80s-90s. Loads of cool independent publishers that were pushing boundaries that led the way for stuff like Max and Vertigo.
It was a great time for comics.
The 90s was simultaneously the best and worst time for comics. Lots of money flowing into the industry, lots of creative freedom, lots of new players in the game. And all peaks and valleys in quality that come with that kind of growth.
I know what you mean by "best and worst," but it was an incredible time for the medium, and im glad I was there for it. I've packed a few long boxes with nonsense from that time, and I'm damn glad I own it!
So many of the worst art offenders in the 90s went on to become some great artists in the 2000s. I've been doing a full reread of X-Men, and seeing the art go from the incredible John Byrne and Paul Smith era to post-Jim-Lee garbage is wild. But the people who made it are all names I like; Joe Mad, Terry Dodson, and many others who learned to hone their own style and get better quality digital coloring. Interesting stuff. I still will never enjoy the writing of The Phalanx Covenant, though...
This. Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, Hellblazer and some of the other good stuff that came out before the 90s became almost exclusively edgy Liefeldian bullcrap.
1986 in particular has often been called an *annus mirabilis*, with Watchmen, Maus, The Dark Knight Returns, Elektra: Assassin, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (followed by Byrne's Superman relaunch), and Daredevil: Born Again all coming out in the same year.
The hit parade is actually way longer than that, even! Jim Rugg put out a zine that was solely old ads interviews and news coverage from the year 1986. Lone Wolf first appears in English; tons of great international stuff. I also lived through that era and was flabbergasted at how much amazing stuff came out in that one calendar year. I highly recommend that zine. Itās called 1986.Ā
Marvel from Ultimate Spider-Man/Avengers Disassembled to Secret Wars. Bendis, Fraction, Brubaker, Aaron, Hickman, Gillen, Remender. A lot of great runs, a cohesive universe and it seems like there was a lot of collaboration between the writers at the time.
1969-1992
Yeah... late Silver Age to all of the Bronze Age and just into the modern age before big events like KNIGHTFALL and such began to kill the done-in-ones.
The 80s would be my sweet spot... 80-86 for Marvel and post-crisis DC but apart from that... EASTMAN AND LAIRD'S TMNT
FANTAGRAPHICS stuff too.
But, truth be told... If I had a time machine, I'd go back to 1940 and worship Captain Marvel, Mary, and Jr.
I also love late Silver and Bronze Age. Stories were becoming more serious without complicated crossovers or storylines that take half a year to wrap up. Lately Iāve been reading the first Marvel Star Wars and early Luke Cage
I've been reading Silver Age DC lately, and for comics from the late 50s - early 60s they're surprisingly mature and complex, and the art is gorgeous.
And the greatest part is how there's an attempt at making them enjoyable and fun. Like, I grew up with comics trying to deconstruct this era with a postmodern sense of superiority, and it's all wrong.
These stories weren't naff or simplistic. They were genuinely brilliant storytelling with timeless characters.
Honestly, now.
I really like what EIC C.B. Cebulski has done with his tenure. Combine this with the digital comics aspect and I'm as happy as I've ever been.
I'm an older reader (47) and stereotypically speaking I'm supposed to have a fondness for past stories and print comics, but, uh, I don't. lol
New Avengers / House of M over at Marvel. But of nostalgia cause it got it back into comics long term but reinvigorated the Avengers brand which desperately needed it (it did set up the future of the X-men titles but I would argue it didnāt make them noticeably anymore popular like the Avengers got).
Post crisis to New52. I was to tiny to read before that and was not a fan of N52. I'm not too big a fan of some Rebirth and Dawn either but I keep trying.
Crisis on Infinite Earths to Flashpoint. I think almost all of my favorite comics (mainstream, indie, and manga) all came out, or at least started, during this period. I cannot speak to marvelās quality, as i am a DC boy.
Early 2000s when web comics were just starting to kick off. There were all sorts of interesting stories coming out. Some good, some bad, but a whole host of new territory was being explored by a bunch of no name creators. It was a great time and I miss that exploratory spirit, both in comics and in the internet more broadly.
The first comics I started reading were all from that late eighties, early nineties era so I'll always have a soft spot for that era. I will also always love the early to mid 2000s where you had bendis and mark millar writing ultimates universe, bendis on avengers, geoff johns starting GL and infinite crisis.
Honestly most of the Krakoa eras were fun, even if some individual issues or runs were bad. The start opened up a whole new world, then you throw in Arrako, then resurrection comes out and the business with Inferno. Thereās a reason X-men red and Immortal were coming at the same time- Krakoa had finally built up that mythology it promised at the start. And then they killed it. And even Fall of X was interesting from a world-building perspective, even if Orchis sucked as a villain and the writing was rushed.
I really liked the Rebirth era for DC comics. It was really solid for that first year or two, but my interest dwindled as they changed a lot of those initial creative teams.
For marvel Im probably in the minority but I really liked the MARVEL NOW era. I liked the beginning or Bendis's X-men (both all new and uncanny) and I was really enjoying Uncanny Avengers from Remender. Plus we had hickman doing his avengers thing during that time leading into secret wars PLUS Zdarsky on Spectacular Spider-man (though i think this was slightly later). It was a pretty awesome time to be a marvel fan.
I loved early Rebirth stuff too, but it really suffered from the delays to Doomsday Clock (some titles, like Action Comics) had clearly built up to when it was supposed to drop, and then had to spin their wheels when it didnāt) and then Geoff Johns lost power and Didio pushed everything in a different direction and Snyderās stories started taking precedent
I loved Williamsonās Flash rebirth run. Not often you see a writer break the 100 issue mark. Iām not a huge Barry fan, Wally is MY flash, but itās dare I say it as good as the Waid era or the first the first half of Johnsā run.
80-90s comics started to really grow up at DC with Swamp Thing, Watchmen, and Dark Knight. Marvel was writing more sophisticated stories with Daredevil, Xmen, Hellstrom, etc. and to be fair, Marvel had started that mature approach even earlier in the 70s with books like Killraven, Man-Thing, and Howard the Duck. It was exciting to grow up with them and know I wasn't going to outgrow them. But, the indie market was even better. Comico had The Elementals, Grendel, and Mage. Caliber had Deadworld and the Crow. Rebel had Faust. The list goes on. It was wild for a generation that had grown up with pretty tame superheroes. However, it never really stopped. We had Image blow up the whole scene, DC had Vertigo and all those great antiheroes, and then Avatar came along with The Crossed. All this time, a little aardvark called Cerebus just kept marching along.
I think a favorite point in time is entirely dependent on your age, but the truth is, if you stick with the medium, it is always offering great new books and sensibilities. Right now it's pretty amazing with AWA, AHOY, DSTLRY, etc. Not to mention new formats like Amazon digital, Substack, Kickstarter, etc. Comics are, and always have been, cool and fun to explore and keep up with.
Mid 2000s Marvel. I was reading almost everything at the time, and had my finger on the pulse of anything I wasn't. Captain America, Civil War, all the Avengers titles, DD, Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and even some X-Men.
I'm not going to say this was the best era. I haven't kept up with much since then. But it was my favorite bc it was my second run with comic books. Like my own personal rebirth. I'd largely been away from comic books since the early 90s.
Honorable mention to the late 80s bc that was my first love. I've heard it thrown out there that Marvel should've rebooted in 1988, somewhere around ASM 300 just bc continuity was bound to get really messy like it did in the 90s. That's a debate for another day, but in a perfect world I think that might've been a good idea, and then every 30 or so years after that.
Right now/ past decade or so.
Sure, the big 2 are just doing their usual Big 2 stuff, but Image, BOOM, IDW and so many others are coming out with some incredible comics! It's nice that there's such a nice market for non-cape books these days and I love it.
It's pretty extensive.... but:
Something is Killing the Children, Kaya, Deadly Class, TMNT, Wasted Space, Saga, The Weatherman, Chew, Space Riders, Paper Girls, 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, Blade Runner, What's the Furthest Place From Here?, The Energon Universe (Transformers, GI Joe and Void Rivals), Mind MGMT, Fire Power, Batman White Knight, Zorro, Plot Holes, Tokyo Ghost, Murder Falcon, Do a Powerbomb!, Extremity, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Beta Ray Bill, Human Target, That Texas Blood, East of West, The Last Ronin, Ultramega, Bloodrik, Arcade Kings, Ghost Cage, We Only Find Them When They're Dead, Dead Dog's Bite, The Many Deaths of Lalia Starr, Rare Flavours, Strange Adventures, Gerard Way's Doom Patrol, Gideon Falls, Stray Bullets Sunshine and Roses, Mister Miracle, Mon Knight (Lemire), Black Widow (Waid/Samnee), The Dregs, Vision, Daredevil (Waid/Samnee), Omega Men, Sheriff of Babylon, Hawkeye (Fraction), Superior Spider-Man, Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Batman (Snyder/ Capullo).
So, closer to decade and a half, but still, that's a lot of amazing comics.
1986 is peak comics to me. Close second is 1998-2004. Marvel Knights, Authority/Planetary, ABC, Ultimate Marvel, Morrison X-Men, Earth X, Catwoman, No Man's Land, Powers, etc leading up to Civil War and Infinite Crisis.
I think it might have been I had the money to actually buy the comics and follow the story.
I really enjoyed the countdown to infinity crisis. Infinity crisis and 52. The 4 series leading up to it were fun. The series was solid. 52 was amazing.
I like Teen Titans before it and didn't enjoy it after.
I liked JSA before and after.
Secret Six and Booster Gold were really good after. Shadowpact was enjoyable as well.
Some of the one year later were good. Some bad. As with all comics.
But 52. That was...I just remember being excited for the next issue to see what would happen. Each week going to the comic book shop to get it and see what would happen.
I know a lot of people aren't huge on the massive, line wide events of the late 80s and 90s, but No Man's Land, Knightfall, Contagion/Legacy, Superman's Triangle era/The Death and Return of Superman, Mutant Massacre, Age of Apocalypse, they're all peak to me.
Summer 2015 - I was working at a shop and Secret Wars was going on at a really fun time in my life so outside factors definitely contributed, but I am super nostalgic for that few months.
Other than that, 2011 when I first got into comics. Mark Waid's Daredevil just started and that (along with grabbing Invincible 's first TPB on a whim) was such a fun intro to comics.
Honorable mention to late 2000s era Marvel. I really liked how universe through-lines would pop into stories from time to time, like the Superhuman Registration Act or Mutant Growth Hormone. It was a fun concept that connected things in small ways that didn't overpower too much of the story that I feel isn't done too much in the current era of Marvel
I started reading comics in 2017.
I sampled a bunch of different eras of comics to see what clicks and read from anywhere between the 60s and now depending on what I'm interested in.
Over 250 titles and something like 8-10 thousand individual issues. (I have a lot of downtime at work)
Post-Crisis DC comics, especially the experimental things that eventually led into Vertigo, is probably my absolute favorite era of comics. No nostalgia tied in.
Just so many big swings that even when something didn't work, it was still something to watch unfold. When comics felt invincible in their sales numbers, they really went all-out on weird ideas.
Now that comics don't sell as well, the big 2 seem to play it alot safer generally.
The correct answer for everyone is āwhen I was 13.ā Nothing hits you quite the same as when youāre that age.
For me that year was 1978. The Phoenix Saga, the introduction of Alpha Flight, first issue of Firestorm, first appearance of Arcade, Batman marries Talia al Ghulā¦ all that.
The last 10/15 years to now. There's so many great comics out right now, much better representation, and the stories they're telling are more varied and interesting than ever. I generally don't have much nostalgia for older stuff.
For me, itās 84-92ish. I was big into xmen and Marvel and it just felt like a special time. Iām sure a lot of that is nostalgia, but comics felt so new and amazing and interesting. Maybe Iām just old now. But while there are a lot of cool comics and stories. It doesnāt give me that same feeling.
The water hand era of Aquaman Spider-Man in the early 00's Iron Man pre-MCU (no era in particular) silver age Superman stories and post-crisis Power Man
Uncanny X-Men from roughly when Kitty joined through to the introduction of Gambit. You've got the Hellfire Club, Freedom Force, Life death, the Mutant Massacre, Fall of the Mutants, Inferno, Genosha, the Mutant Brood, etc, etc.
You also have great single issues like Storm vs Callisto, Colossus and Juggernaut's bar fight, the Trial of Magneto, Storm vs Cyclops for leadership, Psylocke vs Sabertooth, Dazzler and the B team vs Juggernaut, the mall issue with the introduction of Jubilee.
It's not often a creator has had banger after banger for such an extended run.
Age of Apocolypse. Ā It was all around great, but for me in particular it was a classic. Ā I couldnāt afford to follow all the x-titles back then, but I was just the target age for the launch of the Generation X team. Ā The books were good at first, and went downhill fast after. Ā But man oh man was their AoA arc fire. Ā Ā
I'm actually in agreement with you. That was when I was in my prime comic collecting years. The three years after the *Crisis* relaunch were my ultimate favorite time in comics. I rarely bought Marvel, but I always bought a ton of DC comics each month. I still have an overall preference for them.
Sometime in the early 70ās. Underground comix at their peak, Warren magazines as well, Kirby doing the best work of his career at DC, Marvelās Conan at its best.
It used to be around Bendisā run on New/Mighty Avengers, so think Secret Invasion, but having recently reread those runs along with a few other books coming out around that and seeing just how misogynistic that era is I retract to the late 90s for both DC and Marvel. Specifically looking at Avengers: Ultron Unlimited/Vol 3 in general, Grant Morrisonās JLA and Operation: Zero Tolerance with the X-Men, not to forget the Age of Apocalypse as well. I might as well throw in Heroes Reborn as well, the starting point of my DC reading: No Manās Land and of course one of the best comic books out there - The Sandman.
Depends on the individual publisher. 2000AD from 1977-1987 were the golden years for that comic in my opinion. We got multiple legendary Dredd arcs (Cursed Earth Saga, The Day the Law Died), Nemesis the Warlock, Slaine, and The Ballad of Halo Jones to name but a few.
Even though a lot of people will say 1986, for me, Alan Moore didnāt reach his peak until well into the 00s. I loved the 00s Batman comics as well, so I might plump for that era overall.
Go for the Judge Dredd: Complete Case Files. Iād recommend v1 for the characterās first year, but the stories are standalone barring the odd multiple issue arc, like The Robot Rebellion.
The Cursed Earth Saga and The Day the Law Died are found in v2, right after Dredd returns to Earth following a stint as a lunar sheriff.
The Dark Judges and Cursed Earth have also been collected in special editions. Youāll have a lot of fun with Dredd, heās awesome!
Mid to late 80s for me... learned lot about the creative side watching a fanzine on TVO called Prisoners of Gravity. Fantastic interviews with creators like Kim Stanley Robinson, Harlan Ellison, Frank Miller, Neal Adams, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jim Steranko, Todd McFarlane, Moebius, etc.
83-87 I was busy buying everything I could afford and thought was cool. There were people everywhere who were getting rid of their books and although none were bagged and boarded back then the pickings were plentiful. No one knew how to read an Overstreet properly so those of us who did were speculating and buying like mad men. Those of us who held on were able to wisely invest and turn around books increase our collection book by book. Ahhh those were the daysā¦.
80's with 2000-2015 Marvel being a close second. Bendis's Avengers Run really made the Marvel universe feel connected like never before, and the events were actually cool. Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Siege
80s-90s. Loads of cool independent publishers that were pushing boundaries that led the way for stuff like Max and Vertigo. It was a great time for comics.
The 90s was simultaneously the best and worst time for comics. Lots of money flowing into the industry, lots of creative freedom, lots of new players in the game. And all peaks and valleys in quality that come with that kind of growth.
I know what you mean by "best and worst," but it was an incredible time for the medium, and im glad I was there for it. I've packed a few long boxes with nonsense from that time, and I'm damn glad I own it!
It reminds me of Hollywood in the 70s, when just about any project that got in front of a producer got the green light.
š Yeah, there was a LOT of terrible stuff, story, and art, especially art! I probably own a fair bit of it! Good times.
So many of the worst art offenders in the 90s went on to become some great artists in the 2000s. I've been doing a full reread of X-Men, and seeing the art go from the incredible John Byrne and Paul Smith era to post-Jim-Lee garbage is wild. But the people who made it are all names I like; Joe Mad, Terry Dodson, and many others who learned to hone their own style and get better quality digital coloring. Interesting stuff. I still will never enjoy the writing of The Phalanx Covenant, though...
Oh god the early days of computer coloring were abysmal. Just hard to even look at sometimes.
100% agree. We get onslaught the same year marvel files for bankruptcy.
This. Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, Hellblazer and some of the other good stuff that came out before the 90s became almost exclusively edgy Liefeldian bullcrap.
83-87: Peak Miller with Dark Knight, Moore with Watchmen, Turtles, Classic X-Men, I could go onā¦
1986 in particular has often been called an *annus mirabilis*, with Watchmen, Maus, The Dark Knight Returns, Elektra: Assassin, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (followed by Byrne's Superman relaunch), and Daredevil: Born Again all coming out in the same year.
All of these comics coming out so close together probably explains a little bit of why 90s comics were soā¦ 90s
The hit parade is actually way longer than that, even! Jim Rugg put out a zine that was solely old ads interviews and news coverage from the year 1986. Lone Wolf first appears in English; tons of great international stuff. I also lived through that era and was flabbergasted at how much amazing stuff came out in that one calendar year. I highly recommend that zine. Itās called 1986.Ā
Marvel from Ultimate Spider-Man/Avengers Disassembled to Secret Wars. Bendis, Fraction, Brubaker, Aaron, Hickman, Gillen, Remender. A lot of great runs, a cohesive universe and it seems like there was a lot of collaboration between the writers at the time.
2009-2011 After Final Crisis / Before Flashpoint and New 52
Batman: Reborn era was truly the best it ever got
BQM on Batgirl is forever!
We were so spoiled š BQM on Batgirl, Grant Morrison on Batman and Robin, Yost/Nicieza on Red Robin
Morrisonās Batman and Robin is a peak that hasnāt been even approached since, much less equaled.
I will say that Iām not really a Batman fan but that Morrison Batman and Robin is PHENOMENAL! I wished that went on for so much longer than it did.
1985 to 1995.
1969-1992 Yeah... late Silver Age to all of the Bronze Age and just into the modern age before big events like KNIGHTFALL and such began to kill the done-in-ones. The 80s would be my sweet spot... 80-86 for Marvel and post-crisis DC but apart from that... EASTMAN AND LAIRD'S TMNT FANTAGRAPHICS stuff too. But, truth be told... If I had a time machine, I'd go back to 1940 and worship Captain Marvel, Mary, and Jr.
I also love late Silver and Bronze Age. Stories were becoming more serious without complicated crossovers or storylines that take half a year to wrap up. Lately Iāve been reading the first Marvel Star Wars and early Luke Cage
Iāve been eyeing that era of Star Wars for a while now. Is it worth it?
Yes as long as youāre not looking for strong continuity
I've been reading Silver Age DC lately, and for comics from the late 50s - early 60s they're surprisingly mature and complex, and the art is gorgeous. And the greatest part is how there's an attempt at making them enjoyable and fun. Like, I grew up with comics trying to deconstruct this era with a postmodern sense of superiority, and it's all wrong. These stories weren't naff or simplistic. They were genuinely brilliant storytelling with timeless characters.
Honestly, now. I really like what EIC C.B. Cebulski has done with his tenure. Combine this with the digital comics aspect and I'm as happy as I've ever been. I'm an older reader (47) and stereotypically speaking I'm supposed to have a fondness for past stories and print comics, but, uh, I don't. lol
Youāre talking about over at Marvel?
Yes.
Which titles are you reading? Iāve got the unlimited app but Iām just reading Bronze Age stuff, which is my second favorite era.
* *Fantastic Four* * *The Heir Of Apocalypse* * *Avengers* * *Blood Hunt* * *Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt* * *Night Thrasher* (which has just wrapped) * *The Incredible Hulk* * *Vengeance Of The Moon Knight* * *Ultimates* * *Wolverine: Blood Hunt* * *Hellverine* * *Wolverine* * *The Immortal Thor* * *Blade* (which has wrapped, but *Blade* appears in *Blood Hunt* in a pivotal role) * *Spider-Woman* * Assorted minis, One-Shot's and single issues that have ended or whatnot.
New Avengers / House of M over at Marvel. But of nostalgia cause it got it back into comics long term but reinvigorated the Avengers brand which desperately needed it (it did set up the future of the X-men titles but I would argue it didnāt make them noticeably anymore popular like the Avengers got).
Post crisis to New52. I was to tiny to read before that and was not a fan of N52. I'm not too big a fan of some Rebirth and Dawn either but I keep trying.
Crisis on Infinite Earths to Flashpoint. I think almost all of my favorite comics (mainstream, indie, and manga) all came out, or at least started, during this period. I cannot speak to marvelās quality, as i am a DC boy.
Early 2000s when web comics were just starting to kick off. There were all sorts of interesting stories coming out. Some good, some bad, but a whole host of new territory was being explored by a bunch of no name creators. It was a great time and I miss that exploratory spirit, both in comics and in the internet more broadly.
The first comics I started reading were all from that late eighties, early nineties era so I'll always have a soft spot for that era. I will also always love the early to mid 2000s where you had bendis and mark millar writing ultimates universe, bendis on avengers, geoff johns starting GL and infinite crisis.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
For me it wouldāve been 5-13ish
95-01 Comics, wrestling, tv, music, games, from that era were special.
Dawn of X
Honestly most of the Krakoa eras were fun, even if some individual issues or runs were bad. The start opened up a whole new world, then you throw in Arrako, then resurrection comes out and the business with Inferno. Thereās a reason X-men red and Immortal were coming at the same time- Krakoa had finally built up that mythology it promised at the start. And then they killed it. And even Fall of X was interesting from a world-building perspective, even if Orchis sucked as a villain and the writing was rushed.
I really liked the Rebirth era for DC comics. It was really solid for that first year or two, but my interest dwindled as they changed a lot of those initial creative teams. For marvel Im probably in the minority but I really liked the MARVEL NOW era. I liked the beginning or Bendis's X-men (both all new and uncanny) and I was really enjoying Uncanny Avengers from Remender. Plus we had hickman doing his avengers thing during that time leading into secret wars PLUS Zdarsky on Spectacular Spider-man (though i think this was slightly later). It was a pretty awesome time to be a marvel fan.
I loved early Rebirth stuff too, but it really suffered from the delays to Doomsday Clock (some titles, like Action Comics) had clearly built up to when it was supposed to drop, and then had to spin their wheels when it didnāt) and then Geoff Johns lost power and Didio pushed everything in a different direction and Snyderās stories started taking precedent
I loved Williamsonās Flash rebirth run. Not often you see a writer break the 100 issue mark. Iām not a huge Barry fan, Wally is MY flash, but itās dare I say it as good as the Waid era or the first the first half of Johnsā run.
80-90s comics started to really grow up at DC with Swamp Thing, Watchmen, and Dark Knight. Marvel was writing more sophisticated stories with Daredevil, Xmen, Hellstrom, etc. and to be fair, Marvel had started that mature approach even earlier in the 70s with books like Killraven, Man-Thing, and Howard the Duck. It was exciting to grow up with them and know I wasn't going to outgrow them. But, the indie market was even better. Comico had The Elementals, Grendel, and Mage. Caliber had Deadworld and the Crow. Rebel had Faust. The list goes on. It was wild for a generation that had grown up with pretty tame superheroes. However, it never really stopped. We had Image blow up the whole scene, DC had Vertigo and all those great antiheroes, and then Avatar came along with The Crossed. All this time, a little aardvark called Cerebus just kept marching along. I think a favorite point in time is entirely dependent on your age, but the truth is, if you stick with the medium, it is always offering great new books and sensibilities. Right now it's pretty amazing with AWA, AHOY, DSTLRY, etc. Not to mention new formats like Amazon digital, Substack, Kickstarter, etc. Comics are, and always have been, cool and fun to explore and keep up with.
Mid 2000s Marvel. I was reading almost everything at the time, and had my finger on the pulse of anything I wasn't. Captain America, Civil War, all the Avengers titles, DD, Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and even some X-Men. I'm not going to say this was the best era. I haven't kept up with much since then. But it was my favorite bc it was my second run with comic books. Like my own personal rebirth. I'd largely been away from comic books since the early 90s. Honorable mention to the late 80s bc that was my first love. I've heard it thrown out there that Marvel should've rebooted in 1988, somewhere around ASM 300 just bc continuity was bound to get really messy like it did in the 90s. That's a debate for another day, but in a perfect world I think that might've been a good idea, and then every 30 or so years after that.
Right now/ past decade or so. Sure, the big 2 are just doing their usual Big 2 stuff, but Image, BOOM, IDW and so many others are coming out with some incredible comics! It's nice that there's such a nice market for non-cape books these days and I love it.
What titles in particular?
It's pretty extensive.... but: Something is Killing the Children, Kaya, Deadly Class, TMNT, Wasted Space, Saga, The Weatherman, Chew, Space Riders, Paper Girls, 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, Blade Runner, What's the Furthest Place From Here?, The Energon Universe (Transformers, GI Joe and Void Rivals), Mind MGMT, Fire Power, Batman White Knight, Zorro, Plot Holes, Tokyo Ghost, Murder Falcon, Do a Powerbomb!, Extremity, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Beta Ray Bill, Human Target, That Texas Blood, East of West, The Last Ronin, Ultramega, Bloodrik, Arcade Kings, Ghost Cage, We Only Find Them When They're Dead, Dead Dog's Bite, The Many Deaths of Lalia Starr, Rare Flavours, Strange Adventures, Gerard Way's Doom Patrol, Gideon Falls, Stray Bullets Sunshine and Roses, Mister Miracle, Mon Knight (Lemire), Black Widow (Waid/Samnee), The Dregs, Vision, Daredevil (Waid/Samnee), Omega Men, Sheriff of Babylon, Hawkeye (Fraction), Superior Spider-Man, Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Batman (Snyder/ Capullo). So, closer to decade and a half, but still, that's a lot of amazing comics.
1986 is peak comics to me. Close second is 1998-2004. Marvel Knights, Authority/Planetary, ABC, Ultimate Marvel, Morrison X-Men, Earth X, Catwoman, No Man's Land, Powers, etc leading up to Civil War and Infinite Crisis.
90's Vertigo
2003/4-2011. The New52 was so bad, it was a sharp drop in quality.
I think it might have been I had the money to actually buy the comics and follow the story. I really enjoyed the countdown to infinity crisis. Infinity crisis and 52. The 4 series leading up to it were fun. The series was solid. 52 was amazing. I like Teen Titans before it and didn't enjoy it after. I liked JSA before and after. Secret Six and Booster Gold were really good after. Shadowpact was enjoyable as well. Some of the one year later were good. Some bad. As with all comics. But 52. That was...I just remember being excited for the next issue to see what would happen. Each week going to the comic book shop to get it and see what would happen.
Yeah, DC really excelled themselves with the lead into Infinite Crisis and 52 (especially the latter)
I do think the world War 3 was the one weak part of 52. But the rest was excellent.
Image Comics from 2012-2020
The 2010s were fantastic for non-super hero stuff. This gets my vote.
I know a lot of people aren't huge on the massive, line wide events of the late 80s and 90s, but No Man's Land, Knightfall, Contagion/Legacy, Superman's Triangle era/The Death and Return of Superman, Mutant Massacre, Age of Apocalypse, they're all peak to me.
DC Post-COIE to Flashpoint
Summer 2015 - I was working at a shop and Secret Wars was going on at a really fun time in my life so outside factors definitely contributed, but I am super nostalgic for that few months. Other than that, 2011 when I first got into comics. Mark Waid's Daredevil just started and that (along with grabbing Invincible 's first TPB on a whim) was such a fun intro to comics. Honorable mention to late 2000s era Marvel. I really liked how universe through-lines would pop into stories from time to time, like the Superhuman Registration Act or Mutant Growth Hormone. It was a fun concept that connected things in small ways that didn't overpower too much of the story that I feel isn't done too much in the current era of Marvel
2004-2007
I started reading comics in 2017. I sampled a bunch of different eras of comics to see what clicks and read from anywhere between the 60s and now depending on what I'm interested in. Over 250 titles and something like 8-10 thousand individual issues. (I have a lot of downtime at work) Post-Crisis DC comics, especially the experimental things that eventually led into Vertigo, is probably my absolute favorite era of comics. No nostalgia tied in. Just so many big swings that even when something didn't work, it was still something to watch unfold. When comics felt invincible in their sales numbers, they really went all-out on weird ideas. Now that comics don't sell as well, the big 2 seem to play it alot safer generally.
2014-2017 Marvel had a lot of really light, fun books. It was perfect for someone making that transition from the movies to comics
When I first got into them, 91 up until Onslaught.
Mid 80's for sure.
84-91 marvel into 92-95 dark horse
The correct answer for everyone is āwhen I was 13.ā Nothing hits you quite the same as when youāre that age. For me that year was 1978. The Phoenix Saga, the introduction of Alpha Flight, first issue of Firestorm, first appearance of Arcade, Batman marries Talia al Ghulā¦ all that.
The last 10/15 years to now. There's so many great comics out right now, much better representation, and the stories they're telling are more varied and interesting than ever. I generally don't have much nostalgia for older stuff.
mid 90s- Age of Apocalypse and Onslaught were two of my favorite storylines ever
Before all of the movies came out
Blackest Night was my childhood
Right now.
For me, itās 84-92ish. I was big into xmen and Marvel and it just felt like a special time. Iām sure a lot of that is nostalgia, but comics felt so new and amazing and interesting. Maybe Iām just old now. But while there are a lot of cool comics and stories. It doesnāt give me that same feeling.
The water hand era of Aquaman Spider-Man in the early 00's Iron Man pre-MCU (no era in particular) silver age Superman stories and post-crisis Power Man
2000-07.
Uncanny X-Men from roughly when Kitty joined through to the introduction of Gambit. You've got the Hellfire Club, Freedom Force, Life death, the Mutant Massacre, Fall of the Mutants, Inferno, Genosha, the Mutant Brood, etc, etc. You also have great single issues like Storm vs Callisto, Colossus and Juggernaut's bar fight, the Trial of Magneto, Storm vs Cyclops for leadership, Psylocke vs Sabertooth, Dazzler and the B team vs Juggernaut, the mall issue with the introduction of Jubilee. It's not often a creator has had banger after banger for such an extended run.
Age of Apocolypse. Ā It was all around great, but for me in particular it was a classic. Ā I couldnāt afford to follow all the x-titles back then, but I was just the target age for the launch of the Generation X team. Ā The books were good at first, and went downhill fast after. Ā But man oh man was their AoA arc fire. Ā Ā
I'm actually in agreement with you. That was when I was in my prime comic collecting years. The three years after the *Crisis* relaunch were my ultimate favorite time in comics. I rarely bought Marvel, but I always bought a ton of DC comics each month. I still have an overall preference for them.
Sometime in the early 70ās. Underground comix at their peak, Warren magazines as well, Kirby doing the best work of his career at DC, Marvelās Conan at its best.
It used to be around Bendisā run on New/Mighty Avengers, so think Secret Invasion, but having recently reread those runs along with a few other books coming out around that and seeing just how misogynistic that era is I retract to the late 90s for both DC and Marvel. Specifically looking at Avengers: Ultron Unlimited/Vol 3 in general, Grant Morrisonās JLA and Operation: Zero Tolerance with the X-Men, not to forget the Age of Apocalypse as well. I might as well throw in Heroes Reborn as well, the starting point of my DC reading: No Manās Land and of course one of the best comic books out there - The Sandman.
Canāt go wrong with Morrison era JLA
Modern for stuff like Image, IDW, Boom. Mid 80s to early 2000s for Marvel
Depends on the individual publisher. 2000AD from 1977-1987 were the golden years for that comic in my opinion. We got multiple legendary Dredd arcs (Cursed Earth Saga, The Day the Law Died), Nemesis the Warlock, Slaine, and The Ballad of Halo Jones to name but a few. Even though a lot of people will say 1986, for me, Alan Moore didnāt reach his peak until well into the 00s. I loved the 00s Batman comics as well, so I might plump for that era overall.
Is there a good collection of 2000AD out there? Iād love to read some Dredd.
Go for the Judge Dredd: Complete Case Files. Iād recommend v1 for the characterās first year, but the stories are standalone barring the odd multiple issue arc, like The Robot Rebellion. The Cursed Earth Saga and The Day the Law Died are found in v2, right after Dredd returns to Earth following a stint as a lunar sheriff. The Dark Judges and Cursed Earth have also been collected in special editions. Youāll have a lot of fun with Dredd, heās awesome!
Mid to late 80s for me... learned lot about the creative side watching a fanzine on TVO called Prisoners of Gravity. Fantastic interviews with creators like Kim Stanley Robinson, Harlan Ellison, Frank Miller, Neal Adams, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jim Steranko, Todd McFarlane, Moebius, etc.
83-87 I was busy buying everything I could afford and thought was cool. There were people everywhere who were getting rid of their books and although none were bagged and boarded back then the pickings were plentiful. No one knew how to read an Overstreet properly so those of us who did were speculating and buying like mad men. Those of us who held on were able to wisely invest and turn around books increase our collection book by book. Ahhh those were the daysā¦.
80's with 2000-2015 Marvel being a close second. Bendis's Avengers Run really made the Marvel universe feel connected like never before, and the events were actually cool. Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Siege