Top 15 Rivalries

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Comic books are filled with rivalries. Some are friendly, like Archie and Jughead, and some are… not so friendly. While the friendly ones are fine, and can often inject plenty of drama into stories, it’s the really vitriolic ones that grab our attention and are typically the ones we remember the most fondly. With that in mind, below are my top 15 rivalries in comics. Plenty of these rivalries have had backstories fleshed out after the first time we saw them, like our first entry, but for ‘first altercation’ I’m going with the first published fight or confrontation between them, and not the backstories that were later filled in.

Who makes up your favorite rivalry? Did they place on the list? Let us know!

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Top 100 Villains 70-61

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Everyone knows nothing makes a good hero like a great villain. Sherlock Holmes needed Moriarty, G.I. Joe needed Cobra, the rebels needed Darth Vader, etc. Nothing makes a story better quite like an interesting, intriguing, and yet hated adversary. Readers tend to flock to the villains they love to hate. The best villains bring something out of the hero that nobody else does, or force the hero to push themselves further than before to find a way to win.

We wanted to make a top 10 list, but that’s impossible. There are just too many good choices, and we couldn’t agree on any of it. So we increased the list, and increased it, and increased it (honestly, we probably could have kept going, too). So, before it gets too out of hand, here are our choices for the 100 best villains in comics.

(Click here for our Top 100 Heroes List!)

(And be sure to check out Parts 1, 2, and 3 of our countdown!)

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Essential Reads: GREEN LANTERN

On Issue #11 of the podcast, we talked about some of our all time favorite GL comics!

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Top 100 Heroes: 20-11

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The age old questions of comic fans: Batman or Superman? Spider-Man or Wolverine? The debates about the best heroes are endless. We tried to make a top 10 list, but that was just too hard. So we tried a top 25, but that quickly became a top 50… you get the idea. So we were able to ‘narrow’ it down to an even 100. Odds are you will vehemently disagree with who did or did not make the list, or just the order that we placed them. But, hey, it’s our list.

(Honorable mentions to Beta Ray Bill, USAgent, Martian Manhunter, Kid Flash, Hercules, The Frenchman and the Female (the Boys), Abe Sapien, Spider-Man 2099, Static Shock, Nite Owl, Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, Spawn, Atom Eve, Mary Marvel, and a hell of a lot more. So many more we could- and may- do another whole 100 list!)

We will release these in installments of 10 so that you don’t have the longest list ever to read through. Agree with the placement or who made the list? Disagree with the burning power of a thousand suns? Let us know! Enjoy!

(Click here for Part One!)

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Comic Zombie Podcast #8: “Invincible” *and* “Falcon and the Winter Soldier”!

COMIC ZOMBIE – Issue #8: Invincible and Falcon and the Winter Soldier!

Chris and Erik discuss more Immortal Hulk comics, rumors surrounding the new John Stewart “Green Lantern” film as well as the HBO Max live action ‘Green Lantern Corps’ series, the “New Mutants” movie, the new “Mortal Kombat” movie, and finally we do a deep dive into both “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (Disney +) and the all new “Invincible” animated series (Amazon Prime) based on the comics by Robert Kirkman!

*NOTE: We are painfully aware that Peyton Reed is NOT directing the upcoming MCU Fantastic Four feature film; at one point he was rumored for the position which excited us, but the actual director for the upcoming film is the director of the newest Spider-Man films, Jon Watts. For shame.

(Episode edited by Erik Slader and Chris Carroll)  

For more random shenanigans (like Erik’s Invincible reviews and our recent MK character breakdowns), check out our blog at ComicZombie.net and GeekToGeekMedia! *Also listen to us on Podcasters Assemble: MORTAL PODKAST!

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Top 50 Moments from “Events”

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Both Marvel and DC (and really most publishers) from time to time will throw a lot of their characters (sometimes nearly all) together for a really big story. These have been dubbed ‘event’ titles. Books like Final Crisis, Blackest Night, Metal, Civil War, Spider-Verse, and many, many others have their fans and detractors, but you can’t deny that they provide some of the coolest, most intense, most unforgettable moments in comics history.

Everyone has their favorites, but here are 50 of the best moments (in no particular order). If you have any favorites that we neglected to include, sound off in the comments.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

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RETRO SPOILER ALERT! – First Appearances Can Be Deceiving – SILVER AGE (2 of 4)

Continued from Part 1: The Golden Age!

THE SILVER AGE (1956 – 1970)

— “With great power comes great responsibility!” – Ben Parker (Spider-man comics)

This period from around 1956 to 1970 was a huge shift in the world of comic books. Prior to this comics were in decline, mainly because of the Comics Code Authority banning all the awesome shit that was actually selling, because they were afraid it was going to create a generation of delinquents, you know like rap music and video games! Thanks to douchebag of the century, Fredric Wertham, many comic books and pulp magazines were burned in massive bonfires around the country.

So the Silver Age is considered the point at which comics were rejuvenated after a lame stint of pure camp in the Atomic Age of the 50’s. It was the beginning of many a Marvel hero and was marked by a much more sci-fi focus than ever before. This was also notably the introduction of some of the industry’s best talent to date, both artists and writers, including Neal Adams, Denny O Neal, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita Sr., and of course Stan Lee. Comics of this era are seen as an extension of the Atomic Age, and are often heavily influenced by B-rated Science Fiction films of the time where flying saucers, and giant radioactive monsters ran amok across the silver screen. One of the earliest instances of this was with the devious BRAINIAC first invading Action Comics in issue 242 (1958). Much like the Children of the Atom (the X-Men), Comics began to evolve.

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