I really like the art style of 80s comics. Are there any obvious issues or arcs I should pick up?
I know people tend to look down on some the the late 80s period, due to Marvel and DC being seen as bad empires that didn't innovate. But I quite like the 80s comics I've seen so far.
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Are you only looking for Marvel and DC?
No, actually! I like everything. Marvel and DC aren't my favourites, by any means. Anything cool, I like.
My favourite type of stuff is Heavy Metal.
In that case, read 2000AD from that era. If you REALLY want color then try to find scans of the colorized American releases of Judge Dredd and a bunch of other 2000AD series that came out in the 80s.
I'll type up some more recommendations, but give me a few minutes.
Saved! Thank you. I hope some of these are easy to get in print (although I've seen Marvel Omnibuses cost a tonne once they're OOP), might try to find some single issues if possible.
I've been reading through X-Men but mainly the original run, so it'll be good to dive into 80s.
Also check out Indie stuff by publishers like Blackthorn,Aircel,Caliber press,Eternity, First, Mirage Studios,Eclipse,Jademan,Fantagraphics,
Innovation Publishing and a bunch of others.
This dude has blogs looking though some of 80's stuff like Eclipse and Epic.
https://totaleclipse.blog/
Thanks for the blog. Indie stuff sounds great.
>Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
An old friend from university that I don't see anymore really recommended this. I think I'll have to pick it up first now.
What did Moore think of DC at this time? I know he got mad about Watchmen later.
2000AD and Epic Illustrated also
MARVEL (RUNS AND LONG ARCS):
X-Men (pretty much all of it)
New Mutants (until Claremont leaves)
Excalibur (as long as Claremont and/or Alan Davis are in the credits)
Wolverine (miniseries, and probably early ongoing)
Weapon X
Daredevil (most of #168-300, but especially when Miller is writing)
Iron Man (both Layton and Michelinie runs, but also the stuff in between to a lesser extent)
Peter David's run on Hulk
Roger Stern's run on Doctor Strange
Moon Knight volume 1
The Punisher + The Punisher War Journal
Kurt Busiek's run on Power Man and Iron Fist
Spider-Man (generally a good decade for the character, but I can particularly recommend Roger Stern's run on Amazing Spider-Man, Peter David's run on Spectacular Spider-Man, and the storyline Kraven's Last Hunt)
Avengers (as long as Roger Stern or Jim Shooter wrote it)
John Byrne's run on Fantastic Four (most of the next few years after that was pretty alright as well, especially once Walt Simonson was working on the series)
Sensational She-Hulk
Walt Simonson's Thor
Silver Surfer (pretty much any of his solo comics from the decade)
I'll post some ransom highlights in the next post. If I think of anything I forgot then I'll post those as well. Then I'll move on to DC and then indies.
MARVEL (RANDOM HIGHLIGHTS):
Hulk Annual #13 (not by Peter David, but awesome)
Armor Wars (Layton/Michelinie Iron Man story; my favorite of the character)
ALL OF MILLER'S DAREDEVIL (seriously, I cannot emphasize this enough)
Uncanny X-Men #126-128
The Dark Phoenix Saga (from X-Men)
Uncanny X-Men #143
Uncanny X-Men #170
Uncanny X-Men #186
Uncanny X-Men #198
Uncanny X-Men #205
Uncanny X-Men #214
Mutant Massacre (X-Men story)
Amazing Spider-Man #229–230
WALT SIMONSON'S THOR (another that really cannot be overstated in how great it is)
Under Siege (from Avengers)
The Punisher: Return to Big Nothing
Moon Knight #14
Moon Knight #22-23
Moon Knight #24
Moon Knight #29-30
There's plenty of others. Seriously though, Marvel had HIGH quality standards in the 80s, so you can kind of just pick anything and there are really only a few duds.
EPIC COMICS (MARVEL'S CREATOR-OWNED IMPRINT)
Groo
Alien Legion
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (started with an indie publisher as "Xenozoic Tales")
Dreadstar
Honestly, now that I think of it, there's not THAT much greatness in the imprint, but there are A LOT of things that are "good enough to be worth checking out". Just look up a list of the titles and pick something that looks interesting.
Also, READ MARVEL'S G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO. You'll be genuinely surprised at how well it holds up.
was going to mention new mutants heh
>Kurt Busiek's run on Power Man and Iron Fist
Pretty solid, but I prefer Mary Jo Duffy and Kerry Gammill's run, that's where the buddy cop relationship really gets great.
DC (RUNS AND LONG ARCS):
Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
post-Crisis Superman until right before they kill him off
Mike W. Barr's Batman and the Outsiders
Mike W. Barr's Batman
Mike W. Barr's Outsiders
Teen Titans (especially when Wolfman and Perez are both on the book)
Batman Year One (this is one of the all-time must reads of American comics)
The Dark Knight Returns (another absolute classic)
Mike Grell's run on Green Arrow
Dennis O'Neil's run on The Question
The Legion of Super-Heroes (in general I think most would agree this was their best decade)
Vigilante (the quality of this series is debated, but I liked it; maybe file this under "your mileage may vary")
Checkmate (IF you like Vigilante then it might be worth continuing into this series after you finish that one)
Suicide Squad
John Ostrander's run on Firestorm (this is a definite "your mileage may vary" comics, but I'm throwing it in because I think it tends to get overlooked)
Manhunter (another underrated series by John Ostrander)
Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man
Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol (this one gets REALLY weird, so it might not be for everybody)
Michael Fleischer's run on Jonah Hex (although its best days were early on in the run during the 70s)
George Perez's run on Wonder Woman
Flash volume 2 (you can start at the beginning or skip ahead to #30 when it starts to get a bit more consistent)
post-Crisis Hawkman / Hawkworld
post-Crisis Justice League (eventually becomes "Justice League International" and then splits into 2 books: "Justice League America" and "Justice League Europe")
DC (RANDOM HIGHLIGHTS):
Teen Titans #20
The Judas Contract (from Teen Titans [although this is more impactful if you read it in the context of the entire volume in order])
Teen Titans #38 (wouldn't hurt to read this one within the rest of the series, but it's not essential)
The Great Darkness Saga (from Legion of Super-Heroes)
The Killing Joke
Superman Annual #11 (one of the best issues ever)
Alan Moore's backup stories from Omega Man and Green Lantern (Omega Men #26+27, Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #2+3)
Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper (Batman Year One retold from Catwoman's perspective)
I probably should have also recommended post-Crisis Batman in general. And the series Secret Origins.
DC (NON-DC UNIVERSE):
Camelot 3000 (basically "the Knights of the Round Table... IN SPACE")
The Shadow Strikes (probably the best comic book based on The Shadow; I should warn that a minority of issues are preachy, but the majority that aren't are excellent)
Ronin (a wild ride that's an homage to Moebius and manga)
I'm almost certain I'm forgetting something. If I remember anything else then I'll post it later.
nice one
nice pic
love me some Iron Man
what are the good runs from the 80s?
see
>both Layton and Michelinie runs
There's an omnibus but I can't find the PDF easily, but you can just read the runs online anyway.
INDIES:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)
Scout (post-apocalyptic everything-but-the-kitchen-sink series)
Airboy (reboot of a Golden Age character)
The Rocketeer
Pigeons from Hell (DO NOT READ THE MINISERIES FROM THE 2000s BY THE SAME NAME)
Dirty Pair
Zot!
Fish Police
Ms. Tree
Grendel
Mage
Anything from First Comics is usually good to great. No publisher has ever had higher standards. But these are their best IMO:
American Flagg! (the original Howard Chaykin run on this is some of the best comics ever made)
Badger (absurdist comedy about an escaped mental patient who wears a superhero costume and has bizarre adventures)
E-Man (published by multiple publishers, but they were the ones that revived it in the first place)
Evangeline (assassin nun in space, not as goofy as it sounds)
Grimjack (long-running multiverse series)
Nexus (one of the top selling indies of the 80s; legendary tier artwork)
Jon Sable, Freelance (basically an Americanized James Bond; as entertaining as comics get)
Starslayer (swashbuckling in space; fun old school space-faring adventures)
Time2 (highly experimental duo of graphic novels; there's supposed to be an omnibus including a third volume, but who knows if it'll ever even come out)
Whisper (underrated ninja shenanigans)
And this isn't from First, but I forgot to mention Mister X. I promise you have never seen or read anything like it.
Also forgot about The Maze Agency, a great whodunit series with top tier art.
MANGA AND EUROPEAN:
2000AD in general, but especially Judge Dredd, Nemesis the Warlock, Strontium Dog, Robo Hunter, ABC Warriors, Rogue Trooper, and anything by Alan Moore
Appleseed
Akira
Lone Wolf & Cub (this might have been in the 70s, but regardless)
Just read anything and everything Michael Golden drew, he is THE 80's comic book artist. Art Adams, Todd McFarlane, J. Scott Campbell, Jim Lee and Marc Silvestri all owe their styles to him and the work he did for Marvel and DC on various books throughout the 80's. He only did consistent runs on Micronauts and The 'Nam, but he did plenty of fill-in issues and specials on Batman, Marvel Fanfare, and Doctor Strange that are all some of the best comic artwork of the 80's.
More Michael Golden, from Marvel Fanfare #47
I miss the 80s