Comics with Dan Daily | Standalone Issues - 01/30/2026

Some of the best comics are long-form, slow burn stories. Some of my favorites are Mark Waid's Daredevil, and Batman: Knightfall.

While I love a good epic, there's something to be said for a good single issue that is self-contained. It can be the identity of the book, like Ryan North's Fantastic Four, it can be a break in arcs like the Night Force Covert Ops in G.I. Joe, or it can even be a One-Shot comic, like, I don't know, It's Jeff or something. I love the challenge that it creates for the writer to build characters and have a meaningful plot all within 20-40 pages. Some of the best comics of all time are self contained: Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 (also known as The Anatomy Lesson), Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310, or any number of Gold and Silver Age comics because these standalone stories were so much more prevalent then!

Lately, I'm loving Space Ghost, which is a series of standalone issues, the GI Joe breaks for Night Force, which end up being a lot of fun, and I do pick up a Ryan North's F4 on occasion. What are some of your favorite standalone story comics?