Marvel THEN!, an invention of ours that runs the span of Hickman’s Fantastic Four/FF, Brubaker’s Captain America work, Gillen’s Thor/Journey into Mystery, and Fractions’s Invincible Iron Man, is really a collection of some of the best work on those individual characters ever. You’ve seen our reviews throughout the years touting the living hell out of all of them, but now that it’s over (and Matt’s doing his recap of each of them this week), we want to put together a countdown sharing at least my thoughts on the best and brightest of those runs.
So, I now present in reverse order my ten favorite arcs of Marvel THEN! Just to emphasize again though: these are strictly my thoughts on what the ten best arcs were.
Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Rich Elson and Mitch Breitweiser
I sort of cheated by including #632 – the incredible issue that brings Thori, the demon dog, into the picture – but hey, Marvel included it in The Terrorism Myth collection so I will as well.
The Terrorism Myth was a fantastic arc in Gillen’s run that highlighted a lot of the touchstones that we’ve come to love in his work on the book: the humorous ways Loki has assimilated himself into modern culture (such as using his “Pad of I”); the strange collections of forgotten or newly created characters (the Fear Lords); and the way he can take a character like Damion Hellstrom and bring him to life in a way that is far superior than most of what we’ve seen with him before.
The Terrorism Myth also did a phenomenal job of taking previous story beats – namely, much of what happened in the Fear Itself arc – and naturally building on them to develop Loki, Leah and the rest. That was one of the most incredible aspects of Gillen’s run. The way he would organically build and build on his own stories to create an even larger tapestry was incredible, and something that paid off recently in the conclusion.
9. Invincible Iron Man: Stark Disassembled (issue #20 through #24)
Written by Matt Fraction
Illustrated by Salvador Larocca
Leading directly out of the #5 arc on this list, this was an incredible feat in the fact it was an Iron Man arc that was hugely successful even though…it didn’t feature Iron Man really at all. It was all about Tony’s allies preventing Norman Osborn from getting his mitts on Tony’s secrets while simultaneously rebooting Tony’s brain. Throw in Thor eventually coming to Tony’s rescue and Ghost making a villainous appearance, and you have yourself one hell of a comic book arc.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how great Larocca’s art is in this arc. Whether he’s telling the story of the reality where Tony is constantly in danger or what is going on in Tony’s head as he’s trying to breakthrough back to the land of the living, Larocca crushes each and every moment. He’s a perfect partner for Fraction throughout, and this is just another great example.
8. Captain America: The Death of Captain America (issues #25 through #42)
Written by Ed Brubaker
Illustrated by Steve Epting
Here’s the deep dark secret of Ed Brubaker’s Captain America run in my mind: it isn’t about Steve Rogers. It’s about Bucky Barnes. He always felt like the lead Brubaker wanted, and this is where he finally gets his chance, as Bucky takes on the role as the new Captain America and then is slowly but surely rolled out to the public after Steve’s (temporary) death. As a lead, Bucky shines given his position as a more tarnished version of the icon that is Captain America. It helps that you have Brubaker writing and Steve Epting – a frequent part of books on this list – on art. Epting’s art grounds this story very well in reality, and his work on Captain America throughout was the stuff of legend. A pitch perfect blend of writer and artist.
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7. Journey into Mystery: Fear Itself (issues #622 through #630)
Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Doug Braithwaite, Rich Elson and Whilce Portacio
For me, and I know this is controversial, Fear Itself was the best Journey into Mystery arc. Crazy talk probably, but man, this was where Gillen first rolled out exactly what this was going to all be about. The way Loki pieced together his plan to help take out The Serpent was brilliant, and it unfurled slowly but never in a way that seemed to make the story drag. Ever present was Gillen’s highly entertaining and exceptional character work, and it really was a coming out party for Kid Loki as a character. Sure, he was still a trickster, but this was a trickster looking to use his powers for good for once. The way it all pieces together in the end was superb, and it provides the foundation for everything that follows in Gillen’s run.
6. FF: The Dragotta Issues (issues #15 through #18, #20 through #21, and #23)
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Illustrated by Nick Dragotta
While the bulk of the big moments in Hickman’s run take place in Fantastic Four, for me, the heart of the story is right here in the pages of FF. Now, this is undoubtedly cheating, but to me Hickman’s work on FF was at its best when it was paired with the Silver Age whiz bang wonder of Nick Dragotta’s art. Especially when you read the final issue – last week’s #23, titled “Run” – you realize just how what you’ve read from these two is the type of story you’ve always wanted from the Fantastic Four. Something that is all about adventure and a sense of wonder and family and heart. They aren’t just explorers – they’re a family. In Hickman’s issues with Dragotta, they capture that perhaps better than any combination of creators ever have. I’m not sure if I could give higher praise than that, really.
5. Invincible Iron Man: World’s Most Wanted (issues #8 through #19)
Written by Matt Fraction
Illustrated by Salvador Larocca
Fun fact about this arc: I originally sassed it because of how long it went. One concentrated arc that took place over a year? Good god Matt Fraction, what are you trying to do to me?
Ultimately I realized he was trying to force a story that was as future oriented as Tony Stark was/is, and over these twelve issues Fraction rolls out a story that is as inventive as it is engaging, and that’s saying something. It was action packed yet fiercely intelligent, and it was incredibly well visualized by Fraction’s Invincible Iron Man collaborator Larocca. A brilliant arc that, in my book, was the best part of Fraction’s Iron Man work.
4. Fantastic Four: Solve Everything (#570 through #572)
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Illustrated by Dale Eaglesham
Besides Dark Reign: Fantastic Four, this was Hickman’s first action with Marvel’s First Family. And what a debut that it was, playing off of events of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s maligned run and ones out of Dark Reign: Fantastic Four to create an amazing multiverse of Reed’s (and Anti-Reed’s) that managed to create all kinds of tributaries that affected the rest of his run. It wasn’t just an important arc, it was Hickman effectively announcing just how great his run could – and would – be. Plus, Dale Eaglesham was rolling out what I called his evolutionary Kirby routine.
3. Fantastic Four: Three (issues #583 through #588)
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Illustrated by Steve Epting
I’m going to be totally honest. I found the Human Torch’s “death” to be heart wrenching. We knew it was coming. We all did. Not only that but we also knew he’d eventually come back. That’s the thing though: in comics, it isn’t about what happens or what will happen, but how it happens. Hickman and Epting – especially in that final image of Ben with the kids at the dimensional gate – completely break our hearts. The way it builds to that point, with every piece of Hickman’s run leading to that specific moment, is a sight to behold. At that point, I didn’t think it could get any better.
Continued belowBut then we get to number two.
2. Fantastic Four: Forever (issues #600 through #604)
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Illustrated by Steve Epting, Carmine di Giandomenico, Leinil Francis Yu and Farel Dalrymple
Kicking off with the out-of-this-world-amazing #600, featuring four different stories from four different artists in Epting, di Giandomenico, Yu and Dalrymple, Forever was everything that Hickman had been building to in his run. In fact, arguably the biggest problem with it you can say is that after that his run sort of petered out because it had to compare itself to this.
But Forever was magical, and filled with moments both huge (“To me, my Galactus,” the return of Human Torch, the Celestials attacking) and small. In fact, it might be the latter aspect, especially in Hickman and Dalrymple’s story from issue #600, that showed the true power of Hickman’s run. As Hickman said in his letter in the final issues of FF and Fantastic Four, this has always been a book about family and love when you get down to it. The heart and wonder of Hickman’s run was embodied by Franklin Richards, and Hickman proved himself capable of telling a story that captures every bit of that with the help of the superb art of Dalrymple. It was wonderful long-form comic storytelling at its finest, and the pinnacle of one of the greatest runs on the characters ever.
1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (issues #1 through #14)
Written by Ed Brubaker
Illustrated by Steve Epting
To me, this isn’t just the best thing of Marvel THEN!, but maybe one of the best superhero comic of the past couple decades. The way Brubaker brought Bucky Barnes back to the land of living was controversial, but it was undeniably effective, and it energized Steve Rogers and his cast of characters in a way that we had not seen in…well, honestly I’d never seen it. This was Big Two comics infused with all of grittiness we’d come to expect from Brubaker’s creator-owned work, but still grounded in this wholly different world. It was powerful, unexpected storytelling, and with Steve Epting (who, I want to note, made four total appearances on this list – more than anyone save Hickman) in tow as the primary artist, this was nothing short of extraordinary comic booking.
