“Heroes, Villains, and Me” is a periodic article on Geeky KOOL by Larry Litle about the world of comic books and my reaction to it. “Heroes, Villains, and Me” is not a comic book review article. I will write about current events, speculation and rumors, or my own wacky thoughts about the world of comic books.
I was a kid during the 1970s and the 80’s. I love the technological advances since that time but I also miss many things about that time frame. One of the things I miss is the way comics used to be. Don’t get me wrong, I still love comics and there are some very KOOL things going on in comics currently. I will try not to get too nostalgic about the way it used to be.
Sit back and relax as I tell you about why I miss the 70’s and 80’s comics. This is will be part TWO of a multiple part article. If you missed part ONE, click here. Watch for part three next week.
4) Single Issue Stories
Most comics stories used to be self contained to one issue. The hero would fight the bad guy and win in that one issue. If you missed last months issue, you could just pick up this month’s issue and move on because hero was still there to save the city or world.
Many of the comics would have on going threads and character development. We would get footnotes about anything being referenced in the issue that you might have missed. This was especially helpful for characters with multiple comic titles.
Now it is hard to wrap up a storyline in 4 issues. Those are considered short stories that only take a few issues to tell.
If I have missed an issue for whatever reason or try to jump onto a comic then I often feel completely lost. I am pretty good at using my intuition to read between the lines and figure out what is going on but some comics make it almost impossible to follow without reading everything. This is one of the reasons I stopped reading X-Men comics years ago.
5) Limited Crossovers
Comic book crossovers really were non-existent until the early to mid 80s. These events were well planned out. They were often hinted at for months and even years before they actually occurred.
These events would often bring major changes to their universe. These changes were not easily un-done. They were important.
As the 80’s went on, these crossovers became an annual thing. The comic industry found that crossovers sell comics.
Currently, crossover events often occur numerous times a year in the same comic universe. Sometimes one crossover is only there to bring on the next crossover. The big shockers of the events often don’t even affect their universe. How many times have I seen New York devastated over the last few years only to never see any damage in any other comics.
Crossover events occur way too often and have too little impact for me to care. They may kill a major character but they will be back within a year. With the Crisis, Barry Allen’s Flash and Supergirl died and didn’t come back for decades. The Human Torch died a few years ago and he was back in less than a year. Death and crossovers have no long term effects on comics. It is very sad.
6) Fun Comics
The Watchmen and The Dark Knight ushered in a time of serious and dark comic books. We moved from fun comics to very intense comics. I miss the fun of the most comics of the 70’s and 80’s. I always loved the weird, crazy, and fun Defenders comics of the 70’s. Greatly fun characters like Ambush Bug, Frog Man, and Rocket Racer were a regular part of their universes.
In the spirit of fun, Marvel used to have a “Assistant Editor Month” where the comic writers would do fun and silly things. I always looked forward to what craziness would happen to Spider-Man during AEM. There was the Marvel Team UP where Aunt May and Franklin Richards (son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman) become heralds for Galactus.
There are a few comics that still have a good time. The Tiny Titans are always fun. But I miss the regular fun that mainstream characters used to have in comics.
Watch for part three next week.
Stay Geeky My Friends!
