Mason Knight, a junior business major, travels the Southwest to attend various comic book conventions, and is even a vendor at a handful of them. Aside from school and travel, Knight lends a hand at a local store: Lobo Anime and Comics. These are his top five comic book storylines.
1. “Civil War” by Mark Millar (Marvel universe)
“It kind of breaks from the traditional good-versus-bad, and it splits up the superhero community. The government wants superheroes to register their identity so the public can know who they are. There are half of them that think it’s a good idea, while the others don’t; it splits the universe right down the middle. You might like two main characters, but then to see them go against each other makes you decide whom you agree with more. Essentially, the question is, ‘which side would I pick?’”
2. “Sin City” by Frank Miller
“Sin City was different for its time. When comic books were more superhero-based, Sin City was more of a realistic superhero story. It dealt with cops, crooked cops, bad guys and all those things. It was a different view on heroes. You could actually call these people heroes for what they do -- they are fighting crime, but they don’t have superpowers, and it was dark for its time. Miller pushed the boundaries for comics at that time.”
3. “Wolverine: Old Man Logan” by Mark Millar (X-Men)
“In most comics… the good guy always prevails in the end, or the story has a happy ending. This one you are imagining the whole time that it’s going to end good and things would go right in the end. Spoiler alert: things don’t go as they were planned, and it pushes Wolverine over the edge.”
4. “Infinity Gauntlet” by Jim Starlin (Marvel universe)
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“It was one of the first stories I read, and to my knowledge it was one of the first to include the whole Marvel universe. It’s one of my favorites because you saw everyone, and it was a staple for all the stories they did further on. Now they are doing the movies, so it’s kind of an important one.”
5. “Superman: Red Son” by Mark Millar (DC universe)
“Instead of Superman landing in the United States, he lands in Soviet Russia. It’s a real interesting concept, having Superman land twelve hours later on the other side of the world. Then having them put in a Soviet Batman with the same back story with his parents dying was interesting. Seeing how it played out and seeing how things could have been different by that event was really interesting.”
Nick Fojud is the photo editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at photoeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @NFojud.
