kustomizer

Not really, it was the early Silver Age being told from the point of view of regular onlookers.

I have a theory that Stan Lee did not actually write or -script anything himself, but was secretly using a ghost writer. I have reasons for coming up with this seemingly bizarre notion.

I feel the John Romita JR Issues were the absolute low-point. I stopped buying then.

People burn out too. Even Kirby did, eventually. I think with the X-Men there is often the attitude that the mere presence of the characters (especially Wolive) was more important than a good story.

It was a big improvement when Silvestri came on board.

No-o-o-o!! I'll be kicking myself around the block!!

As soon as Byrne left the X-Men, Claremont started on those Alien rip-off stories (the Brood) and every second cover seemed to imply the death of a major character. It reeked of desperation. Also, Cockrum's art was by then extremely disappointing, especially with those watery Rubenstein inks.

I remember when one of our LCS's went out of business -- all modern comics were 50 cents each. And I still didn't want any of them. That would have been in the '90s, if that makes any difference. I scored a ton of good TPBs though.

Yep, I read one of Claremont's sci-fi novels too. Thought it was terrible, but my wife loved it. I agree with you about Byrne's FF, not my cuppa. Byrne and Claremont were never as good apart as they were together. I liken it to the Kirby - Lee situation.

YES!! Lou Fargino, star of Hulk #'s 7 to 100!!

Alex Ross for the win, no doubt about that. I think he was only 20 when he did Marvels.

I always thought John Byrne was the force behind the X-Men, with Claremont along for the ride. As soon as Byrne left the title, the quality of the stories tanked. Claremont was just a really messy writer, anyone see his Sovereign Seven? Really incoherent stuff.

That really was a tale to astonish!

I remember seeing ads in CBG in the '90s where dealers would sell you cases of "hot" books, and instead of shipping them to you, they would store them on their premises -- for an ongoing charge!! Then, once the books skyrocketed in value, they would on-sell them for you as well. Except that last part never happened. Anyone remember this? Indeed, was anybody ever a participant in such schemes?

Is it really worth the effort for the chickenfeed return? It takes as much time to sort and pack near-valueless comics as it does for decent books.

Very well said. You certainly put a lot more thought into this than I ever did. Your position is absolutely valid, and what you suggest would have been a very meaningful and admirable outcome.

I was there too. Regular folks (non-comic collectors) did think that DC was genuinely killing off Superman in a 'bold' step towards the future. The media reports gave that distinct impression too. Usually when a character dies, even in fiction, he doesn't come back. Comics and soap operas are the exception to this.

I tend to think the "death" of Superman was the nail in the coffin, because it was such an outright lie. Who kills off their flagship character? But lots of "normal" folks thought it was genuine and were investing in copies of that, thinking it would be a surefire pay-off. Until the resurrection event inevitably occurred, and the public was betrayed.

I agree. Be sure to only list one copy per month and future generations of your family will be assured of having meagre pocket change FOREVER!

I remember when there was a hard and fast rule that Bucky Barnes was the one character who was definitely going to remain dead. That didn't last either.

That sleazy debacle pretty much taught the mainstream never to trust comic gimmicks.

Yeah, complacency is a good word for it. Other good words and phrases for it are 'bumbling incompetence', 'lack of talent', 'get rich quick' etc.

I guess if we burn 99% of it, the surviving copies would finally be "rare".

There was just an attitude that any old garbage would sell, and for a while it did. Now it just clogs up peoples' garages like cholesterol in an artery.

You never know, some of those might have recently become "keys" due to the first appearance of some suddenly "hot" character who's going to be in an upcoming movie. Worth a quick check before striking that match.