| Author |
|
Rebecca Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 4494
|
| Posted: 09 June 2021 at 10:53am | IP Logged | 1
|
post reply
|
|
I did enjoy Lyja in the later Fantastic Five 'M2' appearances and title. I really bought into that whole possible future line. I also usually dig the early '90s comics with that late '60s feel. The Silver Surfer is turning out to be a very entertaining 'ride' from the ones I've gotten... and #32 is a Frenz/Sinnott one-off. Also those four issues of Quasar fit in with the whole arc of #25-31 nicely. So there are quite a few gems in the period, the DeMatteis & Sal Spectacular, the Byrne & Ryan Iron Man, Simonson FF, DeFalco & Frenz Thor/Thunderstrike, Byrne Namor, Avengers and Avengers West Coast, some solid Captain America... with Dwyer art particularly, Englehart & Lim on Surfer... early Mark Bagley here and there, new characters Sleepwalker, Speedball and Squirrel Girl, a New team of Warriors, and What The..?! adding that extra fershlugginer factor. It's mostly the X-Men at this time and all the dark-axe-blood-extreme-giantgun-carnage that is a dead zone to me. Now if only I could remove the taint of too many Punisher and Wolverine sales boosts from a few of them and make it so Cable and all the other brooding shatter etc. etc. future X characters never existed with all their massive guns, biceps, and festooned with pockets.
The extreme dark-brood mode seems to be what dominates 1994 into 1997. Now and then there is some shockingly bad quality art, you wonder why they didn't cancel something as badly inked as that Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter) mini series, or as badly pencilled as some of the shorts in Marvel Super-Heroes. Seeing Herb Trimpe or the Black Cat character go all Liefeld turned my stomach, hard to imagine this was sales gold (at least for caselot 'investors'). They never hit such lows like some of these prior to 1985 I don't think.
Overall it's been healing to know there were well written and drawn Marvel comics (post Jim Shooter) after I'd hung up the habit circa 1986-87... and I will get back into digging more up once I've run through all the stuff I have on hand now! I've found some good DCs from around this time, and enjoyed a bit of the Impact line they had well enough too.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Rebecca Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 4494
|
| Posted: 22 September 2021 at 5:48pm | IP Logged | 2
|
post reply
|
|
Added some more Walt Simonson FF, and a sampling of later Alpha Flight (#81-86, 95-104) and Silver Surfer (#61-64, 70-82) out of curiosity.
I'm not sure if the Simonson FF is not grabbing me 100% because of the way the team was at the time (Ben wearing a Thing suit and Ms. Marvel II all rocky and orange) or if I don't like his style on the group... I do think his Mr. Fantastic definitely looks great however, and the writing is page-turning good!
Alpha Flight has a couple of Byrne covers (19 EH-T-9) but not enjoying the art by Calimee inside so much; it reminds me of the sort of generic art in Gold Key adventure type comics. I can't say it's bad but very lacking in character maybe? One issue has all art by James Sherman, much better! The writing by Hudnall is not as good as in ESPers, but I don't find it disagreeable as someone who at least read #1-23, and maybe I'll like Nicieza more when I get to those.
Silver Surfer written by a Ron Marz, a name I've never encountered before, is mostly pretty solid, lots of harkening back to older continuity but that's kind of why I would be reading Silver Surfer. Sadly he kills Frankie Raye/Nova but I suspect that has something to do with the revival of the earlier Nova, Richard Rider that followed.
On deck is the Silver Surfer / Warlock 'Resurrection' mini series... I wonder if it will read well for someone who mostly only knows the '70s-early '80s comics.
So the DeFalco years sees Northstar and Aurora restored, Iron Man back to gold and red, plus Adam Warlock and his pals roaming around again... that more than balances for the 'Bald Phoenix' I think. :^)
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Mike Benson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 January 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 812
|
| Posted: 23 September 2021 at 9:27am | IP Logged | 3
|
post reply
|
|
I was gone for the Alicia/Skrull reveal but it seems like a reasonable out to me. And that story line needed an out.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 30884
|
| Posted: 23 September 2021 at 10:40am | IP Logged | 4
|
post reply
|
|
The Alicia/Johnny relationship?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Rebecca Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 4494
|
| Posted: 23 September 2021 at 10:46am | IP Logged | 5
|
post reply
|
|
Alicia later is very involved with the Surfer, those 1997-1998 DeMatties issues are really good, especially the Tom Grummett drawn ones. I might've made it read like he kills Nova whereas I meant writer Ron Marz does.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Greg McPhee
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 August 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 5065
|
| Posted: 23 September 2021 at 11:24am | IP Logged | 6
|
post reply
|
|
I'd say the main takeaway from the DeFalco era was a period of nostalgia and regression for certain titles and characters.
Certain character developments were taken back 10 - 20 years, and some plots / decisions (perhaps deservedly) done so as well.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Mike Benson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 January 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 812
|
| Posted: 23 September 2021 at 12:10pm | IP Logged | 7
|
post reply
|
|
Brian, yes. Never cared for it. Have always assumed/hoped that Mr. Byrne intended to undo it somehow, though I might be wrong. I don't know how well it was executed, but fine with the Skrull bit.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Greg McPhee
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 August 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 5065
|
| Posted: 27 September 2021 at 12:05pm | IP Logged | 8
|
post reply
|
|
I enjoyed the DeFalco years from 1987 - 1991.
After the hype of Todd McFarlane's Spider-Man, Liefeld's X-Force and Jim Lee's X-Men # 1, the wheels started coming off. I liked Jim Lee's run on Uncanny X-Men and X-Men (which was a bit more unfocused, but miles above Spider-Man and X-Force).
Everything from 1991 - 1994 when DeFalco left the role was speculator boom, a number of titles with bad art, bad writing and nothing to say for themselves and huge commercial hype. Not all down to DeFalco as upper management were involved trying to squeeze profits everywhere. It just seemed a car crash by the end.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Rebecca Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 4494
|
| Posted: 27 September 2021 at 1:26pm | IP Logged | 9
|
post reply
|
|
It's a bit of a high to pull out some real gems amid the 'meh' or dark-extreme-trendy comics of 1991-1993... I am thinking I will not go beyond that year though with almost no exceptions; the printing quality is looking good but there is some very below-par work. I have also cordoned off late 1997 to early 2001 Marvel as another mini golden age with the Star Trek comics before that as their own exceptional thing. I'm all over the map in dates on DC comics however, there seems to have been sporadic good series and runs and bad ones all along the timeline.
I still have the first half dozen issues of Guardians Of The Galaxy by Valentino on my list to eventually try, and Sleepwalker.
Edited by Rebecca Jansen on 27 September 2021 at 1:27pm
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Richard Stevens
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1927
|
| Posted: 27 September 2021 at 7:29pm | IP Logged | 10
|
post reply
|
|
Sleepwalker was a hoot. Definitely worth your time.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Greg McPhee
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 August 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 5065
|
| Posted: 28 September 2021 at 3:33am | IP Logged | 11
|
post reply
|
|
Rebecca, if you are looking at Marvel circa 1997 - 2001, then go with the following from the Heroes Return period in 1998:
- The Avengers - Busiek / Perez
- Iron Man - Busiek / Chen
- Thor - Jurgens / Romita, Jr.
Not as highly ranked as I find them YMMV titles:
- Fantastic Four - Lobdell / Davis / Claremont / Larocca
- Captain America - Waid / Garney
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Rebecca Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 4494
|
| Posted: 28 September 2021 at 12:26pm | IP Logged | 12
|
post reply
|
|
I do have those Greg (well, only some Claremont FF, #13-16, #25-32, Annual 2000). Via Hidden Years it's that 'missed at the time' era I first started digging through, so I have read more from that time than 1988-1993. Busiek and Waid have definitely become favorite writers.
It's always frustrating to find something on my list is priced at a premium due either to use in movie or even just rumored use... just paid a bit more than I'd have wanted on Silver Surfer #81 & 82, but I wanted to read them. I wonder that there are supposedly sudden demands from movie fans... I would like it to be true that some might go on to read the earlier comics, but have serious doubts. Paid extra for one Captain America simply because the Cross Bones guy first appears in it and he shows up in a movie. Like, if someone is in a movie they're then officially 'important' or 'historic'?
There were hints and hype about a Spider-Man movie on some text pages in these DeFalco Marvels, I guess in the wake of the Keaton Batman... though obviously Stan had his eyes (and feet) on Hollywood since back in the '70s. Fans wrote in saying who they thought should be cast, Tom Cruise etc. There's a real world What if... what if the first Donner Superman had started a big rush of superhero films?
Edited by Rebecca Jansen on 28 September 2021 at 12:28pm
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |