Then or Now: which was better?

[CConn]

Okay. Simple question that I thought would be fun to ask... Who were the creative teams when you first got into comics, and have the creative teams/stories gotten better or gotten worse since then?

Here's what I can remember from my first purchases...

Aquaman
Then: Will Pfiffer (Aquaman #28)
Now: Geoff Johns
Verdict: Worse

Action Comics
Then: Chuck Austen (Action Comics #823)
Now: Grant Morrison
Verdict: Better

Batgirl
Then: Dylan Horrocks (Batgirl #55)
Now: Gail Simone
Verdict: Worse

Batman
Then: Judd Winick (Batman #630)
Now: Scott Snyder
Verdict: Better

Detective Comics
Then: Dave Lapham (Detective #801)
Now: Tony Daniel
Verdict: Worse

The Flash
Then: Geoff Johns (The Flash #219)
Now: Francis Manapul
Verdict: Tie

Green Arrow
Then: Judd Winick
Now: Ann Nocenti
Verdict: Worse

Green Lantern
Then: Geoff Johns (Green Lantern: Rebirth #1)
Now: Geoff Johns
Verdict: Tie

Justice League
Then: Kurt Busiek
Now: Geoff Johns
Verdict: Tie

JSA/Eath 2
Then: Geoff Johns
Now: James Robinson
Verdict: Worse

Nightwing
Then: Devin Greyson
Now: Kyle Higgins
Verdict: Better

Superman/Adventures of Superman
Then: Greg Rucka
Now: Dan Jurgens
Verdict: Worse

Teen Titans
Then: Geoff Johns
Now: Scott Lobdell
Verdict: Worse

Wonder Woman
Then: Greg Rucka
Now: Brian Azzrello
Verdict: Worse

 

[Hush]

JLA
Then: Metzler
Now: Johns
Verdict: Tie

 

[hippie_hunter]

Action Comics
Then: Kurt Busiek/Geoff Johns (Action Comics #837)
Now: Grant Morrison (Action Comics #9)
Verdict: Better

Aquaman
Then: Kurt Busiek (Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #40)
Now: Geoff Johns (Aquaman #8)
Verdict: Better

Batman
Then (individual issues): Judd Winick (Batman #650)
Then (TPB): Frank Miller (Batman: Year One)
Now: Scott Snyder (Batman #9)
Verdict: Better

Firestorm
Then: Stuart Moore (Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #23)
Now: Ethan van Sciver (the Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #8)
Verdict: Worse

The Flash
Then (individual issues): Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo (the Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1)
Then (TPB): Geoff Johns (the Flash: Ignition)
Now: Brian Buccellato (the Flash #8)
Verdict: Better

Green Arrow
Then (individual issues): Judd Winick (Green Arrow #60)
Then (TPB): Kevin Smith (Green Arrow: Quiver)
Now: Ann Nocenti (Green Arrow #9)
Verdict: Worse

Green Lantern
Then: Geoff Johns (Green Lantern #10)
Now: Geoff Johns (Green Lantern #9)
Verdict: Tie

Green Lantern Corps
Then: Dave Gibbons (Green Lantern Corps #1)
Now: Peter Tomasi (Green Lantern Corps #9)
Verdict: Tie

Justice League
Then (individual issues): Alan Heinberg/Geoff Johns (JLA #115)
Then (TPB): Mark Waid (JLA: Tower of Babel)
Now: Geoff Johns (Justice League #9)
Verdict: Worse

Legion of Super-Heroes
Then: Paul Levitz (Legion of Super-Heroes #1)
Now: Paul Levitz (Legion of Super-Heroes #9)
Verdict: Tie

Superman
Then (individual issues): Kurt Busiek/Geoff Johns (Superman #650)
Then (TPB): Various (Superman: Our World's at War)
Now: Keith Giffen/Dan Jurgens (Superman #8)
Verdict: Worse

Teen Titans
Then (individual issues): Geoff Johns (Teen Titans #17)
Then (TPB): Geoff Johns (Teen Titans: A Kid's Game)
Now: Scott Lobdell
Verdict: A ****ing attrocity

Wonder Woman
Then: Alan Heinberg (Wonder Woman #1)
Now: Brian Azzarello (Wonder Woman #9)
Verdict: Better

 

[CConn]

I didn't realize you were so new to comics, Double H.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I didn't realize you were so new to comics, Double H.

Yeah, I started to really get into individual issues around Infinite Crisis and Civil War after dabbling a bit with TPBs.

 

[CConn]

I still feel like I'm a newbie to comics and it's been 8 years now.

 

[Hush]

It was Rebirth/Hush (obviously) for me but honestly before that I was a tradeoholic at the library. The first single issues I bought were DC VS Marvel and wow have comics come a long way.

 

[Mystirious]

I got into comics in the 90's with stuff like Starman,Doom Patrol and the Invisibles as well as Batman, Spider Man and X-men which i knew about from the cartoons

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I started really getting into DC in the early '00s. It's been about 10 or 11 years for me. I can't really do too many of these, though, because I've dropped so much of DC's line that the verdict on nearly everything would be either "doesn't exist anymore" or "not reading it now." So, barring those:

Action Comics (c. 2002, 2003)
Then: Joe Kelly
Now: Grant Morrison
Verdict: Worse (Morrison's great, but this is the Kelly run with "What's so Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?," one of the greatest Superman stories ever. I also liked Kelly's run a lot in general as just fun, well written superhero comics.)

Aquaman (2003 series, #1)
Then: Rick Veitch (I went back and read a lot of Peter David's run and Silver Age Aquaman stuff, but that was later.)
Now: Geoff Johns
Verdict: Worse (Veitch got terrible quick, but that first arc featured a lot of awesome ideas for the character.)

Batman (c. 2000)
Then: Greg Rucka
Now: Scott Snyder
Verdict: Worse (But just barely. Rucka, Brubaker, and "No Man's Land" sort of got me into the whole Bat-family, though, and into the larger DC universe through stuff like Lex Luthor showing up to rebuild Gotham. Plus, they were just great comics.)

Green Lantern/Green Lantern: New Guardians (I'm going with this comparison from a character standpoint, i.e. I was reading about Kyle in GL but now he's in New Guardians.)
Then: Judd Winick
Now: Tony Bedard
Verdict: About even.

 

[CConn]

As much as I general love Rucka and Bru, I was never a big fan of their Batman.

Their tone was always a bit too realistic/gritty/hardboiled for me. I like having more color and fantasy with my Batman stories.

 

[CConn]

As much as I general love Rucka and Bru, I was never a big fan of their Batman.

Their tone was always a bit too realistic/gritty/hardboiled for me. I like having more color and fantasy with my Batman stories.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Rucka and Brubaker also made their Batman a bit too much of a dick IMO. I prefer Snyder's dark yet still very compassionate Batman far more.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It's more for the family aspect than anything else. However obnoxious Brubaker and Rucka's Batman was, he relied heavily on his compatriots and the Bat-family felt more like a real family then than I've seen since. Their run is the reason I decided to check out comics about Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, even the Birds of Prey.

 

[hippie_hunter]

The Bat-family is still pretty close knit though. Maybe even moreso now considering that Robin is Batman's biological son, along with Tim Drake and Cassandra Cain being adopted by Bruce.

 

[CConn]

Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Batman: Fugitive was a pretty great example of the Bat-Family's importance.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The Bat-family is still pretty close knit though. Maybe even moreso now considering that Robin is Batman's biological son, along with Tim Drake and Cassandra Cain being adopted by Bruce.

Not a fan of Tim's adoption, actually. I liked that he was dedicated to the Bat-family but still had his own personal life. Now he feels like another in a line of Bruce clones after Dick and Jason.

Cass' parental issues are just ridiculous at this point in spite of the great way her series sort of closed the book on them, so I just try to ignore them. DC's obliging by not having her appear anywhere these days, I guess.

 

[Hush]

Hush had them as a family, Loeb wrote the Family well.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Guys. For cereal, now. I know the family is a big part of practically every Batman comic, I'm just saying Brubaker and Rucka handled it really well and made me a fan.

 

[TruerToTheCore]

I will pretend that I got into comics when I was 6 years old since that is the moment you start to think more clearly, but I've been exposed to them... well, since I exist because of my brother and my father(!).

Action Comics
T: Marv Wolfman
N: Grant Morrison [x]

Superman
T: Cary Bates [x]
N: Dan Jurgens

Batman
T: Gerry Conway [x]
N: Scott Snyder

Detective Comics
T: Gerry Conway [x][x][x]
N: Tony Daniel

The Flash
T: Cary Bates [x]
N: Francis Manapul

Green Arrow
T: did not exist as a solo title until a few month later, Joey Cavalieri wrote his back-up stories in 'Tec
N: Ann Nocenti
---> No idea, i don't read it but everything should be better than good ol' Joey


Green Lantern
T: Mike W Barr
N: Geoff Johns
---> Tie.

Justice League
T: Gerry Conway [x]
N: Geoff Johns