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Mark Millar: I was talking to a pal about my favourite period in comics, the best five consecutive years ever, and I didn’t even have to think twice.
[...]for me, in pure comic book terms, the beautiful craftsmanship of 1983 to 1988 is the best five years comic-books have ever known. We still had the greats like Kirby and Ditko around, Joe Kubert and Will Eisner, we still had the new wave guys from the 70s doing really interesting books like Chaykin and Starlin and Englehart and Chris Claremont. But we also had the emergence of the new guys like Alan Moore and Frank Miller, the British invasion of artists, the direct market explosion of independent companies and two powerhouses running Marvel and DC in the shape of Dick Giordano and Jim Shooter. At any given time I traditionally read half a dozen comics a month, which was pretty much the extent of my budget. Even as a young teenager I would spend everything I had to get these books and the books I couldn’t afford I would stand and read for hours in Glasgow’s legendary AKA Books and Comics in a Saturday.
[...]
Sure, a lot of this excitement is being thirteen years old and my friend felt the same about the early 90s as he was thirteen during Jim Lee’s X-Men, but Dark Knight Returns? Watchmen? Swamp Thing? Teen Titans? Miller on Daredevil? This list is INSANE and I’m sure I’m missing some…
1983 to 1988
DCMARVEL
- Dark Knight Returns
- Batman Year One
- Watchmen
- Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing
- Justice League by Conway and Perez
- Teen Titans by Marc and George
- Crisis on Infinite Earths
- Ronin
- Cary Bates and Curt Swan Superman
- Cary Bates Superboy
- Man of Steel
- John Byrne’s 3 Superman relaunch books
- Wolfman and Ordway on Superman
- Perez on Wonder Woman
- All Star Squadron by Thomas and Ordway
- Wein and Gibbons on Green Lantern
- Mike Barr and Alan Davis on Batman
- Deadman by Helfer and Garcia Lopez
- Animal Man
- Hellblazer
- Giffen and DeMatties Justice League
- Mike Baron’s Flash
- Steve Englehart’s Green Lantern
- Chaykin’s Shadow
- Wagner and Grant’s Batman
- Conway and Newton on Batman
- Conway and Gene Colan on Detective
- Alan Moore’s Vigilante
- Alan Moore’s Superman stories
- Hawkworld by Tim Truman
- Legionaires 3
- Levitz and Giffen Legion of Super-Heroes
- Batman Killing Joke
- Ambush Bug
- Legends by Wein and Byrne
- Batman: A Death in the Family
- Camelot 3000
- DC Comics Presents
- Superboy
- Atari Force
- Jack Kirby’s Super-Powers
- Black Orchid
- Firestorm by Conway and Broderick
- Aquaman by Pozner
- Blackhawk by Chaykin
- Wolfman and Gil Kane on Action Comics
Plus over in the UK…
- Miller’s Daredevil
- Denny O’Neil’s Daredevil
- Walt Simonson’s Thor
- Peter David’s Hulk
- Denny O’Neil’s Iron Man
- Roger Stern’s Spidey
- Kraven’s Last hunt
- Byrne’s Fantastic Four
- Claremont’s X-Men run
- Elektra Assassin
- God Loves, Man Kills
- Moebius Silver Surfer
- Secret Wars
- Massively successful Secret Wars 2
- Claremont and Miller’s Wolverine
- The Punisher by Zeck
- Barry Windsor Smith’s Machine Man
- Alpha Flight
- Sienkiewicz New Mutants
- Sienkiewicz Daredevil Love and War
Fifty-Two issues of 2000AD every year with Wagner and Grant on Dredd, Pat, Bisley and Glen in Slaine, Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell on Zenith, ABC Warriors, Halo Jones, etc etc etc.
Oh and WARRIOR, featuring Alan Moore’s V For Vendetta among the greatest comic-strips of all time.
INDIE COMICS[...]
- Miracleman
- V For Vendetta
- Love and Rockets
- Maus
- Mister X
- Video Jack
- Grendel
- American Flagg
- Cerebus
- Badger
- Grimjack
- Nexus
- Turtles
- Eisner’s Spirit
- Akira
- Violent Cases
- Dreadstar
- Groo
- Lone Wolf and Cub
- Flaming Carrot
- The Rocketeer
What I love about this is what there wasn’t much a couple of years before. Marvel and DC were both pretty sluggish and the indie scene almost non-existent. But then it all went nuts.. All these brilliant people appeared. I don’t just say this to ask you what YOUR favourite era of comic-books is, though I really am curious and will have a look at our Facebook page to see your answers. But I’m also suggesting you become the next new brilliant creators. Most of the people I mentioned on that list weren’t working in comics just a couple of years before, but between 83 and 88 they were living their best life and doing work so great I’m writing about it now.
Give it a try. Go have fun and get some new blood in the industry. It is honestly the best job ever.
Love,
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