My runner up for all time favorite series would be Micronauts. It's the first series I tried to get every issue of and had so much fun reading. It's also the first series I read where I had no idea who the characters were ahead of time. I recently sold my run (which was just missing 2 issues) to a friend. I may need to collect this series again since it will probably never see reprinting in a trade.
The first 12 issues of Micronauts are incredable comics. Bill Mantlo is a bit wordy, but that's how comics were written at the time. Michael Golden developing is craft. Nice!
I guess I say impractical because I'd want to see the subject given the same level of detail that past spotlights have had. Past spotlights have focused on a series but Marvel Cosmic is a genre found in many different titles. I think you'd need to take the focus off the genre and just pick a certain book from each era. For example the bronze age could be an issue by issue look at Starlin's Warlock or Captain Marvel rather than a generic overview of all cosmic during that time.
I guess I say impractical because I'd want to see the subject given the same level of detail that past spotlights have had. Past spotlights have focused on a series but Marvel Cosmic is a genre found in many different titles. I think you'd need to take the focus off the genre and just pick a certain book from each era. For example the bronze age could be an issue by issue look at Starlin's Warlock or Captain Marvel rather than a generic overview of all cosmic during that time.
I agree. I would only add that any discussion on Marvel Cosmic should happen after a Fantastic Four Spotlight. It's more of a natural progression. Once the FF Spotlight is finished, it's a very easy transition to Silver Surfer and then Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock. With a mention of Guardians of the Galaxy. I also agree that the Bronze Age portion of a Cosmic Spotlight should focus more on characters and creators then specific titles. For example, early Captain Marvel reminds me of SA Hawkmen. Mar-Vell is an alien cop/soldier that's stuck on Earth. There's a costume change and a body swapping element is added and for a time the character becomes a homage to the GA Captain Marvel. It wasn't until Starlin takes over that the tone of the book becomes "cosmic".
I completely agree with @rebis and @Mr_Cosmic - it all began with the Fantastic Four. By introducing Marvel Cosmic, you must concede it was established with them. Once their origin and impact has been established, including a focus on the Skrulls, the Kree, the Watchers, Galactus, the Silver Surfer, Blastaar, etc. Then the spotlight could move beyond the FF into the Avengers and so on.
If CGS chooses to cover Marvel Cosmic in multiple parts (as they do most of their spotlights), then the first episode could remain focused on this era - the 60's, and include discussion on the creators, characters, and notable and first appearances by the characters such as the Living Tribunal in Strange Tales, Eternity in Doctor Strange, the Cosmic Cube, and so on.
The next episode would move things into the 70's, and the focus could shift to entities such as the Eternals, Thanos, Warlock, Captain Marvel, and so on. Then move to the 80's, the 90's, the aughts, and so on...
I believe that sticking to specific eras for each episode would provide the time needed to really examine the characters, the creators, important events, and the public's response to these tales and titles.
You say it would be daunting and I whole-hardheartedly agree. And, even though I don't consider Wikipedia to be the final authority on all things comics, their list of Marvel Cosmic entities is pretty exhaustive and to include them all in a CGS spotlight would be overkill... List of cosmic entities in Marvel Comics
There's a lot of great stuff here and I know and understand that much of it is silver and bronze age and that's fine. One glaring omission is a series that's a bit more modern: The Runaways. I loved every issue of this and use it to "covert" reluctant comic readers. I think things get a little wonky once BKV leaves, but it what he created is nearly perfect.
@JamieD. Great episodes so far man! You guys rock and are doing an amazing job of carrying the torch. I recently got back into podcasts and you guys are the lead. Your sense of professionalism is excellent. Looking forward to upcoming episodes.
There's a lot of great stuff here and I know and understand that much of it is silver and bronze age and that's fine. One glaring omission is a series that's a bit more modern: The Runaways. I loved every issue of this and use it to "covert" reluctant comic readers. I think things get a little wonky once BKV leaves, but it what he created is nearly perfect.
I can't believe this wasn't on my list! My favorite Marvel series of the '00s.
@JamieD. This was a great episode. Keep up the good work. I love the show, and you guys, so keep on keeping on.
I agree with everyone above, I would love for the CGS crew to figure a way to do a Marvel cosmic spotlight. Marvel cosmic is one of my favorite types of comics, and one of my true comics loves, as is the FF.
My top 5 would be, 5. Iron Man (specifically volume 1) This is where I got my start into Marvel. I loved the near future technology sci-fi aspects of this series. I loved the idea of a man in an armored suit. Even more than that, I loved the idea of specialized suits and the hall of armor. Something I wish Marvel would take up again. (Although, I don't know if there has ever really been a time when this was fully capitalized on.) It also informed me on much of the Marvel universe. Or in some cases misinformed me, like thinking The Wrecking Crew and Namor were Iron Man villains. The fact that my first issues were in the O'Neal McDonnell and the Layton, Michelinei, Romita Jr. eras probably didn't hurt. My favorite villains growing up, and still to this day to some extent, are the living laser and the old school blue and yellow spy master. I know Tony doesn't get much love these days unless RDJ is involved, but his globe trotting adventures with Whitney Frost, Bethany Cabe, and Rhodey were the reason I made the jump from only reading Sonic the Hedgehog to exploring the Marvel Universe as a whole.
4. DNA's Marvel Cosmic I want to say Marvel Cosmic as a whole, but I feel like that is to much of a cheat. I love Guardians as a whole, but especially under DNA. I enjoy what Bendis is doing, but it's not reaching the fun level of the DNA run. (I think they are trying a little to hard to make Rocket cool, instead of him being cool on his own) I love space opera as a genre in general, no matter the medium. But I don't think any series out there has captured the scope, or the fun of the genre as their run on Guardians, Nova, and the various different event mini series. They even got my girlfriend to be a fan of Marvel Cosmic and of Rocket. So that has to worth something, right? Also, I love space pirates and having the Star Jammers in it for as much as they did was a huge part of why I loved it, as well as the involvement of my favorite of the Summers brothers.
3. Star Wars/Indiana Jones These were my favorite movies as a kid. Raiders remains my favorite movie of all times to this day. I'm studying Anthropology with a focus in Archaeology for obvious reasons. I couldn't get enough of these movies or characters. I didn't own the movies at first, and even when I did, I had to battle my siblings for rights of the TV to watch them again. They did not share my love for some reason. So my adventures with the Star Warriors and with Indy took place largely in any back issues of these series I could find. My Indy comics are still some of my most treasured issues that own. Also Star Wars would introduce me to several artist like Walter Simonson, Howard Chaykin and Carmine Infantino
2. Fantastic Four I love this series, even without it's historical significance. Its fun and full of wonder and excitement and adventure. Its science fiction adventure at its greatest during the Lee Kirby days. I would compare them to Narnia, or The Hobbit and other children's fantasy classics, not on content or quality, but on their richness, imagination, and since of wonder and adventure. On top of that its got a sense of the great historical explorer adventures out mapping the frontier, only its in space, or below the earth, or in other dimensions and they have super powers. 2 of the main fictional countries, Latvaria and Wakanda, come out of this series. (And 2 of the all time greatest characters with them in the form of Dr. Doom and Black Panther.) As well as an un-measurable contributions to the Marvel cosmic with Galactus, Silver Surfer, Annihilus, Blastar, Ronan and the Kree, and the Skrulls. Not to mention the art. And that's just the Lee Kirby stuff. I'm a huge fan of Walter Simonson, and he has some great art in this series. As well as John Byrne, who not only provided some of the greatest art for the series, but some of the most emotional story lines in comics.
1. Thor Thor is my favorite character, so of course this would be my number one. Simonson is my favorite artist, and is the reason I love Thor so much. In his run you have some of the greatest fantasy comics out there, but at times its fantasy that takes place in space against hordes of space demons. You get an alien super soldier who get Mjolnir's enchantments in the form of Beta Ray Bill. One of the greatest and most underrated characters out there. (Who really should be in the Guardians of the Galaxy book. I know they want the movie cast in there right now, but come on guys.) You have Loki, who when is a mischievous adult villain is one of the greatest characters in comics. Going all the way back to the beginning you have some great stuff. The earth based stuff tends to not be so great. When he is fighting the carbon copy men and the Executioner of San Diablo, he's not really at his best. Even some of the Loki on earth stuff isn't the best. But when Lee and Kirby do the Asgard fantasy stuff, its amazing. Once they figure out that this is where the great stories are being told, they go in and they explore a lot of actual Norse mythology, and build up a Marvel Norse mythos as well, that has the normal Kirby sense of imagination to it. And after Kirby leaves, John Buscema takes over and gives us some more great fantasy art. And his brother Sal Buscema will take over on art after Simonson stops drawing it. I can't bash the old Lee earth stuff to much though, because I love the character of Calvin Zabo/Mr. Hyde. It's also where Grey Gargoyle first appears and if I'm not mistaken, The Absorbing Man as well. There is also Zarko the Tomorrow Man, whom I loved and always thought would be a great villain and continuously have my hopes dashed when no one uses him. But if those aren't enough of a reason for this series to make the list, the Kirby Tales of Asgard back ups in them are most certainly worth this list unto themselves.
P.S. Yes, I realize that a lot of what I listed towards the end where originally Journey Into Mystery. I know this, but since the numbering remained unchanged when the title did, I count them as part of Thor proper for the sake of getting all of that into my list.
Only about half through the episode but wanted to jump in and agree with @adam_murdough about the OHOTMU. As a kid my best friend and I would lay on the floor for hours with tracing paper and the handbook tracing our favorite characters over and over. Thanks for bringing that fun memory back.
Great episode, missing Pants but great to here more Bryan. My top five not really in order.
1. Daredevil - the current run. Love how they are dealing with his blindness. Dome funny moments as well.
2. Marvel team-up. For basically the reasons mentioned on the show.
3. Avengers - the original series. As Jamie always says you got more bang for your buck. As a kid this was how I could get all my favourite heroes in one comic. Great stories as well.
4. All new X-men - I was really surprised how well it was written. The mixture of the two ages is very well written.
5. Iron man - original series. Loved the high tech nature, and the time where Rhodes took over when Tony was drunk was the first serious story line I remember reading as a kid.
5. Iron man - original series. Loved the high tech nature, and the time where Rhodes took over when Tony was drunk was the first serious story line I remember reading as a kid.
I'm a big fan of the Michelinie/JRjr stuff myself:) from like 115 to 180 something I guess. late 70's early 80's(very James Bondish)... but yeah , it's good that someone mentions shell head:)
5. Iron man - original series. Loved the high tech nature, and the time where Rhodes took over when Tony was drunk was the first serious story line I remember reading as a kid.
I'm a big fan of the Michelinie/JRjr stuff myself:) from like 115 to 180 something I guess. late 70's early 80's(very James Bondish)... but yeah , it's good that someone mentions shell head:)
This is the era that I'm a fan of. As well as the Denny O'Neal stuff that followed. You're right, it was very Bondish, only Tony/Rhodes had the ultimate gadget. I think that's why I liked it so much.
Be careful what you wish for, it just may happen, With Chris as a full time member spotlights will be come a more regular part of the show and FF I think warrants a whole year to themselves, so Buckle Up Buckaroo :-c
Hickman's FF was truly fantastic. I got the run custom bound in two volumes before reading them and even though for the most part I knew what was going to happen it didn't stop it from being a riveting read.
Seriously, I don't want to over hype it but experiencing it is totally different than hearing about it. Plus a few major things that happened in his run is playing out in the Avengers today. A.I.M island? Started in his FF. Black Panther and Reed Richards becoming like blood brothers? Leading to the New Illuminati Avengers... The Kree... crap there is a lot.
Oh and Hickman's Avengers is going from bi-weekly to monthly with Avengers World taking up the slack. So still three Avengers books from Hickman a month.
Great ep fellas really fun, glad to hear Deemer back on as well.
Be careful what you wish for, it just may happen, With Chris as a full time member spotlights will be come a more regular part of the show and FF I think warrants a whole year to themselves, so Buckle Up Buckaroo :-c
Hickman's FF was truly fantastic. I got the run custom bound in two volumes before reading them and even though for the most part I knew what was going to happen it didn't stop it from being a riveting read.
Seriously, I don't want to over hype it but experiencing it is totally different than hearing about it. Plus a few major things that happened in his run is playing out in the Avengers today. A.I.M island? Started in his FF. Black Panther and Reed Richards becoming like blood brothers? Leading to the New Illuminati Avengers... The Kree... crap there is a lot.
Oh and Hickman's Avengers is going from bi-weekly to monthly with Avengers World taking up the slack. So still three Avengers books from Hickman a month.
Great ep fellas really fun, glad to hear Deemer back on as well.
Next year is next year LOL, we still have two to finish this year
surprised that Brian didn't have Ultimate SM on his list. Great episode. BKV's Runaways would crack my honorable mentions as well as Whedon's Astonishing XMen
I've shied away from naming my five favorites because I don't know if I can narrow down any five candidates over all of the numerous series that I've read and enjoyed from Marvel over the decades. There have been a lot of them.
5. Journey Into Mystery / Thor 4. Uncanny X-Men 3. The current run of Daredevil 2. X-Factor 1. Iron Man - I have a complete run, and it's the book that I'll stick with no matter how bad it gets.
Defenders-From start to finish it is my favorite Marvel team book. The Gerber and Englehart runs being the highlights. ROM-This was one of the first series I went and collected every issue of. Great science fiction. Marvel 2 in 1-Sure some of the stories were goofy. But it was just fun. Spider Woman-First discovered Spiderwoman through the cartoon. Then got this paperback book that reprinted in color the first 8 issues. I was hooked and had to get the new issue each month. Uncanny X-men-The one series I read for the longest time. From 100 till 300.
Comments
I also agree that the Bronze Age portion of a Cosmic Spotlight should focus more on characters and creators then specific titles. For example, early Captain Marvel reminds me of SA Hawkmen. Mar-Vell is an alien cop/soldier that's stuck on Earth. There's a costume change and a body swapping element is added and for a time the character becomes a homage to the GA Captain Marvel. It wasn't until Starlin takes over that the tone of the book becomes "cosmic".
If CGS chooses to cover Marvel Cosmic in multiple parts (as they do most of their spotlights), then the first episode could remain focused on this era - the 60's, and include discussion on the creators, characters, and notable and first appearances by the characters such as the Living Tribunal in Strange Tales, Eternity in Doctor Strange, the Cosmic Cube, and so on.
The next episode would move things into the 70's, and the focus could shift to entities such as the Eternals, Thanos, Warlock, Captain Marvel, and so on. Then move to the 80's, the 90's, the aughts, and so on...
I believe that sticking to specific eras for each episode would provide the time needed to really examine the characters, the creators, important events, and the public's response to these tales and titles.
You say it would be daunting and I whole-hardheartedly agree. And, even though I don't consider Wikipedia to be the final authority on all things comics, their list of Marvel Cosmic entities is pretty exhaustive and to include them all in a CGS spotlight would be overkill...
List of cosmic entities in Marvel Comics
I agree with everyone above, I would love for the CGS crew to figure a way to do a Marvel cosmic spotlight. Marvel cosmic is one of my favorite types of comics, and one of my true comics loves, as is the FF.
My top 5 would be,
5. Iron Man (specifically volume 1) This is where I got my start into Marvel. I loved the near future technology sci-fi aspects of this series. I loved the idea of a man in an armored suit. Even more than that, I loved the idea of specialized suits and the hall of armor. Something I wish Marvel would take up again. (Although, I don't know if there has ever really been a time when this was fully capitalized on.) It also informed me on much of the Marvel universe. Or in some cases misinformed me, like thinking The Wrecking Crew and Namor were Iron Man villains. The fact that my first issues were in the O'Neal McDonnell and the Layton, Michelinei, Romita Jr. eras probably didn't hurt. My favorite villains growing up, and still to this day to some extent, are the living laser and the old school blue and yellow spy master. I know Tony doesn't get much love these days unless RDJ is involved, but his globe trotting adventures with Whitney Frost, Bethany Cabe, and Rhodey were the reason I made the jump from only reading Sonic the Hedgehog to exploring the Marvel Universe as a whole.
4. DNA's Marvel Cosmic I want to say Marvel Cosmic as a whole, but I feel like that is to much of a cheat. I love Guardians as a whole, but especially under DNA. I enjoy what Bendis is doing, but it's not reaching the fun level of the DNA run. (I think they are trying a little to hard to make Rocket cool, instead of him being cool on his own) I love space opera as a genre in general, no matter the medium. But I don't think any series out there has captured the scope, or the fun of the genre as their run on Guardians, Nova, and the various different event mini series. They even got my girlfriend to be a fan of Marvel Cosmic and of Rocket. So that has to worth something, right? Also, I love space pirates and having the Star Jammers in it for as much as they did was a huge part of why I loved it, as well as the involvement of my favorite of the Summers brothers.
3. Star Wars/Indiana Jones These were my favorite movies as a kid. Raiders remains my favorite movie of all times to this day. I'm studying Anthropology with a focus in Archaeology for obvious reasons. I couldn't get enough of these movies or characters. I didn't own the movies at first, and even when I did, I had to battle my siblings for rights of the TV to watch them again. They did not share my love for some reason. So my adventures with the Star Warriors and with Indy took place largely in any back issues of these series I could find. My Indy comics are still some of my most treasured issues that own. Also Star Wars would introduce me to several artist like Walter Simonson, Howard Chaykin and Carmine Infantino
2. Fantastic Four I love this series, even without it's historical significance. Its fun and full of wonder and excitement and adventure. Its science fiction adventure at its greatest during the Lee Kirby days. I would compare them to Narnia, or The Hobbit and other children's fantasy classics, not on content or quality, but on their richness, imagination, and since of wonder and adventure. On top of that its got a sense of the great historical explorer adventures out mapping the frontier, only its in space, or below the earth, or in other dimensions and they have super powers. 2 of the main fictional countries, Latvaria and Wakanda, come out of this series. (And 2 of the all time greatest characters with them in the form of Dr. Doom and Black Panther.) As well as an un-measurable contributions to the Marvel cosmic with Galactus, Silver Surfer, Annihilus, Blastar, Ronan and the Kree, and the Skrulls. Not to mention the art. And that's just the Lee Kirby stuff. I'm a huge fan of Walter Simonson, and he has some great art in this series. As well as John Byrne, who not only provided some of the greatest art for the series, but some of the most emotional story lines in comics.
1. Thor Thor is my favorite character, so of course this would be my number one. Simonson is my favorite artist, and is the reason I love Thor so much. In his run you have some of the greatest fantasy comics out there, but at times its fantasy that takes place in space against hordes of space demons. You get an alien super soldier who get Mjolnir's enchantments in the form of Beta Ray Bill. One of the greatest and most underrated characters out there. (Who really should be in the Guardians of the Galaxy book. I know they want the movie cast in there right now, but come on guys.) You have Loki, who when is a mischievous adult villain is one of the greatest characters in comics. Going all the way back to the beginning you have some great stuff. The earth based stuff tends to not be so great. When he is fighting the carbon copy men and the Executioner of San Diablo, he's not really at his best. Even some of the Loki on earth stuff isn't the best. But when Lee and Kirby do the Asgard fantasy stuff, its amazing. Once they figure out that this is where the great stories are being told, they go in and they explore a lot of actual Norse mythology, and build up a Marvel Norse mythos as well, that has the normal Kirby sense of imagination to it. And after Kirby leaves, John Buscema takes over and gives us some more great fantasy art. And his brother Sal Buscema will take over on art after Simonson stops drawing it. I can't bash the old Lee earth stuff to much though, because I love the character of Calvin Zabo/Mr. Hyde. It's also where Grey Gargoyle first appears and if I'm not mistaken, The Absorbing Man as well. There is also Zarko the Tomorrow Man, whom I loved and always thought would be a great villain and continuously have my hopes dashed when no one uses him. But if those aren't enough of a reason for this series to make the list, the Kirby Tales of Asgard back ups in them are most certainly worth this list unto themselves.
P.S. Yes, I realize that a lot of what I listed towards the end where originally Journey Into Mystery. I know this, but since the numbering remained unchanged when the title did, I count them as part of Thor proper for the sake of getting all of that into my list.
My top five not really in order.
1. Daredevil - the current run. Love how they are dealing with his blindness. Dome funny moments as well.
2. Marvel team-up. For basically the reasons mentioned on the show.
3. Avengers - the original series. As Jamie always says you got more bang for your buck. As a kid this was how I could get all my favourite heroes in one comic. Great stories as well.
4. All new X-men - I was really surprised how well it was written. The mixture of the two ages is very well written.
5. Iron man - original series. Loved the high tech nature, and the time where Rhodes took over when Tony was drunk was the first serious story line I remember reading as a kid.
Excalibur
West Coast Avengers
Supreme Power
PowerMan & Iron Fist (I'm including Immortal Iron Fist here as well)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
M
Uncanny - Claremont
Untold Tales of SM ...so so fabulous
Amazing - McFarlane
Fantastic Four - John Byrne
gotta throw some love to Alias as well:)
Hickman's FF was truly fantastic. I got the run custom bound in two volumes before reading them and even though for the most part I knew what was going to happen it didn't stop it from being a riveting read.
Seriously, I don't want to over hype it but experiencing it is totally different than hearing about it. Plus a few major things that happened in his run is playing out in the Avengers today. A.I.M island? Started in his FF. Black Panther and Reed Richards becoming like blood brothers? Leading to the New Illuminati Avengers... The Kree... crap there is a lot.
Oh and Hickman's Avengers is going from bi-weekly to monthly with Avengers World taking up the slack. So still three Avengers books from Hickman a month.
Great ep fellas really fun, glad to hear Deemer back on as well.
1.) What IF. Easily my favorite marvel series of all time. Stuff happens, and its mostly awesome stories. Favorite one is 'what if gwen stacy lived?'
2.) Punisher Max. Redefined the character. Freaking Jason Aaron ruined Punisher for me. Amazing character study from Garth Ennis and Jason Aaron.
3.) Daredevil-Bendis Run. Amazing Stuff
4.) Amazing Spiderman. Stan Lee/Gerry Conway. Amazing run. Truly amazing
5.) Incredible Hulk. Stan Lee stories. Love it
4. Uncanny X-Men
3. The current run of Daredevil
2. X-Factor
1. Iron Man - I have a complete run, and it's the book that I'll stick with no matter how bad it gets.
4. Uncanny X-Men (Claremont)
3. Nova/GotG (DnA)
2. Captain America (Brubaker)
1. The Fantastic Four (Lee/Kirby, Byrne, Simonson, Waid, Hickman)
5) Runaways
4) Fantastic Four
3) Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
2) What If?
1) DP7
Defenders-From start to finish it is my favorite Marvel team book. The Gerber and Englehart runs being the highlights.
ROM-This was one of the first series I went and collected every issue of. Great science fiction.
Marvel 2 in 1-Sure some of the stories were goofy. But it was just fun.
Spider Woman-First discovered Spiderwoman through the cartoon. Then got this paperback book that reprinted in color the first 8 issues. I was hooked and had to get the new issue each month.
Uncanny X-men-The one series I read for the longest time. From 100 till 300.
2. Fantastic Four, many eras
3. Uncanny X-Men, esp. 1975-early 80s
4. Tomb of Dracula
5. Avengers
Not really a groundbreaking list.