Rank and File: Best of the Bronze, Part 1- Marvel!

 

Redartz: Credit where credit is due dept.: this past week I saw a post on the "Back Issue" page of Facebook, by Gary Ceballos, that asked a great question. I'm going to shamelessly borrow his question, with one minor variation. Hope you don't mind, Gary!

The original question was: What do you consider the top five single comics of the Bronze age, i.e. 1970-1985?  For our discussion this week, we'll break it into three categories, spread over the next couple of weeks (so you have plenty of time to carefully compose your lists, of course!).  What are your top five Bronze age  Marvel single issues? Next week, we will look at your top five DC single Bronze age comics. And week three: what are your top Non-Big-Two books from the Bronze (could be Disney, Archie, Charlton, Indie, Underground, whatever).

 Reprints are excluded, but magazines (such as Savage Sword of Conan) are acceptable. And this series of questions specifically refers to a single issue, not an arc or series. That said, you may certainly pick an issue from a given continued storyline as representative of that arc, but still standing as a single book. And you may choose your list based upon whatever criteria you see fit. Aaaaand, of course this won't be easy; limiting it to five comics forces us to leave out a lot. Everything clear? Cool. And as you might expect, I'll start things off with my Marvel list. These are 'favorites', not necessarily what I'd pick as the 'best' five books (although these books would surely be among the nominees for such a list).

My Top Five Bronze Age Marvels:

 

1.Giant Size Avengers 2: I love this book. One of the first Avengers arcs I ever read, with a great team, gorgeous art, a fantastic tale, cool drama, and a Celestial Madonna. My introduction to Kang, and what an impression he made. A lot of personal fondness puts this book at number one.

 

 

2. Amazing Spider-man 248: If these were ranked by quantity of rereadings, this book would be far and away number one. "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man" is the crown of Roger Stern and Ron Frenz' stint on ASM. It's probably my absolute favorite Spidey story, and gets me every time. 3. 

 

3. Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2: It was a toss-up; choosing this or Avengers Annual 7. Both books are the bookends of one of the finest Bronze age Avengers stories ever. Comics don't get much better. That said, MTIO Annual 2 gets the nod at number 3 due to the presence of two characters dear to my heart: Ben Grimm and Peter Parker.

 

4. Savage Tales 2: This magazine gets the fourth spot due to the first installment of Roy Thomas and Barry Smith's epic "Red Nails". One of the pinnacles of Bronze age comic art. A fine Conan tale. It's in glorious black and white. And there's a Stegosaurus. Nuff Said. 

 

5. Dr. Strange 2: The number five spot was the hardest to fill, with soooo many contenders. And if you asked on another day the answer might be different. But Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner wove magic (sorry) in this story. This was my first Dr. Strange story ever, and so it has that personal importance. I could have easily chosen any of the five issues in the "Silver Dagger" arc, but issue 2 gets the pick for the inclusion of the Defenders. And the Hulk at a tea  party.

Okay, that's my list and I'm sticking to it (for today, anyway). Now, while I start analyzing the choices for next week's DC list, you get to chime in with your well-considered lists. Hope you have an easier time picking than I did. Thanks in advance for participating!

 

 

 

 

 

Chew the Fat: Marvel in the Bronze Age!

Martinex1:  Today let's Chew the Fat about something I am sure is near and dear to many of our hearts...Marvel Comics during the Bronze Age!  What do you miss about the publisher during that era?  What do you miss most about comics at the time?  We correspond nearly daily about the wonderful years in the 1970s and 1980s when life seemed more carefree and we opine about comic books during those days, but can we succinctly say what was so special about the creativity and spectacle of Marvel during that time?

Here are some categories to get your thoughts racing!  But you tell us what was so special about Marvel!

Was it the crazy covers with word balloons and plenty of bombast?

Was it thought balloons?

Was it the letter pages and bullpen bulletins?

 Was it the House Ads?

Or the Hostess Ads, Subscription Ads, and Vendor Ads?

Was it the corner box or the price?

Was it the comics coming out at the time?

Was it that the whole genre was more accessible and more mainstream?

Was it Stan Lee and his unbridled energetic enthusiasm?

Was it Jack "King" Kirby and not only his return but his ongoing influence?

Was it the Bullpen and their crazy antics and feeling of fun?

 
What made Marvel so great? You tell us!  From your vantage point...what attracted you?

Chew the Fat: Company-Jumping Characters!

Redartz:  Every comic company has its iconic, trademark characters. What would Marvel be without the ever-amazing Spider-man? Or DC without Batman?  Archie Comics have, well, Archie. Disney and the ducks go hand-in-wing. You get the idea; many characters are intimately identified with their parent company, and many of those companies go to great lengths to keep those characters close.

However, over the years, numerous characters have started their print careers under one company, only to make a switch to a competing company later on. Whether due to a copyright battle, a corporate buyout, or changes in licensing, many notable characters have seen publication under more than one banner. This makes it challenging for the collector, and probably a headache for Bob Overstreet; but that's the comic biz. Let's look at some of these 'company jumpers'...


Captain Marvel

 


















"The Big Red Cheese" moved from Fawcett to DC years after legal wrangling in which DC claimed the character violated their copyright on Superman. One wonders how Marvel would have liked to get their hands on the Captain; they put the name to use at any rate.


Tarzan

Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan" appeared for years under the Dell label, and then under Western's Gold Key. DC got the rights, and continued Gold Key's numbering. Marvel took over in the later 70's with a new first issue, and art by ace John Buscema.


Conan the Barbarian

 


 















 Marvel won rights to Robert E. Howard's barbarian, and presented his adventures in various formats from the 70's through the 90's. The new Millenium saw Dark Horse Comics publishing Conan, until recently Marvel regained the rights. Although a licensed character, I'll always associate Conan with Marvel...

 
Yogi Bear

 Hanna Barbera's famous picnic basket thief seems to have made the rounds of comic companies as thoroughly as he did the picnic tables. Gold Key, Charlton, Marvel, Harvey and even Archie Comics! How did DC miss out (although I could be unaware of just that eventuality: DC has access to Hanna Barbera's retinue, and have been making great use of them the last few years).


 
Jonny Quest

One lonely issue from Gold Key was all you could find of the iconic boy adventurer for many years, until in 1986 Comico began it's fine run. In the 90's Dark Horse picked up the franchise with the "New Adventures".
 
Darth Vader

 


 















 Marvel struck gold by getting the rights to "Star Wars" putting out the first issue before the film opened. The House of Ideas kept it up for years, through the mid 80's. But Dark Horse picked up the ball  (or Death Star, if you prefer) and ran with it beginning in the 90's. Yet once again, Marvel recently re-acquired the rights and is putting out numerous series once again.


Blue Beetle

 













 Blue Beetle debuted at Charlton in the 60's, by the great Steve Ditko. In the 70's Modern Comics reprinted some of  his Charlton appearances. Not long afterwards, DC bought out Charlton's stable of heroes (as they had with the Quality characters), and made the Beetle a part of the great Justice League International series.


Popeye

 


















 The immortal Sailor Man, like Tarzan, has been published for many decades under many banners. Gold Key and Charlton featured him through the 60's and 70's. In the late 80's, Harvey put out some issues (what was up with Harvey back then, anyway- not just Casper and Richie Rich anymore). Most recently IDW has been putting out some fine stories...

There you have a few examples of 'wanderers' among the various comics publishers. No doubt you can come up with more. And of these pictured here, who do you feel did the 'best job' with a given character? Which characters do you identify with which publishers? Go ahead and 'chew the fat'...