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Post by badwolf on Apr 15, 2020 16:25:31 GMT -5
Anything by John Byrne. Even the stuff I liked less was moderately entertaining.
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Post by chadwilliam on Apr 15, 2020 17:10:50 GMT -5
The closest I can think of as "always" being enjoyable would be Dick Tracy. A newspaper strip I know, but nearly 90 years old and I've never encountered a weak period. (Mind you, I've never read anything from the "Moon" era comics which I've heard criticized for being too sci-fi for the feature, but even though, not necessarily bad). I guess it helps that Chester Gould handled the series for almost half a century before Max Allan Collins took over with his own masterful and gripping take. Even now, I hear a lot of great things about what Mike Curtis and Joe Staton are doing with the series in 2020.
Any Plastic Man while Jack Cole was working on the title.
Kind of a cheat, but since Shaxper didn't specify that they had to be good from start to finish... Pretty much any anthology title during the 1940's. How could you pick up an issue of World's Finest and not find something to like? "Don't like the opening Superman tale? How the closing Batman story, then? What about Green Arrow? Boy Commandos?" More Fun Comics - The Spectre, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Doctor Fate. Adventure Comics - Sandman, Hourman, Starman. Detective Comics - Batman, Roy Raymond, Martian Manhunter. etc.
I'll second MAD which I remember consistently enjoying at least up until the late 80's.
I'll also second any Captain Marvel comic put out by Fawcett. I haven't read them all of course, but have yet to encounter a bad one.
The Tick. Doesn't seem to matter who writes or draws the character, it seems that we've either been really lucky in terms of who's been allowed to handle this property or NEC has a very efficient screening process when assigning creators to this series. Interestingly, the same goes for his three TV series as well.
American Splendor by Harvey Pekar.
Speaking of Quality, I can vouch for Doll Man. Very creative series of which I've read maybe, 20 or so stories, but I wouldn't rate any of those as less than great.
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Post by beccabear67 on Apr 15, 2020 17:16:51 GMT -5
How could you pick up an issue of World's Finest and not find something to like? "Don't like the opening Superman tale? How the closing Batman story, then? What about Green Arrow? Boy Commandos?" More Fun Comics - The Spectre, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Doctor Fate. Adventure Comics - Sandman, Hourman, Starman. Detective Comics - Batman, Roy Raymond, Martian Manhunter. etc. I would add pretty much any DC $1 or 100Page comic, or '70s oversized 'treasury' in general, for these same reasons, which often included reprints from those '40s DC (and Quality) variety titles (and Shazam would reprint '40s-'50s Fawcett stories). |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
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Post by Confessor on Apr 15, 2020 18:15:43 GMT -5
Good call on MAD. It has it's golden eras, of course, but I've yet to read an issue of MAD that wasn't at least interesting. But pretty much any issue from between the 50s and the early 90s is gonna be great.
Someone mentioned The Spirit and I'd agree with that too. Likewise with Heavy Metal, which I've never read a bad issue of.
Charles Shultz' Peanuts is probably pretty safe too.
Astro City is very consistant too.
For British comics, you can't really go too wrong with any issue of 2000 AD. Also, the character of Dan Dare is almost always gold -- the original '50s and '60s strips especially, but even later incarnations have been at least fairly interesting.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2020 18:24:48 GMT -5
British comics....anything with my childhood sweetheart Plug
Beano, Whizzer and Chips...and the must have Annuals
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Post by kirby101 on Apr 15, 2020 18:24:54 GMT -5
Astro City, always good.
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 16, 2020 7:58:22 GMT -5
I'd have to give this more though. I'm tempted to say what draketungsten almost said that there ain't no such beast, but I'm thinking that Micronauts and All-Star Squadron didn't have any real down periods, though maybe an occasional Micronauts that wasn't as good, and All-Star Squadron certainly wasn't as good after Crisis on Infinite Earths, but it was still pretty good. Of course, those are both relatively short lived titles, so it's a lot easier to avoid a down period under those circumstances.
I haven't read a lot of the Carl Barks Disney stuff, but what I have read has been really good.
Also, I've reading Scooby Doo Team-Up. While probably not a "classic" comic because it's too new, I have to say that I'm almost at the end of that 100 issue run and there haven't been any stinkers.
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Post by brutalis on Apr 16, 2020 9:14:38 GMT -5
As you say, our own opinion as to what counts most.
Elfquest
Nexus
Badger
Grimjack
Jonny Quest
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs by Mark Schultz
anything with Carl Barks
anything with Don Rosa
Unknown Soldier
Jonah Hex
Sgt. Rock
Will Eisner Spirit
Spider-Man up to around 300, then it varies, but til then oh boy such goodness with almost any issue.
Warlord
Demon. Kirby and after, lots to enjoy
addendum for Kirby: ALL his DC after left Marvel & return to Marvel: Devil Dinosaur, Eternals, Captain America, Black Panther and 2001/Machine Man. ALWAYS moving ahead, creative, fun, exciting at a time when I was just beginning to collect and appreciate!
Swamp Thing. Classic Wein/Wrightson and even up through to current, lots of great stuff if you were to pick up any random issues.
Sable when done by Grell
Iron Man during Michelinie/Layton years
Totally agree on Marvel B/W magazines.
Conan up through #115.
Star Man
Tomb of Dracula
DC Star Trek Original and Next Generation
Star Trek Gold Key just for its own uniquely goofy take
Star Wars Marvel and Dark Horse. Yes there some lame in there but for the most part you can blindly grab good fun.
Tarzan DC and Marvel
GI Joe Marvel and IDW by Hama
Godzilla Marvel
John Carter Marvel
ROM Spaceknight
Master of Kung Fu
Iron Fist and into Powerman/Iron Fist
These folks have superb classic runs alongside some bumps in the road you can't go wrong with...
Fantastic Four
Avengers
Legion of Super-Heroes
X-Men
Additions after more thought:
JSA: Goyer/Johns
Hawman
Werewolf by Night
Doom Patrol: classic and revamps all have their own quirky charm and oddness.
70's Marvel Monster comics: Where Monsters Dwell, Where Creatures Roam, Monsters Unleashed etc.
Thor during Kirby and Buscema and Simonson years
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
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Post by shaxper on Apr 16, 2020 9:19:54 GMT -5
Demon. Kirby and after, lots to enjoy I'm starting to wonder if one could make the case that anything Kirby did after leaving Marvel for the first time belongs on this list. I can't think of any exceptions. Even his Jimmy Olsen was reasonably imaginative and entertaining. |
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Post by brutalis on Apr 16, 2020 9:40:00 GMT -5
Demon. Kirby and after, lots to enjoy I'm starting to wonder if one could make the case that anything Kirby did after leaving Marvel for the first time belongs on this list. I can't think of any exceptions. Even his Jimmy Olsen was reasonably imaginative and entertaining. I almost wanted to say the same thing. I am having to update my list as I am coming up with other ideas  |
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Post by Prince Hal on Apr 16, 2020 11:52:00 GMT -5
Echoing the love for MAD, the DC Golden Age anthologies, Astro City, The Spirit, and Dick Tracy.
Must add 1940s Batman.
The DC war line, particularly the work of Joe Kubert and Russ Heath.
DC's sf and Western lines in the 50s and 60s, especially Adam Strange.
The Atlas war comics of the 50s.
Calvin and Hobbes.
The original Popeye strips.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
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Post by Confessor on Apr 16, 2020 12:08:44 GMT -5
Brother Power, the Geek. All three issues were gold!
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Post by hondobrode on Apr 17, 2020 10:27:02 GMT -5
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Post by hondobrode on Apr 17, 2020 19:45:56 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2020 22:01:06 GMT -5
What are the comic book titles, franchises, maybe even publishers that are ALWAYS high quality? The books you can pick up at an LCS or convention and, without checking the issue number, the creators involved, nor even at the interior content, you can be sure you're going to get your money's worth? Obviously, this is personal opinion. -Any of the EC reprints from Russ Cochran/Gemstone...they're usually cheap and full of great stories and art. -Dark Horse Presents-there's usually at least one good story if not more in any issue -any issue of Heavy Metal from 1977 to about 1984-1985. -any issue of Cheval Noir -anything with classic comic strip reprints-stuff from Pogo to Dick Tracy to Terry and the Pirates to Peanuts, if it's got classic strips or features characters from classic strips in new stories I will find enjoyment in it -any Tarzan, Phantom, or Flash Gordon comic-Dell, Gold Key, Charlton, DC, Marvel or what have you, I'll find something to enjoy in it (Doc Savage, Shadow and Mandrake to a lesser extent here) -I know you said without checking the creators, but some creators are my "old faithfuls" and it doesn't matter genre, publisher, or collaborators that they are working with, I will find high quality and get my money's worth-anything by Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker, Joe Kubert, Will Eisner, Jeff Smith, Moebius (Jean Giraud), Druillet, or Scott McCloud, even their misses are usually good reads or interesting examples of the craft of making comics. If I see their involvement with a book, I'll buy it to check out regardless of anything else. There are a few others on the list I will usually grab stuff from, but I have been disappointed a few times by their stuff so not quite on this list (Warren Ellis, Kurt Busiek, Kirby, Ditko, Jodorowsky, Lemire, etc.). There are a few others I am just turning on to that might make the list but I haven't read enough from them yet to justify being on the list yet-(Rosa, Barks, etc.) -M |
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