What I Loved in the 80's-DC Comics

This is an old article that I did many moons ago and never shared here. But I decided to re-write it a bit and post it here now for three reasons. 1. Linkara has been talking about how he got into comics on AT4W which has gotten me reminiscing. 2. I wanted to start a new series of things I love outside movies and TV. So this is sort of the first one of those even if it is cheating a bit. 3. Well, actually, I don’t think anyone….read this the first time…..

Anyway,here we go as we look at something I loved as a kid and still enjoy as and adult, and that was comic books! Specifically, DC comic books!

It’s hard to recall my first exposure to comics. But it’s safe to say I never would have had any interest if not for the old “Superfriends” show. I know, it was corny and silly but this show introduced me to superheroes in a way the live action stuff didn’t when I was very young. Watching re-runs of Batman did nothing to make me get into the comics, same for the Superman movies as much asI loved all of them.

Superfriends,in its various forms, did a great job of introducing me to the characters and getting to see them in action. Still, I was a bit naïve about the fact there were comics with these same characters in them. My first memory of seeing a comic book was the issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths where Flash is killed.That got my attention, I knew who the Flash was and I even remember flipping through the book to the end where he sacrifices himself (although I didn’t have a clue what was going on of course).

 

It wasa short time after that I was laid up from an operation, and my mother chose to make me feel better by buying some comics. The only one I remember was JLA#256. This was during the “Detroit JLA” era so I really had no idea who these people were, plus it was the conclusion of a long story arc so I was very lost. However, it was really cool reading. As Linkara stated when talking about theTechnis Imperative, I was interested and excited about finding out more about these characters and the stories I missed.

Two comics really helped me discover who these heroes were. I was at a flea market,and came across a fellow selling copies of “Who’s Who?” I bought them and was thoroughly enchanted. It was amazing, being introduced to the sheer number of characters most of whom I’d never heard of. The best part was, since I wasn’t familiar I could imagine anything I wanted. Why couldn’t Blackhawk Island be ageneral base of operation, or The Chief from the Doom Patrol be a commander inchief for everyone? Not only that but my brother and I would incorporate the cool villains and heroes we liked into our own made up stories. Of course as Iread and learned those days didn’t last but they were fun because I couldimagine anything without the restrictions of things like continuity. This alsoexplains why I hate RPG’s.  But this gotme hungry for more and started my love with my favorite superhero team, THEJUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA!!

Theother book which really got me interested was called Secret Origins. It sort of performed the same function as the Who’s Who did except in this case, we got the classic origins to heroes we may not be familiar with as well as the revised stories which fit into the new DC canon. I learned about Blue Beetle,Firestorm, and Halo from The Outsiders in the first six issues. Some of my favorite stories came from here including the origin of Nightwing and the giant annual on The Teen Titans.

 

When Irealized you could subscribe to comics, I just had to subscribe to GreenLantern. I loved him on the old cartoon show. The first one I got was GL #196 with Guy Gardner on the cover. I still remember the first time I removed thewrapper and saw this cover. WOW!  Talkabout an attention getter!

 

Green Lantern got me interested, but that comic was confusing since they were in the midst of huge changes due to Crisis on Infinite Earth’s and I found it hard tofollow. I may have dropped comic books, until the fateful day in the drugstore.I looked down and there it was, Superman #2 by John Byrne. This was a fantasticcover; it was simple but really got your attention and made you want to readthe issue. I did, and loved.

 

I was lucky that I came into comics when I did, when DC was rebooting many of its titles. Being naïve, I had no idea about the huge revamp in 1986. Here was this amazing cover, Lex Luthor sitting while a computer relayed the info that Clark Kent was, in fact, Superman. I bought it, and loved it. John Byrne’s Supermanwas and will always be my favorite. The things he did with the character now 25years ago were, to me, fantastic. The Kents being alive was brilliant,Lois was appealing as a character and I loved the revised Luthor. The old madscientist thing did get repetitive, this version just made more sense. ClarkKent was the real person while Superman was allowed to lighten up a bit. I justnever liked, and still don’t, a lot of the pre-Byrne Superman. No offense to Curt Swan or the amazing talents of that age, those stories just never worked for me. It wasn't until Byrne humanized him that I fell in love with the character. Superman was just the coolest, and no superhero could measure up to him. I went back and read The Man of Steel and it remains one of my favorite comics ever! I already did a whole article on that, so let’s moveon.

 

Atabout the same time, the brand new Justice League was being started by KeithGiffin. That book was one of my favorites too, at least for the first dozenissues or so. It was so different and fresh, but it did get kind of silly afterawhile. I can’t believe how unaware I was then, I remember looking at the coverof the first issue and not knowing who half the people were. This comicintroduced me to Mr. Miracle, Black Canary, and Booster Gold. That series spunoff from the Legends event that happened that year, and I adored that story! It remains one of my favorites.

 

I still remember how exciting it was to get that plain brown wrapper in the mail,knowing a fresh comic I’d never read would be inside (and yes, that is how theyused to come by mail). I used to absorb every bit of the issue, from the cover to the letter page. There was and is nothing like a fresh, brand new story.Remember when comics were only 75 cents? Since Ihad a short attention span, comics were perfect for me. Here was the story, inten minutes or less. As I got older I learned about the history of these characters, and went back to see what I had missed. The only comics I likedf rom the late 70’s era were JLA, Brave and the Bold, and DC Comics Presents.I used to also send away for back issues from a mail order company called MileHigh Comics out in Denver. This was way before the internet of course, so I hadwait a good six weeks for those comics to arrive. Those were a tough few weeks, as I eagerly anticipated the new stories. When it did come I was in heaven.

My favorite crossover event was Millennium; I loved how the tie-ins weren’t justtie-in’s. In fact you had to read them in order to get the whole story. Yeah Iknow that Millennium was not perfect, The New Guardians stuff was corny, but the stuff with The Manhunters was cool and I still loved it. I did not love The New Guardians comic which was just flat out bad. Other comics I liked included TheFlash, Firestorm (until they ruined him!), Blue Beetle, Green Lantern Corps,the DC run of Star Trek, and of course Batman.

 

I know it seems surprising to put Batman in the “and” part but while I liked Batman Iwas never a major fan. I prefer Superman and his positive upbeat stuff to Batman’s dark and gritty stories. I still did read Batman t hough especially in comics where he participates with others like JLA and the old Brave and theBold. One of my favorite events was a Batman event called “A Death in theFamily”. This is the famous event that killed the Jason Todd Robin. If you don’tknow the details then look it up it’s quite a story.

There was other stuff like Captain Atom, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman which wasfine but I never got into those. I also wasn’t into horror stuff, and I may bethe one person who never read The Watchmen. There were awful comics of courselike Hawkman and New Gaurdians, but we can forget those.

 

The late 80’s were a great time for comics because they finally stopped the silliness that marred the 60’s and 70’s. The stories were told better, the art was better, and the people were allowed to be real and have real problems. No comic better illustrated that then The New Teen Titans.In fact it was amazing for that; the character’s personal problems were thedriving force of that book. I wish I could say that I was a fan of that rightaway but there was so much backstory that I found it hard to get on board.However when I discovered The Judas Contract I loved it and it remains one ofmy favorite TPB’s.

As the 80’s became the 90’s, I kept reading and reading. I followed the major eventsfrom Invasion to Zero Hour. I had and was still buying comics when I went to college, in fact I will never forget the comic store I found which was like back issue heaven. I loved it! I kept up with new stuff until they started to ruin everything. The Titans were ripped apart in Titans Hunt, the Justice League was reworked to be more about the legendary heroes as it was before, Batman was going through the whole broken back arc.

Let's not even talk about what they did to Green Lantern Hal Jordan. I was one of those who never gave Kyle a fair shot. It became more and more clear that the stories Il iked were over with. The Superman titles were the only ones I followed with real interest and I will say, the whole death and return of Superman really didits job. I could do a whole article on that, how I was losing interested whenthat started but go on board and was riveted by the whole Return to Supermanstuff. I was totally hooked by that.

It was soon after that I stopped reading comics regularly. Then I did something I still regret, I tossed out many of my old issues! I had failed to realize how important those stories were to me, and whenever I stumble across an old issue somewhere it's like finding an old friend. Now,I'll buy comics once in a while for nostalgia sake. Kind of the same way one might pop in an old movie that they loved as kid but haven’t seen in years.I still keep up with what is going on in the DC Universe and catch up with what has happened to my favorite characters. It’s like when a relationship ends, youstill want the other person to be happy and well taken care of. I have followed the recent re-boot, and all I will say about that is I hate what they didto Superman. So while I don’t buy new stuff I do cherish the old and mostlylook for TPB reprints these days.

One last thing before I end. I know he will never read this but I want to thank Linkara and AT4W. For years I felt embarrassed for liking comics, I was teased often when I was younger. But AT4W has made me realize appreciating comic books as an adult is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s another art form, and when done well an exciting art form. As I said I do visit comic shops once in a while and buy old stuff. So not only do I buy but I also appreciate them more than I didas a kid. And I did buy The Technis Imperative and yeah, it was pretty damn good.

Finally,for all those Marvel fans out there screaming at me, I just never got intoMarvel. Not saying it was bad, I just never liked the whole “super-heroes arebad” tone of those books. This is illustrated in the JLA/Avengers crossover aswe so how the DC universe cherishes their heroes while Marvel hates them. Why?Yeah I get its social commentary but it didn’t work for me. Marvel charactersare great, I liked the action figures but I just never got into the comics (theone exception was the whole Venom story in Spider-Man. I did give that a shotand enjoyed it). I almost gave Iron Man a chance, but that was about it.

See you next time!