Who is your Favorite Golden Age Character- and Why? 3 3

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, N e r V said:

True. For me it’s Barks Disney in the 40’s and 50’s and Kurtzman’s Mad for satire in the 50’s and Archie’s from around the mid 50’s thru the mid 70’s.

I could read most of those endlessly.

Peanuts though I consider a strip mostly is good from beginning until the 1970’s or so as well.

+1 I would also throw in most all the EC's. I have owned them all, read most of them several times and never get sick of them. Lately, I've been reading the war ones again. Such great variety of stories and the art is second to none. I forget how great they really were. 

[sfcityduck]

On 2/8/2018 at 9:41 AM, Robot Man said:

As much as I love Donald Duck, I'd have to side with Rick on Scrooge. Such a great character with so much history. He even has an "origin" which is important with me. 

Of the Ducks, I go with Donald.  Mainly, because my favorite Barks' stories are from the late 40s to early 50s Four Color period, and those were mainly Donald stories (with Scrooge in some cases a supporting character). 

[sfcityduck]

1 minute ago, sfcityduck said:

Of the Ducks, I go with Donald.  Mainly, because my favorite Barks' stories are from the late 40s to early 50s Four Color period, and those were mainly Donald stories (with Scrooge in some cases a supporting character). 

But, despite my love of Barks' Ducks, I too go with Batman.  I love the Batman of the late 40s and early 50s.  And I admire the resiliency of a character who is so flexible that he can work in those type of stories as well as he does later in the 70s Adams or Rogers stories or 80s Miller version, etc.  The only period of Batman stories that I find a little boring are the earliest stories.  As Kane's influence waned, Batman really improved.  And, yes, I adhere to the heresy on this board that Robin was an addition that likely boosted the popularity of the character astronomically.

[N e r V]

2 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

But, despite my love of Barks' Ducks, I too go with Batman.  I love the Batman of the late 40s and early 50s.  And I admire the resiliency of a character who is so flexible that he can work in those type of stories as well as he does later in the 70s Adams or Rogers stories or 80s Miller version, etc.  The only period of Batman stories that I find a little boring are the earliest stories.  As Kane's influence waned, Batman really improved.  And, yes, I adhere to the heresy on this board that Robin was an addition that likely boosted the popularity of the character astronomically.

D ick Sprang and Win Mortimer art was hard to beat too!

(sorry but the boards won’t let me spell Sprang’s first name without a space  )

Edited February 10, 2018 by N e r V

[40sJohn]

For me it's Batman.  The caped crusader has always been my favorite in both the Golden Age and the Bronze Age. 

Why I like him:

1.  Nothing says Golden Age like fighting crime and mobs.

2.  The batmobile!

3.  DC characters in the GA are my favorite, by far.  

Here is probably my favorite cover from that era which represents the crime fighting side of Batman that is quintessential 40's.   

 

Edited February 10, 2018 by 40sJohn

[aardvark88]

Will Eisner's trendsetting (layouts) 'Spirit' would be higher ranked if it was published by National/DC or Timely/Atlas. Here is Silk Satin and P'gell:

 

[mwotka]

Have to agree with Robot Man and comicjack, the Spectre takes the cake for me.  Perhaps you could guess that from my sig line.  The combination of super-hero and horror feel, the sheer variety of what he can do, the origin.  I'm just wondering how he hasn't made it into a film (that being said, I wouldn't want the current people in charge to mess it up).  And the later stories and covers, like the Aparo run in Adventure, his role in Kingdom Come, great stuff.

Early Batman is of course so great (before he got too silly in the late fifties/sixties), and I agree with Bo on Sandman too, I love the look and feel of the early character.  And I love the weirdness and origin of Dr. Fate, at least before they cut his mask in half.  

I've loved the Duck universe since I was young, mostly through the Duck Tales tv show, which took me decades to realize was just plots recycled from early Barks books.  And I can't think of a better series to start young fans on.

[mwotka]

It does sound like I need to invest some serious time reading The Spirit!

[telerites]

I thought about saying Madam Fatal for being ahead of her/his time (although it sounds like tongue in cheek but it was a pretty far-flung story line back then.  I tend to gravitate to the more original and innovative.  

It is so hard to pick one and many have already been mentioned that I would consider.  I don't collect DCs but Spectre and Starman would be at the top of my lists.  I bought the Archives and the art and stories is great.  I also like the Spirit too and devoured all the reprints I could find early on.  Captain Marvel Jr. is also a top contender.  

For me though, I love Quality characters - the art and stories were almost always high quality (no pun intended).  I thought about the Ray and Black Condor but ultimately for me, I would Uncle Sam.  Captain America or the Shield get a lot of props for the leading patriotic hero which I wouldn't argue with either but Uncle Sam had that twist of mysticism and of course between the likes of Fine, Eisner, Crandall, and others; he had some top tier creators.  

Great idea for a thread too! 

[Patriot6]

Jughead 

[Ricksneatstuff]

2 minutes ago, Patriot6 said:

Jughead 

Now that’s a surprise. 

Do you choose cheeseburgers over blondes too?

[Patriot6]

1 minute ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

Now that’s a surprise. 

Do you choose cheeseburgers over blondes too?

Got me good Rick.

To be honest, I don't like cheese on my burgers, but I do like to eat  

This applies to all Archie comics, for me anyway, but it is the first thing I remember reading that made me laugh uncontrollably. It was the first thing that I read that I could sort of relate to. They were always having so much fun and that made me want to go outside and have fun with my friends too. I always wanted to have a gang like the Archie gang! Within all of that I always thought Jughead had it made. Food, girls if he DID want them, but more than anything, everyone's respect for being honest and kind. That is lost today I believe. The funny thing is, I can't walk through the grocery store without stoping to grab a digest and checkout what the gang is up to  

If the world could just look to Archie, it would be a much better place 

[Robot Man]

This character made a huge impression on me as a young lad. My uncle gave me a little pile of his old ECs and I read them to death. Later inspired me to complete an EC collection buying through the mail and "haunting" used book stores.

[aardvark88]

17 hours ago, mwotka said:

It does sound like I need to invest some serious time reading The Spirit!

You can read the Spirit run at low cost from the Kitchen Sink reprints or try some stories in the Spirit mags circa late 70s. To sum, forumites voting for More Fun Spectre , Barks' Uncle Scrooge and Disney ducks but hard to beat Batman's vast and memorable Rogues Gallery. I would add that Spectre origin part 3 seems to be continued in More Fun #54:

 

[Robot Man]

5 minutes ago, aardvark88 said:

You can read the Spirit run at low cost from the Kitchen Sink reprints or try some stories in the Spirit mags circa late 70s. To sum, forumites voting for More Fun Spectre , Barks' Uncle Scrooge and Disney ducks but hard to beat Batman's vast and memorable Rogues Gallery. I would add that Spectre origin part 3 seems to be continued in More Fun #54:

 

I never realized that the Spectre origin spills over into #54. I will have to check out my archives reprint again.  

[aardvark88]

1 hour ago, Robot Man said:

I never realized that the Spectre origin spills over into #54.  

Just seemed to me to be part of his origin  when Spectre volunteered to be cast down by the God-like 'voice' and remain to battle Evil on Earth in More Fun #54. O, our well-spent youth of Barks Ducks and Eisner Spirit even if it was in reprints:

[Robot Man]

I'm a lucky boy, no reprints for me. Such classic stuff!

[ender]

I will give one more vote to Spectre, but also say the original version of the Sandman is a close second. If we were stating favorite GA rogues galley, Batman wins in a landslide. No one else is even close for me

[aardvark88]

2 hours ago, ender said:

 but also say the original version of the Sandman is a close second.

I do not think I have ever read a complete GA Sandman story outside of perhaps World's Finest #2:

[ender]

6 minutes ago, aardvark88 said:

I do not think I have ever read a complete GA Sandman story outside of perhaps World's Finest #2:

I always liked them and I think the cover for the 42 is one of my favorites. Killer books!