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The Copper 100: The Most Important Marvel Comics (1984-1991)

Started by Reno McCoy,

192 posts in this topic

Reno McCoy

Reno McCoy

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Earlier this year I started to buy/read the Marvel Copper Age books I read as a kid. I also tried reading everything that I missed, too, but quickly realized there's too much drek for me to continue. So I tried buying only key issues, but I realized that I'd be missing some great stories just because they weren't sought after or considered valuable.

 

With that in mind, I tried to hone in on a list of Marvel books that provides a good sampling of the storytelling at the time, one that doesn't focus solely on value but also doesn't neglect value either. I soon realized that 50 wasn't enough to form a solid list, and 100 was too many. Thus, I'm trying to get to a solid list of 75 Must-Own Marvel Copper Age books.

 

The goal is to get a well-rounded list that encompasses Marvel during the Copper Age (for this exercise, it starts with Secret Wars #1, so 1984 to 1991). I attempted to stay within the Marvel Universe (thus no Alf and Ewoks) but couldn't resist adding GI Joe, The 'Nam, etc.

 

I could easily reach 100 if I included entire storylines, such as the entire Punisher Limited Series, or the entire Born Again arc. Although this list is trying to capture must-read books plus must-own keys, I didn't want to get caught up in story arcs because, well, where would it end? There are enough McFarlane issues or Hobgoblin stories to fill the list, so I wanted to focus and create a nice, clean list of only those must-own books, regardless of whether a particular issue only tells part of the story.

 

I'm clearly over my 75 comic limit, so what should I remove? Anything I should add? Maybe something that's under the radar but worth adding? The Copper Age is loaded with gimmick covers, so maybe I need to add a few more of those for good measure?

 

[i've got a DC version, too, but I wanted to see how this went first.] (thumbs u

 

The Copper 75: Marvel Must-Own Books 1984-1991

  1. Alpha Flight 33 First Lady Deathstrike
  2. Alpha Flight 51 1st Jim Lee
  3. Amazing Spider-Man 252 1st black costume
  4. Amazing Spider-Man 265 1st Silver Sable
  5. Amazing Spider-Man 289 Death of Ned Leeds
  6. Amazing Spider-Man 293 Kraven’s Last Hunt
  7. Amazing Spider-Man 294 Kraven’s Last Hunt
  8. Amazing Spider-Man 298 Todd McFarlane begins; 1st Eddie Brock
  9. Amazing Spider-Man 299 1st brief Venom
  10. Amazing Spider-Man 300 First full Venom
  11. Amazing Spider-Man 312 Hobgoblin vs. Green Goblin
  12. Amazing Spider-Man 316 Venom app
  13. Amazing Spider-Man 344 1st Cletus Kasaday
  14. Amazing Spider-Man 3611st Carnage
  15. Amazing Spider-Man 365 1st Spider-Man 2099
  16. Amazing Spider-Man Ann. 21 Marriage issue (direct market)
  17. Amazing Spider-Man Ann. 21 Marriage issue (newstand)
  18. Avengers 257 1st Nebula
  19. Captain America 332 Cap resigns
  20. Captain America Annual 8 Wolverine
  21. Daredevil 227 Frank Miller; Born Again
  22. Daredevil 248 Wolverine
  23. Daredevil 249 Wolverine
  24. Daredevil 254 1st Typhoid Mary
  25. Daredevil 257 vs. Punisher
  26. Fantastic Four 286 X-Factor
  27. Fantastic Four 320 Thing vs. Hulk
  28. Ghost Rider 1
  29. GI Joe 21 1st Storm Shadow; silent issue
  30. GI Joe 25 1st Zartan
  31. GI Joe 26 Origin Snake Eyes
  32. GI Joe 27 Origin Snake Eyes
  33. GI Joe 93 Snake Eyes’ face revealed
  34. Incredible Hulk 330 McFarlane; Ross dies
  35. Incredible Hulk 331 Grey Hulk
  36. Incredible Hulk 340 Hulk vs. Wolverine
  37. Infinity Gauntlet 1
  38. Iron Man 282 1st War Machine
  39. Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 1
  40. Longshot 1 1st Longshot
  41. Marvel Team-Up 141 1st black costume
  42. The ‘Nam 1st issue
  43. New Mutants 87 1st Cable
  44. New Mutants 98 1st Deadpool
  45. New Mutants 100 1st X-Force
  46. New Mutants Annual2 1st Psylocke
  47. Punisher Limited Series 1 1st issue
  48. Secret Wars 1 Copper age begins; cross-overs begin heavy
  49. Secret Wars 8 Black costume
  50. Silver Surfer 35 Thanos
  51. Silver Surfer 50 Thanos
  52. Spectacular Spider-Man 107 Death of Jean DeWolff
  53. Spectacular Spider-Man 131 Kraven
  54. Spectacular Spider-Man 132 Kraven
  55. Spider-Man 1 Platinum 10,000 copies mailed to retailers
  56. Spider-Man 1 Gold UPC Less than 10K for Wal-Mart
  57. Spider-Man vs. Wolverine 1 Death of Ned Leeds
  58. Star Wars 107 Final issue; low distribution
  59. Thor 411 1st brief New Warriors
  60. Thor 412 1st New Warriors
  61. Transformers 80 Final issue
  62. Uncanny X-Men 201 1st app Cable as baby
  63. Uncanny X-Men 205 Wolverine by BWSmith
  64. Uncanny X-Men 210 Mutant Massacre
  65. Uncanny X-Men 211 Mutant Massacre
  66. Uncanny X-Men 212 Mutant Massacre; Wolverine vs. Sabretooth
  67. Uncanny X-Men 213 Mutant Massacre; Wolverine vs. Sabretooth
  68. Uncanny X-Men 221 1st Mr. Sinister
  69. Uncanny X-Men 222 Wolverine vs. Sabretooth
  70. Uncanny X-Men 244 1st Jubilee
  71. Uncanny X-Men 248 1st Jim Lee
  72. Uncanny X-Men 266 1st Gambit
  73. Uncanny X-Men 268 Cap, Black Widow, and Wolverine
  74. Uncanny X-Men 282 1st brief Bishop
  75. Uncanny X-Men 283 1st full Bishop
  76. Uncanny X-Men 297 Gold Limited
  77. Uncanny X-Men 303 Gold Limited
  78. Uncanny X-Men 307 Gold Limited
  79. Web of Spider-Man 1 Black costume; 1st issue
  80. Web of Spider-Man 18 1st Venom?
  81. Web of Spider-Man 29 Wolverine
  82. Web of Spider-Man 31 Kraven
  83. Web of Spider-Man 32 Kraven
  84. Wolverine 1 1st issue
  85. Wolverine 10 1st battle between Wolverine and Sabretooth
  86. X-Factor 1 1st issue
  87. X-Factor 5 1st brief Apocalypse
  88. X-Factor 6 1st Apocalypse
  89. X-Factor 24 1st Archangel
  90. X -Men 11 Silver/Platinum 2nd print

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Heronext

Heronext

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Here are a few others -

 

Cap 310 1st Diamondback

Cap 319 Scourge massacre - I made this key up myself

Cap 359 1st Crossbones

Infinity Gauntlet 1

Iron Man 194 - 1st Scourge (think its important but never seen it on a top Copper list before, you're welcome :thumbsup:)

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Reno McCoy

Reno McCoy

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I would put Alpha Flight 33 Lady Deathstrike over 1st Silver Sable

 

That's a 1983 book. But it'd make the list if it were a few months later.

 

Alpha Flight 33 came out in '86. :baiting:

 

Yeah, well, it's my list, and I say it came out in '83.

 

But yes, you're right. I'll add it.

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mysterio

mysterio

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Good list, but if this is about stories I'm unclear why Platinum Spider-man #1 or the gold second print are on this list, let alone both of them. The story is available in dime a dozen regular printings. Same with a random (to my mind) second printing of some X-men issue. Otherwise a very good list for a new Copper fan.

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Reno McCoy

Reno McCoy

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Good list, but if this is about stories I'm unclear why Platinum Spider-man #1 or the gold second print are on this list, let alone both of them. The story is available in dime a dozen regular printings. Same with a random (to my mind) second printing of some X-men issue. Otherwise a very good list for a new Copper fan.

 

I was trying to balance the list, actually. I wanted it to feature great storylines (or at least, the main issue of those storylines) plus key issues and hard-to-find issues, but I also didn't want it to solely be "here are the 75 most valuable Copper books."

 

I also want to have it represent the era, which is why I'd like to add another gimmick cover or two. I hesitated to put the 2nd prints and variants on there at all, but in the end, I figured, those are what some would consider key issues, so I kept them in.

 

I'm not saying that's the right thing to do. Sort of depends on how this all shakes out after input from others.

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Reno McCoy

Reno McCoy

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Why Silver Surfer 35, but not 34?

 

hm

 

No reason, really. Just trying to limit it to 75, which means I had to make cuts here and there. There are a handful of other SS issues I'd add in if I were to go up to 100, which is the way this seems to be going.

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Bosco685

Bosco685

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I think some of the Uncanny X-men annuals for that period were decent stories.

 

- UXM Ann #9 (1985): Loved the tie-in with Asgard, and the characters associated with the Thor universe.

 

- UXM Ann #10 (1986): Psylocke is feeling her way around being an X-Men; Longshot eases into making appearances in the UXM title.

 

- UXM Ann #11 (1987): Captain Britain, Meggan, Wolverine drunk, Psylocke, Yukio, Havok, Dazzler - this is like a Brian Singer movie.

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