shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jan 29, 2021 15:10:39 GMT -5
jason's awesome thread, Best Year for Marvel each decade, has caused me to realize that I almost exclusively care about Marvel in the 1970s. I collect the '60s stuff for fun and have followed some runs into the 1980s and 1990s, but if there'd been no Marvel in the 1970s, I likely wouldn't care for the rest of the company's output either. I'm curious if others have these kinds of narrow focuses in their reading and collecting. For me, it's: Marvel: 1970s, including the b/w magazines, the try-out titles, pretty much ALL the non-superhero stuff, and X-Men under Claremont and Avengers under Englehart. DC: The late 1980s Post-Crisis Era fascinates me as a failed experiment that almost got it right. Dark Horse: 1980s. Dark Horse Presents, Concrete, Black Cross, etc. While the 1990s was arguably Dark Horse's most successful era (especially with the Mignolaverse and Usagi Yojimbo), I find the rawness and maturity of the early Dark Horse projects far more compelling. Image: Late 1990s, pre-Wildstorm Era, especially Warren Ellis on Stormwatch. Dell: 1950s, Bark's Uncle Scrooge is at its height Gold Key: 1960s, Magnus Robot Fighter 4000 AD and Mighty Samson. Turok, Solar, and Space Family Robinson weren't bad either. Valiant: 1990s original heroes universe (especially under Jim Shooter, though some of the Post-Shooter titles were still strong until the end) Warren: 1970s. Doug Moench and Bud Lewis, in particular, as well as the influx of amazing Latin artists. Fawcett: 1950s. I love the more tongue in cheek Captain Marvel adventures of this era.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 29, 2021 17:10:22 GMT -5
With Marvel it's tough because my favorite era is still probably 1977-1985, but that's cheating. As time goes on my love of 60's Marvel grows beyond appreciation for all of Kirby and Ditko's innovations. I'd still say that 1977-1985 is the most readable period of Marvel with the most classic runs. Creatively I'm not sure if Marvel ever recovered from the DC exodus of talent and the lack of support for Epic.
With DC I think it's easier. In terms of pure quality, it's hard to beat 1986-1996. I guess that means that 90's DC is my favorite, but that includes Vertigo.
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Post by brutalis on Jan 29, 2021 19:56:08 GMT -5
60's Gold Key/Charlton.
70's early 80's Marvel.
70's Warren
Late 80's/90's DC
80's Darkhorse
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 29, 2021 23:07:27 GMT -5
Eclipse: 1980s
First Comics: 1980s
Comico: 1980s
Pacific: 1980s
Capital: 1980s
Malibu: 1980s
Mad Love: 1980s
Deluxe Comics: 1980s
Lodestone: 1980s
Eternity: 1980s
Wait, there is a pattern here.......
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jan 29, 2021 23:10:14 GMT -5
Eclipse: 1980s First Comics: 1980s Comico: 1980s Pacific: 1980s Capital: 1980s Malibu: 1980s Mad Love: 1980s Deluxe Comics: 1980s Lodestone: 1980s Eternity: 1980s Wait, there is a pattern here....... Perhaps a great sister thread would be, "which decade was your favorite for short-lived publishers?" The 1980s makes a compelling case. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 29, 2021 23:38:26 GMT -5
Well, the 80s saw the birth of the indies, via the direct market (or at least, the growth of them), the black & white boom, following the success of the TMNT and the growth of self-publishers, following in Dave Sim's footsteps. However, as I have discussed in my Other Guys thread, the average lifespan of a new company was about 5 years. Of course, it takes about 5 years for the average business to earn a consistent profit; so, that would figure. Most ran into cash flow issues and couldn't sustain themselves after 5 years. Eclipse lasted 16, which was pretty good (and made a big noise for their Tenth Anniversary). First lasted 8, Comico 15 years on paper; but, in actuality, were bankrupt in 8 and sold to a new owner, who made it 5 years. Pacific lasted 3 years as a publisher (they had been a mail order service for 10 years, before publishing), Capital lasted 3 years, but with minimal output. Malibu lasted 10, in slightly different forms. I covered their complicated early days. Mad Love existed, sort of, for 2 years, publishing AARGH! and the two issues of Big Numbers. That one was a bit of an in-joke. Deluxe lasted a few months and Lodestone was a sister company. They shut down one step ahead of process servers. Eternity last 8 years.
Dark Horse is one I would say the 90s, as they only existed for 4 years of the 80s and were gradual in releasing product. The early stuff is really great, with Concrete, DHP, The American, Aliens; but, to me, they come into their own at the dawn of the 90s, as they build on that and add Frank Miller, John Byrne and Mike Mignola, eventually joined by Art Adams for the whole Legend thing. Also, you have Eddie Campbel doing some of his best Bacchus material, the addition of Predator and Terminator to their licensed books, Star Wars, Grendel and Nexus find homes there....seems like a no-brainer.
Charlton I would say it's a tough battle between Dick Giordano's tenure with the Action heroes and the 70s, with E-Man, Phantom, the horror books, their romance stuff and their cartoon tie-ins.
Western/Dell, the 50s is an easy choice, thanks to the licenses, with the Disney Ducks, the tv and movie comics, the Warner cartoons, Woody Woodpecker, Tom & Jerry, etc.
Fawcett barely made it out of the 40s; but, some of the best stories were at the dawn of 50s.
Harvey would be hard to say....the 50s was strong for their diverse line, until the witch hunts in the mid-50s; but, they had the cartoon-related books to keep them going. Their best material for those came in the 60s; but, their biggest sales were in the first half of the 70s.
Archie's a tough one, as they were good every decade. The early stuff is formative, but also a bit freer. The 50s and 60s are the classic years.
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Post by MDG on Jan 30, 2021 9:02:07 GMT -5
If they were active I the sixties: the sixties. Exceptions would be Charlton (70s) and companies like Last Gasp (70s) and Kitchen Sink(80s).
A lot of the best of the 80s started and ended there: First, Comico, Renegade, Pacific, etc.
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,707
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Post by shaxper on Jan 30, 2021 10:24:00 GMT -5
Archie's a tough one, as they were good every decade. The early stuff is formative, but also a bit freer. The 50s and 60s are the classic years. I completely forgot to include Archie in mine. I would likely go with the '50s, not just for the classic work being done in the main titles, but also because the earliest issues of Life with Archie are among my favorite Archie books of all. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2021 17:28:39 GMT -5
DC: I love their early 40's output. I like their off beat titles like the Challengers & Metamorpho in the 60's. The Batman titles in the 70's. Late 80's post Crisis.
Marvel: 60's & 70's. Their 60's stuff is like DC's early 40's IMO. Lots of ideas. The 70's had so many "new" experiments.
Image: Mostly late 90's Wildstorm.
Valiant: Early Valiant.
Fawcett: Pretty much anything Marvel Family related.
Archie: 50's-70's.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2021 17:54:25 GMT -5
I'd go with the 70s for almost everything.
The 70s also included tonnes of reprint material from the previous decades.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 1, 2021 18:02:40 GMT -5
Marvel: Probably the 70s. It's been a long time since I've read much Marvel from the 70s or 80s, but probably the 70s.
DC: The 90s. Particularly if you include Vertigo it's not even close.
Image: I like a fair bit of the Wildstorm stuff but I probably have to go with the 2010s. Just so much amazing creator owned stuff.
Dell: The 50s. Barks & Stanley hit their peak.
Gold Key: I got nuthin'.
Valiant: I've never read a Valiant comic.
Warren: I'll say 60s for Blazing Combat and the earliest issues of Creepy.
Fawcett: Probably the 40s just for the best bulk of the Marvel family.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2021 19:47:40 GMT -5
Marvel '67-'77 to be specific
DC 90s including Vertigo/Homage/Helix, ABC lines
Image 2010-2020
Dark Horse (their first decade)'86-'96
Warren-60s early Creepy/Eerie, Blazing Combat
Charlton 70s (in particular stuff like The Phantom and some of the horror books)
St. John's 50s (lots of Kubert, Matt Baker stuff)
EC-50s kind of a no-brainer there
Archie/Red Circle-probably 70s for the Red Circle horror stuff, followed by 80s for the Red Circle heroes revival
Malibu-Bravura era 90s
First/Eclipse/Comico/Pacific/misc. small press publishers-80s
King Features Comics-60s
IDW/BOOM 2011-present by default
Most other publishers I haven't read enough of to judge.
-M
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 1, 2021 20:13:05 GMT -5
Marvel : the 70s, no doubt. A lot of experiments across all the lines, with a certain hippie attitude from many creators ("do you own thing, man"). Not everything was successful, obviously, but the house ads were extremely enticing: so many bizarre concepts! I view Marvel in the 80s as trying to recreate the 70s, minus the diversity, and failing. DC: I'd go for the 80s period right before Crisis, when Dick Giordano started his editorials and the company had titles like Arak, Captain Carrot, Swamp Thing, Legion of Super-heroes, Jonah Hex, Ronin or Amethyst. There seemed to be a lot of diversity, less of the bland house style that was developing at Marvel during that period, and even old titles like Batman had great teams like Moench / Newton/ Alcala. Vertigo : hard to pick one; the line was always, to me, a mix of a few outstanding series alongside a ton of forgettable me-toos. There were outstanding series pretty much from the start to the end. Dark Horse : no specific decade. I didn't read much Dark Horse anyway, and during each decade Dark Horse published great series. Archie : I can't say for sure, because I know his stories thanks to reprint digests that did not say when the originals had been published... But whatever decade Harry Lucey was the most active. I guess it was the '60s mostly. Les Humanoïdes Associés : the '70s, no doubt. Moebius and Druillet in their prime, with occasional reprints/translations like Roy Thomas and Barry Smith's Red Nails. First comics: If not the 80s, when?  Charlton : no idea. I have, like, three Charlton comics. Valiant : the first version, overseen by Jim Shooter, from the early 90s. I read no Valiant book whatsoever when the line started, but bought a long box full of them at 10 cents a book when my LCS had a clearing sale back in the late 90s. That was one truly coherent shared universe! |
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