Marvel and DC: Side-by-Side in 1983

1983

Doug: We have a baker's dozen in the books -- three more years to go! Today's year was the end of my junior year/beginning of my senior year of high school. It, again, was during the time that I was absent from comics-buying. Although I own (or at one time owned) several of the books we'll discuss, I bought none of these as they were released. Catching up was one of the joys of the hobby, finding out what all of my "old friends" had been up to. In some cases, it wasn't as good as what they'd been doing when I left; in others, some nice changes had been made. In the three-dimensional world, Michael Jackson performed arguably the most famous single dance move of the 20th century when he "moonwalked" on the Motown 25 television special (how many of you remember that?). Ronald Reagan began to talk of the Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars" Defense System, a bluff that many argue would contribute to the fall of the Soviet Union by decade's end. M*A*S*H ended its critically-acclaimed run on American television, and Scarface and Trading Places were big at the cinema. Superman III came out in June, and is quite possibly the worst comic movie ever made. But let's get to the reason why you stopped by today.

Doug: January at Marvel showcases another innovation so-related to the 1980's: The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. I looked through the DC book, not only ahead in 1983 but into the next two years -- I couldn't find Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe. Wanna know why? It wasn't published until 1985! I always thought there was a battle between the two companies as to who had the idea/published first. But I guess it was Marvel's Volume II that competed with DC's book. You can learn something doing this research. Anyway, Larry Hama is credited with the overarching idea, having done the Handbook treatment for his G.I. Joe stable of characters. It was Mark Gruenwald who wanted to do the same dossier-style pages for the Marvel Universe. And the rest is history... what an indispensable resource, of course now available on various sites on the Web. Additionally to begin the year, Marvel released the No-Prize Book in January -- it was a compilation of some of the company's gaffes over the years. In March, there was a major event that would go on to dominate the Spider-decade: the introduction of the Hobgoblin in Amazing Spider-Man #238. One more thing -- another Marvel book appeared that I associate with the 1980's: Marvel Age, the in-house fan magazine. Picture the Bullpen Bulletins page, but comic-length.

Karen: When the Marvel Universe handbooks came out, I absolutely devoured them. I've always been a data-nut, so being able to quantitatively measure the abilities of all my favorite characters was like a dream come true. However, in the long run, I think it may have been unwise for Marvel to give hard numbers, as pretty soon, that became another thing that fans could nitpick about, as far as who was stronger than who and so forth. I thought DC's method was probably better, where they never used numbers but gave sort of vague definitions. Less satisfying to those of us who like stats but at least they didn't paint themselves into a corner by creating a hierarchy of strength amongst their characters.

Doug: DC blasted off '83 with a big celebration in Wonder Woman #300, by Roy and Dann Thomas and a bevy of the Amazing Amazon's best-known artists. In February, Killer Croc made his debut in Detective Comics #523. It's funny, because I guess I thought he was older than that. Oh, and if he wasn't enough trouble, Batman was headlining against Solomon Grundy in that same issue! Over in Batman #357, we met a youth named Jason Todd for the first time. What a debacle he would turn out to be...

Karen: That's funny, I would have assumed Killer Croc was older too. He's certainly become one of the Dark Knight's regular foes. I have mixed feelings about Jason Todd. Never liked him as Robin, but on the other hand, he's turned out to be Batman's failure and that is sort of interesting in the long run.

Doug: As we headed into spring, Madeline Pryor (speaking of debacles) made her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #168. To say her story would become a bit convoluted is an understatement. In the pages of Iron Man #169, James "Rhodey" Rhodes took over for the Golden Avenger when Tony Stark's addiction to alcohol got the better of him. Rhodey would don that armor through IM #199. Back to the X-Men, Callisto and the Morlocks followed Madeline Pryor's debut by one month. I'll admit -- when I started reading books again, this was a whole subplot (Morlocks in the sewers, Storm with the mohawk) that made me feel not-too-badly about having missed some of this stuff. Jack Monroe first appeared as Nomad in Captain America #282, by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck.

Karen: I always thought the Morlocks were a mis-step on Claremont's part. Now we had this big group of mutants living secretly among us; it was the beginning of the mutant population explosion! Plus, it gave us punk Storm, which never worked for me. I can't help but think that if Byrne or Cockrum had still been on the title, that look would never have happened.

Doug: At DC, they were still inserting 16-page promo comics in the pages of their best-sellers. Legion of Super-Heroes #298 featured Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld -- the young lady would go on to her own series the next month. Green Arrow #1, by Mike W. Barr and Trevor Von Eeden launched in May, the same month that Batman's 500th appearance in Detective Comics (issue #526) was on the stands. In that issue, by Gerry Conway and Don Newton, the Dark Knight decided to adopt Jason Todd, who had discovered the Batcave. There were also some significant doings in Action Comics #544, as after four decades of screwing up Luthor and Brainiac decided to try a new strategy. Luthor's battlesuit and Brainiac's transition to a true robot both headlined this issue. Legion of Super-Heroes #300 was cover-dated June and was a giant-sized anniversary issue.

Doug: For the first time, the Marvel Chronicle skips a quarter! We've been on the DC book (hard) for not publicizing what they did in certain quarters through the years. Well, I guess Marvel did nothing of note between July and September. The Distinguished Competition wasn't caught napping, however, as July and August were really quite important. July's cover dated mags featured Frank Miller's Ronin #1, a 6-issue mini-series. We discussed this story a few weeks ago in our Spotlight On... Frank Miller post. The Brave and the Bold #200 was the final issue and featured a team-up between the Batmans of Earths 1 and 2, told in alternating modern/Golden Age styles (Dave Gibbons was the penciller, over a Mike W. Barr script). The issue featured the introduction of the Outsiders in a 16-page insert; Batman and the Outsiders replaced B&B in August with a #1 issue. The busy DC summer featured another blockbuster story, as Barry Allen got revenge for his wife's death when he killed Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash, in Flash #324. And finally, as if they weren't kicking Marvel's collective butt enough by this time, DC rolled out Infinity, Inc. in the pages of All-Star Squadron #25 by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway.

Karen: Some good stuff there by DC. I read Batman and the Outsiders for awhile; I never thought there was great chemistry between the characters though -sort of like Champions. All-Star Squadron was an occasional pick-up for me, mainly due to Roy Thomas' being the writer.

Doug: So back to our friends from the House of Ideas, who finished the year (in my humble opinion) somewhat meekly with Marvel Tales Starring Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #1 and the introduction of Beta Ray Bill in Thor #337. Yeah, yeah -- I know that issue of Thor began Walter Simonson's acclaimed run on the magazine. But a) I'm not a Simonson fan, and b) I've never read any of those Thors. So sue me... And hey -- DC has no entries for the end of the year. But they'd certainly made their mark in the previous nine months, don't you think? If you're scoring at home, it would be very difficult not to give this year to National Periodical Publications. Want to argue?