Doug: So cover dates of November, 1979 would have come to our hot little hands as school was beginning, hmm? That would have put me in the 8th grade, only several months before I'd leave the hobby for a five year hiatus. As we do with these posts, I'd encourage you to jump to Mike's Amazing World of Comics to see the month's offerings. You can also click on the date below to go to the Comic Book Database and see more details on any of the books.
23 comments:
Obligatory Richie Rich tally: 15!
Otherwise, as I've noted before, 1979 was when I became really, really serious about comics. Looking over the titles at Mike's I counted 22 titles that I had (but Battlestar Galactica was *not* among them). Some of my favorites were the issues of X-men #127 (obviously, right in the middle of Proteus story), Avengers #189, Iron Man #128, Daredevil #161, Micronauts #11, Aventure #466 (those wonderful Dollar Comics!), Marvel 2-in-1 #57 and Spider-man Annual #13 (a rather good whodunnit by Wolfman, drawn by Byrne and Austin).
I also recall having the DC digest you posted, but for some reason it's not listed at Mike's site. Very odd...
As with Edo, this is about when I became serious about comics. I had recently discovered the local comic shop, and much of my disposable income was soon going towards back issues.
The X-Men, Avengers, JLA, Micronauts, and Super Boy and the Legion of Super-Heroes covers certainly bring back some memories. And yes, I loved those digest size DC comics and also had that one.
Sooooo let's see--
This would have been the end of the summer between HS senior and Freshman in college. An impossibly busy and eventful and tumultuous summer, in my case (far beyond the assumed norm, believe me-!).
And although I do now have about 10 of the issues posted, this was the summer where I stopped, stopped, STOPPED buying comic books. I think my Dad kept my Hulk subscription alive, and that may have been it until Christmas. 'Way too busy, and I was in a bit of a putting-away-of-childish-things mindset as the uncertainty of what to expect of college life loomed.
Probably the biggest regret is having dropped X-Men at that point, 'cause man that book was so good right then! But thing is--- I would come home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break. . . and the first thing I'd pull out would be my (precariously stashed-away) comic books collection. Even though I wasn't still actively buying, they remained the comfortable and comforting anchor back at home. But still, this remains the period of my life where I wasn't buying or reading any current comics at all. They are the Forgotten Years (well-- year and a half-ish, anyhow. . . )
HB
Looking over this month's offerings, I tally about 17 books (including all those mentioned by you, Edo). There were some great ones this month; as noted, X-Men, Micronauts (wonderful series), a great Miller Daredevil and the classic Iron Man 128. And, like Edo, I thought that Amazing Spider-Man annual was pretty good (better than the second part, in the subsequent Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 1).
At this point in time I was preparing for year two at art school; but unlike HB I was still heavy into the comics. Of course, this is partially explained by the fact that at said art school, many fellow students were comic fans and each Thursday one of us would drive the group to the local comic shop (The Comic Book Carnival in Indianapolis ; different location now but still in business). End result: a lot of positive reinforcement for continuing the comics hobby...
November of 1979, I was in 9th grade, which was when I was just starting to get serious about comics (reading and collecting them). I was a total Marvel Maniac, and my favorite character back then was Daredevil. But I read a lot of other Marvel comics on a regular basis as well such as Spider-Man, Captain America, FF, Avengers, Defenders, X-Men, Hulk, and Iron Man, to name just a few.
However, the cover that strikes me the most is the DC Secret Origins. The colors are so bright and vivid. It's a shame that comics aren't so fun looking like that anymore.
This month was during the short gap between my childhood buying and my teenage buying.
However, I now own 12 books published this month and my current favourite is Flash #278...an interesting period for the character after the death of Iris Allen and the extended storyline that 'ran' out of that (see what I did there?)
Iron Man #128 is obviously a classic as well. Actually, I consider 1979 to be the beginning of Shooter's sweet spot as EIC....through to the first Secret Wars series.. During this period he had the trains running on time while retaining a strong sense of continuity. Later on, his drive to interfere and control the writing process within the whole company was damaging, but for several years his strengths outweighed his weaknesses (in my opinion)
I agree with Colin on this being the peak of Shooter's era.
And it was also at the peak of my collecting. X Men with the Proteus saga. Avengers with the great Hawkeye solo issue. Micronauts at its best.
I do have to say, although I collected Iron Man regularly and looked forward to the issues each month, the Demon in a Bottle storyline is not one of my favorites. I know it is a classic, but I prefer some other stories better. Iron Man and Doom in the Arthurian times. The battles with the Ghost. Even the Mantlo issues with Midas, I have more fondness for.
Off topic and no spoilers, I just wanted to say I had a chance to see the Ant Man movie yesterday and found it surprisingly enjoyable. Definitely a different tone from other Marvel fare, but I liked it quite a bit. And any changes they made from the comics really did not bother me at all. Fun movie.
Look at the art on that Blue Ribbon Digest! So beautiful. That's JL Garcia Lopez, right? Definitely Giordano inks. I really love how the DC stars looked during this period. There's a brightness to them that adds to the excitement. Batman would later go really dark, and I understand that, but I loved the blue and gray version with the yellow oval symbol. A reminder that, sure, he's the Dark Knight, but he's a superhero, too. I like superheroes to have some color, even Batman. -JJ
JJ, off the top of my head, I would have said that cover is just Giordano, but I checked with the GCD: pencils by Ross Andru, and inks, naturally, by Giordano...
Thanks, Edo! I was about to rave on about Garcia Lopez but something told me it wasn't quite him. Well, Andru was no slouch himself. In any event, that cover really hits the sweet spot for me.
Great month, I'd just gotten "serious" around this time. I had every Byrne-drawn issue from that month, plus Spectacular Spider-Man featured Swarm, the nazi skeleton reanimated by radioactive bees! Talk about high concept!
I don't remember a lot of these off the top of my head, but I must have had a few...probably some of the Spidey stuff (including his guest appearance in Spider Woman), DD, JLA, Batman, and maybe the Jonah Hex. I KNOW I had that issue of Brave & Bold because I still have it (although it's pretty mangled).
On a sad note, it looks like Alan Kupperberg died yesterday.
Mike Wilson
Yeah, Mike W., I just read the news of Mr. Kupperberg's untimely passing elsewhere. Sad news...
Slow time for me. I was working a lot during the summer and only had time to read the ones I subscribed to (JLA and Green Lantern) since the nearest shop was 45 minutes away. The JLA was pretty interesting.....sort of a JLA/JSA murder mystery.....nice change of pace.
I'm not sure there were enough Richie Rich comics available back then.
This was that summer between jr high and high school. By this point I had my bike and a job mowing lawns. It was also the point in my comic buying when I was moving more towards the Avengers, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, X-Men and Master Of Kung Fu and away from Spider-Man. I know! Right? I guess we all had that period when, for whatever reason, our comic buying changed, expanded, retracted or whatever.
If I remember correctly, this was also that summer where HB dated a pig and worked on a girl farm. Or did I get that backwards?
Throwback to a the time travel post: When Colin Bray's phone posts his comment twice and we read them both, did we move back in time, repeat the same moment in time or experience a fixed time point at two different moments in time???
(Each day I live
I want to be
A day to give
The best of me
I'm only one
But not alone
My finest day
Is yet unknown
I broke my heart
Fought every gain
To taste the sweet
I face the pain
I rise and fall
Yet through it all
This much remains)
PS, I forgot who made the suggestion but after I check the box to verify I'm not a robot I immediately click Publish My Comment and it goes through every time!!!! Yeah blog hacks......
So close, Prowl, so close-!
PIG FARM (sheesh!) was the previous summer.
Dated the associated girl (student nurse's aid) over the course of that year, but broke up early in this summer.
Had too many girlfriends over the course of the rest of the summer-- really, not a good guy at that time by any measure. (Also developed an ulcer that summer. Go figure--)
I still, STILL, don't get the Richie Rich thing. I would thumb through one every so often, and it's not like they terribly clever or anything. Just endlessly hyperbolic riffs on the limitless possibilities provided by unimaginable wealth. EVERY adventure seemed to be predicated on the ability to BUY whatever was necessary to have it succeed. Also, RR himself had, like, zero personality. A sweet, smart, good kid-- which I guess did make him an anomaly in the Harvey pantheon of "kid" characters, or in the world of funny-book kid characters in general.
HB
The stand out for me in this set of comics is Hulk Annual #8. I read and re-read that comic countless times as a kid, and wrote about it a few years ago here: "Snot-Nosed Hulk.
That Sasquatch sure is a jerk!
I also had that Man-Thing #1
I now have that MTIO since I hunted down that famous Project Pegasus arc, and the Micronauts and I still really want that Marvel Team-Up with Black Panther, since I think it is one of the two team-ups mentioned in Spider-Man/Human Torch #4.
Just a passing thought, but looking at that Proteus cover reminds me that Jean Grey/Phoenix never got a place in the corner art for the "All-New, All-Different/Uncanny" X-Men. She left the team along with the rest of the originals in #94 (except Cyclops of course), but she was back with them in the very beginning of #98, appearing with the group as they went ice skating at Rockefeller Square. She was directly involved with the book in way or another straight through to her demise in #137. So, really, Jean Grey, along with Cyclops, was one of TWO originals to shepherd the new X-Men into existence. It wasn't just Cyclops. She deserved a place in the corner art yet she was omitted entirely. -JJ
JJ, re: Jean in the corner box. I recall that back then I wondered the same thing; I'm guessing that her absence was perhaps due to the fact that she was separated from the rest of the team for quite a while after that tussle with Magneto in Antarctica (when they each thought the other had died).
Seems like as good a reason as any, Edo. I remember that storyline well. Powerful stuff, and then Claremont blew the reunion! But I digress...
Adventure Comics, Justice League of America and the Legion of Super-Heroes. All three of those books hold a special place in my collection. There was my introduction to Deadman. Earth 2 still existed prior to Crisis. Then there was the Legion and those costumes. Who were these people from the future? I was thoroughly hooked.
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