What age of comics has the best stories? 2 2

[Robot Man]

On 7/22/2022 at 6:00 AM, Cat said:

Every era has its greatness. Every era has its embarrassments, its failures. It's all  relative. 

Perfect and well said. To me, GA: Eisner Spirit, Barks Ducks, Atomic Age: EC any title, SA: Marvel Spider-Man, FF4, DC: Mystery in Space, Flash, BA: Green Lantern all come to mind very quickly. After that, not a whole lot stands out. This could be added to if I really thought about it. 

[InsomniacComics]

I've heard good things about Web Of Spiderman in the Bronze Age. What's your guy's opinion on that series?

[davidpg]

On 7/22/2022 at 1:34 AM, Nick Furious said:

I think that Chris Claremont with X-men (1979?) has to be recognized as being at the forefront of a new era in mainstream comics.  Before that, most comic books that were written even for adults were aimed at our less mature side.  There were some exceptions of course, but I think many mainstream large distribution books picked up on his more mature storytelling and we saw it really grow throughout the 80's.  

Came to post this, leaving satisfied.  The period that spanned those stories (bronze to copper) had the best stories consistently of all time.

[rjpb]

There are great reads and unmitigated from every era, in both art and story, but overall I find the late 80s to mid/late 90s to be a high point, despite the rise of early Image style eyesores, and a lot of poorly written indy stuff that was basically fanzine material. You had the British invasion which upped the writing game in mainstream comics, concurrent with DC giving writers a lot of latitude with their Elseworlds and Vertigo titles, Dark Horse encouraging creators to explore both licensed material and their own imaginations, Fantagraphics giving a generation of underground influenced creators a platform to publish their stuff, and plenty of solid and original writing finding its way out of what was admittedly a swamp of lesser known (and mostly lesser quality) companies.

There was a freshness and excitement to the medium as it broke free from the writing constraints that had come to dominate mainstream comics by the end of the Bronze Age, that feels missing (to me anyway) in more recent decades. Not that there still isn't good writing, but it often feels like a repeat of ideas and concepts from that earlier era. I didn't read much Marvel from this era, but it seemed to be in many ways the exception, bogged down in convoluted continuities and initially more reluctant to give writers free-reign with its characters, it seemed to take a wrong turn by allowing the fanboys who eventually formed Image too much influence. While Image eventually became one of the more interesting publishers, its early output will always feel like counterpoint to the quality material of the era.

As I mentioned, there was plenty of drek as well, as with anytime, and there was certainly a false start with the B/W glut from the mid 80s in the wake of TMNT success, that nearly derailed the rise of the indys, as well as plenty of material that seemed to be exclusively about the art (good and bad) with writing barely an afterthought, but it was the only time in my adult life that I had genuine excitement about what I might find when visiting the comic store.  

A brief consideration of other eras:

As much as I love the history, energy and iconography of the covers of early Golden Age, the writing was largely terrible. It improved a bit towards the end of the era, with EC being a highpoint, but also creators like Barks and John Stanley hitting their stride. The CCA tamped a lot of the creativity down, and there is not much writing from the early SA to recommend it, but by the mid 60s Stan Lee had revitalized the superhero concept, encouraging interconnectedness, deeper continuity and more complex personal lives to heroes than earlier eras had allowed, and by decades end a new crop of younger writers, who had grown up as fans of the medium, were making comics fun to read if you were over 12, and at the same time the underground comics revolution, as uneven as it could be, was showing that comics were a medium that could not only appeal to adults, but could create content expressly for adults. It largely seemed to fall apart by the end of the 70s though (of course with some exceptions- as always), and the medium seemed at a creative low point then, IMHO. I sometimes wonder if Miller's DD and Claremont's X-Men material are so fondly remembered because so little else worth reading was being produced then.

Of course there is plenty I haven't read from every era, so I may be unfair in my assessments, which are often based on perceptions and the criticisms of people I respect as much as from sampling material first hand, but I've explored the medium enough from every era to be comfortable with my assumptions.

 

 

 

[rjpb]

On 7/21/2022 at 10:35 PM, kav said:

Silver Age. Absolutely.  That's where all the best work was done.  When comics were written for kids but at a level that could be enjoyed by adults.  Marvel had drama that an adult could enjoy while DC stories were so imaginatively goofy you could not help but like them.  Golden age-boring.  Bronze age some good stuff but not sweeping like the silver age.  Then the 90s with their adolescent stuff that adults could not enjoy nor kids.  To today where its all written for adults, with many preaching social issues.  Yes there were social issues in the bronze age, GL/GA for example but it was not heavy handed and insulting.

Funny, whenI reread the GL/GA stories in the 90s, for the first time since I was a teenager, I found the treatment of social issues to be quite clumsy and heavy-handed. Daring and sincere for their time, for sure, but they didn't really hold up storywise in that regard. 

[Ken Aldred]

On 7/22/2022 at 3:31 PM, BitterOldMan said:

My favorite Alan Moore stories were The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series with all the inside jokes and witty humor in each panel.  Some of the British humor was so subtle and esoteric that I needed the footnotes to truly understand his genius.  Still enjoy reading and discovering more fun stuff today.

Good call. Forgot about that one.

Surprised no-one corrected me for forgetting From Hell, but I didn’t, as I found it utterly depressing.

[KingOfRulers]

For me, Bronze Age [Marvel] definitely has the best stories. As well, I believe it displays the best overall combo of art AND story. What constitutes the various ages vary by collector. Often Bronze Age is thought of as 1970-1979, or 1970-1984.

If going by 1970-1984, it's an even stronger representative of my favorite as it would capture all of Claremont/Cockrum/Byrne run and the beginning of Simonson's Thor run. Even beyond those two landmark runs, I really enjoy the majority of Marvel's primary titles during this time. Late 70's, through the mid-80's is my all-time favorite era of Avengers. Amazing artwork from George Perez and later John Buscema/Tom Palmer. Obviously, Spider-Man was great during this era, with numerous classic storylines. 

Even secondary titles were great. Marvel Premiere's run of Dr. Strange stories are absolutely amazing. Just as good in quality as Claremont's X-Men or Simonson's Thor, but often overlooked because the run wasn't lengthy and because Dr. Strange never maintained top tier popularity.

The Silver Age stuff had nice artwork, but the stories are often hard for me to get through. Stan Lee was a brilliant creator and representative of comics, but his writing was often too campy for my taste. Bronze Age had it going on! 

[Ken Aldred]

On 7/22/2022 at 4:00 PM, rjpb said:

Funny, whenI reread the GL/GA stories in the 90s, for the first time since I was a teenager, I found the treatment of social issues to be quite clumsy and heavy-handed. Daring and sincere for their time, for sure, but they didn't really hold up storywise in that regard. 

I agree. They dated very quickly, even by early Copper Age.  I was disappointed with them when I first read them around 1980, after buying into the hype.  Didn’t really mix well at all with the depressed, dark, tumultuous atmosphere of England at that time. A very different zeitgeist to their’s, less than a decade earlier.

[Ken Aldred]

On 7/22/2022 at 4:09 PM, KingOfRulers said:

Even secondary titles were great. Marvel Premiere's run of Dr. Strange stories are absolutely amazing.

The Englehart / Brunner run was great.

Sise-Neg.

 

[comicginger1789]

The 80s are consistently good at both marvel and certain DC titles

I love 60s and 70s Marvel…not at all for DC with the exception of DC horror and war during that time

Anything Golden Age war, western, horror and NOT Batman or Superman interests me 

[Ken Aldred]

On 7/22/2022 at 3:55 PM, rjpb said:

I sometimes wonder if Miller's DD and Claremont's X-Men material are so fondly remembered because so little else worth reading was being produced then.

I believe that.

Now, we can reference the monthly Newsstand online…

http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/newsstand.php
 

But, in the 70s and early 80s I did the same thing with the ‘on sale this month’ checklists at the back of Marvel comics. A lot of it did seem lacklustre, especially once I’d become familiarised with the writers and artists, and had a good idea about whether or not I really liked their work.  As a cash-strapped teen it allowed me to prioritise what I’d enjoy the best, and cut down.   I was always a huge X-Men fan, and so picking up the Claremont / Byrne issues was an inevitability.  In one of the promotional pages in a Marvel comic, possibly with the ‘comics on sale’ checklists I mentioned earlier, was a small alert to look at Daredevil 158, and to check out the work of a new artist with a lot of potential, Frank Miller. I did, could see something there, and started picking up his other books, watching him grow rapidly in skill. That is, my triaging process allowed some latitude for experimentation with interesting new stuff as well.

Fond memories, on a shoestring.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Ken Aldred

[Ken Aldred]

On 7/22/2022 at 3:41 PM, InsomniacComics said:

I've heard good things about Web Of Spiderman in the Bronze Age. What's your guy's opinion on that series?

Web of Spider-Man 1 was mid 80s, so more Copper Age.

[Black_Adam]

I would guess the 'best years for comic stories' question probably has the same answer as the best years for cartoons - the ones you grew up with. 

[rexinnih]

On 7/22/2022 at 5:53 AM, WolverineX said:

Yes, his Xmen 94-150 is my favorite run to read.   Dark Phoenix, Days of Future past

The Claremont X-Men was my introduction to comics and started it all for me. Combined with some really great Silver Age stories, I'll go with two ages for my answer.

[Beastfeast]

On 7/22/2022 at 11:47 AM, Black_Adam said:

I would guess the 'best years for comic stories' question probably has the same answer as the best years for cartoons - the ones you grew up with. 

This is the answer for most. 

Most golden and silver is impossible to read and that extended well into bronze.  Some of the classics stand the test of time but revisiting that stuff if you didn't grow up with it is hard.  Stan the Man did a lot for the hobby but he was not a "good" writer but more excellent at giving the people what they didn't know they wanted.  The 80s were amazing mainly for their standouts.  the 90s had incredible offerings but also SOOOO much junk.    

I think the the last 20 years have been pretty golden for the breadth of stories and styles available for any and all readers.  That has a way of compartmentalizing the fandom in a way that I'm sure can be seen as negative, though.  

[JJ-4]

On 7/21/2022 at 10:59 PM, MattTheDuck said:

About 12.  After that you get interested in girls and cars and stuff like that.

Totally agree, but for me it was closer to 14.  Let's bracket it and say the best age for comics is 10-14?

[rjpb]

On 7/22/2022 at 8:47 AM, Black_Adam said:

I would guess the 'best years for comic stories' question probably has the same answer as the best years for cartoons - the ones you grew up with. 

The decades old truism that "The Golden Age of comics is 12" likely still stands, but even at that age one can be aware of differing quality. I was 12 in 1971-72, and that was certainly my peak interest in superhero comics, yet despite some excitement about Neal Adam's Batman, DC horror and Marvel's expansion resulting in cool concepts like Ghost Rider and Luke Cage, even then I felt like I'd missed out on the peak. Reading first the SA reprints and then originals when I could afford them, the Stan and Jack era of Marvel felt far superior to what was then on the stands, and I recall wishing I'd been buying them to read instead of Sad Sack and Richie Rich in the 60s. Even though DC was probably doing more interesting stuff in '71-'72 than it had for most of the previous decade, there seemed something magical about 12 cent comics even just a couple years after the prices had risen. 

[rjpb]

On 7/22/2022 at 8:47 AM, Black_Adam said:

I would guess the 'best years for comic stories' question probably has the same answer as the best years for cartoons - the ones you grew up with. 

I watched Saturday morning cartoons religiously from around 1966 to 1971, but what stood out most back then were the classic WB cartoons from the 40s and 50s that were constantly aired at the time. 

[Black_Adam]

On 7/22/2022 at 9:25 AM, rjpb said:

I watched Saturday morning cartoons religiously from around 1966 to 1971, but what stood out most back then were the classic WB cartoons from the 40s and 50s that were constantly aired at the time. 

Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes were the best. My mom had strict standing orders to wake me at 7am (and then she went back to bed) so I could get my fix before heading to school.

[Dr. Balls]

On 7/21/2022 at 11:34 PM, Nick Furious said:

I think that Chris Claremont with X-men (1979?) has to be recognized as being at the forefront of a new era in mainstream comics.  Before that, most comic books that were written even for adults were aimed at our less mature side.  There were some exceptions of course, but I think many mainstream large distribution books picked up on his more mature storytelling and we saw it really grow throughout the 80's.  

I was coming here to say this. My favorite stuff by far was 80s-90s Claremont work on X-Men followed up by Frank Miller on Daredevil. I was a Marvel kid, so I’m not excluding DC on purpose, I just don’t know much about that era for DC stuff.

Claremont’s work on X-Men was like must-read stuff for an 11 year old. I was counting days until the new issue was in my pull.

Master of Kung Fu and Moon Knight in the 80’s were also pretty solid, and I recall the dark broodiness of Spider-man after the black costume turned up was also an interesting era.