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Post by batusi on Sept 11, 2017 16:34:24 GMT -5
Yes, there is technically the Golden Age/Silver Age/Bronze Age/Modern Age, but...is there a certain run of comics that you consider to be classic from start to finish?
For me it would be...
FF #1-248 (yes, I don't know what it was, but after #248 the classic feel started to fade even with some consecutive fairly good issues to follow)
X-Men #1-175 (just never felt the vibe much after Byrne left, but sailed the ship just a bit longer)
JLA #1-200 (perhaps even earlier, maybe the last Dick Dillin drawn issue?)
Batman #1-266 (why not end on a Catwoman story by Dennis O'Neill & Irv Novick?)
New Teen Titans (1980) #1-50, v2 (1984) #1-5 (probably the last of the really great classic runs!)
Just to name a few for me.
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Post by batusi on Sept 11, 2017 16:41:54 GMT -5
I tried to consider Amazing Spider-Man, but out of my league, will leave it up to someone with more expertise to decide!  |
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Post by batusi on Sept 11, 2017 16:49:14 GMT -5
Hoosier X, you should decide on Detective Comics, I consider you the expert! I know you have accumulated a very long run , but...what would you consider the cut-off issue for a classic run?
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Sept 11, 2017 17:44:41 GMT -5
Though it might sound a bit over the top, I've always considered Amazing Spider-Man #1-200 (plus attendant annuals and Amazing Fantasy #15) to be one of the greatest coming of age stories ever.
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Post by batusi on Sept 11, 2017 17:49:29 GMT -5
Though it might sound a bit over the top, I've always considered Amazing Spider-Man #1-200 (plus attendant annuals and Amazing Fantasy #15) to be one of the greatest coming of age stories ever. Yeah, wasn't sure if the run should reach to #200 for classic status or not, but I bow to your great knowledge. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,533
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Post by Confessor on Sept 11, 2017 17:58:15 GMT -5
Though it might sound a bit over the top, I've always considered Amazing Spider-Man #1-200 (plus attendant annuals and Amazing Fantasy #15) to be one of the greatest coming of age stories ever. Yeah, wasn't sure if the run should reach to #200 for classic status or not, but I bow to your great knowledge. There are many great issues after issue #200, of course, but that run from 1962 to 1979 is pretty flawless. Issue #200 features the burglar that killed Uncle Ben and shows Aunt May getting over her fear of Spider-Man (likely because she realises it's Peter behind the mask), so that kind of brings things full circle. Marvel could've cancelled ASM with issue #200 and it would've made a great ending to the saga of Peter Parker. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2017 18:06:38 GMT -5
Batman-Detective Comics 27-37, 38 radically changed the character with the introduction of Robin, and for me made the character far less interesting.
Superman-Action Comics and Superman until the launch of the radio show, changes wrought to the character based on popular aspects of the radio show not int he characters again made the character far less interesting to me.
Dr. Strange-Strange Tales 110-146, when Ditko left, again the character became far less interesting to me. There occasionally interesting stories in the post-Ditko Strange Tales and in the 1st Doc solo series by Thomas and Colan, but the character really didn't become interesting again until Englehart and Brunner because they stopped playing witht he status quo that was established at the end of the Ditko run and began evolving the character again removing the Ancient One as the supernatural mentor and completing the heroes journey allowing Doc to evolve into the hero and the sorcerer supreme himself, not the disciple of the Ancient One he had started as, but that run was not allowed to come to its own conclusion and Englehart was forced out by editorial interference, so it ultimately fails because it lacks a proper resolution a story needs to be truly classic.
-M
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Post by batusi on Sept 11, 2017 18:20:07 GMT -5
Let me make it clear, YOUR classic run is NOT defined by any AGE like Golden, Silver, etc...just the CLASSIC run that defines your appreciation of the character(s). Ha, My OLD age view does not necessarily need to be yours. But it does have to fall into the era defined by the Classic Comics criteria. |
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Post by james on Sept 11, 2017 19:33:16 GMT -5
For me Avengers 1-200.
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Sept 11, 2017 20:35:00 GMT -5
Though it might sound a bit over the top, I've always considered Amazing Spider-Man #1-200 (plus attendant annuals and Amazing Fantasy #15) to be one of the greatest coming of age stories ever.
YES!
I even extend it up to #400. Nowhere nearly as amazing but definitely spectacular, with some key moments and if you skip some stuff (like the start of his parents coming back in his life) and just end with reading #400, its a good complete tale IMO.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 11, 2017 21:11:59 GMT -5
For me, New Teen Titans became a classic with issues 7 and 8. The previous issues hit us with slam-bang action, Raven's nasty father, and Deathstroke; but, 7 sees them really come together as a team and it solidifies the family element. 8 stops to take a look at life for the team, beyond punching bad guys. That is when they became truly rounded characters and everything flowed from that, right up to the Judas Contract. That was pretty much the end of it being classic, to me.
Starman started as something different, from the get-go; but, that initial storyline is about introduction. Where I thought it really started to become more than just a hip, post-modern superhero, with a nostalgic eye at the past (an interesting dichotomy), was the next storyline, post Talking with David, where Jack encounters the carnival and freakshow, where Mikaal Tomas is being held prisoner. In that storyline, Jack takes his first deliberate step into becoming a superhero. In the first storyline, he is reacting to an attack on himself and his family. It's about survival. This was about doing what's right because you are there and you can. This was where Jack Knight chooses to be a superhero. Everything flows from that. Robinson follows with more actions that push Jack more into superherodom. he shows us a past tale of Ted Knight and his JSA colleagues dealing with a real, deadly threat, not some grandiose, silly villain scheme. This one is pure chaotic murder and we see the JSA standing against the chaos and mayhem, fighting to their last breath to save lives. Ultimately, they are faced with ending the murder/crime spree of the ragdoll with one choice: kill him or see him pull strings from behind bars, including targeting their families, as he has worked out their identities. One of them made the choice, but we don't know who. Ted even says they all made the choice, really. The series never looked back, just kept building great tale after great tale, though Archie Goodwin's death did affect Robinson's writing (as did the split with Tony Harris). Grand Guignol doesn't quite live up to its title, in my mind; but, Robinson made up for it with the final Talking with David and the epilogue of the series. Grand Guignol felt like robinson reneged on a lot of his promises; but, those last few issues fulfilled them gloriously.
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Post by Icctrombone on Sept 11, 2017 21:18:43 GMT -5
I would make it 1-300. Nothing to see after that. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 11, 2017 21:24:06 GMT -5
Here's a list of the Marvel runs I consider "classic," as in "the comics I can read again and again":
Amazing Spider-Man #1-28, 120-149, Annual #1-2, 13-15 plus Giant-Size Spider-Man #1-5
Avengers #1-10, 41-71, 89-100, Annual #1-2, 9-10
Captain America (1941) #1-11
Captain America (1968) #153-186, 247-255, 261-289
Captain Marvel #1-4, 17-21 plus Marvel Super-Heroes #12-13
Conan the Barbarian #1-100, Giant-Size #1-5 and Savage Tales #1
Daredevil #1-11, 168-192
Defenders #1-41, Annual #1, Giant-Size #1-5 plus Marvel Feature #1-3
Doctor Strange (1968) #169-183
Doctor Strange (1974) #1-14, 29-62, Annual #1
Eternals #1-19, Annual #1
Fantastic Four #11-93, Annual #1-6
Hero for Hire #1-9
Howard the Duck #1-14 plus the back-ups in Giant-Size Man-Thing #4-5
Incredible Hulk - Honestly, I can't think of a run I like unreservedly (though if it has Trimpe/Severin art or a script by Stern or Wein, I know I'll enjoy it).
Iron Man #1-25, 117-156, Annual #3
Iron Man & Sub-Mariner #1
Journey into Mystery #98-125, Annual #1
Jungle Action #6-18
Kull the Conqueror #1-10 plus Creatures On The Loose #10 and Monsters on the Prowl #16
Man-Thing #1-22 plus Fear #10-19
Marvel Team-Up #1-20, 53-70, Annual #1
Marvel Two-in-One #1-8, 50-67
Master of Kung Fu #17-101, Annual #1, Giant-Size #1-4 pus Special Marvel Edition #15-16
Micronauts #1-12
Monster of Frankenstein #1-5
Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #1-3, 5
Power Man #48-50
Power Man and Iron Fist #56-84
Rawhide Kid #17-35
Red Sonja #1-11 plus Marvel Feature (1975) 1-7
Red Wolf #1-6 plus Marvel Spotlight #1
Savage Sword of Conan #1-whenever Roy Thomas stops writing it (haven't read past #25 so have to hedge my bet)
Sgt. Fury #1-19, 44-46
Silver Surfer #1-5
Spider-Woman #34-46
Strange Tales #110-168
Sub-Mariner #1-25
Supernatural Thrillers #1-4
Tales of Suspense #39, 50-99
Tales of the Zombie #1-9
Tales to Astonish #35-101 (What can I say? I'm a sucker for Ant-Man/Giant-Man!)
Thor #126-181, 272-301, 337-366, Annual #2, 5, 7
Tomb of Dracula #1-70, plus Giant-Size Chillers #1
Two-Gun Kid #60-62
Worlds Unknown #1-6
X-Men #1-11, 56-66, 111-141, Annual #3-4, Giant-Size #1
I'll try to compile a DC list in the next few days but that'll be a bit harder.
Cei-U!
I summon the creme de la creme!
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Post by berkley on Sept 12, 2017 3:02:57 GMT -5
I would make it 1-300. Nothing to see after that. What happened after #300? I'm pretty hazy on the Avengers and Marvel in general after the late-70s to early-80s. The Avengers, I stopped reading after the Korvac story, but I've decided to pick up the later Perez and Byrne issues just because I like the artwork and I've been convinced by the talk here on Classics to give the Stern run a try - at least the Buscema/Palmer art, though not up to the level of their earlier stuff from the 60s, still looks good even if I end up not caring for the writing (no reflection on Roger Stern, BTW, just a general feeling of suspicion when it comes to 80s Marvel & beyond). That reminds me - to answer the thread question, it isn't always easy to draw a sharp line: in one sense, the Avengers stopped being classic for me after the Englehart run, but in another sense it extends to the middle of the Korvac saga if only for the Perez artwork, still my favourite of everything he's done. Although, in fairness, I must acknowledge that back in the day I would have had a more definite cut-off - the end of the complete Korvac story - but Shooter's writing has come down pretty drastically in my estimation since then. |
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Post by james on Sept 12, 2017 3:44:11 GMT -5
I was thinking 1-300 but i think there's a 54 issue gap until anything of substance really happens. Then 254 to 274 you have the return of Stern, Buscema and the Masters of Evil. Then the last 26 are lackluster.
And it just so happens my run ends at 300 because i can't think of anything hapening of note.
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