Before I get into today's post, I just wanna thank all of you Groove-ophiles who took time to vote in my "What should Ol' Groove's next blog be about?" poll. How did it go, you ask? Here are the official results...80s comicbooks led with 43% of the vote. Groove-dom has spoken, and Ol' Groove has heard. Prepare yourselves, then, oh faithful ones, for the coming of Ol' Groove's next blog...Blinded Me with Comics! I've already begun work on it, and plan to have it up and running for your enjoyment and edification by the first Friday in April. Blinded Me with Comics will focus on the Jim Shooter/Dick Giordano Marvel and DC eras, the original Independent Comics Boom (Pacific, Eclipse, First, and all the rest!), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Black and White Boom/Bust, the British Invasion, plus all the characters and creators who made the MTV decade so memorable.At this point, I plan on BMwC being a weekly blog, but never fear! I'll put so much into each post, you'll be happy all week long. Besides, you'll still have the good ol' Diversions of the Groovy Kind blog right here every day!
And speaking of the Diversions blog, for today's post I thought I'd toss some memorable splash pages from 1980 atcha! How's that for putting you in the mood for BMwC?
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My enthusiasm for comics in the 80s isn't quite what it is for pre-1980 material. Comics took a dark turn during the 80s and, in my opinion, haven't really been the same since. I also was never a big fan of Jim Shooter's editorial style, preferring the more fun and fancy free approaches of Goodwin, Wolfman, Wein, Conway and Thomas.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't like the turns toward more "realistic" approaches (such as Alan Moore's stuff, or "Watchmen", or Frank Miller's "Dark Knight," etc.).
Having said that, there ARE some nice comics in the early to mid-80s that would be fun to revisit.....and some of those did come under Shooter's watch (so he does deserve some credit for that!). Bob Layton's Iron Man books were terrific, and I'm willing to bet I'm forgetting about dozens of other comics in this decade I enjoyed.
Around '89 or so, comics really began to change into something I didn't like as much. But, while not as fun as in previous decades, comics in the mid-80s were still quite entertaining.
Pre-Crisis Giordano DC was a real golden age, as far as I'm concerned. Still lots of different genres, still some experimentation with mainstream characters, and the beginning of the types of books that would one day lead to Vertigo - Thriller, Swamp Thing, Electric Warrior (whoops, that one was post-crisis wasn't it?) Still, lots of good stuff!
ReplyDeleteOh, yaz, lots of good stuff in the 80s! Yeah, things did get dark, especially toward the end of the 80s, but there are plenty of sparkly, cool, fun comics to talk about, too. We'll hit the high-lights and the--er--low-lights, as well as shining a light on the little-known and forgotten.
ReplyDeleteBut I ain't touchin' the 90s with a ten foot pole! ;D
Hey Groovy one!
ReplyDeleteI never thought of looking for this here. But I agree with your 1st poster, after say 87. Comics to me just got too dark, grim & depressing. Beside's DC's relaunches, by ironically Marvel's top talent who left for DC. I hated CoIE's & Frank Miller's Dark Knight. I thought it ruined comics forever as we knew them.
Even though I loved the 1st Punisher mini-series bt Mike Zeck & even Frank Miller's Ronin.It was the end of a era to me also. I always though Marvel from 76-79 canceled way too many titles. if they had say kept John or even Sal Buscema on Nova & Rom even. With a great inker like Tom Palmer or Klaus Jansen. These titles could've easily continued on with great sale figures. I would've loved alot more done with Omega the Unknown, WoodGod, the 3-D Man, & even Adam Warlock. Instead of killing Warlock. I wish Marvel would put Roy Thomas & Gil Kane back on his title.
I agree after 86-87 comics pretty much have SUCKED!I thought the first few years of the 90's at DC still had certain titles that were ok. But those were far & inbetween. It broke my heart to see what became of the Spider-Man titles. especially reading like two years of letter pages. Of our generation saying in hate mail. They were not only dumping Spider-Man. But also selling all their comics!!