Doug: It's been awhile since we've perused some back issues. I've been conscious about alternating months from the 1970s with months from the 1980s. Hopefully everyone can find a way to feel at home, regardless of when your own personal golden age fell. As always, the link on the date below will take you to Mike's Amazing World of Comics, where you can see all of the covers from today's query, and listed alphabetically.
24 comments:
Oh, yes, the early 1980s. I was deep into at this point, and looking over the list at Mike's Newsstand, I can see I had a lot of stuff from that month.
The New Teen Titans issue you have pictured was a particular favorite; also out that month was NTT Annual #1, which concluded that awesome space opera story.
And it was at this point that Marvel was pretty heavily into its mini-series phase - besides Vision & Scarlet Witch (which I had), the third issues to the Hercules and Wolverine minis were out that month as well (had those too, obviously).
Other highlights for me that month:
Legion of Super-heroes #293, the penultimate chapter of the Great Darkness Saga;
Captain America Annual #6 - the art was nothing special, but I recall that one having a really good story: all of the guys who wore Cap's uniform up to that point are taken to an alternate-reality Earth to fight its android dictator;
And last but not least - the X-men/New Teen Titans crossover. Loved that one, still do.
Also, it's interesting to note that at this point Harvey Comics had folded, so - no more Richie Rich comics...
Edo, that's the first thing I noticed-- "Wow, Harvey's GONE!" Richie Rich and (to some extent) Sad Sack seemed to be flooding the racks in our previous installments-- and now, pfft. . .
I kinda always wondered when they packed it in.
This would have been at a point where I wasn't buying comics retail at all anymore (Junior year of college), and I believe my Dad was only accumulating Hulk, Defenders, and FF for me via subscription-- and those issues went unread for at least a couple of more years. Soooo many things here I did pick up, though, at a tiny comic convention in Elkhart, IN in the summer of '84 (the big guest artist was a visibly unhappy Mike Vosburg, who for some reason kept being asked to copy Frank Miller's Wolverine covers by the local fans, and who couldn't get ANYONE to take a look at his original, in-process pages for SISTERHOOD OF STEEL). There was also a terrific, comic-heavy used book store downtown there that didn't seem to care what it charged for recent-ish back issues. I know I picked up this X-Men issue for 30 cents, as well as all of the early issues of New Mutants, Vision/Scarlet Witch, some missing Byrne FF, missing Marvel Team-ups, etc, etc. Ironically, I was working three jobs that summer (before grad school) and had NO time whatsoever to read my unexpected back-issue treasure trove. . . !
Man, Marvel was really pounding away at those quick movie-adaptation dollars, wasn't it? I mean. . . ANNIE-??!?
HB
The only one I can remember is Fantastic Four - they were all experiencing their worst nightmares come true or something, Reed's was a gigantic space-ship bigger than Earth. And I never knew there was a Blade Runner comic - I must investigate that further.
HB, you're gonna put the ANNIE comment down and back away. I'm not asking.......I'm advising you in the strongest terms possible. It's not going to be worth it. If you have any, and I do mean, ANY hope of seeing if the sun will come out tomorrow.......
And now, for something completely different. My sister had started college in the fall of '82. One Saturday, when I drove up to meet her for lunch, I ended up driving around a bit since I was early. I found this place on the freeway, Nan's Games and Comics. WHAT!!??!!! A store that just sold games........er I mean, comics!!! I think I was hyperventilating. New comics, old comics. This was just too much. Most of my November '82s were purchased at a Comic Book Store. Daredevil, FF, Vision & Scarlet Witch, X-Men, Wolverine, the NTT/X-Men crossover.
Truly, this is what men felt like, free men with the wind blowing in their hair and the smell of the sea strong in their nostrils.
The Prowler (Suite Madame Blue, gaze in your looking glass You're not a child anymore Suite Madame Blue,the future is all but past Dressed in your jewels, you made your own rules You conquered the world and more ..............heaven's door).
Ooooh-ooooooooh-aaaaaaaaaah-aaaah!
(instrumental bit, culminating in guitar solo then:)
America! America! America! (repeat about a dozen times)
(...you're not the only one who knows the lyrics to more than a few Styx songs by heart, Prowler.)
And Colin, yep, that was a really cool issue of the FF, right in the thick of Byrne's run. At that point, FF, New Teen Titans and Legion of Super-heroes were my favorite titles - in that order.
And yes, there was indeed a Blade Runner comic. Never read it, though, as I was kind of avoiding all of those movie adaptations that Marvel was - as HB notes - churning out at the time. Now, however, given how much I like the movie, I kind of regret that. Anyway, I vaguely recall flipping through an issue; without looking it up, I think Al Williamson did the art.
I was out of collecting at this point, enjoying the coeds at my college (bluntly..).
Solarr, now that's a name I hadn'st seen since CA&F 160 (and I don't think anyone else did either..), may have to pick that MTU up. I've started picking up Bronze issues where somewhat-obscure villains pop back up in the Marvel Universe again after fun 'first appearances' in issues I enjoyed during my collecting prime (Mandrill in Defenders, Nightshade, etc..), but to some disappointment.
I've always wanted to pick up that first Vish/Wanda LS, which was far more interesting than it's extended follow-up..
And those were prime NTT issues alright. I collected most of them in hindsight a few years later. I do recall that when I did collect the NTT back issues as recent as only the year prior at my local LCS, I did have to pay a premium price due to their still-current popularity at that time.
IMHO, DC didn't exploit the Titans as their flagship title anywhere near as much as Marvel did the X-Men, but I do feel the writing was starting to get a bit presumptuous and headstrong by this point, after the more 'underdoggish' first 2yrs. By the time the Judas Contract finished, the initial charm was over.
Big month for me.
Let's see, I picked up the following titles cover dated Nov. 1982:
X-men
Rom Annual
Wolverine
Daredevil
X-men Annual
Marvel Tales
Peter Parker
Hulk
GI Joe
Fantastic Four
Defenders
All Star Squadron
Amazing Spider-Man
Teen Titans/X-men team-up
Marvel Team-Up Annual
Justice League
Master Of Kung Fu
Thor
I'll weigh in on some of the stories later, but it was a comics month I'll never forget!
Now we're cooking with gas. I had been regularly collecting for about a year at this point - so I had a few of these - but remember I still got about 70% of my comics from flea markets and yard sales at that time - I had limited resources, even at 60 cents an issue.
But of the ones that came out this month, I got:
• Dazzler #21
• G.I. Joe #5
• X-Men and Teen Titans (which I sold eBay in 1999, but recent got back from a friend - see my "Raiders of the Lost Comics" storified tweets)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Marvel Team-Up Annual #5 (one of my all-time faves that I am looking to get back)
• Marvel Two-In-One #93
• Rom #36
• Rom Annual #1
• Wolverine #3
So more than I thought, now that I look at it.
Oops! (again)
1) I forgot ASM #224, and. . .
2) I forgot the link to Raiders of the Lost Comics
I was 14 years old when these comics were published and I was deep into both X-Men and the New Teen Titans, so that crossover by Claremont and Simonson was a must-have. Because it was not available on newsstands, I begged my mom to drive to the nearest comic book shop which as well over an hour away and several towns over but it was completely worth.
I was also loving All-Star Squadron, and that JLA/JSA/All-Star Squadron crossover was pretty terrific (and educational!)
I was also reading Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man, Batman, and Captain Carrot!
Weird, Steve.
I remember buying the X-Men/Teen Titan book at candy store/soda shop with a newsstand. I had never been a comic shop at that point in my life.
This is right in my heyday for comics, when I had a file at my local shop. Biggest comic this month: DREADSTAR #1! Loved it, picked up 2 copies as I was in my collecting/speculating phase (which didn't last long.)
Daredevil 188--Janson taking over, but still great title. I prefer Black Widow's '70s outfit, but at the time it was interesting to see this short haircut look.
Moon Knight 25--Sienkiewicz getting awesome. Some cool B+W covers.
New Teen Titans 25 and Annual 1--ok this is as good as Dreadstar. Perez and Wolfman running on all cylinders, great story and art.
Hercules 3--Great miniseries! Action, humour...for me way better than the disappointing Wolverine mini.
Speaking of disappointing, the X-Men/Titans crossover didn't live up to its potential. I like Simonson, but Perez or Byrne would've been better for the art. The result was just ok.
Nice Wonder Woman cover by Kaluta. He'd make a good WW artist--wonder if he's ever drawn a full story of her?
Starslayer 5! Loved this series at the time-- Grell's Warlord mixed with Star Wars? How can you go wrong?
Batman 353 has Garcia Lopez art. 3 nice Conan covers penciled and inked by J Buscema this month.
I was reading Arion, Arak, Firestorm and even Captain Carrot for a while, but I have a feeling they wouldn't hold up today. Kazar 20, in the city--I liked this title but it was on its way down around this time. Others this month I read: Marvel Fanfare 5, Master of Kung Fu 118, Power Man/Iron Fist 87, Night Force 4. Swamp Thing 7 and Annual 1--I was hoping for a revival of the Wein/Wrightson greatness, but at this point Swampy was in stuck in an average time until the Alan Moore run.
Great month for comics, with many ok issues, and some outstanding ones!
Y'know, I've read almost 30 of these since then, but I have no clear memory of owning any of them the first time around! I must've had a few though...probably the Spideys, Batman, DD, Teen Titans, and maybe the JLA/All-Star Sq. x-over; that's what I was into back then, so I'm sure I would've had at least some of those.
@HB That's a cool story about meeting Vosburg...I loved Sisterhood of Steel! They should make it into a movie.
Mike W.
I was out of comics at this point. But, in light of recent discussions here, I got a kick out of the lower right banner on ASM #234 - "The Marvel Comics Guide to Collecting Comics". Anybody know what that was all about?
Tom
Thanks Dr. O. You're a gentleman and a scholar.
Tom
Well, half of that is true ;)
Yeah, I had that issue of Spidey and that collector's guide. The only thing I sort of remember from it is that cool cover by Simonson, and that picture showing how NOT to store your comics - which is pretty much precisely how I had been storing my comics for years.
I had scaled back a bit by 1982,but still bought quite a few. Particularly all the Spiderman books, Titans and FF. Was almost ready to drop X-Men, but still got the Simonson crossover book ( which I very recently reacquired, after two decades). College was occupying more of my time, and I was soon to get caught up in Independent comics. American Flagg, Journey, Neil the Horse and Mr. X all found spots on the shelf. Ahh, the memories: reading Roger Stern Spider-man and listening to Duran Duran...
Wow! I think I bought 40 this month. I really enjoyed the All Star Squadron/JSA/JLA team-up that summer, and the Squadron annual was a favorite, too. I loved that series. I remember the Batman and Detective issues that month, too, and the Darkness Saga had me riveted in LSH. I remember the World's Finest issue had a Frank Miller cover and was back to being a regular-sized comic (to my dismay).
I think I got all of the Titans and X-Men items this month, too, including their team-up (though I don't remember anything about it at all).
On the Marvel side, I was really into the Wolverine and Hercules minis. Both were a lot of fun. MTU was memorable too, with that great Kerry Gamill art. MOKF was winding down with a big Shang-Chi/Fu Manchu story, too. That was a really good month.
*sigh*
You make ONE comment about a comic book adaptation of a less-than-inspired movie adaptation of an iconic Broadway musical, and you end up spending the rest of your life in a Witness Protection & Relocation Program. . .
. . . boy, good thing Marvel didn't come out w/ an adaptation of FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM--! Or SWEENEY TODD--!(I'm ready for ya, Prowl-- I'm READY!!!)
HB (just doin' my vocal warm-ups. . .pay no attention)
Hey Redartz, Mister X was a cool series! I just picked up the TPB of the first 4 issues. Haven't read these in a long time--great stuff! Intriguing story by Motter, and fantastic art by Jaime Hernandez. Also has some preliminary drawings and promotional posters.
Seems to me the art by Seth later in the series was also good.
This was smack in the middle of the five years I was out of comics (summer before frosh year of high school through the spring of frosh year of college). When I came back to the hobby, I felt that overall -- certainly with some exceptions -- comic book art had declined. Gone were Bronze Age mainstays Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, the Buscemas, Jim Aparo, Jim Starlin, etc. Oh, for the most part they were still around, but they didn't dominate the newsstands as they once had. I did enjoy Kerry Gammill's work, and Ron Frenz's turn on Amazing Spider-Man was fun. But I have to declare that it was a true blessing when John Buscema took back the reins of the Avengers after issue #250 or so. Many of the folks working in the '80s (and beyond) just, at least for me, paled in talent as compared to those masters who had gotten into their primes during the late Silver and Bronze Ages.
Doug
That's an interesting perspective, Doug. I think I'm a little younger than you, and I was reading comics straight through from the late '70s into the early '80s, and I don't recall ever thinking there was some kind of decline in the overall quality of the art.
And I think I've made it clear before how much I love Kane, Aparo, Starlin and the Buscema brothers, but from my standpoint, guys like, say, Byrne, Perez, Simonson and even Ordway, who were pretty much on fire in the early to mid-'80s, were no less talented.
I think there was a difference between the artists born in the '20s and '30s, and the baby boomer artists. I'd say equally talented but in different ways. The older artists had a rock solid quality, like Gil Kane. The Boomers smoothed things out and often had a lighter touch, like John Byrne. Aparo had that old school manliness, whereas Staton has that lighter, cartoonier style. Could be a good topic, how the generations of artists changed.
The next are Gen X artists from Image era to today.
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