Redartz: To all, greetings! In this edition of "Rank and File", we shall start something a bit different. It was inspired by the recent column on digests, wherein mention was made of a particular DC digest. "The Year's Best Comic Stories" was a digest collection that DC put out for several years, gathering some of what they considered that year's most noteworthy tales. But of course here at BitBA, we have to push things a bit further. So we shall pick a year (for today, 1978) and 'nominate' ten comic stories released between January and December. This means cover dates Apr. 1978 (on the stands in January) to Mar. 1979 (on sale in December). Your job is to assess and comment upon our choices, and to inform us of any other tales we you feel should be considered. Then name the top three (Gold, Silver and Bronze). And one final detail: the nominees shall be single issues, even if part of an extended story arc. So, for example, if you are considering the "Korvac Saga" in Avengers, you might go with the finale, issue 177.
All clear? Then let's look at our nominees, in no particular order:
"Superman vs. Muhammad Ali ", by Dennis O'Neal, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano and Terry Austin. Aliens, boxing, oversized Adams art, and much much more.
Avengers 181- "On the Matter of Heroes" by David Michelinie, John Byrne and Gene Day. There were many issues of Avengers that could have made this list, but I chose this one. Excellent characterization, humor, drama, great art, and Henry Peter Gyrich.
Marvel Team-Up 79- "Sword of the She-Devil" by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin. Spidey and Red Sonja? Mary Jane in a pretty far-out role. Staggeringly beautiful artwork. Perhaps my favorite issue of this title's entire run.
Showcase 100- "There Shall Come a Gathering" by Paul Kupperberg, Paul Levitz and Joe Staton. An immensely enjoyable, fun mashup of every character that appeared in Showcase. And it works. One of the best anniversary issues ever.
Uncanny X-Men 114- "Desolation", by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin. As with Avengers, many issues here could have been nominated. But this one is a beaut, story and art. And what a cover..
Fantastic Four 200- "When Titans Clash" by Marv Wolfman, Keith Pollard and Joe Sinnott. One of the best showdowns with Dr. Doom.
Micronauts 1- "Homeworld" by Bill Mantlo, Michael Golden and Josef Rubinstein. A fine start to a terrific series, by a stellar team of creators. I recall being amazed how good it was for a 'toy book'.
What If? 13-"What if Conan the Barbarian Walked the Earth Today" by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Ernie Chan. A fascinating, and touching, story with many nice touches. Perhaps the best "What If" ever.
Adventure Comics 462 - "Only Legends Live Forever", by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton. Death of the Earth Two Batman, and he goes down fighting.
Iron Man 120- "The Old Man and the Sea Prince" by David Michelinie, John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton. Shellhead's premiere team takes him to new heights, and with Namor to boot.
Man, that wasn't easy. Way too many good choices , and loads left unmentioned. So, what do you think? Do these choices make sense, or did we miss some obvious alternatives? And which would you choose as the top three? Have at it, crew...
17 comments:
Wow, these are some fine choices; I like that you included Avengers #181, which marked the beginning of that all-too-short run with Byrne as the artist. The first issue of Micronauts is also astounding, but like the issues of X-men and Iron Man you nominated, I just missed getting those off of the spinner rack at the time (my first issue of IM was #121, and my first issue of X-men was #120). Also, I think a few nominees that would have been stronger include either Avengers #170 or 171 (the conclusion of the Bride of Ultron story) and, a personal/sentimental favorite, Adventure Comics #459, with that explosive cover when the title made the switch to the dollar comic format.
My picks, though, are:
Marvel Team-up #79; there's no doubt in my mind that this is the single best issue of that entire series, as noted in a 100-word review at the BAB from a few years ago.
Showcase #100; again, another book that was the subject of a gushing 100-word review. Although this wasn't the first time I'd had a comic with Joe Staton's art, I think it was this one that made me take notice and carefully read the credits to see who in fact drew all those lovely pictures. Fun story, too.
Fantastic Four #200; before this, I only sporadically picked up issues of FF, but the cover image here really grabbed me, and I loved the story. After this, I became a regular reader of FF. I see that nowadays Wolfman's run as the writer on this book is often disparaged among many fans (at least on the internet), but I thought it was pretty solid (and I loved the sprawling space opera story that ran for over 10 years which started a few months after this one).
Thanks Red, nice idea for a post!
I have only read two of these issues (so far) but both were excellent.
So...Gold goes to Avengers #181. I first read this in 1983 and it still stands out as one of the best Avengers issues ever. The famous panels showing various character reactions to membership news are still wonderful. I tend to look at this issue as a critical turning point in the series, the post-#181 issues having a very different flavor.
And Silver goes to...MTU #79. I don't remember much detail from the issue apart from a general enjoyment and a pleasant sense of everything being stranger in the Marvel Universe than I thought possible.
Hunh-- I have most of these issues-! That was definitely a comics-buying hey-day for me.
Of what you have pictured here, I'd go with Avengers #181 first. A near-perfect amalgam of art, characterization, and a long-game plot arc.
2nd for me, though, would be that issue of What If? #13. It's one that I've come back to several times over the years. Such a haunting, bittersweet story-- more like a movie.
I honestly found this 200th Anniversary issue of FF to be rather disappointing--- although it was an IMMENSE relief to get the looooooong, drawn-out, Reed-lost-his-powers/FF-split-up arc leading up to it out of the way. And the ending is a ridiculous eye-roller. . . AND at this point I was jaded enough to realize that any "final" battle between Reed and Doom was going to be anything-but. I was left going, "enh".
HB
Aw shucks... I've never read any of these. Must've been studying for the SATs.. lol! They do look tempting!
Avengers #181 is my favorite of the above issues. It was one of the first stories I read where "nothing happens." Okay, that's not true, but there's very little in the way of action. It's a great downtime/character building story.
But my favorite issue from 1978 is Amazing Spider-Man #181. I had only read a handful of ASM issues, and 181 features a flashback to Spider-Man's past, which takes us from his origin to the then-present day. It was the first time I'd seen the origin depicted in comics and Sal Buscema did a great job re-drawing it.
Here's a little write-up on ASM #181:
http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/reviews/spiderman_amazing/181.html
I have many of the issues shown. My brain started popping immediately!!! After a quick trip to Mike's Amazing page:
1 Avengers 177 - finale of the Korvac/Michael saga
2 Cap 222 - Lincoln monument fight
3 Marvel two in One 43 - cosmic cube, cap, Thing and Man-Thing!!!
4 Machine Man 6 - finale of the 10-4 saga
5 ASM 182 - rocket racer
6 Hulk 226 - Moonstone (my original blew out the car window!)
7 Ironman 112 - the old Galactus Punisher
8 Ms Marvel 19 - Ronan and Captain Mar-vell
9 Marvel Team-up 70 - Thor and the Living Monolith
10 Devil Dinosaur 1 - holy hell Kirby must have finally smoked weed!!!
Nice selections. 1978 was a great year for comics, from both Marvel and DC. I read most of those and I especially love MTU #79, and Avengers #181. (Hey, I like Byrne what can I say).
I'd also like to nominate Amazing Spider-Man #187 to the list. That issue really blew my 12-year old mind when it came out. The artwork by Jim Starlin was just incredible and so different from anything else I'd seen up until then.
I award Gold to Superman vs Muhammad Ali! I didn't get to read many of these oversize books as a kid, and finally picked this one up about 10 years ago. It's a silly epic! Great art by Adams- it's a project that he obviously put a lot of love into.
Silver goes to Iron Man. Loved this run as a kid, and again recently in the omnibus. Also Namor, and great cover.
Bronze to Adventure comics. Loved (lots of love in this post!) these dollar comics as a kid, with the JSA and Staton's art. Plus the various other stories, there would be some good and bad, but overall a great big comic experience.
Great comments everyone! You should be receiving your invitations to the Oscar Nomination Committee soon...
Edo- your Avengers mentions were well considered. Issue 171 was on my list initially, as was 177. That title really could have captured five nom's easily. And I recall those BAB reviews, perhaps subconsciously they influenced my picks!
HB and William- yes, 78 was a great year in comics. I was heavily invested in them too. There were so many enticing books out that a kid had to be broke all year keeping up...
Charlie- hey, you have a whole new shopping list now! That Team- Up issue would be a fine start. Don't think it's available in reprint, but it's not too expensive as a back issue. Very well worth it.
J.A.- good call on ASM 181. It nearly made the list too.
Luther- love your list! Team-ups with Thor and Havoc were fabulous.
Hmmm, interesting choices ... I'll be reviewing some of these on my blog later this year. Of the issues presented, I'd probably go with Avengers 181 (I love those "ensemble" issues); Adventure 462 (Batman goes out as a hero); and X-Men 114 (Professor X, Hank, and Jean think the others are dead, but they're really on a ship heading for Japan).
I might have put a few different issues in my own personal top ten. I'd probably have Avengers 177 (for the all-out action), Detective 478 (first appearance of Preston Payne as Clayface), Spectacular Spider-Man 27 (not the best story, but it's Frank Miller's first DD work), JLA 164 (where Zatanna finds her long-lost mother--the story is concluded in the following issue), and maybe one of the Earthwar issues of Superboy & the Legion, where they fight the Dark Circle and the Khunds.
I also have a soft spot for Defenders 61, guest starring Spidey; it's kind of a goofy story, but I liked the way Spidey got along with the Defenders, especially Hellcat.
Great choices!
I can't fault anybody's pick. I've read all but 2 of these.
Gold was a photo finish with MTU #79 winning by a whisker. Perfection.
Silver -Avengers #181 .Not a lot of action, but in this case I didn't mind it. Plus You get
to compare Perez's cover to Byrne's splash on the inside.
I like a lot of the comics mentioned that weren't on the list. I'll add Hulk King Size Annual #7. Heck Stern & Byrne how can you lose!
That Hulk annual is a good choice Killraven, especially since Red and I reviewed it a couple of months ago. So cheers!
I go with Avengers 181 for all the reasons already listed. A book with so much tension and conflict and character development with hardly a punch thrown - I feel like that dense development and pathos somewhat defined the Bronze Age.
Also I'd recommend the Micronauts but perhaps issue # 2. Although the Homeworld politics definitely shaped the book, there was something really wonderful when the 'Nauts first came to Earth. I remember the scene where from the vantage point of a six-inch humanoid, they viewed a child's playground set and mused what the gigantic structure could possibly be. I really enjoyed that writing and the art by Michael Golden. Also I think the cover to number 2 with the lawnmower is awesome.
My third choice is the X-Men issue. I choose that for Claremont - Byrne over the MTU issue.
Many fine nominations today, gang!
Mike W.- you named a few other books that I almost named, that Detective issue just missed. Excellent story. Look forward to seeing your reviews on some of these. Also, that Defenders 61 is a solid choice. An underappreciated book, imho.
Killraven- let me second Marti's praise for your Hulk Annual choice. A fine book, another one I nearly chose. And good observation on the cover/splash page comparison. They could easily be interchanged, both are spectacular.
Well, it seems we have plurality so far for Avengers 181 and MTU 79. Bronze is still up in the air...
Switching my vote to Hulk Annual #7-- many thanks, Killraven--
HB
I recently got that Conan What If? b/c I found it for a buck, and the sequel (#43 from 1984) was one of the few non-Spider-Man comics I kept from my original collection b/c I loved it so much. Unfortunately, I found the original issue disappointing. Maybe b/c I never got to read it through a kid's eyes first.
I vote for Superman vs. Muhammad Ali as the issue I want more than any other on the list. I saw so many affordable copies in my life and never pulled the trigger, and of course as soon as Ali passed away, it became out of reach financially. Regrets, I've know a few. ;)
I've got a full run of Micronauts I have not dug into yet, so #1 gets an honorable mention, as does the X-Men issue and the FF.
Speaking of 1978, I have a soft spot for What If #9: “What if. . . the Avengers had been formed during the 1950s?" b/c it led to the series Agents of Atlas in the 2000s, which is one of my favorite series of the last 10 years (which of course meant it was cancelled).
I'll add as "write-in" votes, the X-Men issues right before the one shown above! X-Men 112-113 features my favourite Magneto fight ever, and one of my favourite X-Men stories. Claremont/Byrne at their action-packed best.
And while I love Avengers #181 as one of the best "slow" character issues, and the kick-off to a great run, I'm also partial to the action-packed (again) final battle with Korvac in #177.
Still, lots of great choices on display! Based on those choices I'd vote for the Fantastic Four, Avengers, and X-Men, can't decide on the order, they're all great!
-david p.
Osvaldo- thanks for tipping me off about the Conan sequel in What If 43; I'd no idea it existed. Now to hunt down a copy. And I share your regrets about Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali. I'd like to pick up a copy, but living near Louisville (Ali's hometown), the book is prohibitively expensive.
david p.- yes, Avengers and X-Men could have filled the list by themselves...
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