Martinex1: We know that many of the frequent visitors to our site are Marvel fans. I am one of them; DC was great but Marvel was off-the-charts fantastic when I was in my collecting heyday. And I know there are even Amazing Spider-Man and Avengers' completists among us. But what I have never ascertained is how all of you would rank the quality, your admiration, and respect for the various Marvel titles.
Today, I would like to challenge you to rank the Marvel catalog from "most loved" downward. Use whatever criteria you deem important in your assessment: your passion, the number of issues you hold, lasting story power, overall art and creativity, cultural impact, etc. All of those assessment attributes are fair game for this non-scientific study.
Frankly I am less interested in what came first on your list rather than what came next and why.
So share your ranks (with as long a list as you want to supply) and add some commentary on how you arrived at that categorization. And if you have commentary about any specific title, please share those thoughts.
To get us started, here is my list of Marvel favorites. I ranked these based on my Bronze Age attraction. 1) What books I had to have, 2) what runs are longest in my collection, and 3) what books are fondest in my memory - all fit into my ranking. What is amazing is that each point matched pretty well with the others and it wasn't until much further into the list that it became more challenging to assess and differentiate. I tried to reach a list of 20 titles, but it got difficult for me toward the end as you will see.
I hope you have fun assessing your likes as well as trying to convince others that books should move up (or down) the ranks.
Martinex1's Rank of Marvel Titles:
1) Avengers: This was always the book that I had to have. I had nearly a complete run and for the first 200 issues loved nearly everything about it. It caught my imagination and ran away with it. My favorite character for a long time was Yellowjacket. Any early spin-offs however were really disappointing.
2) Amazing Spider-Man: How can you not like Spidey?
3) Captain America: This one surprised me a bit, but I have a very long run of Cap in my collection. I like the character and the costume. And I think the work of Englehart, Steranko, Sal Buscema, Byrne, Stern, Zeck and Gruenwald along the way kept it a favorite.
4) Micronauts: I will have to review some issues of this fantastic book sometime soon. It is a gem and in my mind was a top tier Marvel team at their peak. The art and storytelling was complex and it captured my teenage imagination. I still reread parts of the run on occasion.
5) Fantastic Four: A nostalgic favorite reinforced by John Byrne's run.
6) Uncanny X-Men: Obviously this series is a classic, but I only have an ongoing interest for the Claremont and Byrne issues. The. rest seems crowded and convoluted. There were earlier high points under Roy Thomas and Neal Adams. But the product outside of the master creative teams seems of lesser quality.
7) ROM: Redartz and I reviewed this title once. It still remains a favorite. The combination of horror and heroism within a long ongoing story was very well handled.
8) Iron Man: I have Iron Man at #8 but I struggled having him here because the character doesn't change much in my opinion. I own a lot of Iron Man books, and I get drawn in when I read them, but there is also something I do not like about the character. The corporate espionage aspects tire me.
9) Marvel Two-in-One: Read the "Project Pegasus" issues! Great stories in that era.
10) Thor: There is something very comfortable about Thor for me. Not my first choice, but I enjoy it almost every time I pick it up. The Asgardian world built for the character, though based on myth, is one of the most realized in all comicdom.
11) Marvel Team-Up: Not as good as Two-In-One in my opinion, but there are some great issues sprinkled throughout. I liked how these books gave some oddballs the spotlight.
12) Defenders: I have a ton of these books and really enjoy many, but I always felt they could be a little bit better, The team was designed to be second-tier, but the comic itself felt that way sometimes.
13) Power Man and Iron Fist: As I developed this list, this title jumped out at me and it is the next book I want to reread. A lot of fun memories of this duo's adventures.
14) Incredible Hulk: Sorry HB. I like the Hulk, but I like other characters more. In the spotlight however is the Marie Severin, George Tuska and Herb Trimpe art. The later Peter David stories were also a lot of fun.
15) The Invaders: I know the art was never the best on this title, but I still liked the stories, the WWII setting and challenges, and the core characters. Perhaps the book had more hope and possibilities than were ever realized, but it still pulled me in.
16) Marvel Premiere: New characters like Caleb Hammer, 3-D Man and Monarch Starstalker had me every time.
17) Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I think he is a great character and I own the entire first run.
18) Quasar: This is an underrated book that relies almost entirely on its writing. It is worth a look.
Honorable Mentions (battling for the last two spots): Daredevil (odd that he fell so low when I loved the Colan incarnation and had to read the Miller issues back in the day; but ol' Matt Murdock did not stick with me), Dr. Strange (I appreciate the character, I just never really collected him), Black Panther (one of my favorite Avengers but never got into his solo projects), Captain Marvel (the character is a nostalgic favorite but the book was very hit and miss), Alpha Flight and Champions.
Not Making the Cut: Ms, Marvel, Savage She-Hulk (although I liked Byrne's Sensational series), X-Factor (although I really liked some latter issues by Peter David), Inhumans, Eternals, Ka-Zar (any incarnation). Warlock, West Coast Avengers, Machine Man, Conan, Marvel Fanfare, Kull, Guardians of the Galaxy (I collected a ton of the GotG and love the characters, but the books had no lasting impact),Spider- Woman, Omega, Howard the Duck, and so many more.
So there you have it - some obvious choices and some curveballs thrown in. Even now as I finish typing, I am rethinking some of my selections (should I drop Quasar, should the Hulk move up, should Not Brand Echh be in the top five, etc). I am sure you will disagree with many of my choices and rankings - that is perfectly fine. Let the debate commence! I am eager to hear what you have to say.
Next time let's talk about DC! Looking forward to your comments today. Cheers!
19 comments:
Ha! Yer killin' me, Marti-!
My stripped-to-the-bones list would, of course, be--
1) The Incredible Hulk
2) The Avengers within at least shouting distance
3) Everyone else in a pack of nicely-enjoyed titles.
Ohhhh why do the posts I could yammer away at for hours inevitably pop up on the 16-18 hours-of-activity days??? Gnrgh!
HB
Hmmm, a big spot of ground to cover here. Let's see, here's my top 10:
1. Amazing Spider-Man: an obvious choice for me, but not quite so easy. It was always a must-buy for me, and nearly completed the run. But the quality of the book had it's ups and downs, and frankly, there were times it would rank well below many other Marvel titles in terms of reading enjoyment.
2. Avengers: Almost always a great read. For a time I actually did manage to complete the set. Boy, wish I'd kept a few of those early issues. Really loved the book, often would be number one on my favorites list.
3. Fantastic Four: similar to Amazing, the FF were long time friends of mine. And the Byrne run kept it near the top of my reading list way past the point I'd given up most other titles, including Spider-Man.
4. Uncanny X-Men: I was 'take it or leave it' up until the 'new' X-Men debuted. Then it was top tier. Although, it was the first title I quit entirely and sold off by the mid 80's.
5. Defenders: A personal favorite, loved the quirkyness of many issues. But dropped it after the 100th. issue.
6. Conan the Barbarian: The first 50 issues keep it in my top ten. After that , not so much. Had dropped it by about issues 120.
7. Man-Thing: A title and character I always enjoyed, especially under Steve Gerber.
8. Dr. Strange: Another title with pretty consistently high quality material. Bought it faithfully for years, managed to get all his issues, including Strange Tales at one point.
9. Micronauts: Only read it for a couple years, but greatly enjoyed it during that time.
10. Marvel Premiere: Back in the day, it was fun to have completed this set. Lots of variety, and some nice Dr. Strange and Iron Fist runs.
Just missing the top ten: Marvel Team-Up, Daredevil, Captain America, Marvel Two-in-One , Spectacular Spider-Man. Always bought the team-up books, but overall didn't care for them near as much as the regular titles (with exceptions, especially Claremont/Byrne MTU).
Fun question:
This is a hastily rattled-off, off-the-top-of-my-head top 10.
1. Uncanny X-Men (most passionate, most in love with the comic's continuity and twists and turns, most issues, it was a must-have.
2. Daredevil (while I didn't collect quite as many consecutive issues, it was my other must-have for years, and on numerous occasions surpassed X-Men on a given month in terms of quality and my engagement...this was during the Frank Miller years, but I really loved the Denny O'Neil run as well)
3. Alpha Flight (bought because it was an X-Men spin-off, the Byrne issues really held my interest, and it was my third must-have, month-in month-out series to buy)
4. Avengers (now we're out of the series that I bought on a regular basis and into the series that I liked to "check up on" once in a while...I was not a regular collector, yet would go on back-issue binges and eventually pieced together the entire Shooter/Michelenie/Stern runs)
5. Fantastic Four (they were never my favourite super-team by a long-shot, but it was fun to check in on their stories once in a while, and the Byrne run especially had several great highlights)
6. New Mutants (an X-Men spin-off that I dropped around issue 7 having to admit that I just didn't enjoy the characters as much as the main X-book, but I still would check in on, enjoying many issues, and eventually going back to fill in those back-issue gaps)
7. Moon Knight (I only collected this for a short while, but it was a very fun book to follow in those first 17 issues or so)
8. Warlock (the only one on this list that I did not buy as it first came out, but I became addicted to the Fantasy Masterpiece reprints, I eventually filled in all the Starlin back-issues, and just read the Magus saga over the weekend!)
9. Thor (another one I didn't collect regularly, but enjoyed when I did pick it up, and buying the Simonson run years later I gotta admit those're some real fun comics)
10. Either Captain America or Hulk (series I'd pick up once in a while that were fun...maybe I'd give the nod to Cap because my interest spiked often during both the DeMatteis/Zeck runs and the Gruenwald issues featuring Serpent Society, Scourge and the John Walker replacement story)
Good times!
-david p.
As I am from Germany, I collected German reprints in my youth
1. Fantastic Four 1-130 (Jack Kirby, John Buscema). And the Byrne run in the 1980s. Jack Kirby is my hero for creating those fascinating new realms of imagination. Never felt as much "comic book excitement" as opening a new issue of a Lee-Kirby's FF magazine.
2. Amazing Spider-Man 1-130. Not as imaginative as the Fantastic Four, but close to my own childhood. And a great costume and good enemies. I especially liked Gil Kane's pencils.
2a. Spider-Man Vol 1 (Todd McFarlane, John Romita Jr.)
2b. Ultimate Spider-Man (Bendis/Bagley)
3. Thor (Jack Kirby). Same argument as for the Fantastic Four.
4. Silver Surfer (John Buscema). Especially No. 4 with Thor and Loki. I also like the current Mike Allred Silver Surfer very much. It is the only current Marvel title I have a subscribed at my local Comic Book Shop.
5. Daredevil (Gene Colan in my youth, and the more gritty version of Frank Miller, Bendis/Maleev, Brubaker later as an adult)
6. Avengers (Don Heck, John Buscema).
7. Namor the Sub-Mariner Vol 1 (Jae Lee, 1992). Crazy imaginative art.
8. Some X-Men runs, including the very first Jack Kirby issues.
9. Dr. Strange, first Volume.
10. Tomby of Dracula (Gene Colan)
11. X-Statix Vol 1 (Mike Allred)
12. Hulk
11. Captain America (a bit late in this list, but I never read him as a child. As a Jack Kirby title it probably has to be more on the top of this list)
There's no way I can answer this now, I just love all that stuff from the Bronze Age of my youth kind of equally now.
Back in roughly mid-1979, at age 10 going on 11, when I first got bit hard by the comics bug and started systematically reading individual series regularly from month to month, my list would have been:
1) X-men - right in the thick of the Claremont/Byrne/Austin run, I started with issue #120. I was fanatically devoted to this series.
2) Iron Man - the Michelinie/Layton (+ Romita Jr.) run was just beginning, and I fell in love with it immediately after picking up issue #121.
3) Daredevil - something made me pick up issue #158, the first issue drawn by some guy named Miller, and I hardly missed an issue after that until he left the title.
4) A bunch of other stuff would be tied for fourth place; I didn't absolutely *need* to have them, but I followed them regularly and enjoyed them every month: mainly Avengers, Amazing Spider-man, Peter Parker/Spectacular Spider-man, and Captain America. And there was also some stuff from the distinguished competition that I was following at the time, but that's not the subject of this post.
A bit later, when Byrne moved over to the Fantastic Four, that became another must-buy, which I would rank at no. 1.5 between X-men and Iron Man.
Hmmm, in some semblance of order:
1) Amazing Spider-Man (Spidey's my favourite and this is the flagship title)
2)Spectacular Spider-Man (Mantlo and Stern had some great runs on this title, and I thought Milgrom and David's runs were solid too)
3) Marvel Team-Up/Web of Spider-Man (I liked seeing Spidey team up with different heroes, and although Web had its problems, it wasn't too bad overall ... especially later when Conway was writing it)
4) Daredevil (Miller's run is classic, but I generally liked Denny O'Neil's stuff too, and Annie Nocenti did some interesting stories later on)
5) Master of Kung Fu (Moench's writing was great and Gulacy, Zeck, and Day were all really good artists)
6) G.I. Joe (Larry Hama wrote almost every issue, and was great at making the characters seem real; even when he was forced to add idiotic characters and vehicles every year, he managed to give most of them a distinct personality, and some ended up being very complex--Destro, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Flint, Lady Jaye, Zartan and the Dreadnoks)
7) Power Man/Iron Fist (great chemistry between the two and some cool stories; Jo Duffy's run was great)
8) Moon Knight (A bit of a Batman rip off, but Moony had his own stuff going on, and Moench always managed to give the stories an eerie, esoteric vibe)
I'm not sure about rounding out the top ten, as I didn't get heavy into any other series in the Bronze Age. In retrospect, I'd probably add Avengers (and West Coast Avengers), X-Men, and Captain America, but I wasn't a regular reader of any of those as a kid.
1)Avengers. They were Marvel's premiere team, even when they weren't.
2)X-Men. The title that changed my way of thinking about comics. I collected this loyally and heavily for years, even though now they are sort of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich of my collecting, i.e. I had so much of them as a kid, I've almost lost my taste for them entirely.
3)Iron Man. The first comic I ever read. How could you not love the thought of wearing a cool set of armor that you could fly?
4)Fantastic Four. Some were lamenting the current lack of new FF, but I comfort myself with knowing there are still a lot of old stories I have yet to read. I've been collecting the period when Medusa replaced Sue and while I've been reading them as I've got them, there is definitely a binge re-read in my future.
5)Marvel Premiere/Team-Up/Two-in-One. A three-way tie because there's no way I could choose between them. There was always an exciting chance of finding a character you didn't see for a while but you really wanted to see more of making an appearance along with a great big bad, too.
6)Captain America. Old reliable. Just realizing how much Cap I have.
7)Micronauts/Rom. Another tie. Two books about toys which went so way above and beyond to stand on their own merits, that it's almost heartbreaking not to see them in current continuity.
8)Astonishing Tales. I had to reach back for these issues back in the day, but rummaging through old Chet's shop back in Milwaukee to find issues of Deathlok were totally worth it.
9) Invaders. The art was rough and gritty, but so was that wartime action. I was on the fence about it at the time, but now I totally dig it.
10) Thor. Loved the Warriors Three as a supporting cast.
Honorable mentions: Ghost Rider, Power Man, Tomb of Dracula, Dr. Strange.
Wow, great topic Martinex. So many ways I could go with this, especially since you said use any criteria you deem important. So...my criteria is based on those books that I couldn't wait to get my hands on in any given month. That may or may not reflect my feeling about the character(s) at the time. So here goes my attempt at a top 10 with some mentions:
1. Amazing Spiderman - obvious yes but over my entire time of collecting comics this was easily the comic I most anticipated each and every month.
2. Iron Man - a sentimental choice as he was my "first" favorite.
3. Avengers - always the most interesting team book for me.
4. Captain America & the Falcon - loved Engelhart's run. Then when Kirby came - meh, not so much.
5. X-Men - when the All-New team came they were #1. But since they were in reprints during my buying heyday, they land in the middle of this list.
6. Jungle Action w/Black Panther - just a great run for me. Then when they gave him a new book by Kirby...see #4 above.
7. Master of Kung Fu - I had a buddy who didn't like superheroes but loved this book. I am forever grateful to him for turning me onto Shang-Chi.
8. Thor - There was just something cool about him and Asgard and all those cosmic adventures.
9. Marvel Team_Up - if you loved Spidey, what could be better than Spidey and another hero every month. Even as a kid I remembered thinking, wait a minute, this guy is the ultimate loner in his own mag but he is always,somehow finding ways to team up. That's when you just suspend disbelief and go with it!
10. Fantastic Four - I didn't come to appreciate them as the World's Greatest Comic Magazine until I caught up with all of their Silver Age history, otherwise they could be higher. Which leads to my first honorable mention...
If I may, ALL of the Silver Age reprints. I looked forward to Greatest Comics, Tales, Spectacular, Triple Action, Double Feature, etc. as much or more so as the first runs. Just so many great stories that filled in a lot gaps and only deepened my appreciation for what Stan, Jack, Steve, JR, etc. created.
Some more honorable mentions - Hulk, Daredevil, Power Man, Defenders. And there's bound to be others I can't think of right now.
And then there were those titles that started in the 70s that I very much wanted to like but they were never must buys for me - Inhumans, Invaders, Champions, Nova, Super Villain Team-up, to name a few. Inhumans was especially a series I wanted to like because I love those characters but, in spite of some great Perez art as I recall, I just couldn't get into it.
Tom
How could I have forgotten Sub-Mariner? I owned most of Subby's first series. And he always seemed like the forgotten classic. I am putting him in at my 7.5.
And I couldn't agree more about the Inhumans. Cool characters. Great art. But... blah. One of the few comics where art didn't carry the day.
Hi. Great question. I was actively buying every ish of these but then I bailed b/c...
1) FF. Read it until around 150ish. Actively collected back issues. I think I bailed b/c Sue served Reed divorce papers. Jack and Stan were at their prime in the FF, no?
2) Luke Cage. I tried hard to get every ish. Something fresh about Luke and the motherless freakin scum he fought. ANd then one day the magic was gone b/c Iron Fist joined or he became Power Man?
3) Daredevil. Bailed when Don Heck took over for Gene Colan who defined DD for me and possibly b/c the Black Widow left the series. Deep collection of back issues. But when DD was with BW and GC was drawing... wow!
3) Sub Mariner. Bailed b/c Everett died and he defined Subby for me and still does.
3) ASM - Bailed when Gwen died though I did read the subsequent Luke Cage and Punisher issues. Collected back issues. Stan / ROy and Romita / Ditko were at their prime, no?
3) Captain America - Bailed I think b/c I got tired of Sal's art around issue 155. Deep collection of back issues. Something about the 1950s Cap and Bucky being "introduced" nagged at me too, in a positive and negative and confusing way.
3) Avengers - Bailed I think b/c the distribution system killed my interest. But that 12 or so issues from 88 to 100ish were dy-no-mite!
3) Invaders - Loved the nostalgia and since Robbins' art had a 1940s feel, it worked for me. Not sure why I bailed.
So a combo of art / story / and technology issues caused me to bail. Interestingly all around 1974 or so? Perhaps I was just growing older or was it events?
Charlie- interesting; you were bailing out at about the same time I was jumping aboard! Like you, I caught up for what I missed with loads of back issues. But I hung on until about 1985. Was there much that you did manage to catch in those later years, or is it all new for you now?
Fun topic!!
Here we go; as a reference most of these will begin and end between 1975-1981
1. Avengers- I had always been drawn to the team aspect and they were the ultimate team.
2. X-Men - Started them at Giant Size #1 thru Byrne.
3. Captain America- Some not so great runs but I stuck with him.
4. Defenders- Sometimes it felt like I was one the only people reading them. Found out later how many people really liked them.
5. ASM- I almost felt obligated. But really did enjoy most of them.
6. Invaders- Loved when they would bring in one of those forgotten golden age heroes.
7. Marvel Team-Up- The Claremont/Byrne run kept on this for a while.
8. F.F., Hulk, Thor, Iron Man- A good story would pop up occasionally.
9. Marvel Premier- Kind of fun to try a new character out. Even if you don't like 3D-Man or Monark Starstalker it's not like they'll be there in a couple of issues.
10. Micronauts, Peter Parker, Rom, Machine Man- Started those from #1, had to keep the streak going.
Hi Red, et al. SO I was jumping in around 10 years old and jumping out around 14 - 15 years old. Oddly, my understanding is that what was perceived as the target group of comic readers. And then, something happened and the Companies started writing for adults.
I've caught up here / there mostly through readers like you. So I am reading Byrne's FF (as you know). That's one reason I love reading this blog: to find out what I've missed!
definitely the team books for me.
1. Avengers
2. Xmen in the Dave Cockrum era when it was bimonthly.
3. Defenders. Started with the Avengers Defenders til over #100. i felt the book declined after David Kraft but stuck with it a long time
4 Fantastic Four
5. Marvel Team up. #2 thru Project Pegasus
6 Invaders starting with #2.
Long runs on Power Man/Iron Fist, Daredevil, Micronauts and GI Joe. Use to go to the book store a few times a month and sit there reading. Never had $$ to buy all i wanted.
1) AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: My favorite character in his main book. Pretty easy choice there.
2) DAREDEVIL: My second favorite character. (I'm sensing a pattern). I always loved DD, but his book is mostly on this list because of the Frank Miller run. It was my favorite comic during that time. (Even over Spider-Man).
3) MARVEL TEAM-UP: For some reason I always loved this book and never missed an issue. It didn't hurt that it was basically a Spider-Man title. Plus the Byrne / Claremont issues are some of the most fun comics ever published.
4) FANTASTIC FOUR: The John Byrne run the FF catapulted the book onto my monthly "must read at all costs" list. Some true classics came out of that era. However, I wasn't a fan of She-Hulk replacing The Thing.
5) THE AVENGERS: Some of my all-time favorite comics stories come from the Shooter / Perez / Byrne era, as well as the Michelinie / Byrne run. Such awesome stuff. After issue #200 though, my interest wained considerably for the book. Mainly because writing and the artwork went downhill fast. (Until Roger Stern and John Buscema came on board).
6) CAPTAIN AMERICA: There were a lot of great issues of Captain America in the late 70's / early 80's. And once again the issues by Byrne and Stern are some of my all-time favorite comics.
7) UNCANNY X-MEN: This title would have scored higher with me, except that after Byrne left the book, so did I. I only stuck around for 2 or 3 issues after that, and I didn't come back until Paul Smith came aboard as the new series artist. (Unfortunately he didn't last even as long Byrne did).
8) PETER PARKER THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN: It was pretty much considered the red-headed step brother to ASM, but it's still a solo book starring Spider-Man, so I never missed an issue. There were actually some really interesting and good stories that came out of that book. Plus a lot of very nice artwork from our pal Sal (Buscema that is).
9) MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE: Another excellent bronze-age team-up book. I didn't read it as religiously as I did MTU, but I still picked it up on a pretty regular basis. The Thing is one of my favorite characters, and it was nice to see him do his "thing" outside of the FF.
Thanks all for commenting. Very interesting how varied the answers are beyond the few main players. I was glad to see Micronauts, Power Man/ Iron Fist, MTU, MTIO and some other lower tier books get some love. I thought I might be ridiculed on some choices. It goes to show that with good writing and art many characters can be successful.
I think when we hit the DC books it will be interesting to see the varied fan appreciation levels.
1-Fantastic Four by Jack Kirby. Got into this in the last couple years, fantastic energy and creativity.
2-Thor by Jack Kirby. A touch below FF, because the inking by Colletta isn't up to the inking by Sinnott. Also liked John Buscema's run. Great cast of characters.
3-Moon Knight by Sienkiewicz. Loved seeing his artistic growth on this series. Liked the supporting characters-- girlfriend Marlene, buddy Frenchie, the cafe characters.
4-Conan. Not as much into it now, but for a long time loved this series. Great from issues 1-115 or so, when Roy Thomas left. Also Savage Sword.
5-Power Man and Iron Fist. Great team up of personalities, nice art by Gammill.
6-Howard the Duck. Unique series, great sense of humour. Super cartoony/real art by Colan.
7-Iron Man. Wonderful creative team of Micheline/Romita Jr./Layton.
8-Daredevil. Liked Miller's run, and Colan's too.
9-Hercules. First 2 miniseries by Layton have everything you need--action, humour, romance.
10-Alpha Flight. Fun series, great characters. Byrne's best original creations.
Nods to Avengers (good in '60s, '70s and '80s), Doctor Strange (cool art by Brunner), Criminal (one of the best modern series), Master of Kung Fu (loved this as a kid).
I find this impossible to answer. It would take me hours of work to work out a list, plus I tend to avoid lists. I don't like lists. The minute I rank things, the ranks seem wrong. It is all so dependent on time and place. Like Edo says, what I preferred as a kid is definitely how I'd list them now, plus there are many Bronze Age comics that I am only reading now for the first time, b/c only I only ever had one or two issues to go by back then (or just reputation).
Anyway, I will list (verb, not noun) a handful and how I thought of them in my from the newsstand collecting heyday
- Amazing Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men - these were must-buys, and at some point the latter surpassed the former. UXM was probably the last Big Two comic I bought regularly when I stopped entirely
- ROM SPACEKNIGHT: The first series I ever made sure to collect in full. Nuff said.
- Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man: I loved the change in focus from Amazing - and suggest to me looking back, that I was always more interested in Peter Parker than I was Spider-Man
- Avengers - Unlike most of you (I think) I REALLY go into this series with the court martial of Yellowjacket stuff - which is still my favorite Avengers run of all time. I was in it for the drama.
- Thor - I didn't have much interest in Thor until Walt Simonson took over, but when he did? OH BOY!
- Power Pack - I liked comics about kids that felt real, and this one did. Louise Simonson might be my favorite Marvel personality second only to Kirby
- Fantastic Four - I was only an intermittent dipper into FF. While I loved and collected reprints of their Silver Age Kirby days, I only picked up the Byrne run when the covers looked interesting (these days I am collecting the whole run)
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