Best 20 Marvel Comics Arcs Of The Silver Age
In its most basic definition, Silver Age of Comics refer to the era where the first superhero explosion occured, starting with the newly introduced version of the Flash in October 1956. This era is basically what started the modern Marvel and DC comics styles that people still love to this day. The main Marvel timeline (Earth-616) still takes place on the same universe that was launched in 1961 by the first issue of Fantastic Four, although it assumes most of the stories of the Golden Age of comics have also happened, which notably include the adventures of Captain America and Bucky, and the Sub-Mariner.
While there are different views regarding when the Silver Age has ended, this list will assume the view that it has ended with Amazing Spider-Man # 123 with the death of Gwen Stacy, when the stories shifted from bright optimistic stories to the darker, more gritty atmosphere of the Bronze Age. This actually does not correctly pinpoint where this shift has occured in my opinion as even in Marvel Comics things have been getting darker, and deaths were starting to occur a few years before ASM # 123, but since it is a very famous event which shocked the readers, it is normal for it to be considered as the symbol of the end of the Silver Age of comics. Plus that view means we have more stories to choose from!
Marvel Comics has some surprisingly good arcs in the Silver Age that still is a joy to read, and some of them would be regarded as awesome if they came out today. Here are the best 20 arcs Marvel has released in the Silver Age of Comics, in our opinion. Note that some of these arcs do not have a well known name, so they have been named arbitrarily by us. We have tried to keep the list as varied as possible, but in the Silver Age there weren't many different series so prepare to see a title several times. Although even if we didn't try to keep it varied, we doubt the list would have changed much.
20 - Zodiac's Threat (Avengers # 80 - 82, Daredevil # 69)
Starting at #20, we have a very entertaining story that covers four issues. It begins in Avengers # 80 (September 1970), with Vision stopping the Red Wolf who debuts in this issue from commiting a murder. Avengers learn he was actually trying to save his reservation from a crooked businessman named Cornelius Van Lunt, and want to help him, but SHIELD has also been reporting that the criminal gang Zodiac is preparing for something big. This casues some well written arguments between the Avengers regarding if they should help this man which is lower stakes compared to the Zodiac threat, and they end up dividing their forces. This arc is also pretty much the starting point of the famous romance between Scarlet Witch, and Vision so it is actually kind of an historic one.
Meanwhile Black Panther helps neither of the cases, but chooses to help a troubled kid in the class he has been teaching as a part-time job, because he wants to help his people. This kid joins a street gang called the Thunderbolts who are later learned to be funded by the Zodiac. Daredevil also receives a tip about this gang's activities, so the two join forces in one of the best pre-Frank Miller Daredevil issues.
When the Avengers that helped the Red Wolf return to Manhattan, they find the city invaded by the Zodiac army, and rendered inaccessible by a force field, and their teammates imprisoned. As Fantastic Four is out of town, and Peter Parker can't leave his aunt's side, it is up to Daredevil and the Black Panther to free the Avengers, so they can together finally beat the Zodiac, who turns out to be the group thato wanted to drive the Indians off their lands.
This arc was drawn by talented artists like John Buscema, and Tom Palmer, and written by Roy Thomas, who deserves a special mention as one of the first writers that seriously started connecting the Marvel heroes together in cross-over issues. Some parts do not make sense, but overall it is a very entertaining short arc that is also written well, and deserves its place in the #20 spot.
19 - The Troll - Asgard War (Thor # 136 - 139)
Next up in the list we have the Troll-Asgardian War from the Mighty Thor magazine. It is actually a very important arc in Thor's saga, and begins with a sort of a cruel development. Odin doesn't like Thor's relationship with the mortal Jane Foster (as did many fans, myself included), but finally seemingly relents, and says he will make her immortal if she proves she deserves godhood.
Thor takes her to Asgard, where Odin gives the already overwhelmed woman superpowers, and tosses her inside a dark room where she has to face an unknown creature literally called The Unknown (which even the Asgardians fear), alone and without help. Jane breaks, nearly goes crazy, and says she is done with all this craziness of gods and superpowers. Thor still objects, but Odin doesn't change his decision. He at least gives her a happy ending of sorts by erasing her memories, and arranges so that she will work with a doctor who resembles Donald Blake, Thor's alter-ego that Jane loves, and we don't see Jane Foster for the rest of the Silver Age. This ending surprisingly hits hard even if, you like many dislike the character of Jane in the early Thor comics.
After Jane is written out of the comics, it is in this arc where the Thor-Sif romance actually begins (honestly, it is funny how fast Thor forgets about Jane). Contrary to the typical Silver Age women Sif is actually a badass warrior, which is a breath of fresh air in these older comics (Unfortunately Gerry Conway is going to regress her into a damsel in distress mode later on for several years). Then the brooding Troll-Asgard war starts, and the rest of the arc consists of action upon action where two sides mightily clash, the developments including a sinister ploy by the Troll who manage to take Mjolnir away from Thor. It is also in this war that Thor battles his mighty Troll nemesis Ulik for the first time.
The Troll-Asgard War is overall an important arc, and a quite entartaining one at that, and it features plenty of action that is brought to life by the almighty Jack Kirby, and Vince Colletta. Stan Lee's writing is pretty good here as well.
18 - Quest Of The Trident (Tales to Astonish featuring Namor # 70 - 76)
Namor the Sub-Mariner got his own stories in the Tales to Astonish magazine in the second half of 1965, and immediately had his best issues in the title's whole run. Written by Stan Lee, and drawn by the legendary artist Gene Colan under the pseudonym Adam Austin (one of his first works in Silver Age Marvel Comics, possibly the first), it is a surprisingly well-written, grounded arc. Namor was not a very interesting character early on, but this story shows what the character can be, if he is done right.
It is a classic tale of an exiled king embarking upon a quest to take back his rightful place on the throne of his realm. Not a very unique story on its own, but it fits the Atlantean prince very well, and also serves as a great introduction tale for the character early on. Atlanteans are split about who should lead them, with one side supporting the Regal Prince Namor, the other Warlord Krang, who favors more aggressive policies against the surface world that is poisoning their waters, while Namor wants to have a more peaceful apporach whenever possible. Krang seizes the throne while Namor is absent, and noble Lady Dorma betrays Namor out of jealousy because he isn't returning her love, although she quickly changes her mind, and frees Namor so he can take off for his quest to prove he is the rightful leader for the Atlanteans.
According to Atlantean legends, before beginning his sleep of ages Neptune hid his Jeweled Trident somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, and foretold that one day a pretender would sit on the throne of Atlantis, and only the rightful king would be able to face the dangers in locating the sacred symbol, bring it back to Atlantis, and prove he is the true king to his subjects. So Namor embarks upon his quest, and begins following the vague clues that he hopes will lead him to the artifact.
This is also the story that fleshed out Atlantis for the first time, establishing its status and politics in the Marvel Comics universe.
17 - The Tablet (Amazing Spider-Man # 68 - 77)
This is one of the longer arcs of the Silver Age, which inspired some episodes of the classic 90's cartoon series Spider-Man The Animated Series. There is an undeciphered ancient tablet that is rumored to hold a great secret, and several shady players want it. Spidey gets involved after he fails to stop the Kingpin from stealing the tablet which was exhibited in E.S.U., where Peter Parker studied, then as usual becomes the Public Enemy Number 1 after Kingpin smartly lies to the police that him and Spider-Man were allies, right when Spidey retrieves the tablet, and he ends up being stuck with it.
The whole arc holds a ton of events that it would be too long to mention them all. A lot of recurrent Spider-Man characters end up getting sucked in this drama, including Joe Robertson and his son Randy (the topic of racism is tackled here way better than in some of the modern comics I must confess, just take a look at the dialogue between Joe and Randy), Shocker, the Stacys, Jonah Jameson, a debutting Man-Mountain Marko who works for Silvermane who also has a first appearance, even briefly featuring Quicksilver who wants to prove himself to the Avengers, and finally Dr. Curt Connors aka the Lizard.
It is a very rich, well-written, and grounded story, full of dramatic events, not to mention dynamic action sequences created by the classic talented artist John Romita Sr, and Jim Mooney. It ends with a banger of an issue too, and deserves its spot among the best arcs of the Silver Age.
16 - Death Of Tony Stark (Iron Man # 17 - 19)
One of the rare good stories coming from old Iron Man comics, this story is just extremely solid. Actually Iron Man had an excellent brief run in this same time period, and the person responsible for this awesomeness was none other than the underrated Archie Goodwin, who wrote some amazing stories, but unfortunately he didn't write much.
Iron Man is hit on a return voyage from Africa by some fighter jets owned by a debuting villain named the Midas. Tony Stark's shady loser cousin Morgan Stark sold Midas intel about points of weakness in Iron Man's armor. At the same time Madame Masque, whose first appereance is also in this very arc (not her real identity though which debutted in Tales of Suspense), is going to sabotage Stark's plant. Midas wants to kill both Stark and Iron Man, and pave the way for his lawyers to somehow gain ownership of Stark's company. While Iron Man survives, the sabotage causes Stark's LMD (Life-Model Decoy) he once used to trick Mandarin, to wake up with his own mind.
Stark barely makes it back to his plant, and finds it taken over by his LMD. This LMD cleverly told the guards that an impostor Tony Stark is going to try to trick them, replaced his fingerprints in the databases, and practically stole his life. Things get even more complex when Madame Masque kidnaps the real Tony Stark thinking he is the impostor Stark, planning to use him to replace the LMD Stark who she thinks is the real one, and brings him to Midas's headquarters in Greece, giving him a perfect opportunity to take back his identity while at the same time eliminating a rival. This is very clever writing, almost reminiscent of classic and hilarious Guy Ritchie movies. We only wish Archie Goodwin has written more stories for Marvel Comics.
15 - Among Us Stalk...The Sentinels! (X-Men # 14 - 16)
This is the arc which unleashed the Sentinels, who will be a thorn in the beloved mutants' (and even the whole Marvel Universe) sides for ages to come. Written by Stan Lee, it has also practically sown the seeds of the dystopian anti-mutant theme into X-Men stories, which is the one of the staple points of what X-Men is about. Prior to this arc, homo sapiens fearing and/or hating homo superiors were barely mentioned, so it actually took fourteen issues for Stan Lee to come up with the theme of persecution, or at least to solidify it.
Bolivar Trask, an anthropologist becomes the first intellectual that theorizes the mutant danger is dormant, and they may end up opposing the human race, and eventually replace them. This fear-based theory spreads like wildfire, and pushes Professor Xavier (who isn't publicly known to be a mutant yet) to challange Trask in a public debate, hoping to stop this problematic narrative. That is where the mutants and the world meet the Sentinels, when Trask shows them to the world for the first time ever. But he is not a robotics expert (in fact it is not explained how the heck he was able to build such advanced robots), so within their programming Sentinels come up with the idea that humans are weak, and to protect them against mutants they have to rule over mankind.
While this arc is not as impressive as the awesome future runs featuring these terrorizing giant robots, the story is still pretty good, and it has to have its special place in the hall of fame, if only for the fact that it changed the X-Men stories forever, for the better.
14 - Death Of Lady Dorma (Sub-Mariner # 36 - 38)
Even in Marvel Comics alone, Spider-Man wasn't the first superhero to lose his girlfriend as many people think. It was Iron Man who suffered this kind of loss when his girlfriend Janice Cord died at Iron Man # 22 (February 1970), at least if you discount the origin story of Henry Pym losing his wife. But there is one more tragic character who loses his fiancee. In a brutal story, Namor's nemesis Llyra actually killed the Atlantean prince's long-time love interest Lady Dorma right in their wedding day, by making her drown in surface air. The story isn't just good due to its shock value though. It has unexpected twists, and developments, not to mention some great art by Ross Andru, and Sal Buscema.
Everyone is happy, and cheery as the wedding day approaches, most of all Lady Dorma. But trouble is brewing as Namor's nemesis Llyra is resuscitated by her mother, and Attuma attacks Atlantis with his troops and Octo-Meks, which are War of the Worlds-like undersea machines. Namor ends up defeating them, and rushes to his wedding to eagerly say his sacred unbreakable vows, and weds Dorma. But it turns out Llyra had her Lemurians kidnap Lady Dorma, shapeshifted into her, and tricked Namor to wed her, with the hopes of becoming the queen of Atlantis via unbreakable bonds, which is a very cool twist. But to her shock, the bride's name was recorded as Lady Dorma, so this clever ruse doesn't work. Llyra manages to escape, but Attuma raids Atlantis again with an earth-borer with the help of Namor's long-time scientist Ikhton who turns out to be a traitor. Namor has to make a choice which comes first, his love for Dorma, or his responsibility for Atlantis, and angrily chooses the latter, dooming his bride.
After saving his realm, Namor then finds out where Llyra holds Dorma, and rushes to her as fast as he can. Reader naturally expects Namor to save her as that is what almost always happens in comics, especially back then. But the jealous Llyra breaks Dorma's life-giving capsule, and mentally sics underwater leeches on Namor. Before perishing Dorma manages to crawl, and punch Llyra, breaking her concentration, and freeing Namor. The Atlantean prince arrives too late only to hear Dorma's last words. It's a very shocking, and unexpectedly brutal story especially due to how Dorma dies.
After a period of mourning, and Dorma's burial, Namor blames himself for his decisions, and shocks the Atlanteans by abdicating his throne. It actually takes a lot of years for the status quo to go back to normal after this arc, so it is a very important story in Namor's saga.
13 - The End Of Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man # 17 - 19)
This is a very entertaining three parter to read right from the early high school days of Spider-Man, when he was an amateur, though not an unsuccesful superhero. Besides the whole arc has classic Spider-Man humor which is always a bonus. Seriously though, few people write Spider-Man's jokes (and his bad luck) as good as Stan Lee.
Flash Thompson launches a Spider-Man fan club, and invites the superhero in a newspaper ad, sure that he will come. But Green Goblin, and Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four also read the same paper, and decide to attend the opening in case he actually shows up. The touched Spider-Man does indeed show up, but is attacked by the Green Goblin. Everyone thinks it is a gag, except Human Torch who flames on to help his semi-friend (at the old days they horseplayed even more than normal).
But hilariously Spidey overhears Liz Allen saying "Peter Parker never appears at the same time with Spider-Man", so he has to abandon the Human Torch to reappear as his alter-ego. What is worse is Peter told his then girlfriend Betty Brant he wasn't going to the opening (because he had to show up as Spider-Man), and now she sees him excitedly saying hi to Liz, and gets the wrong idea, which is classic Spider-Man hilarity. Spidey does return to the fight, but this time he hears Aunt May had a heart attack, and runs away from the fight right in front of his fan club he wants to impress, making everyone except Flash think he is a coward.
For a long time Spidey is mocked by the city, disappointing the Human Torch and other superheroes, and giving them a bad reputation. What is worse, the city watches him escape the Sandman next because he has to take care of his aunt, who would get another shock if something happened to him. After weeks of ridicule, and tauntings, Aunt May finally recovers, and a relieved but angry Spider-Man returns to the superhero scene, and shows everyone who's the boss.
This is what the character of Spider-Man is about. He has human problems, bad luck, misunderstandings, botches things up even when he does the right thing, bears humiliations, but he never gives up, and always comes back on top in the end. Go read this awesome creation of the classic Lee-Ditko team-up.
12 - The Power Of The Overmind (Fantastic Four # 113 - 116)
Our first arc in the list belonging to Marvel's first family, we have a rather unknown, but awesome Fantastic Four story from 1971 (We blame Overmind's design). This story doesn't start that impressively, but the resolution is so incredible it pays off immensely. Watcher Uatu yet again violates his oath, and warns Fantastic Four of some being named Over-Mind. Agatha Harkness, babysitter of Franklin Richards at that time also senses danger coming, and begs the FF to flee.
However Fantastic Four was in trouble with the authority, and they haven't the time to investigate what this Over-Mind can be, or prepare defenses because they get arrested. We then see the Over-Mind for the first time, and learn of his extreme powers, including overpowering mental abilities . Due to warnings he received, Reed gives his team the order to escape arrest. It is at that time Over-Mind attacks them to test their powers, and easily beats them all. Satisfied, he erases their memories of the encounter, concluding they weren't a threat to him. We learn Over-Mind is following orders of some beings called the Eternals, though they aren't the same Eternals that we know today.
Reed asks Agatha to contact the Watcher, and Uatu finally spills the beans about the Over-Mind. These Eternals were an extremely advanced militaristic race, dominating planet after planet. There were another race living in a huge planet named Gigantus, with equal scientific knowledge, but they were peaceful. They ended up being the first civilization that was able to beat the Eternals, after a terrible war that made their planet explode. Eternals ended up combining all of their brain powers inside their strongest champion, Grom (this is all admittedly a copy of Mangog's origin). Over-Mind was recently activated, and he is gaining more power by the second. Soon he is going to be unstoppable, neither by Earth nor any other civilization.
In the climax of the story, Fantastic Four ends up being utterly overpowered by the Over-Mind. Reed also falls under mental control, and Sue has to abandon her teammates in their desperate fight to look for help asap. As the whole city goes insane by the increasing influence of Over-Mind, Sue tries to contact other superheroes including the Avengers, but can find neither of them. Agatha contacts her to let go of her prejudice, and ask Dr. Doom for help. Doom was already watching the fight gleefully in his monitors, seeing his enemies eliminated. Sue smartly manages to persuade him by talking to his ego. The two then join the three beaten members, and the team accepts to be follow Doom's plan. The final fight is chock full of tension, and the team fights admirably, especially Dr. Doom, but they still end up being defeated.
All hope seems lost until the cosmic being known as the Stranger suddenly arrives at Earth. It is revealed that Stranger himself was also the last ploy of the survivors of Gargantus, and he was the combination of their brainpowers. He defeats the Over-Mind just as his power levels was about to surpass his, and leaves without any word. Doom haughtily says they have just been pawns in a cosmic drama. Indeed, this was actually all Uatu's doing. He wanted Fantastic Four to resist as long as possible, so Over-Mind would have to use his full powers. This would enable the Stranger to detect him before he went on to conquer more worlds and become unstoppable. So Doom and FF lost the battle, but thanks to their efforts the universe was saved in the end.
Overall this arc is full of tension, danger, with unexpected twists, and an incredible climax in its final issue. And Doom leading Fantastic Four is just badass.
11 - The Dismal Dregs Of Defeat (Fantastic Four # 57 - 60)
This is a classic Fantastic Four vs. Dr. Doom story. Silver Surfer is summoned to Castle Latveria by Doctor Doom, and he has no idea who he is, nor is he wise about how the world works. With his typical cunning, Doom tricks Surfer, and manages to steal his powers, and becomes nigh invincible. For days he toys with the Fantastic Four, defeating each of them easily despite their best efforts, and Reed surrenders. Of course this makes the egomaniacal Doom to let them keep their lives, and the super-villain goes on to take over the world, causing catastrophes worldwide, while periodically torturing the prisoner Surfer.
Reed has to work for an ultimate plan in this desperate, bleak climate, and with the help of Stark Industries he ends up tricking Doom to fly towards space. As he theorized, the barrier Galactus left to imprison the Surfer in Earth also triggers for Doctor Doom since he has his ex-herald's power, and Doom is vanquished.
While the story is not extremely good for today's standards, and gives too much pages to Inhumans that are unrelated to the current situation, it still is an awesome arc to read, and was one of the first times Dr. Doom showed why he is going to end up being one of the top villains of Marvel Universe, perhaps the very best. He is confident, menacing, haughty, and megalomaniacal. Besides the art is amazing in this arc, drawn by Jack Kirby, and inked by legendary Joe Sinnott. What is not to admire?
10 - Spider-Man No More (Amazing Spider-Man # 50 - 52)
The classic tale that inspired the Spider-Man 2 movie, Spider-Man No More is at our tenth spot. This awesome story which also has a great cover fully deserves its fame, and it is most likely one of several tales that established who Spider-Man is at his core. Readers learn why he is doing what he does at the same time Spidey remembers it himself.
Peter Parker is having a tough time as usual, and Jonah Jameson really pushes his defamotary speeches and his anti Spider-Man editorials, making him even more hated than usual. At the same time Aunt May gets sick again. Already stressed out, and his confidence diminished, Peter finally breaks, and sees himself as Jameson does, and he finds out he was right about him all along. He forgets why he set up on the superhero business, and thinks he did it all for fame and adventure, and only ended up pushing his loved ones away from him, and hurting them. We see that classic John Romita drawn splash page where he walks in the rain, his costume tossed in the trash.
The story is also great because this is the top Marvel villain Kingpin's debut. Kingpin was just beginning to take over the crime world, and Spider-Man's absence helps him to achieve that. Crime keeps going up, and just like the Spider-Man 2 movie Peter looks away, and he is actually happy for once. However his conscience kicks in when he sees an old man beaten by a few crooks, and he saves him. During their talk he realizes the man looks like Uncle Ben. And that is how he remembers why he began to fight crime, and why it was not thrill seeking, nor a desire for fame. He ends up taking his costume back from Jonah Jameson's office in an awesome final page, and finds himself again. While we of course know by now this is why Spider-Man is a superhero, up until this point his origin story wasn't remembered that much, nor was it stale from constant retellings, so the story worked fabulously.
While this self-exploration tale is only one issue long, the arc goes on because he has to stop the Kingpin, and the ensuing two issues are classic Spider-Man adventures, with a tragic ending as one of the recurring characters in Spider-Man stories dies while redeeming himself.
9 - Defeated By The Frightful Four (Fantastic Four # 38 - 43)
This arc right here is when the Fantastic Four became really good for the first time. While there were several succesful stories before, none of them held that special omph, and there is always a feeling that something's missing if you read them today. This tale which is also the beginning of one of the best, and most famous Fantastic Four runs, is truly what begins the awesomeness.
Fantastic Four is finally decisively defeated by the recently formed Frightful Four, whose members are The Wizard, Sandman, Trapster, and Medusa, who had a criminal career before Inhumans were introduced. They trap the FF on a small island with a Q-bomb (basically a nuclear missile), wreck their pogo plane, and fly away with Wizard's anti-grav ship. The bomb detonates, and the desperate team can not do anything about it. They only barely manage to survive by the strongest effort of Susan Richards yet, who covers the team with her force field. Sailors find them unconscious, drifting in the ocean, and the team wakes up with their powers gone.
Reed desperately attempts to imitate their powers mechanically, fearing an attack from one of their enemies in their weakest hours. And indeed, of all their old menaces, it is Doctor Doom who raids them. Luckily Reed has called Matt Murdock on a legal matter just prior to that, so Daredevil is there to help them survive the attack. The third issue titled "The Battle Of The Baxter Building!" is just a jam-packed, action full issue. FF and Daredevil give one of their toughest battles against Doctor Doom, and give Reed enough time to recharge one of his old gizmos to reawaken their powers. In the end The Thing manages to resist Doom's attacks long enough to humiliate him by ripping his armor apart, which makes Doom hate Ben Grimm for a long long time.
But the dark days of Fantastic Four aren't over, as Thing unexpectedly betrays them and joins the Frightful Four. The remaining three members go through hell fighting this dangerous team until they manage to cure Ben, and finally defeat the evil team that was a thorn in their sides for weeks. A fantastic, tension-filled arc overall, and you wouldn't go wrong reading it today.
8 - The Green Goblin Reborn (Amazing Spider-Man # 96 - 98)
This story is actually one of the most famous stories in comics history. It had drug abuse as one of their themes, and as a result these three issues weren't approved by the Comic Code Authority back when they were released. It was actually ground-breaking, and one of the game changers regarding the topics superhero comics could have.
The story starts with one of the rarer moments when Peter Parker's life is going right. Although his relationship with Gwen have went south, Pete is confident he can get her back. But unfortunately, things aren't looking well for Norman Osborn. His memory about being the Green Goblin was gone in his last encounter with Spider-Man, and we see Norman is actually an okay man, if a bit greedy, when he doesn't have his psychosis (he even saves Gwen and Captain George Stacy from death heroically!). He is there for his son, and is in general a pleasant man to be around. However he started giving signs that he is beginning to remember, and this naturally puts Peter in an anxious mood, as Norman knows his secret identity. He begins tailing Norman, and just as he fears, finds him entering one of his hideouts, and emerging as the Green Goblin with his memory fully returned.
Meanwhile, Harry Osborn has been having some problems, and taking heavy sleeping pills for the troubled nights. His then girlfriend Mary Jane Watson starts openly hitting on Peter, and this pushes Harry over the edge, and he begins buying drugs from fixers, and here we actually see the start of his own psychosis that is going to plague him for the rest of his life in Marvel Comics, just like his father.
Green Goblin and a desperate Spider-Man slug it out several times in this anxiety-ridden arc, and the Wallcrawler finally manages to pulls Norman's real self out by forcing him to see his sick son, and his concern for him makes him block his Goblin persona again, giving Peter his life back. Until his nemesis comes back in full vengeance two years later.
This art is masterfully written, with heavy topics especially for its time, and has an awesome plot and script, and of course fantastic art by Gil Kane.
7 - Return Of The Sentinels (X-Men # 56 - 59)
This is part of the legendary Neal Adams run right before the X-Men magazine got cancelled. As many know, X-Men didn't exactly have a good start, and things have been going from bad to worse after Stan Lee stopped writing the mutants' stories. Marvel finally decided to cancel the series, and in its final year of publication, had Neal Adams draw it.
The resulting run is fantastic, and is actually the first time X-Men had the feel of the X-Men we all know and love, ironically just before its cancellation. Apparently back in the day Marvel could only learn how well their series sold after a year, and they were surprised of the positive reception after cancelling the series.
The run is awesome not just due to Adams' fantastic art. Roy Thomas also did some pretty good writing here, which is strange because he was one of the reasons the series have been going downhill before Adams took over the art. The excellent visual must have motivated him to write better or something.
Larry Trask, not knowing how his father (who was the creator of the Sentinels) died, has been blaming the mutants for three years, and was working with a close friend of his father, Judge Chalmers to rebuild the Sentinels. Chalmers begins having cold feet, but the vengeful Trask is adamant. He ends up unleashing the robots on the mutants, and their terror begins. Sentinels were also developed for the better in this arc, and are pretty much the same Sentinels that are featured in future classic storylines, including the X-Men's famous 90's animated series. Havok was also essentially created in this arc, although the character was introduced in previous issues.
The X-Men fight the Sentinels tooth and nail throughout the arc, and barely survive thanks to Cyclops who outwits Sentinels' programming by telling them the source of mutations is the Sun itself, and Sentinels fly off towards the star to burn to death.
This is basically an awesome arc, and it is a joy to even look at its pages. It is probably the story that saved the X-Men, and showed the world what they could be with a suitable creative talent behind them.
6 - Death Of Captain George Stacy (Amazing Spider-Man # 88 - 92)
This is another excellent, excellent story that had a big impact in Spider-Man stories, and gave Peter his biggest tragedy up until that point, outside of his origin story. The first two issues of this arc are classic Spider-Man vs Doctor Octopus stories. The two powerhouses battle several times, including an eleven page fight in # 92 which is one of the best Spidey vs Doc Ock battles ever. I mean John Romita, Sr. draws this fight, you already know it's going to be good, but it is still unusually well choreographed, full of tricky manuevers as the two geniuses try to outwit each other.
The tragedy strikes in the third issue, which also has a terrific cover. Spider-Man and Ock battle one more time, but this time there is collateral damage, a consequence of superhero battle that wasn't much thought of in the Silver Age comics. Spider-Man sticks a specially made chemical solution on Doc Ock's tentacles, making them go haywire in the fight. He can't stop Ock fast enough though, and the arms smash a chimney which falls down the building they were fighting on. Captain George Stacy, who was a very mature, wise man that was excellently written, sees the rubble falling on a child, and is fatally injured saving him.
Spider-Man tries to take him to the hospital as fast as he can, but it is too late for his father figure. He dies by calling him Peter, proving that Peter's (and the readers') suspicions about him knowing his secret identity was correct, and asks him to take care of Gwen. An extremely sad ending which is even sadder because his daughter is going to follow her soon.
The aftermath is equally masterfully written by Stan Lee. This whole event puts Peter in a terrible situation. Naturally Gwen Stacy hates Spider-Man now, and Peter also blames himself for her father's death. It would be extremely hard to be there for someone if they hate you without knowing it, and that is exactly what happens. As Gwen keeps giving hate speechs on Spidey, Peter just can't console her by being present for her when she needs him the most, and this just makes her more bittered and lonely.
Her hatred for Spider-Man causes her to turn to a corrupt power hungry political figure on the rise, and this complicates Peter's life even worse, even causing him to clash with Iceman. This arc is a must read even in this day.
5 - The Incredible Origin Of The Other Captain America (Captain America # 153 - 156)
This is an extremely well, intricately written four parter that was one of the best Captain America comics at its time, probably the best. Written by the legendary writer Steve Englehart, it delves into the topics of bigotry, racism, and idealism taken too far. After Captain America and his girlfriend Sharon Carter leave the States for a much deserved vacation, Falcon comes across another Captain America whose partner seems to be the dead Bucky. However there is something wrong, and these two are extremely racist, and find Falcon offensive, in addition to all the different groups, minorities, ways of life etc. that they deem unfitting to American ideals.
This Captain America, and Bucky turn out to be the two heroes that were written in the 1950s, in the pre-Silver Age Marvel comics. Frankly, this is a great idea, and by this Englehart also addresses how these characters existed when original Cap was supposed to be in the ice, and Bucky was dead. Pretty smart plotline.
Back in the day these two were huge fans of Captain America and Bucky, and had the same ideals. The dude who eventually wears the Captain America costume, worked day and night to find the lost Super Soldier serum, which finally turned out in the German archives. Government was elated, planning to use him in the Korean War, but by the time he was ready (he was such a fanboy he even had plastic surgery to look and sound like Steve Rogers) the war was ended, and he was shocked he wasn't going to be used. He later found a Bucky fan who also looks like him, and eventually injected him with the serum, when they wanted to stop Red Skull who attacked the United Nations building.
For a while they imitated the original Cap and Bucky's heroics, until they began to change. Not only they didn't have solid personalities as their originals, they also didn't receive Vita-Rays, so eventually began succumbing to paranoid schizophrenia, and the government had to put them to shelves by using cryogenics technology. Until the man in charge of the bodies, who wasn't happy of the USA's diplomatic relationships with the Soviet Union, woke them up to show the world how rotten commies are.
With the help of Falcon, and Sharon, Cap eventually manages to beat these sick individuals, however the ordeal bothers him, and it ends up as one of the key points that is going to make him give up his symbolic suit in the coming years. Captain America realizes how problematic idealism and patrioitism taken too far can get, and he sees he had the risk of being exactly like them back in the day, even though he received Vita-Rays. Pretty awesome story arc, and it truly is one of the best written Silver Age stories.
4 - The Galactus Trilogy (Fantastic Four # 48 - 50)
Not much to say about this one. It is a most classic, famous arc that has come during a legendary run of Fantastic Four, and established two key characters that changed the Marvel Comics forever, namely Galactus who is just an awesome tragic character, and his herald the recluse Silver Surfer.
However the story isn't just awesome due to its historical value. It is also intricately written. First of all the build-up is handled pretty darn good. We see the Silver Surfer for the first time, surfing the space, scaring even the mighty Skrulls who fear a being named Galactus may be coming. Meanwhile Fantastic Four is returning to New York from their first adventure ever with the recently debuted Inhumans, and notice there are two suns in the sky. Then as they arrive at the city, the whole sky is covered with flames. There is an apocalyptic atmosphere over the city, and people are also panicking. Some even attack the FF fearing they had something to do with it. Soon enough the Watcher visits the team, and explains he was the cause of the omens in the sky, aiming to hide the Earth from the Silver Surfer, the advance scout of Galactus who eats planets to survive.
It is just an awesome introduction. Silver Surfer easily penetrates the defenses, ignores the Fantastic Four, and lands on their roof, and signals Galactus who arrives with a mighty ship in an awesome splash page.
The stakes in this three-parter are insanely big, as will be the case in future Galactus stories too. Galactus is just terrorizing, and beats the Fantastic Four without even trying, and the climate of despair and anxiety are delivered extremely well.
While the story is not perfect, mainly due to Silver Surfer happening to fall right on top of Thing's lover Alicia's rooftop of all hundreds of thousands of buildings in Manhattan, it still stands mighty. This coincidence is one of the reasons that Galactus is eventually beaten, as Alicia influences the alien Surfer to rebel against Galactus's desire to eat a planet full of beautiful life, so the meeting could have been handled better. But still, the few problems do not tarnish an otherwise an awesome arc at all. Hats off to Lee-Kirby duo for creating such a hall of fame material.
3 - If This Be My Destiny (Amazing Spider-Man # 31 - 33)
Often regarded as one of the best Spider-Man stories ever told, If This Be My Destiny arc has its well deserved spot in number three. Written by the OG duo Stan Lee-Steve Ditko, this arc is probably one of the definitive stories that established who Spider-Man really is, very early on in his saga.
There is a new baddie on town named the Master Planner, and he is sending out his goons to steal radioactive materials from laboratories all around the city. Peter is about to begin his college education, and things are looking up for him, except he doesn't know Aunt May has been sick for a while, until she faints and gets hospitalized. Worried, Peter is lost in a daze for his first college days which causes students to think he thinks he is above them, except Gwen Stacy who is introduced in this very run (as if we needed another reason to think this arc is monumental). He also needs money for his aunt's hospital bills, and doesn't sleep for a few nights, scouting for crime in the city to snap some pics to sell.
Things get worse for him when doctors find out Aunt May's illness is due to radiation poisoning. This is another proof the early Spider-Man stories were very intricately written, as the reason for her poisoning is the fact that Peter donated blood to her in previous issues. Peter actually foresaw this could happen, and didn't want to donate his blood to her, but people around him pressured him, not knowing the real reason why he was reluctant. Pete has succumbed to it, and is now feeling guilty. For the first time ever he asks for help, from Curt Connors who tells him a new isotope developed in the west can cure his aunt. However Master Planner ends up stealing the shipment he requests.
This is the first time ever that we see what happens when Spider-Man loses control, and goes on a rampage. Combined with stress, lack of sleep, and desperation he begins tearing the underworld apart to find out who this Master Planner is, terrifying the crooks and gangsters all around the city. He eventually finds out the villain's underwater base, and the baddie turns out to be Doctor Octopus. But unlike his previous fights, he is no match for a desperate Spider-Man who mops up the floor with him. Doc Ock is scared so much he flees the fight, but the debris from their battle traps Spidey under tons of wreckage, while the ocean outside is filling in, with the isotope just outside of his reach.
Then the famous moment comes, that the MCU movie Spider-Man Homecoming tried to pay homage to. Spidey is unable to lift the overwhelming debris on his back. However he remembers Uncle Ben, and his guilt for his murder. He doesn't want the same thing to happen to Aunt May, and thinks saving her may help rest his memory. He also believes he was given his powers by fate, so he must show he was worthy of it. Anyone can win when the odds are to his favor, but it is these kinds of moments that counts. Motivated by his unshakable beliefs, and refusing to give up, he gives a herculean effort and manages to break through the wreckage. Still exhausted, and close to blacking out, he persists and manages to escape the sinking base, and save his aunt's life.
This is what the character of Spider-Man is, folks. Lee-Ditko established in Amazing Spider-Man # 33. Facing overwhelming odds, fueled by his concern for others, and plain old determination, still coming out on top. The story also overall is the height of story telling, with a great set-up, high stakes, tension, and a perfect resolution, all with some top notch character work and evolution.
2 - Kree-Skrull War (Avengers # 89 - 97)
The famed Kree-Skrull War event was pretty much the first arc that united the Marvel universe together. While there were crossoever stories before this historical gem, they were more or less contained, restricting the characters to no more than several superheroes, or two groups. Until an ambitious Roy Thomas wrote this intricate saga, and set up a golden stardard for the many awesome arcs to follow in the superhero comics genre.
Not to undermine the great work of Sal Buscema, but another reason for the success of the story happens when the Neal Adams takes over, and creates some AWESOME artwork. This arc is the one of the best proofs that a dramatically drawn comic book elevates the story to glorious heights. You can write a great intricate story, but it is going to be the artist's job to create it on the comic book pages, almost like a director directs their movies. Just look at the countdown sequence in Avengers # 93, or the panels where Ant-Man delves into the Vision to cure him, and you will see what we mean.
This arc features a long, complex story, so we are not going to have a review of its plot in the list. Suffice to say it is a huge event (especially for its time) that touches almost all of major players in the Marvel Comics thus far, from the Avengers, Fantastic Four, SHIELD, to Captain Marvel, and the Inhumans, not to mention pretty much the first cosmic Marvel story that features the Skrulls and the Kree together in a major way. Such a roster, combined with awesome art, makes the reader extremely entartained, and despite the long word count which is typical for Silver Age issues, you are likely to binge through the whole story in a day. There is not even a major plot hole for such a complex story, even with its awesome, off-beat, and unexpected resolution.
1 - The Night Gwen Stacy Died (Amazing Spider-Man # 121 - 123)
What better to top the best Silver Age arcs of all time list than the story that arguably terminated it? One of the most famous comic books stories of all time, known as The Night Gwen Stacy Died, or The Snap That Was Heard Around The World, this extremely tragic story is still one of the best arcs of all time, not to mention the most brutal.
This arc is not just famous, and spectacular, for its shock value (especially back when it was released, it actually slightly traumatized young readers back in the day). While the punch the story delivers is the unexpected moment when the hero fails to save the girl he always saves, what really makes the hit so staggering is how real the characters' emotions are written. The tone of Spider-Man suddenly changes from humor and optimism to murderous, vengeful frenzy after Gwen Stacy dies, and his reactions are shown in an extremely realistical way. His anger and pain feel just brutal.
There is this moment where crowd and police gathers around Gwen's body, and Spider-Man just swings in and bullies them away, demanding that no one is going to touch her body. There is another moment where Peter is looking for Norman Osborn, and stumbles upon a mentally sick Harry who begs him for help. Peter is so mad, he has only a second of hesitation before he abandons his half-psychotic friend, solely due to the fact that he is his hated enemy's son.
And the moment where he finally pounds at Green Goblin for their last fight (that is at least, until he is brought back years later for a cheap revival) is just insane. You can see how mad Spidey is as he just beats him to a pulp, while drilling into his skull how evil and a piece of garbage the Goblin is. We have to give a special mention to the artist Gil Kane here, who drew this fight perfectly. In the end Peter does manage to collect himself, and refrains from killing his hated enemy. If Goblin didn't accidentally kill himself in the end, he was going to deliver him to the police, fully knowing his own secret identity was going to be exposed, which again shows how awesome of a person Spider-Man is. And I won't even talk about the final page in issue 122.
The final issue of the arc is just the epilogue, detailing the funeral, aftermath, and how the characters are coping with Gwen's death. It is a good enough issue, and Spider-Man does feel less alone in the end when he fights Luke Cage who was hired by Jonah Jameson (Osborn was his friend), and ends up having a heart-to-heart talk with him, ending the arc with a bit of positivity at least.
So this arc that has changed the world of comics permanently fully deserves its fame, and still stands as one of the most heavy-hitting stories to this day, where comics have evolved for the better. Just the sheer realism of the story is enough to make it take the number one spot in our list.