First 10 - Hellboy

Hellboy is a series I've wanted to sink my teeth into for a long time. I just like the way this one looks. Sometimes you can just tell that you are going to like something. The fact that John Byrne's name is on the cover is also a big plus. I know that he wasn't with the series very long, but I just like John Byrne (it's an Alpha Flight thing).

Anyway, Hellboy follows the exploits of a stone-fisted demon who consistently defies whatever you may think demons are and/or should be. The series is not afraid to take chances. They kill off some major characters (such as Hellboy's surrogate father) fairly early on. While there isn't really any gratuitous violence, Hellboy is definitely a gritty series with plenty of death and/or damnation. There's also a lighter side to Hellboy as well. The titular character never takes himself too seriously, and can toss around a well-placed one-liner with all the ease of a British spy. Mike Mignola created a perfect character in Hellboy in that he is both awesome and empathetic. This is definitely a series I need to read, but things are getting pretty tight at the top. I think I'll put Hellboy high, but not too high.

Batman

Amazing Spider-Man

Fantastic Four

Silver Age Green Lantern

2000 A.D.

Cerebus

Hellboy

Deadpool

The Flash

Booster Gold

Daredevil

The Punisher

Golden Age Green Lantern

The Avengers

Ghost Rider

The Defenders

Captain America

Hellblazer

Excalibur

Golden Age Captain America

Golden Age Blue Beetle

Doctor Strange

Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)

Aquaman

First 10 - Hellblazer

John Constantine is a character who emerged from DC's Swamp Thing. The Hellblazer series in which Contantine in the principal character begins with a newspaper clipping which depicts him as a man who knows things and has connections in a number of places. As the first 10 issues progress, you learn a little more about Constantine's connections among the rich and famous as well as the dark and magical. His circle of influence extends into hell itself. He really is a compelling character if for no other reason than the fact that he appears to have achieved true moral ambivalence.

The storylines in Hellblazer go every which way. Constantine's services are needed by a variety of different people, and they are employed in a number of different ways. Unlike my gripe with the first 10 issues of Doctor Strange (that they presented a magical world which sometimes seemed to have rules and limitations and at other times appeared to have none), Hellblazer seems to have very strict rules for its magical world, but there's no way you could understand them from the first 10 issues alone. While definitely intriguing, I'm not sure Hellblazer is going to rate very high on the list of comic book series I intend to read next simply as a matter of personal taste. I can appreciate the quality of this series, but that doesn't mean I love it more than Marvel comics of the 1960's. Remember, this is a list of the order I'd like to read these series in, not a ranking of their overall quality (though the two are related). Here's where Hellblazer falls:

Batman

Amazing Spider-Man

Fantastic Four

Silver Age Green Lantern

2000 A.D.

Cerebus

Deadpool

The Flash

Booster Gold

Daredevil

The Punisher

Golden Age Green Lantern

The Avengers

Ghost Rider

The Defenders

Captain America

Hellblazer

Excalibur

Golden Age Captain America

Golden Age Blue Beetle

Doctor Strange

Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)

Aquaman

First 10 - Cerebus

Reading Cerebus is like playing Dungeons and Dragons with a really creative Dungeon Master. The comic follows the exploits of Cerebus the Aardvark as he kicks butt, takes names, and collects cash in a medieval world filled with colorful characters (who are all drawn in black and white, as is everything else in the series).

The first 10 issues are filled with parody of the sword and sandal genre as well as a number of other social institutions and practices. According to my sources, the series reaches for something greater than mere parody over the course of its 300 issue run, which means that I don't even know how good Cerebus can be.

If you are looking for a series which is well-written, expertly drawn, and endlessly creative, Cerebus is for you. I absolutely loved the first 10 issues and will definitely be reading the next 290 sometime in the future. Here's where Cerebus falls in the current First 10 standings:

Batman

Amazing Spider-Man

Fantastic Four

Silver Age Green Lantern

2000 A.D.

Cerebus

Deadpool

The Flash

Booster Gold

Daredevil

The Punisher

Golden Age Green Lantern

The Avengers

Ghost Rider

The Defenders

Captain America

Excalibur

Golden Age Captain America

Golden Age Blue Beetle

Doctor Strange

Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)

Aquaman

First 10 - 2000 A.D.

I have been told by a number of people that I should never judge Judge Dredd by his poor imitations on film, but rather by his sublime appearances in the long-running British comic 2000 A.D. What I expected to find in reading this comic was something akin to Flash Comics where there would be one shimmering Flash story surrounded by less-inspired stories about less interesting heroes. What I found here was something entirely different.

2000 A.D. is a sci-fi lover's dream. It features several different stories, nearly all of which have a great deal of value and provide a high level of entertainment. The only exception is Harlem Heroes, which follows the lives of athletes who play the ridiculous game of aeroball, which is like quidditch with jet packs. Aside from that one boring and ridiculous story, everything else is awesome. I especially loved Invasion, which follows one man who dares to stand up for his freedom after the Volgans (a nondescript invading force which is equal parts Russian, German, and Chinese) take over Britain. Judge Dredd is simply the icing on the cake. I love the idea of judges who act as policeman, judge, jury, and executioner in order to simplify the process of capturing and/or killing baddies. I love everything about it. It's certainly better in comic book form than it has ever been or ever will be on film.

In addition to its sci-fi appeal (The comic tickles the part of my brain that loves MST3K, which is not to say that it's kitschy. It's simply to say that it's sci-fi from the era when the space race was still alive and the possibilities for science fiction were nearly limitless) the comic features honest-to-goodness violence. You'll see Savage shoot dudes in the face with blood spurting everywhere. You'll see dinosaurs bite guys in half. You'll see Judge Dredd causing all kinds of blood-spilling mayhem. It's great. It's not gratuitous or over-the-top, it's just the sort of thing the Comics Code Authority would never have allowed in the United States at the time. There isn't blood on every page, but there is blood where there needs to be blood, which is all you could ever want. In the first 10 issues of 2000 A.D., the only thing I didn't like was Harlem Heroes. 9 out of 10 ain't bad. As a matter of fact, it's pretty amazing. Everything else in this comic is so good, I can't wait to devour it. Here's where it falls in the First 10 standings:

Batman

Amazing Spider-Man

Fantastic Four

Silver Age Green Lantern

2000 A.D.

Deadpool

The Flash

Booster Gold

Daredevil

The Punisher

Golden Age Green Lantern

The Avengers

Ghost Rider

The Defenders

Captain America

Excalibur

Golden Age Captain America

Golden Age Blue Beetle

Doctor Strange

Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)

Aquaman

First 10 - Flash Comics

Here's a question I ask myself when I'm doing these First 10 reviews, "Why do you separate the  eras for some series, but not for others?" When it comes to The Flash, I don't intend to do a separate review of the Wally West Flash. Why not? It mainly has to do with how I intend to read the comic. For the Green Lantern comics, I would want to read the Alan Scott and Hal Jordan eras separately because I know I would get anxious for the Hal Jordan years if I just started with Alan Scott. For The Flash, I would actually want to start with Jay Garrick and read all the way through Barry Allen and Wally West. There's a method to my madness, but it's not very organized and is mainly subject to my slightest whims and nothing else whatsoever.

Anyway, I really enjoy Golden Age comics when they're well done, and The Flash is very well done in his Jay Garrick form. I don't really care for most of the other series in these issues (most of them feature non-powered tough guys who don't do too many things of interest) so after the first couple, I just started reading the stories that feature The Flash. While they were just as exciting and innovating as any of the other Golden Age series which have survived to the present day, there were a few things that made me roll my eyes a bit, like the fact that Jay Garrick is constantly spinning like a top to hide his identity while interrogating baddies. Wouldn't they be at least aware of the Tasmanian devil-ish tornado in the room? It makes sense that they wouldn't recognize the person in the blur, which seems to be the whole point of spinning, but you would definitely see the blur, right? Anyway, I'm sure that oversight is cleared up in later issues.

I have a soft spot for the speedsters of the comic book world (which is part of the reason I don't want to just dive into the modern characters who have been called The Flash without taking time to appreciate the man who came before them all). I always wished Quicksilver (or speedsters in general) had a bigger role in the Marvel Universe, and I loved the crisis (I forget which one, but it might be Infinite Crisis) which brought multiple Flashes together to run on a treadmill in order to save the multiverse. I just love the idea of superhuman speed as a power. I knew I would enjoy this comic before I even bit into it. That said, as I do more First 10's, it gets harder to put things as close to the top as I'd like. There are just so many great series and so little time, which I guess is the point. Here's where The Flash falls:

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Silver Age Green Lantern
5. Deadpool
6. The Flash
7. Booster Gold
8. Daredevil
9. The Punisher
10. Golden Age Green Lantern
11. The Avengers
12. Ghost Rider
13. The Defenders
14. Captain America
15. Excalibur
16. Golden Age Captain America
17. Golden Age Blue Beetle
18. Doctor Strange
19. Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
20. Aquaman

First 10 - Silver Age Green Lantern

This is the beginning of Green Lantern as you know and love him. Yes, the Alan Scott Green Lantern is awesome in his own right, even if they made him gay for no good reason (For the record, I have no problem with gay superheroes. Northstar is one of the more prominent gay heroes  and he's in Alpha Flight. I love Alpha Flight. Anyway, I just think it's lame to make someone gay for gay's sake. Northstar was depicted as constantly being surrounded by adoring female fans, and yet he never had a girlfriend. His coming out was a big deal, but it wasn't surprising. Alan Scott, on the other hand, had 70+ years of heterosexuality under his belt before DC made him gay. Go back and look at the Golden Age Green Lantern comics. Alan Scott's inner dialogue is filled with thoughts about which girl he'd like to take out. I wouldn't have a problem if DC had just come up with a new gay character. They could have even added a gay Green Lantern. There's a Muslim Green Lantern now, so it's clear that DC is willing to add a little diversity with their new characters. It's just that turning a straight character gay feels wrong continuity-wise, and it also feels like pandering. If you create a new gay character, his or her homosexuality is just a part of who they are, and you don't really have to explain it. When you take a formerly heterosexual character and make him gay, it feels like you're laying a sacrificial lamb on the gay altar, as if you have to appease an angry mob. I'll go on believing that Alan Scott isn't gay, because he's not. If some new Green Lantern is, that's fine) but the mythos of the Green Lanterns was really established early on in the Hal Jordan years.

The first 10 issues of Silver Age Green Lantern cover a lot of the same material as that Green Lantern movie starring National Lampoon's Van Wilder. There's really one major difference: the first 10 issues of Green Lantern don't suck. And now I feel like I've tapped out my tangent reserves. Let's stick to the topic at hand from now on.

Hal Jordan is a compelling Green Lantern because he lived an interesting enough life before  he received his ring from Abin Sur. He is definitely a product of the era which gave us the space race. It's as if Chuck Yeager became a superhero, which is actually not a half bad idea.  I had also read Emerald Twilight before diving into this series, so I know what becomes of Hal Jordan. It only serves to make his humble beginning all the more interesting. This is definitely a must-read series, so it should go pretty high in the first 10 standings. Speaking of which, here they are:

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Silver Age Green Lantern
5. Deadpool
6. Booster Gold
7. Daredevil
8. The Punisher
9. Golden Age Green Lantern
10. The Avengers
11. Ghost Rider
12. The Defenders
13. Captain America
14. Excalibur
15. Golden Age Captain America
16. Golden Age Blue Beetle
17. Doctor Strange
18. Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
19. Aquaman

First 10 - Ghost Rider

I have always been intrigued by Ghost Rider. I remember looking at Ghost Rider comics in the magazine aisle of my local drug store (that drug store was the only place in town that sold a lot of things: CD's, comic books, Abba-Zaba). What prepubescent boy wouldn't be fascinated by a guy with a flaming skull riding a motorcycle? If prepubescent boys, as a group, were charged with the creation of a perfect comic book series, it would not fall far from the Ghost Rider tree. That said, Ghost Rider has a lot more going for it than its irresistible imagery.

In the first 10 issues of Ghost Rider (beginning with Marvel Spotlight) you really get a sense for who Johnny Blaze is, and what his struggle is. As a person who stole his own soul from the devil, Ghost Rider's struggle is with himself as well as hell and all its minions. That's as good a premise as I've ever heard. It certainly has legs enough to last at least a few decades.

I really enjoyed the first 10 issues of Ghost Rider. I really got a sense for how the world of Ghost Rider operates, and what the major character's motivations are. This is so much better than that movie starring little Nicky Coppola. Anyway, even though I really enjoyed Ghost Rider, he's a bit of a lone wolf. He doesn't seem to interact with the other characters in the Marvel universe much. That has to knock a few points off his first 10 standing, because I'm looking for a series that will give me a grander view of either the DC or Marvel universe, depending on where it falls. That said, I will read more Ghost Rider at some point. It satisfies the inner child. Here are the updated standings.

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Deadpool
5. Booster Gold
6. Daredevil
7. The Punisher
8. Golden Age Green Lantern
9. The Avengers
10. Ghost Rider
11. The Defenders
12. Captain America
13. Excalibur
14. Golden Age Captain America
15. Golden Age Blue Beetle
16. Doctor Strange
17. Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
18. Aquaman

First 10 - Excalibur

This series came highly recommended to me by a friend who, upon hearing of my affinity for Alpha Flight, figured I would be as much a fan of the British X-Men as I was of the Canadian X-Men. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I hoped I would.

Excalibur has a lot going for it. For starters, two of my favorite X-Men are on the team: Kitty Pride and Nightcrawler. Secondly, Captain Britain is a whole lot like Guardian, who is my favorite member of Alpha Flight. There is a certain level of kitsch value in the comic, which makes for a lot of fun.

On the downside, Excalibur doesn't seem to have the larger theme that X-Men and Alpha Flight do. The X-Men are constantly battling bigotry and blind hatred while Alpha Flight uncovers the darker side of government bureaucracy and military funding. Excalibur just seems to fight whichever foe comes along without engaging in any other ongoing larger battle. That being the case, it felt like something was missing in the first 10 issues of Excalibur. I enjoyed them, but they could have been better. I'm sure I'm missing quite a bit by only having read the first 10 issues, but I'm basing all these series on their first 10 issues alone, so fair's fair. Here are the updated standings:

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Deadpool
5. Booster Gold
6. Daredevil
7. The Punisher
8. Golden Age Green Lantern
9. The Avengers
10. The Defenders
11. Captain America
12. Excalibur
13. Golden Age Captain America
14. Golden Age Blue Beetle
15. Doctor Strange
16. Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
17. Aquaman

First 10 - Doctor Strange

My dad is a fan of Doctor Strange from way back. he was in the Merry Marvel Marching society back in the 60's when everything was new and full of promise. Anyway, he was a fan of Doctor Strange, so I thought I would be as well. Unfortunately this wasn't the case. I did enjoy Doctor Strange in The Defenders, and I have always enjoyed his appearances in other series, but his solo series is a bit of a snooze for me. Here's the thing: despite the fact that Doctor Strange could totally kick Superman's butt (Superman is vulnerable to magic, and Doctor Strange is a magician extraordinaire) I don't really understand his world at all.

When magic becomes a part of fiction, you have to give it clear guidelines. Harry Potter is an excellent example of this. You know exactly what the rules of magic are in the series, which makes the story seem plausible. I got no sense of how the world of magic is governed in the world of Doctor Strange. I have no idea what he can and cannot do, therefore I am both less surprised when he does something magically awesome, and less inclined to believe it as well. I am sure the magical world of Doctor Strange was given much more definition in later issues than it was in the first 10 issues, but based solely on the first 10, this isn't a series that I plan on reading soon. Here's where it falls:

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Deadpool
5. Booster Gold
6. Daredevil
7. The Punisher
8. Golden Age Green Lantern
9. The Avengers
10. The Defenders
11. Captain America
12. Golden Age Captain America
13. Golden Age Blue Beetle
14. Doctor Strange
15. Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
16. Aquaman

First 10 - The Defenders

The Defenders are the first non-team of comic book superheroes. The original lineup of Dr. Strange, The Hulk, and Namor is widely considered one of the strongest groups of superheroes ever collected (they got even stronger when Silver Surfer Joined up). The most interesting thing about The Defenders is also their greatest weakness as the basis for a series: the fact that they aren't a team with any central leadership, but rather a group of individuals who work together only when it suits them. This being the case, every issue becomes a struggle to explain why these heroes, which run in completely different circles, would ever hang out together, let alone join forces and battle for good.

Despite its major flaw, The Defenders is a very good series. Each character brings unique strengths and abilities to the team, and the storylines are definitely unique. I don't think that, as a non-team, The Defenders have the potential for longevity that The X-Men or The Avengers have, but they're still absolutely intriguing. This is a series that I will eventually read starting with issue #1 and then give up on it as soon as they replace the original lineup. Here's where it falls in the First 10 standings:

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Deadpool
5. Booster Gold
6. Daredevil
7. The Punisher
8. Golden Age Green Lantern
9. The Avengers
10. The Defenders
11. Captain America
12. Golden Age Captain America
13. Golden Age Blue Beetle
14. Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
15. Aquaman

First 10 - Deadpool

Now here's something I didn't expect: a series that kicked off in the 90's that has a sense of fun like the Marvel comics from the 60's. Deadpool is Marvel's "Merc With a Mouth." His constant witty sarcasm offsets the constant danger he finds himself falling into. Also, it seems to be his way of dealing with a lifetime of pain and suffering.

One of the more interesting questions solved by this series is this: What would happen if you gave a Wolverine-esque healing factor to a guy with cancer? What you get is Deadpool, a living paradox.

I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into with the first 10 issues of this series (I did it right and went back to the beginning with Deadpool's first appearance in New Mutants). I didn't know anything about Deadpool, and was surprised by how quickly I took to the character and the series as a whole. This is definitely a series I will be reading in the future. Here's how it falls in relation to the other series I've checked out thus far.

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Deadpool
5. Booster Gold
6. Daredevil
7. The Punisher
8. Golden Age Green Lantern
9. The Avengers
10. Captain America
11. Golden Age Captain America
12. Golden Age Blue Beetle
13. Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
14. Aquaman

First 10 - Daredevil

I think I've mentioned many times before that I love Marvel comics from the 1960's. The Silver Age of Comic Books was the Golden Age for Stan Lee and company. The man was literally inventing the universe, and everything was fresh and new.

In interviews, Stan Lee has admitted to the fact that with each new series he was looking for a way  to make the hero different from every other hero in the Marvel stable. The first issue of Dardevil actually boasts about the fact that The Man Without Fear has a secret which makes him different from Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. Daredevil's secret is that he is blind, but his other senses were given a super boost due to his exposure to radioactive materials in the accident that took his sight. The origin story is a bit of a stretch, but if you buy into a guy getting super powers from a radioactive spider, you can't really be picky with the sources of your super powers.

Matt Murdock (aka Daredevil) is also an interesting case because not only is he a blind superhero, he's also a crack lawyer. In the first 10 issues of Daredevil, Matt's legal career is a bit of a joke. He goes from graduating law school in issue #1 to being one of the most respected lawyers in town by issue #3. Also, I was really bugged by the fact that more than once he got a phone call, accepted a client, and went to court all in the same day. He was trying cases without studying legal precedent, without knowing any of the relevant facts, and without even meeting the client until he stepped into the courtroom. Even Perry Mason wasn't that good.

The action in Daredevil is good because he relies so heavily on his senses. When he's underwater or driving in a car, or flying in a plane, he isn't able to use his super senses the way he could in a quiet room. Oh, and Daredevil undergoes a couple important costume changes in the first 10 issues alone. He starts off in the yellow and red that you see above. Then he adds a red hood to store his street clothes in. This turns out to be a bad idea (partially due to the fan reaction) and he scraps it. Finally he settles into the red on red outfit which he still wears today.

The unfortunate thing about the first 10 issues of Daredevil is that you never really get a sense for who his nemesis is. Heroes live and die by the strength of their nemeses, and while Daredevil will eventually face off against Bullseye, Kingpin, and many others, the first 10 issues find him handling foes in 20 pages or less. He even kills a couple guys. The most disappointing turn is the fact that The Fixer, the mob boss and boxing promoter who killed Daredevil's father, is tracked down and disposed of in the very first issue. You have to be able to doggedly track your parent's killer for hundreds of issues before finding them, beating them to the point where their life is in your hands, and pondering whether revenge is truly worth the cost. Letting The Fixer go early was a bad job by Stan Lee, who doesn't often whiff on such things.

All in all, Daredevil is standard 1960's Marvel goodness. I know the series eventually takes a turn for the much, much darker when it moved to the Marvel Knights imprint, but I'm prepared for that. I know I'll want to read Daredevil eventually, but I can't say that it's higher on the List than Spider-Man. Here's where things fall:

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Booster Gold
5. Daredevil
6. The Punisher
7. Golden Age Green Lantern
8. The Avengers
9. Captain America
10. Golden Age Captain America
11. Golden Age Blue Beetle
12. Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
13. Aquaman

First 10 - Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel's first appearance in Marvel Comics is the result of some ridiculous behind-the-scenes antics on the part of both DC and Marvel. As I understand it, here's how it went down:

Back in the 1940's Fawcett Comics ran a series called Captain Marvel, which followed the life of a normal guy named Billy Batson who would turn into the Superman-esque hero whenever he said the word, "Shazam!" Captain Marvel was actually a more popular hero than Superman in the Golden Age, based on sales alone. After more than a decade of publication, DC decided that Captain Marvel was a bit too Superman-esque. A lawsuit ensued and Fawcett lost. They ceased publication of all Captain Marvel titles, crippling the company. DC later acquired the rights to the Captain Marvel character from Fawcett, but Marvel Comics decided to mess with DC for no good reason. Marvel invented Captain Marvel (given name: Mar-Vell. No kidding) before DC could come out with a Captain Marvel series of their own. DC was then forced to call their Captain Marvel title Shazam!, which it remains to the present day. Marvel's Captain Marvel has never been a very financially or critically successful venture, but in order to keep the rights to the series name, Marvel has to keep at least sporadically publishing Captain Marvel material. Now if that doesn't make you want to read the series, I don't know what will.

I knew the tangled history of Captain Marvel before reading these first 10 issues, and I honestly didn't expect too much of it. I found that the stories were generally better written than I expected, and Mer-Vell as a character was more compelling than I thought he'd be. What you need to understand, however, is that I thought Captain Marvel would be a giant turd. What it actually is is a fair-to-middling super-powered alien series.

Captain Marvel is a Kree (one of the major alien races in the Marvel Universe) warrior who decides to protect the earth after being sent on a fact-finding mission by the powers that be in the Kree empire. The major problem with the series is that you can feel it grasping for straws almost from the beginning. No Marvel hero has undergone more changes than Captain Marvel. His continuity is probably the most befuddling in the entire universe. The character has been revamped several times, but has never been a big draw. His main purpose seems to be keeping DC from being able to publish Shazam! under the title of Captain Marvel.

The most compelling part of the series for me was the fact that Mar-Vell has a working relationship with Carol Danvers, who eventually becomes the infinitely more compelling Ms. Marvel. I enjoyed this series more than I expected, but a whole lot less than some of the others I've read. That said, he's better than Aquaman. Here are the current First 10 Standings:

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Booster Gold
5. The Punisher
6. Golden Age Green Lantern
7. The Avengers
8. Captain America
9. Golden Age Captain America
10. Golden Age Blue Beetle
11. Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
12. Aquaman

First 10 - Captain America

Now here's where things get a little interesting in terms of how I proceed with these First 10 series. Although in the Marvel Universe characters change very little from their origins to their modern incarnations, which means you could do as I did and read X-Men from their 1963 premier up to the present day and it's all basically the same series. The same is not true for DC. Origins in the DC Universe differ wildly from era to era, which is addressed by the existence of the multiverse and the various crisis events which iron out some of the wrinkles. Anyway, if I'm willing to treat the two different eras of Captain America as two separate entities, am I willing to do the same for DC? The short answer is no. The long answer is that I'll play things by ear and try to be as fair as possible, but there's no way I'm going to scour every era of every DC character. I want to settle on a series and start reading soon, so I'm trying to not give myself too much homework. That said, on to the review of Captain America.

I really loved the first 10 issues of Captain America. He had some epic battles with The Red Skull, a few lesser battles with a few lesser villains (such as The Trapster, who boasts of many weapons and traps, but everything he does is somehow connected to his goofy paste gun. I guess they can't all be winners). You get a new take on The Cap's origins which follows the Golden Age origin story very closely, but adds a bunch of details which are important for The Cap's motivations. The only downside of the first 10 issues of Captain America is that they feel like a pared down version of what was already happening in The Avengers. There are several references to Tony Stark, and more than a few meetings with Nick Fury, which can only serve to remind readers that Captain America works with The Avengers as well. At this point in the game, Captain America wasn't quite strong enough to carry his own title, but he was close. I'm sure things got even more intriguing after the first 10 issues, but the first 10 showed a lot of room for growth.

While I really like Captain America, I can't say that I enjoyed these first 10 more than a lot of the other series I've read up to this point. I'll get around to reading this series, but I can't place it above The Avengers right now.

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Booster Gold
5. The Punisher
6. Golden Age Green Lantern
7. The Avengers
8. Captain America
9. Golden Age Captain America
10. Golden Age Blue Beetle
11. Aquaman

First 10 - Golden Age Captain America

I really really wanted to like Golden Age Captain America comics. I've always been a fan of the Cap, and I don't mind reading old-timey comics. The problem with the old-timey Captain America comics is that they generally fall into the realm of thinly veiled war propaganda. It's not that I didn't support the troops in WWII and it's not that I don't enjoy watching the star-spangled man punch Hitler in the face (something he does on a lot of covers, but not so much in the actual comics), it's just that I don't need to be sold on the war at home for a war that has been over since before my father was born.

The early Captain America comics were pretty standard Golden Age fare. I know that Stan Lee got his start with these comics, but he wasn't yet the Silver Age marvel that we all know and love. Basically, Golden Age Captain America shows shades of the things I would eventually love about the series, but they don't fully manifest themselves here.

The most satisfying parts of the first 10 Golden Age Captain America comics were the things that held over into his reanimation in the Silver Age. This includes his origins in the super soldier program, his nemesis relationship with Red Skull, and his costume, which has changed surprisingly little over the years (the shield, of course, has changed, and I prefer the new one). Anyway, I didn't enjoy Golden Age Captain America nearly as much as I wanted to. I'm sure I'll read this series eventually, but it won't be next on my list. Here's where it falls in the standings.

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Booster Gold
5. The Punisher
6. Golden Age Green Lantern
7. The Avengers
8. Golden Age Captain America
9. Golden Age Blue Beetle
10. Aquaman

First 10 - Booster Gold

I already knew I loved Booster Gold before I ever laid eyes on this first issue. He and Blue Beetle featured heavily in 52, a series I really loved. The best thing about Booster Gold is that his struggle isn't necessarily against villains, though they do factor in. His greatest struggle is with himself. He struggles to overcome his past (which is in our future) and often finds himself needing to get out of his own big, dumb way. He means well, but he isn't entirely innocent.

Booster Gold thief from the future whose powers come from the technology he stole. He traveled back to our time so he could join up with the Justice League and make a name for himself. He's a money-grubbing grandstanding arrogant jerk, but the comics are so well-written you can't help but cheer for the guy. He's basically Captain Amazing from Mystery Men.

I knew I would enjoy the first 10 issues of Booster Gold, but I didn't know I would love them as much as I did. I found myself absolutely absorbed in the story, and I didn't want to put the series down after a mere 10 issues. Later issues in the series call Booster "The Greatest Hero the World Has Never Known." That statement pretty much sums up everything you need to know about Booster Gold. If you're looking for a new series to read, this is a very interesting and engaging one. Here's how it impacts the First 10 standings:

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. Booster Gold
5. The Punisher
6. Golden Age Green Lantern
7. The Avengers
8. Golden Age Blue Beetle
9. Aquaman

I know #4 doesn't seem too high for a series I really loved, but look at the iconic series Booster Gold is up against. Anyway, I don't know when I'll do another First 10. I need to get back to my X-Men reading. Those issues are really piling up.

First 10 - Golden Age Blue Beetle

The Blue Beetle first appeared in the multi-hero comic Mystery Men. Titles like these have always been used to trot out new heroes, and many of the heroes you know and love come from such titles. In the first issue of Mystery Men, The Blue Beetle was a nobody, and by the end of the series he was headlining the title (you can see in the issue on the left he was billed below The Green Mask and Rex Dexter of Mars).

In the first issue of Mystery Men, there was no real reason to give The Blue Beetle any special billing. He was a cop who would change into civvies and put on a mask to solve crimes. From the beginning I thought it ridiculous that Dan Garret would change into his hero duds to do things that were basically his job to do as a cop. They never really answer that point, but the series does get better than it was when it started.

By the second issue, Dan Garret was donning an early incarnation of the classic Blue Beetle garb. There is no reason given for the change, but it's a welcome one because before that point he was a less-flashy Green Mask who did Batman's job in a less exciting way. Once he gets a better costume, The Blue Beetle gets better as a character. He does have a cheesy ongoing banter with his cop partner, Mannigin, but that is usually relegated to the final frame of the comic. All in all, it's a pretty good Golden Age comic, but far from my favorite. I wasn't going to separate Golden Age Blue Beetle from the modern Blue Beetle, but it looks like I'm going to have to, just because I already know I love the modern Blue Beetle. Here's where it falls in the First 10 standings:

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. The Punisher
5. Golden Age Green Lantern
6. The Avengers
7. Golden Age Blue Beetle
8. Aquaman

First 10 - Batman

Ever since I started this First 10 thing, I have been wanting to read Golden Age Batman comics. Although I would classify myself as more of a Marvel than a DC fan, I would still say that Batman is probably my all-time favorite superhero. He's iconic, he's edgy, and best of all: if I hit the gym a little more often, I could be Batman. The self-made man aspect of Batman is probably his most compelling feature. While Superman was handed everything at an early age, Batman had to earn it and has to keep earning it every time he puts on the cape and cowl.

The first 10 issues of Detective Comics which feature The Batman (starting with issue no. 27) were the most engaging, exciting, and least dated Golden Age comics I have read thus far. You don't get the Batman origin story until issue #33, but the four issues before that now-legendary issue provide plenty of thrills. I was actually fairly familiar with these stories because my parents gave me Tales of the Dark Knight as a kid and I read it cover to cover several times despite not picking up an actual comic book for another 25 years.

The only drawback in the first 10 issues of Batman is that he meets a lot of generic no-name criminals. He doesn't even meet his first big nemesis until the first issue of Batman, which was the last of the 10 issues I read. In that issue we are introduced to Robin, who just appears as if he had been there the entire time even though he hadn't (It seems like they weren't as married to continuity in the Golden Age. I don't know if they could've even imagined that people would still be reading and dissecting their work 70 years later). Batman #1 is also the first appearance of The Joker, who has a fascination with jewels that doesn't really seem to carry over into further Batman lore. The strength of any superhero lies in his villains, and Batman eventually assembles the greatest cadre of villains anywhere in the world of comic books. By the time I finished the first 10 Batman comics, I could see that Bob Kane was really hitting his stride. He had just developed an all-time great villain in The Joker, and Batman was really turning into the superhero we all know and love. All the pieces were there, and it was only 1940.

The one thing that really struck me in reading these comics was that Batman was an edgy hero even in his early days. He killed several baddies in the first 10 issues, even graphically hanging a couple of them. In the first couple issues, they were a little queasy about tossing bad guys off roofs because they never really showed them flying off. By the last few issues, The Batman is killing guys right and left. This is as dark as Golden Age comics can possibly get, and I love it. I've been a lifelong Batman fan, so the current First 10 standings should come as no surprise:

1. Batman
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fantastic Four
4. The Punisher
5. Golden Age Green Lantern
6. The Avengers
7. Aquaman

First 10 - The Avengers

The Avengers really need no introduction. They are a collection of iconic heroes who have just enjoyed massive success on the big screen. The Avengers seem to be on the minds and lips of people who don't even like or care about comic books.

The Avengers and the movies which led up to it (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America, Thor, etc.) are based in the Ultimate Universe, whereas the comics I read were the original Silver Age stories in which The Avengers originally formed and gelled as one of the premier superhero teams. These comics are a far cry from the HD effects-driven blockbuster movies, but many of the crucial elements of The Avengers exist both in comic book and in movie form.

The original Avengers were Iron Man (in his golden soup can armor), The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Henry Pym (in his Ant-Man phase) and his trusty partner Wasp. Captain America wouldn't join up until issue #4. The original story which brought The Avengers together was a little lame. They just all showed up to the same fight and basically entered an oral contract to be a team. It was a very loose agreement which The Hulk promptly broke, which kinda makes it seem like they weren't much of a team. There was a lot of in-group fighting in the first 10 issues, and the team had no official government backing. They were literally just a bunch of dudes and one girl (who hit on every guy she met, which got really annoying) who fought as a team when they felt like it. This means they were only slightly more dedicated than The Defenders when they first got together. The lack of real teamwork makes these early Avengers comics slightly less awesome than The Fantastic Four.

Another issue with these first issues is that they face a few real duds in the villain department. Loki makes an appearance in the first issue, which is nice, but he's really more Thor's enemy than anything. The Avengers needed marquee villains that required the collected forces of all the members (I'm thinking a Magneto type). Zemo and the Masters of Evil really started coming together as a team by the end of the first 10 issues, but that's about it. Also, I feel the need to point out that Zemo is a Captain America villain and The Enchantress and The Executioner are both Thor villains. Once again, there's a need for original villains created specifically for The Avengers. Also, to that point, I found the plot in issue #2 to be a bit silly. The Space Phantom comes along as a real challenger to The Avengers, but as an interloper he states that his big goal is to beat The Avengers, thus proving his power. The problem with this is that The Avengers had literally just gotten off the ground and it didn't seem the public was too aware of the team. How would a visitor from another world know that beating the Avengers was the most important thing for an evil villain to do while on Earth? Maybe I'm just picking too many nits here.

Lemme say that I really enjoyed The Avengers. I've mentioned before that 1960's Marvel comics are pretty much my favorite thing. There's plenty to love about the early issues of The Avengers. All the knocks I listed above were mainly just justification for putting The Avengers lower on my First 10 totem pole than I really want to. The Avengers are pretty much another win for Silver Age Marvel. I just have other series' I want to read first. This shouldn't mean that The Avengers aren't worth reading. They're in the mix along with a whole bunch of other awesome series. I'll get to 'em all eventually. Here are the current standings:

1. Amazing Spider-Man
2. Fantastic Four
3. The Punisher
4. Golden Age Green Lantern
5. The Avengers
6. Aquaman