|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2016 8:32:33 GMT -5
I went with All-Star Squadron, Avengers as a very close second.
His love of the golden age characters was very evident in All-Star Squadron and the stories were well-written, fun, and introduced this (then)young comics fan to some wonderful adventures.
|
|
|
|
Post by dbutler69 on Apr 4, 2016 11:14:37 GMT -5
Roy Thomas is one of my favorite writers, if not my favorite, so this was tough, but I had to vote for All-Star Squadron, with the Avengers 2nd. I have to put in a good work for Arak, though. A very underrated title!
|
|
|
|
Post by String on Apr 4, 2016 20:52:27 GMT -5
While Thomas wrote my introduction to Captain Marvel within the pages of All-Star, I've only read sporadic issues of the run so I can't really judge it on it's whole merit but of the issues that I did read, I remember liking it.
So I have to go with his Avengers work, just amazing. A tentative shout-out for his 80s Shazam mini as well. I know it's generally frowned upon but I thought he had some interesting ideas within it. Plus, I've always meant to check out his X-Men run with Adams.
|
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 4, 2016 21:24:40 GMT -5
In the 80s I would definitely have said All-Star Squadron. I honestly find it almost unreadable now. It's soooo overwritten. So much needless exposition.
|
|
|
|
Post by realjla on Apr 5, 2016 2:52:31 GMT -5
Thomas gave a very slow, leisurely build-up to the big event, the 'first full-roster meeting', shown in # 32. About two months of comic-book time stretched over two and a half years of real time. By the last few issues, it was April, 1942, and a rather contrived plot that was keeping the Crisis from 'taking effect' in that time period was resolved, in # 60. The last few issues were rather perfunctory re-tellings of a handful of origins, as well as a new version of a 1940s Superman story, in which the All-Stars replaced the now non-existent original Man of Steel. The title came to an end by rehashing the JSA's first case as a team, from All-Star Comics #4.
Thomas made no secret of his dissatisfaction for how DC handled the Golden Age characters of his 'toybox' after Crisis. The sequel 'Young All-Stars' seemed like a poor man's Infinity Inc,, with a 1943 setting, and never had a clear direction. Apparently, once they'd been (temporarily) killed off in '86, the JSA couldn't be allowed to feature as prominently in the new title, despite its setting in the past. Thomas basically played out his contract, and left with as little fanfare as possible after YAS got cancelled (I never followed that title or Infinity Inc., since they were-direct only, so I'm not sure if the latter book also ended when Thomas left).
|
|
|
|
Post by tingramretro on Apr 5, 2016 3:03:14 GMT -5
Thomas gave a very slow, leisurely build-up to the big event, the 'first full-roster meeting', shown in # 32. About two months of comic-book time stretched over two and a half years of real time. By the last few issues, it was April, 1942, and a rather contrived plot that was keeping the Crisis from 'taking effect' in that time period was resolved, in # 60. The last few issues were rather perfunctory re-tellings of a handful of origins, as well as a new version of a 1940s Superman story, in which the All-Stars replaced the now non-existent original Man of Steel. The title came to an end by rehashing the JSA's first case as a team, from All-Star Comics #4. Thomas made no secret of his dissatisfaction for how DC handled the Golden Age characters of his 'toybox' after Crisis. The sequel 'Young All-Stars' seemed like a poor man's Infinity Inc,, with a 1943 setting, and never had a clear direction. Apparently, once they'd been (temporarily) killed off in '86, the JSA couldn't be allowed to feature as prominently in the new title, despite its setting in the past. Thomas basically played out his contract, and left with as little fanfare as possible after YAS got cancelled (I never followed that title or Infinity Inc., since they were-direct only, so I'm not sure if the latter book also ended when Thomas left). ended with #31, cover dated November 1989, by which time Infinity Inc. was already gone; it ended with #53, dated August 1988. Roy wrote all of them. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2016 3:26:31 GMT -5
Thomas gave a very slow, leisurely build-up to the big event, the 'first full-roster meeting', shown in # 32. About two months of comic-book time stretched over two and a half years of real time. By the last few issues, it was April, 1942, and a rather contrived plot that was keeping the Crisis from 'taking effect' in that time period was resolved, in # 60. The last few issues were rather perfunctory re-tellings of a handful of origins, as well as a new version of a 1940s Superman story, in which the All-Stars replaced the now non-existent original Man of Steel. The title came to an end by rehashing the JSA's first case as a team, from All-Star Comics #4. Thomas made no secret of his dissatisfaction for how DC handled the Golden Age characters of his 'toybox' after Crisis. The sequel 'Young All-Stars' seemed like a poor man's Infinity Inc,, with a 1943 setting, and never had a clear direction. Apparently, once they'd been (temporarily) killed off in '86, the JSA couldn't be allowed to feature as prominently in the new title, despite its setting in the past. Thomas basically played out his contract, and left with as little fanfare as possible after YAS got cancelled (I never followed that title or Infinity Inc., since they were-direct only, so I'm not sure if the latter book also ended when Thomas left). ended with #31, cover dated November 1989, by which time Infinity Inc. was already gone; it ended with #53, dated August 1988. Roy wrote all of them. Well with some help from Dann Thomas. -M |
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Apr 5, 2016 4:42:29 GMT -5
Thomas made no secret of his dissatisfaction for how DC handled the Golden Age characters of his 'toybox' after Crisis. The sequel 'Young All-Stars' seemed like a poor man's Infinity Inc,, with a 1943 setting, and never had a clear direction. Apparently, once they'd been (temporarily) killed off in '86, the JSA couldn't be allowed to feature as prominently in the new title, despite its setting in the past. Thomas basically played out his contract, and left with as little fanfare as possible after YAS got cancelled (I never followed that title or Infinity Inc., since they were-direct only, so I'm not sure if the latter book also ended when Thomas left). It must have left a bitter taste in his mouth when they gutted his childhood favorite comic characters. But I think I remember AS Squadron having the focus on the more minor heroes rather than the Big Three. |
|
|
|
Post by tingramretro on Apr 5, 2016 4:59:33 GMT -5
Thomas made no secret of his dissatisfaction for how DC handled the Golden Age characters of his 'toybox' after Crisis. The sequel 'Young All-Stars' seemed like a poor man's Infinity Inc,, with a 1943 setting, and never had a clear direction. Apparently, once they'd been (temporarily) killed off in '86, the JSA couldn't be allowed to feature as prominently in the new title, despite its setting in the past. Thomas basically played out his contract, and left with as little fanfare as possible after YAS got cancelled (I never followed that title or Infinity Inc., since they were-direct only, so I'm not sure if the latter book also ended when Thomas left). It must have left a bitter taste in his mouth when they gutted his childhood favorite comic characters. But I think I remember AS Squadron having the focus on the more minor heroes rather than the Big Three. It did. The principal characters were mostly people like Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, Robotman and Firebrand, not even the JSA. The few Golden Agers erased by the Crisis barely appeared in the book to start with. |
|
|
|
Post by dbutler69 on Apr 5, 2016 7:48:02 GMT -5
Thomas gave a very slow, leisurely build-up to the big event, the 'first full-roster meeting', shown in # 32. About two months of comic-book time stretched over two and a half years of real time. By the last few issues, it was April, 1942, and a rather contrived plot that was keeping the Crisis from 'taking effect' in that time period was resolved, in # 60. The last few issues were rather perfunctory re-tellings of a handful of origins, as well as a new version of a 1940s Superman story, in which the All-Stars replaced the now non-existent original Man of Steel. The title came to an end by rehashing the JSA's first case as a team, from All-Star Comics #4. Thomas made no secret of his dissatisfaction for how DC handled the Golden Age characters of his 'toybox' after Crisis. The sequel 'Young All-Stars' seemed like a poor man's Infinity Inc,, with a 1943 setting, and never had a clear direction. Apparently, once they'd been (temporarily) killed off in '86, the JSA couldn't be allowed to feature as prominently in the new title, despite its setting in the past. Thomas basically played out his contract, and left with as little fanfare as possible after YAS got cancelled (I never followed that title or Infinity Inc., since they were-direct only, so I'm not sure if the latter book also ended when Thomas left). As far as I'm concerned, Crisis killed what was DC's best comic at the time, with the possible exception of Legion of Super-Heroes.  |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Apr 5, 2016 10:54:59 GMT -5
Tough call for me between Conan and the Avengers, but I voted for the latter. I think Conan is probably better written and more consistent, but I also think that was more a matter of not messing up REH's basic concept while adapting it to comics, whereas he helped build much of what I think of as the classic Avengers.
|
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Apr 5, 2016 12:20:34 GMT -5
Thomas gave a very slow, leisurely build-up to the big event, the 'first full-roster meeting', shown in # 32. About two months of comic-book time stretched over two and a half years of real time. By the last few issues, it was April, 1942, and a rather contrived plot that was keeping the Crisis from 'taking effect' in that time period was resolved, in # 60. The last few issues were rather perfunctory re-tellings of a handful of origins, as well as a new version of a 1940s Superman story, in which the All-Stars replaced the now non-existent original Man of Steel. The title came to an end by rehashing the JSA's first case as a team, from All-Star Comics #4. Thomas made no secret of his dissatisfaction for how DC handled the Golden Age characters of his 'toybox' after Crisis. The sequel 'Young All-Stars' seemed like a poor man's Infinity Inc,, with a 1943 setting, and never had a clear direction. Apparently, once they'd been (temporarily) killed off in '86, the JSA couldn't be allowed to feature as prominently in the new title, despite its setting in the past. Thomas basically played out his contract, and left with as little fanfare as possible after YAS got cancelled (I never followed that title or Infinity Inc., since they were-direct only, so I'm not sure if the latter book also ended when Thomas left). As far as I'm concerned, Crisis killed what was DC's best comic at the time, with the possible exception of Legion of Super-Heroes.
Let the debates begin. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2016 12:51:00 GMT -5
As far as I'm concerned, Crisis killed what was DC's best comic at the time, with the possible exception of Legion of Super-Heroes. I wasn't a fan of the Crisis. I liked DC's Multiverse better than Marvel's Universe where everything took place in NYC. For me DC wiped out a lot of their history like the JSA, Superboy (& his ties to the LoSH), Supergirl, the Fawcett heroes, Wonder Girl origin screwed up yet again, changes to the JLA (Black Canary replacing WW).... |
|
|
|
Post by dbutler69 on Apr 5, 2016 13:14:00 GMT -5
As far as I'm concerned, Crisis killed what was DC's best comic at the time, with the possible exception of Legion of Super-Heroes. I wasn't a fan of the Crisis. I liked DC's Multiverse better than Marvel's Universe where everything took place in NYC. For me DC wiped out a lot of their history like the JSA, Superboy (& his ties to the LoSH), Supergirl, the Fawcett heroes, Wonder Girl origin screwed up yet again, changes to the JLA (Black Canary replacing WW).... Yeah, I think DC had a good thing going, something that differentiated them from Marvel, and they didn't realize it. COIE was supposed to "clean up" the DC Universe, but instead it made things more muddled and confusing than ever. People thought that the multiverse was confusing? Even as a 10 year old, I didn't have too much trouble following the concept. |
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Apr 5, 2016 13:44:52 GMT -5
I voted Conan. Other people have written Avengers well, but no one in the 20th century "got" Conan like Roy (and REH of course).
The X-Men run with Neal Adams is a sentimental favorite - those comics blew me away when they came out.
|
|
