What is your least popular Marvel run? 0

[KirbyJack]

2 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

Something that I wouldn't read anymore past the first 4 issues is Silver Surfer.

Very one-note, tedious, whiny philosophising.

Some great John Buscema art, though, indisputably.

 

I tend to agree. I used to call the Lee/Buscema version The Silver Sufferer.

I think, tho, that if we were buying them when they were new, we may have a more positive take. They were very much of their time, and 1960s readers were blown away!

[Unca Ben]

14 hours ago, KirbyJack said:

I tend to agree. I used to call the Lee/Buscema version The Silver Sufferer.

I think, tho, that if we were buying them when they were new, we may have a more positive take. They were very much of their time, and 1960s readers were blown away!

This.

[shadroch]

I read the Surfers solo stuff long before I read the great FF stories and never understood  the attraction. Even in the Defenders, he came off as  self pitying. 

It wasn't until several years later when I finally read FF41-75 that I saw the spark.

[Ken Aldred]

The Lee / Kirby FF issues with him in aren't anywhere near as pseudo-intellectual or repetitive.

 

[Dick Pontoon]

On 7/14/2017 at 1:08 PM, blazingbob said:

Sgt. Fury

I think Bob is the only one who answered the actual question asked, though it seems like the intent of the OP was to ask "What is your least favorite run?"

[FutureFlash]

Just started reading Marvel SA over the last year...so far the TTA (Giant Man/Ant Man) issues have been a real chore. Sad to hear the Hulk/Sub issues are not much better. Tales of Suspense with Iron Man have been pretty boring too. On the bright side ASM and FF have been really good. Going to give the Dr. Strange run in ST and Avengers a read though at some point.

[Unca Ben]

As far as least popular, I'd also say some of the Ant-Man / Giant-Man stories were not so great.  My nomination for worst marvel silver age story would be the Giant-Man story in Tales to Astonish #67, "The Hidden Man and His Rays of Doom".  Check it out.  I think Stan tried to salvage it from another writer who was working with Bob Powell on the story, and the result was completely whacko.

As an aside, Giant-Man was one of my favorite Marvel characters at the time, but not due to the quality of his stories.  I really think Marvel missed the boat on that one; Giant-Man could have been so much better.

[Glassman10]

well, Rima, Jungle Girl but it was really bronze....

[KirbyJack]

10 hours ago, Pontoon said:

I think Bob is the only one who answered the actual question asked, though it seems like the intent of the OP was to ask "What is your least favorite run?"

I'm not actually a dealer, so the question of "least popular" didn't really apply. 

For what it's worth, Tales To Astonish is not my least favorite SA Marvel run.

I would imagine the popularity of The Hulk would boost TTA movement past titles like Sgt. Fury or some of the Class of '68.

[Ken Aldred]

Not too fond of most Tales to Astonish or Tales of Suspense myself, but a popular choice, and so I decided to discuss a title I feel is quite boring, repetitive and overrated past the first few issues; Silver Surfer.

I really don't like it, didn't even as a kid in the 70s, but I appreciate that an LSD-enhanced, 60s college student just might have had quite a different perspective back then.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Ken Aldred

[kimik]

Fantastic Four for me. As a youth in the late 80s that started reading/collecting, it always seemed funny that it had the "World's Greatest Comic" tagline but was so bad. When I read the reprints of the early issues it did not do much for me either.

[Dick Pontoon]

Doesn’t anybody here like Marvel SA?

To me, a lot of the runs folks are showing disdain towards ARE Marvel Comics; if I had to choose between my ‘70s and up books and the ‘60s, I’d dump the later ones in a heartbeat. I love them all, TTA, TOS, DD, FF, ASM, ST, JIM, Avengers, etc. I’m surprised how many people don’t like TTA or TOS, which have great art and stories. All of those titles were really solid until around the ’68 expansion/explosion after which Stan seemed to peter out.

That said, the Giant-Man stories were not the greatest, and many of the Torch stories in ST were sub-par compared to the other titles. That series reminds me of the goofy, nonsensical stuff you’d see in the DC books of the period.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Dick Pontoon

[Unca Ben]

2 hours ago, Pontoon said:

Doesn’t anybody here like Marvel SA?

To me, a lot of the runs folks are showing disdain towards ARE Marvel Comics; if I had to choose between my ‘70s and up books and the ‘60s, I’d dump the later ones in a heartbeat. I love them all, TTA, TOS, DD, FF, ASM, ST, JIM, Avengers, etc. I’m surprised how many people don’t like TTA or TOS, which have great art and stories. All of those titles were really solid until around the ’68 expansion/explosion after which Stan seemed to peter out.

That said, the Giant-Man stories were not the greatest, and many of the Torch stories in ST were sub-par compared to the other titles. That series reminds me of the goofy, nonsensical stuff you’d see in the DC books of the period.

Yeah, I answered the question as "least popular" which means not my favorite, but I still like 'em.  And I agree the Torch and Giant-Man were the least quality, overall.  But there were great moment in both those series.
Ant-Man was kinda odd, as well.  A superhero whose power allows a villain to attempt to wash him down a storm drain using a kid's squirt-gun hardly instills awe in a reader.

And yeah again, I'd keep my 60's books in a heartbeat, as well.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Unca Ben

[KirbyJack]

This is a safe place; and among our own we can point out that the object of our affections is not perfect.  

Nothing about that changes the fact that at one point in my life, I could not conceive a life without a full run of Tales To Astonish.

[Ken Aldred]

1 hour ago, Unca Ben said:

Ant-Man was kinda odd, as well.  A superhero whose power allows a villain to attempt to wash him down a storm drain using a kid's squirt-gun hardly instills awe in a reader.

 

Modern comics fans can't complain too much here.

Not too dissimilar to the bathtub scene from the Ant-Man film, really, in principle.

[telerites]

On 7/15/2017 at 11:16 PM, Ken Aldred said:

Something that I wouldn't read anymore past the first 4 issues is Silver Surfer.

Very one-note, tedious, whiny philosophising.

Some great John Buscema art, though, indisputably.

 

I didn't mind SS but it was heavy for sure.  I think it is Stan's favorite and maybe his way of finally writing that novel he always pined to do.

[Dave2739]

I'm a fan of Silver Age Marvel, so I think even the "bad" titles have their charm. Even so, Capt. Savage and the early Captain Marvel issues were pretty tough to choke down. That being said, I don't have nearly as much dislike for TTA and ToS as some here. I think the Hulk run in TTA was a lot of fun, so much so that I re-read it about a year ago. 

[Unca Ben]

On 7/21/2017 at 8:37 PM, Dave2739 said:

I'm a fan of Silver Age Marvel, so I think even the "bad" titles have their charm. Even so, Capt. Savage and the early Captain Marvel issues were pretty tough to choke down. That being said, I don't have nearly as much dislike for TTA and ToS as some here. I think the Hulk run in TTA was a lot of fun, so much so that I re-read it about a year ago. 

The Hulk in TTA was great; a little uneven at times due to rotating artists (I believe in TTA #69 through TTA #101 there were no less than ten or eleven different pencilers on the Hulk series; every regular Marvel penciller at the time took their turn - except for Gene Colan, Carl Burgos and Wally Wood - to the best of my recollection).  Probably more than any other series.
I liked the first couple issues of Capt. Savage and I enjoyed Capt. Marvel when Gene Colan was on it.

And yeah, all the Marvel titles had their charm - lightning in a bottle -  that doesn't happen that often in the comics world.  EC comes to mind.

[01TheDude]

I find the Submariner stories in TTA to be the hardest for me to enjoy when it comes to silver age. I like books where he is making a guest appearance or is the villian--- and without a doubt some of the art, especially Everett, is quite good.

This is akin to asking who is your least favorite child.