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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 4, 2020 18:51:51 GMT -5
Malibu was one of the more prominent 90s publishers. For anyone here that has read Malibu comics, how would you sum up the overall quality of their material? I only tried the Bravura line, and the term that comes to mind is “derivative”. It’s as if the strategy of the line was “let’s pick several good creators and let them repeat what they did successfully in the past”. Definitely a step up from “let’s hire newbies we don’t have to pay a lot and ask them to copy what great creators did in the past” (which is how I would define the strategy of both Marvel and DC for a lot or material), but also not something that I particularly latched unto. The Dreadstar run, in particular, was a disappointment. Somehow, the Valiant effort worked a lot better for me, for all that it didn’t have Chaykin, Starlin or Simonson. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Apr 4, 2020 20:37:55 GMT -5
I admit to being a 90's comic slut. I bought just about every new Superhero line.
Bravura
Ultraverse
Comics greatest world
Topps comics
The Kirbyverse
Image
Milestone
Valiant
Broadway
Defiant
I'm sure a missed a few.
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Post by rberman on Apr 4, 2020 20:58:59 GMT -5
I would give these three unequivocal recommendations. Age of Bronze is glorious, A Distant Soil is Doran's most interesting and perhaps best work, and Bone is the one comics I would pick if I could only ever read one series over and over again. It is simply delightful and offers something new every time I read it. -M I've heard of Colleen Doran, though I don't think I've read much of her stuff before, so that’s nice to know! Here is our "A Distant Soil" review thread: classiccomics.org/thread/6393/distant-soil-issueThe series is still a few issues from completion but has been on hold for a while. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 4, 2020 21:31:32 GMT -5
I covered Malibu on the Other Guys Thread. So far, I have covered:
Archie/MLJ
Continuity
First
Eclipse
Dark Horse
Western/Dell/Gold Key/Whitman
Tower
Malibu
Image
Continuum
New England (The Tick)
Comico
Charlton
Harvey
Star*Reach
Vortex
Renegade
Aardvark-Vanaheim
Pacific
Kitchen Sink
Tundra
Caliber
Innovation
Hepcats
Justice Machine
Millennium
Cody Starbuck
Bone
Atlas/Seaboard
AC Comics
a few others I can't think of, off the top of my head. Pretty much most pre-1980 non-DC & Marvel companies, most of the early 80s indies, most of the late 80s/90s indies of note and a few smaller ones. I'm doing Fantagraphics right now.
Malibu was a mish-mash of imprints, largely because of how they got started and continued. Scott Rosenberg started a couple of publishing imprints, with his distribution company, that got merged into Malibu. All of these were parts of Malibu:
Aircel
Adventure
Eternity
Pied Piper
Wonder Color
Some were separate entities that merged with them, others were imprints they started, but phased out, by the early 90s. The Ultraverse line began after they got the big cash influx from their publishing the first year of Image (Image used Malibu to handle the publishing side, for a year, then took it all in house), then started the Bravura creator-owned line, plus had their Malibu-branded line (Protectors, Dinosaurs for Hire, etc)
Malibu depended on licensed titles, rookie creators, reprints, foreign reprints, public domain, and knock-offs, for their early years, jumping in during the black & white boom of 1986-87. They were on the small side for a while, until the Image deal, then the Ultraverse launch. They were number 3, with the Image sale, behind DC and Marvel, though that changed when Image struck out on their own. Then, they sold off to Marvel. The story was Marvel bought them for their coloring department. The truth was DC was sniffing around, with a possible buy, so Marvel snapped it up to keep DC from adding their market share to their own.
Malibu had good titles throughout their life, a lot of mediocre ones, a lot of short-lived material and some oddities. Protectors was a nice idea that was badly executed, overall. The promo material was way better than the actual comics. Ultraverse had some really good stuff and some interesting ideas that kind of went up and down. Bravura had a few good ideas and some lesser work by noted creators.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2020 22:41:03 GMT -5
Of the Bravura stuff, I really liked 'Breed by Starlin, Star Slammers by Simonson, Nocturnals by Brereton, and Metaphysique by Breyfogle. I also enjoyed The Edge by Steven Grant and Gil Kane, but it was left unfinished until much later (the final issues was only released in a trade by a small press publisher and I have never seen it). Dreadstar by David & Colon and Chaykin's Power and Glory were disappointments. I don't think I tried any of the others, though I may be forgetting one that I did.
Of the Ultraverse stuff, Firearm was the cream of the crop for me. Englehart's books-Strangers and Nightman were both interesting but never fully realized their potential. Nightman had a lot of artists who would go one to be phenomenal (Gene Ha, Darick Robertson, Kyle Hotz etc.) but most were only on for a few issues and were still early in their careers still learning their craft. They also suffered from mediocre inker syndrome as well. Strangers had Rick Hoberg on art for most of the run, who I find competent but pedestrian more often than not.
Rune looked glorious with Barry Windsor-Smith on art, but I found the story to be meh at best and a hot mess at worst.
I was in on Perez and Ellis' Ultraforce, and it had its moments, but it also felt like it was a plae shadow of Avengers or Justice LEague most of the time, and the Break-Thru cross-over mini had very good Perez art but was just a bloated hot mess overall.
Lord Pumpkin was a favorite though.
Mantra featured good girl art by the Dodsons, but the writing was ham-fisted and the conceit (a make trapped in a gorgeous warrior woman's devolved into make fan service without any redeeming qualities very quickly.
Sludge was Gerber doing a muck monster again, and he didn't really break any new ground with it this time, so it all felt very been there done that before. The Red X-Mas special though did reunite Gerber and Mike Ploog and is at least worth a look.
The rest just seemed to be equal parts derivative or uninspired even though they has creators I liked (Prime, Hardcase, The Solution, Freex, etc.)
-M
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2020 23:37:58 GMT -5
It would have been late in the 90s when I discovered comics with certificates. It's nice to know Dynamic Forces is still around some 20 years later. Here's one of my favourites from the time, Wolverine 145...this had a chrome cover. Remember I was a teen at the time so this had me cooing softly
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Post by electricmastro on Apr 5, 2020 21:17:28 GMT -5
Marvel probably gets more flack for its general quality they had in the 90s than DC. And speaking of which, some of the titles they started publishing in the late 80s and 90s included:
Wolverine (1988-2003)
Marvel Comics Presents (1988-1995)
Silver Surfer (1987-1998)
X-Force (1991-2002)
Excalibur (1988-1998)
What If...? (1989-1998)
X-Men (1991-2001)
Cable (1993-2002)
The Punisher (1987-1995)
Spider-Man (1990-1998)
Conan Saga (1987-1995)
Ghost Rider (1990-1998)
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (1988-1996)
Generation X (1994-2001)
X-Man (1995-2001)
The New Warriors (1990-1996)
Deadpool (1997-2002)
Black Panther (1998-2003)
Guardians of the Galaxy (1990-1995)
Namor, the Sub-Mariner (1990-1995)
Marc Spector: Moon Knight (1989-1994)
Quasar (1989-1994)
The Sensational She-Hulk (1989-1994)
Darkhawk (1991-1995)
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1989-1993)
Doom 2099 (1993-1996)
Warlock and the Infinity Watch (1992-1995)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack (1992-1995)
Deathlok (1991-1994)
Ravage 2099 (1992-1995)
Sleepwalker (1991-1994)
Morbius: The Living Vampire (1992-1995)
Mutant X (1998-2001)
Wonder Man (1991-1994)
What The--?! (1988-1993)
Gambit (1999-2001)
Nomad (1992-1994)
The Secret Defenders (1993-1995)
War Machine (1994-1996)
And of course there were the long-lasting Fantastic Four, Avengers, Daredevil, Thor, Incredible Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man titles which were running through the 90s as well.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 5, 2020 21:33:53 GMT -5
Marvel deserves the flack they took in the 90s. Their editorial department was a hot mess, their best writers had defected to DC or the indies and the art quality had dropped considerably. Claremont's record was skipping with endless redos of Alien and his other tropes. Gruenwald's Cap had the odd moment but was more odd than had moments. Avengers was mostly on auto-pilot, apart from Roger Stern. The Spidey books were doing their version of Attack of the Clones. Simonson was doing good work; but, more writing than art, by that stage. DeFalco really had no clear vision and the owners didn't give a Lockjaw deposit. They just used Marvel to earn cash from endless stock offerings and junk bond issues. Never let venture capitalists near comics as the screw them up every time (Marvel and Valiant).
DC had clearer editorial vision and better writers, though their quality was slipping on several fronts. They did benefit from the Marvel defections and plenty of UK talent and indie recruits. Still, they had peaked by the early 9os and were starting to dip down by the mid-90s. Depended on the book, but definitely on the core titles. Their best stuff was Vertigo and some of the more under the radar things, like Starmabn and Waid's Flash, which had to work its way into the spotlight over a long period of time. Justice League goes through some hefty transition before Morrison.
I found the indies far more satisfying in that decade, though a lot of them would go belly up by the middle of the decade and most by the end. That is the decade when trade reprints really become the standard, as it was still very much in the developmental stages in the 80s.
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Post by electricmastro on Apr 5, 2020 21:47:41 GMT -5
Marvel deserves the flack they took in the 90s. Their editorial department was a hot mess, their best writers had defected to DC or the indies and the art quality had dropped considerably. Claremont's record was skipping with endless redos of Alien and his other tropes. Gruenwald's Cap had the odd moment but was more odd than had moments. Avengers was mostly on auto-pilot, apart from Roger Stern. The Spidey books were doing their version of Attack of the Clones. Simonson was doing good work; but, more writing than art, by that stage. DeFalco really had no clear vision and the owners didn't give a Lockjaw deposit. They just used Marvel to earn cash from endless stock offerings and junk bond issues. Never let venture capitalists near comics as the screw them up every time (Marvel and Valiant) Yeah, and whether quality had directly to do with it or not, them blowing their load on cover variants, attempting to capitalize on how well issues like X-Men #1 had sold, making the Clone Saga last longer than it should have, as well as the threat of them going bankrupt really just made them look like on big hot mess if nothing else. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 23:07:06 GMT -5
It gave us Carnage and Joker in a so-so Spidey/Batman crossover...
...but was nothing compared to the first 2 Supes/Spidey crossovers.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 7, 2020 5:01:29 GMT -5
I found the indies far more satisfying in that decade, though a lot of them would go belly up by the middle of the decade and most by the end. I fondly remember the years of Berlin, Finder, Bone, Cerebus, Love & Rockets, Brat Pack, Milk & Cheese, Strangehaven, Tyrant, From Hell and so many others. While the Big Two seemed caught in an awkward Ouroboros maneuver with their superhero titles, the indies kept bringing us new, creative and fun material. With the former, it’s as if everything had already been said and the publishers were trying hard to find a reason to keep the lines going, while with the latter you really felt the creative urge of the people involved. |
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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 7, 2020 9:15:37 GMT -5
I covered Malibu on the Other Guys Thread. So far, I have covered: Archie/MLJ Continuity First Eclipse Dark Horse Western/Dell/Gold Key/Whitman Tower Malibu Image Continuum New England (The Tick) Comico Charlton Harvey Star*Reach Vortex Renegade Aardvark-Vanaheim Pacific Kitchen Sink Tundra Caliber Innovation Hepcats Justice Machine Millennium Cody Starbuck Bone Atlas/Seaboard AC Comics a few others I can't think of, off the top of my head. Pretty much most pre-1980 non-DC & Marvel companies, most of the early 80s indies, most of the late 80s/90s indies of note and a few smaller ones. I'm doing Fantagraphics right now. Malibu was a mish-mash of imprints, largely because of how they got started and continued. Scott Rosenberg started a couple of publishing imprints, with his distribution company, that got merged into Malibu. All of these were parts of Malibu: Aircel Adventure Eternity Pied Piper Wonder Color Some were separate entities that merged with them, others were imprints they started, but phased out, by the early 90s. The Ultraverse line began after they got the big cash influx from their publishing the first year of Image (Image used Malibu to handle the publishing side, for a year, then took it all in house), then started the Bravura creator-owned line, plus had their Malibu-branded line (Protectors, Dinosaurs for Hire, etc) Malibu depended on licensed titles, rookie creators, reprints, foreign reprints, public domain, and knock-offs, for their early years, jumping in during the black & white boom of 1986-87. They were on the small side for a while, until the Image deal, then the Ultraverse launch. They were number 3, with the Image sale, behind DC and Marvel, though that changed when Image struck out on their own. Then, they sold off to Marvel. The story was Marvel bought them for their coloring department. The truth was DC was sniffing around, with a possible buy, so Marvel snapped it up to keep DC from adding their market share to their own. Malibu had good titles throughout their life, a lot of mediocre ones, a lot of short-lived material and some oddities. Protectors was a nice idea that was badly executed, overall. The promo material was way better than the actual comics. Ultraverse had some really good stuff and some interesting ideas that kind of went up and down. Bravura had a few good ideas and some lesser work by noted creators.
Please allow me to slide off a tangent here. Not directly related to the '90's topic of this thread, but that's a might fine list of indy coverage. Even so, I noticed that Fictioneer (aka Comics Interview) isn't on the list.
Any chance of doing an "Other Guys" entry on David Anthony Kraft's Fictioneer comics line? Back in the early-mid '80's I never missed an issue of Southern Knights or Aristocratic Xtraterrestrial Time-Traveling Thieves (aka "X-Thieves"). X-Thieves was a great little book with some very nice early Mark Propst b/w artwork. Fictioneer had a few other comics titles as well, but those were the flagship books. They were quite popular here in the Southeastern USA, but not sure how well they fared in other markets. Both books lasted into the early '90's.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 7, 2020 11:18:47 GMT -5
I have plans to cover them; but just haven't gotten to it yet.
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Post by Duragizer on Apr 7, 2020 22:32:27 GMT -5
One thing's for sure: Doc Ock's fashion sense was better in the '90s.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2020 23:07:09 GMT -5
One thing's for sure: Doc Ock's fashion sense was better in the '90s. nah, it was after Labor Day, so a white suit was a fashion faux pas... -M |
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