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Post by Reptisaurus! on May 22, 2018 17:07:11 GMT -5
Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! What this thread needs is well over a hundred cover images posted without context! Somebody should get on that!
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Post by rberman on May 22, 2018 17:14:47 GMT -5
Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! What this thread needs is well over a hundred cover images posted without context! Somebody should get on that! Hey, it's the 80s. I bet 90% of us know 90% of those images pretty well. |
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Post by Bronze age andy on May 22, 2018 18:54:24 GMT -5
A few off the top of my head...
Squadron Supreme
Captain America - Scourge of the Underworld
Avengers - Under Siege
West Coast Avengers - Lost in Time
Iron Man - Armor Wars
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Post by sabongero on May 23, 2018 12:37:37 GMT -5
A few off the top of my head... Squadron Supreme Captain America - Scourge of the Underworld Avengers - Under Siege West Coast Avengers - Lost in Time Iron Man - Armor Wars I don't recall the real Scourge ever got caught. I even checked the Wikipedia entry and it was open-ended ending, that they didn't catch the real Scourge... or am I mistaken? |
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Post by sabongero on May 23, 2018 12:41:34 GMT -5
X-Men up through Paul Smith; then, I lost interest. Classic X-Men (for the reprints of the early years, plus new short stories, like why Nightcrawler gives up his image inducer) Squadron Supreme Moon Knight (Moench and Sienkiewicz)
Dominic Fortune stories in Hulk magazine (issues 21-25) The Nam Vietnam Journal Power Pack
Byrne FF Walt Simonson Thor Moore & Sienkiewicz' Brought to Light Captain BritainCrossfire (Evanier and Spiegle) The Dreamery (Eclipse anthology, with people like Donna Barr) Espers, by James Hudnall and David Lloyd ..... I'm interested in these three. Can you share some highlights that you liked on those three series? Also, Captain Britain was on the Excalibur team. What did you think of the Excalibur series? |
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Post by beyonder1984 on May 23, 2018 13:23:34 GMT -5
Too many to list..I will mention who I believe to be underrated 1980s creators (not necessarily underrated here, but when it comes to other places and history):
JM DeMatteis
Ron Frenz
Roger Stern
Mark Gruenwald
Tom Palmer
Bill Mantlo
Mike Zeck
Al Milgrom
Sal Buscema
Ann Nocenti
Marshall Rogers
I believe the 1980s to be the pinnacle of Marvel Comics. It still felt like the original 1960s universe, with characters evolving naturally and some reaching their ends. With Jim Shooter at the helm and some famous creators being at their peeks, it was truly a wondrous universe, with less mistakes and bombs than the 1960s and 1970s.
All the flagship titles brought no embarrassment to their brands. Besides the occasional missed deadline, amateur who was drafted, or overwork, the artwork was consistent and crisp.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 23, 2018 14:13:36 GMT -5
X-Men up through Paul Smith; then, I lost interest. Classic X-Men (for the reprints of the early years, plus new short stories, like why Nightcrawler gives up his image inducer) Squadron Supreme Moon Knight (Moench and Sienkiewicz)
Dominic Fortune stories in Hulk magazine (issues 21-25) The Nam Vietnam Journal Power Pack
Byrne FF Walt Simonson Thor Moore & Sienkiewicz' Brought to Light Captain BritainCrossfire (Evanier and Spiegle) The Dreamery (Eclipse anthology, with people like Donna Barr) Espers, by James Hudnall and David Lloyd ..... I'm interested in these three. Can you share some highlights that you liked on those three series? Also, Captain Britain was on the Excalibur team. What did you think of the Excalibur series? Moon Knight was a nice, classic mix of urban pulp adventure, pulp mystery, and superhero. Granted, it's a pretty blatant Batman swipe, right down to the Neal Adams styleings; but, Sienkiewicz broke free of that, over time, and it became even wilder and moodier. Meanwhile, Moench knew how to write pulp and atmospheric tales. Plus, for a comic book character, the multiple identity thing was a great hook. It had been done before in the actual pulps (and elsewhere); but, you didn't see much of that in comics. Also, it was a great character design and it just lent itself well to action. Power Pack is only something I've skimmed; but, it was almost universally praised for being "real" kids, in an adventure series. Plus, it had two great female creators, with Weezy and June Brigman. Unlike many artists, Brigman could draw children. Too many make them either look like short adults or Little People, with oddly proportioned bodies and very few writers handled children as anything more than either simpletons or geniuses. Weezy treated them like kids; smart and talented kids, but still kids. Of course, it never got the support it deserved and the pilot they did for a Power Pack series is dreadful. Marvel would be smart to revisit that. Captain Britain, once you had British writers on it, was something totally different; from American comics, at least. It had that Lewis Carroll absurdist quality that is so uniquely British, much like The Avengers tv show (John Steed et al) and The Prisoner. When it was Chris Claremont, it could have been set in the US; but, with Alan Moor, Alan Davis and Jamie Delano, it was very British. Superheroes aren't a big tradition in British comics, though they have had plenty of heroic adventurers. They just tended not to be the costumed types; more your Bulldog Drummonds and Adam Aadamants, and the like, rather than a British Batman. Captain Britain was an attempt to create a British superhero, to feature in Marvel UK comics; but, until the better British writers took over, it seemed to be more an American hero, in Union Jack (and regal lion) drag. Thing was, that absurdity (especially under Moore) made it even more horrific. The insanity of things made characters like Sir Jim Jaspers far scarier than a Doctor Doom or a Magneto. I tried Excalibur, at the start; but, didn't think much of it and never really came back to it. Other than Alan Davis' art, I wasn't pulled in. I have no idea of it got better or stayed the same or how it was under Davis, as writer. At the time, it seemed more like another X-Book. I will highly recommend Jamie Hudnall and David Lloyd's ESPers. Excellent work of espionage/adventure, which was refreshing in a world of superhero stories. Crossfire was a fine mix of old Hollywood gossip & history and good old fashioned detective and crime fiction. Evanier and Will meugnot's DNAgents was pretty decent, too, though a bit more generic, in nature. The corporate villainy aspect of it was a little more unique. Evanier caught the innocence of the characters well. There was a great "unofficial" crossover with the New Teen Titans, as well. The DNAgents appeared in Tales of the NTT, as the RECOMbatants and the Teen Titans appeared in DNAgents, as Project Youngblood. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on May 23, 2018 18:08:08 GMT -5
Hmm. I was ten in 1986 but the '80s are my least favorite decade for Marvel and DC stuff. Go figure.
Still Tales of the Beanworld is my favorite ongoing comic ever, Human Diastrophism (from Love and Rockets) is my favorite fiction story in comics, and Kim Deitch was really laying down the groundwork form the Waldo stories, which are my favorite saga in comics.
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Post by berkley on May 23, 2018 20:24:08 GMT -5
Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! What this thread needs is well over a hundred cover images posted without context! Somebody should get on that! Hey, it's the 80s. I bet 90% of us know 90% of those images pretty well. Well maybe it's only me, but there are a lot of big holes in my classic comics reading so a little more info is always welcome. Same in the favourite scans thread - a lot of them I have no idea where they come from. |
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Post by rberman on May 23, 2018 21:09:54 GMT -5
Hey, it's the 80s. I bet 90% of us know 90% of those images pretty well. Well maybe it's only me, but there are a lot of big holes in my classic comics reading so a little more info is always welcome. Same in the favourite scans thread - a lot of them I have no idea where they come from. OK... I'll run through brief thoughts about series represented by the many images in my earlier post: X-Men: The obvious choice. Big seller, great art. Superhero soap opera with ambitious long form story telling, until they tried to do too many series at once. There are three images from this series among my set of pictures. Star Wars: My parents got me started on this one, and as an early 80s kid, of course I was thrilled with the space opera. In retrospect, the art from Williamson, Simonson, and Palmer was a major part of the draw too. Fantastic Four: John' Byrne's chance to go auteur, mixing cosmic tales with intense family stories like the one about Reed and Sue's endangered pregnancy, as pictured in this heartbreaking page that was mostly solid black. Legion of Super Heroes: One of DC's answers to X-Men, a sci-fi superhero soap opera juggling an ensemble of dozens of main characters. The New Mutants: The first X-Man spinoff, before things got too unmanageable. The story of superheroes my own age was great in itself, but when Bill Sienkiewicz took over art from Sal Buscema, everything else started looking staid and obsolete. The Micronauts: In retrospect, it's a note-for-note ripoff of Star Wars, which explains why we all loved it. The first twelve issues were Golden, not just because Michael Golden was the artist. After that, it drifted and went into rinse-repeat mode until exhausted. Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew: I didn't know who Roy Thomas was. I didn't know what a "funny animal" was. I knew knew that animal super-heroes could be as fun as the human kind. Justice League of America: Like all kids of the era, I grew up watching Super-Friends on TV and thus knew these characters well. The comic books often followed a formula in which a menace struck around the world simultaneously, requiring the team to split up into twos and threes to defeat it, before reassembling. Aquaman always prayed that one attack would be near the ocean. Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld: I guess this was a comic for girls, but the art was way cool. I have a whole thread around here somewhere walking through it. Spider-Man: I actually only read this two-parter where Black Tom Cassidy and Juggernaut had been hired to kidnap Madame Web, and Spidey had to figure out how to stop the unstoppable villain. But I remember its unrelenting sense of desperation to this day. Alpha Flight: Speaking of unforgettable, this countdown sequence from Byrne's "Canadian X-Men" book shows everything I like about him, from chracterization to illustrative detail to memorable page composition. Avengers: The cornerstone Marvel team book, their JLA, attracted talent like George Perez and (seen here) Michael Golden. This was the issue where Chris Claremont had the characters vicariously lambast Jim Shooter for his shameful treatment of Ms. Marvel. Action Comics: Another one I didn't read regularly, but this two-parter by Alan Moore concerning the end of Superman had a gravitas that drew me in. It's for good reason that "Imaginary stories" often are the best, because something can actually happen. |
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Post by sabongero on Jul 2, 2020 10:46:28 GMT -5
I've been reading a lot of 1980's comic books as of late. I hope no one minds me bumping up this old thread. In case someone has 80's stories to share or even the creative team(s) they liked. Thank you.
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Post by chadwilliam on Jul 2, 2020 12:17:09 GMT -5
That was my prime collecting time! New Teen Titans, Legion of Super Heroes, Uncanny X-Men, Justice League of America, World's Finest, Detective Comics, Superman Family, Brave and the Bold, DC Comics Presents, Defenders, Avengers, Firestorm, Spider Woman, all the Archie titles First stories that come to mind...JLA 200, 194, 195-197, The Great Darkness Saga, The Defenders shake up (when Beast, Iceman, and Angel join), Pat Broderick drawing Firestorm, Henry Pym losing it in Avengers, Monica Rambeau debut at Captain Marvel, When Detective became a dollar comic, Mr and Mrs Superman in Superman family, Paul Smith drawing the X-Men, Madelyne Pryor!, Firestar's debut in X-Men,the introduction of the Blossom Twins in Archie.....so many great memories of that era! can you advise which issue numbers in World's Finest come to mind. And also, which issue numbers in DC Comics Presents and Defenders as well. I'd really appreciate it, since they series with such long runs. I'm not mrjupiter but the following issues of DC Comics Presents are the ones which I regard as the best of the series:
DC Comics Presents 33-34 - Two-part Superman/Captain Marvel team-up   Superman, Captain Marvel, The Marvel Family, Mr. Mind, Mr. Mxyzptlk - Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Rich Buckler go all out here. Packed with things to enjoy. DC Comics Presents 41 Superman, The Joker, The Prankster by Martin Pasko and gloriously beautiful artwork from Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. DC Comics Presents 50 One of my favorite Superman stories of the Bronze Age. I've praised it on these boards before, but to summarize - a machine which scans Superman's subconscious determines that the man of steel often wishes that he could be Superman all the time as opposed to having to change to Clark. The machine makes this possible to the extent that their two identities now, and according to the history books, have always existed independently of one another. Neither knows they used to be the same man and as a result, Kent no longer has to pretend to be meek and mild mannered, and Superman begins to grow obsessed with saving the world 24/7. Clark Kent becomes bold and three-dimensional while Superman gets cold and distant since he no longer connects with humanity on a personal level. Things continue along this path until Clark Kent wonders why his glasses don't seem to affect his vision, removes them, looks in the mirror, and realizes that he desperately needs to get in touch with Superman who has just made a terrible calculation.
DC Comics Presents 71 Just a fun Bizarro tale I'd also add the first DC Comics Presents Annual with its team-up of the Earth 2 Luthor and our Luthor and Earth 2 Superman and our Superman. Earth 3 makes an appearance (in fact, it might be that world's Alexander Luthor's first appearance and origin) as does Ultraman. Pretty fun stuff.  |
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Post by sabongero on Jul 2, 2020 18:23:02 GMT -5
I see that DC Comics Presents is a Superman team-up book. How would you rank super team-up books like DC Comics Presents, Marvel Two-In-One, Marvel Team-Up, and Brave and the Bold? What kind of stories do they usually offer ?
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Post by chadwilliam on Jul 3, 2020 13:03:01 GMT -5
I see that DC Comics Presents is a Superman team-up book. How would you rank super team-up books like DC Comics Presents, Marvel Two-In-One, Marvel Team-Up, and Brave and the Bold? What kind of stories do they usually offer ? I'm not too familiar with the Marvel titles so can't comment on those. Regarding DC Comics Presents, I feel that those "highlights" I mentioned are as great as the best of whatever Superman and Action were putting out at the time, but like those titles, it's quite possible to pick up, say, ten random issues of those series and find only about three or four enjoyable. That is, I can see someone reading DC Comics Presents month after month, getting ready to drop it, and then getting hit in the face with an issue which blows them away. Brave and the Bold on the other hand, I believe is more consistent quality wise. Jim Aparo drew nearly every Batman team-up and it is of course, where Neal Adams got his start on the character. I think Bob Haney is great, but it depends upon what you as a reader want. Crazy over the top stories such as The Atom jumping around inside Batman's brain after he's died to help him solve a last case from beyond the grave; Batman getting trapped in a well and shouting "Batman wants to live!" (yes, in the third person) and being overheard by Hitler (who apparently was still alive in the 1970's) who buys his soul from him - if you like stuff like that, you should love Bob Haney (who wrote most of the Batman team-ups). Even after Haney left, you got some great work from Alan Brennert (he wrote the instant classic " To Kill a Legend" from Detective #500 where Batman gets the chance to save the Waynes of another universe though Robin has reasons for believing that might not be such a good idea) as well as great stories such as the one where Batman teams up with The Joker to figure out who murdered The Penguin (#191) and the unforgettable final issue which features Mike Barr and Dave Gibbons presenting a crossover of sorts between The Earth 2 and Earth 1 Batman. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jul 3, 2020 13:30:22 GMT -5
Slingin' Sammy Baugh. Sorry to nitpick in such an enjoyable entry, codystarbuck. Captain Pedantic is an old bastard sports fan. Fun fact, speaking of Texas Rangers: Robert Duvall was a fan of Baugh's and he met him before he undertook the role of Augustus McCrae in "Lonesome Dove." Turns out we who love his portrayal owe a bit of thanks to that meeting. In an interview about three years ago, Duvall said this: "As for Sammy Baugh, I used to watch him play and I said I’d like to meet him. He had a ranch that backed up to Buster[Welch]’s.(Duvall was practicing his riding there.) We went in and talked for two hours. He didn’t know who I was, but some of the gestures he used while talking about football, I incorporated into the part."   |
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