By Joshua H. Stulman

Whether you are a casual reader or hardcore collector, people always ask me, “What’s your best comic?” That’s kinda a loaded question, because everyone is going to have a different answer based on personal taste.

With this in mind, I created a new tag for our comic section called “Key Comics”. This tag highlights comics that are considered by majority of collector’s to be universally important. Most serious collectors will have these books in their collections or on their “Must Have” lists.

Comics in this section are renown for many reasons. Key Comics can be first appearances, deaths, or important events in a character’s story. Other times these books are distinguished for their artwork, story, or significance in publication history. Although many times, Key Comics are highly valued by collectors, this isn’t always the case and some important issues are still very affordable to beginners and readers alike.

Here are 5 Key 90’s Comics that are “Must Haves” for any collector:

X-MEN (vol. 2) # 1 by Jim Lee & Chris Claremont

Jim Lee’s artwork on X-Men redefined the comic book industry during the 1990’s and continues to have a major influence on comic artists today.

X-Men debuted with a seven issue variant cover to #01. This lead to record breaking sales of over 6 million copies sold for the first issue alone. The success of X-Men lead to the variant cover marketing campaign that is still part of the industry to this day. Jim Lee stayed with the title for only 11 issues before leaving Marvel to co-found Image Comics along with other successful Marvel artists. His X-Men costume designs were used for the new X-Men the Animated Cartoon Series and were kept for most of the 1990’s.

SPIDER-MAN # 1 By Todd McFarlane

Spider-Man # 1 debuted to record breaking sales that propelled artist Todd McFarlane into super-stardom. He had already proved a fan-favorite for his work on Incredible Hulk, where he redesigned the character and pitted him in a re-match with Wolverine. Towards the end of his Hulk run, he also began work on Amazing Spider-Man where he co-created Venom.

Spider-Man # 1 was the first ongoing Spider-Man series to debut in the 90’s right in the middle of the comic speculating craze. The book was issued in three color variants and two bagged “Collector’s Editions.” A fourth Platinum variant was issued as a thank you to comic store owners for making the book such a success.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 361 By Mark Bagley & David Michelinie

If you thought Venom was tough, 1992 introduced Carnage, Venom’s symbiote son. The character’s debut by Mark Bagley and David Michelinie propelled reader interest in Venom to new heights. The first two Carnage appearances required a rare second printing to keep up with buyer demand and only a year later lead to the massively successful “Maximum Carnage” storyline. The 14 part story spawned video games, action figures, as well as appearances in the Spider-Man Animated Series.

Today, Carnage is one of the best known Spider-Man villains and is the feature antagonist in the Venom sequel film “Let There Be Carnage” starring Woody Harrelson in the role.

BAT-MAN # 497 By Doug Moench & Jim Aparo

Batman # 497 is the 11th part of the 19 part Knightfall storyline, which saw Batman crippled by the villain Bane and replaced by the anti-hero, Azrael. This issue is the climax of the story where a tired run, down Bruce Wayne fights Bane in the Batcave and has his spine shattered beyond repair. The Knightfall story was a major reference point for the third Batman film, Dark Knight Rises (2012). This storyline also saw the end of Jim Aparo’s long run as veteran Batman artist.

The crippling of Bat-Man was part of a major revitalization campaign by DC comics in the 90’s which saw all of their major superheroes replaced over the course of two years. Among these storylines included the Death of Superman, Emerald Twilight (Hal Jordan becomes a Parallax), Wonder Woman replaced by Artemis, the Death of Green Arrow, and Aquaman loosing his hand.

SUPERMAN# 75 By Dan Jurgens

The Death of Superman was perhaps the most shocking and unthinkable story most comic readers could imagine.

Superman # 75 is the final part of the Death of Superman storyline, which sees the iconic DC super hero fall in battle to the villain Doomsday. This comic event mirrored the real time death of Superman co-creator artist, Joe Shuster (July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992). The story was adapted as a cartoon film by DC as well as referenced in the movie Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

This comic was released in two major editions, the Collector’s edition and Newsstand edition. While both editions featured the same interior artwork, they had two very different covers. The Collector’s edition features a black bag with a bloody Superman emblem. If one were to remove the comic from the black bag, the cover of the Collector’s edition features a tombstone like motif. The Collector’s edition included several items which necessitated the need for the bag. The contents included a poster, mourning armband, stamps, trading card, and Daily Planet editorial.

Superman # 75 also has a darker side in the collecting community as ushering in the end of ’90’s collector speculating boom. At the time, amateur collectors bought multiple copies in the hopes that they would be worth thousands later on. However, when they turned to sell them, they quickly found that most collector’s already had them, and so people were not willing to pay the inflated price. This lead to a downturn in the collecting market that did not recover until the onset of the X-Men movie franchise and oncoming Marvel Cinematic Universe.

TO CHECK OUT OUR SELECTION OF “KEY COMICS” CLICK HERE

Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, Brooklyn Comic Shop