tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post7344800090662376443..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: Marvel and DC: Side-by-Side in 1972Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-67324331990309628432014-05-23T16:01:31.189-05:002014-05-23T16:01:31.189-05:00I should never read "time capsule" blog ...I should never read "time capsule" blog comments. I always find myself unable to toss in my two bits, even three years too late.<br /><br />I was ignorant of the Heap and "It!" by Theodore Sturgeon. The connect-the-dots chain to Man-Thing and Swamp Thing is pretty obvious, now. Previous to today, I had unwittingly given Roy Thomas the muck monster merit badge by coming out with "The Glob!" in "Hulk" #121, latter half of 1969. Beat his two peers by a couple of years.Murrayhttp://www.murraylindsay.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-40969772946043709042011-02-16T21:36:15.835-06:002011-02-16T21:36:15.835-06:00BTW, when Len Wein wrote the first Swamp Thing sto...BTW, when Len Wein wrote the first Swamp Thing story and Gerry Conway wrote the first Man-Thing story, they were roommates! And Wein wound up writing the 2nd Man-Thing story to see print, before Swamp Thing was resurrected in his first regular series. Of course, both were largely based on the Heap, who was in turn based on a swamp creature from Theodore Sturgeon novel. Whether the appearnce of the new muckmonsters so close together was truly coincidence is hard to say, but it's telling that neither company sued the other over the matter and at least they made some significant differences in the characters. With Berni Wrightson at hand, Swamp Thing had the better art (not to slight the many fine artists who produced some classic work on Manny, particularly Ploog!), but I mostly preferred Gerber's stories to Wein's. Of course, no other writer ever did as well as Gerber on Man-Thing, while Alan Moore, Bissette & Totleben crafted one of the best comics runs ever with their take on Swampy. <br />Amusingly, I missed Stan's last issues on FF & Spidey but I got the very next issues not realizing I'd just missed the end of an era. Of course, considering that Roy started off with a retelling of FF #1, I should've gotten the hint. <br />This is the year I really began to get sucked deep into the Marvel-verse, just as the Silver Age was slipping away and the Bronze Age dawning.Fred W. Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07602124919964053532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-19427493290403414202011-02-16T16:42:59.037-06:002011-02-16T16:42:59.037-06:00Wasn't 1972 also a year of serious declines in...Wasn't 1972 also a year of serious declines in overall comics sales? I believe it was and that explains a lot of the experimentation by the companies. They were frantic to find whatever was that next big thing that would sell.<br /><br />Stressful times for the companies, maybe, but good for the comics buying public.Inkstained Wretchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-12250859133415949132011-02-16T15:43:13.208-06:002011-02-16T15:43:13.208-06:00Yes, didn't mention it, but Mr. Thomas really ...Yes, didn't mention it, but Mr. Thomas really did shape much of what we know Marvel to be for many, many years. <br /><br />LOVED his work on FF and other mags..david_bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00218727673816200051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-117246708839878802011-02-16T15:41:50.789-06:002011-02-16T15:41:50.789-06:00I love that GL cover.. It's definitely one of ...I love that GL cover.. It's definitely one of the best Bronze Age DC covers ever done.david_bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00218727673816200051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-2100941844667882612011-02-16T11:38:18.450-06:002011-02-16T11:38:18.450-06:00I had no idea John Stewart was introduced back in ...I had no idea John Stewart was introduced back in 1972! Wow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-8113279062211609462011-02-16T10:07:21.754-06:002011-02-16T10:07:21.754-06:00I'm really enjoying these posts - I always lik...I'm really enjoying these posts - I always like timelines like these for when certain titles appeared, esp. during that period before I became an active comics reader.<br />And Karen, I totally agree with you about Roy Thomas and the major role he played at Marvel during this period - I don't think it can be emphasized enough.Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.com