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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Sept 9, 2016 20:17:26 GMT -5
I've been reading through a lot of comics (not knowing the contents) I bought a few months back. A large amount is comics of the 90's. Not everyone's favorite decade but it had its highlights. I know there's the stuff like Starman or Sandman that are highlights most everyone can agree with. But there's a lot I think that is mostly forgotten or unknown. So I'm going to informally share some of the things I like. And probably some of the bad things I come across too. Whether this be stuff I own and am reading again or new stuff.
I will say this will more than likely be a superhero heavy thread. Though I'd like to hear others share their thoughts and likes too. I was very heavily if not completely immersed in superhero comics to start. I was still buying non-superhero issues a few years after starting but they were all older stuff.
I'm going to take this really informally and just share things, thoughts or scans with no particular format. My only agenda here, really is to just try and share the comics that fascinated me from the start and still do now, despite all the other decades of comics I enjoy too.
I'll start sharing what I've recently read and whatnot when I can get on a PC and not my phone. But some of them will be the second volume of Marvel Fanfare, some random Zero Hour issues and, what I'm reading at the moment, Secret Defenders. Which is going to lead to some second volume Silver Surfer.
Oh and brace yourself for unavoidable contact with Mr McFarlane's work. (Damn Invasion! was 1989. So close.)
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Post by hondobrode on Sept 9, 2016 20:21:30 GMT -5
Looking forward to this.
I was buying a lot of stuff back then, with probably half my purchases from the indies.
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 9, 2016 20:32:43 GMT -5
Comic book fan Charles Dickens said it the best...  |
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Sept 9, 2016 20:41:09 GMT -5
Looking forward to this. I was buying a lot of stuff back then, with probably half my purchases from the indies. It was my start at reading comics. However even at that I was still buying lots of older than 90's back issues. Oh the days of disposable income when I'd spend $60 or more a week. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 9, 2016 21:49:27 GMT -5
Looking forward to this. I was buying a lot of stuff back then, with probably half my purchases from the indies. It was my start at reading comics. However even at that I was still buying lots of older than 90's back issues. Oh the days of disposable income when I'd spend $60 or more a week. Yeah, back in the day I could spend $40-50 a week at the comic book store AND have time to read the stuff I bought... good times  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Sept 10, 2016 7:02:56 GMT -5
I'm a very apologetic fan of the '90s. An adolescent at the time, I bought into all of the hype and was reading everything that Wizard Magazine told me to. I spent about $40 a week (I made a lot of money walking dogs) and wasn't really enjoying any of it (except Valiant's Harbinger), but I just kept assuming I wasn't intelligent/cultured enough to fully appreciate what was going on in comics like X-Force and Youngblood and stupidly kept buying anyway. Yes, there were some great comics that came out of the '90s, and I still have a lot of nostalgia for the collecting I did (to this day, I HATE Todd McFarlane but feel nostalgia stir when I see the cover of Spidey #1), but I also recognize this as the decade where the industry failed -- the comic bubble a decade prior to the housing bubble. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 10, 2016 8:16:08 GMT -5
I definitely read a decent chunk of 90s Image... YOungblood, Brigade, Stormwatch... as a teen, I just didn't pay attention to the art all that much.. if it was bright and colorful I was pretty happy. It was actually the 'Image of Tommorrow' promo (where they released #25 of a bunch of series after #8 or 9) that I got annoyed and got back issues instead, and I realized Image stuff paled in comparison.
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Post by Icctrombone on Sept 10, 2016 8:18:58 GMT -5
The only thing I really hold against the 90's is what was done to my poor Avengers.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,392
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Post by shaxper on Sept 10, 2016 9:32:35 GMT -5
The only thing I really hold against the 90's is what was done to my poor Avengers. You mean stuff like this:  "Extreme Black Knight loves the head-banging taste of Mountain Dew!" He stole Rogue's jacket. |
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Sept 10, 2016 9:50:55 GMT -5
I'm a very apologetic fan of the '90s. An adolescent at the time, I bought into all of the hype and was reading everything that Wizard Magazine told me to. I spent about $40 a week (I made a lot of money walking dogs) and wasn't really enjoying any of it (except Valiant's Harbinger), but I just kept assuming I wasn't intelligent/cultured enough to fully appreciate what was going on in comics like X-Force and Youngblood and stupidly kept buying anyway. Yes, there were some great comics that came out of the '90s, and I still have a lot of nostalgia for the collecting I did (to this day, I HATE Todd McFarlane but feel nostalgia stir when I see the cover of Spidey #1), but I also recognize this as the decade where the industry failed -- the comic bubble a decade prior to the housing bubble. It was the same for me as well shax. There being no internet Wizard (and Fan magazine to a lesser extent) and word of mouth were all one really had to help in purchase decisions. So yes there was stuff I read that I didn't like or thought "what's the big deal?" What I lucked out with, was as I became a regular at a LCS and getting a pull list I got to know the three employees, and especially the owner, and got opened up to the world of older comics, back issues, with the advice "buy to read not to collect". Though still spending the same amount I went from $60 of pull list comics to probably 3-4 pull list titles and all back issues. I think this guidance above all help me find the good stuff, whether it was early 90's than the present books or even older. The only thing I really hold against the 90's is what was done to my poor Avengers. I think Marvel's flagship titles faced the worst in the 90's. Of "the four" that got handed to Image creators for those 13 issues, Cap is the only one I liked with Waid/Garney on the end of volume one and the start of volume 3. But the Avengers and FF did not fare so well. Can't say much for Iron Man as I never really read much of him from any decade except in the Avengers. My "gems" are usually short titles. Or runs within titles, like Marz/Grindnerg story in Secret Defenders 9-14. The rest of the series is pretty terrible, with okay stories but seemly rushed or unaccomplished art. There were so many new titles being produced even outside of Image it was indeed difficult to get a good catch. |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,392
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Post by shaxper on Sept 10, 2016 9:59:58 GMT -5
I'm a very apologetic fan of the '90s. An adolescent at the time, I bought into all of the hype and was reading everything that Wizard Magazine told me to. I spent about $40 a week (I made a lot of money walking dogs) and wasn't really enjoying any of it (except Valiant's Harbinger), but I just kept assuming I wasn't intelligent/cultured enough to fully appreciate what was going on in comics like X-Force and Youngblood and stupidly kept buying anyway. Yes, there were some great comics that came out of the '90s, and I still have a lot of nostalgia for the collecting I did (to this day, I HATE Todd McFarlane but feel nostalgia stir when I see the cover of Spidey #1), but I also recognize this as the decade where the industry failed -- the comic bubble a decade prior to the housing bubble. It was the same for me as well shax. There being no internet Wizard (and Fan magazine to a lesser extent) and word of mouth were all one really had to help in purchase decisions. So yes there was stuff I read that I didn't like or thought "what's the big deal?" What I lucked out with, was as I became a regular at a LCS and getting a pull list I got to know the three employees, and especially the owner, and got opened up to the world of older comics, back issues, with the advice "buy to read not to collect". Though still spending the same amount I went from $60 of pull list comics to probably 3-4 pull list titles and all back issues. I think this guidance above all help me find the good stuff, whether it was early 90's than the present books or even older. The guy who owned and ran the LCS I frequented was a money-hungry conniver who would cheat a kid at every turn in order to make an extra buck. He wanted me to buy multiple copies of Green Lantern's Emerald Dawn II, not check out Hard Traveling Heroes. Mike, formerly of The Video Encounter, if I ever find out you're a member of this community, you are so banned. |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,392
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Post by shaxper on Sept 10, 2016 10:13:18 GMT -5
Another random thought about the '90s: looking back at all the speculation back then, it's tempting to call it stupid in hindsight. Why in the world did I pay $9 for the first part of Knightfall? Clearly it wasn't going to stay at that price.
Except that wasn't clear at all.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but prior to the rampant speculation of the '90s, was there ever a high profile comic that went DOWN in price over time? It really did seem, back then, like any comic would go up in value in the long run, so the more pricey ones were only going to continue along their then current trajectories.
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Post by tingramretro on Sept 10, 2016 11:21:55 GMT -5
I liked Quasar.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Sept 10, 2016 11:43:40 GMT -5
It was the same for me as well shax. There being no internet Wizard (and Fan magazine to a lesser extent) and word of mouth were all one really had to help in purchase decisions. So yes there was stuff I read that I didn't like or thought "what's the big deal?" What I lucked out with, was as I became a regular at a LCS and getting a pull list I got to know the three employees, and especially the owner, and got opened up to the world of older comics, back issues, with the advice "buy to read not to collect". Though still spending the same amount I went from $60 of pull list comics to probably 3-4 pull list titles and all back issues. I think this guidance above all help me find the good stuff, whether it was early 90's than the present books or even older. The guy who owned and ran the LCS I frequented was a money-hungry conniver who would cheat a kid at every turn in order to make an extra buck. He wanted me to buy multiple copies of Green Lantern's Emerald Dawn II, not check out Hard Traveling Heroes. Mike, formerly of The Video Encounter, if I ever find out you're a member of this community, you are so banned. It's too bad that was your initial experience shax. I for sure know that the influence of the owner and the coworkers of that shop were responsible for my experience in comics. And his honesty and wanting me to find what he thought I might really enjoy (the man who introduced me to Starlin's Warlock after me gushing over Infinity Gauntlet) over high dollar purchases, actually cemented me giving him 95% of my comic purchases. It's why I without a thought bought a Silver Surfer #15 from him back them for $40 in the great condition it was because I trusted him. He could have easily not told me about Fantasy Masterpieces reprinting the first 14 issues of the series and sold me the originals for more. Edit: History is where I am ignorant of and would love any posts regarding that part of the 90's too, even if you have no interest in the books themselves. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Sept 10, 2016 11:52:46 GMT -5
It was the same for me as well shax. There being no internet Wizard (and Fan magazine to a lesser extent) and word of mouth were all one really had to help in purchase decisions. So yes there was stuff I read that I didn't like or thought "what's the big deal?" What I lucked out with, was as I became a regular at a LCS and getting a pull list I got to know the three employees, and especially the owner, and got opened up to the world of older comics, back issues, with the advice "buy to read not to collect". Though still spending the same amount I went from $60 of pull list comics to probably 3-4 pull list titles and all back issues. I think this guidance above all help me find the good stuff, whether it was early 90's than the present books or even older. The guy who owned and ran the LCS I frequented was a money-hungry conniver who would cheat a kid at every turn in order to make an extra buck. He wanted me to buy multiple copies of Green Lantern's Emerald Dawn II, not check out Hard Traveling Heroes. Mike, formerly of The Video Encounter, if I ever find out you're a member of this community, you are so banned. Dude, you made me spit out my coffee with that last line. 😆 |
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