Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 Fluke 8/7/84; site fluke.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!ssc-vax!fluke!moriarty From: moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) Newsgroups: net.comics Subject: GENERAL COMMENTS #2 (responses solicited!) Message-ID: <1518@vax2.fluke.UUCP> Date: Sun, 28-Oct-84 19:40:10 EST Article-I.D.: vax2.1518 Posted: Sun Oct 28 19:40:10 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 31-Oct-84 00:28:17 EST Distribution: net Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Everett, WA Lines: 98 A little while ago, Jerry pointed me to an excellent weekly comics journal called the Comic Buyer's Guide (or Buyer's Guide or CBG for short). Well worth the subscription rate for many reasons (the cartoons are excellent, especially Everett True and a delightful character by the name of Steppinwolf, which brings back the charm of Dave Sim's old THE BEAVER's strip, but a bit more human ( :-) ) ), but specifically, there is a reviewer by the name of Dan Thompson whose opinions and reviews are, err, well, UNCANNILY like Jerry's and mine. I mean, it makes you wonder. Quick, is Thompson an anagram of Boyajian? Or maybe I'm going SCHIZO and writing them MYSELF... "Get back on the subject, dogbreath!" Whoops! excuse me... anyway, he had a list of a month's worth of comics which he considered good. And the review was long. It was 6 newspaper pages long. 6 PAGES! And looking through it, I had to agree; while I didn't laud all the titles he had rated as much, I would have to agree that all of these were WORTH READING. I've been been doing anti-grade inflation in my reviews lately, but it is not due to quality... it's due to the fact that I'd have all B's if I used a less-stacked system. Now, what can we draw from this observation? I think this means that COMICS HAVE NEVER BEEN BETTER (in my memory, anyway, which goes back to the early 70's)! With the flourishing of independent companies, I think we're seeing a level of quality that has never been seen before. When I bought comics during the 70's, I was constantly cutting down to get rid of comics I was simply not reading for lack of good scripts or art. And now look what I get EVERY MONTH: CEREBUS LOVE & ROCKETS ZOT! JOURNEY SWAMP THING BLUE DEVIL NEIL THE HORSE FLAMING CARROT MS. TREE NEXUS THE BADGER AMERICAN FLAGG E-MAN JON SABLE THE SPIRIT POWER PAK THOR TEEN TITANS AMBUSH BUG (okay, every once in a while...) MR. X DNAgents CROSSFIRE STEVE CANYON (Pu-leeze, let us have TERRY AND THE PIRATES!) THE MASKED MAN CAP'N QUICK & A FOOZLE GRIMJACK A DISTANT SOIL MAGE and I'm sure I've forgotten a few... Look at that. Christ, just LOOK AT IT! Those are all B-rated comics! Not only worth reading, but excellent! I have never, in all my life, seen such an array of comics talent. In the 1970's it was X-Men and 6 issues of Detective and that was about it... good comics were sporadic. BUT LOOK AT THIS! My tastes, if anything, have become more particular; but this is a banquet. I yam flaberagested, as Terry Austin might say ( ;-) ). I think that THIS is the period that is going to be remembered as the good ol' days... and I couldn't be happier! What do you think? I'd like to hear opinions on this. By the way, what are the "ages" of comics? I thought it went this way: GOLDEN AGE: 30's and 40's either { DARK AGE: the 50's, and SILVER AGE: the early 60's or { SILVER AGE: the 50's (possibly early 60's) and the BRONZE AGE: 60's PLATINUM AGE: the 70's Any nominations for this age? I'd love to hear them (CRYSTAL AGE?).... "Chuckles the Clown is dead." Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. UUCP: {cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsrgv}!uw-beaver \ {allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA