Why back issues rule

[Bruce Banner]

What they now call the "Bronze Age" was my favourite comic book era.
Great artwork, stories, vibrant, dynamic covers. The characters were mostly still in their most recognizable, iconic incarnations.
Just the thrill of going into the drugstore to see what issues they had on the racks every month.

[Mego Superboy Prime]

Greatest years ever for comics are the mid 60's until the middle of the 80's. The stuff after that just doesn't interest me.

[bobws]

[QUOTE=Mister Blisterfists;570672]E2C, I came into comics in the late 90s. Hal was already Parallax, and I really DON'T get why people love him.

to me he is and always will be nothing more than a killer. I can't wrap my head around why people build up a villain as a hero.
/QUOTE]




BECAUSE FOR 30 YEARS BEFORE THAT HE WAS ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST AND NOBLEST HEROES DC HAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then some genius decides they need new blood and turn a great hero into a villian.

THIS MISTAKE HAS NOW BEEN RECTIFIED!!!!!!!!!!

[BlackKnight]

Today's Comics Are Awesome.

[B-Lister]

^ This can be applied here as well:

I'm sure.

however, it bears repeating in this instance. Am I just a product of my time?, partly, it would seem.

but at least I'm READING superhero books.....things could be worse.

[enyawd72]

"Also, DC and Marvel's abandonment of the newstand for the direct market was a fatal flaw, IMHO. They didn't seem to put up much of a fight. I can see the appeal of the direct market of course, but why abandon the outlet that best brings in new readers? Did Disney quite licensing products for general retail when they opened their Disney Stores? You can still find Mickey Mouse t-shirts at Wal-Mart even though most malls have a Disney Store in them."

Exactly!! I grew up in a town so small it was a blip on the map, yet, I had six stores where I could buy comics. The grocery store, the newsstand, the drug store, the convenience store, the barber shop, and the gas station.

ALL of them had a spinning rack, where I could get my latest fix, and when we actually went into the city, EVERY grocery store, newsstand, drug store, convenience store, dept. store etc. had comics. They were everywhere. Now I have to drive at least 25 miles to the closest comic shop. The town I grew up in? Not a comic to be found ANYWHERE. How the hell is little Johnny gonna see one that looks exciting to him and pick it up? He's not.
Unfortunately, even if he did, the quarters in his pocket are useless, cause the damn books cost four dollars now.

It's pretty sad really...

[The Toyroom]

I think in a lot of ways, the deconstructionist movement in super hero comics has slowly killed the genre. Creators like Miller and Moore took the characters in interesting directions, but they inspired others to do it as well...constantly. The characters weren't actually created for such tales, and therefore, after nearly 25 years of such doom and gloom self-loathing, the DC and Marvel Universes seem to be collapsing under their own weight.

Right...when that type of story-telling becomes status quo and "mainstream" it's no longer interesting or novel

Also, DC and Marvel's abandonment of the newstand for the direct market was a fatal flaw, IMHO. They didn't seem to put up much of a fight. I can see the appeal of the direct market of course, but why abandon the outlet that best brings in new readers? Did Disney quite licensing products for general retail when they opened their Disney Stores? You can still find Mickey Mouse t-shirts at Wal-Mart even though most malls have a Disney Store in them.

I had 3 newstands I would hit frequently as a kid, plus a few drugstores, frequent trips to "Reader's Island" at the mall AND a comic shop back in the day.
Now my only outlet is the comic shop, at a 20 minute drive every Saturday.

As a result of the over-examination and deconstruction of super heroes, the storylines have become decompressed. One issue of DC Comics Presents contained as much story as a 6-part story arc you'd find nowadays. The need to "trade it" is too great. Unfortunately this makes it almost impossible to "jump on" to a title. Sure, they have issues that are designed as "jump on" points, but if they have to do that, doesn't that tell us there is a major problem there?

I'd LOVE to see some "done-in-ones" but other than DC's "Brave and the Bold" (fitting actually), I'm not finding any....Everything is arc after arc after arc.

[ctc]

>I HATE manga/anime...Not appealing to me at all.

Which is fine; but I think it's odd to not consider them comics. Sure, you might not like them but if you're gonna talk about comics in general I'd think you'd NEED to discuss them, since for the last ten years they've been the mainstream. (Them and Archie.)

Don C.

[The Toyroom]

E2C, I came into comics in the late 90s. Hal was already Parallax, and I really DON'T get why people love him.

to me he is and always will be nothing more than a killer. I can't wrap my head around why people build up a villain as a hero.

^ This can be applied here as well:

Talk about beating a dead horse.
Hellllooooo Willllburrrrrrr.

[The Toyroom]

Most of "us" don't like that manga/anime stuff. That's why we don't consider them when talking about mainstream comics.
In fact, I'd rather completely stop reading comics if the only choice left was that japanese stuff.

Agreed! I HATE manga/anime...Not appealing to me at all.

[ctc]

>but they inspired others to do it as well...constantly.

I agree. Intellectual inbreeding is the worst thing ANY entertainment medium can do. Once the novelty wears off you’re kinda stuck until you find the next big thing. Hence the 90's collapse, and the independents swooping in.

>mature usually means wanton blood-letting and maiming.

Don’t forget the gratuitous T&A. My problem with the “adult” stuff is that it’s almost always cheapened by Marvel, DC and sometimes Image. Presented in a “plausibly deniable” way and it just goes away when the story is done. If you want violence, you should have to DEAL with the violence. Dead is dead, and there are effects beyond the obligatory “funeral for a friend” issue.

>why abandon the outlet that best brings in new readers?

Yeah. Never thought of it before, but why would they? Maybe; heady on the 90's boom, they thought it’d last forever and wanted tighter reigns over distribution? (Like when Marvel and DC were buying comic distributors....)

>One issue of DC Comics Presents contained as much story as a 6-part story arc you'd find nowadays.

Also true. AND noticeable, since most of the extra stuff doesn’t really add to the story, character, mythos, feel....

>Sure, they have issues that are designed as "jump on" points

They had the same thing back in the day: it was THAT SENTENCE ON THE SPLASH PAGE! Seriously DC, we don’t need the whole Batman story every arc! We know! That little line at the top of the old books was all you needed!

>we have a generation of comic creators reared on the comics of the late 80s and onward

When the current kids become the new cartoonists it’s nice that one of the things they’ll have to draw from are the OLD superhero comics, thanks to all the collections and reprints. Looking back I really do think the 80's were a DOWN period for superheroes.

Don C.

[B-Lister]

E2C, I came into comics in the late 90s. Hal was already Parallax, and I really DON'T get why people love him.

to me he is and always will be nothing more than a killer. I can't wrap my head around why people build up a villain as a hero.

but I also love 60s and 70s Batman, and Silver Age oddballs.......so yeah.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I think in a lot of ways, the deconstructionist movement in super hero comics has slowly killed the genre. Creators like Miller and Moore took the characters in interesting directions, but they inspired others to do it as well...constantly. The characters weren't actually created for such tales, and therefore, after nearly 25 years of such doom and gloom self-loathing, the DC and Marvel Universes seem to be collapsing under their own weight.

There are of course a few shining examples that tried to buck the trend, but almost every creator thinks they have to go "mature" with men in brightly colored tights. And mature usually means wanton blood-letting and maiming. And now we have a generation of comic creators reared on the comics of the late 80s and onward, who probably think of the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age material as "quaint". And they have to one up their heroes, so things get darker, and darker...

Also, DC and Marvel's abandonment of the newstand for the direct market was a fatal flaw, IMHO. They didn't seem to put up much of a fight. I can see the appeal of the direct market of course, but why abandon the outlet that best brings in new readers? Did Disney quite licensing products for general retail when they opened their Disney Stores? You can still find Mickey Mouse t-shirts at Wal-Mart even though most malls have a Disney Store in them.

As a result of the over-examination and deconstruction of super heroes, the storylines have become decompressed. One issue of DC Comics Presents contained as much story as a 6-part story arc you'd find nowadays. The need to "trade it" is too great. Unfortunately this makes it almost impossible to "jump on" to a title. Sure, they have issues that are designed as "jump on" points, but if they have to do that, doesn't that tell us there is a major problem there?

So yeah, give me back issues.

Chris

[ctc]

>Most of "us" don't like that manga/anime stuff. That's why we don't consider them when talking about mainstream comics.

....but most of "you" go on about how comics are dying; and the Japanese stuff, AND European, AND online shows that they're not! It's a golden age for comics! Hell; even the much vaulted 60's and 70's Marvel and DC stuff is readily available. And the influx of non-superhero books is good for the supers, 'cos it means when the next generation of cartoonists takes over they'll have a much wider range of templates to draw from.

Don C.

[kryptosmaster]

^^^^^OMG! DO YOU HAVE STOCK IN JAPANESE COMICS OR SOMETHING???
Talk about beating a dead horse.
Hellllooooo Willllburrrrrrr.
Most of "us" don't like that manga/anime stuff. That's why we don't consider them when talking about mainstream comics.
In fact, I'd rather completely stop reading comics if the only choice left was that japanese stuff.
Rich