The 90's....worst decade for comics?

[Heretic]

There are plenty of comic books that are for, and marketed towards, kids. The problem is that they dont sell. Kids don't seem to really care anymore...so potentially the best way to get kids hooked on comics are through their parents...by marketing comics like Archie, Disney and Looney Toons type comics to parents who are teaching their kids to read (cross promoted with bedroom decorations and other items). These would be very inexpensive, grocery store line titles, likely smaller in size to fit the racks (like the Disney Adventures and Archie titles). Slightly older comics could be mixed in, like an all ages Spider-Man, Shazam and Teen Titans. This is a tricky thing though...because no one really cares about comics anymore, and parents certainly arent going to keep up with a monthly shipping schedule. Maybe you could reduce your cost by focusing on reprint material, supplemented with puzzles and games.

If you want a comic environment when ALL comics were for kids, then you'd have to go back 60 years or so to find that time period.

 

[kguillou]

Like you guys have said, i hate to say it but people just do not care about comic books anymore. We live in a new age of video games and the internet. Marvel and DC's only, only hope of raising interest in comics is through digital comic distribution. Even then its a stretch. Comics will unfortunately never again be at the high level of mainstream interest that they were during the 90's. Thank god for the movie franchises otherwise the superhero franchise might be dead altogether. The movies prove that people still LOVE superheroes, they just dont wanna read about em anymore.

 

[kguillou]

Like you guys have said, i hate to say it but people just do not care about comic books anymore. We live in a new age of video games and the internet. Marvel and DC's only, only hope of raising interest in comics is through digital comic distribution. Even then its a stretch. Comics will unfortunately never again be at the high level of mainstream interest that they were during the 90's. Thank god for the movie franchises otherwise the superhero franchise might be dead altogether. The movies prove that people still LOVE superheroes, they just dont wanna read about em anymore.

 

[Johnny Drama]

The 90's were an absolute awesome era for comics. There were a few things that left a bad taste in my mouth, but all in all I would say the mid 80's-90's are where most of my favorite comics were out.
I get all nostalgic thinking about early 90's Spider-Man and Peter Parker's epic mullet, or the various Valiant Comics I used to read (particularly SOLAR), the X-Men (and all related X-Books) which I consistently read throughout the entire decade, the various Image comics were always a big deal to me, and a lot of them still hold up, oddly enough. And I can honestly say I was the only 10 year old kid at my school (5th grade) who read Strangers In Paradise. in Junior High, I was all about Gen 13, Danger Girl, Bone, Spawn, Mage, The Maxx, Mage, ANYTHING From Vertigo, and most Marvel and DC.
I even like the death and return of Superman, Knightfall, Zero Hour, Maximum Carnage, The Infinity Gauntlet and all that.

I have no excuse for Rob Liefeld or Maximum Clonage (or The Clone Saga as some would call it)

 

[Anubis]

I figure if you didn't like the 90's, it was probably because your particular taste in comics were rather limited, which means the 90's didn't suck, you sucked.

 

[SuperFerret]

An agreement made to screw over the readers, to unnecessarily limit the creativity of the creators, and to shut down a competitor that you are unable to beat through quality...and you don't think that is unethical?

Nope. It's a dick move, but not immoral.

 

[Heretic]

Nope. It's a dick move, but not immoral.

The word was unethical, not immoral. While immoral and unethical often cross paths, you dont necessarily have to be immoral to be unethical...especially in business circumstances.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

The 90's were an absolute awesome year for comics.

Erm....

 

[The Question]

Well, most of my favorite comics are from the 90s, so I think this image of the 90s being a wasteland of guns and pouches is a bit exaggerated. Yes, we got a little too much of the Liefeld school of comic book art, but we also got a lot of real gems.

 

[TimBisley]

I figure if you didn't like the 90's, it was probably because your particular taste in comics were rather limited, which means the 90's didn't suck, you sucked.

This.

 

[terry78]

What are the comic gems of the 90's anyway? I can only think of McFarlane's Spider-Man (I guess Spawn out of popularity, but I never read it) and X-Men #1.

Gen 13, Savage Dragon, The New Mutants, Daredevil #1

 

[Anubis]

Starman, Sandman, Moore's WildCats, The Invisibles, The Maxx, Most of Morrison's Doom Patrol Run, ummm, that's about what come to mind right off the top of my head.

 

[Anubis]

Solar, Marvels, the Authority, Planetary, Astro City, Goldenage.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Did Planetary start in the 90's? I was thinking it was just after 2000.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Started in '99

 

[Justkidding]

Solar, Marvels, the Authority, Planetary, Astro City, Goldenage.

Shade the Changing Man, Human Target, JLA, Deadpool

 

[The Question]

What are the comic gems of the 90's anyway? I can only think of McFarlane's Spider-Man (I guess Spawn out of popularity, but I never read it) and X-Men #1.

Supreme, Garth Ennis' Hellblazer, Hitman, Preacher, Young Justice, a good chunk of Kyle Rayner's solo series, Hellboy, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Ghost World, Monster, Understanding Comics... that's all I got right now. Although, I have to be honest and say that I didn't read Monster or Ghost World, just heard glowing reviews.

 

[Anubis]

Can't believe I forgot about Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Preacher. God, this reminiscing makes me wanna go back and read some s**t!

The 90's was a great decade for comics. I hate to be THAT GUY THAT QUOTES HIMSELF but it's the motha f**kin' truth and needs to be repeated.

I figure if you didn't like the 90's, it was probably because your particular taste in comics were rather limited, which means the 90's didn't suck, you sucked.

QFMFT

 

[Kurosawa]

I quit collecting American superhero comics from 94-2004, so yea...90's worst for me.

 

[Frankenmation]

I quit collecting American superhero comics from 94-2004, so yea...90's worst for me.

I'm intrigued, what comics after 2004 made you start collecting them again?

 

[The Question]

I haven't read those indie comics. I guess I should check out the TPB's. I remember reading about some of those like Preacher in Wizard magazine, remember that?

Most of the ones I mentioned weren't indy books. Of the eleven I listed seven were from a major American comic publishing company, one was from a major Japanese publishing company, and three were independently published.

 

[The Question]

Also:

Superman: For All Seasons, Kingdom Come, Acme Novelty Library, Kurt Busiek's run on Avengers, Lucifer, Transmetropolitan, pretty much all of Milestone comics (Icon, Static, Blood Syndicate, and Hardware in particular... I never read Shadow Cabinet and Kobalt was just okay) to name a few more.

Although, be warned. Despite being very, very, very well written and well drawn, the Acme Novelty Library is one of the saddest, most nihilistic pieces of sequential art ever made and may cause depression and thoughts of suicide.

 

[Dark Victory]

Can't believe I forgot about Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Preacher. God, this reminiscing makes me wanna go back and read some s**t!

I'm a huge fan of Preacher (Herr Starr's probably my favorite villain of all time), but what's Johnny the Homicidal Maniac? Never heard of it.

 

[The Question]

I'm a huge fan of Preacher (Herr Starr's probably my favorite villain of all time), but what's Johnny the Homicidal Maniac? Never heard of it.

It's the story of a comic strip artist/serial killer named Johnny (or Nee, for short) who lives in an abandoned house, is best friends with a stuffed bunny he nailed to a wall, has taken to protecting the little boy next door with brutal murder dispensed on those who might harm him, and strangely seems to be unable to be captures or killed by the authorities, if he's even noticed in his activities at all. It's a comedy.

 

[Anubis]

Also:

Superman: For All Seasons, Kingdom Come, Acme Novelty Library, Kurt Busiek's run on Avengers, Lucifer, Transmetropolitan, pretty much all of Milestone comics (Icon, Static, Blood Syndicate, and Hardware in particular... I never read Shadow Cabinet and Kobalt was just okay) to name a few more.

Although, be warned. Despite being very, very, very well written and well drawn, the Acme Novelty Library is one of the saddest, most nihilistic pieces of sequential art ever made and may cause depression and thoughts of suicide.

Like watching a SVU marathon.