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The Silver and Bronze Age Thread

I think with the new board, I can toss out some ideas that were floating around in my brain to see if anyone was interested. One was to have threads for different "Ages" of comics, and since I am a big fan of older books...

I'm currently re-reading my run of Master of Kung Fu, and it's a damn shame that Marvel can't reprint it due to their use of the "Fu Manchu" characters. It started off with Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin digging into the philosophy involved in the martial arts craze...I was also struck by how much the original cast was similar to the Tomb of Dracula cast: Naylon Smith in a wheelchair, just like Quincy Harker, Black Jack Tarr taking the part of Taj Nital and so on.

The book was handed to a VERY new Doug Moench whose early stories were pure formula, but started to shift after about 6 - 12 issues, and Paul Gulacy, whose art improved almost page by page. I'm up to issue #30, but the book MUST have been successful, since there was a black and white magazine as well as a Giant Size run by that time.

I have to admit, I love Marvel's Bronze Age touches, the little text ads on the bottom of the page, the Bullpen Bulletins page and the letters that read like well done message board posts. Marvel wasn't afraid to publish negative letters either, which is pretty amazing looking back on things. There aren't many Super-Hero crossovers, in fact the only crossover so far has been with Man Thing.

Marvel was cooking with gas at this point, and while they were trying other genres, they did run into a formula of every issue having a fight scene, the protagonist questioning themselves and their actions and LOTS of Angst.

Anyone else reading through some older stuff?
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Comments

  • LibraryBoyLibraryBoy Posts: 1,803
    I finished the first volume of Essential Marvel Two-In-One and really had a blast reading that. Not every story was great, but that's how I like to see the Thing portrayed - a fun-loving guy who gets dragged into these bizarre situations despite his best intentions to stay out of them, and whose personable nature ends up making him friends with just about everyone he has an adventure with. It's a hell of a contrast with the John Byrne-written solo Thing book from the 80s which I've also been re-visiting lately, which is just about the mopiest comic book I've ever read. Every issue is a rumination on what it means to be a monster, and Ben is forever lamenting his fate. I greatly prefer the fun, dealing-with-it Benjy.
  • The bronze age for Marvel is my comic sweet spot. So much so that the first podcast I hosted was about the marvel bronze age.
  • Mr_CosmicMr_Cosmic Posts: 3,200
    I really enjoy Marvel's Bronze Age. I especially enjoy Jim Starlin's cosmic stories, early Ghost Rider, and Marvel Two-In-One.

    On the DC side I have a fondness for The Warlord.

    I haven't read as much from this era as I'd like but I'm slowly working on changing that.
  • WebheadWebhead Posts: 458
    CCOOL idea for a thread, Silver and Bronze is my wheel house when it comes to comics.

    I just pick up the first two volumes of "Marvel Firsts: The 1970's" and really having fun revisiting some of these titles and exploring some I never knew about. It has the origin issues of many of Marvel's more well known characters like The New X-Men, The Invaders, The Inhumans and Man-Thing along with some of Marvel lesser known characters like The Golem or Gabriel, Devil Hunter and Red-Wolf.
  • GregGreg Posts: 1,946
    I'm currently re-organizing my bronze age books by cover month for the sole purpose of rereading them in order as they came out, an idea that I credit Pants for. It's been really hard not to jump into these books while I'm doing this project. I'm also filling some gaps as I go along and it is very hard not to open those books to read.

    Bronze age Marvel as a whole is my favorite stuff. Defenders, Marvel Two-In-One, Power Man, Fantastic Four and of course Spidey. The only DC titles I went after were Warlord, Batman, Action and Superman, although I do have some Superboy/Legion books. My grandparents were always tossing me some Archie books.

    Until I'm done, I've been reading FF, Avengers, Hulk, ASM and X-Men, some in Essentials and some Masterworks.
  • KyleMoyerKyleMoyer Posts: 727
    I'm currently re-organizing my bronze age books by cover month for the sole purpose of rereading them in order as they came out, an idea that I credit Pants for. It's been really hard not to jump into these books while I'm doing this project. I'm also filling some gaps as I go along and it is very hard not to open those books to read.

    Bronze age Marvel as a whole is my favorite stuff. Defenders, Marvel Two-In-One, Power Man, Fantastic Four and of course Spidey. The only DC titles I went after were Warlord, Batman, Action and Superman, although I do have some Superboy/Legion books. My grandparents were always tossing me some Archie books.

    Until I'm done, I've been reading FF, Avengers, Hulk, ASM and X-Men, some in Essentials and some Masterworks.
    I've been doing something similar but using the paperback Masterworks. If you want to get as anal retentive as I've been, go to http://dcindexes.com/index.php?site=marvel download the Marvel Master List, open it in Excel (or OpenOffice or whatever you use), sort by "release date" and have fun.
  • dubbat138dubbat138 Posts: 3,200
    I have been reading piles of Bronze age Marvel the past few years. Man-thing,Defenders, 2 in 1,Power man and iron fist,Son of Satan,etc. That era of Marvel has quickly become my favorite era to read.

    One that seems to get over looked is Killraven. Fun Science Fiction story,plus I am pretty sure teh Essential volume reprints every appearence of Killraven.
  • TrevTrev Posts: 310
    These two eras are my current focus in my collecting. Particularly Silver. I just finished an Avengers run from 1-100 last week! So many cool books in that run. Last year I finished my X-men GS1-142 run, which is the book that got me into comics and the run I read as a kid. This year I'm going to try and make progress on my FF run from 1-300. Mostly now I need all the early FF's, about 25 of the books between 1 and 30.

    Lots of other great silver and bronze books I collect -- DC, Marvel, Archie . . . so many fun books.
  • GregGreg Posts: 1,946
    I've been doing something similar but using the paperback Masterworks. If you want to get as anal retentive as I've been, go to http://dcindexes.com/index.php?site=marvel download the Marvel Master List, open it in Excel (or OpenOffice or whatever you use), sort by "release date" and have fun.
    I wasn't going into this being very anal retentive but I think that's going to be the case now.
  • BadDeaconBadDeacon Posts: 120
    I'm reading the Avengers/Defenders War, from Avengers 116-118 and Defenders 8-10. It's a cool old school smack down, and definitely showcases how comics were produced and read back in the day. Each issue is pretty contained, and includes a recap of everything else that has gone on before. It's pretty repetitive too, the first four issues each showcase a different Avenger vs. Defender battle. It's fun to read, and so, so different from anything produced today.
    These two eras are my current focus in my collecting. Particularly Silver. I just finished an Avengers run from 1-100 last week! So many cool books in that run. Last year I finished my X-men GS1-142 run, which is the book that got me into comics and the run I read as a kid. This year I'm going to try and make progress on my FF run from 1-300. Mostly now I need all the early FF's, about 25 of the books between 1 and 30.

    Lots of other great silver and bronze books I collect -- DC, Marvel, Archie . . . so many fun books.
    Very impressive!

  • BadDeaconBadDeacon Posts: 120
    Also, I was talking with @Trev and some other folks about Cap 111:
    Photobucket

    The interesting thing to me about this cover is that it was printed on light tan paper, and the white on Cap (and others) is actually printed on the paper, it's not just the color of the paper coming through. They had to use more than just the regular process colors to print this, it looks to me like there is an additional pass through the printer for the white ink.

    Does anyone know if there were more covers from this era printed in this way?
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    edited March 2012
    I wasn't that fond of bronze age Marvel until I got a bit older. Something about the Stan Lee cheesy hipster writing style, especially as aped by Roy Thomas et. al. creeped me out.

    I was all about DC at the time. Denny O'Neill, Archie Goodwin, Jim Aparo, Neal Adams, Joe Kubert, Dave Cockrum, Mike Grell, Walt Simonson, 100-Page Super-Spectaculars, that was the stuff. Then, once I could find it, the earlier stuff, especially the Shooter Legion & the weird hero books from the checkerboard era like Metamorpho, Metal Men & Inferior Five were the coolest.
  • KilmarockKilmarock Posts: 174
    I just finished reading volume 2 of the Doom Patrol Archives. Not all the stories were great but it was a fun read.
  • GregGreg Posts: 1,946
    Family road trips were the only times I ever got those 100 page books from DC and they were life savers.
  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    Family road trips were the only times I ever got those 100 page books from DC and they were life savers.
    Yeah. They were expensive. I hated when they went up to 60 cents.
  • SolitaireRoseSolitaireRose Posts: 1,445
    I could not agree more about The Thing being a mopy mess under Byrne. I loved how he was the gruff guy with a big heart through the 70's, and was one of the better "wise cracking" heroes of that time. I know WHY they went back to his early 60's personality, but by the late 70's EVERY Marvel hero was an early example of Emo.

    I didn't really get into DC until Roy Thomas moved over there, so a lot of their bronze age stuff is still new to me. they had a hell of a lot of series that lasted less than 6 issues that are fun to read...and I have a new appreciation for Jonah Hex after reading the Showcase. I wouldn't be surprised if someone in DC editorial went to a spaghetti western triple bill and came back to the office and told someone "Do a comic like THAT."

    And for pure nostalgia, I wish someone would publish an "Essential" type book of Richie Rich stories. That was my bread and better before I started reading Marvel...and in the mid 70's he had close to 20 different series, IIRC.
  • SolitaireRoseSolitaireRose Posts: 1,445

    One that seems to get over looked is Killraven. Fun Science Fiction story,plus I am pretty sure teh Essential volume reprints every appearence of Killraven.
    The only thing it is missing is the Alan Davis mini-series, which I haven't read yet. Don McGregor's work on Killraven was AMAZING and still holds up, and the P. Craig Russel art adds to the story. He's another guy who you saw get better almost page by page.

    There was an excitement to Marvel that just went away when Shooter took over. He may have made Marvel more profitable and stable, but they really lost that creative edge when he came in.

  • LibraryBoyLibraryBoy Posts: 1,803

    I didn't really get into DC until Roy Thomas moved over there, so a lot of their bronze age stuff is still new to me. they had a hell of a lot of series that lasted less than 6 issues that are fun to read...and I have a new appreciation for Jonah Hex after reading the Showcase. I wouldn't be surprised if someone in DC editorial went to a spaghetti western triple bill and came back to the office and told someone "Do a comic like THAT."
    If you liked the Jonah Hex Showcase, pick up the Bat Lash one. It's one of the thinner volumes, so it'll only put you back a tenspot, but it's so good, particularly the issues drawn by Nick Cardy. I like Jonah Hex a lot, but this book made Bat Lash my favorite DC Western character by far.
  • SolitaireRoseSolitaireRose Posts: 1,445

    If you liked the Jonah Hex Showcase, pick up the Bat Lash one. It's one of the thinner volumes, so it'll only put you back a tenspot, but it's so good, particularly the issues drawn by Nick Cardy. I like Jonah Hex a lot, but this book made Bat Lash my favorite DC Western character by far.
    I got that one as well...written by Sergio! DC has a lot of odd little gems floating around in their catalog that I'm happy to find.

  • LibraryBoyLibraryBoy Posts: 1,803

    I got that one as well...written by Sergio! DC has a lot of odd little gems floating around in their catalog that I'm happy to find.
    They need to mine that some more. I'd love to see a Black Lightning volume, for instance, since the few issues of that I've read are fun. And more Shazam - between the rest of the series that wasn't collected in the first volume, and the back-ups that ran in World's Finest and Adventure, there's at least enough material for one more volume.
  • bats00bats00 Posts: 275


    If you liked the Jonah Hex Showcase, pick up the Bat Lash one. It's one of the thinner volumes, so it'll only put you back a tenspot, but it's so good, particularly the issues drawn by Nick Cardy. I like Jonah Hex a lot, but this book made Bat Lash my favorite DC Western character by far.
    I can't agree more. I loved the BatLash Showcase. Great art and a very different type of western character.

    On the Marvel side I'm currently reading the first Werewolf by Night Essential and it's a crazy ride. Pure 70's awesome.
  • SolitaireRoseSolitaireRose Posts: 1,445
    Those Marvel Horror series kept to the super-hero formula pretty closely, didn't they?

    I've just read the three part Master of Kung Fu story where Moench changes the series direction (27 - 29, I believe) and it's pretty damn amazing. It reads like a Bond novel with Bruce Lee as the lead, Clive Reston gets a bigger part in the book and makes not-very-subtle allusions to being the son of James Bond and Grand Nephew of Sherlock Holmes and the book goes from Fu Manchu plot of the month to something bigger.

    THIS is what the book was like when I started reading it as a kid, and it's fascinating how they just completely change the tone and direction of the book.
  • dubbat138dubbat138 Posts: 3,200
    I could not agree more about The Thing being a mopy mess under Byrne. I loved how he was the gruff guy with a big heart through the 70's, and was one of the better "wise cracking" heroes of that time. I know WHY they went back to his early 60's personality, but by the late 70's EVERY Marvel hero was an early example of Emo.

    I didn't really get into DC until Roy Thomas moved over there, so a lot of their bronze age stuff is still new to me. they had a hell of a lot of series that lasted less than 6 issues that are fun to read...and I have a new appreciation for Jonah Hex after reading the Showcase. I wouldn't be surprised if someone in DC editorial went to a spaghetti western triple bill and came back to the office and told someone "Do a comic like THAT."

    And for pure nostalgia, I wish someone would publish an "Essential" type book of Richie Rich stories. That was my bread and better before I started reading Marvel...and in the mid 70's he had close to 20 different series, IIRC.

    There is the Dark Horse Harvey comic classic trades. They reprint Harvey stuff in Black and white. I am pretty sure they are all now outta print. But the Hot Stuff volume is one I go back and read at least once a year.
  • dubbat138dubbat138 Posts: 3,200
    Started back reading Essential Man-Thing Volume 2 tonight . Finished up the Steve Gerber run and just started reading Claremont's first issue of the second Man-thing run. What a fun series. It is so different from most of the other mainstream comics coming out in that timeframe. Plus so far all the artwork is great.
  • I've been interested in reading Marvel's silver and bronze age books for a while now. I never got to experience Stan Lee's writing, or Jack Kirby's art. So I guess it's back to the back issue bins if I go to Philly Comic Con this year.
  • I've been interested in reading Marvel's silver and bronze age books for a while now. I never got to experience Stan Lee's writing, or Jack Kirby's art. So I guess it's back to the back issue bins if I go to Philly Comic Con this year.
    Nah, just pick up some of the Essentials. They have them for most of the early Lee/Kirby stuff and they are cheap.
  • TrevTrev Posts: 310
    I've been interested in reading Marvel's silver and bronze age books for a while now. I never got to experience Stan Lee's writing, or Jack Kirby's art. So I guess it's back to the back issue bins if I go to Philly Comic Con this year.
    Nah, just pick up some of the Essentials. They have them for most of the early Lee/Kirby stuff and they are cheap.
    or a good middle ground are the masterworks trades. then you can get in color and better quality paper but nowhere near the cost of the issues.
  • GregGreg Posts: 1,946
    edited March 2012
    I've been reading the early Marvel stuff through the Essentials, I grab the Masterworks when I catch nick & dent sales or at cons. Cuurently working on FF, Avengers and Iron Man in Essentaials, and ASM, X-Men and Hulk in the Masterworks.
  • TrevTrev Posts: 310
    I've been reading the early Marvel stuff through the Essentials, I grab the Masterworks when I catch nick & dent sales or at cons. Cuurently working on FF, Avengers and Iron Man in Essentaials, and ASM, X-Men and Hulk in the Masterworks.
    me too on the nick and dent. I've got the first two volumes of Thor, Avengers, FF, and X-Men and I don't think I paid more than $3 or $4 each for them.

    Thank you TFAW!

  • HexHex Posts: 944
    I'm currently re-reading my run of Master of Kung Fu, and it's a damn shame that Marvel can't reprint it due to their use of the "Fu Manchu" characters.
    Hilarious... I had this EXACT conversation with the dudes at my LCS yesterday afternoon. I would Love a Master of Kung Fu Essential book.

    And while were at it why, oh WHY can't Marvel do an Essential Nick Fury?!? I can't be the only one who sees that missed opportunity!

    I really love the Essential books (I read them with my 6 year old daughter). We are both looking forward to the upcoming Black Panther.
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