Rank and File: The Year's Best Comic Stories, 1982!

Redartz:  Hello gang; are you ready to delve into some of the finest four color offerings of that vintage year 1982? I am too, so let's jump right in. As always, the choices are simply my subjective picks , based upon personal enjoyment, history, and whether I've read it or not. After all, can't really make a call on an unfamiliar book...

Here we go:   

Amazing Spider-man 229-  "Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut", by Roger Stern, John Romita Jr. and Jim Mooney. One of the high points of Stern's admirable run on the title. A showpiece for Peter Parker's determination and self-sacrifice.













Dr. Strange 53-  "The Land of the Pharoahs" by Roger Stern, Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin. A very clever, entertaining climax to the all-too-brief run by the Stern/Rogers team. The intertwining with the classic Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four tale is most engaging. And Doc never looked better.












 

X-Men / Teen Titans-  "Apokolips...Now", by Chris Claremont, Walt Simonson and Terry Austin. Arguably the greatest inter-company crossover ever. Claremont voices both teams, and both mega villains, perfectly. And Simonson  inked by Austin? Spectacular.












Marvel Graphic Novel:  The Death of Captain Marvel- "The Death of Captain Marvel", by Jim Starlin. A poignant tale of loss and nobility, with many fine moments among the gathered individuals. Starlin gives Mar-vell a sendoff worthy of a warrior. And Starlin's writing and drawing carry it off in fine fashion.















Legion of Superheroes 293-  "Within the Darkness", by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstaedt.  Darkseid is revealed as the power behind the "Great Darkness", one of the Legion's greatest sagas ever. This spectacular tale reveals why the Levitz/Giffen/Mahlstaedt Legion was my favorite DC title back then, even more than the Titans.














Love and Rockets 1-  Numerous stories by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez. Fantagraphics' long running series starts here, and with great artistic and literary form. Great, great reading.













 

Fantastic Four 243-  "Shall Earth Endure?", by John Byrne. Everyone vs. Galactus, indeed. One of Byrne's best FF stories, art and story definitely at the top of his game. Loved seeing Spidey and Daredevil sit back and watch.
















 

Ms. Tree's Thrilling Detective Adventures-  Several stories by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty. Terrific old-school detective fare with great characterization. Beatty's art at times makes me think of Ditko, and that's a high compliment.












 



Marvel Graphic Novel: God Loves, Man Kills-  "God Loves, Man Kills", by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson. A melodramatic, but affecting, tale of prejudice with Marvel's Mutants. Nice to see Brent Anderson's take on them.











 


Fantastic Four Roast-  "When Titans Chuckle", by Fred Hembeck, Jim Shooter and just about everybody. Enough puns and visual jokes to fill a dining hall full of heroes, which is pretty much what happens. Absolutely, the "Just Plain Fun" book of 1982!














Another Marvel- heavy year, in my opinion. But the indies are really starting to make an impact, and DC still has a lot to offer. The new formats such as miniseries and graphic novels add some serious competition to the monthly newsstand titles. All things considered, it's a great year to be reading comics. Your thoughts and nominations?

Panel Discussion: The Group Shot!

Martinex1: Today will be a feast for the eyes - I assure you!   Since the dawn of hero team comic books, there has been the group shot!  Pin-Ups, covers, posters, and double-page spreads have highlighted the characters as a team and highlighted the particular artist's skills.

I believe the first group team shot that I was exposed to came at the end of Avengers #71.  On the final page, the team assembled for a posed picture that still resonates with me.  Sal Buscema crafted that particular pin-up but team art by John Buscema, Jack Kirby, John Byrne, George Perez, Ron Frenz, and others are just as noteworthy.  Today we will look at all kinds of teams (and non-teams, and general groups, and all-out mobs) as they appeared throughout Bronze Age history.  Be prepared to discuss your favorite examples whether shared here or not. Let's get started with some other Avengers art that caught my fancy.

Marvel seemed to revel in their various superstar teams from the Avengers to the X-Men, but DC also capitalized on their mightiest with beautiful groupings.  They established a cover trope initiated by Keith Giffen that always made me smile.

But let's not stop there,  DC's premiere team was spotlighted by everybody from George Perez to Alex Ross.

But it doesn't stop there for DC, they had some memorable poses from the Teen Titans as well.

Back at Marvel, the Fantastic Four was know for their Jack Kirby pin-ups almost from the beginning.  John Byrne carried on the team "photo" idea in his run on the book.  He also supplied some magnificent poster art for the FF and all of their cast.

The Defenders, X-Men, Champions, Inhumans, and others all have had their days in the sun as well. Whether in commissions starring our Bronze Age favorites, or from long forgotten pin-ups, the team photo has become a favorite of mine to gaze at.

The X-Men, of course due to their popularity, appeared in many groupings...

 
Sometimes it was fun to gather all of the heroines together...

Or all of the villains...

Or the whole Universe (or at least as much as the paper size would allow)...

So what were your favorite group poses?  How did this type of page or cover or poster affect your collecting?  Did you long for this style of art or did it leave you cold?  Which artist did it best? And which did you own?  Bring your group positions to the group discussion today at BitBA!  Cheers!




UPDATE ALERT:  Martinex1: From all of these great comments, I have added some additional images so everybody can see the other suggestions.  How did I leave off the Legion?   No answer... sometimes at BitBA things slip the mind.  Cheers!