Periscope: Portland's storyboard and comics studio.

Over on another message board, there's a discussion of stories that hit hard again and again. Here's my list of five that have never lost their impact for me.

Lee and Ditko's Spider-man #33 The opening of the last chapter of the "Master Planner" storyline, with the big machine-lifting opening sequence.

Chester Brown's Yummy Fur #4 Forgiven. An powerful nightmare of a story, presented simply, without histrionics.

Gilbert Hernandez's Human Diastrophism and Poison River The former with its remarkable resolution of Tonatzin's story, the later for the heartbreaking sequence involving Ofelia's shaking her fist at baby Luba.

Charles Burns' Black Hole. I don't know how many times I've reread the "Windopane" chapter where we meet the woman with a tail.

Lynda Barry's story The Most Obvious Question got a lot of its impact from the juxtaposition of her fun, spazzy, A.D.D.-ish doodle-drawing style and the closely-observed, grim reality of the material.

So that's my five. Which stories do it for you?

Labels: comic books