Post by Mighty Jack on Mar 20, 2010 6:52:21 GMT -5
Dedicated to TS69 (wish you were here to contribute to this thread)
This piece does not concern mini series or graphic novels, but rather focuses on monthly comics and my favorite runs within those comics. (Therefore don’t expect to see the brilliant Watchmen included)
Also - I’m primarily a superhero guy, but I’ve tried to branch out on occasion. There are some titles that are MIA, because I’ve not read them or I can't stand them (anything by Garth Ennis, sorry)
I’m addressing those comics that I read every month, the one’s I could hardly wait to hit the shelves. These are a few of my heavy hitters from my past.
The comics that rocked my world
Spectre (DC)
John Ostrander & Tom Mandrake
1992-1998: Ostrander was a theology student and he used this knowledge to re-make the Spectre into the very wrath of God - placing him in stories where he had to struggle with question of moral ambiguity and ethics. This sweeping tale ended when Ostrander left the series (his wife grew ill and would later die of breast cancer) He was allowed to finish and close his run at issue #62. So this has a nice beginning and end. Mandrake’s moody pencils added to the eerie atmosphere and the covers were always eye catching.
Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel)
Written by: Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway etc
Drawn by: Steve Ditko, John Romita, Gil Kane, Ross Andru
A bit of a cheat as I’m including a string of writers & artists. For about 150 or so issues, Amazing was simply amazing. With teen angst and real life struggles, Peter Parker was just a regular Joe, with extraordinary powers. He had a delightfully sinister rogues gallery, but on the plus, he dated the best gals… among them Gwen Stacey, who was a part of one of the most memorable issues of my youth. With just everyone dying (and returning) in comic pages these days it might be difficult to comprehend just how shattering it was to us fans when they killed her off. It only added to the pain that Peter’s efforts to save Gwen, resulted in her death.
Stan authored the first 100 but it didn’t lose anything when new writers took over. The art was always the best. Later on, when Howard Mackie began his horrid run with all that clone crap, it was a shock. Fans complained, sales plummeted - we were spoiled. We just weren’t used to a bad Spider-Man before.
Iron Man (Marvel)
David Michelinie John Romita Jr and Bob Layton (1st run)
When David started writing this book in 1978, the impact of his arrival was felt immediately. Iron Man was suddenly brilliant. A great supporting cast highlighted intriguing adventures. Few could construct a colorful ensemble cast like Michelinie. He introduced us to Jim Rhodes and Bethany Cabe, but even the Stark Industries head of security and the secretary were interesting characters. A new Ant Man joined the staff and became cool; Justin Hammer and his army of villains were the main source of headaches for Stark. There was the legendary skirmish with Dr. Doom an epic battle with the Hulk and of course the classic issue, “Demon in the Bottle” which addressed Tony’s alcoholism.
Swamp Thing (DC)
Alan Moore & Stephen Bissett
I was enjoying the Swamp Thing series when this new guy I’d never heard of came on board in 1983, and changed everything… for the better. Moore took a standard monster tale, and turned it into something original and mind blowing. It had heart, it had poetry, it scared and creeped me out. Moore could be epic, but he never sacrificed character in those epics, and he never stopped surprising me. He made Swampy an elemental force, he brought in Sting… er, Constantine as an important supporting character. And when a pervading force of darkness humbled the all-powerful Spectre, he had Swamp Thing win the day, using words as his weapon. Stunning! (Oh and Bissett’s art was creepy too)
Daredevil (Marvel)
Frank Miller (1st run)
Cinematic film noir in style: Frank took over the title in 1979 and elevated Daredevil to the ranks of the elite and made Bullseye and Elektra pivotal figures in the Marvel universe. Frank was one of the first of the new guard, who changed the face of comics as we knew it. It was dark, violent, but exhilarating. Miller would go on to other works, both good and horrible, but in my humble opinion he has never surpassed DD (Nope, not even with the Dark Knight series). He had a second run on DD and it wasn’t bad. But the first was where the magic was.
X-Men (Marvel)
Chris Clairmont & John Byrne
Dec 1977 to March 1981: The X-Men was a decent but struggling title, rejuvenated with the arrival of writer Chris Clairmont. Then came John Bynre, who set the comics world on fire. There were wonderful X stories before Byrne and brilliant ones after, but the Clairmont/Byrne years (issues #108 to #143) were the ones that had the most impact on me. John was a comic book God at one time. The most acclaimed artist of the era. He gave us Dark Phoenix and Kitty Pryde. The title also gave us Wolverine – now anti heroes are the norm these days, but back then this violent -takes no BS- figure with a mysterious past was like nothing we had ever seen before.
Master of Kung Fu (Marvel)
Writer: Doug Moench
Artists: Paul Gulacy, Mike Zeck & Gene Day
1974 to 1983: Shang Chi, son of Fu Manchu, was the star of these compelling and strange Bond like spy stories that were steeped in the philosophical. Moench’s work was exhilarating and thought provoking (and I loved Shang’s unique inner monologues). And it brought out the best in his artists. At the top of the art heap was Paul Gualcy, who brought such rich detail to his cinematic panels. Gulacy’s James Larner looked like Brando from “Last Tango in Paris”, Clive Reston was Sean Connery and Shang had a touch of Bruce Lee. This was not a traditional Marvel superhero comic, but I adored it nonetheless.
This is where my dislike for (writer/Editor-In-Chief) Jim Shooter took root. He wanted the title turned into some Ninja crap, Gene Day fought him hard and left/was forced out (Gene would die a few months later of a heart attack at the age of 31) and the series was cancelled at #125. It has never been collected into trade paperback form but I still have my old monthlies to treasure.
Up next: Other's that left an impression and those I discovered late.
And please leave your lists as well.
This piece does not concern mini series or graphic novels, but rather focuses on monthly comics and my favorite runs within those comics. (Therefore don’t expect to see the brilliant Watchmen included)
Also - I’m primarily a superhero guy, but I’ve tried to branch out on occasion. There are some titles that are MIA, because I’ve not read them or I can't stand them (anything by Garth Ennis, sorry)
I’m addressing those comics that I read every month, the one’s I could hardly wait to hit the shelves. These are a few of my heavy hitters from my past.
The comics that rocked my world
Spectre (DC)
John Ostrander & Tom Mandrake
1992-1998: Ostrander was a theology student and he used this knowledge to re-make the Spectre into the very wrath of God - placing him in stories where he had to struggle with question of moral ambiguity and ethics. This sweeping tale ended when Ostrander left the series (his wife grew ill and would later die of breast cancer) He was allowed to finish and close his run at issue #62. So this has a nice beginning and end. Mandrake’s moody pencils added to the eerie atmosphere and the covers were always eye catching.
Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel)
Written by: Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway etc
Drawn by: Steve Ditko, John Romita, Gil Kane, Ross Andru
A bit of a cheat as I’m including a string of writers & artists. For about 150 or so issues, Amazing was simply amazing. With teen angst and real life struggles, Peter Parker was just a regular Joe, with extraordinary powers. He had a delightfully sinister rogues gallery, but on the plus, he dated the best gals… among them Gwen Stacey, who was a part of one of the most memorable issues of my youth. With just everyone dying (and returning) in comic pages these days it might be difficult to comprehend just how shattering it was to us fans when they killed her off. It only added to the pain that Peter’s efforts to save Gwen, resulted in her death.
Stan authored the first 100 but it didn’t lose anything when new writers took over. The art was always the best. Later on, when Howard Mackie began his horrid run with all that clone crap, it was a shock. Fans complained, sales plummeted - we were spoiled. We just weren’t used to a bad Spider-Man before.
Iron Man (Marvel)
David Michelinie John Romita Jr and Bob Layton (1st run)
When David started writing this book in 1978, the impact of his arrival was felt immediately. Iron Man was suddenly brilliant. A great supporting cast highlighted intriguing adventures. Few could construct a colorful ensemble cast like Michelinie. He introduced us to Jim Rhodes and Bethany Cabe, but even the Stark Industries head of security and the secretary were interesting characters. A new Ant Man joined the staff and became cool; Justin Hammer and his army of villains were the main source of headaches for Stark. There was the legendary skirmish with Dr. Doom an epic battle with the Hulk and of course the classic issue, “Demon in the Bottle” which addressed Tony’s alcoholism.
Swamp Thing (DC)
Alan Moore & Stephen Bissett
I was enjoying the Swamp Thing series when this new guy I’d never heard of came on board in 1983, and changed everything… for the better. Moore took a standard monster tale, and turned it into something original and mind blowing. It had heart, it had poetry, it scared and creeped me out. Moore could be epic, but he never sacrificed character in those epics, and he never stopped surprising me. He made Swampy an elemental force, he brought in Sting… er, Constantine as an important supporting character. And when a pervading force of darkness humbled the all-powerful Spectre, he had Swamp Thing win the day, using words as his weapon. Stunning! (Oh and Bissett’s art was creepy too)
Daredevil (Marvel)
Frank Miller (1st run)
Cinematic film noir in style: Frank took over the title in 1979 and elevated Daredevil to the ranks of the elite and made Bullseye and Elektra pivotal figures in the Marvel universe. Frank was one of the first of the new guard, who changed the face of comics as we knew it. It was dark, violent, but exhilarating. Miller would go on to other works, both good and horrible, but in my humble opinion he has never surpassed DD (Nope, not even with the Dark Knight series). He had a second run on DD and it wasn’t bad. But the first was where the magic was.
X-Men (Marvel)
Chris Clairmont & John Byrne
Dec 1977 to March 1981: The X-Men was a decent but struggling title, rejuvenated with the arrival of writer Chris Clairmont. Then came John Bynre, who set the comics world on fire. There were wonderful X stories before Byrne and brilliant ones after, but the Clairmont/Byrne years (issues #108 to #143) were the ones that had the most impact on me. John was a comic book God at one time. The most acclaimed artist of the era. He gave us Dark Phoenix and Kitty Pryde. The title also gave us Wolverine – now anti heroes are the norm these days, but back then this violent -takes no BS- figure with a mysterious past was like nothing we had ever seen before.
Master of Kung Fu (Marvel)
Writer: Doug Moench
Artists: Paul Gulacy, Mike Zeck & Gene Day
1974 to 1983: Shang Chi, son of Fu Manchu, was the star of these compelling and strange Bond like spy stories that were steeped in the philosophical. Moench’s work was exhilarating and thought provoking (and I loved Shang’s unique inner monologues). And it brought out the best in his artists. At the top of the art heap was Paul Gualcy, who brought such rich detail to his cinematic panels. Gulacy’s James Larner looked like Brando from “Last Tango in Paris”, Clive Reston was Sean Connery and Shang had a touch of Bruce Lee. This was not a traditional Marvel superhero comic, but I adored it nonetheless.
This is where my dislike for (writer/Editor-In-Chief) Jim Shooter took root. He wanted the title turned into some Ninja crap, Gene Day fought him hard and left/was forced out (Gene would die a few months later of a heart attack at the age of 31) and the series was cancelled at #125. It has never been collected into trade paperback form but I still have my old monthlies to treasure.
Up next: Other's that left an impression and those I discovered late.
And please leave your lists as well.
