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Best Bronze Runs (DC first)

Started by Zonker,

32 posts in this topic

Zonker

Zonker

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Hi y'all. Newbie here--sorry if this has been done before. I've seen discussion of best single-issue stories, best artists in bronze age, etc. but have not seen a listing of the board's view of best runs in the bronze age. So let's get started with a DC list-- there seem to be lots of knowledgable Marvel readers on the board, so I'm looking forward to getting some ideas back on good reads from Marvel in this period.

 

First, some definitions-- I'm calling the Bronze Age 1970-75. Feel free to disregard this definition in composing your own lists, but arguments about the def'n belong on that other thread!

 

A run needs to be consecutive stories featuring the same cast of characters by the same creators (fill-ins can be included or not, your choice.) A run need not appear within a single magazine.

 

Unfortunately, I was not able to craft a def'n that would allow me to include those great Denny O'Neil - Neal Adams Batman stories in Detective and Batman. But safe to say that Detective 395, 397, 404, 410, Batman 232, 237, 243, 244, 251 are required reading!

 

So here goes:

 

10. Superboy/Legion 191, 193, 195, 197-202. Dave Cockrum's first super-team. Absolutely beautiful stuff. Gotta love those new groovy costumes on the chicks-- It was the Seventies after all!

 

9. Phantom Stranger 14-26. One of Len Wein's first series--P.S. is narrator and sometimes-actor in dreamy stories not disturbing enough to qualify as nightmares (we'd need to wait for Alan Moore's Swamp Thing for that), but spooky and slightly disquieting nonetheless.

 

8. Superman 233-238, 240-242. Denny O'Neil does the original Superman revamp for Julie Schwartz. Kryptonite No More. Killer Swan/Anderson art. The villain gets kind of old before the end, but along the way this is a refreshing take on Superman a decade prior to John Bryne's arrival. Too bad Denny's changes did not stick. Did I mention the art?

 

7. Swamp Thing 1-10. Wildly over-hyped at the time, and now overshadowed by Alan Moore's 1980's run. But this has to be judged a highwater mark for the Bronze Age.

 

6. JLA 100-114. A sleeper. Shows how good DC Bronze Age could be when they tried. Len Wein's back-to-basics approach to super-heroing. Dillin's pencils never looked better thanks to Giordano's inks. High point: Defeating the Neo-Nazis of Earth-X. (107-108).

 

5. The Shadow 1-4,6. Prohibition-era violence. Justice handed out at the barrel of a gun. Shocking for its day. Tame by today's standards. Great period piece, though, thanks mainly to Kaluta's wonderfully "pulp-ish" art.

 

4. GL/GA 76-87,89. Of course.

 

3. New Gods 1-11, Mr. Miracle 1-9, Forever People 1-9,11. Kirby's Fourth World qualifies as a run over 3 books. High points would be The Pact in NG 7 and Himon in Mr. M 9, but they're all great, particularly FP 3 (which opens with a Hitler quote, showing us exactly how seriously Jack took this), NG 6 (pacifism considered and found wanting), Mr. M. 7-8, and FP 8. You can skip the ill-conceived Deadman xover in FP 9-10, and jump right to #11.

 

2. Jimmy Olsen 133-138. Believe it or not, 6 of the best books Jack Kirby has ever done. Concepts Jack had bottled up for years at Marvel come streaming out one after another. You really need to pace yourself with this one-- try to read them as they appeared in the 70's, spaced a month or more apart. Technically part of the Fourth World run, but different enough to require a separate listing.

 

1. Detective 437-443. With the Manhunter back-up, Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson did more with the 8-page comics story than anyone since Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman. One of the most perfect uses of the comics format of all time. The Batman lead stories are almost all great as well, with standouts being Chaykin Bat-art in 441, Steve Englehart's word-less Dark Knight (his first) in 439, Alex Toth Bat-art in 442, and the Goodwin/Simonson Batman/Manhunter xover in 443. And most of these are 100 Page Super Spectaculars, so you also get the added bonus of the absolutely best selection of Golden Age and Silver Age stories of the entire run of DC's 100 Page Super Specs.

 

Next?

 

Cheers,

Z.

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jordanabigail

jordanabigail

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I'll second that Adventure Comics run - the Jim Aparo art is very tought to beat. Those covers are amazing. I have 431-436 and 438 all in high CGC grade and I'm looking to complete the run!!

And any Neal Adams Batman books have to be mentioned.

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hogations

hogations

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Some great selections - the Goodwin/Simonson Manhunter is one of my favourites. If there was another title I would add to the list is Kubert's Tarzan starting with #207. Kirby's 4th world stuff can be difficult to read, but it can grow on you grin.gif

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aardvark88

aardvark88

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Kaluta's Shadow 1-6 short run wasn't too shabby either. Gr8 hyper-detail on the background drawings.

#1 for DC has to be Simonson's best work of ALL time: Manhunter epic relegated to a back up story in Detect. Gr8 writing, art, inking. Only bested when Claremont/Byrne/Austin did Uncanny X-men. High PRAISE indeed.

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blowout

blowout

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my personal favourite from the bronze age:

 

Amazing Spider-man 96-149

X-men 94-142

Iron Fist 1-15

Master Of Kung-Fu 15-75

Tomb Of Dracula 1-70

Werewolf By Night 1-43

 

there's more great stuff............but they're my tops.............. grin.gif

 

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aardvark88

aardvark88

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Gr8 Marvel bronze runs:

1. Byrne/Austin X-men 108-143 (1981 is still bronze)

2. J Buscema FF 109-131. Includes Hulk vs Thing, Gabriel-Surfer-Galactus trilogy, origin retold, pull-out glossy centerfold issue, Quicksilver & Crystal relationship.

3. Avengers 117? vs Defenders x-over. I was amazed as a young kid that 2 heroic teams would duke it out. Thor vs Hulk, Surfer vs Vision.

4. Howard the Duck 1-31. A duck w/ pants takes on politics & cool.gif KISS.

 

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underthebigw

underthebigw

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Here are my choices for each company:

 

DC-

 

Aparo's Spectre

Wrightson's Swamp Thing

Marshall Roger's Detective and Batman Family stories

all Adam's Batman and Detective stories

O'neill/Adams GL/GA

 

Marvel-

 

Byrne's MTU run

Byrne's X-men run

Byrne's Avenger's issues

Invaders 1-30 or so (a personal favorite I'm sure most won't agree with)

Cap-Kirby's final run (?196-208 or so) (another choice I know no one will agree with, but I love it. Completely bizarre).

 

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Guest

Guest

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I'll toss in the Stern/Romita ASM run- from 220 or so to 250.... but that may be encroaching on the end of the Bronze age - it's certainly in that grey 80's area.

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hogations

hogations

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Don't forget Starlin's Captain Marvel and Warlock! It's amazing how many times it was re-hashed in the 'Infinity' series (even now I think there is another 'new' series), but his original run was quite good. My favourite Marvel books in the Bronze Age.

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Zonker

Zonker

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Lots of good recommendations from the Marvel side of the house. Thanks! But I'm surprised no one has mentioned

 

Conan 1-16, 19-24 by Roy Thomas & Barry Smith

 

and

 

Dr. Strange from

Marvel Premiere 9-14 and Dr. Strange 1-5

by Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner (with a few Ditko reprints thrown in)

 

Cheers,

Z.

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Zonker

Zonker

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Fair enough on the relative merits of the Englehart/Brunner run. But as I defined it, the "run" starts with Marvel Premiere #9 when both Englehart and Brunner came together. Beginning with Premiere #3 the character was handled by Gardner Fox and Barry Smith, among others.

 

Cheers,

Z.

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Zonker

Zonker

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Bumped-- & thought of a couple more in response to another thread.

 

11. Aquaman 50-56 by Skeates & Aparo, with Neal Adams Deadman backups in 50-52. Skeates turns what had been an excellent late-Silver Age run (beginning in #40) into a new more experimental direction. Particularly take a look at #54, a Phil / Matrix / Vanilla Sky reality-bender ahead of its time!

 

12. Teen Titans 25-31 by Kanigher, Skeates, Cardy (w/ some help from Infantino & Tuska along the way). This violates my original definition for single-creative-team "runs." Sorry. The common thread here is Giordano's editing. #32 was actually the final Giordano/Skeates/Cardy issue, the first of a two-parter. But the second part in #33 was handled by an entirely different team and went off in an entirely different direction. Also note that TT 28-29 kinda crossed over to Aquaman 50-52 (above). Hey DC-- another TPB suggestion!

 

Finally, although it also violates my definition for consecutive issues, here is the list of O'Neil/Adams collaborations on the Batman:

Detective 395, 397, 404, 410

Batman 232, 234, 237, 243, 244, 245 (perhaps the weakest of the lot), 251

Brave & Bold 93

 

Cheers,

Z.

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