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Post by deuce on Aug 26, 2016 23:24:08 GMT -5
We had a thread on Bronze Age Comics awhile back, but it was pretty narrowly focused. That period is, IMO, probably the most interesting to fans of REH and pulps in general. Obviously, Marvel started publishing Conan during this era. There were also a lot of great superhero comics in that period. Just for instance, the new X-Men started as a series towards the end of the Bronze Age. The Punisher was also created in the Bronze Age of Comics. It was a groovy time.  As a fairly rough dividing line, I tend to pick 1981 as the end of the Bronze Age. Roy Thomas and Denny O'Neil switched comics companies in that year. There was a shift in several ways and you saw the rise of stars like Frank Miller, Alan Moore and John Romita, Jr. Direct sales comics began to come into their own. The Conan series was taken over by people who had never read REH. Etcetera, etc... Thus began the Modern Age of Comics. Anyway, several people have expressed an interest in that bygone era and this thread is for them. Here is the wiki entry on the Bronze Age: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age_of_Comic_BooksHere are several very cool sites devoted to the Bronze Age: diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/bronzeageofblogs.blogspot.com/bronzeagebabies.blogspot.com/mightyworldofbronzeagemarvel.blogspot.com/ |
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Post by deuce on Aug 26, 2016 23:43:28 GMT -5
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Post by lordyam on Aug 27, 2016 14:09:19 GMT -5
Some would say the nineties was the dark age of comics. Rob Liefeld art, excessive grim dark.....it nearly destroyed comics as a whole.
And oh yeah, I remember Justice League did an episode with Skarteris.
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Post by deuce on Aug 27, 2016 23:37:44 GMT -5
Some would say the nineties was the dark age of comics. Rob Liefeld art, excessive grim dark.....it nearly destroyed comics as a whole. Really, a lot of that started in the early/mid-'80s with Grimjack, Frank Miller and Alan Moore. What we saw in the early '90s was the apotheosis/metastasizing of the trend. What had been good and fairly original became trite and over-the-top. Lots of gritty posturing. Liefeld is, in general, a poser and an idiot (though he did come up with a few decent ideas). WAY too many gimmicks like multiple covers, etc. A lot of bad "horror" comics, too, IMO. That was the Dark Age of Comics. I guess I'd call our present era the Post-Modern or Millennial Age of Comics (though I don't feel like derailing this thread over it). BACK TO THE BRONZE AGE!
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Post by deuce on Aug 28, 2016 0:04:21 GMT -5
We had a thread on Bronze Age Comics awhile back, but it was pretty narrowly focused. That period is, IMO, probably the most interesting to fans of REH and pulps in general. Obviously, Marvel started publishing Conan during this era. There were also a lot of great superhero comics in that period. Absolutely the best time in comics for me. All the REH-related stuff, of course - especially the colour and B/W Thomas and Buscema efforts when they were at their peak - and also an introduction to other pulp characters like The Shadow and Doc Savage. Hey Kail! My intro to the Shadow was via a house ad in The Brave and the Bold (more on that later). A Denny O'Neil and Mike Kaluta project. That series really put Kaluta on the map in comics.  |
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Post by deuce on Aug 28, 2016 11:46:20 GMT -5
We had a thread on Bronze Age Comics awhile back, but it was pretty narrowly focused. That period is, IMO, probably the most interesting to fans of REH and pulps in general. Obviously, Marvel started publishing Conan during this era. There were also a lot of great superhero comics in that period. Absolutely the best time in comics for me (...) and also an introduction to other pulp characters like The Shadow and Doc Savage. I knew about Doc Savage from the Bama-cover paperbacks on the spinner racks. However, before I ever read any of them, I read this comic:  I still need to check out the actual Doc comics Marvel put out.  |
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Post by deuce on Aug 28, 2016 12:52:53 GMT -5
 It's Jack Kirby's birthday. Jack leaving Marvel for DC is one of the events that makes 1970 the beginning of the Bronze Age. Darkseid, anyone? Horror/fantasy author, Charles C. Rutledge, has this to say about the King: "In case you’ve forgotten, Jack is the comic book artist who created, or co-created Captain America, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, The X-Men, The Mighty Thor, The Avengers, and basically everything that’s still making money for Marvel Comics. More important to the comics medium, Kirby defined and re-defined the language of comic books. The way heroes are drawn. The way cityscapes are depicted. The way force, impact, and energy are rendered on the printed page. I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that Jack Kirby is the most influential artist in the history of comic books. And he was and remains my hero. Growing up, I spent untold hours copying Jack’s drawings, trying to learn how to replicate his foreshortening, his dynamics, his way of making a static drawing seem to not only move but to leap off the printed page. I lived and breathed Kirby art. And you know the best thing? Years later, when I finally got to meet him; he was the greatest guy you can imagine. Friendly and enthusiastic and just the coolest ever. So a big Happy Birthday to my hero, Jack Kirby. You’re still The King, Jack."  |
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Post by mrp on Aug 29, 2016 20:42:19 GMT -5
As a side note on the 90s-there were actually a lot of great comics coming out during that decade, however very few of them were form Marvel or DC (or Image for that matter), the lone exception form DC was their Vertigo line. Sturgeon's law about 90% of everything is crap applies here, the 10% was some truly brilliant stuff, but there was a metric ton of books published in the 90s (more output from the big2, more publishers trying to step in on the big2's turf, more smaller publishers, more creator owned stuff making it into the comic shops because of the direct market, etc.) that there was more material to sift through to find that 10% than there had been previously. Back on topic- some Bronze Age stuff worth checking out...(some of them were short lived) Blackmark by Gil Kane (aided and abetted by Archie Goodwin)  published for the book market by Ballanine in 1971 it saw exposure in comics via the Marvel b&w magazines...  post-apocalyptic flavored sword & sorcery stuff here Stalker with art by Steve Ditko and Wally Wood (script by Paul Levitz)  Starfire...swords & science!  Star Hunters sci-fi by David Michelinie and others  both Starfire and the lead in Star Hunters were conceived as versions of an Eternal Champion (a la Moorcock) in a sub-universe Michelinie was crafting for DC, but both series were cancelled before he was able to really dig into that aspect of the world building. Warren Presents #13 (from '81 just under the Bronze Age wire...  falling just after the '81 cutoff in 1982, NBM had 2 aborted magazine series, anthologies with lots of material of interest to fans of sci-fi and sword & sorcery... Fantasy Illustrated... (cover by P. Craig Russell)  and Adventure Illustrated...cover by Jim Starlin...  both were modeled after Epic Illustrated (itself modeled after Heavy Metal) launched by Marvel in 1980...  Joe Kubert's Tor...  Kong the Untamed...  Tales of Swords & Sorcery: Dagar the Invincible from Gold Key...  Iron Jaw and Wulf the Barbarian from the short-lived Atlas Seaboard line...   Lots of Howard Chaykin creations such as... Ironwolf (in DC's Weird Worlds)  Monark Starstalker (in Marvel Premiere)  and the Scorpion from Atlas...  Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser in DC's Sword of Sorcery... (featuring Chaykin, Michael Kaluta, Walt Simonson and others on art...  though I like the adaptations done by Chaykin and Mike Mignola for Marvel's Epic line in the 90s better...  and that's just a sample of the sword & sorcery flavored/related material, let alone all the other sci-fi, horror and super-hero stuff of the Bronze Age... -M |
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Post by deuce on Aug 30, 2016 7:43:52 GMT -5
I was a Planet of the Apes fan from a very young age. Marvel had a good run of PotA mags (and comics), written by the uber-talented Doug Moench and art chores rendered by the likes of Alcala, Sutton and Ploog. Check 'em out here: pota.goatley.com/marvel-mags.html |
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Post by deuce on Aug 30, 2016 11:49:54 GMT -5
Star Hunters sci-fi by David Michelinie and others -M I bought the last couple issues off the racks. Pretty good series, overall. Layton as inker definitely helped. Here's a good write-up: diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2015/05/making-splash-star-hunters.htmlIn the early '80s, a friend of mine pointed out that Dave Cockrum's Starjammers were likely inspired by Michelinie's Star Hunters. Corsair's wrist-guns, 'stache and headband certainly match up well with Donovan Flint's. I think Marvel did it better, but that's usually the case, IMO.  |
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Post by mrp on Aug 30, 2016 19:05:37 GMT -5
Speaking of Bronze Age comics, we went to a local shop I hadn't been to before, but knew he dealer from conventions, and traded in a handful of Silver Age books I had replaced in trade for a big ole pile of Bronze Age stuff (and come Conan stuff too), while my wife picked out a bunch of rpg minis he had...  now to sort through it all, update my want lists and get it all put away and start reading.... -M |
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Post by mrp on Aug 31, 2016 17:25:47 GMT -5
There was a 45 rpm release of the Ballad of Red Sonja featuring some Frank Thorne art in the Bronze Age too...  -M |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2016 13:09:42 GMT -5
By Crom and Tengri, What a great thread. I loved the Black & White mags by Marvel. Savage Sword was the best by far, but you still had...    |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2016 13:18:41 GMT -5
Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum and John Byrne run on the X-Men.   Sorry about the modern coloring on X-men 137. |
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Post by deuce on Sept 1, 2016 13:39:20 GMT -5
Ads from Marvel and DC - the almost identical Tarzan font on both suggests it was the official font for the character.  
...... from Marvel Comics and DC ComicsHey Kail! Cool on you for posting those on ERB's birthday! I still remember buying the ish below off the stands and reading it at my buddy's house because I couldn't wait to ride the 3mi back to my place.  |
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