What is the single best single comic book issue of all time?

[AnotherGuy]

Since this is all very subjective, I feel comfortable in nominating my first ever comic and which inspired my love for Green Lantern and comics in general for when I was able to afford purchasing them.
Green Lantern #151 Resolutions in This
The sadness of the goodbye between Carol Ferris and Jordan as he faced his Guardian-imposed exile into space as well as the mini-storyline of E'spirit De Corps at the end where a green lantern sacrifices himself and is "buried in space" by two fellow colleagues was pretty moving for this pre-teen.

Honourable Mention - Green Lantern: Mosaic - IMO a vastly under-appreciated story-run.

 

[billd91]

Claremont can sometimes get really self-indulgent, but "God Loves, Man Kills" knocked me on my ass. It's even more amazing considering it was published in 1982, years before the genre-redefining stuff to come over the next few years. (It's four years before Frank Miller's career-defining turns on Daredevil and Batman, for instance.)

Just a point of order, it may have been well before Frank Miller's Batman work, but it was contemporary with his Daredevil work. He was scripting and penciling Daredevil back in Jan 1981. His story of Bullseye killing Elektra was also in 1982, same year as God Love, Man Kills.

 

[Reynard]

Just a point of order, it may have been well before Frank Miller's Batman work, but it was contemporary with his Daredevil work. He was scripting and penciling Daredevil back in Jan 1981. His story of Bullseye killing electra was also in 1982, same year as God Love, Man Kills.

Also, the shift started much earlier in the late 70s. The end of the Bronze Age is defined by creators bringing real drama and consequences to bear on these 4 color paragons.

 

[Sacrosanct]

GI Joe 21 - Silent Interlude

I came here to post this. My second choice would be this one:

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Just a point of order, it may have been well before Frank Miller's Batman work, but it was contemporary with his Daredevil work. He was scripting and penciling Daredevil back in Jan 1981. His story of Bullseye killing Elektra was also in 1982, same year as God Love, Man Kills.

I was specifically thinking of Born Again, which was 1986, but good point.

 

[Maxperson]

 

[FitzTheRuke]

If smaller OGNs count, then we are missing a mention of The Killing Joke.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If smaller OGNs count, then we are missing a mention of The Killing Joke.

Other than the amazing Brian Bolland art, I'm not sure it holds up today.

Let's maim and possibly sexually assault Batgirl, just so Batman can punch the Joker harder? That's a tough sell in 2023.

Brian Bolland is near the top of his game, though.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Other than the amazing Brian Bolland art, I'm not sure it holds up today.

Let's maim and possibly sexually assault Batgirl, just so Batman can punch the Joker harder? That's a tough sell in 2023.

Brian Bolland is near the top of his game, though.

That part is a tough bit to be true, bit the rest is solid. I can't believe that the recent cartoon thought that it would be cool to add a Batman/Batgirl sex scene to the story. That is NOT the relationship between those two. Not at all.

Buy hey, a lot of really good choices were taken by the above posts. It's not like I can really call Brubaker/Philips "Reckless" books "single issues" or I would.

 

[overgeeked]

Another tough one.

Here's my top three.

New Warriors v1 #19. For the single worst torture scene in comics...that wasn't a horror comic.

Spoiler

Crime SuspenStories #22. For having a cover so gory Congress forced the industry to censor themselves.

Uncanny X-Men #113. Magneto has won. He beat and captured the X-Men in the previous issue and has them all prisoner in his secret lair inside a volcano in the Savage Land. Magneto takes a shower and thinks about life. Storm has a several page sequence where she relearns how to work her body and pick a lock with a pick between her teeth. The X-Men escape and beat Magneto. Some absolutely stunning character work. Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by John Byrne, an absolute powerhouse team of master storytellers.