Like so many things in this internet age, #FourComics began with a tweet. Specifically, a tweet from comic book writer, Jim Zub. In it, he asks his followers to tweet the four comics that influenced them while growing up; a simply enough request, and one that’s led to a lot of creators and fans swapping their picks online. As it turns out, comic book creators and readers have pretty diverse tastes. Scroll through the #FourComics hashtag and you’ll find a hodge-podge of superhero comics, indie titles, old-timey comic strips, manga, webcomics, and a whole lot more.
Being the comic book fans we are here at Kabooooom, we wanted to share with you our #FourComics. Compiled below are our original tweets, as well as some additional thoughts behind our choices (because sometimes 140 characters just isn’t enough).
Finally got around to compiling my #fourcomics. Really shows what year I started visiting the comic shop regularly.
— Sarah Moran (@SarahThisIs) January 22, 2015
Admittedly, when I thinking of my #FourComics I wasn’t thinking in terms of what had inspired me the most, but rather what were the four comics that brought me to my local comic book store and were the first added to my monthly pull. It was the summer of 2009 (as I have previously and long-windedly recounted) and I was recommended The Walking Dead by a friend. I still read The Walking Dead monthly and absolutely love it. Plus, I’m happy I can consider myself a fan from before the TV show started, though just barely.
Those Bat-books, all emblazoned with the “Batman Reborn” banner, are an even bigger clue as to why I began reading comics – Batman. Yet, in 2009 Batman was dead! Long live Batwoman! She was key to getting me inside a comic shop. Her design was stunning and immediately caught my eye, but more importantly she was a woman. Bat-WOMAN. It spoke to me on so many levels, the biggest being that there was a new lady kicking criminal butt in Gotham and I needed to know everything about her.
Batman and Robin stemmed from a similar though not as burning of a need to find out how Dick Grayson was handling being the new Batman. Turns out, he was a fantastic! But it wasn’t until Scott Snyder and Jock’s The Black Mirror that I truly fell hard for Dick’s Batman. Then there was Gotham City Sirens, a series I enjoyed though was sad it didn’t stay the Paul Dini-penned masterpiece I had wanted. Still, without it I don’t believe Harley Quinn or Catwoman would be enjoying the great solo series they have today. Now, if only Ivy could get an ongoing. Come on, DC! –Sarah Moran
These #fourcomics entered my bloodstream and forever altered my DNA. pic.twitter.com/IrzfMBM9qb — Erik Radvon (@radvon) January 22, 2015
Choosing four comics to encapsulate a lifelong passion is a near impossible task, so instead I focused my picks on issues that had the most visceral impact on me. Uncanny X-Men #245 was an early introduction to what still remains the world’s most badass comic series. I understood so little of what was happening, something about the “X” in the title made me feel reading it was illicit (as in X-rated, a term I only knew meant FORBIDDEN AND EVIL), and the overall rock ‘n’ roll craziness of the X-Men of this era tugged at the corners of my little suburban mind.
Grendel similarly shocked and disturbed me, and once I happened upon the first issue of the Christine Spar saga, there was no looking back. Matt Wagner’s incredibly potent saga presented violence, intrigue, artistry, sex, politics, religion – the whole cornucopia of humanity’s struggle with itself – in a way I had never experienced.
I found Grant Morrison by way of Superman. To say this issue of Doom Patrol caught me off guard is an understatement. It completely ambushed me. I tossed it aside at first, but was intrigued by its funky Simon Bisley cover. I read it. Then I read it again. Then I read it again. It became one of those issues I read so much the staples got loose and the pages flimsy. I was absolutely fascinated by the characters, by the sense of doom and dread and joy and pain and wonder carrying through each panel.
Milk and Cheese…what can I say? It’s the comic equivalent of getting drunk listening to the Germs and laughing about the silly and terrifying world that flashes by on TV. It’s madness, and that’s what comics are all about, right? –Erik Radvon
#fourcomics that got me into comics and kept me here. pic.twitter.com/3Hp7DpbLnV
— Starman Morrison (@GeekyGeekyWays) January 22, 2015
Green Lantern #90 was the first comic I bought as an adult. GL was my favorite hero on Superfriends as a kid and I saw this and wondered who this guy with the crab mask was? JLA #8 came shortly after, as I had read a Wizard magazine special about the new JLA book talking about how great it was and how the new Green Lantern was in it.
Starman #29 I picked out of a bargain bin at my first comic shop and it was my first exposure to what would become my favorite comic and the source of my nickname. And Daredevil #1 was what first got me into the Marvel Universe, as I bought it only because I was a fan of Kevin Smith’s movies. –Matt “Starman” Morrison
My #fourcomics all inspired my imagination in different ways: pic.twitter.com/nQ5xNCmpA7 — Marcus Hammond (@BoomGalactus) January 23, 2015
Each of these comics have a sacred place in my comic-loving heart. Spider-Man Unlimited #1 is the first part of the Maximum Carnage story. It made me love the anticipation of monthly installments to a bigger story, and it made me love Venom. I remember thinking X-Men #1 was a huge deal at the time and it made me realize the role of gimmicks in comics.
Daredevil #168 was the first comic I remember forcing my parents to drive around and hunt down (Oh, the days before eBay). I loved the thrill of the hunt and it ended up being an issue that made me love Daredevil. I now have almost every issue of the first volume. Saga of the Swamp Thing #20 was the first DC Comic I read and Alan Moore showed me that comics could be dark and fun. –Marcus Hammond
#FourComics that made me who I am today. #Archie #TheCrow #KingdomCome #ADeathInTheFamily pic.twitter.com/yKFZmqCErx
— Rush Urbalejo (@Rush1031) January 23, 2015
As a life-long fan of comic books, it really is tough to boil down my #FourComics, but after thinking long and hard I realized these are books that truly guided me through my fandom. If not for their absolute wonderfulness, I may not be the comic book fan I am today.
When I was a wee child, probably around 5 or 6, I got my share of Beetle Bailey and Scrooge McDuck but the comic books that I fell in love with immediately were Archie comics. I couldn’t tell you which issues or even the specific Riverdale series, but Archie comics were fun and cool to a kid at that age. As I grew, my taste in comic books grew as well and it wasn’t long before I sought out the comics that inspired one of my favorite TV shows at the time: Batman. Raised on Adam West’s rendition of the Caped Crusader, I had no idea Batman stories could be so dark. A Death in the Family drove the point home.
I really can’t say enough about Kingdom Come. DC Comics used to be the king of the ring back in the day and this graphic novel was the heavyweight champ. Full of some of the most beautiful art DC has ever boasted, this tale had the ability to bring me to tears and had me cheering in equal parts. Superman vs. Shazam. Enough said.
I used to be one of the goth kids that many tried to avoid, so when a clerk at a local comic book shop (long live Atomic Comics) suggested The Crow, the cover image alone was enough to reel me in. When I read the entire series I realized something important I had been missing: comic books are the perfect medium for any story, even the most tragic. The story of Eric Draven is perfect and brutal, and probably the most romantic story ever told. Take that Romeo and Juliet.
Those are our picks for our #FourComics – what are yours? Let us hear from you in the comment below!
Kabooooom! 