Martinex1: We have had a busy week thus far and still have so much yet to come here at BitBA over the next couple of days. Here is a quick preview: Friday we will have a trip on the Retro Metro with Redartz and Saturday we will share a special guest post from none other than Dr. O! Get ready friends!
Today however we will go a little easier on you with two simple but unrelated questions that may have very diverse answers. Share your thoughts in the comment section; we look forward to it!
QUESTION 1: Although I obviously enjoy reminiscing about the Bronze Age, the fashion of the time is not something to which I cling. What were your worst clothing experiences from that great era?
QUESTION 2: In your opinion what Bronze Age hero should have had their own solo book (or should have a better solo book)? Why didn't they? How do you envision that title?
Martinex1: In the spirit of full disclosure: regarding fashion, I had two leisure suits in grammar school - one was forest green and the other was sky blue. Both were horrible. I also at one point had white dress shoes; I have no idea why. But the worst was probably when our baseball team (whose uniforms consisted of a t-shirt with a sponsor's logo on the back) made it to the local playoffs and I wore purple pants with yellow stars on them. Yeesh! There was something in the air. Super-heroes looked conservatively dressed.
Regarding question #2, my choices are above. I liked the Human Torch and still do. I thought Johnny Storm could have had some interesting stories as he was not as bright as other do-gooders (like Spidey) and yet he was part of a premiere team. His Bronze Age series consisted of reprints, but I thought they could have done better and had opportunity to create something new and great. 3-D Man caught my attention in Marvel Premiere and I liked the dated look of Jim Craig's art. I thought Roy Thomas and Craig could have made an interesting go at an era not fully explored; but alas it was limited to those few issues. Stingray is a longtime favorite of mine, and I would have liked to see scientific exploration and adventure under the sea.
So how about you? How would you answer these queries?
24 comments:
Ah, those '70s styles. Seeing those photographs simultaneously fills me with a warm nostalgia but also makes me cringe a bit as I recall some of the fashion atrocities worn by me or the people around me. Luckily, though, I didn't go through my teen years when these styles were prevalent. Anyway, I recall having a number of pairs of bell-bottomed jeans and slacks during my elementary school years. I really disliked them for a practical reason: where I grew up in Oregon, it was quite rainy from early autumn until late spring, and it seemed like the those wide bottoms soaked up a lot more water (and got a lot more muddy) than normal, straight-legged pants. I also had this atrocious, brown polyester shirt with a white-floral print and immense collar which I wore for school pictures in the fourth grade. Just awful. And I also hated anything 100% polyester - man, that stuff was uncomfortable.
One character that I think should have had her own title was the Black Widow. Given the pop culture mood in the the early '80s, when the Cold War stuff became all the rage again, it's really surprising that a sexy superspy who defected from the Soviet Union didn't get her own book.
I won't comment much about the fashions, I'm assuming we all had similar misery. I was just annoyed growing up that I had to wear all these shirts my Mom had gotten from rummage sales. AND the fact I had to wear jeans a lot because back then, they were the best for tall kids like myself. Again my parents were extreme cheapskates when it came to dressing me.
Well, to be fair, Black Widow had her solo stints in the 80s in Marvel Feature, with that great Perez art (I have a few issues..), but like most characters, they were either in try-out backup stories or in MTU (as you know, Johnny Storm had the revolving team-ups there).
I would have liked to see a Hawkeye solo mag in the 70s, or change the Torch revolving line-up to Spidey and Clint in MTU. Granted you'd essentially have TWO wise-crackin' heroes featured in MTU, but after Spidey and Ben Grimm..? Either Clint or perhape Vish and Wanda would have worked in the 70s timeframe.
One minor point: The artist on 3-D Man was JIM Craig, no relation to EC Comics and Silver Age Iron Man inker and occasional penciler JOHNNY Craig.
You can see a bibliography of his work here... https://www.comics.org/credit/name/jim%20craig/sort/chrono/
Oh, those 70's fashions. I had a brown leisure suit, painfully captured for posterity in high school dance photos. Equally cringeworthy- in middle school, a pair of red plaid bell-bottoms. Also caught in photos. Even now I wince.
As for a wished- for comic- Vision. Really liked the character, might have been able to carry a solo book. After all, Machine Man had a book...
Incidentally, I've never read the Vision/Scarlet Witch miniseries. Was it any good?
My fashion crime (I've been in witness protection for fifty years so it doesn't much matter now) is when I thought two-tone platform shoes were the way to go for my high school prom. The colors were a flat silver and a sort of violet color. Horrible, but I was convinced it looked good and that's the shame. I won't talk about the hounds tooth suit, another fashion felony.
Heroes of the era who deserved a shot -- You show a picture of Stingray and I always thought he had more on the ball than he ever got to show. He was in just any configuration of Avengers I ever cobbled together in my imagination. Another candidate who deserved better was Thundra. She was awesome, totally strong and full of vinegar. Great stuff for a comic.
Rip Off
Thank you Britt Reid ... somehow had my wires crossed there on the names. Corrected it in the post. Cheers.
Hello,
As I was reading the Avengers – Defenders War (Thanks Red!) last night, Sunfire made a guest appearance and I had this epiphany which ties right into today’s topic!
Sunny intrigued me from his first appearance in Sub Mariner around 1972 (gorgeously being drawn by Bill Everett). I next recall him surfacing in the Giant Size X Men #1 a few years later around 1975 (a classic Bronze Age book). And then I stopped reading comics so I really have no idea what has happened to Sunny between GS XMen #1 and 40 years later. (Is he still alive, still a mutant, cloned…?)
But I really think this guy had potential! I dug his uniform. He could fly. He could blast things. He was a mutant. He was nationalistic. It was the cold war for another 15 years. I mean all the props are there for great stories in my mind. It would have been easy to start telling deep stories from his Japanese perspective where America’s issues are juxtaposed on him and we could see our issues through him given the Post-Watergate, end of inequality, cleaning up the environment, cold war world we were living in, in the 1970s.
E.g., perhaps Sunny could have addressed Japanese issues of WW 2 (e.g., the numerous Japanese atrocities in WW 2) while we were living through our own Mai Lai massacre of 450 innocents in Vietnam. (R.I.P. Larry Colburn.) It has overtones of Enemy Ace, Captain America, the X-Men…
This may seem a little deep for comics at that time but a hallmark of the late Silver Age / early Bronze Age was addressing more profound societal issues like drugs, racism, the environment. Seems like he could have had a great solo run with a motivated writer.
Clothing - Well, as a kid I dug my "Red Ball Jets" and was indifferent to the poly since we all wore the same stuff. Guess I wasn't a slave to cotton!
As for clothes, there was many a day I remember looking down and wondering, "just what the hell am I wearing?" Once though, I remember my neighbor let me wear her boyfriends leather jacket complete with full fringes (think Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider). And lot of my friends would wear their fathers old army jackets from Viet Nam.
Charlie, I thought of Sunfire as well, but I just can't see how they would have pulled that off. I thought that green armor of the Guardian from Iron Man was pretty cool and wouldn't have minded seeing more of it on someone. I also liked the Shroud and if the Human Fly could get his own comic, I didn't see why he couldn't.
Selenarch, I was thinking Sunfire would have been successful along the lines of Luke Cage, as a departure from vanilla superheroes. I could see Denny O'Neil writing the stories and having some amount of success. Just my thoughts... but we'll never know, LOL.
Quite a few Marvel characters were given their solo tryout in the BA but how long did their books last? It is curious how the keystone Lee/Kirby books just kept on rolling while a rotating cast of could-have-beens were repeatedly pulled from the stage.
But to answer the question - I always thought Hawkeye could carry it off if given a supporting cast and core purpose. A proto-Thunderbolts comic would have been interesting with Clint teaming up with different villains for a stretch at a time, successfully reforming some and losing others to the dark side.
And "hi" again everybody, it's good to be back after a few weeks away.
PS My fashion crimes live predominantly outside the BA which proves I am a slow learner.
Like Martinex, I had a green leisure suit. There are photos.
But just as egregious may have been the tan 3-piece suit I had in high school, with a reversible vest that could be brown. Oh, the variety! There are high school dance photos in that lovely garment. Poor girl.
I've long been an advocate of Marvel Team-Up as a book with rotating A-characters. If you look at the history, editorial messed around just a bit with Spidey, the Torch, and the Hulk as the leads. I'd have loved a rotation like that, and I think it would have been the best format for a Torch-led book. I'd have probably replaced the Hulk with another character, as let's face it - Bruce doesn't always play well with others.
Doug
Well, I was a kid in the 70s, so my fashion was dictated by my parents; I wore a lot of the polyester pants (with herringbone patterns, and big gingham-type squares, and so on). And the corduroy ... so much corduroy. (I think I even had a corduroy vest for a while.)
As for heroes who deserved solo books ... maybe Power Girl? She did get a solo book in the 21st century, but a Bronze Age Power Girl series (with the right writer) would've been cool. I wish Black Lightning's series had lasted longer, too; I've been reviewing Black Lightning on my blog and there was some pretty good stuff there ... I would've liked to see where a longer series went.
I am going to dissent and defend those 1970s duds! I know it is easy to look back and mock them, but I appreciate the way men's clothing esp. really challenged gender norms and allowed guys to have a little more flair. While I can do without bell bottoms, I have have been known to still wear a turtle neck w/ cable knit sweater or sports coat to teach (though usually a shirt and tie). I try to wear greens and purples as much as possible. :)
I don't have much to contribute in the solo book discussion, but Sunfire coming up made me remember my idea for a "Team of Jerk Heroes" book. It'd be Namor, Sunfire, Quicksilver, Moondragon, and maybe Hawkeye? Who else? maybe I should save this topic for "Follow the Leader"
Looking forward to ya'll seeing my guest post on Saturday. I hope you will all comment and help me collect some data on collecting and reading comics in Bronze Age.
1. I've never been influenced too much by the fashion of the day. I've always pretty much been a jeans and tee-shirt kind of guy my whole life. But I do love that ad for "Kickin Jeans". Gotta get me some of those.
2. I would have loved to see Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man get his own ongoing after his first appearance in Marvel Premiere #47-48. I always loved that story and the character. It would have been especially cool if Byrne and Michelinie had stuck around as the creative team for a while. The format of the book would have just been straight up superhero adventures starring the new Ant-Man.
Another character who I think could have carried his own solo title back then was Paladin. He was a very cool character who could have made for some interesting stories if handled correctly by the right creators.
Paladin could have been on Marvel's Jerk Squad!
Osvaldo, I guess I wasn't clear enough in my comment above, but that feeling of 'warm nostalgia' I mentioned is not just due to remembering the simpler days of my youth, but also because to some extent I sort of admire the garish fashion of the '70s. It really did seem like an attempt was being made to take clothing in a different direction and break with long-held traditions. The problem is that while a lot of that stuff looked, hm, if not good, at least interesting in the catalogues, it looked - at best - odd, or - at worst - just plain old ugly in real life. (Kind of like superhero costumes - they look so damn cool on the comic book page, but usually they look ridiculous in real life.)
Oh, and I'm assuming you wear the purples and greens together, to pay homage to the quintessential Silver and Bronze Age Marvel color combo...
I think Glalactus could use a fashion-makeover. Something about that costume doesn't work for me.
But at least he's wearing pants these days.
And bring back Warlock's old costume! Disco collars and all.
M.P.
Count me in as the owner of not only a lime green leisure suit but a powder blue one as well. With matching silk shirts to go with them!!!
If I remember correctly, again "didn't write things down", school year usually went like this: Purchase Back To School clothes, Go To School, Last Day of School, Mom cuts off jeans to make summer shorts! That was my childhood! 7th grade, I convinced my Mother to not buy me jeans, but rather, corduroy pants!!! Hit the Husky section at Sears and left with a Navy, Light Blue, Red, Green, Brown and Tan. School ended, pants became corduroy shorts. Hottest summer I remember!!!
My character choice has already been mentioned: Black Widow.
At the end of the 80s, Hawkeye had quite a few runs in different titles. Avengers Spotlight and Solo Avengers became Hawkeye team up stories. For a guy who never really had his own title, he did alright...
(What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing?
"Can't you tell that your tie's too wide?"
Maybe I should buy some old tab collars?
"Welcome back to the age of jive.
Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey?
You can't dress trashy till you spend a lot of money."
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me
What's the matter with the car I'm driving?
"Can't you tell that it's out of style?"
Should I get a set of white wall tires?
"Are you gonna cruise the miracle mile?
Nowadays you can't be too sentimental
Your best bet's a true baby blue Continental."
Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk
It's still rock and roll to me
Oh, it doesn't matter what they say in the papers
'Cause it's always been the same old scene.
There's a new band in town
But you can't get the sound from a story in a magazine...
Aimed at your average teen
How about a pair of pink sidewinders
And a bright orange pair of pants?
"You could really be a Beau Brummel baby
If you just give it half a chance.
Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers,
You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers."
Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me
What's the matter with the crowd I'm seeing?
"Don't you know that they're out of touch?"
Should I try to be a straight 'A' student?
"If you are then you think too much.
Don't you know about the new fashion honey?
All you need are looks and a whole lotta money."
It's the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me).
Short shorts, knee socks, shiny white disco shirt, leisure suit......yes, yes, yes, and yes. My mom has a picture in her house of my brother, sister, and me, and I'm wearing the disco shirt and accompanying gold chair. It's the first thing I (and my kids) see when I walk in her house.
I always wondered about the Martian Manhunter for DC. I figured in the right hands, he would have been a fun series. For Marvel, I think I would have liked a Wonder Man series. I stopped reading in late '83 pretty much, so I didn't know if either ever got the call in the latter Bronze Age.
Thanks for all of the conversation today. I for one am glad to see others had the same experiences as me - from cutoff jeans to leisure suits to cutoff corduroys and reversible vests.
Graham - Wonder Man did get a solo series in the 90s. It was better than most from that period because it had a sense of humor and was not as dark or brutal as other popular series of the time. It followed Simon's exploits in Hollywood as he pursued his acting career. It wasn't a great series but it wasn't bad either. One thing about Simon Williams that mystified me was his career; didn't he start out as an industrialist to rival Tony Stark?
And I like the Ant-Man series suggestion, but I also would not have minded a Yellowjacket series.
I agree Marti, the 90s Wonder Man series was really very good. It stood out from the pack in that period.
Also, Martian Manhunter had a solo series in the late '90s - it was written by Jon Ostrander, with art by Tom Mandrake. I'm really interested in reading it, as I've heard it was pretty good.
Those both sound good. I just didn't hang around long enough, I guess. :)
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