10 Comics You Loved As A Teen (But Should Never Return To)

1. Civil War

And thus we come to the messiest entry on this entire list: Civil War - a comic so influential, and yet so, so lacklustre.

Like plenty of comics, Mark Millar and Steven McNiven's story is stunning to look at, and the series' iconography is wonderfully composed. Everyone remembers those "Whose side are YOU on?" adverts that were plastered across comic book stores in the build up to the event, and fans found themselves torn at the prospect of their favourite heroes coming to blows against each other. Nothing like it had really happened before - not on this scale.

Depending on where you fall on the 'heroes fighting heroes' issue you either think Civil War has a brilliant concept or one best left confined to tedious internet debates about who could kick whose butt the hardest. If it's the latter, then the comic obviously isn't going to appeal to you. If it's the former, then it's worth noting that, while the idea behind Civil War is compelling on a base level, the execution is lacking in several areas.

Millar's superhero story is a clear critique of post-9/11 politics in the US, and more specifically the Patriot Act. That in itself is fine of course, but when you consider the whole premise behind the series was to pit Marvel's heroes and readers against each other in a civil conflict, the fact the choice between who was right or wrong was so obvious kind of ruins the whole thing immediately.

Because, from start to finish, Iron Man in Civil War is an appalling reactionary with few redeeming features. Captain America is the clear hero of the story, and while Millar does try to extrapolate some nuance from their conflict in its climax - where Cap realises he's gone too far - it's clear the anti-registration forces are the good guys in this scenario.

The film fares much better in this regard, providing a compelling emotional and political reason for why Cap and Iron Man turn against each other. The comic does neither, and leaves certain heroes unrecognisable in service of its plot.