Reflections on 50 Years of Comics Love
Nov 16, 2016 22:07:43 GMT -5
shaxper, hondobrode, and 2 more like this
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 16, 2016 22:07:43 GMT -5
Not to detract from the other thread; this is just a a musing. I turned 50 yesterday, which makes you reflect. Now, my title is a bit of a misnomer, as I wasn't reading comics until about age 4 (roughly); but, I was always drawn to illustrative works and that includes comic strips and comic books.
I was born when DC was the top company; but, the gloves were starting to come off at Marvel. They had new distribution and were expanding their line. The Silver Age was essentially over, by the time I was actually reading comics; but, it was a more diverse industry. You still had war comics, westerns, romance, sci-fi, funny animals, pure kid's comics, Archie and his gang. Gold Key and Charlton were thriving, if not always exciting ventures. My early loves were Super Goof, uncle Scrooge and the Junior Woodchucks, as well as Fox & the Crow and the Three Mouseketeers. i know I read the Fox & the Crow; but, it had turned over to Stanley and his Monster, before I was reading. i must have either gotten old issues (possibly from the old bagged sets) or hand-me-downs. Thouse were wildly inventive and slapsticky fun.
Superheroes came with a new neighbor who had some DC and Marvel. that grew slowly, as comics weren't easy to find, in my neck of the woods. A cousin had better luck, as he had a used bookstore where he got all kinds of old comics, cheaply. He had a big collection and I could dig through it when we visited. i wasn't picky, if it was comics I read it. Little Dot? Sure, why not. Christian Spire religious comics? A couple, mainly The Hiding Place and one of the Arche ones. Another neighbor picked up a stack of Treasure Chest of Fun and Facts, the Catholic comic book, distributed to Catholic schools. He ended up giving them to me. There was some treasure in there. My local church used to get Pix, a weekly pamphlet for Sunday schools, with comics and stories. Most were biblical adaptations, from people like Andre LeBlanc; some were original tales, like Tullus, about a young Roman christian, who travels around the biblical world. irv Novick did some work on those. I'm an atheist; but, my family went to church and those were good stories (atheism grew over time). Space Family Robinson and Turock were non-superhero favorites and The Phantom was a favorite the moment I laid eyes upon him.
As I grew older, I started to earn my own money. From about 1976 onward, I started collecting more and more comics. That's where I really got to experience my favorites, like Howard Chaykin, Mike Grell, Walt Simonson, Marshall Rogers, George Perez, and John Byrne. I loved Cary Bates and Elliot S! Maggin Superman stories. I devoured JLA/JSA crossovers. My cousin had a bunch of Gerber Defenders, which I loved, leading me to buy the David Anthony Kraft and Kieth Giffen issues. Don Newton became a quick favorite; Curt Swan and Dick Dillin were Superman and the JLA, as far as I was concerned.
At the dawn of the 80s came New Teen Titans and I was in heaven. Also, sporadic X-men reading had grown into full time. I also caught onto how good the Legion stories were becoming. Daredevil, which I enjoyed under Marv Wolfman and Gil kane & Jim Shooter, had some new kid writing and drawing it. Interest in superheroes was waning, just as I discovered the new indies and Jon Sable, Freelance and American Flagg. i also got to see the Micronauts Special Editions, which filled in the gaps for the handful of issues I had (#5,7, 9-11) of the first year (I had sporadic, until #24, then had up to #36). I also saw this magazine comic in the same bookstore, about a guy who looked abit like Space Ghost; but, was called Nexus.
College led me into my first comic shop and pure heaven. New comics, old favorites, ones I'd heard of but never read, British comics; they were all there. I witnessed the latter third of Crisis and snatched up the previous issues. I was soon buying Man of Steel and Dark Knight, Watchmen and V For Vendetta. I started to branch out, with Scout and Airboy and Miracleman. I found little gems, like Strike and The American, interesting mini-series, and graphic novels. I read my first manga, with Lone Wolf and Cub, Area 88 and Mai the Psychic Girl. That was when I truly became a student of the art form, devouring everything. It carried over to adulthood and Naval service, in Charleston, SC, where two local shops fed my desires (one for the weeklies, the other for quirky graphic novels, trade collections, and the odd back issue and indie comic). Other used book stores and comic shops in Charleston, Columbia, and Charlotte, NC fed me even more.
I went to my first comic convention in Augusta, GA, where I met Tom Lyle, the artist on the relatively new Starman series and artist on Strike, a college favorite. I got my first sketch (Sgt. Strike). I went to the Atlanta Fantasy Fair, for my first big convention, where I met Joe Staton and got my E-Man #1 signed and a sketch of Captain Marvel (the original). I got a signed photo of Marc Singer for my sister's birthday (a big fan), bootleg episodes of Jonny Quest and the Heavy Metal movie. I bought a retrospective of The Wild wild West and The Avengers (the UK tv show). I got the Mike Grell Starslayer portfolio and Paul Gulacy Black Widow portfolio. i bought my first Golden Age comic (Black Terror). I attended a Heroes Con, after that, where I met Gil Kane (signed my copy of THUNDER Agents) Kieth Giffen, the Bierbaums, Dave Dorman, Julie Schwartz, Mark Gruenwald, and Dick Giardano.
The 90s pushed me more into the indies and the quirkier areas of DC (very little Marvel), with things like Starman and Vertigo offerings (like American Century). A couple of local conventions allowed me to have a couple of long conversations with Doug Rice, about Manhunter and Dynamo Joe. I met Len Stazewski and Clarke Hawbaker, as well as local artist Tom Artis. Working for a book store allowed me access to trades and graphic novels that my local shop didn't carry and see it grow. i witnessed the manga boom firsthand, and booted a bunch of freeloaders out of the middle of our floor (read them, just don't lie in the middle of the aisle to do it). I read European stuff from NBM and rediscovered some older Catalan Communications books. The internet gave me access to the Titan books colelctions of Zenith, while my store gave me contact with the reprinted Judge Dredd (with the release of the Stallone film). I bought the Humanoids books that DC distributed. My regular comic reading was waning, in favor of book collections. Apart from brief forays, I was mostly done with superheroes, other than the residents of Astro City.
Recent years have been filled with digital collections and offerings from Cinebook, Image, and IDW, with an odd Dark Horse or two. I find I enjoy more older material and foreign stuff, than American, apart from the really quirky and innovative stuff, like Lumberjanes and Elephant Men and Velvet. I enjoy the pulp comics of Dynamite, short-lived though they are. Time has been fed by podcasts and these message boards, interacting with other lovers of the form and new readers in search of broader horizons.
It's been a pretty good 50 four-color years.
I was born when DC was the top company; but, the gloves were starting to come off at Marvel. They had new distribution and were expanding their line. The Silver Age was essentially over, by the time I was actually reading comics; but, it was a more diverse industry. You still had war comics, westerns, romance, sci-fi, funny animals, pure kid's comics, Archie and his gang. Gold Key and Charlton were thriving, if not always exciting ventures. My early loves were Super Goof, uncle Scrooge and the Junior Woodchucks, as well as Fox & the Crow and the Three Mouseketeers. i know I read the Fox & the Crow; but, it had turned over to Stanley and his Monster, before I was reading. i must have either gotten old issues (possibly from the old bagged sets) or hand-me-downs. Thouse were wildly inventive and slapsticky fun.
Superheroes came with a new neighbor who had some DC and Marvel. that grew slowly, as comics weren't easy to find, in my neck of the woods. A cousin had better luck, as he had a used bookstore where he got all kinds of old comics, cheaply. He had a big collection and I could dig through it when we visited. i wasn't picky, if it was comics I read it. Little Dot? Sure, why not. Christian Spire religious comics? A couple, mainly The Hiding Place and one of the Arche ones. Another neighbor picked up a stack of Treasure Chest of Fun and Facts, the Catholic comic book, distributed to Catholic schools. He ended up giving them to me. There was some treasure in there. My local church used to get Pix, a weekly pamphlet for Sunday schools, with comics and stories. Most were biblical adaptations, from people like Andre LeBlanc; some were original tales, like Tullus, about a young Roman christian, who travels around the biblical world. irv Novick did some work on those. I'm an atheist; but, my family went to church and those were good stories (atheism grew over time). Space Family Robinson and Turock were non-superhero favorites and The Phantom was a favorite the moment I laid eyes upon him.
As I grew older, I started to earn my own money. From about 1976 onward, I started collecting more and more comics. That's where I really got to experience my favorites, like Howard Chaykin, Mike Grell, Walt Simonson, Marshall Rogers, George Perez, and John Byrne. I loved Cary Bates and Elliot S! Maggin Superman stories. I devoured JLA/JSA crossovers. My cousin had a bunch of Gerber Defenders, which I loved, leading me to buy the David Anthony Kraft and Kieth Giffen issues. Don Newton became a quick favorite; Curt Swan and Dick Dillin were Superman and the JLA, as far as I was concerned.
At the dawn of the 80s came New Teen Titans and I was in heaven. Also, sporadic X-men reading had grown into full time. I also caught onto how good the Legion stories were becoming. Daredevil, which I enjoyed under Marv Wolfman and Gil kane & Jim Shooter, had some new kid writing and drawing it. Interest in superheroes was waning, just as I discovered the new indies and Jon Sable, Freelance and American Flagg. i also got to see the Micronauts Special Editions, which filled in the gaps for the handful of issues I had (#5,7, 9-11) of the first year (I had sporadic, until #24, then had up to #36). I also saw this magazine comic in the same bookstore, about a guy who looked abit like Space Ghost; but, was called Nexus.
College led me into my first comic shop and pure heaven. New comics, old favorites, ones I'd heard of but never read, British comics; they were all there. I witnessed the latter third of Crisis and snatched up the previous issues. I was soon buying Man of Steel and Dark Knight, Watchmen and V For Vendetta. I started to branch out, with Scout and Airboy and Miracleman. I found little gems, like Strike and The American, interesting mini-series, and graphic novels. I read my first manga, with Lone Wolf and Cub, Area 88 and Mai the Psychic Girl. That was when I truly became a student of the art form, devouring everything. It carried over to adulthood and Naval service, in Charleston, SC, where two local shops fed my desires (one for the weeklies, the other for quirky graphic novels, trade collections, and the odd back issue and indie comic). Other used book stores and comic shops in Charleston, Columbia, and Charlotte, NC fed me even more.
I went to my first comic convention in Augusta, GA, where I met Tom Lyle, the artist on the relatively new Starman series and artist on Strike, a college favorite. I got my first sketch (Sgt. Strike). I went to the Atlanta Fantasy Fair, for my first big convention, where I met Joe Staton and got my E-Man #1 signed and a sketch of Captain Marvel (the original). I got a signed photo of Marc Singer for my sister's birthday (a big fan), bootleg episodes of Jonny Quest and the Heavy Metal movie. I bought a retrospective of The Wild wild West and The Avengers (the UK tv show). I got the Mike Grell Starslayer portfolio and Paul Gulacy Black Widow portfolio. i bought my first Golden Age comic (Black Terror). I attended a Heroes Con, after that, where I met Gil Kane (signed my copy of THUNDER Agents) Kieth Giffen, the Bierbaums, Dave Dorman, Julie Schwartz, Mark Gruenwald, and Dick Giardano.
The 90s pushed me more into the indies and the quirkier areas of DC (very little Marvel), with things like Starman and Vertigo offerings (like American Century). A couple of local conventions allowed me to have a couple of long conversations with Doug Rice, about Manhunter and Dynamo Joe. I met Len Stazewski and Clarke Hawbaker, as well as local artist Tom Artis. Working for a book store allowed me access to trades and graphic novels that my local shop didn't carry and see it grow. i witnessed the manga boom firsthand, and booted a bunch of freeloaders out of the middle of our floor (read them, just don't lie in the middle of the aisle to do it). I read European stuff from NBM and rediscovered some older Catalan Communications books. The internet gave me access to the Titan books colelctions of Zenith, while my store gave me contact with the reprinted Judge Dredd (with the release of the Stallone film). I bought the Humanoids books that DC distributed. My regular comic reading was waning, in favor of book collections. Apart from brief forays, I was mostly done with superheroes, other than the residents of Astro City.
Recent years have been filled with digital collections and offerings from Cinebook, Image, and IDW, with an odd Dark Horse or two. I find I enjoy more older material and foreign stuff, than American, apart from the really quirky and innovative stuff, like Lumberjanes and Elephant Men and Velvet. I enjoy the pulp comics of Dynamite, short-lived though they are. Time has been fed by podcasts and these message boards, interacting with other lovers of the form and new readers in search of broader horizons.
It's been a pretty good 50 four-color years.
