Last night I was flippping through Marvel 80 for 80. If tou are unfamiliar with it, it is a book, released in late 2019 for Marvel's 80th anniversary, which chooses a single comic book or story to represent the company for every year of its existance from 1939 through 2018. As I was reading, I discovered that, once I got to a certain point, I had something to say about most of Marvel's choices, but not enough to fill an entire discussion each. So I thought why not start a thread discussing each of Marvel's choices? Going forward, I will post one year at a time, slowing my roll enough to allow everyone who wants to comment the opportunity to do so before moving on. Again, these are Marvel's choices, not necessarilly mine. but what about you? Agree? Disagree? What are your thoughts on Marvel's choice? Which series/storyline might you choose instead?
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1980 - "The Dark Phoenix Saga":
As I have mentioned before, I dropped comics for a while (about 18 months) in the mid-70s. After I got back in, I collected ionly three titles, vis subscription, for the next three years. When those subscriptions ran out, I ventured into a comic book shop for the first time. By the time I (re-)discovered X-Men, the series was well into Dave Cockrum's (second) tenure; I missed experiencing the classic Claremont/Byrne run in its entirety in real time (although I had soon accumulated it via backissues). I was there for Giant-Size X-Men #1, but that is the only issue I bought for the next five years or so. In the early-/mid-80s, X-Men was Marvel's most acclaimed super-hero title, not (IMO) always deservedly so. Looking back over the years, I think the Claremont/Byrne run was the highlight of the series, and the "Dark Phoenix Saga" was probably the highlight of that.
I posted this discussion last Thursday and it got 25 views within the the first 24 hours, but nothing since. Everyone who has seen it has had the opportunity to respond but chose not to. From that I conclude either that, a) no one has anything to say about 1980/"The Dark Phoenix Saga" or b) this is a bum topic. Unfortunately, the next three in a row have already been discussed elsewhere on the board, and I know from experience that repeated topics don't draw discussion. Therefore, I'm going to pick up the pace over the course of the next three days (at least).
1981 - "John Byrne's Fantastic Four":
I started collecting Fantastic Four (regularly) with issue #241, ten issues in to Byrne's five-year run, but I quickly acquired #232-240 as backissues. I have already said all I have to say about the John Byrne era on the "Post-Kirby Fantastic Four" thread (starting on page 15), but if you have anything to say about it, now's your chance.
1982 - "The Death of Elektra":
As was the case with "The Death of Phoenix," I did not experience the death of Elektra in "real time." By the time I ventured back into comics (and a comic book shop for the first time), Elektra was already dead. My "first" Daredevil was, in fact, #184, three issues after her death. My first Elektra story would have been #190, "Resurrection." (No, on second thought, it was probably What If... #35.
Here's how it happened. Daredevil had never been one of my favorite characters while growing up, but I did have copies of Giant-Size Daredevil #1, Giant-Size Marvel Triple Action #1, Marvel Adventure #1, perhaps a few others.
So I walk in to the comic shop one day and the guy behind the counter says, "We got the new Daredevil in today." This is the same guy who would also one day recommend the latest Swamp Thing to me. Daredevil and Swamp Thing? I couldn't think of two more boring characters. Obviously this guy knew nothing about comics and was just recommending titles at random.
"Uh, huh," I said, with a shrug of my shoulders, but I picked it up just to be polite. The cover featured ol' Hornhead pointing a .357 Magnum at the reader alongside the blurb "No More Mister Nice Guy." Obviously, whoever was writing Daredevil these days didn't have a clue how to write the (formerly) "happy-go-lucky" Daredevil. I gave it a pass.
But my self-imposed boycott didn't last long, and I picked up the very next issue. I continued to collect Daredevil until Frank Miller left the title (for the second time), and I quickly filled in the Miller backissues as well. Frank Miller's Daredevil is discussed thoroughly in the thread titled (what else?), "Frank Miller Daredevil."
1983 - "Walter Simonson's Thor":
Again, I don't have too much more to say about this classic run because I've already said it recently in Randy Jackson's discussion "Walt Simonson's Thor." Obviously, I agree with the placement of this run on the list for 1983. I'll have more to say about tomorrow's topic.
1984 - "The War Begins!":
My cognitive disconnect comes from the fact that I was comparing Secret Wars to CoIE and I should have been comparing it to DC's Super Powers, the first series designed specifically to promote a line of toys (and I should have known better at the time as I was then an English major). Having said that, though, Secret Wars did begin a veritable "Age" of company-wide crossovers which, for good or ill, continues to this day.
Disclaimer: The blurb on the cover of this book says: "Experience 80 iconic images representing 80 years of Marvel!" Most of these "images" are covers, but some are spash pages, full-page panels, ads, etc. Each image in the book is presented full page, with a smaller, accompanying image on the facing page. For the most part, I plan to stick with Marvel's choices, but I will point out when I deviate. For example, the image Marvel chose to illustrate the "Death of Elektra" was the wordless page of Daredevil #181 which depicted it, but they also used the cover to accompany it, so I didn't mention it when I posted the cover. Having said all that, Marvel is playing it somewhat fast and loose with with their choice for 1985. For one thing, Bill Sienkiewicz "enter[ed] the Danger Room" with New Mutants #18 in 1984, but the cover they chose, #24, is from 1985. I chose to use the cover of Marvel Age #16, which is also from 1984 and Marvel did not use at all, because I think it better represents today's topic.
1985 - "Bill Sienkiewicz Enters the Danger Room":
I first became aware of Bill Sienkiewicz during his Moon Knight run. I was already reading New Mutants at the time, but would have followed him over in any case. I thought his talent was wasted on New Mutants, but his art did elevate that title to the A-list. If it would have been my decision, I would have assigned him to the main X-Men book, or perhaps Daredevil.
That's a great pick for the topic. Sienkiewicz's covers for the actual books themselves rarely depicted the whole group, and man, this was so striking!
Yes, I think that's why Marvel chose #24 (that, and because it came out in 1985).
True... but that Marvel Age cover is much more dramatic. Kudos for thinking outside the box!
1986 - "A New Universe is Born"
The image Marvel chose to illustrate this topic is an in-house teaser ad, but I chose the first issue of Star Brand, the only "New Universe" comic I bought. I remember being remarkably unenthusiasic about the whole concept, but I made two predictions about the whole endevour: 1) It would peter out within two years, and 2) It would end by being incorporated into the Marvel Universe proper. (Only one of those predictions would prove to be true.) Marvel was celebrating the 25th anniversary of Fantastic Four #1 in 1986, and Jim Shooter came up with the idea of launching an entirey new interconnected universe. the problem with that idea is that the Marvel Universe was launched a title at a time and was allowed to develop organically; the "New Universe" was what I call "forced creativity" (like the idea a couple of years later, in which each annual introduced a new character), eight titles launched within a two month period. It sounds like an idea a "suit" would come up with.
I bought Star Brand #1, read it, didn't care for it (too derivative of of DC's Green Lantern). In 1994, I bought all 19 issues at a quarter sale and read them. They were... okay, I guess. John Byrne took over with #11, and in 2018, #11-19 were reprinted in the Marvel Universe by John Byrne Vol. 2 omnibus and I read those issues again. My opinion hadn't changed. [NOTE: Star Brand is included in the Marvel Universe by John Byrne collection, but Ultimate X is not included in the Marvel Universe by Arthur Adams collection.]
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