To begin with- a few words of introduction: We first ‘met’ as frequent commenters on the “Bronze Age Babies” site. When the hosts of that great blog, Karen and Doug, asked for some new contributors , both of us joined in. And when the BAB concluded , it just seemed right to move forward with “Back”.
And now a little background on your hosts :
Redartz: I first came to love comics in the late 60’s, spanning the transition from Silver to Bronze. From Disney to Casper to Archie, Marvel and DC, indies and underground comix- I’ve read and loved ‘em all. That love for comics grew into a passion for art, leading to Art school and eventually, to my current occupation . I run the frame shop for an art gallery. This field has been beneficial for my comics obsession- numerous examples hang on my wall. Plus, the conservation techniques used in framing have helped me turn some shredded flea market comic purchases into readable books. Those books share space in the house with my wife and I, three cats and a dog. I also have two grown sons who had the good sense to pick up on my fascination with comics.
Martinex1: Like Redartz, my comic collecting straddled the two ages. I was introduced to late Silver Age material from a dear cousin of mine through countless comics loaded into a cardboard box. That eclectic set ranged from Sad Sack to horror anthologies to a myriad of super-hero tales. I soon started collecting on my own focusing mostly on the spandex set. My schooling actually focused on cinema studies and I initially thought I would pursue a career in the animation and film industry, but somehow wandered into a role in food production lab work and technology. Go figure. My hobby of writing and illustrating continues between time spent with my two sons and lovely wife. By the way, my real name is Mike but there are plenty of those from our generation floating around, so my internet handle became Martinex1.
What you can expect to see here in the near future are discussions ranging broadly but always with a touchstone to the great Bronze Age. In some way the topics will harken back to our heyday in the 70s and 80s. Over the next weeks, we will be leading conversations on specific heroes, comic art, the new Doctor Strange movie, and reviews of comics like ROM Spaceknight. We do want to let you know that we may not post every single day, but we will do our best to keep the blog frequent, moving, entertaining, lighthearted, friendly, and fun. We intend our site to be extremely interactive but cordial and civil, and we sincerely hope that you check us out often.
Finally, in the spirit of “firsts”, we present our topic today: a selection of notable 1st issue covers from those unforgettable 70’s: some true classics, others a bit less well known…
Did these covers entice you into sampling a new title? Did they reflect the greatness (or weakness) of the stories to come? Were there any other classic ‘firsts’ that stood out for you? Your thoughts, please.
