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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2021 6:53:21 GMT -5
I've enjoyed going back and seeing a lot of older conversations and surveys on favorite decades, including the Big Two Tourney from earlier this year.
My simple survey question take on this topic...if you had to pick a favorite decade overall, all-in and not publisher specific, what would it be? And was it because those were your prime younger days reading, or an earlier period you discovered more later on and fell in love with? Or maybe a later period that got you excited about comics again?
Write-ins for runner(s) up would be interesting as well, I'm sure for many of us this is not a simple answer!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Aug 3, 2021 7:33:08 GMT -5
The golden age of comics is twelve, so '70s for me.
I wouldn't say comics back then were necessarily better, although I'm sure a strong argument could be made in favour of the idea, but it's the decade that introduced me to the world of comics and you never forget your first love. It wasn't even about the comics themselves, I'd say, but about the idea they repreesented; the feeling of discovery and joy that came with finally landing one of those all-too rare floppies, and the sense of long history that came with them. It was like finding the entrance of a secret cavern full of treasure.
Later decades had tons of excellent comics too, but the sense of being introduced to a whole new world was never as strong as in those early days.
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Post by brutalis on Aug 3, 2021 7:47:15 GMT -5
1970's for me. Nothing beats finding the joy of comics as a child. Flaws in paper, coloring, printing, production and every other issue you might imagine and yet the 70's had such energy, creativity and fun jumping off the page.
I still remember in great detail the bike rides and walks to local convenience stores and that adrenaline thrill finding new comics on the spinner or shelf racks. Many issues purchased I can tell you where and what was happening in my life at the time.
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Post by Graphic Autist on Aug 3, 2021 7:49:24 GMT -5
1970s, easily.
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Post by commond on Aug 3, 2021 8:11:32 GMT -5
I started reading comics in the 80s, so that is the era I have the most affinity for. I was too young to appreciate the decade while it was in full stride, but I've read a lot of it retroactively. I've been exploring the 70s for the past few years, and I have a handful of 60s titles that I enjoy. The peak of my comic collecting was in the early 90s, but I don't have any great love for that era. The only modern comics I read are Japanese manga and a few titles like Stray Bullets and Love and Rockets.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2021 8:11:54 GMT -5
So quick question-is it material produced in that decade or material available to buy in that decade? Because it changes the answer. If it's material available in that decade and not produced, it would be now because there's more quality material available now for sale produced at different times than at any point in time. If it's produced in a decade, it does eliminate all the reprint material put out in that decade, which changes things as well. I mean I liked the 70s a lot, but a big part of it was reading 60s material in the reprint titles and the Fireside Books. But if the reprints count, then trades and such available now should count as well.
-M
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,707
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Post by shaxper on Aug 3, 2021 8:16:27 GMT -5
The 1980s was my favorite era specifically for superhero comics. The 1950s is my favorite for everything else. The 1970s is my second favorite for both.
So I'm really stuck on how to vote.
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Post by brutalis on Aug 3, 2021 8:17:59 GMT -5
The 1980s was my favorite era specifically for superhero comics. The 1950s is my favorite for everything else. The 1970s is my second favorite for both. So I'm really stuck on how to vote. Stucks to be you😜😉🙃 Somebody had to say it...
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Post by MDG on Aug 3, 2021 8:19:49 GMT -5
So quick question-is it material produced in that decade or material available to buy in that decade? Because it changes the answer. If it's material available in that decade and not produced, it would be now because there's more quality material available now for sale produced at different times than at any point in time. If it's produced in a decade, it does eliminate all the reprint material put out in that decade, which changes things as well. I mean I liked the 70s a lot, but a big part of it was reading 60s material in the reprint titles and the Fireside Books. But if the reprints count, then trades and such available now should count as well. -M I wholly agree with this, but voted the '60s.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2021 8:20:55 GMT -5
So quick question-is it material produced in that decade or material available to buy in that decade? Because it changes the answer. If it's material available in that decade and not produced, it would be now because there's more quality material available now for sale produced at different times than at any point in time. If it's produced in a decade, it does eliminate all the reprint material put out in that decade, which changes things as well. I mean I liked the 70s a lot, but a big part of it was reading 60s material in the reprint titles and the Fireside Books. But if the reprints count, then trades and such available now should count as well. -M Great question, I feel very much the same about reading older reprint material during the 70's. I was thinking about it more from when the material was originally produced (like I originally read the 60's Legion run in Adventure Comics digests in the 80's, but consider that "60's decade" content versus 80's). So I was going to answer that way. BUT...again I really think your point is great, it does give some extra points to the 70's for me as well.
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 3, 2021 8:25:34 GMT -5
Gotta go with the 1960s, partly because those were the years of my childhood but mostly because so many iconic books, characters and creators were on the newsstands. Just a list of the publishers active in that decade sets me to salivating: DC, Marvel, Gold Key, Archie, Harvey, Tower, Warren, King, Charlton, Dell, not to mention Last Gasp and the other underground outfits. The comics of later decades are often better written and better drawn but nothing triggers my nostalgia gene like the stuff from the Swinging Sixties.
Cei-U! Groovy, man!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2021 8:26:41 GMT -5
The 1980s was my favorite era specifically for superhero comics. The 1950s is my favorite for everything else. The 1970s is my second favorite for both. So I'm really stuck on how to vote. I'm a bit in this category as well. The 70's was my early years and so important to me, but I have a huge affinity for the 60's. And yet the 80's...so many classic runs not just for the Big Two but the rise of some amazing Indies. I was debating making this a "pick 2" poll, or maybe following up after this one closes with a "runner-up" poll and seeing how it charts differently.
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,707
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Post by shaxper on Aug 3, 2021 8:42:16 GMT -5
I decided to go with the 50s. The peak of sci-fi, horror, humor, true crime, adventure, and licensed TV/movie properties, Dell and EC utterly nailing two very different ends of the spectrum of content being offered. I would also argue that this may have been DC at its best: unapologetically imaginative, fun adventures for unfailingly iconic heroes. The Superman titles, as well as Legion of Superheroes and Superboy, and also Schiff's Batman stuff, and don't forget the introductions of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan in this decade. I like superheroes far better in the the 70s and 80s, but they are definitely memorable and fun here prior to Marvel's influence, while the rest of what the medium offered at this point was unmistakably a Golden Age of quality, never seen again after the introduction of the Comics Code Authority.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 3, 2021 9:12:17 GMT -5
1970's for me, with the 1980's a very close second.
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Post by MDG on Aug 3, 2021 9:29:32 GMT -5
Gotta go with the 1960s, partly because those were the years of my childhood but mostly because so many iconic books, characters and creators were on the newsstands. Just a list of the publishers active in that decade sets me to salivating: DC, Marvel, Gold Key, Archie, Harvey, Tower, Warren, King, Charlton, Dell, not to mention Last Gasp and the other underground outfits. The comics of later decades are often better written and better drawn but nothing triggers my nostalgia gene like the stuff from the Swinging Sixties. Cei-U! Groovy, man! When this is done, it'd be interesting to correlate decade selection w/ birth dates (with shaxper as the outlier).
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