tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post5568349133101866272..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: BAB Firsts - Marvel and DC: Side-by-Side in 1970Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-14284698883398025892015-02-01T09:41:31.288-06:002015-02-01T09:41:31.288-06:00Y'know, one of the issues of Lois Lane that I ...Y'know, one of the issues of Lois Lane that I distinctly remember (and I went and looked its details up) is #106, the "I Am Curious (Black)" issue, where Lois lives for 24 hours as a black woman. REALLY remember her directly asking Supes if he could marry her in this body. . .and he was unable to answer her (wow!). Oh, yeah, it was heavy-handed as all get-out-- but y'know, it was surprisingly unflinching for a comic book that came out in. . . yep, 1970. <br /><br />HBHumanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-16407084653061869042015-02-01T07:39:08.814-06:002015-02-01T07:39:08.814-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Redartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08221459636234713619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-28997383036593871822015-01-31T17:25:20.984-06:002015-01-31T17:25:20.984-06:00I think that's the neatest thing about these &...I think that's the neatest thing about these "classic" posts (OK, reruns...) -- those of you who've been around a long time and continue to be regulars have gone through a whole lot of reading and conversing with us!<br /><br />And we are really grateful.<br /><br />DougDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-55960508703768307422015-01-31T17:22:58.787-06:002015-01-31T17:22:58.787-06:00Hard to believe it's been 4 years since I post...Hard to believe it's been 4 years since I posted that comment at the top. I still feel the same way about all that stuff.J.A. Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15800901321134394272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-71495467978124658142015-01-31T16:22:40.510-06:002015-01-31T16:22:40.510-06:00What's hard, at least for me, about looking ba...What's hard, at least for me, about looking back is the way memories tend to jumble all together. The Beatles break up becomes this "touchstone" moment for many of the Sixties kids because that was a HUGE group during that time. But, IIRC, didn't Cream also break up, and the Yardbirds? Which break up had the biggest impact on music in the coming decade?<br /><br />Kirby's departure from Marvel was meaningful but that ending also opened many new doors. But what changed, really, for the industry? I know little to nothing about DC, but after Kirby's arrival, were they still doing one and done stories? Was that still their modus operandi? Marvel was still doing a mix of arcs and single issues. There was still layered storylines within each issue. <br /><br />I think I may be getting lost in HB's camp ground? That rock does look familiar.......<br /><br /><br />("More human than human" is our motto).The Prowlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16047156663144096329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-17240068948391676452015-01-31T16:06:58.336-06:002015-01-31T16:06:58.336-06:00If you look at the Shazam awards for 1970-75, DC d...If you look at the Shazam awards for 1970-75, DC did very well versus Marvel.<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_of_Comic_Book_Arts#Shazam_Award<br /><br />Conan with Barry Smith and Roy Thomas won for Marvel, while DC won with Adams and O'Neil on Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Wrightson and Wein on Swamp Thing, and Simonson and Goodwin on Manhunter. Interesting to see that Jack Kirby won a special award for his Fourth World series in '72, so even though he didn't get to finish it, he was given recognition at that time. Garettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-86287905420301557072015-01-31T13:06:13.068-06:002015-01-31T13:06:13.068-06:00Wow, Lois Lane at #4 for 1969 comic sales! She was...Wow, Lois Lane at #4 for 1969 comic sales! She was also up in the top 10 from 1965-69. I've never read a full Lois Lane comic, just browsed through for the art.Garettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-1397429396128520362015-01-31T11:55:54.552-06:002015-01-31T11:55:54.552-06:00Great story, HB! Sadly, I doubt they still have s...Great story, HB! Sadly, I doubt they still have spinner racks in camp stores...<br /><br />Summer 1970 holds a specific memory for me, as well: involvi,g the aforementioned Spiderman #90. I recall buying and reading this comic, and being staggered by Captain Stacy's dramatic last moments. Can't recall if it was the story's impact or what, but this would be the last Marvel / DC comic I would buy for 4 years . I got started on Archie for awhile, but basically forgot about comics until my best friend in 8th. Grade reintroduced me (and boy, stuck with me then). Long story short, Amazing Spiderman 90 is a personally meaningful book in more ways than one ...Redartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08221459636234713619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-63260347299735166532015-01-31T10:08:58.164-06:002015-01-31T10:08:58.164-06:00Being able to attach one image- the cover of Aveng...Being able to attach one image- the cover of Avengers #80- to a particular date (well, summer 1970)unlocked a flood of memories for me and got them all kind of grounded in context w/ each other. Nice! 9 years old, finished third grade, KOA campground in New Mexico, en route to California (and Disneyland) in an uncanny prototype of National Lampoon's Vacation (wondering if somehow the writers were following us??), night as hot as BLAZES, spinner rack in the camp store & my Dad uncharacteristically saying "sure, go ahead and get a comic". <br /><br />And now I know for sure-- that was the summer of 1970!<br /><br />It was years-- <i>years</i>-- before I procured the wrap-up to that cliff-hanger Red Wolf issue. But boy, Avengers really was a fine comic at that point, yes. <br /><br />1970 was still kind of the '60's, though, wasn't it? The Beatles break-up was sort of the loud last-call shout-out, but I think cultural historians think of the "Sixties" as holding on until about 1972, when Nixon's 2nd election and then Watergate kind of took over all of our brains. And while we do have the death of Capt Stacy in Spidey, the infamous Drug Issues are still a number of months down the road (as well as in GL/GA-- isn't that correct?)-- which is something that still makes me think 60's more than 70's.<br /><br />I've. . . I've lost track of what our original question was. . . so sorry!Humanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-42335558143042835982015-01-31T07:21:18.587-06:002015-01-31T07:21:18.587-06:00I was born in 1970 so always think of comics befor...I was born in 1970 so always think of comics before this year as being genuine pre-history. While my aspiration is eventually to own all Marvel/DC comic released between 1970 and about 1986 I haven't yet read many comics from 1970.<br /><br />But I do get the feeling (much commented on) that 1970 sees the real beginning of the wave of fan-creators started by Roy. Also that both the art and writing share a certain darkness and uncertainty about the new decade in contrast to the day-glo mid 60s.<br /><br />Oh, and The Avengers were really good in 1970 :)<br /><br /><br /> <br /><br />ColinBrayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04995208182158761600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-89039982869910761392011-02-03T20:22:53.286-06:002011-02-03T20:22:53.286-06:00One of my younger brothers was much more intereste...One of my younger brothers was much more interested in the sword & sorcery novels than I ever was, but I did collect Conan from about '77 to '83, long after Barry Smith had left, but at least I mangaged to get several issues of his run. Big John Buscema was great, but I really loved Smith's art. Some of the best he'd ever done, and hardly seems like the same artist who did such horrid Kirby swipes in X-Men & Avengers just a couple of years earlier.Fred W. Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07602124919964053532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-59218206717134083642011-02-03T07:27:51.783-06:002011-02-03T07:27:51.783-06:00I really didn't know how to handle the questio...I really didn't know how to handle the question, other than what's already been mentioned here.. <br /><br />Marvel did develop significant depth by virtue of it's basic approach to it's characters and idiosyncracies, and by the time the 70s came about, readers were looking for a change from the sanitized funny papers. The Bullpen was poised, ready to respond. <br /><br />Their readership had blossomed in the 60s, and when they marched off to collage, Marvel came with.<br /><br />Kudos to Edo on his comments on Conan. Not a genre I'm particularly interested in, but it was an essential move which opened up the fantasy world, most predominately in artistry in the 70s.david_bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00218727673816200051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-67982007920287880712011-02-03T03:48:48.037-06:002011-02-03T03:48:48.037-06:00Good observations about Marvel's handling of t...Good observations about Marvel's handling of the Conan franchise: Roy Thomas probably didn't realize it at the time, but I think he almost single-handedly engineered a revival of the entire Howard fantasy opus that arguably made it more popular than ever before.Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-54855485361626377492011-02-02T22:58:37.560-06:002011-02-02T22:58:37.560-06:00Geez, based on that chart, the Avengers wasn't...Geez, based on that chart, the Avengers wasn't only selling about 4,000 more copies than the X-Men and Daredevil was outselling both of them in 1969. In 1970, my family had just moved back to the U.S. after spending about 3 years in Japan (from April 1967 to December 1969). I turned 8 that year and was on the verge of becoming a Marvel junkie, although it wouldn't be until 1973 that I really started collecting. I missed DC's early steps to modernize itself as overall DC titles still seemed to stodgy to me, although I did like their mystery/weird science titles. Marvel, however, had managed to wed soap opera elements to their superhero titles in a way that reeled me in. I grew to love those characters and wanted to see what would happen to them next -- not just whatever villain they were struggling against, but what was going on in their personal lives as well. Spider-Man in particular had so much tragedy and drama. Hard to say whether the X-Men could have maintained the momentum Thomas & Adams got going or if they would have fallen back into lackluster stories and art. Maybe the X-Men could have held on until supercharged by an inspired artist/writer, as with Daredevil with Frank Miller. <br />As for Kirby's departure to DC, aside from a watershed moment in comics history, it should also have called attention to the shameful way the industry treated its creative talent. Of course, I'm sure most fans were unaware of the real reasons Kirby abandoned Marvel, especially as there was no Comics Journal at the time to provide the inside scoops. Still it must have been a jolt to Marvelites who had an image of a happy, loving Bullpen churning out 4-color wonderment for their devotees. Oh, yeah, and in the same year that the Beatles announced their breakup! Whether in pop music or comics, fans couldn't count on things staying the way they were. Well, except perhaps that Archie would continually be pulled in opposite directions by Betty & Veronica.Fred W. Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07602124919964053532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-44213198212258983862011-02-02T14:17:14.789-06:002011-02-02T14:17:14.789-06:00Doug, Karen,
I know the figures can be hard to fi...Doug, Karen,<br /><br />I know the figures can be hard to find, but to the extent that you can your series should note what was selling in those years. The 1970s was the decade that Marvel began to outsell DC, which had been the market leader up to that point.<br /><br />I found this chart http://www.comichron.com/yearlycomicssales/1960s/1969.html very illuminating. In 1969, DC had 7 of the top ten selling comics, all of them Superman/Superboy or Batman titles. Marvel had only 1, Spiderman.<br /><br />Look further down the chart though and you'll see that Marvel had 9 of the top 40, to DC's 12. Marvel was laying the groundwork for the next decade with the Fantastic Four, Thor, Avengers, Captain America and the Hulk all building readerships.<br /><br />It's amazing to think the X-Men was canceled when it was the #26 seller, moving 235,000 copies a month. It was outselling Flash and Green Lantern at the time!<br /><br />It's no wonder DC faltered in the early 70s. It just didn't have the depth in its catalog of titles that Marvel had.Inkstained Wretchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-19323650718759796852011-02-02T11:36:39.036-06:002011-02-02T11:36:39.036-06:00I generally like Kirby's 'Fourth World'...I generally like Kirby's 'Fourth World' stuff, but I don't feel it lends itself to multiple readings like other 70s comics sagas(Kree-Skrull,Secret Empire,the Arrow/Lantern cross country journey,etc).<br />Darkseid is certainly one of the greatest villains(in any medium) of the 20th century,but Kirby's dialogue makes it hard to get through. Same goes for his 70s return to Marvel stories. <br />So I don't tend to dwell too much on the "what if Kirby stayed" idea. <br /><br />In any event, FF#100 is one of the weakest "milestone" issue stories I've ever read. Mad Thinker,Puppet Master and a bunch of robots? Please.J.A. Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15800901321134394272noreply@blogger.com