova and Annihilus is the cherry at the top of a cake of wonder and awe !
- The art is fantastic and exquisite from start to finish !
I will never understand how Marvel have not pushed this event back in 2006 (I swear. I discovered it almost by accident !) but didn't. As for me, I cannot be thankful enough for it ! An as I said for some of its predecessors on this list , an animated adaptation would not scorch anyone's mouth !

Well we can' t finish this list like that , can we ?

0) NEXTWAVE : AGENTS OF H.A.T.E

Theme Song : www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuosmf…

While Nova and co were saving the cosmos, What was going on back on earth ?
NEXTWAVE HAPPENED ! And broccoli men and sapient dinosaurs !
If you haven't read THIS gem, you need to fix that now. It's one the first "minor characters" mini I have ever read and you barely need to know the characters history to enjoy it. It is still hilarious/awesome to this day; Nextwave are super agents who rebelled against their anti-terrorism employer H.A.T.E when they inadvertently discovered that instead of fighting terrorism they were working for a company PROMOTING terrorism by releasing prototype WMDs on an unknowing American populace (THOSE FIENDS !). Now they're fighting against their former employer (BTW, Dirk Anger >>> Nick Fury ...I said it, and you can sue me !) with all the mad powers at their disposal... I won't give away too much BUT THIS IS WHY I LOVE COMICS .
Nextwave:Agents of H.A.T.E : Read it. Quote it. Liv... errr.. no scratch that , this is going way too far !

Well , so that's that ! You make the call now !