7. The Winter Soldier

(Captain America)

I feel like I don’t really need to give you guys the upsell on this one. It’s a story that inspired a majorly successful movie, you’re probably gonna read it. But the thing is, Winter Soldier is actually really really good.

The WWII stuff is incredible, the modern day stuff feels like a natural progression of what came before, and it kicked off one of the best remembered runs in recent memory. It also successfully brings back a character many people never wanted back. For a long time, it was said that there were three killed off characters you could never bring back: Gwen Stacy, Jason Todd, and Bucky Barnes. The fact that this story resurrects one of those in a way so goshdarn good almost no one complained is a shockingly impressive achievement. Since the comic is much more focused on the Steve/Bucky relationship than the film it inspired, it results in a much more personal story overall as well.