Top 10 Comic Book Purchases of 2011

My dad was generous with the Christmas money this year and Comic Quest in Evansville had an amazing 18 boxes of $1 comics to go through, so I picked out some great comic books to give myself for Christmas. Below is just the top ten.

Fantastic Four: The End #1 (2007). Alan Davis extrapolates a lot more than I have, but this real-time version of Marvel continuity deals with some of the same issues – and resolves some things the same – as I do in my fanfiction.
Avengers vs. Atlas #3 (2010). The classic 1963-64 Avengers vs. Agents of Atlas – two charming teams written with smarts and wit and drawn excellently.
Justice Society of America #19 (2008). Earth-2 cameo, Kingdom Come crossover, and an Alex Ross cover!
Fantastic Four #514 (2004). Not the best work of Mark Waid and Karl Kesel, but – hey – it’s Mark Waid and Karl Kesel. I can even overlook the ridiculously big noses all the characters are drawn with.
X-Men: the Hidden Years #19 (2001). Previously unknown WWI mutants? X-Men vs. Mole Man? Why did this get canceled and all the sucky X-titles got to keep going?
Spider-Man: Lifeline #3 (2001). It’s an interesting sequel to the classic Infinity Formula story, but really, I just love it for the Steve Rude art. Yum!
Justice Society of America #2 (2007). Awful dark, with the death of Mr. America, but I love all the character interaction and the set-up to a new Steel.
Lost Stories #1 (1997). One of those black-and-white indies that is so hard to find, yet so rewarding when you find it. The love child of Thieves & Kings and The Travelers would be Lost Stories.
JLA Classified #52 (2008). I read the ending to this storyline first and was let down, but this issue sets up what Roger Stern writes best, scenarios where you can’t see coming how the good guys can beat the bad guy.
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #3 (2009). A big letdown from how much I loved #1, but still a lot of fun character interaction between a talking cat, a dog, and a frog.