Did Marvel introduce any successful characters in the '80s? [Archive]

Shellhead

11-13-2007, 08:54 AM

I think the 1st Venom tale was in 1988. He'd just sneak by the 1989 deadline.

Beta Ray Bill - While I personally like him, I don't know just how successful commercially he is.

Would the female Captain Marvel count? She shared the name, but powers and personality are completely different.

I'm bored with him now, but I admit that Venom became a big deal.

Beta Ray Bill and Captain Monica strike me as unsuccessful characters, in that only their creators used them much. Most subsequent writers have had no interest in either character. With Beta Ray Bill, you have a spare Thor with a problematic connection to the Norse Mythos. Not much to see there. With Captain Monica, you have a character with a power set that is difficult to write around. Either she quickly wins a battle, or else she is facing an opponent that she can't beat. Neither possibility makes for a good comic book fight scene.

Polar Bear

11-13-2007, 09:19 AM

Elektra (DD 181, Aug 1981).

Apocolypse (early issues of X-Factor) and Mr. Sinister (Silvestri issues of X-Men)--much as I dislike them, they are successful characters.

Kristoff (Byrne FF), who still appears in Spider-Girl's future.

Spider-Woman (Secret Wars 1, I think) just played a role in Civil War, esp. the tie-in issues with Ms. Marvel.

Except for Elektra, we're not really burning down the house, here. I'll think more.

scratchie

11-13-2007, 09:37 AM

Spider-Woman originally appeared in the late 70s, in (IIRC) Marvel Spotlight.

I suppose Speedball might qualify. Kitty Pryde? She might have been from the tail end of 1979, but there must be one or two mutant characters who were introduced in the 80s and are still around. I have to admit that 1980s Marvel comics are not my strong suit.

Lone Ranger

11-13-2007, 09:39 AM

The New Mutants came to mind immediately.

Speedball is also a pretty good 80s Marvel character.

Lone Ranger

11-13-2007, 09:40 AM

Coke to scratchie

dan bailey

11-13-2007, 09:46 AM

Spider-Woman originally appeared in the late 70s, in (IIRC) Marvel Spotlight.

Yep -- #32, looks like, which came out in '77. Her own title started in early '78. I remember buying the first couple of ishes before I gave up comics cold turkey that December ... no cause-&-effect was involved, but I don't remember being impressed at all.

Polar Bear

11-13-2007, 09:55 AM

Spider-Woman originally appeared in the late 70s, in (IIRC) Marvel Spotlight.

I mean the black-and-white costumed Spider-Woman aka Arachne, the psychic web character, not Jessica Drew.

MDG

11-13-2007, 09:59 AM

It seems like most of these, except for Speedball, are spin-offs of existing characters, not really new characters.

MDG

founder81

11-13-2007, 11:16 AM

At least we can take comfort with the creative teams during the 80's even if we can't think of good new characters.

Oh, what about US Agent ....

... nevermind, pyschotic Capt. America.

Kan-Man

11-13-2007, 11:29 AM

I tried to confirm these with the GCD but I got frustrated and gave up...

Kitty Pryde

Rogue

Dazzler

Personally, I always thought Kitty Pryde and Rogue were the same person, so don't go by me. And I also thought Dazzler was a laughably bad idea for a character but apparently she's had a following.

dan bailey

11-13-2007, 12:01 PM

Wikipedia shows Kitty Pryde as having debuted in X-Men 129, cover-dated 1/80, which means it would've come out in the fall of '79. I haven't read any X-Men after ish 105 or thereabouts, but it looks like #129 also marked Emma Frost's inaugural appearance.)

Rogue apparently first saw print in Avengers Annual 10, cover-dated 8/81.

dan bailey

11-13-2007, 12:08 PM

At least we can take comfort with the creative teams during the 80's even if we can't think of good new characters.

Oh, what about US Agent ....

... nevermind, pyschotic Capt. America.

Speaking of Captain America, it depends on one's definition of "successful," but Jack Monroe as Nomad first showed up in '83. He did eventually wind up with a series that lasted a couple of dozen issues ...

Your Imaginary Pal

11-13-2007, 12:18 PM

Longshot
New Mutants
Rogue
Beyonder
Forge
Apocalypse
Sinister

true some have fallen from the spotlight, but they were the beez knees when they first appeared.

Shellhead

11-13-2007, 12:53 PM

Speaking of Captain America, it depends on one's definition of "successful," but Jack Monroe as Nomad first showed up in '83. He did eventually wind up with a series that lasted a couple of dozen issues ...

That raises a question... do we count when the character was introduced or when the costumed identity was introduced? For example, Jack Monroe was introduced in the '70s, when the '50s Cap and Bucky woke up and caused havoc. Another example would be Quasar. He first appeared in the '70s in a similar costume, under the name Marvel Man, but became moderately popular under the ID of Quasar during the '80s.

icctrombone

11-13-2007, 01:25 PM

According to the Overstreet Price Guide Kitty Pryde was 1/80 , Dazzler 2/80 and Emma Frost 1/80.

Jim Rhodes just missed in January of 1979.

Roquefort Raider

11-13-2007, 01:36 PM

Hobgoblin may have made the list, but Marvel screwed him up pretty badly as a character.

What about the brood?

Lone Ranger

11-13-2007, 01:57 PM

I've always like Gargoyle of the Defenders - not exactly a household name, though.

Roquefort Raider

11-13-2007, 02:05 PM

I've always like Gargoyle of the Defenders - not exactly a household name, though.

Good character! I particularly liked his age; it changed us from the usual teenaged or tweenaged superheroes.

Did he recover from his death at the end of the run?

shaxper

11-13-2007, 04:55 PM

Gambit
Rogue
Lockheed The Dragon
Mr. Sinister
Archangel

icctrombone

11-13-2007, 07:26 PM

Terrax the tamer

shaxper

11-13-2007, 07:28 PM

Thanos (well, it wasn't his first appearance, but they revived a dead one-shot character into a legend)

pariah-1972

11-13-2007, 07:54 PM

all of the New Mutants were successfull at that time.

rick

11-13-2007, 08:01 PM

Thanos (well, it wasn't his first appearance, but they revived a dead one-shot character into a legend)

Thanos was never a one shot character, especially back in the 70's.

shaxper

11-13-2007, 08:24 PM

Thanos was never a one shot character, especially back in the 70's.

I'll readily admit ignorance here. I was under the impression that he was a small time character with only a few appearances under his belt before he died.

Note to self - check Wikipedia before embarrassing self next time...

Chris N

11-13-2007, 09:30 PM

I'll readily admit ignorance here. I was under the impression that he was a small time character with only a few appearances under his belt before he died.

Note to self - check Wikipedia before embarrassing self next time...

Admittedly, they were relatively few appearances (just under 20 I'd estimate), but they're all beloved issues done by Jim Starlin, and make one great saga together.

Shellhead

11-14-2007, 07:59 AM

Admittedly, they were relatively few appearances (just under 20 I'd estimate), but they're all beloved issues done by Jim Starlin, and make one great saga together.

Thanos first appeared as an Iron Man villain. Then he acquired the Cosmic Cube and battled Captain Marvel and the Avengers. Next, Thanos gathered a large number of alien criminals and thugs together in an invasion fleet, but that was trashed by the Avengers. Later, Thanos teamed up with Adam Warlock against the Magus and his galactic church. Then Thanos acquired the soul gems and fought the Avengers, Adam Warlock, Spider-man and the Thing. All of these adventures happened in the '70s before he died.

Kan-Man

11-14-2007, 08:53 AM

Don't mean to derail too much, but I always assumed Thanos was a Darkseid knockoff. Which character came first?

Lone Ranger

11-14-2007, 08:59 AM

Good character! I particularly liked his age; it changed us from the usual teenaged or tweenaged superheroes.

Did he recover from his death at the end of the run?

I haven't a clue - I don't think I picked up a Defenders comic after 1984.

I don't know if Gargoyle is part of the current MTU.

matthewaos

11-14-2007, 09:17 AM

I think Demogoblin is in the edge of the deadline, January 1990 (December 1989), but I may be completly wrong.

Shellhead

11-14-2007, 09:37 AM

Don't mean to derail too much, but I always assumed Thanos was a Darkseid knockoff. Which character came first?

Thanos first appeared in Iron Man #55 in 1973, while Darkseid first appeared in 1970, in the pages of the Jimmy Olsen comic.

matthewaos

11-14-2007, 10:39 AM

I think Demogoblin is in the edge of the deadline, January 1990 (December 1989), but I may be completly wrong.

I know that he is a Hobgoblin spin of, who is a Green Goblin spin of, and he only has what, 5 appearances? But That fact that many people know him (and because I just like the character) make him kind of famous.

founder81

11-14-2007, 11:36 AM

Oh man, this is depressing. The best comic minds on the internet and the best of the crop to choose from is Rogue and Venom.

Hmm. That isn't a bad list, even if Venom was pounded down our throats in the 90's and Rogue... haven't read an X-men in about 10 years, is she still Rogue or did Marvel mess around with her?

pariah-1972

11-14-2007, 11:56 AM

Simon Garth

11-14-2007, 02:49 PM

We were talking about successful new characters introduced by Marvel since 1980, and it gradually dawned on me that there didn't seem to be any introduced during the '80s. Can anybody here name some successful Marvel characters that were introduced in the '80s? I suspect that the drought was caused by Jim Shooter. His oppressive management style chased off a lot of the talent.

I think it's pretty unfair to blame Shooter for that - not least because I think you can say pretty much the same thing about the 70s for Marvel (only New X-Men, particularly Wolverine, comes to mind. Maybe the Punisher) and about the 50s for DC (except New Teen Titans (late 70s/early 80s?)).

Other than that, all the great Marvel characters arrived in the 60s and the big DC characters in the 30s & 40s, plus a few relaunches like Flash & Green Lantern in the 50s.

Going off on a tangent - to my mind the "oppressive management style" = "reining in the excesses that preceeded it" - there was an awful lot of dross being produced before he came along (and after, admittedly), and an awful lot of "dread deadline doom" reprints, and abysmal writing & editing from the writer/editors of the time (Thomas, Wolfman, Wein, Conway) - probably my least favourite era of Marvel (I was lucky enough to miss most of the 90s!), where their initial burst of invention had collapsed into self-indulgence and (particularly with Wein and Conway) bloody awful writing.

Shellhead

11-14-2007, 04:19 PM

Christopher Cross Is God

11-14-2007, 09:24 PM

I'd agree with the overall assessment of Rogue & Venom being the only particularly successful Marvel characters created in the 80's.

At least we can take comfort with the creative teams during the 80's even if we can't think of good new characters.

Oh, what about US Agent ....

... nevermind, pyschotic Capt. America.

At one point in that initial John Walker run in Captain America, he was a good, interesting character.....But in the past several years it seems like Marvel has really run him into the ground, regressing him, mentally, into a dumber version of his original Super Patriot days.

tony ingram

11-15-2007, 08:10 AM

I haven't a clue - I don't think I picked up a Defenders comic after 1984.

I don't know if Gargoyle is part of the current MTU.

Gargoyle returned to life in a Moondragon story arc in Avengers Spotlight, went on to become a regular supporting character in Hellstorm in the 90s, guest starred in Quasar and Silver Surfer, and has been seen all over the place since Civil War. He's currently a member of the Initiative.

Polar Bear

11-15-2007, 08:48 AM

I'd agree with the overall assessment of Rogue & Venom being the only particularly successful Marvel characters created in the 80's.

So, we're skipping Elektra?

scratchie

11-15-2007, 09:35 AM

Shellhead

11-15-2007, 09:45 AM

Man-Thing
Howard the Duck

and who could forget The Human Fly??

Man-Thing and Howard the Duck each got a movie, but those were terrible movies. Howard the Duck doesn't really exist unless Steve Gerber is writing him, so I consider Howard a failure as a character. Man-Thing has made a lot of guest appearances over the years, but his absence of personality makes it tough for him to carry his own title. The comparisons with Swamp Thing are brutal, because Swamp Thing has had at least three different critically-acclaimed runs, while Man-Thing has had zero. I remember the Human Fly, because I actually bought the first two issues. It was easier to take a chance on a new title back then, when the cover price was so low.

MWGallaher

11-15-2007, 10:17 AM

dan bailey

11-15-2007, 10:21 AM

Power Man
Iron Fist
Shang-Chi
Moon Knight
Ms. Marvel
She-Hulk
Ghost Rider
Quasar
Bullseye
Nova
Blade

She-Hulk is right on the borderline between the '70s & '80s, I'd say -- looks like the first ish of Savage She-Hulk was cover-dated 2/80, which I suppose means an actual newsstand debut in late fall of '79.

dan bailey

11-15-2007, 10:23 AM

The comparisons with Swamp Thing are brutal, because Swamp Thing has had at least three different critically-acclaimed runs, while Man-Thing has had zero.

Depends on your definition of "run," I suppose. Gerber & Ploog's Man-Thing stint was pretty impressive, if I recall correctly.

Simon Garth

11-15-2007, 01:10 PM

I would agree that the greatest Marvel characters were all introduced in the '60s, with the exception of the ones introduced much earlier, like Captain America and Sub-Mariner. But I think that several fairly successful characters were introduced in the '70s, even aside from Punisher and the new X-Men.

Power Man
Iron Fist
Shang-Chi
Moon Knight
Ms. Marvel
She-Hulk
Ghost Rider
Quasar
Bullseye
Nova
Blade

Don't know what your definition of "successful" is, but none of that lot would make mine - hardly A-listers* are they - most of them would struggle to qualify as C-list.

* That's a little unfair as I actually have a really, really, rigorous definition of A-list. I'm talking cultural icon, adults know about them, kids wear them on their pyjamas kind of "brand recognition". To my mind there have been a very small number of A-list characters in the history of comics: 5 to be precise (and I'm not 100% convinced about the 5th one!)

dan bailey

11-15-2007, 01:17 PM

To my mind there have been a very small number of A-list characters in the history of comics: 5 to be precise (and I'm not 100% convinced about the 5th one!)

Ummm ... Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man ... The Hulk? Captain America?

DDM

11-15-2007, 01:42 PM

I'll readily admit ignorance here. I was under the impression that he was a small time character with only a few appearances under his belt before he died.

Note to self - check Wikipedia before embarrassing self next time...

After Thanos' "death" in Iron Man #55 he appeared in the following:

Captain Marvel #25-33 (Thanos attains power via the Cosmic Cube, guest starring Drax the Destroyer & Moondragon)
Strange Tales #178-181 (via his agent Gamora)
Warlock #9-13 (Thanos helps Adam Warlock defeat the Magus, a evil alternate version of Adam Warlock)
Avengers Annual #7 (Moondragon, Captain Marvel plus all the then current active Avengers fight Thanos when he attempts to use the energy from the Soul Gems to destroy all the stars for Death, D: Gamora, Pip, & Adam Warlock)
Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 Spider-Man becomes a pawn for Lord Chaos & Master Order to help defeat Thanos. It has has the Thing, the Avengers, Captain Marvel, Moondragon, D: Thanos)

Although Thanos' appearances were small, each story is significantly epic in scope. Thanos is hardly a one note, small character.

Of course, Thanos, Adam Warlock, Pip, & Gamora were all resurrected when Jim Starlin wrote The Silver Surfer #38-50 for his other epic, Thanos Quest (O: the Infinity Gems, formerly known as the Soul Gems) & The Infinity Gauntlet in 1990-1991...

MDG

11-15-2007, 02:00 PM

Ummm ... Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man ... The Hulk? Captain America?
Did we have this discussion before?

I think I'd add the FF and X-Men--as groups, not individuals, and the X-Men only since the movies.

"The General Public" could probably name The Flash and Green Lantern, and actually tell The Flash's power, but only because his name is descriptive.

People could probably ID a picture of the Silver Surfer.
MDG

Shellhead

11-15-2007, 02:21 PM

Don't know what your definition of "successful" is, but none of that lot would make mine - hardly A-listers* are they - most of them would struggle to qualify as C-list.

* That's a little unfair as I actually have a really, really, rigorous definition of A-list. I'm talking cultural icon, adults know about them, kids wear them on their pyjamas kind of "brand recognition". To my mind there have been a very small number of A-list characters in the history of comics: 5 to be precise (and I'm not 100% convinced about the 5th one!)

I don't consider any of the below heroes to be A-list, but after three movies, Blade is a solid B-list pick. My rationale for the rest:

Power Man (49 issues of his own title, immediately followed by 76 more issues in a comic that he shared with Iron Fist. Luke is currently prominently featured in New Avengers, one of the top-selling comics right now.

Iron Fist (same as Power Man, except that he only had a couple of dozen solo issues before PM & IF.)

Shang-Chi (Master of Kung Fu lasted 126 issues! He was also a regular cast member in the recently-cancelled Heroes for Hire title.)

Moon Knight (He is currently on his fifth series, which indicates that he enjoys at least some enduring popularity.)

Ms. Marvel (Her first series lasted a couple of years, and her current series is doing okay. In between, she has appeared in the Avengers on a recurring basis.)

She-Hulk (same as Ms. Marvel, except that She-Hulk has now had over 100 issues of her comic, spread out over 3 or 4 volumes.

Ghost Rider (Starred in his own movie recently. His original series lasted nearly 80 issues, and his '90s series lasted nearly 100 issues. At one point during the '90s, he had something like 3 monthly titles going at once, I believe.)

Quasar (His monthly series lasted 60 issues, which is pretty respectable.)

Bullseye (Got a high-profile role in the Daredevil movie a few years back. Frank Miller changed him from a minor villain to a major threat to Daredevil during his critically-acclaimed run on the title.)

Nova (His original comic only lasted a couple of years, but he was prominently featured in the long-running New Warriors title, which is now on its fourth series. Nova played a major role in Annihilation.)

Blade (3 major motion pictures. Nuff said.)

DDM

11-15-2007, 03:05 PM

Ms. Marvel (Her first series lasted a couple of years, and her current series is doing okay. In between, she has appeared in the Avengers on a recurring basis.)

Carol Danvers also plays an important role as a supporting character in Uncanny X-Men #161-167 since it is this storyline which transforms her into Binary. Binary is also important in Uncanny X-Men #171 when Rogue joins the X-Men.

She-Hulk (same as Ms. Marvel, except that She-Hulk has now had over 100 issues of her comic, spread out over 3 or 4 volumes.

Throughout the 80's Jennifer also was a full time member of The Avengers & Fantastic Four plus she had her own graphic novel Marvel Graphic novel #18: The Sensational She-Hulk. The latter two series is thanks to John Byrne's enthusiasm for She-Hulk.

Quasar (His monthly series lasted 60 issues, which is pretty respectable.)

Quasar was created in the late 1970's around 1978 or 1979.

Nova (His original comic only lasted a couple of years, but he was prominently featured in the long-running New Warriors title, which is now on its fourth series. Nova played a major role in Annihilation.)

Nova was created in the 1970's.

Blade (3 major motion pictures. Nuff said.)

Blade was created in the 1970's.

Shellhead

11-15-2007, 03:19 PM

Quasar was created in the late 1970's around 1978 or 1979.
Nova was created in the 1970's.
Blade was created in the 1970's.

Yeah, we wandered off into a sidebar discussion about characters created in the '70s. Simon Garth doesn't think that Marvel has created many successful characters since the '60s, which I think is overly harsh.

Simon Garth

11-15-2007, 03:28 PM

That's not quite what I'm saying (not least because I quoted X-Men in general, Wolverine in particular, and the Punisher), but it really depends what you mean by succussful.

If you measure them against anything Marvel created in the 60s, I don't think any of that lot measure up, much as I bought and enjoyed some of the books (eg MoKF & Slott's She Hulk).

Are they enduring characters? Well, maybe - none of them have really held down a continuing series without a break - in fact, offhand, the last series that Marvel created since the 60s that has run ever since might well be X-Men and Wolverine. Can't think of any others offhand that have run without a break since they were launched.

Simon Garth

11-15-2007, 03:35 PM

Did we have this discussion before?

I think I'd add the FF and X-Men--as groups, not individuals, and the X-Men only since the movies.

"The General Public" could probably name The Flash and Green Lantern, and actually tell The Flash's power, but only because his name is descriptive.

People could probably ID a picture of the Silver Surfer.
MDG

Yep, I'd go Supes, Bats, Spider-Man, Hulk and Wonder Woman, though with reservations about WW, as she's barely able to support a single comic at times.

I don't believe Captain America has much, if any recognition outside of comics fans (though the name is evocative enough that you can pretty much "get" the character just from that), and if you think Flash or Green Lantern have even been heard of, by anyone who didn't grow up reading comics, you're kidding yourself.

X-Men and Wolverine have got some brand recognition now, FF less so, Blade maybe more than the FF, but only because none of the audience realise he's a comic character. Ditto Men In Black

It'll be interesting to see if the much-rumoured JLA movie manages to raise the profile of DC's big-name B-listers like Flash & Lantern.

DDM

11-15-2007, 04:54 PM

Yeah, we wandered off into a sidebar discussion about characters created in the '70s. Simon Garth doesn't think that Marvel has created many successful characters since the '60s, which I think is overly harsh.

If you want to be technical, Carol Danvers made her first appearance in Marvel Super Heroes #13 around 1968 or so. She was also a supporting character for much Captain Marvel's early issues until Jim Starlin got involved with the book. So it goes something like this:

late 1960's: supporting character in Captain Marvel & was a supporting character in The Avengers #89-97 something called The Kree-Skrull War...
1970's: Carol Danvers becomes Ms. Marvel & Carol joins The Avengers after several supporting roles in the book.
1980's: Carol loses her Ms. Marvel powers in Avengers Annual #10 & becomes Binary in Uncanny X-Men. Carol is a supporting character in Uncanny X-Men & The New Mutants.
late-1990's: Carol rejoins The Avengers as Warbird.
2000's: Carol has her own book again as Ms. Marvel...

DDM

11-15-2007, 04:55 PM

Yeah, we wandered off into a sidebar discussion about characters created in the '70s. Simon Garth doesn't think that Marvel has created many successful characters since the '60s, which I think is overly harsh.

I think it's harsh too. Quasar did last for 60 issues. Many of today's new books would wish for that many issues before cancellation.

tony ingram

11-16-2007, 06:34 AM

[QUOTE=Shellhead;5819859]
Ghost Rider (Starred in his own movie recently. His original series lasted nearly 80 issues, and his '90s series lasted nearly 100 issues. At one point during the '90s, he had something like 3 monthly titles going at once, I believe.)

Nova (His original comic only lasted a couple of years, but he was prominently featured in the long-running New Warriors title, which is now on its fourth series. Nova played a major role in Annihilation.)
/QUOTE]

Purely to be pedantic: Ghost Rider's original run actually lasted 81 issues, and while Nova actually doesn't feature in the latest New Warriors series, he is currently starring in his fourth ongoing series and also has a LS to his name.

MWGallaher

11-16-2007, 09:10 AM

We're overlooking the obvious, folks. Marvel introduced some hugely successful characters in the 80's...and I'm talking "Simon Garth A-list" characters here.

Kan-Man

11-16-2007, 09:24 AM

The recognition debate reminded me of something I found very entertaining...

The other night, my 4-year old son decided to invent a game. He'd pretend to be a superhero and I'd have to guess who he was.

The first clues were "I have a bat on me and I have a black cape but I can't fly." It was a head scratcher, but I finally figured it out.

The next two had similar clues for Superman and Spiderman. Then I asked for another one.

Him: What color is Green Lantern?
Me: Green?
Him: Okay, guess.
Me: I don't know. Give me a hint.
Him: Can Green Lantern fly?
Me: Yes.
Him: Okay, I'm green and I can fly.
Me: Still not sure.
Him: Does Green Lantern wear a mask?
Me: Yes.
Him: Okay, guess.
Me: Green Lantern?
Him: How did you know?

So, you see - Green Lantern is as well known by today's youth as any of the major icons. This proves it.

Simon Garth

11-16-2007, 01:18 PM

We're overlooking the obvious, folks. Marvel introduced some hugely successful characters in the 80's...and I'm talking "Simon Garth A-list" characters here.

If you're talking X-Men, then they've already been mentioned, and don't make the cut, IMHO, though they're probably top of the B-List.

MWGallaher

11-16-2007, 02:20 PM

If you're talking X-Men, then they've already been mentioned, and don't make the cut, IMHO, though they're probably top of the B-List.

Nope, not the X-Men. Bigger than them. Granted, Marvel wasn't entirely starting from scratch with these characters I'm thinking of, but as I understand it, there weren't really any "characters" at all until the Bullpen did their work.

Simon Garth

11-16-2007, 03:30 PM

If you're talking "bigger" in the sense of some ultra-cack like Shogun Warriors or Godzilla, I really will need to hunt you down and beat you with sticks!

Simon Garth

11-16-2007, 03:31 PM

Or, GI Joe, for that matter.

MWGallaher

11-16-2007, 04:02 PM

I was thinking Transformers, actually (and secondarily, G.I.Joe, but I won't press that one since I don't want a stick-beating). Transformers may also be "ultra-cack" to you, but I think it fits your "A-List" criteria: "cultural icon, adults know about them, kids wear them on their pyjamas kind of 'brand recognition'."
Hasbro gave Marvel a few imported toy robots that turned into vehicles; Marvel then invented the Autobot/Decepticon war, named most of the robots, gave them an origin, established rudimentary "personalities", created the fundamental "Transformers mythos" that guided the cartoons, the video releases, and the big screen summer blockbuster.
Hey, I wasn't a fan, myself, but I don't see any feasible argument that these weren't exceptionally successful characters introduced (and developed) by Marvel in the 80's.

earl

11-19-2007, 04:58 PM

You have to wonder if the fact that Marvel (or DC for that matter) have not had as many new mainline characters created in the last twenty five years or so has to do with artists not wanting to sign away the farm.

Kid Kyoto

11-19-2007, 11:02 PM

They're not Marvel characters, but Marvel did "introduce" DREADSTAR and ALIEN LEGION in the 80's. I'd call the former a modest success (at least), but both showed surprising (to me, anyway) longevity, and both have continued to return to print in different forms. Maybe they're not Wolverine or Punisher-level successes, but financially, I strongly suspect they've been bigger successes for their creators.

I think that deserves underlining because it explains so much. The 80s were the dawn of independent publishing and creator owned properties for US comics (in Japan of course it was always the norm). So we have Eastman and Laird doing and owning the Turtles, Starlin on Dreadstar, Kirby on a whole bunch of stuff.

And I've heard of creators withholding ideas hoping they can take them private. Why use my brilliant idea for a villain when I can just reuse Doc Ock and keep my guy back for my future creator owned book?

stelok

11-21-2007, 03:55 PM

We were talking about successful new characters introduced by Marvel since 1980, and it gradually dawned on me that there didn't seem to be any introduced during the '80s. Can anybody here name some successful Marvel characters that were introduced in the '80s? I suspect that the drought was caused by Jim Shooter. His oppressive management style chased off a lot of the talent.
Ah, yes. During Jim Shooter's reign, no creative freedom existed at Marvel. I am not happy with his writing of the Spider-Man issue where Peter Parker and Mary Jane got married. he should have left it to a better writer.

Admittedly I'm no going to read the whole thread yet. I'm pretty sure these characters have already been mentioned but I'll give out my opinion on them.

I remember there are a lot of prominent mutants in 1980's like Sinister, Marauders, Rachel Summers, Warpath (James Proudstar), Dazzler, Psylocke, Apocalypse etc.

And there is also Power Pack, a team of siblings endowed with superpowers. I haven't read their comic book but I read the info that it had produced controversial issues like drug abuse.