Collecting Pre - Crisis Comics

[Inverted]

Hello,

I'm new to the whole collecting game so this might be a rather unusual question. As someone who likes to see the DC heros in a more modern light is there a reason in collecting pre crisis issues aside from nostalgic, and profit reasons? What types of collections do you specialize in?

I'm actually trying to collect post crisis comics from the 80's and 90's mostly because I want to catch up to what I've missed in terms of modern story lines. Right now I only have Vertigo Sandman titles, some Batman(including issues 1-4 of Year One), and am currently in the process of getting some JSA from 1991. My main focus is also collecting issues which involve Batman(been a huge fan since I was a kid). However I always thought I could just read the early issues through the Chronicles series.

All opinions appreciated. Thanks for reading.

[Babylon23]

I'd say the main reason for reading pre-Crisis comics is that great comics are great regardless of when they were published. There are a lot of great DC runs that pre-date Crisis.

Using Batman as a prime example, theres the groundbreaking work of Denny O'Neal and Neal Adams, or the incredible year-long run by Englehart/Rogers, or the Haney/Aparo Brave and the Bold issues. Many of the modern Batman stories were at least influenced by these issues. Then there's the 40's-50's work of Dick Sprang.

There's also a lot of titles that didn't really completely reboot post-Crisis, such as Swamp Thing and Teen Titans. So if you're a fan of those titles, you'd need to collect both pre and post Crisis issues to get the full story.

Having said that, Crisis can be a good starting point for characters like Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman, who went through bigger reboots than some other titles.

I suppose it depends on whether continuity is your primary interest. If so, then Crisis is a decent place to start, but you're missing out on some incredible stories. They may no longer be part of canon, but they're both reading in their own right.

As a JSA fan, I'm happy to have the 70's All-Star Comics issues as well as a complete run of All-Star Squadron and many of the JLA/JSA crossover issues. Nostalgia is definitely a factor, since my love of the JSA stems from reading these issues as a kid, but for me it's more about a love of the characters and wanting to read as many stories featuring those characters as I can find, regardless of what's in-continuity.

[jackdaw53]

I tend to seek out back runs from the same era (80's and 90's), just because they strike me as really good value for money... I'm not really a collector because once I've read I'm happy to sell. But for me 80's and 90's stuff have good paper and print quality, good stories, and often low prices. That's a tough combination to beat.

Long runs I've bought for much lower than the $3 per issue cost of current comics include:-
John Ostrander's Hawkworld, Martian Manhunter, Spectre, Suicide Squad
Peter David's run On Hulk
James Robinson run on Starman
Mike Grell on Green Arrow

Enjoyed all those, terrific reading value. Stuff that I'd like to collect given time include 1 to 100 of Legends of the Dark Knight... superb value.

Yes... very much a fan of 80's/ 90's comics.

[Mon-el]

I don't think I can top Babylon23's post.

but one word best describing Pre-Crisis Comics would be....Fun.

No Decompression that will drag a storyline through 6 issues so it could be collected in trades. Usually 1 or 2 issues concluded a complete story.

Not many Splash Pages, all I see anymore is Splash page this and Splash Page that. It was a rare site to see any splash pages. You had panel pages that told a great deal of story. Many artist's wasn't into selling the original pages for a buck in those days.

Imaginations was free, vivid, and able to run wildy in the reader's mind as well.

I miss those days a great deal.

You are really missing out if you just collect 80's/90's comics.

[Mat001]

Well, most of these older stories you can collect for fun or get to see what you missed out on. If you're looking to add to your collections like Batman, you'd want to get back issues or trades of certain stories. You'd want "Tales Of The Demon" and "The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told". Many of the stories carry over into today. Most of what you'd want are stories from the 60's through the 80's.

[Babylon23]

Long runs I've bought for much lower than the $3 per issue cost of current comics include:-
John Ostrander's Hawkworld, Martian Manhunter, Spectre, Suicide Squad
Peter David's run On Hulk
James Robinson run on Starman
Mike Grell on Green Arrow

All great titles, no doubt about it. I'd recommend the Denny O'Neill/Denys Cowan Question if you can find it. Should be pretty cheap and is definitly worth reading.

[jackdaw53]

You've probably tried this already.... but, if not then worth thinking about getting hold of Batman: Greatest Stories Ever Told (Think that's the title, and only 1 volume so far). Its got a good range of stories from different eras, and its a good sampler.... gives a good idea of the sort of stuff you're likely to find worth following up.

When I read it I was surprised how good the vol 1 Brave and the Bold story was. Not a big fan of the way Batman is today... but it got me hunting down old B and B issues, and buying the Showcases. The Batman in them is much more relaxed and easy going, the world's greatest detective... rather than the best at everything.

And another story that got me thinking "I'd like to read more one day" was a Roy Thomas effort from the 80's (I think) but featuring the Batman from an earlier era (pipe smoking, etc). The writers use of language was excellent (strange thing to praise in a comic maybe?), first rate art.... it had something that I thought was completely endearing.

[earl]

If you are a Batman fan, I would say check out the series Legends of the Dark Knight - Start at issue 1 and just work your way up, as there are bunches of good issues in the run. While these stories are set in the past and for the most part don't tie in with Batman or Detective, the line up of talent that worked on the book was really amazing. They are not expensive as back issues.

I also agree on checking out Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan's run on The Question and Mike Grell's run on Green Arrow. If you like crime comics like Batman, then those titles should be right up your alley.

A couple of trades that are probably right up your alley---

Tales of the Demon - This one collects the first appearances of Ra's Al Ghul and features stories by Denny O'Neil and one of the greatest Batman artists Neal Adams.

Strange Apparitions - This trade collection collects the Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers run on Detective and a couple of other stories by Len Wein and some artwork by Walt Simonson. As others have said, this is one of the most famous runs of Batman. It includes one of the greatest Joker stories and was where the villains Deadshot and Hugo Strange both appeared for the first time in decades.

[phantom1592]

Green Lantern is another 0ne that never completley "rebooted." Most if not all of those earlier issues are still considered in continuity. Discounting the Very VERY early origin issues. However John Stewart and Guy Gardner... all that stuff is still relevant.