I'll start by saying that the Bronze Age of Comics is my favorite era. It's usually defined as 1970 until 1985.
Many of the greatest creators of the Silver Age (and some from the Golden Age) were still working in the industry: Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, Herb Trimpe, Ross Andru, John Buscema, Jim Mooney, Sal Buscema, Dick Dillin, Gene Colan, Joe Sinnott, Jim Aparo, and Gil Kane continued to work during the Bronze Age.
At the same time, we got an amazing influx of new writers (Gerry Conway, Steve Englehart, Bill Mantlo, Chris Claremont, Doug Moench, Marv Wolfman, Mark Gruenwald, Steve Gerber, Don McGregor, Len Wein, etc.) and artists (George Perez, John Byrne, Klaus Janson, Rich Buckler, Frank Brunner, Marshall Rogers, Joe Staton, Frank Miller, Dave Cockrum, Paul Gulacy, Keith Pollard, Mike Grell, P. Craig Russell, Terry Austin, Michael Golden, Walter Simonson, Mike Zeck, Howard Chaykin, and more). What an amazing combination of talent, old and new!
The stories were dramatic, action-packed, sometimes over-the-top (even by standards of comic books!) and occasionally ridiculous, but usually very enjoyable. Most Bronze age issues had a summary of the characters' origin on the splash page, so the comics were a lot more accessible than today's stories with their convoluted "continuity".
Plus, what a cast of characters in Marvel alone! We had traditional Super Heroes (Spider-Man, Avengers, Daredevil), Martial Artists (Iron Fist, Shang Chi), Barbarians (Conan, Red Sonja), Pulp heroes (Doc Savage), Super-Powered Aliens (Warlock, Mar-Vell), Demons (Ghost Rider, Son Of Satan) and monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, Godzilla), all rubbing elbows and populating the same universe!
At DC, Jack Kirby arrived and launched his Fourth World titles, which introduced Darkseid, one of the greatest villains (in any media) of all time. We got the first appearance of Swamp Thing (and his later revamp by Allan Moore), Batman returned to his darker roots, villains got their own titles (Joker, Kobra, Secret Society Of Super-Villains), and The New Teen Titans became one of the most beloved Super-Teams of all time.
Both big companies launched new team up titles: Marvel Team-Up, DC Comics Presents, Super-Villain Team-Up.
We also saw an explosion in the world of Independent comics. Harvey Pekar's American Splendor, the Pinis' Elfquest, Dave Sim's Cerebus, and Los Bros. Hernandez' Love And Rockets were launched during this era. These creator-owned series would influence the mainstream comic companies.
I began reading comics in the 70s, but I didn't really start collecting monthly issues until 1980, near the back-end of the Bronze Age. I started with the big, popular titles like Uncanny X-men, Amazing Spider-Man and Incredible Hulk.
But that's also the same year I began buying back issues. I was 8-9 years old, so I looked for good stories, not "investment opportunities" in my quest for back issues. I found that comics from the 1970s were affordable and (generally) more fun than their Silver Age counterparts.
I started out buying the big-name popular titles (Hulk, Spider-Man), but then I discovered offbeat series like Master Of Kung Fu, Secret Society Of Super-Villains, Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, Strange Sports Stories, Defenders and Champions. I still believe there was more freedom in the storytelling during that era, more than during the Silver or Modern ages of comics.
But the era gave us more than just those "quirky" 70s favorites. It was the Bronze Age that gave us the "All New, All Different" X-men, the Avengers epic-length 'Korvac Saga' and Frank Miller's noirish take on Daredevil.
I've long felt that the Bronze Age is still underrepresented in reprint books. For the past decade or so, you could enter the average comic book store and see dozens of books with Silver Age stories from Marvel and DC. You'd find tons of reprints of 90s/2000 stories, with maybe a few 80s reprints of something besides X-Men stories. But you wouldn't find that many Bronze Age stories on the shelves. This is starting to change, as the 'Marvel Masterworks' series is going further into the 70s, reprinting Bronze Age adventures of the FF, Avengers and Spider-Man.
But there should be more! How about a tpb featuring Who Remembers Scorpio? from The Defenders (with art from a young Keith Giffen)? Or a collection of every Amazing Spider-Man story that featured the Punisher before he got his 1980s mini-series? Why hasn't DC given us a nice, glossy reprint of Crisis On Earth Prime from 1982?
This may be a pipe dream, but I hope the comic companies get the message from this blog and other like-minded folks on the net that the Bronze Age is a beloved era, and give us some more high-quality reprints of Bronze Age stories. If nothing else, I hope this blog will encourage Bronze Age fans to "vote" with dollars and pick up some of these reprint books. Yes, there are always back issues, but books are easier to store than comic boxes! And books are also easier to take on long trips or lunch breaks, another reason I pursue tpbs/hardcovers instead of back issues. The only thing the books don't have is letters columns, so you don't get the exact same experience of reading the issues. But I'll trade a letters column for nice, pristine pages.
What I'll be reviewing here:Any reprint in any format of any story that was originally published during the Bronze Age.
I'll mainly be focusing on trade paperbacks and hardcovers. But there were also some stories from the era reprinted in giant "Treasury-sized" comics and "regular" sized comics like Marvel Tales or Marvel Milestone Edition, so some of those editions may be reviewed here as well. Some of these reviews will cover reprints that came out last Wednesday, some will cover reprints published a decade or two ago.
I'll try to review stuff that's available for a reasonable price and not hard to find at stores or online. So don't expect any reviews of $100 Miracle Man tpbs.
What about reprint books that have stories from multiple "Ages" of comics?
Good question.
If a tpb/hardcover contains stories from more than one era, only the Bronze Age portion(s) of will be reviewed. Post-Bronze Age stories in such books will be treated like dvd extras/bonus material.
Most of the reprints reviewed here will feature stories published by the Big Two, but I reserve the right to review reprints published by smaller publishers like Fantagraphics, Eclipse, and others if they're available.
Also, some of the reprints will contain stories I've never read or only read part of in their original comic book form. So my reviews won't be solely based on nostalgia.
What I will NOT be reviewing:
Reprints of Gold & Silver Age stories that happened to be published during the Bronze Age, like Marvel Triple Action, Marvel Double Feature, DC 100 Page Spectacular and Marvel's Greatest Comics.
None of the Marvel Essentials or DC Showcase black and white books will be reviewed unless the stories contained in them were originally published in black and white (such as reprints of Marvels 1970s black and white magazines). I know these books have their following, but when I read a reprint, I like it to be in its original color scheme. Plus, I'm not crazy about the paper quality in those b&w books.
Our rating system:
It's been said that the quintessential artist of the Bronze Age of comics was Sal Buscema.
"Our Pal" Sal Buscema
Many of the greatest creators of the Silver Age (and some from the Golden Age) were still working in the industry: Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, Herb Trimpe, Ross Andru, John Buscema, Jim Mooney, Sal Buscema, Dick Dillin, Gene Colan, Joe Sinnott, Jim Aparo, and Gil Kane continued to work during the Bronze Age.
At the same time, we got an amazing influx of new writers (Gerry Conway, Steve Englehart, Bill Mantlo, Chris Claremont, Doug Moench, Marv Wolfman, Mark Gruenwald, Steve Gerber, Don McGregor, Len Wein, etc.) and artists (George Perez, John Byrne, Klaus Janson, Rich Buckler, Frank Brunner, Marshall Rogers, Joe Staton, Frank Miller, Dave Cockrum, Paul Gulacy, Keith Pollard, Mike Grell, P. Craig Russell, Terry Austin, Michael Golden, Walter Simonson, Mike Zeck, Howard Chaykin, and more). What an amazing combination of talent, old and new!
The stories were dramatic, action-packed, sometimes over-the-top (even by standards of comic books!) and occasionally ridiculous, but usually very enjoyable. Most Bronze age issues had a summary of the characters' origin on the splash page, so the comics were a lot more accessible than today's stories with their convoluted "continuity".
Plus, what a cast of characters in Marvel alone! We had traditional Super Heroes (Spider-Man, Avengers, Daredevil), Martial Artists (Iron Fist, Shang Chi), Barbarians (Conan, Red Sonja), Pulp heroes (Doc Savage), Super-Powered Aliens (Warlock, Mar-Vell), Demons (Ghost Rider, Son Of Satan) and monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, Godzilla), all rubbing elbows and populating the same universe!
At DC, Jack Kirby arrived and launched his Fourth World titles, which introduced Darkseid, one of the greatest villains (in any media) of all time. We got the first appearance of Swamp Thing (and his later revamp by Allan Moore), Batman returned to his darker roots, villains got their own titles (Joker, Kobra, Secret Society Of Super-Villains), and The New Teen Titans became one of the most beloved Super-Teams of all time.
Both big companies launched new team up titles: Marvel Team-Up, DC Comics Presents, Super-Villain Team-Up.
We also saw an explosion in the world of Independent comics. Harvey Pekar's American Splendor, the Pinis' Elfquest, Dave Sim's Cerebus, and Los Bros. Hernandez' Love And Rockets were launched during this era. These creator-owned series would influence the mainstream comic companies.
I began reading comics in the 70s, but I didn't really start collecting monthly issues until 1980, near the back-end of the Bronze Age. I started with the big, popular titles like Uncanny X-men, Amazing Spider-Man and Incredible Hulk.
But that's also the same year I began buying back issues. I was 8-9 years old, so I looked for good stories, not "investment opportunities" in my quest for back issues. I found that comics from the 1970s were affordable and (generally) more fun than their Silver Age counterparts.
I started out buying the big-name popular titles (Hulk, Spider-Man), but then I discovered offbeat series like Master Of Kung Fu, Secret Society Of Super-Villains, Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, Strange Sports Stories, Defenders and Champions. I still believe there was more freedom in the storytelling during that era, more than during the Silver or Modern ages of comics.
But the era gave us more than just those "quirky" 70s favorites. It was the Bronze Age that gave us the "All New, All Different" X-men, the Avengers epic-length 'Korvac Saga' and Frank Miller's noirish take on Daredevil.
I've long felt that the Bronze Age is still underrepresented in reprint books. For the past decade or so, you could enter the average comic book store and see dozens of books with Silver Age stories from Marvel and DC. You'd find tons of reprints of 90s/2000 stories, with maybe a few 80s reprints of something besides X-Men stories. But you wouldn't find that many Bronze Age stories on the shelves. This is starting to change, as the 'Marvel Masterworks' series is going further into the 70s, reprinting Bronze Age adventures of the FF, Avengers and Spider-Man. But there should be more! How about a tpb featuring Who Remembers Scorpio? from The Defenders (with art from a young Keith Giffen)? Or a collection of every Amazing Spider-Man story that featured the Punisher before he got his 1980s mini-series? Why hasn't DC given us a nice, glossy reprint of Crisis On Earth Prime from 1982?
This may be a pipe dream, but I hope the comic companies get the message from this blog and other like-minded folks on the net that the Bronze Age is a beloved era, and give us some more high-quality reprints of Bronze Age stories. If nothing else, I hope this blog will encourage Bronze Age fans to "vote" with dollars and pick up some of these reprint books. Yes, there are always back issues, but books are easier to store than comic boxes! And books are also easier to take on long trips or lunch breaks, another reason I pursue tpbs/hardcovers instead of back issues. The only thing the books don't have is letters columns, so you don't get the exact same experience of reading the issues. But I'll trade a letters column for nice, pristine pages.
What I'll be reviewing here:Any reprint in any format of any story that was originally published during the Bronze Age.
I'll mainly be focusing on trade paperbacks and hardcovers. But there were also some stories from the era reprinted in giant "Treasury-sized" comics and "regular" sized comics like Marvel Tales or Marvel Milestone Edition, so some of those editions may be reviewed here as well. Some of these reviews will cover reprints that came out last Wednesday, some will cover reprints published a decade or two ago.
I'll try to review stuff that's available for a reasonable price and not hard to find at stores or online. So don't expect any reviews of $100 Miracle Man tpbs.
What about reprint books that have stories from multiple "Ages" of comics?Good question.
If a tpb/hardcover contains stories from more than one era, only the Bronze Age portion(s) of will be reviewed. Post-Bronze Age stories in such books will be treated like dvd extras/bonus material.
Most of the reprints reviewed here will feature stories published by the Big Two, but I reserve the right to review reprints published by smaller publishers like Fantagraphics, Eclipse, and others if they're available.
Also, some of the reprints will contain stories I've never read or only read part of in their original comic book form. So my reviews won't be solely based on nostalgia.
What I will NOT be reviewing:
Reprints of Gold & Silver Age stories that happened to be published during the Bronze Age, like Marvel Triple Action, Marvel Double Feature, DC 100 Page Spectacular and Marvel's Greatest Comics.
None of the Marvel Essentials or DC Showcase black and white books will be reviewed unless the stories contained in them were originally published in black and white (such as reprints of Marvels 1970s black and white magazines). I know these books have their following, but when I read a reprint, I like it to be in its original color scheme. Plus, I'm not crazy about the paper quality in those b&w books.
Our rating system:
It's been said that the quintessential artist of the Bronze Age of comics was Sal Buscema.
"Our Pal" Sal Buscema
His art was everywhere in the 70s/early 80s. He's most famous for his work on the Hulk, but he also penciled Fantastic Four, Defenders, Captain America, Marvel Team-Up, Avengers, Spectacular Spider-Man, Rom, etc.
Last year, I posted this comment about Buscema on the great Bronze Age Babies blog:
"to this day, when I think of what comic book art is 'supposed to look like', I think of Sal's work."
Sal draws himself as the Hulk, from Marvel Age Magazine #14
Sal Buscema is truly the Patron Saint of the Bronze Age and this blog!
So instead of giving "stars" or whatever when I review reprints, I'll be giving Sals!
For example:
4 Sals
= Classic, fun story with great art, an excellent plot, something you'll read many times and recommend to all comic fans, even Bronze Age newbies.
.5
= Very good, certainly worth reading and owning, but a step down from the above.
And so on.
Check back soon for our first review,
J.A.
Last year, I posted this comment about Buscema on the great Bronze Age Babies blog:
"to this day, when I think of what comic book art is 'supposed to look like', I think of Sal's work."
Sal draws himself as the Hulk, from Marvel Age Magazine #14So instead of giving "stars" or whatever when I review reprints, I'll be giving Sals!
For example:
4 Sals
= Classic, fun story with great art, an excellent plot, something you'll read many times and recommend to all comic fans, even Bronze Age newbies.
.5
= Very good, certainly worth reading and owning, but a step down from the above.
And so on.
Check back soon for our first review,
J.A.
Good luck with the blog, I love the era and write about it myself on http://silverandbronzeagesubjects.blogspot.co.uk/
ReplyDeleteI grew up reading Bronze Age from about 1972 onwards and it was my Golden Age!