Defined period as memory

[dlw66]

Whenever you think of the various Marvel characters/books, what, when, and/or how do you see them?

Example, I see the FF circa the latter Rich Buckler years, around issues #145-165. I see the Avengers around the Bob Brown years (#late 1-teens to late 1-twenties) and again in Perez's second run (vs. Ultron). I see the Defenders early, in the Guardians of the Galaxy story (teens??), and Spider-Man when he and Mary Jane were just courting, around the time of the original clone saga.

What do you think? Oh, and the Legion is always in those major-skin Mike Grell outfits!!!!!

[Shiryu]

You mean, if I think, for example, to the Avengers, where does my mind go ?

Hmm, I think I go straight to the Stern run, with Thor, Cap, Iron Man (very shortly) and Captain Marvel, but also to the recent Busiek run.
For Spidey, I go straight back to the sixties, with Gwen Stacy and MJ, or sometimes to the eighties, when he was involved with the Black Cat.

[dlw66]

Yes, that's what I meant. Not necessarily your favorite period, but for most of us probably when you started reading a book, I guess. In a more morbid sense, I guess it's like how you'd like to be remembered when you're seen in the afterlife... Man, this is getting weirder than my original intent with the question!!!!

[Shiryu]

dlw66 said:

Man, this is getting weirder than my original intent with the question!!!!

I agree on that ! ^^

Anyway I think I got it, basically the period that our mind immediately flies to when someone says "Avengers" or "Spider-Man", before we can rationalise and realize that right now the Avengers or Spider-Man are something else.

I confirm the ones given above, they are either the first ones I've read or the ones that have a place in my heart (in the "comics chamber", just in case my girlfriend ever comes here ;D)

[dlw66]

The not-smart Hulk, as drawn by Herb Trimpe.

Dave Cockrum's X-Men, not Byrne's (although I think the battle with Magneto that led into the Savage Land story was fantastic!!!)

[dlw66]

HEY VAN!!! Your censors won't let me say Dave the-artist-most-known-for-the-Legion-and-the-New-X-Men's last name!!

[celticphoenix]

Avengers: Perez 160-200
FF : perez 185 - 20+ or Byrnes run expecially with She-Hulk
X-men: Claremont/Byrne
Legion: Definitely Grell
Teen Titans: Perez
JLA: Perez

[oldavengersfan]

My eras have always been cowboys.

Avengers - Roger Stern's first steps were mine.

Same with Amazing Spiderman...I started when he started.

Iron Man - Bob Layton and David Michielene.

[fourcolorfigs]

I think of the recent Busiek run and JLA/Avengers, because for me that is what I most recently enjoyed.

Other periods I loved was the Roger Stern-Buscema-Palmer era in the 1980's, and the Bob Harras Gatherers stuff from the early 1990's. I really like Epting's art on those stories.

Just as an aside, is Harras' long run generally liked or disliked? I really liked it, but perhaps I am in the minority.

Scott

[thew40]

I started reading Avengers when Busiek and Perez started and have been reading ever since. So for me, that's the era that really defined the Avengers for me.

Not a big Spidey, Hulk, or FF reader, so I can't really answer those.

X-Men, though, it's a tough call. There's a lot. I'd say:

- Thomas/Adams era
- The early "blank"rum/Byrne/Claremont era (up until "From the Ashes", really)
- The Jim Lee/Chris Claremont run
- The Niceize/Kubery/Lobdell/Joe Mad era
- And "New X-Men" by Morrison/Quietly

Each one really shaped the book in new and different ways, and brought depth to the characters within.

~W~

[The Night Phantom]

fourcolorfigs said:

Just as an aside, is Harras' long run generally liked or disliked? I really liked it, but perhaps I am in the minority.

I don’t know what the consensus is, but I don’t generally care for it. It was during that “X-Avengers” period that I dropped the comic. I was actually dropping just about all my comics because of stringent finances. I was sad to see Avengers go, but more out of nostalgia than because I had to know what Deathcry would do next (or whatever). I started reading Avengers again during the Busiek–Pérez run.

As for dlw66’s question, I guess the mere word “Avengers” tends to lead me to the Busiek-Pérez run, if for no other reason than most of the Avengers from throughout the team’s history showed up in that run, sometimes all together in the same story! But for me, a “classic” team would be either from the #1-through-Cap’s-Kooky-Quartet period or from the Stern–Buscema–Palmer run, which is when I started reading the comic and when it was perhaps at its classiest.

[Yellowjacket]

Formerly my favorite Avengers period was Thomas´ first run, mainly because these were the issues published in booklet form back in the 70s in Germany. And of course, they are really good.
Afterwards the way Marvel Comics were published in Germany was horrible, to say the least.

But recently I began reading the following (US) issues of Englehart and now I know (imho) he was even better than Thomas. And reading Engleharts stories I did learn, that Busiek took quite some of his ideas from that Avengers era.

[The Night Phantom]

yellowjacket said:

Formerly my favorite Avengers period was Thomas´ first run, mainly because these were the issues published in booklet form back in the 70s in Germany. And of course, they are really good.
Afterwards the way Marvel Comics were published in Germany was horrible, to say the least.

I noticed that in another post you bemoaned the “dry, clinical” German translations. Is that what you meant by “horrible”? or is there something else?

[Yellowjacket]

No, the translation thing I meant is a complaint with some (not all of them) of the current translators. Especially the one who translates all the classical (reissued) stuff is lacking the necessary amounts of words and most of the emotional stuff the "old" writers had.
Just imagine, we had some reissues of Savage Sword (mostly early Thomas/Big John) - without the emotionality of Thomas´ words... I recently bought Savage Sword #1 and believe me without the emotionality it´s lacking 50%.

Then we have a reissue of Amazing Spider-Man in book (I mean booklet) format. An incredible ambitious project, each volume (year by year) in slipcases with all important extra books (annuals etc.). Alas, this guy is translating the whole project and so it is not as good as it could be.
And of course, he translates the majority of our masterworks... very bad luck I would say.


What I mean with horrible publishing is something else.

In Germany we had in the 70s a publisher (Williams, for more information see for my homepage which is entirely a Williams/Marvel tribute page) who published in a standard very very much alike Marvel USA did, only with a better paper quality and without advertisements - some kind of comic heaven one could say.

But what came afterwards was terrible, some 20 years of comic hell.
Very, very bad translations (even way worse than the translator I mentioned above) and mostly publishing in pocket book format - imagine the normal booklet format was simply reduced to the smaller format, there wasn´t even more enough place for the words, even if they had translated well - that was and still is horrible today.

Plus, they published whatever material they had just avaible - think of Spider-Man pocket books with Hulk or Avengers stories (the stories had no connection whatsoever) together in one pocket book.
And no reader did know, if or when and in what pocket book (could be a Hulk pocket book, could be a FF pocket book, could even be in the Spider-Man book [the only booklet we had in these years] etc.) the story sequel would be published.

THAT was horrible, that was even an abomination.