Comic Books, Super-Heroes and Me: **Phase 3 1986 - Present The Old Desire Returns

When I stopped collecting comics in 1978 my love for the art form didn't vanish. It had been painful giving up my collection and just looking at comics would remind me of my loss. I didn't have the heart to resume following the monthly exploits of these characters I had had grown so fond of. I would follow what was going on with the characters in other media formats and would discuss the topic of super-heroes with others who shared in the interest but for the the most part I tried to protect myself from the h0bby. I was very wary of picking up a comic book and getting sucked back in.

In 1984, I discovered Doctor Who when a new local TV station, WPDS, began airing the Tom Baker package here in Indianapolis. I became an instant fan. In my search to find out more about the program I visited The Comic Carnival in Broad Ripple to see if they might carry merchandise associated with this British program. (The small shop I had visited in 78 was no longer in business.) To my delight, I did find items including Doctor Who Magazine in the store. I also discovered a fan produced freebie in the store called The Gallifreyan Gazette which I picked up leading me to a new host of friends and responsibilities. (A future entry will attempt to chronicle my involvement with what was then called The Doctor Who Society of Central Indiana.) My visit to Comic Carnival stirred up many old feelings but I was able to stay true to my decision not to begin purchasing those four color marvels. The temptation was great; racks of boxes containing back issues, prized collectables on display as well as the latest issues available called out to me on every visit.

Maurice Broaddus credits me with igniting his interest in horror and comic books. I confess, I probably did have a little to do with it. Ah, the corruption of the innocent. I never put a comic book in his hands, though. We just talked about super-heroes. I blame him for putting me back in the game.

Maurice, who had taken up collecting would talk to me about what was happening in the comic book world. In 1986, Maurice was excited about what was going on with Batman. He wanted me to read a couple of comic books. I was hesitant but agreed to read Batman Annual #9 and his first issue of this all new format of a comic called Batman The Dark Knight Returns.

The Annual had a series of stories, written by Mike Barr with a variety of artists, under the umbrella title "Four Faces Of Batman" examining The Face of "The Child", "The Avenger", "The Detective" and "The Man".

And then there was The Dark Knight Returns written and drawn by Frank Miller. For those who don't know The Dark Knight is a tale that takes place in Bruce Wayne's future after he has shelved the Batman for 10 years. In this dystopian future Bruce ponders "...while in my gut the creature writhes and snarls and tells me what I need..." and the Dark Knight returns. Most Super-heroes during the time period depicted were no longer active and hints are dropped as to what had become of them. Only Superman continues to carry on fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Batman takes on the tutelege of a new Robin, Carrie Kelly, after Batman saves her from Mutant gangbangers. The 4 issue run was aimed at adults and concludes with a titanic battle between the Dark Knight and Superman.

Miller's artwork matches the character of this Batman, almost psychotic but yet powerful. Batman is now more anti-hero than hero. The series reinvigorated the super-hero genre.

An excellent review can be found at http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/117627509535816.htm

I was blown away. I could no longer fight off the need and like Bruce Wayne the creature writhed and snarled and told me what I needed-- Comic Books.

What a period to be reintroduced to the genre. Miller's other great work of 1986 was his "Born Again" story arc in Daredevil issues 227-233 The story by Miller is complemented wonderfully by David Mazzuchelli's art. Matt Murdock is betrayed by his former love interest Karen Page when she sells his secret identity to support her heroin addiction. The Kingpin uses this information to drag Matt through the gutter. At it's heart the story is a tale of personal redemption.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Again_(comics)

Miller and Mazzuchelli would later team up on Batman Year One a retelling of Batman's origins that many feel is better than Miller's Dark Knight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Year_One

Both Daredevil and The Dark Knight Returns dealt with acknowledged super-heroes. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's Watchmen was something else...something special. Beginning in 1986 and running for 12 issues Watchmen was about a group of costumed "super-heroes" loosely based on the Charlton Comics super-hero line acquired by DC. The complexity of story and characters of Watchmen cannot be adequately explained in this post.

A nice detailed article can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen

It didn't take long for me to want to find out what was happening with other super-heroes I had been intersted in. I tried Superman but was unimpressed and wouldn't jump on board those titles until later in 86 just before John Byrne put out his new take on the character in Superman The Man Of Steel.

Just prior to John Bryne's take on Superman, Alan Moore wrote what may be my favorite Superman story of all-time "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow" which was presented in Superman #423 and part 2 in Action Comics 583
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Whatever_Happened_to_the_Man_of_Tomorrow%3F

I was soon reading Amazing Spider-Man again though I was dissapointed the quality wasn't up to the standards of the aformentioned titles. It would be the following year before I got excited about Spider-Man. "Kraven's Last Hunt" was spread over three Spiderman titles Amazing 293-294, Spectacular Spider-Man 131-132 and Web of Spiderman 31-32.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraven In addition to reading these new stories, I wanted to relive some of the good old days and went searching for a couple of books I knew had at one time been published. Superman: From the 30s to the 70s and Batman: From the 30's to the 70s seemed like a good way to acquire and relive some of the stories from days gone by. After searching all over town in book stores and comic shops I was able to find copies. It didn't quench my thirst for back issues, however.



It wasn't my intention to start buying alot of back issues when I resumed purchasing some of these outstanding books. I'll give some of the blame for it to The Comic Carnival. On my birthday they were kind enough to send me a birthday greetings with a coupon for $5 worth of free back issues. I promptly took them up on it and took forever trying to decide what I would take home. I finally decided upon picking up a run of Tomb of Dracula. I believe I laid down quite a few of my own dollars also. Buying back issues had begun.

I hadn't gotten on board when Crisis on Infinite Earths made its debute in 1985. But it wasn't hard finding all the issues in the back issue bins. Crisis weaves its way throughout DC History and produces a new continuity by the conclusion leaving a wave of death and destruction in its cosmic wake.

http://www.io.com/~woodward/chroma/crisis.html

Another Prestigious title I began to buy and also hunt down back issues of was Alan Moore's run on Saga of The Swamp Thing. I was familiar with the original run of Swamp Thing by Len Wein with fabulous art from Bernie Wrightson, but this new take was something far more literary. Moore began his run in 1984 with issue 21 "The Anatomy Lesson" and turned the tale of Alec Holland on its head turning him into a plant elemental and presenting a literary horror tale month after month in a graphic format. It was held in high esteem and was the precursor to what is now the Vertigo Line of Comics in the DC stable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp_Thing

Sandman by Neil Gaiman won the World Fantasy Award title. His stories about Morphius, The Lord of Dreams, and the Endless family like Alan Moore's work were critically acclaimed and eventually merged into the Vertigo line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandman_(Vertigo)

I am a big fan of another writer from the UK, Grant Morrison, who is currently writng many of the Batman titles. His work on Doom Patrol and particularly Animal Man are some of my favorites. His story "The Coyote Gospel" in Animal Man #5 is a brilliant piece which plays off the old Road Runner cartoons with a Coyote named Crafty.


Another Alan Moore project he did in The UK Marvel Man was reprinted here in the US under the title Miracle Man. This run of comics turned the original Captain Marvel on its head. This title was put out by a new publisher called Eclipse. The title was intense and controversial.

I didn't jump on the X-Men bandwagon in the mid 70s when Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum reintroduced the team in Giant Sized X-Men #1 and Uncanny X-Men 94. By this time the X-men were all the rage. Maurice would implore me to check it out. But it wouldn't be until the "Fall of The Mutants" storyline beginning in Uncanny X-Men 225 that I would become interested. I had to admit there was something about these X-Men and I was curious to find out more.

Later I would go back and find issues of the Claremont/ John Byrne run of Uncanny X-Men that featured the stories introducing Phoenix and the classic Dark Phoenix. I also would find pleasure reading John Bryne's run on The Fantastic Four.


I have seen the Super-heroes go through many changes over the years. Superman revealed his identity to Lois Lane and then married her. Later he wouild die at the hands of Doomsday and be restored. The second Robin died at the hands of the Joker. Jason Todd's Fate was voted for by the readers. Batman would have his back broken and Gotham would be nearly destroyed by earthquakes. He was suspected dead at the conclusion of the most recent crisis but in reality was just thrown back through history. Hal Jordan would go crazy and become Parralax, die, become the Spectre, and be resurrected with sanity restored. Supergirl and The Flash would die during the Crisis and both have been restored. Over at Marvel, Peter Parker would eventually tie the knot with Mary Jane only to have their marriage erased from history. Recently Captain America was apparently killed on a court house steps by his lover and S.H.I.E.L.D agent Sharon Carter and Bucky Barnes becomes the New Cap in what may be the best Marvel storyline over the last 5 years. The Super-heroes at Marvel would wage a Civil War and Norman Osborn would eventually reign.

The desire to collect didn't take long to emerge after my interest in comics was revived. I developed a strategy for purchasing back issues. The first books I would go after were those that either had top talent or were acclaimed story arcs within titles. An example being Frank Miller's earliest art and writing on Daredevil when he introduced Elektra.

Around town there were three Comic book stores I divided my allegiances over. Range Line Comics in Carmel, Comics Unlimited downtown and later in Speedway and of course Comic Carnival. I found many of the back issues I searched for at these locations but I also went to comic book shows to find difficult to find comics.

The two characters I was most interested in were Batman and Spiderman. I knew immediately what I wanted to pursue with Spiderman. I wanted to replenish all the comics I had previously sold, but this time I wanted the original issues, not reprints from Marvel Tales. It took a long time but I eventually not only recovered those issues but I also was able to obtain the earliest issues from the early to mid 60s written by Stan Lee with art by Steve Ditko.

Batman and Detective Comics were also on my radar. I set my sights on and obtained runs like the Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers run in Detective which has been often referred to as the definitive Batman. I found issues of Batman by Dennis Oneil and Neal Adams in a variety of places but I had the hardest time finding an issue of Batman 251 a classic Joker tale. I finally found it at a comic book show in Cincinnati.

At the same show, I also bought a Swamp Thing #1 and my first Golden Age comic during this phase of collecting. The first detailed origin of Batman was published in Batman #47. I had been looking for a reasonably priced golden age comic to add to my collection. This comic was a key issue in good to very good condition and I only had to shell out $45 for it.

Today Super-Heroes can be found in all sorts of media. The biggest hits at the movies every Summer are the Super-Hero Movies. The X-Men, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Daredevil, Elektra, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk and soon to be released Thor and Captain America have all been hits or will be. DC has put out Superman movies and has found its best sucess with the Batman franchise, both in the late 80s and early 90s movies first strarring Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight and most recently with Christopher Nolan's vision of Batman in 2005's Batman Begins and 2008's The Dark Knight starring Christian Bale as Batman. These latter two movies have set the bar high for super-hero movies as they were something more, movies that required serious consideration by critics as well as fandom. Both companies have had their characters involved in animated productions that are of high quality also.

When one speaks of super-heroes he doesn't say BIF, BAM, POW anymore. Super-heroes and Comic Books are taken seriously, and I am glad for it in spite of my nostalgia for the old Batman TV show.

I continue to buy my weekly new comics and rarely buy back issues since I have found the majority of the comics I wanted for my collection. When we bought our home about 15 years ago or so, we had to consider where to store my comics. Afterall they need to be stored in a cool dry environment. And they take up too much space. We passed on many houses we liked before settling on our current residence, all because of the comic book collection.

So, why do I do this? I must be a bit nuts. After all most are safely locked away, and difficult to get to. But it has been part of who I am since I was young and many memories come flowing back when I do decide to open one of those older treasures and the smell of the aging paper brings back wonderful memories of days gone by.