Top 5 Comic Book Super Teams

Following on from last week's Superhero Top 5 these are my favourite Super Teams.

1. The X-Men (created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby) - The X-Men weren't the first super hero team I discovered but they were the catalyst for my obsession with comics. When I was much younger my mum would sometimes buy me a comic when I was poorly. One of the last times she did this I got a copy of a British X-Men magazine that reprinted X-Men 133. this was one of the later parts of the Hellfire Club story and I was instantly hooked. The X-Men had been created by Kirby & Lee as a team of completely original characters (rather than combining existing solo heroes) but really came into it's own when Chris Claremont took control of the title in the late 70s.

2. The Avengers (created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby) - One of my very first US edition comics was an Avengers story, bought from Tilly's in Thames Ditton, that explained the origins of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Traditionally the team formed around a core of Captain America, Iron Man & Thor though often it was the peripheral characters that drew me in. Wasp & Ant Man/Giant Man were favourites from the early issues but one of my favourite Avengers remains the impractically purple costumed archer Hawkeye.

3. The Fantastic Four (created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby) - I suspect I picked up my fist copy of The Fantastic Four in the same visit to Tilly's I mentioned above. The FF were a little different from any other team as they were linked by blood and marriage. Johnny Storm was Sue Storm's brother. Sue eventually married Reed Richards and Ben Grimm was their long standing friend. Unlike other series membership of the FF never changed. In a universe where teams and characters are rebooted and redefined more and more frequently the FF remain a happy constant.

4. The Justice League of America (created by Gardner Fox) - DC's shining beacon of super teams combining all the very best DC characters in one magazine. I mean, holy crap, any group that includes; Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash & Aqua Man is a force to be reckoned with. As an occasional DC reader the JLA gave me a hit of their best characters for the price of one comic.

5. The Defenders (created by Roy Thomas & Ross Andru) - I struggled to decide on my fifth pick. I quite liked DC's Legion of Super Heroes, a space based team, led at times by Superboy, made up of alien heroes from a future world who didn't appear in any other titles. I considered The Watchmen, from Alan Moore's excellent graphic novel, but they were never really a genuine ongoing team (in my eyes at least). But at heart I'm a Marvel kid so I plumped for Marvel's secondary super team The Defenders. The early issues saw a pretty cool core team of Doctor Strange, Hulk & Namor the Sub-Mariner and soon added the Silver Surfer and Valkyrie.

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Top 5 Comic Book Superheroes

Some Twitter pals got me thinking about my favourite b-list Superheroes the other day and inevitably that also got me thinking about my a-list too. I spent a lot of time reading comics as a kid, probably too much if I'm honest, but I still have a lot of love for them.

1. Spider-man (created by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko) - Spidey was always number one for me. The late sixties cartoon series (with it's character defining theme tune) was probably where I first discovered him, either that or the late seventies live-action TV show starring Nicholas Hammond. Watch either now and you'll probably struggle to see much to admire but back then you took your thrills where you could and seeing some bloke climbing skyscrapers in an ill-fitting costume was way more exciting than anything else at the time. I got into comics entirely thanks to Spider-man. Initially the UK produced black & white reprints but soon after the full colour US originals. Spider-Man was a hero it was easy to identify with, funny and sharp witted yet a bit awkward in normal life.

2. Batman (created by Bob Kane & Bill Finger) - Again it was the kitsch TV series that first got me interested in Batman. I was a confirmed Marvel Comics fan though and didn't have a lot of time for DC comics but the Batman series is one of the best superhero tales ever written. I would buy DC titles occasionally (usually if the latest Marvel title wasn't in and I didn't want to go home empty handed) and the various Batman comics were always good value. Frank Miller's Dark Knight era got me reading more regularly and for a long time the films were the only really successful superhero franchise on the big screen.

3. Wolverine (created by Len Wein & John Romita Sr) - The Chris Claremont era of X-Men titles was what tipped me over the edge. Previously an occasional comic book buyer, discovering The Uncanny X-Men led me into slight obsession with collecting comics. Claremont redefined the X-Men with a new set of characters and costumes. There was a slightly grittier reality. Wolverine was core to this and not your typical all-American hero. He was Canadian for a start, had a dark sense of humour and could be disruptive to the team dynamics. His background story hinted at a troubled past which eventually opened the door to his own series of comics.

4. Iron Man (created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby) - One of the big five Marvel characters (I think, there's a possibility I'm making that up) who was also a founding member of The Avengers. I read that Stan Lee created billionaire industrialist Tony Stark as the sort of character that Marvel readers would hate. The archetypal capitalist business man that went against the grain of the 60s counter-culture. I'm pretty sure Iron Man wouldn't have featured quite so high in the list without the recent trilogy of films but it was a title I bought & enjoyed for many years.

5. Hulk (created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby) - Hulk! Smash! Who couldn't love the big green bundle of anger? Another character I first discovered through the TV. The Bill Bixby/Lou Ferringo series was a big part of my Saturday night entertainment growing up and the Hulk comics were great fun too.

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Guest Top 5 - Asterix Books by Gideon Coe

I'm sure you'll all be aware of Gideon Coe and his excellent radio show on BBC 6music. By luck I happened to notice Gid tweet his five favourite Asterix reads and asked if he'd mind me reproducing it here. Gideon is a gent and was very obliging. If you haven't listened to his show before you should. It's on between 9pm and 12pm Monday to Friday and also available via the BBC iPlayer, you won't regret it.

The Adventures of Asterix are a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. The series first appeared in the French magazine Pilote and have subsequently resulted in a series of thirty four books. The series follows the exploits of a village of indomitable Gauls who resist the Roman occupation thanks to a magic potion that gives them super strength, brewed by their druid Getafix. I loved reading these as a kid and much preferred them to the Tin Tin stories. Asterix was a real hero, a warrior who was the best fighter in the village but also very smart. His best friend Obelix, who had permanent super strength having fallen in the cauldron as a child, was less clever but loyal. For me they represented the victory of the small people over the big and mighty.

Over to Gideon ...

1. Asterix and the Chieftan's Shield (1968)

2. Asterix and the Golden Sickle (1962)

3. Asterix in Britain (1966)

4. Asterix and Cleopatra (1965)

5. Asterix the Legionary (1967)

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Top 5 Jones'

Oddly inspired to do this after watching Norah Jones on Later with Jools Holland. I've actually done this top five before as part of the PRS focus group but that one was focused solely on music.

1. Booker T. Jones - Multi instrumentalist and song writer best known for his work with the MGs and Stax Records.



2. Halo Jones - Lead character from Alan Moore's 2000AD story "The Ballad of Halo Jones" and comic book hottie.



3. Brian Jones - Guitarist and founding member of the Rolling Stones who died less than a month after being told he was out of the band.



4. Indiana Jones - Dr Henry Walton Jones Jr to give him his official title.



5. Lance-Corporal Jack Jones - Permission to speak Sir? The comedy genius that is Clive Dunn's portrayal of Jonesy on Dad's Army. They don't like it up 'em.

Top 5 things written by Alan Moore

Continuing the comics theme. Alan Moore is a genius and I was lucky enough to be reading comics at a time when he was at his peak. He changed the face of comic book writing and spearheaded the British invasion of Marvel and DC. In the words of Pop Will Eat Itself - "Alan Moore knows the score".

1. Captain Britain (Marvel UK) Art: Alan Davis
In the early 80's Marvel UK, an imprint that had previously existed to reproduce Marvel US stories for the British weekly market, began producing original material. Alan Moore took over writing duties from Dave Thorpe and turned Captain Britain into the first truly great UK based title. Initially published in "Marvel Superheroes" Moore's stories were so popular Marvel created the new "Daredevils" title (which also featured the excellent noir-esque "Night Raven" text stories) to showcase his talents. Illustrated by Alan Davis, Captain Britain was an easy introduction to the world of Moore. On the face of it a standard comic-book superhero story but with the sort of sub-plots and hidden meaning that went deeper and darker than anything I read before.

2. V for Vendetta (Quality Comics) Art: David Lloyd
Dez Skinn was the man responsible for transforming Marvel UK and when he fell out with the Marvel hierarchy he began his own Quality Comics imprint. Warrior was the flagship title and in it's 26 issue lifespan it became home for the best and most original UK comic creations. Originally published in black and white with art by Dave Lloyd, V offered a dystopian view of Britain under the rule of a fascist party with echoes of Nazi Germany and Orwell's "1984". Warrior ceased publication before the story had finished and DC eventually republished and completed the story in colour for the US market.

3. Watchmen (DC Comics) Art: Dave Gibbons
Following his successful run on "Swamp Thing" Moore was given the chance to produce his own limited series. "Watchmen" was the moment when comics really broke into the mainstream. A story told from more than one viewpoint with a non-linear plot that redefined what comics could do. An alternative history of the United States where superheroes had existed since the 40's and were now considered part of the establishment.

4. The Ballad of Halo Jones (Fleetway) Art: Ian Gibson
My memories are kind of hazy now but I'm pretty sure my earliest contact with Moore was through 2000AD. "Future Shocks" and "Time Twisters" were one-off stories, a sort of sci-fi "Tales of the Unexpected". These were followed by "D.R. and Quinch" the time travelling miscreants who brought a touch of humour to "the Galaxy's greatest comic". Halo Jones was a more serious story chronicling the female lead's journey from teenage runaway to interstellar soldier. A radically different tale from anything else published in 2000AD, or anywhere else at the time.

5. Marvelman (Quality Comics) Art: Garry Leach/Alan Davis
Another "Warrior" story. Moore took a character, originally created by Mick Anglo in 1954, that had not been seen since the early 60's and transformed him into a contemporary hero. Initially unaware of his superhero past he struggles to overcome chronic migraines and dreams of his previous life. He eventually rediscovers his power and embarks on a search for the truth behind his loss of memory and the people responsible.

Crikey. That reads like a potted history of early 80's comics. Sorry, I'll try to be wittier and more concise next week.

Top 5 Movies based on comics

I'm getting needlessly excited about the release of the Watchmen movie. Most of the superhero films I saw as a kid were major disappointments. The technology wasn't capable of coping with the most basic of powers, the plot lines and acting were rarely good enough to compensate. Hollywood also concentrated most of it's early financial backing on DC characters and I was a Marvel fan. Nowadays, in an echo of the golden age of comics, Marvel characters are claiming the limelight.

1. Sin City (2005) dir: Frank Miller/Robert Rodriguez
A visually stunning movie that perfectly captures the tone and feel of Frank Miller's original comic. Tarantino and Rodriguez know how to film pulp fiction and the addition of creator Frank Miller as a director also paid dividends. I don't think it's possible to create a closer version of the original material as they achieved with Sin City.

2. Iron Man (2008) dir: Jon Favreau
It doesn't get bogged down in having to explain what the comic was all about yet manages to capture all the important elements of the story. Iron Man was never my favourite Marvel title and that might have let me enjoy the film without spotting all the irritating mistakes. Not that I think they made any. Robert Downey Jr is the perfect Tony Stark and the plot manages to explain his transformation into Iron Man without slowing the pace of the film. Favreau is already lined up to direct a sequel but what I'm really excited about is The Avengers movie which is expected to follow it.

3. Spider-man (2002) dir: Sam Raimi
I think this was the film that showed Hollywood it was possible to create a "comic book" movie that was a good film and not just a cash in. My memory had this out before X-men but it seems I'm wrong about that. Raimi gets everything right including the casting of Tobey Maguire as the awkward and fallible Peter Parker. Spider-man 2 maintains the quality and possibly benefits from not having to deal with the origin story but for me the original edges it.

4. X-men (2000) dir: Bryan Singer
It's not perfect but Singer gets more things right than he gets wrong. Possibly higher placed than it would be if I didn't love the original X-Men comics so much. Wolverine is a fantastic character but he's dominated the sequels to the detriment of the rest of the cast. This film gets the balance just about right and benefits from focusing on a smaller group of superheroes.

5. Batman Returns (1992) dir: Tim Burton
My favourite Batman film. Burton gave the studio what they wanted with "Batman" (1989) then got to make the film he wanted with this film. Keaton isn't perfect as Bruce Wayne but Danny DeVito's Penguin more than made up for that. I considered "The Dark Knight" in this spot but (and this might be a symptom of getting old) felt it a lacked some subtlety in it's story telling. Too many guns and explosions which didn't really evoke the feel of the original Frank Miller story.

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