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1985
Mar 3, 2008 0:52:24 GMT -5
Post by woodside on Mar 3, 2008 0:52:24 GMT -5
Okay, so this project has been talked about for about two years now, but we're finally going to be seeing it. Apparently, in the aftermath of the original "Secret Wars," the villains from that story end up in a small town in the real world. In the real world, they don't have actual super-heroes to fight, but instead face down the cops, the fire departent, and the Army . . . as well as some nerdy kids that read "Secret Wars" know the way to defeat them. Here's a link to the CBR article: www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=13184On the surface, it sounds like a lot of fun and comes across as what will probably be at the very least, entertaining. The retcon with "Secret Wars" is a bit of a stretch. I lent the trade out to my nephew, so I don't can't reference what exactly happened after the battle with Doom/Beyonder. But I like what he's going for. Seeing these bad guys in not only a "real" real world circumstance, as well as with no heroes to fight, and with only nerdy kids to contend with sounds like one Millar's best ideas. In the interview, he also mentions growing up during the 80s and how it's the peak of Marvel's comic book creativity.
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1985
Mar 4, 2008 14:36:16 GMT -5
Post by dlw66 on Mar 4, 2008 14:36:16 GMT -5
In the interview, he also mentions growing up during the 80s and how it's the peak of Marvel's comic book creativity. That's very interesting to me. I came back to comics in 1985 after a "high school hiatus". If you asked me about Marvel's creativity in this period, I'd have to say that DC was just absolutely smoking them. Marvel began to move toward mini-series after mini-series, and the X-Men were beginning to get too big for their britches. The artists who would become the founders of Image were starting to find work at Marvel near the end of the decade. While all of these things were influential to the industry as a whole, I'm not sure I recall these years fondly in terms of Marvel creativity. DC, on the other hand, was reinventing itself with one major event (Crisis on Infinite Earths) and then the reboots of the Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman franchises. Frank Miller, John Byrne, George Perez, David Mazzachelli, Mike Grell -- all at the height of their powers. The dawn of the "grim and gritty" age, no doubt -- but exciting to have gone through it at the time. It's too bad it mushroomed into the farce that became the 1990's. But for my money, you still can't touch the Silver Age for creativity and lasting wonderment.
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1985
Mar 4, 2008 17:49:56 GMT -5
Post by woodside on Mar 4, 2008 17:49:56 GMT -5
I think a lot of it has to do with what age group you're in.
While I will of course give a huge nod to the Silver Age for, as you awesomely put it, "creativity and lasting wonderment," but I feel like the 80's overall were a bit of when comics grew up. Maybe not 1985 per say, but definetly the years around it. John Byrne's Fantastic Four, Walt Simonson's Thor, Chris Claremont's uber-arcs on X-Men, etc. And from DC, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Bryne's Superman, and eventually, Sandman and the Vertigo line.
So, I think in terms creativity, the 80s were higher than say, the 70s or the 90s.
HOWEVER!!!!
I grew up on comics in the 90s. I started reading in 1992. As I often like to tell people, I wasn't there for the Dark Phoenix Saga or the Kree-Skrull War or the Days of Future Past; instead, I had Onslaught, Age of Apocalypse, Operation: Galactic Storm, etc. For me, this was a momentous time in comics and certainly helped shape the way I've read them ever since.
I do believe that we saw a major leap forward in terms of comic book art styles and script-writing during this decade, most likely propelled by Image, but also Scott McCloud's "Understand Comics."
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1985
Mar 4, 2008 20:09:38 GMT -5
Post by starfoxxx on Mar 4, 2008 20:09:38 GMT -5
I'm actually more excited about this than Secret Invasion or Avengers/Inveders. I was 11 in 1985, and had mostly been reading Marvel titles, Teen Titans, and Batman/Outsiders. Secret Wars was awesome and is still one of my all-time favorites. I did some quick research to help me remember what was so great about Marvel in 1985.
First, my favorite title always has been the Avengers, and the lineup was great, featuring several of my favorites, including Cap, Herc, Starfox, Vizh, Wanda, Jan, and Captain Marvel II. Black Knight and Namor also joined, and Stingray (another fave) appeared. The villains included an evil Vision, the Blood Brothers, Terminus, Firelord, and SKRULLS!!! The West Coast Avengers also got their own title, which I loved.
Spider-man was still wearing his black costume, and hanging out with the Black Cat. I actually preferred Felicia to any of Peter's other girlfriend's. In AMAZING, Spidey fought the Hobgoblin, Firelord (w/the Avengers), and Toad. In PETER PARKER, Spidey teamed with the Wasp, and the Sin-Eater storyline was cool. I always loved the covers for PETER PARKER series. Also, WEB of SPIDER-MAN came out in1985, but I never got into this series. I mean, Spidey already had TWO titles of his own (little did I know......LOL).
Fantastic Four with the She-Hulk was a nice shake up. Byrne's FF, while on a downward slide, was still well written and superbly drawn, with appearances by Doom and the Hate Monger. The FF also had something to do with the return of JEAN GREY. Nice covers,too.
The Uncanny X-men started out with a fantastic Kulan Gath story in #190-191, featuring "barbarianized" versions of the X-men and Avengers. (If you haven't read these, I highly recommend them). Also, the reintroduction of the Hellions (a pretty tough name for pink-costumed evil mutants), and Magneto becoming leader. This was big news back then. Claremont/Romita Jr., too.
New Mutants was too weird for my young mind, especially the "Legion" story. But the Sienkiewicz covers were great, and I picked up a few issues just for the covers. (I'm a sucker for a good cover, still am).
Alpha Flight was weird too, but again, nice Byrne art and covers.
Captain America had just battled the Red Skull in #300, but had some great villains. Batroc's Brigade (I loved those guys), Armadillo, Anaconda (another fave), and Awesome Android showed up. I really liked this era for Cap; simple, action-packed stories.
Tony Stark sobered up and busted out the original, grey armor to fight Rhodey in the red/yellow suit. Again, this was a cool era for IRON MAN.
THOR featured Beta Ray Bill, and great Simonson art. Two issues that stick out (and I recommend) are #352 (w/FF and Avengers) and #356 (Thor vs. Hercules).
The HULK spent most of 1985 in the "Crossroads" Dimension. My favorite (and recommended) issue from "Crossroads" is actually 1984's INCREDIBLE HULK Annual #13. By the end of the year, Hulk was back on Earth, and faced the Hulkbusting Iron Man, Hercules, Wonder Man, and Namor. (Sound familiar?). Some great Mignola covers, too.
Daredevil was lame, but some great covers.
Defenders was really bad, and ended up cancelled.
Rom was actually pretty cool, with everyone in the MU showing up to fight the Dire Wraiths. Crappy art, though.
Marvel Tales was still good, with reprints of hard-to-get classic AMAZING SPM.
Power Pack was still a good read.
One of my favorite titles of the 1980's was Marvel Fanfare. 1985 had two stories that suck out , a nice Hulk vs. Thing story, and a fantastic Iron Man vs. Doc Ock story with "futuristic" art by Ken Steacy (what ever happened to him?).
Another title that captured the 80's was the THING. In 1985, Marvel jumped on the professional wrestling craze, as the Thing joined the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. Talk about steroid abuse, LOL! I know wrestling is as big as ever, but for me, this was COMICS and WRESTLING! Awesome. Looking back, this book wasn't very good.
Several limited series from 1985 that I loved are pretty weak, in hindsight. But I enjoyed Iceman, Gargoyle, Beauty and the Beast, and Vision/Scarlet Witch. Other limited series included Longshot, Nightcrawler, and Eternals.
I remember really being blown away by Squadron Supreme. For some reason, I gave up on this Maxi-series at #5. Probably couldn't afford it once all the Secret Wars II cross-overs started.
1985 also saw a NEW Official Handbook series(great) and Marvel Saga (not so great). Even today, I still love the Marvel Handbooks, and usually prefer a handbook to spending $3 a pop for sub-par comics.
Well, while 1985 probably wasn't the greatest in Marvel history, what a great year to be an 11-year old Marvel fan. I now see 1985 as a sort of "end of innocence" before the horrible SECRET WARS II, with its cross-overs and overall lameness. I guess the success of SECRET WARS I eventually led to the "grim and gritty" wasteland of the 1990's. I long for the "fun" that comics represented in the early 80's.
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1985
Mar 5, 2008 20:37:15 GMT -5
Post by sharkar on Mar 5, 2008 20:37:15 GMT -5
...I feel like the 80's overall were a bit of when comics grew up. ...John Byrne's Fantastic Four, Walt Simonson's Thor, Chris Claremont's uber-arcs on X-Men, etc. And from DC, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Bryne's Superman, and eventually, Sandman and the Vertigo line. Certainly an impressive list. I kick myself every day for having missed all this the first time around...but I'm having a lot of fun catching up, via collections/back issues, including the Byrne FF volumes, Secret Wars, assorted X-Men tpbs from the 80s and 90s, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Age of Apocalypse, Galactic Storm, etc. I think a lot of it has to do with what age group you're in. I agree. And Millar's mention of his "personal connection" (when he was at his "most fanatical when it came to comics") rings so true. Many of us probably feel strongest about the comics we read at a certain (young) age. (Doesn't mean we can't enjoy comics from other periods, though.) But for my money, you still can't touch the Silver Age for creativity and lasting wonderment. I agree with W here, too--this is "awesomely put," dlw! ;D ...I did some quick research to help me remember what was so great about Marvel in 1985... Starfoxxx, thanks for providing specifics about the comics world in 1985. I like how you combined facts and personal experiences- -very enjoyable and informative post.
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