Must-read comics are futuristic classics that shouldn't be missed. Of course, not every must-read is perfect. That's why we've rated them 1-5 on the patented "crunchy goodness" scale.

Title: Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga

Date: 1989 (reprinting material from 1980)

Vitals: The universe finds itself threatened as science finds itself defeated over and over again by that old-time religion, albeit of the dark evil kind. Classic 1980s superhero storytelling crossed with old-school space opera and a dry sense of humor, this story made the Legion of Super-Heroes one of the best-selling franchises of the early '80s.

Famous names: Paul Levitz, who made his name writing this storyline years before he became the Publisher of DC Comics and part of the corporate Time-Warner machine.

Crunchy goodness: 4

Memorable product tie-in: One of the earliest trade paperbacks released by DC Comics, before such things became commonplace for almost everything they publish, this really was a case where the publisher could say "Because you demanded it."

Bang for your buck: An entire planet gets reshaped so that it looks like the head of the top secret big bad guy. Who said that it doesn't pay to think big?

Deadliest spoiler: Watch for the fastest baby-to-old-bearded-guy transformation in the history of storytelling in the last couple of chapters.

Unofficial Great Darkness Saga Biography

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