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Post by Pharozonk on Dec 19, 2014 11:49:26 GMT -5
I prefer mostly stuff from the Silver Age and beyond. I can read Golden Age material, but not superhero books. I do like the EC horror and sci-fi titles from that era though.
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 19, 2014 14:09:41 GMT -5
I used to feel like most of you about Golden Age material, but as I've gotten older, esp the last 5 years or so, they really have come into their own for me. One of the things that I think helped was the realization that they were working without rules and throwing anything against the wall to see what would work.
Just like today, some of it is crap, but some of it is surprisingly good. The biggest turn off for me is the lack of major villains for a lot of stories; instead we get gangsters and bank robbers and, for some reason I've never understood, bad guys restraining and torturing women.
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 19, 2014 14:23:22 GMT -5
As a comics historian, I've read comic books from every decade since Max Gaines invented the modern floppy in the early 1930s. I can read any of them and enjoy them but my preference is for material published between 1955 and 1986. And I have to say I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum from my friend Icctrombone: I want a comic it takes me half an hour to read. Modern comics, as a rule, are way too quick a read to satisfy me. Cei-U! Wants some meat in that sammich! I don't mind reading comics that are 30 minutes long, it's just jarring when compared to today's tripe. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 19, 2014 14:34:18 GMT -5
I've read most of The Yellow Kid. So the 1890s.
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 19, 2014 15:24:53 GMT -5
Yeah, the Yellow Kid, Little Nemo, the Katzenjammer Kids, Popeye, Barney Google, Gasoline Alley, Mutt & Jeff, and Krazy Kat were all great.
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Post by fanboystranger on Dec 19, 2014 15:42:29 GMT -5
I'm okay with reading the best comics from any era. I'm not sure I'm all that interested in the average (or worse) faire, but I want to at least read the best stuff to enjoy the classics. Just this week, I picked up the new Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book HC from Dark Horse, and I'm enjoying it a great deal. Last year, I began to dive into EC for the first time via the Fantagraphic volumes.
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ziza9
Junior Member
Posts: 32 
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Post by ziza9 on Dec 19, 2014 16:17:07 GMT -5
Usually the Bronze Age forward. I do enjoy quite a few books from the Silver Age, mid-late Silver Age. Golden Age books can be a chore for me. It really depends on the writer. Same with Silver Age books. Some I feel hold up well. But my major comfort zone is the Bronze Age. That mostly pertains to superhero books. Horror I can read from any era and I feel it holds up well. I especially love 60's black and white horror comics. Also, as some others have said, I miss comics that take 20-30 minutes to read and you feel like you got a complete, dense story even if the words "To Be Continued" were on the last page. I got more out of my 25, 50, 60 cents than I do nowadays when I drop 3-4.99 on a single issue. (Now moving away from the old man, you kids get off my lawn portion of my post).  |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Dec 19, 2014 17:53:55 GMT -5
Keep in mind that the Quality of Golden Age books is a very wide spectru. If you've only read old Superman or Batman or (even) the Kirby Captain America that doesn't mean you won't like some of the slicker GA books. Stuff like '50s Captain Marvel isn't remotely crude by any standard, and the Spirit or Jack Cole's Plastic Man are - well - better on a pure craft level than any corporate owned comic from the last 20 years.
Moving on to Silver Age DC: Keep in mind that the '60s DC superhero books tend to be some of their least adult and weakest material. Sgt. Rock, Unknwon Soldier, Sugar and Spike, Secret Six, Deadman, Captain Action are the money... Hell, I'll even stick up for Leave It To Binky. And the Kubert Enemy Ace remains my favorite DC comic of all time.
And you're not obligated to like the Classics. I'll read Bark's Ducks or Stanley's Little Lulu all day, but I think a lot of the "Classic" non-Kurtzman EC comics o' the '50s are a slughaul to get through. (The trick is not to read tha walls of text and just look at the pretty pictures.)
Although if you don't like the Ditko Spider-man there is something broken in you, mentally and spiritually, and you should just give up on this life and hope that you do better next time around.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2014 18:55:08 GMT -5
I'm interested in checking out GA super hero comics. I have the first volume of Batman Chronicles, just haven't cracked it open. I'm just not entirely sure it's going to hold up to other options at the time, like EC comics, Eisner comics, so on.Haven't read a ton of EC comics yet but so far my favorite by a huge lead is Wally Wood.
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Post by Action Ace on Dec 19, 2014 19:40:13 GMT -5
I'm ok reading 1930s comics.
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Post by benday-dot on Dec 19, 2014 21:25:56 GMT -5
You can't really generalize. There is good and bad in all eras. I actually think Golden Age art is typically pretty good. It is not always (again there are many majestic exceptions like Lou Fine, Mac Raboy, George Tuska, Alex Raymond) particularly sophisticated, but that is not how I measure art or comic books. I'll take crude, silly, incoherent, and minimal most any day over over overwrought, grim, labyrinthine, and excessive. Fletcher Hanks vs. Jim Lee. I knew who I'll pick.
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Post by Phil Maurice on Dec 19, 2014 22:57:31 GMT -5
You can't really generalize. There is good and bad in all eras. I actually think Golden Age art is typically pretty good. It is not always (again there are many majestic exceptions like Lou Fine, Mac Raboy, George Tuska, Alex Raymond) particularly sophisticated, but that is not how I measure art or comic books. I'll take crude, silly, incoherent, and minimal most any day over over overwrought, grim, labyrinthine, and excessive. Fletcher Hanks vs. Jim Lee. I knew who I'll pick. Strongly agree! Mushy-brained, my eye! This is exactly what I intended to respond with, only not as well written and much less historically accurate. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 19, 2014 23:01:30 GMT -5
I get different enjoyment out of different eras... the Golden Age is great for being a window into our history, the Silver age is fun to show you the beginnings of the characters we love... while I do think the bronze age and up has better storytelling on average, I'm happy to read any of them.
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Post by dupersuper on Dec 19, 2014 23:39:03 GMT -5
I'm comfortable with any age, though I admit most start reading smoother for me starting late 70s - mid 80s.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 20, 2014 1:13:20 GMT -5
I had the first volume of the Wonder Woman Archives out of the library earlier this year and I was really impressed with it. Writer William Moulton Marston and artist Harry G. Peter really hit the ground running right from the start in the first year of Sensation Comics and the first issues of Wonder Woman.
There's lots of great stuff in the early years of the comics books. I love Fred Guardineer's art on Zatara in Action Comics #1, for example. (Not to mention Superman!)
And there's Bill Everett's Sub-Mariner. Captain America was great right from the start.
For some of us on this site, a better question might be "What's the youngest decade that you're okay reading?"
I know I can find more "must read" comics from the first ten years (1938 to 1948) than from the last ten years.
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