What was the best era of comics?

[romanheart]

For me it was the late 80s and early 90s.

 

It was the period of highest circulation. Comics were around $1-2 each. McFarlane and Jim Lee were becoming known and superhero movies were comic out for the first time. There was a lot of junk put out but there was always something to keep you happy.

[Jeffro.]

The sweet spot for me is 1981 into the later 80's. It's when I first got really into superhero comics and when I started seriously collecting.

 

I love a lot of 60s/70s stuff too but since I wasn't there when it was published, I don't have the nostalgic ties to it like I do the 80s material.

[paperheart]

victorian age - picking up those from the newsstand were good times

[stanley1883]

Love the thread.

 

From a collector standpoint I'd say the Silver Age, Significant characters introduces, significant events. 80's isn't bad, 90's stuff was hot when it came out but not much retained it's value. Yes the McFarlane and Lee Marvel stuff is great to own, but that represents the minority of what came out. Most of the other stuff from the 90's isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

 

From a reading standpoint, I'd say the early 2000's and up. The stories are more complex, darker, edgier. Granted this type of writing started in the 90's but I'd say in the 2000's it really got interesting. Stories like Hush, that's the stuff I love to read.I love reading old Spidey issues, but it's more because of the history than the content.

[jools&jim]

 

"The Golden Age is 10."

 

For the most part, what I liked and collected at that age is still what I like and collect now...

[jaybuck43]

I think it depends on which "house" you prefer. For Marvel I would say 1960's into mid 1970s. All the best heros were created then and had most of their greatest stories and it was (for the most part) before the retconning and making things too interconnected (like that the Mandarin CAUSED Tony Stark to be injured by the shrapnel.

 

For DC I would say the 1980s thats when they took it a step further than their previous (some would say "campy") super hero stuff and went dark (and took the whole industry with them) with Watchmen, DKR, Whatever Happened to the Man from Tomorrow etc.

 

 

[999ghosts]

Somewhere between 1842 and 2014

[GIJOEISAWESOME-migration]

2005. First year of ATOMIC ROBO

[thunsicker]

For me there were (are) two significant eras I've experienced.

1) The late '70's early '80's when I read comics as a kid/teenager (X-Men and Daredevil).

2) The Mid '80's through early '90's when I started getting into them again (they started putting out comics aimed at older audiences).

 

3) There is also the EBay/CGC/Movie era when comics became (EBay) more available, (CGC) more standardized in grading, and (Movies) of greater interest to a wider audience. But those are all collector things that applied more to back issues than what was coming out at the time.

[joe_collector]

Either the 60's or mid-to-late 80's.

 

I can't imagine walking down the corner store in 1961 and experiencing the start of the Marvel Age of Comics - being on the ground floor of something so new and exciting, and this was actually a period where Marvel was cool to read. I've seen many documentaries about college kids from that era, and Spidey, FF, Hulk, Thor, etc. were cultural icons of the period. Just recently I saw A Football Life about Steve Sabol, and videos of his college dorm showed posters of Spider-man and other Marvel characters, and this guy was captain of the football team. Imagine having Stan Lee visit your campus - wow!

 

The mid-to-late-80's is an obvious choice because this was when the whole "comics for adults" shift started, but hadn't yet devolved into the fanboy stupidity of the 2000's. It was still fresh, and the best comic writers produced some truly compelling work like Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke, Sandman, Moore's Swamp Thing, Elektra: Assassin, Hellblazer/Constantine, Daredevil Born Again, Batman: Year One, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, etc., etc., etc. I've said it before, but this was the best time to be a comic reader, as the LCS scene was electric.

[Darkowl]

For me, It would have to be the 80's 90's era. I grew up during this time, and Jim Lee's X-Men work was just mind blowing. It made it really hard for me to read anything else that didn't match his art skill.

[Mijael.Levy]

For me , late 80´s and early 90´s , i enjoyed Valiant Comics , DC Vertigo Verotik Comics , Batman Knightfall , Vengeance of Bane , Sword of Azrael .

[obmit]

I grew up on Bronze Spidey and X-Men.. For me those are the best historically. I think the art really grew in that time too. I do prefer Modern and whatever's next though, because of diversity and, again, the art getting better.

[comicsnyc22]

I'm not too familiar with the previous eras, but there's some damn good storytelling from the past 10-15 years.

[Crimebuster]

Is the question what we think the best era is, or when we started reading? Because really, early 90's? Gimmick holofoil covers, mass speculation, Superman's mullet and what was across the board the worst art in the history of the medium? Ugh. No thanks.

 

So I won't say what I think the "best" is, but rather my personal favorite period, which is the late 90's. I love this period, even more than the period when I actually began reading, which was the mid-80's.

 

After all the speculator fads and the Toy Biz fiasco caused the industry to crash in the mid-90's, there was a big course correction where they began emphasizing well written stories. The writer-driven movement of the last decade really started in the late 90's, in the ashes of the industry collapse. There was a brief period in the late 90's when just about all my favorite titles of all time were coming out at the same time - Sandman Mystery Theatre, Starman, Bone, Box Office Poison, Astro City, Top 10, Promethea, Kurt Burisek's Avengers. Every week it was pure excitement going to the comic book store, knowing something great was waiting for me.

 

[toro]

The best era, is when you first discover comics. For me it was the 60's, buying those 12 cent Marvels. DCs, Archies and more. That was the best. The local store never had the annuals until the late 60s, but I remember buying the early ones on the steamship to Nantucket and the Vineyard in the summer.

[bababooey]

Late 70's to early 80's, when I started reading/buying.

 

From 77 to 83 - started by Spidey, MTU, FF, Avengers, Iron Man....all of which went downhill over that stretch but were replaced by X-men & DD until the Byrne/Miller runs ended.

 

Beyond those early years, the best recent era was early 2000's when Bendis was on DD & USM, JMS on Spidey..I also enjoyed some of Busiek's Avengers stuff at the same time.

[joe_collector]

The best era, is when you first discover comics.

 

But naturally you need to leave that sentimentality out when answering a question like this, and just go from your brain, not your heart. Use a "What if I could first discover comics in any era, which would be the most exciting for reading" type of scenario.

[Dr. Balls]

Best for me, it was the 90's. The Bad Girl era. I owned a comic shop in the mid-90s, I was in my 20's, unmarried and had practically zero responsibilities. All those things culminate into some sweet memories, and even though I've loved all eras of books - I have a special place in my heart for the 90s stuff.

 

The stories, the art, the new hyper-glossy paper stock and shiny covers - at the time, it really elevated comics. Looking back, you can see all the problems - but when it was going on, it was exciting. Best for all eras? I don't think any other era brought more readers to the table (and scared them off) but major strides were made in the 90s to bring comics out into other mainstream entertainment outlets. It definitely helped set the stage for bigger and better things (once it weathered the storm of speculation).

[Comic_Zone]

Either the 60's or mid-to-late 80's.

 

I can't imagine walking down the corner store in 1961 and experiencing the start of the Marvel Age of Comics - being on the ground floor of something so new and exciting, and this was actually a period where Marvel was cool to read. I've seen many documentaries about college kids from that era, and Spidey, FF, Hulk, Thor, etc. were cultural icons of the period. Just recently I saw A Football Life about Steve Sabol, and videos of his college dorm showed posters of Spider-man and other Marvel characters, and this guy was captain of the football team. Imagine having Stan Lee visit your campus - wow!

 

The mid-to-late-80's is an obvious choice because this was when the whole "comics for adults" shift started, but hadn't yet devolved into the fanboy stupidity of the 2000's. It was still fresh, and the best comic writers produced some truly compelling work like Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke, Sandman, Moore's Swamp Thing, Elektra: Assassin, Hellblazer/Constantine, Daredevil Born Again, Batman: Year One, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, etc., etc., etc. I've said it before, but this was the best time to be a comic reader, as the LCS scene was electric.

 

 

Your 1961 scenario was my 90's scenario when Image comics came out and Jim Lee, Liefield, Keown, Silvestri, Mcfarlance created some very exciting books. Mind you, not the best reads, but for a 12 yr old, it was bad . I agree with you that mid to late 80's was definitely the greatest era of comics, I doubt we'll ever get such revolutionary runs at the same time again.