Last year JC tried to spark interest in folks posting their desert island comics, it was met with a very tepid response (I think myself, JC, and Korupt were the only ones who took part) at the time. There's a decent amount of new people who have started posting since, would there be any interest in revisiting the idea? The rules are pretty simple, you list single issues that you would want to have on a desert island with you and then why you picked those comics.
To kick things off, here's an updated version of my list:
Animal Man #5​ Coyote Gospel Morrison/Troug
Morrison peels back the layers and reveals there may be more going on here than what the
reader initially thought. The tone and themes of this issue still inform Morrisons writing to
this day.
Final Crisis #5​ Into Oblivion Morrison/Jones and Pacheco
I. Am. The. New. God. All is one in Darkseid. This mighty body is my church. When I command your
surrender, I speak with three billion voices. When I make a fist to crush your resistance. It is with
three billion hands. When I stare into your eyes and shatter your dreams. And break your heart. It is
with six billion eyes. Nothing like Darkseid has ever come among you; nothing will again. I will take
you to a hell without exit or end. And there I will murder your souls! And make you crawl and beg!
And die! Die! DIE FOR DARKSEID!
Enough said.
Mr Miracle #18 ​Wild WIld Wedding Guests! Kirby
Darkseid and company spoil the wedding of Scott Free and Barda!
Green Lantern #20 ​The End Johns/Mahnke
Its not the best issue of Johns run on GL, but its one of my favorites. Set sometime in the
future, you have Sinestro as the keeper of the Book of Oa regaling a new recruit with the tales
of Hal Jordan and company. A nice bookend for one of my favorite extended superhero runs.
Swamp Thing #53 ​The Garden of Earthly Delights Moore/Totleben
Abby Arcane has been imprisoned in Gotham for sex crimes (Gotham isnt too high on
human on Swampy sex, who woulda guessed) and Swamp Thing is running wild. He
overruns Gotham with plants and vines in an effort to free Abby. Have no fear though,
Batman is here! When negotiations dont go his way he decides to straight up murder Swamp
Thing with a flamethrower and gets his ass handed to him. Swamp Thing ​and​ Batman getting
taken down a notch, two of my favorite things in one outstanding issue!
Flash #123 "The Flash of Two Worlds" Fox/Infantino
One of the most important comics DC has ever published, this issue singlehandedly created the DC multiverse. Surely an event of such significance was the result of some Earth shattering crisis that only the combined might of Barry Allen and Jay Garrick could halt! Nah, while doing rope tricks for orphans Barry fucks up with his super speed (this is way before there was something called the Speed Force) and teleports himself to Keystone City on what later would become Earth-2. Barry and Jay take on some villains and then Barry teleports himself back home. The birth of the multiverse everyone!
Flash Fact - To my knowledge this is the first in story mention of the writer of the comic!
X-Factor #87 ​X-Aminations David/Quesada
Coming out of the events of the X-Cutioners Song crossover, this was a catch your breath
issue where Doc Samson psychoanalyzes the team to assess their mental health. This issue
probably has my favorite description for what life would be like as a speedster having to slow
to the pace of the rest of the world. Oh and Val Cooper was totally clueless and got abducted
by a monster at the end.
New Gods #1 ​Orion Fights for Earth! Kirby
There came a time when the Old Gods died!​ ​The brave died with the cunning! The noble perished,
locked in battle with the unleashed evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in
fiery holocaust! The final moment came with the fatal release of the indescribable power which
tore the home of the Old Gods asunder split it in great halves and filled the universe with the
blinding death-flash of its destruction! In the end there were two giant molten bodies, spinning
slow and barren clean of all that had gone before adrift in the fading sounds of cosmic
thunder... Silence closed upon what had happened along, deep silence wrapped in massive
darkness... it was this way for an age...​ THENTHERE WAS NEW LIGHT!
The Fourth World Saga technically kicked off in Supermans Pal Jimmy Olsen, but this was
the issue that introduced New Genesis, Apokalips, Orion, the Highfather, Metron, the Source,
and many other staples of the Fourth World.
Batman #666 ​Batman in Bethelem Morrison/Kubert
The only futures end story of Batman that matters to me. Bruce is dead, Damian has sold his
soul to the devil/Dr Hurt and patrols Gotham as Batman. This is one of my all time favorite
issues of Batman ever, and it narrowly beat out Batman #113 (which has the Batman - The
Superman of Planet X! story) to be included here. This is the one issue from Morrisons run
that Ive read more than any other, even when Gotham is literally at its worst there is still
hope.
Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #3 ​In Blackest Night Moore/Willingham
What happens when a being from a sector completely devoid of light is chosen to be a Green
Lantern? A fun little story that gives the origin of Rot Lop Fan, the F-Sharp Bell. Completely
blind in a sector with no light, Katma Tui has to get creative when it came time to train Fan
and induct him into the Corps. Moore has a handful of really good GL stories (including
Tygers! which influenced Johns entire run) but this one is my favorite.
Uncanny X-Men #134 ​Too Late, the Heroes! Claremont/Byrne
My favorite issue from the definitive X-Men creative team. This issue has it all: the Hellfire
Club, Jean Grey melting Masterminds brain, the first appearance of the Dark Phoenix!
Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76 ​No Evil Shall Escape My Sight! ONeil/Adams
The beginning of Hal, Ollie, and Appa Ali Apsas (aka the Old Timer) roadtrip across America