The Comic Book Bucket List : Part II

Here's the deal: you've been told by your doctor that you have 6 months to live. As many would, you decide to take a trip around the world. You're going to need something to read on the plane. It's going to be a long flight, so you'll need to bring a lot of comics.

I just so happen to have a few new ones in my Ebay store that are of suitable quality for the final voyage....

MAGNUS

 ROBOT FIGHTER

4000 A.D.

An undeniable classic sci-fi comic series from the late 60's/early 70's. It's set far in the future and played out in the Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon style. Features a handsome muscley-man in wrestling shorts punching evil robots and saving the world. Campy and cool.

Magnus Robot Fighter #23

DAREDEVIL #43

"You-know-who" being Captain America of course. This is a classic early D.D. issue with an action-packed guest appearance and unlikely showdown between these two Silver Age Heroes. The year is 1968 - this is what all the coolest hippies were reading.

Daredevil #43

CAPTAIN SAVAGE

and his

Leatherneck Raiders

On the other side of the coin, this is what Marvel hoped that all the soldiers would be reading on the transport as they were shipped off to the 'Nam. I think they're supposed to be fighting the Japanese in WWII, but they never mention those details anywhere in this issue that I can recall. I especially love the cover of this one, featuring the Good Captain busting down the door with all guns blazing... What's really amazing is that with all the gunfire going off all over, almost no one ever gets killed. Kind of like all the Marvel Westerns that were out at the time....

Captain Savage #6

Uncanny X-Men

After enduring the flood of mutant-related comics to burst out of Marvel since the 80's, I think I'm feeling a little X-ed out. (X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, The New Mutants, X-Factor, X-Force, x-cetera, x-cetera...) I mean, it's a cool concept and all, but it's all been done to death. This particular issue (#175) is from right about where I started collecting X-Men. These are mutants in their prime, before the animated series came out and wrecked everything. Of course, I still feel that the John Byrne run of X-Men is the best, but #175 (a few years later) is nevertheless a good one. All of the coolest team members are in it: brown-suited Wolverine, mohawk Storm, Uber-German Nightcrawler, Lockheed the Dragon...what more could you want? Great art and a great double-length story inside.

X-Men #175

FANTASTIC FOUR

You simply cannot say goodbye to this world without reading at least a few issues of F.F. My rule of thumb when it comes to this series is; anything numbered under 100 is absolutely to die for, 100-200 are awesome, 200-300 are a great read, and anything over 300 is pure crap. The most desirable Fantastic Four comics for most collectors are of course the earliest ones, and the Galactus/Silver Surfer issues (#48-50) are of extremely high value as well. I believe that DC's Justice League may have predated F.F., but when it hit the shelves it blew the market wide open for superhero teams. I chose this particular issue to show because of the cover. There's just something amusing about the Thing in his trenchcoat...

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So..... are you going to wait until that final 6-month around the world trip, or are you going to get ahead of the game and read these comics now..... BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!?!?

Whatever you decide,

May the Force be with you...