Remember last week when Keene State College journalist Keith O’Neil declared “the top five comic stories of all time”? Of course you do. Well, he’s back, this time with “the top five worst comic books ever written.”
Although last time, O’Neil dwelled exclusively on DC Comics of a certain era, for his “worst” list, he spreads the hate, embracing three Marvel stories and even looking at the present day.
Still, they’re all superhero comics.
So what are O’Neil’s worst? A couple are pretty predictable. The rest, though, I don’t know.
Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man #1-14, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Strikes Again, the Spider-Man crossover “The Other,” Brian Azzarello and Jim Lee’s “For Tomorrow” arc from Superman, and another Spider-Man crossover, “The Clone Saga.”
May 3rd, 2007 at 9:47 am
Boo.
Totally leaves out “Civil War: The Return”.
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:10 am
He’s got some good points, maybe the worst comics of recent years, but I agree that “of all time” is a stretch. He’s going for sensasionalism.
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:29 am
SINS PAST.
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:36 am
Well…I don’t think a lot of people understand how bad comics can be.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:13 am
Yeah — when I think “worst,” I think Manos: Hands of Fate worst. (Jason’s link looks at least Time Chasers-bad.)
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:42 am
This seems to be worst in the Siskel & Ebert sense of the word (i.e., stuff that should have been better but wasn’t); clearly, there’s a lot of crap out there that can only aspire to be as “good” as For Tomorrow, but never really stood a chance.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:44 am
Where’s that comic book sequel to The Prisoner that DC put out in the 80s?
He should have at least taken a shot at a Youngblood title or Jack Chick tracts.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:51 am
Todd McFarlane’s Spider-man was great, how can anyone not like it?
The Other was pretty controversial but i thought it was a good overall story.
Completely agree with Azzarello’s Superman, that was some of the worst dialogue i have read in a comic
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:59 am
what, no chuck austen books?
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Somebody’s never read THE WASHMEN.
Which makes them smarter than I am.
A
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Did everyone forget Trouble?
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:57 pm
http://www.spiderfan.org/rave/2001/0404.html
Why Howard Mackie’s Spider-Man run was not only bad, but insultingly bad.
May 3rd, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Wow, there really are some bad Spidey stories out there. That said, I agree that this is more of a “most disappointing” list than a “worst” list. I mean, Sabretooth: Back to Nature? The Girl who Would be Death? Darkstars? There’s a lot of bad stuff out there that just gets forgotten, like you all are saying.
I also have to say that I liked Miller’s Dark Knight sequel. It took the second reading, but I feel like it’s just a different kind of story than the original. More of a broad vision of an older DC universe, whereas the original was a portrait of a man whose demons won’t leave him alone. The original is certainly better, but the sequel is worth another read for anyone who hasn’t.
May 3rd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Darthphere, good point on Trouble! That one’s so traumatic, most of us have a mental block
May 3rd, 2007 at 3:58 pm
I got Sabretooth: Back to Nature for a quarter. It was overpriced.
May 4th, 2007 at 12:21 am
“Todd McFarlane’s Spider-man was great, how can anyone not like it?”
Got a couple of hours?
Great art of course, but dear god the dialogue….