Jim Lee

Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee join forces for the event that's been talked about for years: someone is manipulating all of Batman's villains from the shadows, someone who knows him personally. Each issue brings a classic villain under Hush's control. The story that defined the modern look of Batman for a generation.

Jim Lee and Chris Claremont relaunch the X-Men in 1991 with one of the best-selling comic books of all time. The X-Men split into Blue and Gold teams — Cyclops leads Blue with Wolverine, Rogue, Psylocke and Gambit, while Storm commands Gold with Jean Grey, Colossus, Iceman and Archangel. This massive omnibus covers the Mutant Genesis era including the iconic X-Men #1 (which sold over 8 million copies), the introduction of Omega Red, and Magneto's return in the Asteroid M saga. Lee's hyper-detailed, dynamic art defined the look of 90s comics and influenced an entire generation of artists.

Closing of the historic Claremont-Lee collaboration. After editorial differences over creative direction, Claremont left the X-Men after 16 years of uninterrupted writing — the longest continuous run on a superhero title in history. Jim Lee briefly took over the script before leaving to found Image Comics alongside Todd McFarlane and others. A moment of historic transition for Marvel and for American comics that changed the industry forever.

First volume of the 1991 relaunch with Claremont and Jim Lee. Issue #1 of the new series sold 8.1 million copies: the best-selling comic in history. Jim Lee on X-Men is absolute visual reference material: the characters as they were drawn for the next decade, the look that inspired the '90s animated series and subsequent films.

Justice League: The New 52 Omnibus Vol. 1 is the flagship book of DC's 2011 relaunch: Geoff Johns and Jim Lee rebuilding the League from first contact, suspicion and Darkseid-scale pressure. It matters because the team is being invented inside a universe where superheroes are new, feared and not yet trusted.