This is looking to be a busy week, so I need to do something a little bit easier for the blog this time out. And so, I thought I'd delve back into history, and talk about the books that didn't make me a Marvel fan.
I started reading comics in 1973, primarily the DC titles edited by Julie Schwartz. I liked the fact that they were very basic, told-in-one kinds of tales, with clean, open artwork. Consequently, I found all of the Marvel comics of the era I sampled to be harsh and off-putting--partially because they were aiming at an older reader than my seven-year-old self, and partially because most of the best stuff at Marvel during this period was happening around the outer fringes, with a certain amount of stagnation taking place within the core titles themselves.
So this week, we'll be studying some of the comics that made me a Marvel nay-sayer for most of my early comic book buying years.
Here's what I wrote about our first entry, CAPTAIN AMERICA #183, a couple of years ago:
Captain America #183 is a great comic book, the concluding chapter in Steve Englehart's Nomad saga. But when it was first published, it was one of a couple of comics that completely put me off Marvel as a company. (Thor #233 and Marvel Team-Up #16 were two others...)
As a new, young reader coming in, I was totally confused. In the course of the story, Captain America is killed and crucified, and then this Nomad guy becomes Cap. I didn't have the background with the character to understand that Roscoe, the guy in the Cap costume who's killed by the Red Skull, was only a substitute. The book utterly baffled me.
On top of that, the artwork by Frank Robbins and Frank Giacoia was scratchy and harsh, so unlike the clean, friendly style I was used to in the Schwartz-edited DC books. And worst of all, the story was continued next issue (which was a major concern at a time when I could never be assured of getting the following issue.)
For years thereafter, I actively denounced Marvel Comics as being lousy.
But it really is a very good comic book...
This particular issue is a good place to start, as it was recently reprinted as part of the CAPTAIN AMERICA: NOMAD trade paperback, so it's readily available for any interested party to check out.
More later.
Tom B
And that's why accessibility is so important.
Posted by Fetsur on 2007-01-22 12:28:52
Well, when I started reading comics as a kid, I wouldn't mind if I was confused by some dense plotline because I'd just be so stoked reading a kickass Captain America story or whatever. Accessibility is a bonus, but it's more important to have good writing and art and have the character doing cool, interesting stuff. That's how kids get hooked. And if every story had to be completely accessible, cool stories like the NOMAD saga wouldn't get produced.
Posted by skagandboneman on 2007-01-23 11:26:52
Um, did you actually read Tom's article there? It certainly didn't get him hooked, and it even helped put him off Marvel comics altogether for a while.
Accessibility should not be considered a bonus - and the other things you mentioned are also necessities. All of these things must be considered in tandem when creating any entertainment product; it should never be a simple case of prioritising one thing over another.
The recap page is a useful way of fulfilling the accessibility requirement these days, although I can't help but feel it could be done in a much more interesting way a lot of the time.
Posted by Fetsur on 2007-01-23 13:31:35
Yup Accesibiility is a necessity, I'm from the island of Trinidad, and comics are a rarity, i've missed lots of printings of Civil War titles and its got me pissed...it leaves you really unfulfilled....
Posted by stalepeas on 2007-01-24 07:36:11
I was just speaking from my own experience when I started reading Marvel comics. Most of the time knowing the exact plot specifics wasn't so important to me, but I agree there should me some degree of accessibility. I still kind of like the feeling of picking up a comic mid-way through a story and figuring out what's happened previously.
Posted by skagandboneman on 2007-01-24 10:47:53
from my own experience as a kid buying my comics off the spinner rack in a local grcoery store was that I never knew, or even cared, whether I was reading the latest issue or if I would have access to the next. It was part of the experience for me that I was going to get only oart of the story. I knew this, accepted this, and enjoyed the story anyway. THe direct market has changed this drastically, and now I know months in advance what books are coming, roughly when, and occasionally what the major plot points are! Still, the majic of pulling a comic out of that spinner next to the Hubba-Bubba shelf and seeing Cap fighting the Frankenstein monster who was wearing a swastika is one of the truetouchstones of my childhood.
Posted by nearmint67 on 2007-01-27 12:18:30
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About this blog: Ramblings and musings from the mind of Tom Brevoort. "It won’t be clean. It won’t be fun. It mostly won’t be coherent."
About the author: Tom Brevoort is Executive Editor for Marvel Comics, and oversees such titles as New Avengers, Civil War, and Fantastic Four.
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