What was the Greatest Single Comic of the Bronze Age?

[Aman619]

I always loved Marvel Premiere 3. It was a one-off story was drawn by Barry Smith in his Conanesque height (as I remember it, not his cruder Kirbyesque early stuff) - - AND, written by Stan Lee. The first title he had written in a few years I seem to recall.

 

I wasnt a huge Doc Strange fan, but, this story drew me in and had a (for me) surprisingly satisfying payoff. Maybe it was its early Marvel Stanness, who knows. But this issue always stood out for me but never gets mentioned as anything special.

[jimjum12]

we all have out favorites.

 

I only have in favorites.

 

 

Almost ANY of the Wrightson Swamp Things, especially 4,6,8, and 9. Red Nails Conan adaptation was AWESOME for any age.Marvel Premiere 15 B&B 86 is also an all time fav....and Avengers 93 GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[Bronty]

we all have out favorites.

 

Define "greatest," then we can get started! (thumbs u

 

I agree. What do mean by "greatest"? Just the same, I'll second the boardie who claimed it was Green Lantern 76. I just read a 2000 DC reprint. It was so way ahead of its time--especially the storyline.

 

Okay. I suspected the ambiguity might be a problem but I threw the thread out there in the middle of BBQ yesterday anyway.

 

I was talking to a friend last week trying to make the argument that Michael Jackson, together with Elvis & the Beatles, were the 3 Greatest Musical Performers since WWII -- that Sinatra, the Stones, & Madonna didn't penetrate into that group of 3. That I might prefer Sinatra over Jackson any day of the week when making a musical selection but that the fact remained he didn't displace Jackson as a Greatest triumvir.

 

He asked: "What do you mean by Greatest?"

 

I said: "Take all contributing factors -- record sales, cultural influence, singing/dancing/entertaining talents, on & on, etc etc -- add them up & average them out. That will give you Greatest. Greatest means when all else is said & done, these are the Greatest, the very tippy top absolute pinnacle of the industry."

 

 

way to take a stand on defining the word

 

and its GL 76 if its best art/story combination. GSX1 if you're going by what put the most dough in marvel's pockets.

[AGGIEZ]

How about we define it by..."if you could have ONE in 9.8 WP, which one would it be"

[Aman619]

thats a different question, isnt it?

 

[bronze_rules]

thats a different question, isnt it?

Worthy of a different thread. I started a similar one on time periods.

I think G X-MEN 1 takes the consensus lead here without too much contention.

 

P.S. I loved the MP doctor strange run!

[Bronty]

thats a different question, isnt it?

 

I think G X-MEN 1 takes the consensus lead here without too much contention.

 

And isn't that sad though? Because to me GSX1 is like the opposite of what 70s comics are about. There's all this weird and wonderful stuff going on creatively in all these new and/or revived genres, all these wonderful new artists and writers expressing themselves creatively, and the book that takes the crown..... is a bland superhero book? Pleh. :doh: Its a cool book and all but in some ways its kind of a watered down, lowest common denominator expression of the era

[COI]

ASM 121, 122, and 123. 122 if I have to pick ONE.

 

But take my opinions with a grain of salt. I've pretty much only read ASM, X-Men and DD issues from the bronze age.

 

Edit: I've also read the BWS Conan issues, and they're great.

[COI]

Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin dying set the tone for Spidey for the next twenty years. the impact of the book on the character was still being felt thirty years later.

 

[TupennyConan]

I have reformulated my metrics after having meditated on all of the opinions in this thread.

 

I now judge the Greatest by which book I would most prefer to read again or recommend to my son to read if I only had one from which to choose.

 

Conan 24

 

I would say Silver Surfer 4 but that is too late SA to fit. In any event, SS4 is the Greatest Comic Book of All Time for me (having read very little GA).

 

Judged by these standards, GSXM1 is a bit of a joke. By comparison, XM137 is far superior.

[JohnT]

My personal favorite would probably be one of the Starlin Warlock books. Not sure which one though. Maybe the first, Strange tales 178.

[bronze_rules]

thats a different question, isnt it?

 

I think G X-MEN 1 takes the consensus lead here without too much contention.

 

And isn't that sad though? Because to me GSX1 is like the opposite of what 70s comics are about. There's all this weird and wonderful stuff going on creatively in all these new and/or revived genres, all these wonderful new artists and writers expressing themselves creatively, and the book that takes the crown..... is a bland superhero book? Pleh. :doh: Its a cool book and all but in some ways its kind of a watered down, lowest common denominator expression of the era

 

Maybe it would be more appropriate to say something like greatest all around title of the bronze age (think gymnastics)? I guess I'm viewing it from the point of significance; I can't think of any other more creative and important contribution to the bronze age and forward than the x-men reboot. What would the industry have looked like with constant reprints of classic xmen from 94 and up. Granted, the art on Adams/GL horror, etc., was significant, but no single issue carried more overall weight to the success of comics as the x-men reboot IMO.

What other removal of a single title/impact would have made made for a greater loss down the road? GL 76 reboot? I would disagree.

[500Club]

 

- 'Death' of a major character, Jean Grey

- A chance to win $2,500

- Classic cover

- Byrne, Austin, Claremont

- The end of a fantastic storyline

- Double sized issue

 

My pick is DD 181. But you almost convinced me otherwise, and then I recalled the brilliance of X-Men 141, and almost switched again.

 

Yet, Daredevil 181 it is. What makes it great?

 

-the climax of a seminal story

-the apex of Frank Miller's legendary run

-double size

-top tier villains - Bullseye/Elektra

-death of Elektra

-fantastic cover -one wins, one dies

 

It also was the high point of a run that was a major step towards the grim and gritty tone that comics took on as bronze became copper, then modern.

[TupennyConan]

It's true that DD181 is about as good as comic book storytelling can be.

 

I re-read the Miller run in Omnibus format this year. While a good run, that book is its star, without peer.

[JohnT]

 

- 'Death' of a major character, Jean Grey

- A chance to win $2,500

- Classic cover

- Byrne, Austin, Claremont

- The end of a fantastic storyline

- Double sized issue

 

My pick is DD 181. But you almost convinced me otherwise, and then I recalled the brilliance of X-Men 141, and almost switched again.

 

Yet, Daredevil 181 it is. What makes it great?

 

-the climax of a seminal story

-the apex of Frank Miller's legendary run

-double size

-top tier villains - Bullseye/Elektra

-death of Elektra

-fantastic cover -one wins, one dies

 

It also was the high point of a run that was a major step towards the grim and gritty tone that comics took on as bronze became copper, then modern.

 

Very well put. That was a great run and a great book.

[jjonahjameson1]

 

- 'Death' of a major character, Jean Grey

- A chance to win $2,500

- Classic cover

- Byrne, Austin, Claremont

- The end of a fantastic storyline

- Double sized issue

 

My pick is DD 181. But you almost convinced me otherwise, and then I recalled the brilliance of X-Men 141, and almost switched again.

 

Yet, Daredevil 181 it is. What makes it great?

 

-the climax of a seminal story

-the apex of Frank Miller's legendary run

-double size

-top tier villains - Bullseye/Elektra

-death of Elektra

-fantastic cover -one wins, one dies

 

It also was the high point of a run that was a major step towards the grim and gritty tone that comics took on as bronze became copper, then modern.

 

Very well put. That was a great run and a great book.

 

Grim and gritty tone was set several years earlier with the appearance of Wolverine and The Punisher, IMHO.

[Monstro]

My personal favorite is Avengers 93

[Sal]

 

- 'Death' of a major character, Jean Grey

- A chance to win $2,500

- Classic cover

- Byrne, Austin, Claremont

- The end of a fantastic storyline

- Double sized issue

 

My pick is DD 181. But you almost convinced me otherwise, and then I recalled the brilliance of X-Men 141, and almost switched again.

 

Yet, Daredevil 181 it is. What makes it great?

 

-the climax of a seminal story

-the apex of Frank Miller's legendary run

-double size

-top tier villains - Bullseye/Elektra

-death of Elektra

-fantastic cover -one wins, one dies

 

It also was the high point of a run that was a major step towards the grim and gritty tone that comics took on as bronze became copper, then modern.

 

Except for the fact that it's a Copper Age book, I might agree with you.

 

 

Actually there really isn't a 100% consensus for the end of the Bronze Age, although in my opinion it stops in late 1979, with X-Men 137, a full 2 1/2 years ahead of the aforementioned DD ish

[Twistty1]

Its really difficult to narrow it down to one specific book as being the greatest within the Bronze age. Would it be the book/books that started it or the the book/books that made the greatest impact within the era? From reading other threads I dont think you'll ever be able to limit it to one or even two for that matter. My personal opinion would be either GSX 1 or GL 76.

[jjonahjameson1]

Its the first book that got you hooked.