I'll admit New Gods took a couple of tries to appreciate it, but I blame that on me not doing it right.  First I only did the Baxter reprints of New Gods #1-11; then I got the other stuff but read the series separately.  To get the proper experience you really need to do all four series in publishing order.

If anything, my issue is with "current glories," where I see something that gets praised left and right, I try it, and it does nothing for me.

It's easy to overlook why something is considered a groundbreaking achievement or trendsetter when the masses have been exposed to a variety of knock-offs, rip-offs, and works influenced and inspired by the original work in question. 

When I first saw "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Forbidden Planet," I was an adult who had been aware of these films and their impact on future films. And I was also very familiar with the other films of that era and before it, so I was still blown away at how they changed the game and upped the ante for movies made afterwards. 

Even though I had been exposed to watching later films that were inspired by the earlier classic before I saw those that inspired the later films, I could appreciate the achievements of the originals. For a lot of people,  though,  it might be underwhelming as they simply see it as something already familiar to them, having experienced that which was innovative with the original through years of consuming the entertainment that lifted from the trendsetters.

Unless one was there, or understands the historical context it's hard to feel something of the impact of say, a "Citizen Kane," or "Casablanca," when the techniques and innovations have become commonplace and even tropes these days. This holds true for advances in all fields of arts and such.

All that said (and too many more to mention), I think my discoveries of stories that “live up to the hype” aren’t so much “event” comics as they are single issues or runs.  There are specific issues of Superman and Batman that I didn’t follow because I was obviously not born when they were published.  I discovered WARLORD late, back in the day, but bought the back issues and loved them.  Ditto ELFQUEST.  Although I followed DREADSTAR from the jump, that character has jumped publishers many times so, when I find them, I still find them compelling.  It was, at the time in the 80s, a hot title.  I know that there are gems out there, some I don’t even know or only have a vague remembrance of, that nevertheless are just waiting for me to discover them on the cheap.