What age has the best reading material ??????

[MutantKeys]

Nothing to do with collecting..

[Sid]

I voted for modern, was very tempted to vote for silver/bronze because of a few of the titles (ASM, X-Men, certain fantastic four runs, Batman etc.) but I think the writers are still maturing, per say. I love reading the old ASMs and hell the GA Batman books are awesome but they never can grab me. I finished Y:The Last Man tpbs within a few days, ditto for fables, ditto for Transmetropolitan but I'm still struggling to pick up the FF reprints.

[Silver Surfer]

Mid 70's to mid 80's hands down.

[Lazyboy]

Copper.

[blutobc]

Silver is still the Age of Wonder for me. Lots of quality material crammed into those silver Marvels.

 

Most Copper books read like a resurgence of the Silver Age.

 

Gems can still be found in the Golden Age.

 

Bronze books are good for laughs with the hip dialogue.

 

Moderns...why do I still buy them? Must be for the pretty pictures.

[nik]

I hear CA X-Men books are da bomb

[Scrooge]

I voted for Moderns. I hesitated for a minute to put Bronze because that's what I was reading growing up. In no way, would I have chosen Silver or Gold. I find it difficult to re-read most of the Silver Age, particularly DC. I collect Gold only and will readily admit that it's not the best reading material. I enjoy many modern series in many different genres; to me, it's the diversity that hands down have me favor the Modern Age thanks to Vertigo and other imprints from the majors. All collectors not reading current comics are missing out on series they would enjoy.

[Norrin_Radd]

Gems can still be found in the Golden Age.

 

Such as EC and Barks' Ducks? Those two alone dictate that the correct answer is Gold.

[AnthaiHERO]

copper x-men and asm.

[-cryptkeeper-]

S.A rules

[chrisco37]

Hard to pick one, as they all have their merits, but forced to choose, I'd have to say Copper Age.

 

You get all of Alan Moore's best (V, Swamp Thing, Watchmen, Miracleman), Miller at his high point (DKR, Daredevil), Dave Sim hitting his stride on Cerebus, Crisis, Gaiman's Sandman, etc....

 

The Silver Age (Marvel) is great, but it's hard for me to sit and read 'em these days. Golden Age is even harder (I've read some reprints), although the EC stories hold up and deserve note.

 

I love Modern Age as well. There have been some really good things done the past 10 or so years. But, forced to pick only one, I'd go Copper.

[Mac Man]

I was torn between Copper and Silver as well for many of the same reasons as Chrisco stated, but decided to go with Silver. While I actually do enjoy reading some of the old stuff, I have to admit some of the stories from the CA are a little more... developed? What tipped the scales in favor of SA, however, was the feeling of awe that I get from getting a SA comic that had a profound affect on that character for decades to come (i.e. ASM 31 with the first appearances of Harry and Gwen- and Petery has NO idea what impact that will have on him later on). That's part of the fun in the reading of the older stuff.

 

Bronze Age for me is hit or miss with the absolute standout of the entire period being the Dynamic Duo of Byrne and Claremont on X-Men (yes, yes, include me in on their bandwagon). Spidey, of course, had some good storylines but also a few that were a little bland to me. The major DC standout from this age would have to be the revitalization of Batman most notably in the Ra's Al Ghul storylines that came out of this period. But for me, I just didn't feel this was enough to put it ahead of the other two ages.

[Karma23]

For me it's Bronze. Plenty of diverse genres and some really great story arcs, Kree/Skrull War, GL/GA, the Perez Avengers run and Korvac Saga, Layton on Iron Man, Byrne/Claremont X-Men, Ploog on WWBN, Kanigher, Heath, Kubert and Glanzman on the DC War titles, and that's just off the top of my head. Today's stuff might be more gritty and 'realistic' but it certainly isn't more fun.

[143ksk]

I voted for Moderns. I hesitated for a minute to put Bronze because that's what I was reading growing up. In no way, would I have chosen Silver or Gold. I find it difficult to re-read most of the Silver Age, particularly DC. I collect Gold only and will readily admit that it's not the best reading material. I enjoy many modern series in many different genres; to me, it's the diversity that hands down have me favor the Modern Age thanks to Vertigo and other imprints from the majors. All collectors not reading current comics are missing out on series they would enjoy.

 

 

I can't believe you didn't vote for Gold Modern books are a close second IMO, and I almost picked them, but Bronze...

 

Just a reminder: Barks Ducks, Lulu, Pogo, Eisner, Archie, EC, Simon and Kirby.

 

[rjpb]

There is good stuff in every age - although most of the "great" stuff from the Golden Age (Barks, Lulu, EC) is more properly Atom Age.

 

While the Silver Age really expanded the idea of continuity and character in Superhero books - and there is a charm to much of the writing - most of it doesn't hold up as well as one would hope.

 

Bronze for me is only notable if you include undergrounds, some fantastic stuff there.

 

Copper was nearly my choice as that is when many of the second generation underground writer/arists got started, and the rise of independent publishers meant a lot of interesting stuff was getting published, combined with mainstream titles (particularly DC), showing a willingness to try new ideas with existing characters.

 

Ultimately I went with Modern - Vertigo and Dark Horse really put out some great stuff in the last 15 years, and while undergrounds in the regular comic format are few and far between - the "Graphic Novel" approach to comics publishing (especially from companies like D&Q and Fantagraphics) has really reached it's apex. Artist who got there start in the 80s like Joe Sacco and Dan Clowes to name only two, are putting out their best stuff.

 

 

I'm giving short shrift to much great material from every era I know - but I still think now is the best time to be reading comics - even more so when you consider how much reprint material is available.

[Scrooge]

I voted for Moderns. I hesitated for a minute to put Bronze because that's what I was reading growing up. In no way, would I have chosen Silver or Gold. I find it difficult to re-read most of the Silver Age, particularly DC. I collect Gold only and will readily admit that it's not the best reading material. I enjoy many modern series in many different genres; to me, it's the diversity that hands down have me favor the Modern Age thanks to Vertigo and other imprints from the majors. All collectors not reading current comics are missing out on series they would enjoy.

 

 

I can't believe you didn't vote for Gold Modern books are a close second IMO, and I almost picked them, but Bronze...

 

Just a reminder: Barks Ducks, Lulu, Pogo, Eisner, Archie, EC, Simon and Kirby.

 

 

Listen to rjpb. He gets me. His analysis parallels mine. I am glad that the three of us who are well versed in books from all time periods agree that the Modern Age has quite a few excellent books that will stand the test of time.

 

I also took the opposite approach you did. I looked at the worst of each times and will always derive more pleasure reading a poor Modern story than a poor GA story. Not quite what was asked I know but I believe it to hold true.

 

Oh, and ... who's Archie?

[blutobc]

I also took the opposite approach you did. I looked at the worst of each times and will always derive more pleasure reading a poor Modern story than a poor GA story. Not quite what was asked I know but I believe it to hold true.

 

Using your comparison, let me see if I can figure this one out.

 

Bad G.A. story might mean a choppy story/plot that starts and stops sporactically. Continuity issue to issue may also be nonexistent. For superheroes, don't look too close to the science involved . Also, you can assume that the story will have a happy ending(even in Horror books, it's the greedy who'll get it in the end).

 

Bad M.A. stories can go one of two ways. Either the 90s Image-like stuff of art fluff with absolutely no plot and fanboyish dialogue or the current TPB format where nothing happens for 5 issues except for dialogue after dialogue, until they have to wrap everything up in the final 6th issue. Also, continuity is only important for the writer of that particular story arc.

 

Okay, looking at the above....I'd vote for G.A. over M.A.

Even a bad G.A. book can be enjoyed for the time spent with any particular issue, then it can be put down and forgotten about. A bad M.A. story can be competely unreadable and may require finding the previous issue or two just to have a clue about what is going on...that is...if anything is going on other than the stroking of the writer's own ego. A bad M.A. book is forgotten even before you put it down.

[Lazyboy]

Hard to pick one, as they all have their merits, but forced to choose, I'd have to say Copper Age.

 

You get all of Alan Moore's best (V, Swamp Thing, Watchmen, Miracleman etc. ), Miller at his high point (DKR, Daredevil), Dave Sim hitting his stride on Cerebus, Crisis, Gaiman's Sandman, etc....

 

The Silver Age (Marvel) is great, but it's hard for me to sit and read 'em these days. Golden Age is even harder (I've read some reprints), although the EC stories hold up and deserve note.

 

I love Modern Age as well. There have been some really good things done the past 10 or so years. But, forced to pick only one, I'd go Copper.

 

 

Those are some good examples. Also New Teen Titans, Spider-Man (Hobgoblin, Alien Costume/Venom, Kraven's Last Hunt, etc.), Uncanny X-Men (maybe past its peak, but not yet a huge steaming mess), Simonson's Thor, Rosa's Ducks (not Barks, but the next best thing), and some of the other forerunners to Vertigo, like Morrison's Animal Man and Doom Patrol.

[joe_collector]

Although I'm a Bronze guy, I'd have to go Copper.

 

That was the transition period between kids reading and adults taking over, and as such, it has a wealth of hybrid books that combine excellent stories with the fun of the BA/SA, without devolving into the inane nerd-stupidity of Moderns.

[camera73]

Copper by far.

 

I'd have a hard time topping the lists on this thread:

http://boards.collectors-society.com/sho...e=0&fpart=1