GeeksAreMyPeeps

I don't disagree with the general premise that it's easier to identify books by the date they were published, but ages generally convey a particular feeling, A book from 1990 feels a lot more like a book published in 1989 from the same company than it does like one published in 1999. I also agree with what you pointed out about the two issues of JiM. They belong to the same age because they have the same feel, regardless of whether Showcase 4 was published between them. Different titles enter the new age at different times, as people catch up with the trendsetters. The Silver Age was largely a revival of super-hero comics, after the Golden Age diversified into all sorts of genres (westerns, romance, science fiction, etc.). The Bronze Age was largely defined by pushing the boundaries of the content and testing the limits of the CCA (initially, anyway, and then generally books became more mature). I think the Copper Age was largely about a few things, with creator rights and changing distribution systems at the core. It's a little earlier than most people suggest, but I think the catalyst for the Copper Age was the DC implosion. That led to many departures from DC, the most important amongst them probably being Archie Goodwin and Larry Hama. They both ended up at Marvel, where Goodwin helmed the launch of Marvel's first (mostly) creator-owned imprint (Epic), and Larry Hama's work on G.I. Joe led to an explosion in licensed material. I see the formation of Image as being a relative midpoint of the Copper Age. Sure, the fight over creator rights culminated here, but the first few years showed a lot of the problems with having a line that was run by the creators, with late and canceled books a regular occurrence. I don't think it was until Liefeld and Lee came back to Marvel for a bit that Image started settling down into what it more closely resembles today. It's interesting that you point out our current situation as the potential beginning of a new era, especially as Bad Idea is about to test new distribution methods. Eniac #1 might be the first book of the new age.

Not by me. That still feels like Copper. I think the Copper Age ended in the later '90s, when Marvel cancelled and relaunched most of it's long running titles, Valiant was sold to Acclaim, and many of the other super-hero universes that launched in that decade (Milestone, Comic's Greatest World, Ultraverse, etc.) died out.

Are all of Marvel's new characters just existing characters mashed up? Can we give "Host Rider" Thor's hammer and have his family gunned down while they picnic in Central Park?

If it is, then this seems so much more appropriate:

If you look at the list, the books that seem to have a smaller percentage of newsstands submitted compared to others from the same year are ones that would have had a lot of speculation anticipated before the release (Wolverine #1, New Mutants #1, etc.). I think the books that were a slow burn are probably the ones that give the best idea of the proportion of directs to newsstands that were out there.

Maybe it's an art project.

John Cena tweeted out a picture of X-O Manowar and now the first issue has a good number of sales

I think what we currently consider the Modern Age will be broken down into a few ages. At the very least, the launch of DC's New 52 was close enough to Marvel Now and the relaunch of Valiant that 2011-2012 is a cusp between ages. Also, was going to start a thread on this very topic but someone beat me to it.

Cable is Nathan Summers, but the characteristics that we recognize as Cable were not present in the depiction of the baby that appeared in Uncanny X-Men 201. Therefore Claremont and Leonardi are not credited as creating Cable (and rightly so)

No. Nathan Summers first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #201, which was written and drawn by Chris Claremont and Rick Leonardi. But they are not credited with creating Cable.

Okay, but Simonson and Liefeld are credited as Cable's creators, even though they did not create baby Nathan Summers. The fully formed character is what's important as far as credit goes. (This is not meant to be an opinion on this specific Batman issue)

Are we all ready to argue about what's a legit first appearance, if we end up having multiple issues of an issue shipping at the same time once Diamond restarts?

First it heats up. Then it starts coughing, and next comes pneumonia. Then it dies.

The Captain Universe Spideys were really hot for a minute there during Acts of Vengeance.

Not Modern. Not even Copper, but relevant to your comment. (Not "heating up" either.) After sitting there for months, my Treasury-sized copy of Superman and his Incredible Fortress of Solitude sold. Seems appropriate for the times.

If you have Spectacular Spider-man 176, sell it now before you die. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=spectacular+spider-man+176&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=0&LH_Sold=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=15&_stpos=10018-8481&_sargn=-1%26saslc%3D1&_salic=1&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=100&LH_Complete=1&_fosrp=1

Harry Osborn's corn rows always annoyed me

Some of that has been going on already. Marriage Story was released just wide enough to qualify for Academy Awards before going to Netflix. (That's just one example; I'm sure there are more, but this probably doesn't happen much with action or sci-fi movies that work better on a big screen)

I imagine there will be a number of companies offering up free comics for captive reading. The first I've become aware of is below. Feel free to add other discoveries.

Full list of retailers is out: https://comicbook.com/comics/2020/03/10/bad-idea-comics-full-retailer-list/

but those all are after Hulk 180, no?

Note as well that two of those are newsstands

Get the Humble Bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/bloodshot-2020-valiant-books

Vin Diesel is a big enough action star that it *should* draw a good audience. The X factor here is how the coronavirus affects movie-goers in the coming months.

My sister is a London-based film critic. She covers everything but is a big geek so this is something that she would write about, but she has not heard about screenings for critics. It opens there Wednesday.