Favorite title by decade?

[shaxper]

Just to take the previous thread one step further, what title did you personally enjoy the most throughout each decade? Note that I'm asking what you enjoyed most, not necessarily what you felt was critically strongest.


1930s: A tough one since I've only read Action Comics and Detective Comics during this time period, but the early Batman appearances were amazingly dark and compelling, so I'll choose Detective Comics, primarily for the Batman stories.

1940s: Batman kicked butt at the start of the decade. After all, who could forget the first appearances of the Joker? At the same time, I'm a big fan of Captain Marvel (Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Comics) and Kid Eternity (Hit Comics and Kid Eternity Comics). I think I'll go with Captain Marvel. The quality was consistantly enjoyable.

1950s: I just haven't read enough comics from this time period. Some of the DC camp was fun during this time period, but it was largely overdone. Captain Marvel was still great for three short years, but that's hardly a decade. I'm willing to bet that, had I ever read a single E.C. comic, I'd probably choose one of those, so I'll leave this one open for now.

1960s: Undoubtedly Amazing Spider-Man. I'm not even a big Spidey fan, but the strong continuity, unending series of crises (both personal and superhuman), and an uncertain, imperfect protagonist made this series soar in the early days.

1970s: Probably The X-Men. I don't think they really came into their own until the very early 1980s, but this series still featured some very strong personalities and adopted much of the growing continuity that had made Spider-Man so addicting a decade earlier.

1980s: Probably the New Teen Titans. Critically, I don't feel they had the best title at all, but I absolutely adore the team dynamic in those early issues, and who could forget Terra and the Judas Contract storyline?

1990s: Magnus Robot Fighter. No one's ever going to agree with me on that one, but this title had it all. Throughout it's 64 issue run, the series went through four amazing, world-shattering events in which both the readers and main character were forced to adapt to a whole new set of rules. I'm one of the few people who feels it worked each time. Magnus was a gutsy title that wasn't afraid to shake it up with really out there sci-fi developments, whether with a cautionary future cityscape, world-conquering robots, post-apocalyptic reformation, or a death and awful rebirth. Magnus had it all. My only regret was that some of these periods in Magnus's development were cut too short or dragged on too long for the sake of sales.

2000s: Usagi Yojimbo has always been a favorite of mine since he emerged in the 1980s, but I don't think it's been particularly better or worse in this decade. The competition is simply less fierce. I've yet to find a satisfying mainstay in a superhero title this decade. I'm currently enjoying Green Lantern and was really excited by the One Year Later Batman as well as Marvel's resurrection of Star Brand, but only time will tell if the quality in any of these titles will last. For what it's worth, I loved the Rucka's final year on Wonder Woman, but that was more of a prolongued ending than an ongoing series.


EDIT: Since posting this thread two weeks ago, I've been turned on to the wonders of Carl Barks' Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge stories. As a result, my choice for the 1950s is Dell's Four Color.

[drnocturne2]

30’s: I’ll second Detective Comics. It bridged the gap between pulp magazines and comic books (including adapting Fu Manchu, the first recurring super-villain), it is the longest running comic book publication, it named a company, and introduced Batman.
Runner-up: Action Comics for introducing Superman, the first definitive super-hero.

40’s: All-Star Comics featured the first super-hero team and introduced the idea of all the company’s characters living in the same fictional universe; it was a great marketing strategy that became a foundation of the comic book industry.
Runner-up: Captain America for epitomizing the patriotic spirit of most comics of the era.

50’s: Justice League of America came out in 1959. It tied in the recently recreated Flash and Green Lantern with the surviving big three of the Golden Age and became the focal point of the Silver Age. Stan Lee admitted he came up with the Fantastic Four in response to the success of the Justice League.
Runner-up: Tales From the Crypt as a horror anthology that created extensive backlash and led to the comics code and a lot of toned down comics.

60’s: I’ll second Spider-Man as the epitome of Stan Lee’s new approach to comics. By the end of the decade DC was imitating Marvel.

70’s: I’ll also second the X-Men as the first comic book to really embrace diversity (before that became a term.)
Honorable mention: GL/GA and Tomb of Dracula

80’s: Crisis on Infinite Earths as the most influential limited series and the most influential company wide epic and continuity shake-up.

90’s: Comic book collecting skyrocketed in the early 90’s and then dropped by 75%. Maybe somebody else can provide some insight here. It seems like there was a lot of hype and less substance. Multiple covers, die-cut covers, foil covers, fold-out covers etc.

2000’s: The Ultimates have, I think, set a precedent that has influenced the Avengers, the New Avengers, Identity Crisis, and One Year Later.

[Shellhead]

I'm going to stick to the decades that I am really familiar with, because the quantity of comics that I read from the 30's-50's represent less than 1% of the output back then.

60's: I almost said Fantastic Four, because Lee and Kirby built so much of the Marvel Universe during their historic FF run. But Spider-man was actually a better read, with one of the best supporting casts ever, and an excellent rogues gallery. Plus, I am a big fan of John Romita's artwork, it looked years ahead of all the other comic artists at that time.

70's: As much as I love the Avengers, I have to say the X-Men take this decade. It wasn't a fan favorite at the time, getting stuck in reprints and then cancelled. But the Roy Thomas/Neal Adams issues at the beginning of the decade influenced almost everybody in the industry. Then Claremont and Cockrum brought them back to life, and then Claremont and Byrne took them to another level altogether. I firmly believe that Cockrum and Byrne have never received enough credit for their creative contributions, given that the quality dropped noticeably after they had both left.

80's: The Crisis split this decade in half, elevating DC from a lackluster operation with just a couple of standout titles (Teen Titans & Swamp Thing) to an amazing dynamo of creativy in the latter half of the decade. Although I really enjoyed Teen Titans, it hasn't held up well over the years. So I pick Swamp Thing, for the excellent writing and creativity of Alan Moore, the creepy artwork by Bissette and Totleben. The equally impressive subsequent run by Rick Veitch was cut short by editorial cowardice in the face of the religious fundamentalism of the day.

90's: This was a bad decade for comics, so bad that I quit partway through, and didn't come back until 2001. Still, I have gone back in search of back issues to get some great titles that did come out then, plus I bought the entire run of Sandman as each issue came out. (Okay, I admit that I didn't notice Sandman until issue #2, and had to really search for #1.) I wish I could pick Starman, because it definitely captured the spirit of the decade in many ways, but I just don't like the artwork. There were some fine covers, but the pencils inside ranged from mediocre to fairly bad. The writing was pretty good, but sometimes too self-consciously hip.

So I reluctantly say Sandman, even though I haven't taken the time to sit down and re-read the whole stack since it ended. There were too many artist changes for a title lacking costumes, and Gaiman seemed to lose direction partway through the series, but it still was an amazing work with real emotional resonance and some powerful imagery.

00's: Too soon to tell, I think, although my expectations for the rest of the decade have been dropping recently. So far, the only work that has really amazed me has been Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers project, which I consider one title, but is technically 8 separate titles. Seven Soldiers has been a wild, creative storytelling experiment that has really connected so far. But if it doesn't count as a single title for this thread, then I will fall back on Y, the Last Man. This bold tale should be the future template for comics, taking a great idea all the way through one amazing story to its logical conclusion, then ending. The characters seem very real, the story is compelling, and the implications have been both surprising and logical. Pia Guerrera has done some consistently good artwork for this series.

[MicroZone]

I started buying comics in the 70s, so I'll start there.

70s: Batman was my favorite super-hero from the first moment I watched Adam West reruns on TV. I begged my folks & my grandma to buy any comic that had Batman in it. My first comic was part of that brief 100-Page run on Batman. (Couldn't tell you which issue today, but I do recall my grandma scoffing at a comic book costing an ungodly 50 cents!) Batman Family was a particular favorite later on since it was a giant-sized comic with lots of stories in each issue.

80s: GI Joe. The first 75 issues make up what may be the best action comic ever written in the decade. I'm still upset that Marvel cancelled their trades before getting this far. It would have been fantastic to own on paper that won't yellow over time.

Runner-up: Marvel Tales. For over four years this comic reprinted the Lee-Ditko-Romita Spider-man comics from Amazing Fantasy #15-on. Every month, in chronological order. What a fantastic comic to get to grow up to. Even to this day I prefer those Marvel Tales copies to the Masterworks because I remember tracking down the issues I had missed at a local second hand book store until I had FINALLY owned the first 30 issues of Amazing Spidey, even if only in reprint form.

Honorable mention has to go to the Transformers Weekly from Marvel UK. My first taste at British comics, which I am still fascinated with to this day.

90s: The Gladstone EC reprints. If I had to pick one it would be Weird Science. Those four double-sized issues of Weird Science from Gladstone were probably the highlight of a lifetime of comic book buying. 64 pages of EC Comics goodness readily available at my corner UDF! I never dreamed when I had first "discovered" EC in the 80s that ne day I'd buy ECs in the same place that I bought my 50 oz Mega Big Gulps & bag of Taco Doritos after getting off of work. I was heartbroken when Weird Science was axed after just four issues and then again when Gladstone lost the rights after only a single year.

The Russ Cochran reprints just never had the same charm for me because of the different paper stock and because they weren't sold anywhere but comic shops, tho I do own all of the 64-pagers he put out as well as the complete set of his "EC Annuals", which proudly take up the entire bottom row on my bookshelf. I also managed to track down the complete East Coast Comix reprints from the 70s around this time too.

Nothing beat that year of Gladstone ECs tho.


00s: I've read a lot of great comics that I dearly love, but nothing has stood out as my favorite yet.

[Sir Tim Drake]

Limiting it to mainstream comics:

'30s - Detective Comics
'40s - The Spirit sections
'50s - Uncle Scrooge
'60s - Amazing Spider-Man
'70s - Howard the Duck
'80s - New Teen Titans
'90s - Astro City
'00s - Legion of Super-Heroes

[Gingold]

40s- Plastic Man
50s- Mad
60s- Fantastic Four
70s- Jimmy Olsen
80s- Uncanny X-Men
90s- The Invisibles
00s- Ultimates

[Marc Spector]

30's- I'll say Adventure Comics, just cause I like this cover so much! (see attached) Actually, I'd have to go with newspaper strips, Flash Gordon for the Alex Raymond art. Beautiful and classic.

40's- Haven't read enough here, so I'll just say Superman. I do think Joe Shuster is underrated as an artist, in that he really got the energy and heroism of Superman! It's raw and rough and fun. I do love the covers of the 40's.

50's- Dell Movie Classics. This is late 50's edging into the 60's. Fine early work from John Buscema on Hercules, Sinbad, Spartacus, and Luke Short.

60's- There are many artists I like here, including Kirby, Buscema, Kane, etc, but I'm going to go with...Our Army at War. Kubert's art and Kanigher's writing is just a super combination. I'm trying to track more of these down now. :D

70's- Tomb of Dracula. I like how the stories run together, fine prose from Wolfman, horror with humour from Colan, top notch expressive shadowy inking by Palmer. Honourable mention to Savage Sword of Conan and Kamandi. Also Manhunter by Goodwin and Simonson, which should have been a regular series.

80's- Jon Sable for Grell's great, interesting character, and exciting storytelling with an adult tone. Also the nature shots he drew. American Flagg, Daredevil and Dark Knight are really also tied for first place. XMen by Byrne gets a mention too, although I now find the writing by Claremont long-winded.

90's- Sin City. Took me a while to get into this one, but now I think it's a superior accomplishment for Miller. Innovative art and Miller's own world, more than anything else he's done. And still totally 90's with all the bad girls in it! ;)

00's- 100 Bullets. Wow this one has knocked me over, and gets better with multiple reads. The art is acclaimed, but I think the writing by Azzarello is what really does it. It's his baby. :cool: The Ultimates gets a mention for art, and Hawaiian Dick for fun (when will there be more of these??).

[Brad Curran]

'30s - Wow, I'm not sure I actually like any comics from this era at all. Does Krazy Kat count?
'40s - The Spirit sections. Not much competition, but still, they are great.
'50s - See the '30s, but no Krazy Kat. Maybe Weissenger's Superman, but I've barely read any of it.
'60s - Now we're in my wheel house, and I'm having a hard time choosing. So I'll pick a '60s Marvel comic at random. Dr. Strange by Lee and Ditko! I could go with FF, Steranko's Nick Fury, or ASM pretty easily, though.
'70s - Howard the Duck- Get out of my head, Aaron!
'80s - Uncanny X-Men for an ongoing, Watchmen overall
'90s - Preacher. I think it ended in the 90s.
'00s - Tough one, since it's only half over. I'll go with Scott Pilgrim, because I think it is very much of the zeitgeist. And I like saying zeitgeist.

[Hombre]

'60s/70s Avengers

'80s Thor

'90s/2000s Avengers & Black Panther Vol. 2

[drnocturne2]

Response to other posters:

Swamp Thing and Sandman definitely deserve a mention for kind of doing a whole new thing; should they be called “alternative” comics?
Also, naming the reprints is appropriate. Some of the best comics I bought in the 70’s were Marvel reprints from the 60’s (the Galactus trilogy, Thor vs. Hercules, classic Spidey etc.) Also, DC did so many reprints from the 40’s in 100 pagers, and 52 pagers, that it made me an incurable Golden Age fan.
I don’t know how Jimmy Olsen got in there, but I’m having a strong desire to go read Howard the Duck.

[Slam_Bradley]

30s - hmmmm...tough. I could come up with quite a few strips. I'll say Detective because we got Batman and my namesake.

40s - Plastic Man. Cole's kinetic insanity was amazing.

50s - Mad. As a comic and a magazine both entertaining and influential.

60s - Amazing Spider-Man. Lee at his best. Ditko and Romita were very different and both very good.

70s - This one is tough. Tons of stuff I love here. But I'll say Detective. I loved Batman's return to his roots. I loved the Englehart/Rogers issues. I loved Manhunter.

80s - Jon Sable. Grell at his best. Action, adventure, topicality.

90s - Sandman. My all-time favorite series. Mythic story-telling.

00s - Fables. Honestly I've read very little from this decade. But I have the first two trades of this book and they're pretty enjoyable.

[Reptisaurus!]

Response to other posters:

Swamp Thing and Sandman definitely deserve a mention for kind of doing a whole new thing; should they be called “alternative” comics?


Nope. "Alternative" is, generally, a description of both the PUBLISHER and the content.

Which means that if it's published by one of the big two, it ain't alternative.

So Sandman? No. Swamp Thing? No. Even stuff like Gregory or the Big Books or Stuck Rubber Baby or Veils were published by DC, so not "alternative," even if they SEEM more like something that shoulda come out of Fantagraphics.

Edit: I already did this in the "Favorite Publishers" thread. *nods.*

[Tony Bang]

60s- Strange Tales and Nick Fury. Sternako took Kirby's skills and added to them. Fantastic Four was awesome as well though.

70s- Luke Cage. He fought Doctor Doom over 200 dollars. Nuff said

80s- Doom Partol. My favorite Grant Morrison work until...

90s- The Invisibles. Very weird and very cool

00s- 100 Bullets. All the characters all so cool, and Risso is my favorite current artist.

[METAROG]

30's Funny Pages- some really great Arrow stories and nice art
40's Tough choice here-All Star, Blackhawk and Planet Comics tie
50's Another toughie-Mystery in Space or one of the EC titles
60's Metal Men all the way here. Lots of fun reading these over and over.
70's Probably Legion of Super-Heroes or Avengers... too tough to call
80's Crisis with Watchmen coming in a hair behind
90's Guardians of the Galaxy in an upset! Reminded me a bit of the 70's.
00's I obstain as I have read very little. Some of the Avengers were good.

[Joe Bullseye]

This is a really hard question to answer being that taste changes. If you asked me years ago it would be very different from today. So this is as an adult looking back with childhood vision.

30's: I have read so very few from those days and I am into plup mags from that decade so I have to say Weird tales. It featured heros like Conan, Doc Savage, and had generally good stories that inspired the early comics.

40's: Again not to many books from these years made it to my table so I am going to say Superman and Batman.

50's: I have a bunch of Lone Ranger from then but I think Showcase is a more important DC title from that period. It had a lot of silver age first like the Barry Allen Flash.

60's: I am a marvel head. This is the flagship years. It is almost imposible to deside if ASM, FF, X-men, DD, Hulk, or Avengers is number 1. You can argue for each title. But FF was truely the first Marvel book of it's kind. ASM is one of a kind. And DD, who else can claim to be a blind hero. I will just give in and say it is a tie between the Marvel titles and leave it there.

70's: Now I was born in 71 so this is child city for me. My first comics were read and listen books of Neal Adams Batman and the Fantastic Four. But as an adlut reading books from the time I give it up to Ghost Rider. Johnny Blaze kicked ass in those books and ghost rider has never been so good since. Plus the Ploog art rocks.

80's: G.I.Joe was there. I had the first 5 signed by Larry Hama and will never let them go. Plus the silent number 21 is a legand of a book. This series was such an impact I got the Cobra symbal tattooed on my right arm. Always my 80s fav.

90's: The 90's sucked for marvel and DC. But i give it up to Preacher. Ennis is in my top 5 writers list.

2000 to now. I have gone back to my Marvel roots. Daredevil will always be on top for me in the last few years. Bendis brought it up to the Frank Miller level. Just simply amazing.

So there is my arguement for the decades best.

[shaxper]

70s- Luke Cage. He fought Doctor Doom over 200 dollars. Nuff said


Way to get my attention. Now I need to read this series!

[Tony Bang]

Way to get my attention. Now I need to read this series!


Pick up the essential volume. It's full of awesome moments, including the Doom fight.

[shaxper]

I can't stand the essentials. I'll just pick up the actual issue. Which one was it?

[Shellhead]

I can't stand the essentials. I'll just pick up the actual issue. Which one was it?

Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #8-9.

[Scott Shaw!]

1930s -- BATMAN
1940s -- THE SPIRIT
1950s -- WALT DISNEY'S UNCLE SCROOGE
1960s -- FANTASTIC FOUR
1970s -- THE FABULOUS FURRY FREAK BROTHERS
1980s -- CAPTAIN CARROT AND HIS AMAZING ZOO CREW! No? Okay, then how about CROSSFIRE?
1990s -- 1963
2000s -- SAVAGE DRAGON

Aloha,

Scott!

[scratchie]

Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #8-9.I just saw a blog that had a great panel from this story but I'll be damned if I can find it now.

[Lone Ranger]

1930s
I guess Detective Comics is it, as I haven't seen much else from that period. Batman is all-time favourite character so his introduction is a seminal moment. The pre-Batman books seem pretty cool, too.

1940s
Tough call as so many of the DC titles were great, but many had pretty weak back-ups/fillers. I haven't read too many Timely titles, so I can't really opine there. As for Fawcett, I really think they were better in the early 50s than in the 40s. In the end I'll have to go with Action Comics - which was particularly strong when back-ups included Fred Ray on Congo Bill and Mort Meskin on Vigilante.

1950s
Lone Ranger from Dell. Sure this ain't an EC title or Showcase, but it was a consistently great throughout the entire decade. As I have mentioned a million times, it was the painted covers that first got my attention - but the stories made me a true fan.

1960s
Sign me up for Spidey too. Re-set the bar for super-hero books.

1970
Brave and the Bold - what can I say? It's the title of my childhood. The one that really got me hooked on funnybooks.

1980s
Daredevil - Ok, I know it sort of petered out after a while, but damn if it didn't start the decade out with a bang.

1990s
Sandman Mystery Theatre - kept me interested in comics when all of my better judgment (and thin student wallet) was telling me otherwise.

2000s
Hard to say because I don't read that many new titles and some (like Jonah Hex) just don't have enough of a track record, or I have only read small samples (Invicible, Walking Dead). There is one title (which I have read via 5 trades) that has really entertained me over the past 5 years or so, and that is Green Arrow

[Graham Vingoe]

Bizarrely, I have started this reply 4 times and deleted it in error each time. 5th time is the charm. I was born in 1965 so that has to be my starting decade
60's - Avengers, or Green Lantern
70's - Master of Kung Fu
80's - Swamp Thing/Watchmen
90's - Sandman
00's - Really difficult to decide but narrowly it will have to be The Ultimates

[Cactusakic]

60's- Spider-Man/Fantastic Four
70's - X-Men
80's - Daredevil/Watchmen
90's - Preacher/Sandman/Sin City
00's - 100 Bullets/Y:The Last Man/Ultimates/Daredevil/Walking Dead

[shaxper]

Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #8-9.


Amazing! I just found a run of early Hero for Hire in one of my "to resell" bins. It includes those issues. I'll have to give them a read. Is the rest of the series as good?

[Shellhead]

Amazing! I just found a run of early Hero for Hire in one of my "to resell" bins. It includes those issues. I'll have to give them a read. Is the rest of the series as good?

Most people at CBR have nothing but disdain for early Cage appearances, and bandy about the word "blaxploitation" to dismiss it all.

I disagree, because I remember how bland the generic silver age heroes tended to be, in terms of personality and motivation. Luke Cage was a bold experiment, a brash mercenary with heroic tendencies who worked at the lowest street level of the Marvel Universe. As an escaped convict, he had a secret to hide, plus he needed to get paid to cover his basic living expenses. $200 was a big deal to him, and I thought it was awesome that he pursued Doom all the way to Latveria to collect. Even Doom respected that, especially after Cage trashed his armor.

Also, I liked the Graham artwork on those early Cage issues. It had a slightly cartoonish but otherwise very gritty texture that fit the tone of the series.

[shaxper]

Most people at CBR have nothing but disdain for early Cage appearances, and bandy about the word "blaxploitation" to dismiss it all.

Yes, that's what kept me away from them. The title and covers alone gave off a bad impression.


I disagree, because I remember how bland the generic silver age heroes tended to be, in terms of personality and motivation. Luke Cage was a bold experiment, a brash mercenary with heroic tendencies who worked at the lowest street level of the Marvel Universe. As an escaped convict, he had a secret to hide, plus he needed to get paid to cover his basic living expenses. $200 was a big deal to him, and I thought it was awesome that he pursued Doom all the way to Latveria to collect. Even Doom respected that, especially after Cage trashed his armor.

Also, I liked the Graham artwork on those early Cage issues. It had a slightly cartoonish but otherwise very gritty texture that fit the tone of the series.

Then I'll give them a try!

(cringes at the thought that he may end up needing to assemble an entire run of Powerman and Ironfist if he likes these...)

[Jeddy]

My picks

30's - Action Comics - I've read the Superman stories in the archives and I wish they would issue the Zatara stories too.

40's - Comic Cavalcade - My three favorite heroes in one magazine and the covers are the tops.

50's - Tomahawk - Between Star Spangled and his own title, Tomahawk was an early favorite of mine.

60's - Little Dot's Uncles and Aunts - Harvey had a number of interesting giant titles but the stories in this one were among the best.

70's - Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery - It's close between this and RR & Casper but this was the title I read first every issue.

80's - Cerebus - For most of the 80's, this was the best title being published. Other titles had moments (Groo, Tales of the Beanworld, Grimjack) but none peaked for the entire decade.

90's - Ranma 1/2 - After the crash, this was the one title that kept me coming back for the next story.

00's - Fables - For the Last Castle alone but the rest of the series has been excellent also.

[Babylon23]

30's - Flash Gordon. Alex Raymond's artwork is just stunning. Action and Detective a close second.
40's - All-Star Comics. I love the JSA. Captain America and Planet Comics a close second.
50's - Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future. Wonderful two-fisted sci-fi stories by Frank Hampson, one of my all-time favourite artists.
60's - FF. The sheer amount of raw energy and creativity that Lee/Kirby brought to comics amazes me even today. For me, the standout is 45-70, the period that gave us Galactus, the Black Panther, the Inhumans, Him, etc.
70's - Probably X-Men. Towards the end of the decade is when I started reading comics. Honourable mentions go to New Gods, Kamandi, Tomb of Dracula and Swamp Thing.
80's - Very hard to pick. It would be a toss up between Jon Sable, Nexus, Swamp Thing, Dark Knight, Watchman, The Question, Avengers and X-Men.
90's - Tie between Starman and Astro City. Both books kept me interested in comics during a time when a lot of crap was produced.
00's - Too early to tell.

[Reptisaurus!]

40's - All-Star Comics. I love the JSA. Captain America and Planet Comics a close second.

Huh.

I've read a decent amount of All Star Stuff, probably 10-12 issues between reprints from the seventies and archive volumes. But I didn't think any of it was very good, 'side from some beautiful stuff from Kubert and Toth. Formulaic and boring.

Which is weird, 'cause the Gardner Fox's later work on JLA is one of my two/three favorite superhero runs ever.

[BeastieRunner]

1930s: Detective Comics. No contest here.

1940s: Plastic Man. Again, no contest.

1950s: Fantastic Four hands down.

1960s: Amazing Spider-man hands down.

1970s: Ghost Rider and Tomb of Dracula tie for me.

1980s: Silver Surfer with Hellblazer for a close second.

1990s: Sandman. No contest.

2000s: Ultimate Spider-man with Runaways coming in a close second.

[Shellhead]

1950s: Fantastic Four hands down.

1960s: Amazing Spider-man hands down.


How many hands have you got? Fantastic Four and Spider-man both started in the early 60's.

[The Shadow]

I haven't read enough from the 40's and 50's... so I'm gonn start at the 60's.

1960's - This was a hard one... in fact it shall remain a tie between Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man.

1970's - I went with Batman because of Adams/O'neill, Englehart/Rogers, Aparo and the great stories that came out of then. It was the return of Batman to his Dark Knight days.

1980's - Quick and easy decision here... Uncanny X-Men. There's really no competition.

1990's - Another tie between Preacher and Sin City.

2000's - Tough to tell thus far... but Daredevil by Bendis, Ultimate Spider-Man, Seven Soldiers, Captain America by Brubaker and Young Avengers , and Fables are all up there.
and I TOTALLY forgot to add The Ultimates!

[Ray R.]

Interesting topic. I think it'd be better to break up the decades even more, say five-year spans, because some comics really hit their heyday in more of a five year than decade-long run. For example Detective and Action didn't hit until really the end of the thirties, Carl Barks wasn't really in his wheelhouse until I'd say '47 or so, and E.C. had about a solid five year run in the fifties then ran afoul of Dr. Frederick Wertham, Estes Kefauver and the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency....the sole survivor (forget Psychoanalysis, Extra!, M.D., and other E.C. CCA-approved books), Mad, went to magazine format, so doesn't really count as a comic anymore. Similarly, Showcase #4 didn't pop up until 1956 (although J'Onn J'Onzz showed up in 1955. You can make a case for the FF in the '60s, since they started in '61, but the Amazing Spiderman, who started in '63, probably was the better title over the whole of the sixties and culminating in Amazing Spiderman 121-22 in '73. Still, like I said, very interesting thread topic.

My picks:

30's - Famous Funnies (there are others like Ace, Sparkler, King and others that had bigger names like the Phantom, Tarzan and Popeye), but Famous Funnies was the first comic that really hit the big time, at least in my recollection. And it ran for over 220 issues, and featured some of Frank Frazetta's best work on the Buck Rogers strip.

40's - Toughie. Probably keeping the whole decade in mind, I'll go with All Star Comics. It started in 1940, and introduced Wonder Woman as well as the first major team book involving a good number of the stars of other comics like Adventure, All-American, Flash Comics, More Fun, etc.) The title faded after the war, but still ran almost 60 issues. Batman, Superman and Captain America all deserve props here too.

50's - I'd give it to Tales From the Crypt or Mad, but their runs were mercilessly short. In reality, I think it's a three-way tie between Archie Comics, Classics Illustrated and Walt Disney's Comics & Stories. All three hit their heydays throughout the entire decade, particularly as superhero comics hit the skids. Westerns like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger also had long successful runs throughout the whole decade, and Romance books sold in droves, although no one comic sticks out in my mind.

60's - For the whole decade, the Fantastic Four, although it did get a bit stale towards the end of the decade. Amazing Spiderman and the Flash get honorable mentions.

70's - For the first half probably the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers as it was the underground comix heyday, to end about '75 or '76, for the second half I would say probably Richie Rich or the Uncanny X-men. The Englehart/Rogers run on Detective was good but too short, same with O'Neil/Adams on Green Lantern/Green Arrow.

80's - New Teen Titans by Wolfman/Perez. It was a good run for awhile, even when they switched to Baxter stock. Probably have to give some credit as well as some shame for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles who both helped create the interest in independents, which then started the black and white gold rush, which killed numerous publishers and left reduced expectations in its wake. I liked Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman.....my favorite single book of the 80s.

90's - Usagi Yojimbo. Honorable mention to Rosa's run on Uncle Scrooge, Sin City, and Vertigo's Sandman Mystery Theater. I'm also partial to Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot who sporadically showed up in both the 80s and 90s, as well as recently, as well as Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise, and Los Bros Hernandez' Love & Rockets (which also spanned the 80s and 90s).

00's - So far, The Authority, Astro City, and perhaps Powers or Y The Last Man. There are some contenders up-and-coming in Ex Machina, Walking Dead, and Invincible, with Ex Machina having a ton of potential.....