Here are the next five storylines on the countdown, as voted on by you, the readers!! Here is the master list of all storylines featured so far.
(As usual, just the results now and the details later)
39 (tie). "Hush" by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams (Batman #608-619) - 220 points
Hush took a similar approach to Jeph Loeb's highly successful Long Halloween and Dark Victory comics.
Basically, he took an over-arching storyline and a mysterious villain, and then had each issue work as a spotlight on a different member of Batman's large supporting cast of heroes and villains.
In Long Halloween, Loeb worked with star artist Tim Sale. Here he worked with Jim Lee, one of the most popular artists in all of comics.
In many ways, Loeb's intention was simply to give Lee as much cool stuff to draw as possible, and to that end, Loeb wrote the series (where Batman is besieged by a mysterious new villain named Hush) with lots of notable events taking place, including Batman and Catwoman getting together and Batman and Superman having a dramatic battle (Superman was being mind-controlled by Poison Ivy).
During a period when comic sales were in a notable slump, these twelve issues were like manna from heaven for comic book retailers, as they were strikingly popular. The storyline also worked as a sort of basic guideline for many later story arc by different comic book writers. Much like how Die Hard became the foundation for a number of other action films, so, too, did Hush become the prototype for many other significant superhero stories.
39 (tie). "Secret Wars" by Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, Bob Layton, John Beatty and a host of other inkers (Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #1-12) - 220 points (3 first place votes)
38. "Dangerous Habits" by Garth Ennis, Will Simpson, Mark Pennington and a host of other inkers (Hellblazer #41-46) - 222 points (3 first place votes)
37. "Green Lantern: Rebirth" by Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver and Prentis Rollins (Green Lantern: Rebirth #1-6) - 231 points (4 first place votes)
36. "The Painting That Ate Paris" by Grant Morrison, Richard Case and John Nyberg (Doom Patrol Vol. 2 #26-29) - 235 points (4 first place votes)
