Sunday, September 14, 2008

Comics I wished I had followed

I have been thinking about what it means to buy issues from month to month. Some of the fun and wonder of comic books have actually been diminished, IMO, by being collected and only read in collected form. Of course the convenience and resale value make it more than worth it to purchase comic trades but having a story unfold over time has a kind of charm and surprise that you just don’t get with collected editions. I believe this is especially true with Silver and Bronze Age issues. I’ll argue until the day I that I die that Crisis on Infinite Earths is better when read over 12 months rather than just over a weekend.

However, I do agree that it really doesn’t matter for comics published nowadays as most of today’s comic books are really written to be collected. My thoughts are just kinda nostalgic for a previous four-color era I guess.

Here are some titles that came out when I was a kid and as a teenager that I regret not picking up for one reason or another. These series may have been great or merely mediocre but at the time they were published I think I would have greatly enjoyed them. That's not to say I didn't pick up a few issues of some of theses guys here and there but rather that I never picked these comics up on a regular basis.

The Thing



Alien Legion



Grim Jack


Justice League



George PĆ©rez's Wonder Woman



New Teen Titians



All-Star Squadron



Suicide Squad



Dark Horse Presents



DC's Star Trek



Amethyst (1st series only)



Arak Son of Thunder



DeadWorld


Groo



Dreadstar




Micronauts



King Conan



Omega Men



-Swinebread

10 comments:

Arkonbey said...

Yeah. Isn't it something to look forward to a monthly? I have to pick up a PS238 trade to make up some issues I missed because of the Terrible Comic Store, but I'm back on track and rub my hands with glee as the month rolls around.

I missed most of those myself, save for Groo. Groo rules. I grabbed that religiously. Good times. Good Times.

SamuraiFrog said...

Groo was great.

I followed Giffen's Justice League, and that was the best.

Sleestak said...

You missed awesomeness.

Thomas Fummo said...

That Deadworld cover is great!

'Waaazuuuuuupp!!!'

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Perez's Wonder Woman and Walt Simonson's Thor were things of beauty to behold. Perez made me care about Wonder Woman for the first time ever.

Dean Wormer said...

Mmmm. Cheesedip.

Groo rules.

Steve said...

Crisis on Infinite Earths is better when read over 12 months rather than just over a weekend

Couldn't agree more.

Not sure if they published Watchemn as a stand alone graphic novel today it would have the same impact of those of us just waiting for that next issue to come out

rob! said...

the first dozen or so issues of both Omega Men and Dreadstar were AWESOME--the stories moved so fast, characters developed, they were a blast to read.

Dr. Zaius said...

What about E-Man? [ 2 ] He was pretty cool. I have like the first 7 issues.

Faded said...

Everytime I zip by your blog, I have about 1000 memories unfold just looking at any one of these posts...

Omega men was brutal, Dreadstar was a Masterpiece, Groo was an intricate layered bit of magnificence. And the last issue of the Micronauts made me cry. I had the Arak action figure, I named my daughter after Amerthyst and I still have all twelve issues.
Alien Legion was groundbreaking (like so much from Epic) and Perez's Titans had unbeatable storylines. But the comic I rushed to get each time it hit the stands, the one that I read first- before all others, was the original Elfquest. No other comic story unfolded so majestically as the Pini's beautiful wolf-rider fairy tale...