Vintage

[paper]

What are your favorite "retro comics"? Let's say anything pre-70s, though I don't want to put a cap on it. I keep coming across DC archive collections on Amazon, and the artwork really appeals to me, but I have no idea what kind of writing I can expect.

If you're familiar with Herge and his Tintin series, I'm interested in something with a similar tone. Fantastic adventures with interesting characters. Even if they're somewhat naive. Swashbuckling romance. Think Rocketeer.

Has anyone read "Enemy Ace"? Ennis did an update of it a few years back. I haven't read either, but it looks interesting. Conflicted nazi fighter pilot racking up kills and questioning Hitler.

[acomicbookgirl]

retro? My only retro purchase is a Brave and the Bold Issue with Batman and Wonder Woman. there's a storyline where she changed her costume which I will gradually collect again eventually..

[paper]

Yeah, I didn't know how to phrase it. I guess I'm just saying...great comics written prior to the 70s or 80s that aren't really hokey Super Friends kind of stories.

[acomicbookgirl]

Oh.. I still haven't read the stack of comics I got from a co-worker..

[mastap]

I'm pretty sure this isn't pre-70's but those kirby issues of 'Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen' are GOLD, seriosly, you saw that 80 page giant Jimmy Olsen reprint in the solicits today right? Well buy it! It'll give you a taste of that Awsome run.

[mikegraham6]

you know what? im not really that big of a fan of retro comics. i've tried to get into older issues and they just never click. I can appreciate the art and storytelling in them, but they don't entertain me. I loved the older stuff when i was a kid, they were more simplified back then, but the reason i got back into comics a few years ago is because they grew up and the stories were more mature. They didn't feel like they were written for kids anymore and those retro book do.
that's not to say i've given up on pre-80s books, but they have to really wow me to warrant any kind of praise.

[luthor]

Older comics are a lot like cheesy action flicks, sometimes you have to turn your brain off and just enjoy it without thinking about it.

If you dig sword and sorcery stuff, try the old Roy Thomas Conan books. Jack Cole's run on Plastic Man is supposedly fantastic(I've never read it though). Again, I've never read it, but I've never heard anyone say anything bad about Eisner's Spirit books. I've seen an issue or two(online) of the old Captain Marvel/Whiz comics and they can best be described as being cute enough to read(but you really need to turn your mind off).

*EDIT* I forgot Steve Ditko's Hawk & Dove series. The art is amazing for the era and I really enjoyed the stories too...but I love the characters so I'm biased.

[kahunablair]

I'm about to shame myself in admitting this, but when I was younger I shunned those old Kirby comics because of the art. I was young and stupid.
Now however I'm a HUGE fan, and I've started to search out some older stuff like you are Paper.
I found a site online that has scanned in a bunch of older pre70s comics, but I just can't bring myself to download them. I don't want to start one of those old illegal downloading debates, but just wanted to acknowledge that there are certain sites out there.

[paper]

Ok, here's something of interest.

Ed Brubaker posted a bulletin on MySpace endorsing The Complete Terry and the Pirates (http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Terry-Pirates-American-Original/dp/1600101003/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b/102-1603915-8792944) collection by Milton Caniff. He also wrote an adventure series called Steve Canyon. Anyone here read any of this stuff? Rife with horrific stereotypes and racism, I wonder whether any of this much lauded material is of any artistic value today.

Research led me to this massive biography Meanwhile...: A Biography of Milton Caniff, Creator of Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon (http://www.amazon.com/Meanwhile-Biography-Milton-Creator-Pirates/dp/1560977825/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product/102-1603915-8792944). Just came out last month. Something worth checking out possibly.

[esophagus]

Ok, here's something of interest.

Ed Brubaker posted a bulletin on MySpace endorsing The Complete Terry and the Pirates (http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Terry-Pirates-American-Original/dp/1600101003/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b/102-1603915-8792944) collection by Milton Caniff. He also wrote an adventure series called Steve Canyon. Anyone here read any of this stuff? Rife with horrific stereotypes and racism, I wonder whether any of this much lauded material is of any artistic value today.

Research led me to this massive biography Meanwhile...: A Biography of Milton Caniff, Creator of Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon (http://www.amazon.com/Meanwhile-Biography-Milton-Creator-Pirates/dp/1560977825/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product/102-1603915-8792944). Just came out last month. Something worth checking out possibly.Heh. I've only ever heard tell of the stuff. Sounds like a good laugh, if anything. I'd love to check out the bio though.

[horatio616]

In a fit of Green Lantern nostalgia caused by the Sinestro Corps War, I dug out my Green Lantern/Green Arrow reprints of the famous Denny O'Neill/Neal Adams run. Wow, it's amazing how poorly these hold up. The art, of course, is amazing, even by today's standards, but the writing, particularly the dialogue, is just God-awful. When Hal Jordan (in civilian garb) is confronted by a motorcycle gang, he protests, "we're... gentle souls!"

The writing is laugh-out-loud bad. Green Lantern goes to pieces at the slightest hint at moral ambiguity and Green Arrow shows his toughness by taking on "The Man" at every turn and dropping the g off all his -ing words.

I especially liked it when an oppressed coal miner serenades GL/GA with a song about his plight. That coal baron who employs Nazis gets what's coming to him and how!

Black Canary shows up too, all doe-eyed and ready-to-fight, but then she's seduced by a hippie cult leader. Whoops!

Classic!

[mikegraham6]

so reading The Last Fantastic Four Story got me thinking about this thread again. I've already said that I'm not a fan of the old books, I find them to be pretty childish and while I respect what they've done, I'd rather hand them off to my young nephew than read them myself.
But for all of you who lavish praise of the "old school", can you tell me why there is such hate for The Last Fantastic Four Story? I gave it a less than steller review but I've already stated my opinion on vintage books. But since this book is written in the classic Stan Lee style, I really couldn't desern any difference between this books style and those found in the first 100 issues of FF. Sure maybe the plot lacked any sort of originality but had this been written in the same "hokey" way with a interesting story, do you think people would have given more praise, or would the dialogue still keep people away?
I've heard nothing but bad things about the Just Imagine... DC line that had Stan reinvent the classic DC heroes in his signature style, and basically they were the same complaints used here. But reading summaries of these books, I can say that, while they may be poorly written, the stories do seem quite original (please correct me if im wrong, but i haven't read them myself).
Anyway, what I'm getting at here is why do people hold the vintage in such high regard yet lambast these new books written in the same style? They say that Stan Lee has passed his prime, but I find that the comics industry has left him behind. Is there no room for the simpler storytelling of old?

[conorkilpatrick]

Anyway, what I'm getting at here is why do people hold the vintage in such high regard yet lambast these new books written in the same style? They say that Stan Lee has passed his prime, but I find that the comics industry has left him behind. Is there no room for the simpler storytelling of old?

You've pretty much said it yourself. New books should never be written like old books. I love reading old comics - I am gleefully devouring The Batman Chronicles series (http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Chronicles-Vol-Bill-Finger/dp/1401204457/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/105-5963529-2134037?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188918318&sr=8-2) - but that's because I can take into context the time and the place in which they were produced. But there is no excuse for modern books to be written in the old style. It's like any other medium - movies, television... styles evolve and change and I can enjoy them all... in context.

It is entirely possible to write a "throw back" style book in a modern style witout it coming off as hokey.

[mikegraham6]

do you think a story like The Last Fantastic Four Story would be better suited for a younger audience then? Did Marvel make a mistake by marketing this to the mainstream comic audience by putting a popular artist like John Romita Jr. on it?
I wonder if Stan even realizes that the comic's industry has moved beyond his brand of storytelling and if he's even capable of keeping up with the way his creations are now written, his past few writting endeavours would say that he doesn't and that he can't.

NOTE: By no means am I trying to bash Stan Lee, it just makes me sad to read something like The Last Fantastic Four Story and hate it so much....

[luthor]

The announcements of The Next Issue Project and Alex Ross' Superpowers got me looking for comics starring The Black Terror (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Terror). After reading a lot of his adventures, I'm amazed this character made it into the public domain.

The character has it all...awesome look, bad ass name and a decent origin(Bob Benton, a pharmacist, experimented with chemicals and created "formic ethers" that made his skin as hard as steel and increased his strength). The only thing really missing is a viable villain(he tended to fight low level mob men and the various foes of World War II). I really enjoy the character and I'm looking forward to the above projects so I can read some modern interpretations.