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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Happy Anniversary -- You're Entering the Third Year of the Bronze Age Babies!


Happy 2nd Anniversary!!

Doug: Wow -- what a long strange trip it's been! I can vividly recall sitting in my summer school classroom, having an email exchange with Karen about what to do next, given the demise of our former collaborative blog. We batted around the idea of going forward together as a duo, toyed with some ideas and monikers for a new blog and BAM! Here we are at the conclusion of our second year! As we did after our first year, we'd like to sit back, take a moment for reflection, but most of all offer up some thanks to you the reader. I consider the existence of this blog a gift to myself; without it, I'd be just too lazy to seek out/dig out older comics and relive that wonderful past of my youth. Doing the posts you see has been really fun for me, a true labor of love, and your participation in the Comments and Suggestion Box sections are a huge part of that.

Karen: It's hard to believe it's been two years. What's even harder to believe is that Doug and I have never even met! Our blog partnership has all come about via the internet. But it seems to work. We agreed with this blog to give ourselves more leeway to cover anything of interest to us, and that has made it more fun to work on. But the best thing has been witnessing the development of a community of fans here who all have a fondness for all things 'Bronze'.

Doug: I guess the biggest goldmine we hit over the past 12 months has been the Open Forum posts. I'm not sure how they got started (although I know Andrew Wahl's "talking points" on his Comics Bronze Age blog were a huge inspiration) -- if I recall, I was anticipating the release of the TwoMorrows book about Vince Colletta, and thought I'd throw out the subject of inkers and their roles. You responded, and we were off and running. Those posts have been great conversation starters, and have usually been among our most-commented posts. When we have one of those in the queue, I really anticipate the day of release so I can see how you'll respond.

Karen: I'd have to say that the Open Forums have become my favorite posts, because I'm always excited to read what you all have to say! And that was all Doug -great idea, partner!

Doug: Another series, that we're actually in the process of finishing, has been our Side-by-Side series. That one started off just a bit slowly, but really gained momentum as we got into the mid-'70's. I get the sense that you're enjoying our look at Marvel and DC in the Silver Age, but not as much as you enjoyed the Bronze Age retrospective. For almost all of us, we're lacking the experiential element here. As I'd said earlier, we were unsure how a four-month long series would be received... Well, we're stretching it to six months, and I'd say it's been a success.

Karen: The Side by Sides was another series where I didn't know what to expect, as far as reader interest. We often joke between the two of us about how we have no ability to predict which posts will generate a great response. But these particular ones seem to strike a chord with everyone, precisely because they take us back in time, to something we experienced. I really enjoy hearing everyone's stories about their reactions to certain comics events. It's like hanging out chatting with friends.

Karen: Although they didn't seem to garner much interest from our readers, I really enjoyed working on the "Tales of Asgard" posts. Those were just wonderful, fun stories. I also liked some of our two part reviews, like the X-Men vs. the Imperial Guard, or Avengers vs. Zodiac. The Face-Off and Versus posts let us explore all sorts of ideas, both in and outside of comics. The music ones seem to draw a strong response.

Doug: And you ask: Did anything surprise you in the comics reviews you did? I don't want to speak for Karen, but I know the 4-part Green Lantern/Green Arrow and the 3-part Ra's al Ghul arcs disappointed me from the standpoint of Denny O'Neil's scripts. I could never denigrate the art of Neal Adams -- even though I decided after one issue not to buy any more of his Batman: Odyssey series, the pictures were still beautiful. But I really thought those seven books we reviewed fell short story-wise. There were plot points in the Batman series that were either silly or meaningless, and the over-the-top moralizing of the GL/GA series left me flat -- maybe I was just a man out of time in regard to the impact of those stories as they'd been originally intended.

Karen: We've had an unfortunately high number of duds this last year. I suppose my expectations may have been a bit too high, but I have to agree about both the cases you raise. It's really hard sometimes to get through a review of a book when you just aren't enjoying it at all. Luckily those GA/GL and Batman stories had some fantastic art, but even that couldn't save it for me.

Doug: Another series we ran ended up being quite a bit of fun. Almost all of us recall the summer Annuals as well as that period when Marvel published the oft-quarterly Giant-Size books. So it seemed logical to give a retrospective on this blog, and our Giant-Size June and George Perez July features accomplished that mission. I really wish Karen and I had more books in that vein to share -- we have something cooked up for July this year, but it won't be nearly of the scale we tackled last year. Of the issues we did cover, I'd have to say that the two X-Men books, Giant-Size X-Men #1 and X-Men Annual #3 were my favorites.

Karen: Annuals and Giant-Size books conjure up memories of summers past, which is always a good thing.

Doug: So to wrap up from my perspective, we just again want to thank those of you who make this a now-daily habit. The Comic Blog Elite shows that we run around 340+ unique viewers per day, as well as over 1100 page views daily. That's a whole bunch of folks reminiscing with us, and we are grateful for your participation. Here's hoping we can stay interesting and relevant in 2011-12, and share more of our love of the 1970's and early 1980's as it relates to the pop culture of our youths. Be well.

Karen: I can't add much to that other than: Thank you! It wouldn't be anywhere near as fun without hearing from all of you.

21 comments:

  1. Kudos, and many thanks, to both of you! This is indeed one of my favorite places to visit; always interesting reading and a great group of contributors. Thanks again for the ride, and here's looking forward to the next year!

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  2. Congrats! I love my daily visits here--feels like home to me! You guys always come up with great topics, and I love the "team-up" interplay--it keeps everything fresh (and a bit unpredictable, since you don't agree on everything).

    Much love to you from Groove City! Here's to many more anniversaries!

    The Groovy Agent

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  3. Happy Anniversary! I'm a relatively new reader (and I've already forgotten how I discovered thid blog!) but it's become one of my daily habits to read, even if I don't awlays post. I just love reminiscing about one of my favorite things - Bronze Age comics (not to mention other things of the Bronze Age era). I've really enjoyed the Side by Side series, and I also like that the other comic reviews are somewhat random in terms of what you've cover.

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  4. Doug, Karen, you're totally welcome.

    (..I had a little help...LOL)

    Seriously, DESPITE the dreaded 'blogger' shortcomings, you've (and the contributors) all made this the most wonderful part of each morning.

    Please forgive my occasional 'over-posting', but darn if everyone doesn't chime in with the most interesting, well-thought-out arguments and viewpoints around..!
    Some topics are simply 'too hard' or perhaps 'too attractive' to let loose and move on. And on that note, my humble thanks for your moderator talents as well.

    You've made our childhood loves alive again, and pulsate with so much love and affection.

    (I won't even mention my paypal expenses from collecting all these great stories I apparently missed the first time 'round..)

    Cheers and here's to the next few years~!!

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  5. Very happy anniversary from me. And thanks for the absolutely fantastic blog - it's basically my favorite comics-related site. Keep up the great (and fun) work!

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  6. Crikey, has it been two years? Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?

    Congratulations, Doug and Karen!

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  7. Congratulations! BAB is one of my favorite blogs now, and a daily habit. The tone is pitch perfect. It's a shame the three of us didn't meet as kids in the 70's. We would've been best buds.

    I definitely see your point about Denny O'Neil's writing in the early 70's. It's aged, but not like a particularly fine wine. However, in his defense, it was a step up from typical silver-age writing at DC. And he did a fairly good job of adding dimension to the characters of Hal Jordan, Ollie Queen, Roy Harper and Dinah Lance in between all the proselytizing.

    Keep up the great work!

    James Chatterton

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  8. Congrats on the anniversary! I'm glad you're here, BAB is one of my first "stops" every morning.

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  9. Congrats! I love "Bronze Age Babies". I just discovered it about 3 months ago and it's already become my favorite comic related site. I check in here everyday. Hope you stick around for a long time.

    There are not many things I like better than old-school comic goodness. Today's comics just don't do it for me anymore, and it's nice to have a place to go where people share my love for "real" comics. When the heroes were heroes, the stories were fun to read and the art was fun to look at. Thanks for helping to keep that all alive.

    BTW, I found "Bronze Age Babies" through a link from the now defunct "Giant Size Marvel Comics" blog, which I came upon by accident when I was doing a search for something else. It looked like a cool site and I was sad to see that I had discovered it just as it was coming to an end. That's when I saw the link to your site, decided to check you out, and I've been coming here ever since.

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  10. Hi Doug, Hi Karen,
    Many thanks for all that you do on here. I was surprised no one commented on the layout. The first time I saw the way you’d laid this out, it seemed bright and very pleasing to the eye, easy to read and filled with pics of my favourite heroes.....in short, it seemed just like (I remember) a Bronze Age comic (admittedly more text heavy, so maybe one of Gerber’s!).

    You’ve really invigorated reading comics for me again. It’s no surprise that many times you & my fellow followers have changed my opinion about something I underrated or even brought to my attention something I didn’t know existed, but what is really wonderful is when someone on here highlights something great about something I already love and makes me love it even more.

    I also like it when I post something I think is smart or insightful and someone replies with an answer that makes me realise their knowledge & insight dwarfs mine. I love how freely people share their knowledge and opinions.

    I know, deep down, that really we’re huge nerds, but nerdery actually feels pretty cool on here.

    So, until Jim Starlin publishes Hank Pym: Cross Dresser, make mine BAB.

    Nope, I can’t believe I said that either.

    Richard

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  11. Hey, thank you guys for creating what has become one of my favorite blogs. It's what I wanted when I was younger but could never seem to find: a place where the people loved comic books the same way I did and loved to talk about it.

    So, many, many thanks for all the hard work you have put in here. It has been a blast revisting all of these great stories with you.


    P.S. Regarding the Tales of Asgard, I think the reason the postings were fewer there was because there wasn't much to say. The stories were great, the art was great and they look even better now with the new coloring. I mean, what else is there to say?

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  12. Anonymous,

    To paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson..

    "When the going gets Nerdy, the Nerds turn Pro."

    Excellent comments, and I'm glad you mentioned 'the layout' here.. It's been REALLY nice, a wonderful blend of depth and vintage panels.

    No silly photoshopping tricks like other sites do. The vintage art and quality writing speaks for itself.

    Bravo's and kudo's to all your creative efforts.

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  13. Happy anniversary to the pair of you. Along with the sadly defunct Fake Stan Lee blog, Bronze Age Babies was my main inspiration for starting a blog of my own.

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  14. I also want to say "Thanks" for an excellent blog. I may not comment very often but I generally visit every day.

    Only problem is that my bank balance keeps getting hit with all the back issues I'm inspired to buy!

    Chris

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  15. Wow - thank you everyone for such kind remarks. Doug and I had hoped when we started this little venture that we'd expand it from being "just a blog" to being a community, and you all have made that happen. It's a joy each morning to read your comments and ideas. I hope we can continue to entertain and provide a clubhouse for all of us bronze age babies.

    Karen

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  16. Cheez, a fella could get a swelled head reading this stuff!

    Thanks to all of you again -- reading down the line here is a veritable roll call of our frequent commenters, and it means mucho to see you all in one place. As we've said a hundred and sixty-three times (more or less) already, that was the goal. I hope we're not done yet, but as it is this is a great place to hang out. Not that I'm OCD or anything (maybe a little), but I am a frequent email checker, and it is very exciting when I am notified of a new comment on the blog. No matter how in depth, vague or superfluous, it's always welcome.

    I found it funny how many of you have remarked on spending your hard-earned shekels on Bronze Age books -- don't think your lovely hosts aren't doing the same thing!! Most of my purchases are now with a bent toward this blog. Sometimes it's the 15-issue reader lot I can get on eBay for $7-8, or maybe it's the Essential Marvel Two-In-One volume 1 I just bought for our Giant-Size July coming up. Anyway, it's money well spent in my opinion. Let the library grow, I say!

    You all have a great day, and I hope we get your third year here off on the right foot. We are very excited about tomorrow's post -- come early and often!

    Best,

    Doug

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  17. Oh, the Marvel Two-in-One Essential. I loved all three volumes of that, especially the Spidey team-ups. I came out of that book with the attitude that I would give anything for an ongoing comic called "Spider-Man and Ben Grimm Punch Dudes." I don't care what it takes, I don't care how you have to torture the premises, I just want that book to exist. BADLY.

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  18. Well done for two years' efforts! I haven't agreed with everything you've said, but it'd be pretty dull if I did...here's looking forward to two more.


    cheers
    B Smmith

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  19. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BAB!!

    Congrats and many thanks to you, Doug and Karen, for bringing us the best Bronze Age blog ever!!

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  20. Happy Anniversary, Doug and Karen! It's been fun wallowing in those memories of comics past and talking about the good, the bad, and the weird. Wish you many more years of blogging, at least as long as you can stand it.

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  21. Congratulations, Doug and Karen! This is among my very favorite blogs and always one of my first stops. The crackerjack regular commenters certainly add to the quality of the site.

    In actively seeking out comic blogs about my favorite era (duh, bronze!), I was lucky enough to come across this one.

    Some of my favorite features have been Side by Side (esp. during my initial comic-collecting years of '77-84), open forum, and the great in-depth reviews of classic issues.

    Keep up the great work - can't wait to see what comes next!

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