Redartz: Good day, everyone. Ready for another assessment of a year's comic creativity? This time around, we will consider the year 1984. Late in the Bronze Age, but still rife with good reading! And I can testify to that; making the choices once again was difficult, and several quite deserving books were left off my list. But of course it's a subjective thing, anyway. A couple of my picks might surprise you, I tried to take note of the impact of the stellar independent books appearing at the time. And of course there are other books that I didn't include do to a lack of familiarity with them; which is where you all come in. After seeing my picks, make your lists and tell us all what got missed.
And now, heeeeeeere's the list:
Saga of the Swamp Thing 24- "Roots" by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette and John Totleben. The fine climax to the battle with the creepy Floronic Man. With a denouement that would have done EC Comics proud.
Journey 9- "Near Spring" by William Messner-Loebs. A perfect example of great characterization and intelligent writing, wound around historical drama with humor and heart. And a chilling description of death beneath the frozen ice.
Fantastic Four 267- "A Small Loss" by John Byrne. An innovative look at Dr. Octopus, a cool battle with Reed, and a tragic ending. One of Byrne's best FF stories, imho.
Marvel Fanfare 15- "That Night" by Barry Windsor Smith. A little humor is something I value greatly, and this gem from BWS has plenty. And, the artwork is a treat for the eyes...
Power Pack 1- "Power Play" by Louise Simonson, June Brigman and Bob Wiacek. We are introduced to the Power children, and to a unique, well written and clever series. Simonson writes the kids like someone who has 'been there'.
Superman 400- "The Living Legends of Superman" by Elliot Maggin and just about everyone in comics. An array of different views of the Man of Steel, by the top artists in the business (Eisner, Kirby, Byrne, Steranko, Ditko, and Miller, just a few of them).
Love and Rockets 10- Just a full book of good stuff by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez. If you haven't met Maggie, Hopey, Penny Century, Fumble and the rest, you've missed out.
Amazing Spider-Man 259- "All My Pasts Remembered" by Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Josef Rubinstein. Mary Jane Watson tells her story, after all those years. And you get the Hobgoblin, and the return of Spidey's red-and-blues.
Thor 350- "Ragnarok and Roll" by Walter Simonson. Asgard and it's allies vs. Surtur, and what a titanic clash it is. Simonson at his best, writing and drawing.
America vs. The Justice Society 1- "I Accuse" by Roy and Danette Thomas, Rafael Kayanan, Rich Buckler, Jerry Ordway, Alfredo Alcala and Bill Collins. Golden age goodness, courtroom drama, history, and loads of characters...
Well, there you have it. A time capsule of the best of 1984; from my perspective. But what about your best list? You all may now proceed to take your shot, make your list, and enumerate your '84 Hall of Fame...
5 comments:
Hard to argue with those picks, esp. Swamp Thing! Although come to think of it, I finally tracked down that iconic Marvel Fanfare issue and quickly found, yup, it's best quality is the cover. But anywho...
In '84 I was enjoying O'Neil/Mazzuchelli Daredevil, Byrne Alpha Flight (issue #12, anyone?) and the introduction of the West Coast Avengers. Oh yes, and X-Men had that delightful Kulan Gath two-parter.
But must ultimately give the big 1984 shout-out to Secret Wars! Not the deepest tale, but an awful lot of fun. A Marvel universe-event that didn't force you to buy a zillion other titles. Great stuff.
-david p.
I've read the FF, ASM, Thor and Love & Rockets stories, the rest are unknown to me.
Another favorite of that year was the West Coast Avengers limited series.
This a weird one for me, as I literally do not own a single issue that you presented today Red! I cannot figure out why not. I would have been in my Junior and Senior years of High School, and I don’t recall being on a particular hiatus as I seem to have plenty of 1983 and 1985 issues.
I believe I read that FF issue at some point but recall nothing - and I only say that because I very vaguely recall Doc Ock and Mr. Fantastic being reasonable opponents and was surprised they have not faced off more. But I don’t recall any specifics or the noted tragic ending. I was (and am) a big John Byrne fan so that gap is strange as well.
Scanning through a database for the year, I do see that Alpha Flight was at its peak with the lead into and follow-up to the tragic events of their twelfth issue. That I definitely followed.
David already noted that and the start of the WCA... so those are high on my list.
I didn’t follow Secret Wars but I did like the costume change Spidey went through with the black symbiote costume. Those were some good Spider-Man stories.
But overall it is a year of mystery for me, so I’m giving it to Alpha Flight...one of the strangest team books of the era (and as Red and I discussed in a review) worth a look.
I will however have to take in many of the books you suggest here.
David p- good mentions; that X-Men story was good, and Alpha Flight 12: I almost chose that for the list; indeed it is equal to any of those listed above. AF was top notch reading at that time. And I'll agree with your take on the insides of Marvel Fanfare as far as the backup story is concerned; the Daredevil story was unremarkable. But I do love that Thing/Torch jokefest...
J.A.- you and david both mentioned West Coast Avengers; that's one I've never read. But based upon your comments, I'll have to give it a look.
Marti- glad you found some new potential reading! And I fully agree with you on Alpha Flight, as per my comments to david p. Plus your shout out to WCA reinforces my conviction to investigate that book...
This was in my comics heyday, so I remember a lot of stuff that came out that year, although I think I was starting to cut back on my DC reading. I agree about Secret Wars and West Coast Avengers (Redartz, if you're not averse to spoilers, I did a review of the West Coast Avengers Limited Series over at BAB; check it out.
I might add Teen Titans 42-44 (The Judas Contract); X-Men 183 (the bar brawl between Colossus and Juggernaut); the end of the Nathaniel Dusk mini; Warlord 81 (where Jennifer and Tinder meet without knowing they're brother and sister); the first ten issues of Infinity Inc had a long storyline and great art by Ordway; G.I. Joe 23-24 (with the capture and escape of COBRA Commander) and 26-27 (with Snake Eyes' origin) were pretty cool.
I'll also mention the first few issues of the Baxter versions of Legion of Super-Heroes (Orando is shunted to another dimension, the death of Karate Kid, and Projectra's vengeance) and New Teen Titans (featuring the--supposedly--final confrontation with Trigon). I've heard good things about Grimjack too, but never read it.
As sentimental favourites I'd add Spectacular Spider-Man 91 (Spidey and Black Cat vs Blob); DD 208 (DD goes into a house filled with traps, based on a Harlan Ellison story); All-Star Squadron 39-40 (Amazing Man gets some time in the spotlight); and Amazing Spider-Man Annual 18 (Scorpion interrupts JJJ's wedding to Marla Madison).
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