Redartz: Welcome, everyone; and thanks for joining us today. Indeed, thanks for being a part of BitBA over this past year. Yes, today marks the first anniversary of "Back in the Bronze Age". It's hard to believe it's been that long; what is it they say about time flying when you're having fun? And it has indeed been fun; entertaining, and educational. Whether it's been putting together a post, working with my Esteemed Partner Marti (who is the hardest working, most diligent co-conspirator anyone could hope for), or reading all your kind comments, it's been a good ride. Challenging, at times, but always rewarding. Here at our one-year mark, it's a good time to look back, and to look forward (and fear not, our topic lies just ahead).
I'll start by looking forward. It's been a great experience working with Marti here, and we still have much more to cover. It has been a close shave, at times, getting a post up in time (Karen and Doug- oh, now we understand...). Life does have a tendency to intrude, sometimes. With that in mind, Marti and I will be making a change to our posting schedule. As our 2nd. year begins, we will feature posts on Mondays, Tuesdays ( continuing our "Follow the Leader"), Thursdays and Saturdays. This will still put four posts out there weekly- and from time to time we may well insert additional posts as well. This adjustment will give us a little breathing space, and maybe time to read one of those Bronze age comics or two. And, it will give everyone another day to comment on topics- some subjects certainly deserve two days discussion! And fear not, you can look forward to more upcoming sessions of "This and That", "Quarter Bin", "Retro Metro", and all the others. You may see a few new categories show up, as well. So keep your seat belts fastened, the ride is just beginning!
Martinex1: Likewise Red, it has been a blast working together this past year. It is hard to believe we have made it through 365 posts of Bronze Age topics. Like you said, sometimes it was hectic and tough and at other times the ideas flowed quickly. I am very thankful for the commentators, viewers, lurkers, and passer-bys that we have had. Their interaction is the fuel that keeps us going. And thank you for jumping in whenever the going gets rough.
Anniversaries are often a time for retrospection, so I thought it might be interesting for the readers to know what post conversations we enjoyed the most. One of my favorites was the guest post by our group of friends from overseas regarding the Marvel UK. That ranked very highly in terms of views and interaction. Also, Doug from the BAB site suggested a topic around "Bands that Jump the Shark;" that too garnered a large amount of views and I had a lot of fun reading the comments. His guest post on "DC's Imaginary Stories" also ranked highly among the readers. I thought your column recently about Colorists was great and I slapped my head as to why we hadn't covered that before; it was excellent. And I have also been enjoying the Follow the Leader topics. It is nice to be surprised once a week.
Redartz: You're right Marti, that UK Marvel post was a definite highlight of the past year. It was quite entertaining, and immensely informative for those of us 'over here'. I also enjoyed Osvaldo's post and survey, and PFGavigan's artistic contributions. And Marti, I always am impressed by your Panel Discussions and Quarter Bins- your in-depth research never fails to amaze. Also, I too enjoy the Follow the Leader topics. Great variety of topics results, and always fun.
And now, our topic today: appropriately, Anniversary Issues! Which were the best, most memorable ones? Which truly honored the history of the title they represent; which were best forgotten? Take a look at our cover selection below and see if any thoughts are triggered. My personal favorites are the JLA 200 issue ( truly spectacular cover, and the insides are excellent as well). Also loved Batman 400, and Iron Man 150 (well worth the price if only for the cover).
Martinex1: My favorite anniversary covers are Avengers #200 (despite the horrible and even offensive storyline), Spider-Man #100 which was extremely cool and different, and Daredevil #100 because it was nostalgic and kind of mimicked the early bronze age premiere issues (Iron Man, Sub-Mariner, and Captain Marvel).
Redartz: Good call on the Spider-Man 100 cover; a Romita masterpiece. And yes, Avengers 200 is a great cover and , well, a great cover. Now how about you all? Did I miss any classics? Let your voices be heard.
And speaking of your voices, many thanks to each of you, those who speak up and those who just follow along. Knowing you all are out there really helps keep us going. And kudos to you, Marti; thanks for everything! Can't wait to see what lies ahead for the old Bitba.
Martinex1: Cheers to you Red! I look forward to another year. It may contain less posts but I believe the ongoing quality will be extraordinary.
21 comments:
Congratulations on the momentous anniversary, gentlemen. Like the BAB before it, this is a very enjoyable place to drop by every day to read the posts and comments (even if I haven't been as gabby in my commenting lately). Needless to say, here's to many more anniversaries.
As for anniversary issues, I loved 'em, and had many of those pictured, and even wrote about a few of them at BAB. Yes, Iron Man #150 is great from the cover onward, I really liked the epic story in FF #200 and the more low-key one Spidey #200, and I love everything about Dectective #500 and Superman #400. A few you didn't picture that I fondly recall are Hulk #200 (the first of anniversary issue I ever had), Showcase #100 and FF #236 (the 20th anniversary of Marvel's first family). However, much as a Marvel boy I was, I think my favorite of them all is still JLA #200 - there's so much goodness sandwiched between that spectacular George Perez wraparound cover.
What a terrific batch of covers!
I will add to the list of favourites with quick mentions of Legion of Super-Heroes #300, X-Men #100 (classic cover there!), Daredevil #200 (another nice one) .and Iron Man #200 (Iron Man's got a pretty good record for memorable anniversary issues, doesn't he?).
Oh yes, and X-Men's 20th anniversary issue #175 was memorable as well. And of course, Hulk #300. And one of my earliest anniversary issues, Thor #300 (he was the first one to crack that number at Marvel, too cool!).
Really too many great ones to mention.
I don't want to dwell too much on the disappointing ones. But, yeah, I'm looking at you FF #300! Of course, they had just come off a 25th anniversary issue already, also not that memorable. I believe they were flailing a bit because John Byrne had just walked off the book right before all these milestones hit.
But yes, all in all, some terrific issues, and I'm sure I missed a bunch more!
Happy Anniversary to all you folks!
-david p.
Happy birthday- I knew the first anniversary was coming up sometime around now because I remember that BITBA began a few days before a certain somebody got elected.
I had a copy of Conan #100 but I'd never read any of the Robert E. Howard stories so I didn't know Belit was supposed to die - the cover was a massive spoiler!!
I also had Iron Man #150 where Iron Man and Dr. Doom go back in time to King Arthur's Camelot. A few months later there was a great What-If story where Iron Man is trapped forever in Camelot after being double-crossed by Doom. At the end of the story King Arthur dies and Tony Stark is crowned "King Anthony of Britain". One of the better What-If tales in my opinion :)
Oh happy birthday BitBA! Congratulations and thanks are due to Marti and Red along with all the contributors for the many hours of enjoyment and comradeship. Real friendships have been formed thanks to this blog which is a wonderful thing.
Anniversary issues - I too enjoyed Iron Man #150 as the cream of the crop. But an honorable mention goes out to Rom #50. I enjoy anniversary issues that serve as the conclusion to a long-running plotline. Rom #50 gave us the end of the long-running tech vs magic wraiths subplot and was something of a high water mark in the series.
The cover of Showcase #100 is worth a mention - a real case of 'this cover made me buy the book.'
Iron Man 150 was a good one, and Warlord 50 where Grell wraps up the story of the first 50 issues is great. Nice Zeck cover on Master of Kung Fu 100.
Avengers 100 was my favorite, featuring everyone who had been an Avenger to that point. It nicely finished up a three-part mini-epic and was a fine end to Roy Thomas's run.
Also loved Swamp Thing 50, the double-sized conclusion to one of Alan Moore's creepiest storylines.
Damn. Somehow it felt like you'd already been around longer than that. Good job establishing your presence. Much as i've been enjoying the return to blogging, it's hard to picture reaching that one year mark right now.
Big Congratulations!
I love that wrap-around 25th anniversary Flash cover. It's so emblematic of the time, and just plain fun.
Thanks for the comments and well wishes, everyone! We couldn't have made it this far without you.
Edo- yes, that JLA anniversary issue was phenomenal. Perhaps my favorite DC comic. And great call, you and Colin B, on Showcase 100. Just a fun comic, one of those books that leave you smiling afterwards.
David p- yes, there were many more we could have included (have to save a few for the next milestone!). I've never read FF 300, but 400 wasn't that memorable either.
Colin J- You're right about Conan 100. For those of us unfamiliar with the Howard stories, that cover kind of blew it. Still a pretty good issue, though...
Colin B- you nailed it- the friendship felt here is what makes it all worthwhile. We hoped going in to this that we could keep the great community spirit that Karen and Doug had at the BAB. All you great folks stepped right up, and that spirit is testament to you all.
Van mark- forgot about Swamp Thing! Great mention; that was a standout series indeed.
Happy first birthday! Congratulations on the landmark.
As for anniversary issues, I loved X-Men #100, which was my first exposure to the, "New," all-improved X-Men.
I think issue #100 of The Amazing Spider-Man was the one where he got six arms, so I love that one.
Loved Barry Smith's work in Avengers #100.
Happy anniversary ... or birthday, if you prefer.
I liked Amazing Spider-Man 200, as it basically resolved things with the Burglar who shot Uncle Ben. X-Men 200 was pretty good too, with Magneto on trial at the World Court in Paris and then taking over the X-Men when Xavier was whisked away by the Shi'ar.
And Spectacular Spidey 200 had the death of Harry Osborn, going out as a hero; but I guess that's outside the Bronze Age (and was retconned by Mephisto anyway).
Funny, I know how long I've been reading comic book blogs b/c the first one I went to was Doug's. It was their last day and forwarded me to BitBA.
Anyhow Happy Anniversary! I've enjoyed every day of it!
I also think it is most wise to move to a less frequent schedule though I know others like the daily. But I truly had no idea where you were finding the time for daily blog so rich in detail.
I do recall the Marvel UK blog put together by Steve, Colin, and Colin. That blog was so loaded with info that I printed it and schlepped it around for a while to re-read. Marvelous!
My comic sweet-spot from roughly 1971 - 1975 included a few annuals that I quite enjoyed: ASM 100, Avengers 100, JLA 100, and DD 100.
The most enjoyable was ASM 100 b/c the comic-distribution gods were smiling and I was able to buy 100, 101, and 102! 6 arms indeed! And a Vampire! Pretty wild stuff to a 10 year old kid!
Unlike Avengers #100 where the last issue at the grocery store was 93 and the next was like 100. So I grabbed 100, thought everyone looked like Conan, and was confused by the whole story line, lol.
Congrats again. You gents are doing a really fine job. And if you can talk your UK contingent to do more Marvel UK blogs(or DC Thomson!) then awesome!
From Terry in Virginia:
Congratulations on your 1 year anniversary. Nice selection. Here's a few from my collection, which is more heavily slanted to DC:
Hopefully I'll acquire some of the ones you posted, such as Conan and Spider-Man... and I'll want to replace my Superman #400 that I sold a couple years back. Anyway, most of these are "Bronze Age," although a some occur before or after that loosely-defined era:
Action #600 -- John Byrne’s last issue; Wonder Woman (1986)
Adventure 400 -- early Mike Sekowsky Supergirl w/new costume (1970)
Avengers #100 (1972)
Avengers #200 (1980)
Batman #200 -- early Mike Friedrich script and Neal Adams cover (1968)
Brave and the Bold #100 -- Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary (1972)
Detective #400 -- 1st Man-Bat/Neal Adams (1970)
Flash #200 (1970)
Justice League #100 -- JSA Crossover w/Seven Soldiers of Victory (1972)
Justice League #200 (1982)
Superboy & the Legion #200 -- Dave Cockrum art (1974)
Superman #200 -- a cool “Imaginary Story” with Superman’s brother (1967)
Superman 400 -- sold this a couple years back; planning to replace it soon (1983)
Wonder Woman #200 -- O’Neil script and Giordano pencils (1972)
Wonder Woman #300 -- some nice Gene Colan art (1983)
World’s Finest 200 -- Superman team-up with Robin (1971)
Happy anniversary, guys! I love your blog and wish I could join more conversations (oh, how I wanted in on the FOOM one, but just didn't...have...time...sigh), but I'm stealing moments and enjoying 'em most every day! Carry on, O Keepers of the Bronze Age Flame! Thou art carrying the gospel of the greatness of comicbooks most magnificently!
Oh, I forgot the most important thing: JLA #200 and Detective #500 are two of the greatest comics EVER. And I second adding Detective #400, Brave and Bold #100, and Superboy and the Legion #200 to the list. They're all extremely high on my list of faves.
Happy Anniversary guys! I've been enjoying the site. Hope you can keep it going for a long time.
I strongly remember Amazing Spider-Man #200 when it came out. That one left an impression on me for some reason.
Thanks again for the kind words, folks!
-3--Many thanks; sometimes it seems longer than a year! Regardless, we had a great head start courtesy of Karen, Doug and the BAB.
Mike W.- that Spectacular Spider-Man issue was a fine comic, great story and nice Sal Buscema art. It did have one of those metallic covers, but hey, it was the 90's...
Charlie- glad you have enjoyed the ol' Bitba; we've enjoyed your comments! And thanks for the support; we're pleased to have knocked off all those daily posts, but a little slowdown will be welcome. I have to get some reading done, so I can do some more reviews!
Terry- excellent list; glad you gave some more DC attention- I'm generally more familiar with the Marvel books. You named some great ones; that Batman 200 is terrific (and is that Adams' first Batman cover?
Groove- Thanks a lot! High praise indeed, coming from the Groove himself, high overseer of "Diversions of the Groovy Kind"! To everyone, if you haven't checked out his site, do so- you'll find plenty of 'groovy' stuff...
William- thanks for 'tagging along' with us so far. And yes, ASM 200 was memorable; to me it seemed to close one era for the webslinger and started another. Probably their intent...
Dog gone! Thanks Groove for mentioning B&B #100!
I still recall buying that off the spinner, after much hemming and hawing as to which comic to buy.
For some reason, Batman being simply human, with no super powers, and shot in the chest by a sniper... well it just seemed so plausible and different from typical comic book fare that I felt strangely compelled to buy it. If I recall correctly, I actually felt "mature" reading it (at the age of 11, lol).
I don't know that I've reread since 1972 but I know I still have it and I'll be digging it out of the long box!
Thanks all for the comments. Like Red I look forward to a little more time to research and read for posts. We still encourage you to contact us if you have ideas or would like to contribute guest posts. I
Colin, Colin, Steve, Mike, 3, Terry, Groove, CH47, William, Mike, van mark, Edo, Garett, David, Prowl, HB, Yoyo, Doug, Karen and all the rest - it is always good to hear from you. Thanks for the support.
CH47 if Marvel UK is something you are looking for - tomorrow’s post has a section that may be of interest to you (although it cannot match the knowledge and wit of our group of overseas contributors perhaps they can offer some insight on the topic)! Cheers!
Congrats fellas! As usual I sail in late on these as you guys post your question just after I head for weekday. I still check in when I can.
My favorite anniversary issues:
Fantastic Four #100 - my first one and despite its small story a memorable event
Avengers #100 - getting all the Avengers assembled was no small deal, now largely impossible I guess
Justice League of America #200 - great great artwork and proper scale
Rip Off
Red-faced and belated anniversary wishes, guys! Sort of inexcusable for me to forget yesterday, as your anniversary follows my anniversary by a day!
You two should be very proud of yourselves and what you've built here. You've taken the foundation that was the BAB and its community and have enhanced it, growing it through your own direction and vision and adding regular commenters beyond the stable we knew and loved. This site is a joy every day and I continue to be amazed at the depth of research required for some of your posts.
Enjoy some well-deserved days away. I completely understand your need to pull back in exchange for maintaining the high quality standards you've established. Take care of yourselves, and we'll all appreciate how you continue to take care of us.
Thanks, boys!
Doug
Happy 1 year anniversary guys! Wow it sure doesn't feel like a whole year has passed! Guess time really does fly when you're having fun! Looking forward to all the great stuff coming our way soon!
- Mike 'wow I sound like vintage Stan Lee with all those exclamation points!' from Trinidad & Tobago.
Post a Comment