shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on Jul 8, 2015 15:03:01 GMT -5
The Results are in!
As a reminder, first choices were worth 5 points, second choices were worth 4 points, and so on. Those who did not provide a full top 5 were not tabulated in the results, nor were folks who voted for publishers that were not on the list. The quick summary: 27 participants voted for 34 different publishers. 1) EC (42 pts, 13 votes, 2 first place)
2) First (35 pts, 10 votes, 5 1st place)
3) Dark Horse (32 pts, 9 votes, 2 1st)
4) Archie (30 pts, 9 votes, 4 1st)
5) Dell (28 pts, 8 votes, 2 1st)The full results can be found at: drive.google.com/file/d/0B54lG8y0zNaaUjZKU2w5VzRhSEk/viewMuch thanks to everyone who participated, and especially to wildfire2099 for tabulating these results for our enjoyment. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The next in our CCF Poll series, which was the BEST of the non-Marvel and DC publishers in classic comic book history? The RULES: 1) Reply to this thread with your Top 5 choices. Your #1 choice will be worth 5 votes, your #2 choice will be worth 4 votes, etc. wildfire2099 has generously offered to tabulate the final results. 2) There is no specific criteria for "BEST". Judge on whatever basis you like, but be sure to provide an explanation for why you chose the publishers you chose. 3) However, you must judge based upon works published ten or more years ago, as per the definition of a "classic comic" as determined by this community. 4) You must choose from the following publishers: Aardvark/Vanaheim Acclaim ACG Ait/Planet Lar Ajax/Farrell All-American Antarctic Press Apex Novelties Apple Archie / MLJ Atlas (1970s) Avatar Broadway Centaur Charlton Checker Chesler Comico Crossgen Dark Horse Defiant Dell Drawn and Quarterly EC Eclipse Eerie Fantagraphics Fawcett Fiction House First Fox Gold Key Harris Harvey Humanoids IDW IPC/Fleetway Image Kitchen Sink Last Gasp Lev Gleeson Mad Malibu Oni PC/Pacific Comics Print Mint Prize/Crestwood Quality Renegade Rip-Off Skywald Slave Labor Standard Starblaze Top Shelf Topps Tower Tundra Valiant Warren WildStorm This list was generated based upon feedback offered from this community. Any votes for a publisher not on this list will not be counted. Voting concludes at 11:59pm EST on July 15th. Happy voting!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2015 15:11:46 GMT -5
1. First Comics 2. Dark Horse 3. Eclipse 4. Warren 5. Humanoids
Tough choice and if I voted every day the order would likely change and publishers might move in and out of the list, but this is my vote today and I'll stand by it.
-M
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on Jul 8, 2015 15:20:12 GMT -5
1. First Comics 2. Dark Horse 3. Eclipse 4. Warren 5. Humanoids Tough choice and if I voted every day the order would likely change and publishers might move in and out of the list, but this is my vote today and I'll stand by it. -M Would you care to explain why they ranked the way they did on this particular day?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2015 15:22:55 GMT -5
1. First Comics 2. Dark Horse 3. Eclipse 4. Warren 5. Humanoids Tough choice and if I voted every day the order would likely change and publishers might move in and out of the list, but this is my vote today and I'll stand by it. -M Would you care to explain why they ranked the way they did on this particular day? Maybe later, I have to leave for work in about 10 minutes, so we'll see if the thoughts as to why are still floating in my head when I get done...but since I have to fast overnight for bloodwork in the morning I am not likely to be up around and on the computer after work, so we'll see. -M
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2015 15:42:15 GMT -5
1. All-American Comics (5 Votes) - Why, the creative team of Alfred Bester, Bill Finger, Sheldon Mayer, and Bill O'Connor - is something to behold and they had Scribbly, Mutt and Jeff, and the creation of "Toonerville Folks", "Mutt and Jeff", and "Ripley's Believe It or Not!".
2. Image Comics (4 Votes) - Why, it was bold, dynamic, and has some of the most memorable characters - Savage Dragon, Spawn, Wildcats, and Witchblade. It was more catered to the older teenagers and younger adults and it's has great variety for everyone to enjoy.
3. Charlton Comics (3 Votes) - Why, they were more mainstream, has great characters like Captain Atom and were successful in establishing a wide variety of of genres, including crime, science fiction, Western, horror, war and romance comics that were attractive to everyone that made successful.
4. Valiant Comics (2 Votes) - Why, they were more innovative and stylish and had great collection of talents and creative team - led by Jim Shooter and helped Marvel Comics as today.
5. Archie Comics (1 Vote) - Why, they tend to capture the Youth Market with fun comics and pretty much a mainstream for generations.
Not Easy Assignment Shax.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jul 8, 2015 15:49:01 GMT -5
Here's my sine qua non list. Each of these publishers left an indelible impression, were widely imitated, and their quality was never really exceeded. And all still stand the test of time: their best stories, characters, artists and writers are as good as this art form gets. Even their mid-level stuff is better than most other companies' best.
1) Archie (the last pure comics publisher?)
2) EC (altered the zeitgeist forever)
3) Dell (children's comics, gold-amongst-the dross reputation, Barks; did Dell save comics in the 50s?)
4) All-American (iconic, archetypical ur-heroes -- and the JSA)
5) Fawcett (Captain Marvel... a true product of his age. I don't think his magic can ever be recaptured given the changes in our culture, but his power and presence at his peak demand recognition)
NB: I was going to include MAD as a game-changer, but made a mental reservation (in order to include A-A comics) that it is the direct descendant of EC. Again, I could be persuaded otherwise...
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Post by Phil Maurice on Jul 8, 2015 16:40:18 GMT -5
5. Archie/MLJ: Archie is of course an American institution, but my choice here is based largely on MLJ's war-time output. They gave us the first patriotic super-hero (The Shield), the first super-hero killed in action (The Comet), and the first "legacy" hero, The Hangman. Ultra-violent stories featuring deranged villains and brutal heroes gradually gave way to sunny tales of Riverdale's teens. Vigorous art by Irv Novick and Bob Fujitani was especially memorable.
4. Fox: Comics' P.T. Barnum, Victor Fox declared himself "King of Comics" and then proceeded to unleash upon the world some of the most notorious horror and crime comic books ever published. Matt Baker and Jack Kamen did some of the finest work of their storied careers on titles like "Blue Beetle," "Phantom Lady," and "Rulah, Jungle Goddess." Along with other lurid titles like "Famous Crimes" and "Crimes by Women," Fox became the gold standard for "good girl art."
3. Quality: From Jack Cole's wildly inventive "Plastic Man" to Lou Fine's The Ray to Reed Crandall's stunning work on "Blackhawk," Quality Comics lived up to its name. These three artists can be said to have established Quality's reputation for dazzling draftsmanship and imaginative storytelling, often competing among themselves to produce the most lavishly detailed pages.
2. Fawcett: The Big Red Cheese, Captain Marvel, a character so beloved he even outsold Superman. This alone justifies Fawcett's place on my list, but the publisher had much more to offer: Bulletman, Ibis the Invincible, Spy Smasher, Captain Midnight. Beautiful artwork by Mac Raboy elevated an otherwise derivative title (Captain Marvel Jr.) into the realm of genius. Later work on the character by Al Carreno, Bud Thompson, and Kurt Schaffenberger also shone brightly.
1. EC Comics: For an old fan-addict like me, there can be no other. Bill Gaines, Al Feldstein, and Harvey Kurtzman, working with the top artistic talent at the height of their creative powers created a sensation that resonates to this day. The staff roster reads like a Who's Who of comic art royalty, and whether it was crime, horror, sci-fi, or humor, EC produced many of the finest covers and stories in the entire medium of comics. Potrzebie!
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Post by richardwrite on Jul 8, 2015 16:52:24 GMT -5
My votes have to go for those with a lasting legacy. For that reason: 1. Archie Comics -- One of the only ones on that list to have movies, radio shows and TV shows made after its characters. 2. Harvey Comics--Same thing, movies and TV shows testify to their legacy. 3. Gold Key for bringing a lot of properties from other media to comics 4. Fawcett--solely because of the impact in other media of Captain Marvel. 5. Image Comics--Of the ones that are left, the current great that makes the Big Two take notice.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 8, 2015 17:00:50 GMT -5
1. Dell 2. Fawcett 3. Gold Key 4. First Comics 5. Fantagraphics
I would've voted for All-American but its business ties to DC, which existed from the beginning, disqualify it as non-Big Two.
Cei-U! I summon the sticking point!
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Post by Dizzy D on Jul 8, 2015 17:16:29 GMT -5
1. Wildstorm: I explained why I didn't really consider this as a seperate entity, but they published several of my favourite titles: Wildcats 3.0, Planetary, Ellis' Stormwatch, Automatic Kafka, Sleeper and non-universe titles like Global Frequency, all of ABC comics, Steampunk...
2. Comico: Was doubting between Dark Horse or Comico here and mostly for 1 creator: Matt Wagner. Comico had Grendel *and* Mage, so it barely wins. Dark Horse gets third place.
3. Dark Horse: Despite having listing Comico higher, I think I like more Dark Horse titles (don't think I read much of Comico beyond Grendel and Mage). Dark Horse had Hellboy, Sin City, Hardboiled and some Star Wars comics (and Empowered, but that one doesn't count for this list.).. afraid I never read Usagi Yojimbo though, something which I still need to correct.
4. Slave Labor Graphics: For nearly all things Evan Dorkin has done (Hectic Planet gets very close to a perfect comic for me).
5. First Comics: Jon Sable, Grimjack, Dreadstar and so much more.
Honorable mentions to Oni and Crossgen.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2015 17:20:19 GMT -5
1. Fantagraphics - Their output isn't huge, but it's a lineup of the best comics to ever have seen print. 2. Warren - I love mags, these guys made the best ones out of what I've sampled so far. 3. EC - Talent that far surpassed their peers at the time. And impressive bold subject matter, landing on the right side of social issues we no longer debate, like racism. 4. Kitchen Sink - Some of my favorite undergrounds and alternatives. 5. Last Gasp - Same as above. Almost didn't choose two alternative/underground publishers and seriously considered Dark Horse for this slot. And honestly, if I had seen Image at the time I compiled the list I'd have given it to them. But I'm sticking to it, Weirdo alone lands them on the list for me.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 8, 2015 18:39:25 GMT -5
EC Comics-my all time favorite lineup of artists, great SF, horror and war stories and, of course Mad
Eclipse-Zot and Ms Tree were some of my fav 80s titles. This publisher had a large array of quality books
Warren-my second favorite conglomeration of artists. Its first few years was like the 2nd coming of EC. The only mainstream adult reading in comics available during the Comic Code tyranny
First-Dreadstar, Lone Wolf & Cub, the early American Flagg and especially Nexus. Great stuff
Tower-A childhood favorite for me. Since they had so much Wally Wood work and cost twice as much as its competition, it was special to me
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Post by marvelmaniac on Jul 8, 2015 19:48:47 GMT -5
These are the books from my childhood before Marvel came along so they have sentimental meaning to me. Still Collect Sad Sack, Four Color/Beany and Cecil, Tom Terrific and Bought the Archie Books when Archie "Got Married", just because I had to see if it was real.
1)Harvey 2)Dell 3)Gold Key 4)Standard 5)Archie / MLJ
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 8, 2015 20:09:55 GMT -5
NB: I was going to include MAD as a game-changer, but made a mental reservation (in order to include A-A comics) that it is the direct descendant of EC. Again, I could be persuaded otherwise... Mad is the last vestige of EC. It started as an EC comic and was the only EC book to survive via its transition to a magazine. I can't see a good reason for it to be separate from EC.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 8, 2015 20:26:51 GMT -5
1. First Comics - the most consistently good of the 80s indies.
2. EC/Mad - Absolute game-changer. And the most influential humor magazine ever.
3. Dell - some of the finest comics ever. The Duck books alone put them here.
4. Eclipse - second only to First among the 80s indies.
5. Pacific Comics - started the 80s indie trend. Rocketeer...Groo...Starslayer.
And I'm with Kurt. All-American's relationship with DC/National makes it really hard for me to see them as a separate company.
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