"Marvel/DC Comic Books in the 90's - The Good Stuff"
We always laugh about all the bad stuff that happened in the 90's like Electric Superman, Azazel as Batman, Spidey Clone but there has to have been some good stuff, right?
"Love isn't something you feel, it's something you do. And if the person you're with doesn't want it, you know. Do yourself a favor and save it for someone that does." --Nate Fisher, "Six Feet Under"
1. "AKA The Preacher post?" In response to Reply # 0
You know, I've been meaning to bring this up as well. The 90s were sort of this 'dark age' for comic books, and a lot of people are still pretty jaded by the whole thing. But dammit, I came up in the dark age and I have a lot of fond memories about it.
Now I'm not gonna get all sappy and nostalgic about some shit just because I was 12 when I read it. There's a whole lot of crap that came out in this decade. But I'm gonna rack my brain here and try to think of some good that came out of the 90's. Here's a mental rough draft of possible contendors:
Independent/Alternative comics - Not just the quality of the titles themselves, but the market for them as well. Let me do some research and see if this holds water. Generally I associate the 60s and 80s with independent booms, but you did have things like Vertigo & Image which sort of brought about this mainstream-meets-the-underground brand of comic book.
Diversity - There was a period here that really focused on these superstar comic artists, and for all the damage it probably did there was still some silver lining. I think this is where you really saw a diversity of art styles develop.
Coloring - All right, I kinda have a tough time admitting to this, since there's a lot of over-photoshopping going on even today, but come on. In the right instance, digital coloring looks pretty kickass. Those gradients and shading techniques in Spawn were mind blowing for their time. Yeah, I said it.
>i SWEAR to you, for the past week i've been wanting to make a >"was the 90s the worst decade ever in comics?" post
Man, I don't see how anyone can really refute that. Sure, you'd get a few voices of dissent who might be able to point out some good, even GREAT stuff that happened in the 90's (I'd probably be one of them, come to think of it) Every cloud does after all have a silver lining. But the problem is coming up with a decade that's WORSE than the 90s. It just ain't happening.
9. "yeah, the 70's was the closest I could come too" In response to Reply # 8
But a lot of that is just due to my age.
But as cornball and musty as a lot of those comics seem to me, I just can't bring myself to put the decade that brought us the graphic novel below the decade that brought us Heroes Reborn
"Love isn't something you feel, it's something you do. And if the person you're with doesn't want it, you know. Do yourself a favor and save it for someone that does." --Nate Fisher, "Six Feet Under"
34. "yeah, just a 2 issue arc in Web of Spiderman in late 1990" In response to Reply # 32
...THAT CHANGED THE COMICS INDUSTRY FOREVER!!!
Okay, maybe not. But it was exactly the kind of Marvel fanboy indulgence that fueled my early adolesence. And while I haven't read these issues in the past oh, 15 years, I do remember them quite fondly. You've got your Hulk in my Spider-Man. You've got your Spider-Man in my Hulk. Two great tastes that taste great together.
If I'm not mistaken, this story took place just on the cusp of the "Cosmic Spidey" issues, which I also loved.
Here's something I found online, provides covers and DETAILED plot synopsis for each Spider-Hulk issue :
25. "ahh... to be fair, i don't think i ever read any of it" In response to Reply # 21
or maybe i did read some X-Men 2099 and had no clue what it was about
all i know is that it wasn't long before they had HUGE crates of those 2099 titles that they were giving away for free at a bodega round the corner of my house. why they were there, i don't know... but it forever colored my perception of those books - toilet paper for homeless dudes.
59. "RE: I've forgotten what Ravage was about" In response to Reply # 51
Super-rich CEO loses everything and becomes a hero. I don't thnk he had any powers, at least at first. Later, he got mutated or something and grew horns.
5. "The Sandman by Neil Gaiman" In response to Reply # 0
Even though it started in 1988, Sandman was definately one of the highlights of the 90's
Shit, Vertigo Comics in the 90s could not be fucked with. --------------- http://melanism.com
"Love isn't something you feel, it's something you do. And if the person you're with doesn't want it, you know. Do yourself a favor and save it for someone that does." --Nate Fisher, "Six Feet Under"
i never read it during its original run, but i've been catching up on it of late...
some aspects of it are slightly dated to me at this point (nothing major... just the pacing and the "denseness" of the text seem very odd in these decompressed times) but i can see why it was kinda revolutionary during the 90s. especially since it was a regular DCU title and not Vertigo, but has a certain maturity and singularity of vision to it.
19. "Nah, Marvels was the good stuff" In response to Reply # 13
It made popular a different way of telling a story in comics: Marvel heroes amd villains through the eyes of a "normal" person. This was later improved upon with Kingdom Come, but it was pretty damn cool when Marvel first did it.
23. "speaking of Daredevil..." In response to Reply # 16
wasn't the Kesel/Nord run in the 90s? I really dug that. While I do prefer a 'grim n gritty' Daredevil, it was kinda cool to see him getting back to his wisecrackin' hornhead roots (Speaking of 'roots,' I think Gene Colan even stepped in for a few issues of this run)
It was post-Onslaught, right in the midst of the Spider-Clone saga, and it seemed like the MU was just going to hell in a handbasket, but somehow Daredevil managed to retain some poise and dignity. He was above that shit.
14. "Legion of Super Heroes volume 4" In response to Reply # 0
It was launched in Nov. 1989, so I'm including it as a 1990s book. With Keith Giffen and Tom & Mary Bierbaum, they took the book 5 years ahead and in a starkly different direction that LSH fans were used to. But after 30+ years of relatively happy-go-lucky heroes saving the day, this new approach was refreshing. And their attempts to fill in the 5-year-gap were not heavyhanded or predictable. As they progessed the current story, they would drop tidbits about the whereabouts or activities of many missing legionnaires. And Giffen's art in the 9-panel format was awesome. Perfect for this series.
Unfortunately, the Legion suffered from orders from the DC higher-ups to fix continuity and get Superboy out the Legion mythos. Eventually, it all came to an end and Giffen & the Bierbaums left. The book was never the same because DC had made a decision to return to the "good old days."
Recommended reading? Check LSH (v.4) #1 - 25. Giffen & the Bierbaums obviously had big plans that they were never allowed to develop. You may need a basic understanding of the Legion to understand all of the characters. But if you get a chance, please go back and check this out.
18. "was any of tat stuff collected?" In response to Reply # 14
i read a few issues and was rather intrigued (albeit confused)
next thing i knew, there was another book called Legionnaires and i couldn't figure out how it related to anything that went before it, so i got exasperated and gave up
man... the Legion has sufferred more reboots over the past 20 years that any other comic i can think of.
33. "coooooossssiiiiiiiggggnnnn...." In response to Reply # 14
Was JUST about to post this.
This run of LOSH made me read the book. I didn't care about the continuity, it was just really good writing. This is one of the titles that left a definate mark and is probably what I compare anything I read to along with the Giant Sized X-Men, Elementals and Alien Legion.
38. "Not sure if it was..." In response to Reply # 14
There was such a big backlash from purists that I think DC threw in the towel and gave them the Legionnaires. I don't think there would be a high demand for one.
Let's be real...the Legionnaires was a reboot. And I sort of understood the post-Zero Hour reboot. But I understand that they've had at least one more after that? Completely unacceptable.
ellamichelle Member since Aug 08th 2005 1182 posts
Thu Sep-15-05 11:48 AM
24. "I was surving on indies mostly" In response to Reply # 0 Thu Sep-15-05 11:53 AM by ellamichelle
"strangers in paradise" was cool "milk and cheese" (late 90's if I recall correctly)
I'm ashamed to admit i kind of liked "Shi" (it wasn't as corny as the rest of the "bad girl" trend, I swear)
Although not indie really, "Sandman" did indeed kick ass.
and I kept buying/reading mainstream crap in the hopes I'd find a bright spot(what a waste of allowance money that was), although I must say the box containing my 1990's comics has gathered quite the layer of dust
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.
30. "for me it was indies and Vertigo" In response to Reply # 24
Preacher Hellblazer (for a while) Sandman umm... the occasional Vertigo mini Love & Rockets Cerebus phonebooks Kane & anything else Paul Grist was doing anything Alan Moore was doing some Paul Pope
and then a bunch of random stuff i can't even remember now
29. "Some good stuff:" In response to Reply # 0 Thu Sep-15-05 11:57 AM by mrhood75
For Marvel:
People give Liefeld a lot of (deserved) guff, but his early '90s stuff in New Mutants and X-Force were both pretty cool. Plus, it introduced Deadpool and Cable (before he got really lame).
I'm a big fan of the Hulk from that period, from the last days of the Grey Hulk, to the brief return of the Rampaging Hulk, to the combined Hulk, before the Onslaught story screwed everything up. Actually, as soon as he left the Pantheon, it all went downhill.
Most of the stuff that didn't involve clones and Peter Parker's parents worked well in the early to mid '90s Spider-Man.
The Infinity Squad was really cool when Jim Starlin was writing it.
There were a lot of good stories in Captain America. A lot of good interplay story-wise, so you felt like you were actually getting to know the heroes and the villains.
I liked the first 25 issues of Thunderbolts. A few of the few good things to come of the Onslaught crap.
Punisher and Punisher War Stories were dope, as long as they weren't perpetuating Republican propaganda. Thankfully that was only one issue.
And if Ghost Rider relaunched in the '90s, that was really cool for a while too.
For DC:
The "superteam" JLA was bad-ass.
I didn't read much DC back then, so my DC list is really short.
49. "The New Titans (Titans Hunt, specifically)" In response to Reply # 0
I thought this was a great idea. It shook up the team significantly but they did it within the confines & characters of the book. It brought out villains & supporting characters rather than creating some new menace. Plus, I'm a sucker for Tom Grmmett's work.
The only drawback was that the story was interrupted by those God-awful teen titans that DC brought back from the future to kill Donna Troy. They even had the audacity to have a version of Terra on that team.
Anyways, the Wildebeasts make an unexpected strike on the Titans and end up kidnapping or severly injuring some of them. In order to save his teammates, Nightwing scrapes together whomever he can find including Deathstroke (Jericho, a Titan, is Slade's son), Red Star, Pantha and Phantasm.
Good story that was badly marred by that interruption.
53. "The Spiderman/X-Force 2-part crossover (sideways style)." In response to Reply # 0 Thu Sep-15-05 01:03 PM by DeePhunk
That is one of the joints that always sticks out in my mind. Not so much the sideways reading. But the fact that two of the illest artists at the time, Liefeld and McFarlane were drawing each others characters for this crossover. It gave it this cool feel. McFarlane draws an ILL Juggernaut. Plus the story itself wasn't half bad either. It was quick and fun.
86. "RE: that was the issue that broke Todd from Marvel too" In response to Reply # 53 Sat Sep-17-05 07:42 PM by Toothpick
he wanted to have a blade pierce Juggernaut's eyeball, Marvel edited it and told him to change the panel. He said later that was the last straw and cemented his decision to leave and start up Image.
"Love isn't something you feel, it's something you do. And if the person you're with doesn't want it, you know. Do yourself a favor and save it for someone that does." --Nate Fisher, "Six Feet Under"
"Love isn't something you feel, it's something you do. And if the person you're with doesn't want it, you know. Do yourself a favor and save it for someone that does." --Nate Fisher, "Six Feet Under"
88. "RE: everybody remembers that shot of her coming out of the water" In response to Reply # 57
betsy's boobies were all wet and scott was having premature ejaculations in his panties and jean grey was like "the FUCK you looking at?? is that your new mutant power, getting Besty Boners from Besty's boobies?? FUCK YOU."
1. PAD and Dale Keown on the Hulk 2. Kingdom Come 3. Travis Charest debuts 4. Creatura the first new Druuna story since the 80's 5. Nick Manabat (R.I.P) 6. Pat Mills and Simon Bisley's "Slaine the Horned God" 7. The 'idea' of Image and the positive repercussion as a result of it (ie: a bigger emphasis on the creators, shaking up the status quo of the big two) 8. Jim Lee's art on the X-Men (the art not the stories) 9. Hal Jordan going ape shit (before it was retconned recently) 10. Damn cant think anything else at the moment.
Marvels is great Age of Apocalypse(though what were the Avengers doing?) Daredevil X-Factor's Wrath of Apocalypse(before Cable) Deadpool I liked Onslaught. ____________________ www.myspace.com/chamilton
Michael: George Michael, I’m sure that Egg is a very nice person. I just don’t want you spending all your money...
George Michael: Ann.
Michael: ... getting her all glittered up for Easter, you know?
78. "the more I think about it, Daredevil might actually be" In response to Reply # 77
The most consistent long-running mainstream superhero comic book of all time. There's been ups and downs (He did the armor thing too, you know) but I can't think of an extended period of time where Daredevil just outright SUCKED. It's either got a phenomenal team on it, or it's just been kind of there. But as far as I can think of, there's not been any real "dark age" for that book, ala a Spider Clone or Az-Bat.
89. "I'll co-sign on post-Miller" In response to Reply # 82
Frank set the standard to make DD a writer's dream job. It seems like the kind of book a writer would be assigned and be like "yeah! I'm writing Daredevil, man!"
80. "Dark Horse comics.." In response to Reply # 0
I really enjoyed the Alien and Predator comics that were coming out around then. The art was decent, and the writers were pretty good too. Also, being the age that i was at that time, i was amazed to see gore and nudity in comics on that level
Whatever this becomes, Whatever words I say, we are the fortunate ones, And when the days are done I won't forget.
85. "joe kelly and steve seagle(sp?)" In response to Reply # 0
they wrote some good stuff ...
wolverine and jubillee...they had their moments...
people had alotta good concepts, but they over did everything so much that you couldn't appreciate anything....they tried to milk everything....if supes hadda dissappeared for a few months, the spider baby not been dragged.....onslaught was dope as a concept...etc...
the beginning of "spider man" was pretty cool too....
the whole bishop and deathbird relationship
the "reveal" that mystique is kurt, rogue and graydon creed's mother....(they shoulda done WAAAAAY more with this sibling-wise)
leaving gambit in anartica
Concrete
"yes, sometimes my rhymes are sexist, but you lovely bitches and hos should know i'm tryin to correct it"- hiphopopotamus
91. "RE: Marvel/DC Comic Books in the 90's - The Good Stuff" In response to Reply # 0
Damn, you guys are just killing my decade. I mean we had the glossy paper that made the comics cost more per issue (I was stuck up too, I refused to read the non-glossy comics.. lol), the fold out cover that detailed the backstory. Haha, yeah some of that stuff was silly.
Here's some good things from the 90's..
Fatal Attraction - X-Men series X-Men Vs Magneto and the Acolytes, resulted in the adamantium being pulled out of Wolverine.
X-Cutioner's Song - This got me hooked on Cable and X-Force. Though it introduced the mess known as the Legacy Virus.
Age of Apocalypse - I just loved the concept, and got caught up in it. Too bad the anniversary comics didn't recapture the feel.
Zero Hour - Hal Jordan going off on cats? I had to read this in school cause I boycotted DC, but this was a nice series.
Maximum Carnage - Pretty good storyline, despite the fact symbiotes got old quick.
Amalgam? - Haha.. I know some might laugh at that, but I loved this. As a kid I was all caught up, and even wrote some terrible fan-fic about it.
X-Men/Ghost Rider arc - Jim Lee drawing Ghost Rider as the X-Men and GR fought the Brood in New Orleans? I agree with a lot of you guys, Jim Lee with the X-Men was amazing.
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