The 1990s comic book fan confessional
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- erwinrafael
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The 1990s comic book fan confessional
A lot of us grew up reading (and liking!) comic books in the 1990s, the decade of excess and gimmicks and in hindsight, not one of the best decades in terms of quality. BUT a lot of us ENJOYED it, so this thread is for us to share our guilty pleasures from the 1990s. DO NOT include the acknowledged good stuff like the Vertigo line, VH1, MARVELS, KINGDOM COME, Heroes Return, Joe Quesda, etc. Let's talk about how you got palpitations seeing your comic books in a sealed polybag. Or how you actually enjoyed the Deathmate crossover. Or how much you really liked Rob Liefeld art.
So I will start:
1. I liked GHOST RIDER/WOLVERINE/PUNISHER: Hearts of Darkness. It's the ultimate gimmick comic, forcing three of the most popular grim and gritty heroes of Marvel into a fight with the spawn of Mephisto. It screams machismo and violence in a plot that does not make a whole lot of sense. There's a wraparound gatefold cover (really widescreen!) half of which is occupied by generic demons. It's written by Howard Mackie. And looking back, the only redeeming quality in my more mature eyes is John Romita Jr.'s art. But I really enjoyed it. The cheesy ending did it for me:
2. I love the gimmick covers and I still do. Gatefold. Wraparound. Die cut (Wolverine 50!). Chromium. Embossed. Pop-up (Force Works #1, OMG what a stupid likeable cover!).
For some reason, I hated the foil covers. But hologram covers...they are the best! I liked the ones from Marvel that ran through the Spider-Man titles and the X-Men Fatal Attractions crossover.
So I will start:
1. I liked GHOST RIDER/WOLVERINE/PUNISHER: Hearts of Darkness. It's the ultimate gimmick comic, forcing three of the most popular grim and gritty heroes of Marvel into a fight with the spawn of Mephisto. It screams machismo and violence in a plot that does not make a whole lot of sense. There's a wraparound gatefold cover (really widescreen!) half of which is occupied by generic demons. It's written by Howard Mackie. And looking back, the only redeeming quality in my more mature eyes is John Romita Jr.'s art. But I really enjoyed it. The cheesy ending did it for me:
2. I love the gimmick covers and I still do. Gatefold. Wraparound. Die cut (Wolverine 50!). Chromium. Embossed. Pop-up (Force Works #1, OMG what a stupid likeable cover!).
For some reason, I hated the foil covers. But hologram covers...they are the best! I liked the ones from Marvel that ran through the Spider-Man titles and the X-Men Fatal Attractions crossover.
Last edited by erwinrafael on Tue Mar 26, 2013 9:52:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
Superman: Man Of Steel #30 - this came out while I was working at my LCS, and I had such fun making new fight scenes with this. I wasn't even buying Superman, but even the manager saw the 'art' in what I was doing, & he kept the book on the counter for me & other people to screw around with.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
Awesome. And long-haired Superman with the bodybuilder physique and small head!
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
I loved (and still love) the Death of Superman and Knightfall storylines. I still go back and read my TPBs.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
When I was 10 years old, the only comics I wanted to read were these:
and to a lesser extent
The Maxx is still as weird as it ever was, and I am really enjoying David Hine's current run on The Darkness, but I haven't picked up a Spawn comic in probably more than 10 years.
Oh, and my favorite X-Men at the time were Gambit and CABLE, because it was the 90s.
and to a lesser extent
The Maxx is still as weird as it ever was, and I am really enjoying David Hine's current run on The Darkness, but I haven't picked up a Spawn comic in probably more than 10 years.
Oh, and my favorite X-Men at the time were Gambit and CABLE, because it was the 90s.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
OMG, I only noticed it now. The ego of McFarlane in full display. "AFTER ME"? LOLXtianhardy wrote:When I was 10 years old, the only comics I wanted to read were these:
In fairness, Gambit had a lot of potential then. If only they can tap the Fabian Nicieza/Steve Skroce-era Gambit, they could still rescue the character.Oh, and my favorite X-Men at the time were Gambit and CABLE, because it was the 90s.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
Awesome-tastic.
I have two copies of that Force Works cover - and tried to 'open' one of them - but ended up with a mess of tearing. I will try again to open it up later.
I have a run of Quasar, West Coast Avengers, and Force Works. Nothing quite wrong with loving the 'non-classics,' in addition to loving the classic Valiant, too.
I have two copies of that Force Works cover - and tried to 'open' one of them - but ended up with a mess of tearing. I will try again to open it up later.
I have a run of Quasar, West Coast Avengers, and Force Works. Nothing quite wrong with loving the 'non-classics,' in addition to loving the classic Valiant, too.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
I love my glow-in-the-dark Maxx comic. I was also obsessed with Gen13. This is going to be an embarrassing thread.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
The only real embarassing memory I have is wanting to pick up all the #1, #0, and Special issues of all Image and Post-Unity Valiant titles. I thought I was getting in early on a lot of new characters and storylines and hoped the titles would be worth a lot of money later in my life. What a *SQUEE* joke!lorddunlow wrote:I love my glow-in-the-dark Maxx comic. I was also obsessed with Gen13. This is going to be an embarrassing thread.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
Peter David's Aquaman.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
IMHO still the best run on Aquaman.iwantvaliantcomics wrote:Peter David's Aquaman.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
I was a mega fan of the 90's Ghost Rider series - in contrast to the modern era of reboot/relaunching old properties, at the time I simply could not believe he was coming back into his own book. I bought 2 copies of the glow-in-the-dark cover.
Oh, and where is the line for those who bought extra copies of X-Men #1? I still have 20 copies...
Oh, and where is the line for those who bought extra copies of X-Men #1? I still have 20 copies...
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
Mark Waids Flash.iwantvaliantcomics wrote:Peter David's Aquaman.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
Were those stickers, colorforms, or prestomajic?slym2none wrote:Superman: Man Of Steel #30 - this came out while I was working at my LCS, and I had such fun making new fight scenes with this. I wasn't even buying Superman, but even the manager saw the 'art' in what I was doing, & he kept the book on the counter for me & other people to screw around with.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
I bought that issue too although I didn't normally buy Supes. Grew up enjoying prestomagic & colorforms and found that gimmick rather neat. Can't remember which they were....jedimarley wrote:Were those stickers, colorforms, or prestomajic?slym2none wrote:Superman: Man Of Steel #30 - this came out while I was working at my LCS, and I had such fun making new fight scenes with this. I wasn't even buying Superman, but even the manager saw the 'art' in what I was doing, & he kept the book on the counter for me & other people to screw around with.
-slym
Btw, I also admit to originally liking Rob Liefeld art and was a big fan of Cable, should pads and all
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- slym2none
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
I'd guess colorforms. No adhesive, slick-shiny cover and vinyl-type "stickers" you could take off and re-apply.jedimarley wrote:Were those stickers, colorforms, or prestomajic?slym2none wrote:Superman: Man Of Steel #30 - this came out while I was working at my LCS, and I had such fun making new fight scenes with this. I wasn't even buying Superman, but even the manager saw the 'art' in what I was doing, & he kept the book on the counter for me & other people to screw around with.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
I have a sealed copy of this that I just came across in my storage unit a few weeks ago. I'm torn as to open it or not. Especially since I know my kids will just lose all the stickers. Sucks that it's long haired supes though.slym2none wrote:I'd guess colorforms. No adhesive, slick-shiny cover and vinyl-type "stickers" you could take off and re-apply.jedimarley wrote:Were those stickers, colorforms, or prestomajic?slym2none wrote:Superman: Man Of Steel #30 - this came out while I was working at my LCS, and I had such fun making new fight scenes with this. I wasn't even buying Superman, but even the manager saw the 'art' in what I was doing, & he kept the book on the counter for me & other people to screw around with.
-slym
I loved the Gimmick covers. Ghost Rider #13 with the Glow-in-the-dark cover, Silver Surfer #50 with the foil embossed cover, also Eclipso #1 with that plastic Gem over his eye! (didn't like that as much as the others though)
I also remember having multiple copies of Venom Lethal protector #1 because I thought it was gonna be worth a TON of money.
Oh and the Superman sticker book reminds me of the Lobo Paramilitary Christmas special. I still laugh at that book til this day!
It was apparently adapted to a film as well according to IMDB;
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0353672/
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
These are both too good to be discussed here!jedimarley wrote:Mark Waids Flash.iwantvaliantcomics wrote:Peter David's Aquaman.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
Yes! Tell us things that are REALLY WORTHy of a confession!ian_house wrote:These are both too good to be discussed here!jedimarley wrote:Mark Waids Flash.iwantvaliantcomics wrote:Peter David's Aquaman.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
I'm pretty sure I collected the entire Ultraverse. Yep. Now, off the top of my head, there was Mantra, Prime, Exiles, The Solution, The Strangers, Hard Case, Sludge. I had them all.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
I loved Prime and the rest of the Ultraverse. Was Freex published by Ultraverse? I remember having a digital comic on CDROM of Freex #1 - I still have it.Bone-A-Fach-ee wrote:I'm pretty sure I collected the entire Ultraverse. Yep. Now, off the top of my head, there was Mantra, Prime, Exiles, The Solution, The Strangers, Hard Case, Sludge. I had them all.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
CD-ROMIX! From where I sit, I can see Hard Case, Freex and Prime.lorddunlow wrote:I loved Prime and the rest of the Ultraverse. Was Freex published by Ultraverse? I remember having a digital comic on CDROM of Freex #1 - I still have it.Bone-A-Fach-ee wrote:I'm pretty sure I collected the entire Ultraverse. Yep. Now, off the top of my head, there was Mantra, Prime, Exiles, The Solution, The Strangers, Hard Case, Sludge. I had them all.
I have all the Ultraverse books too. Most of the variants to go with them.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
Comics Greatest World 1st issues, $1 each and a new one every week!
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
Oh yeah, I had a bunch of Ultraverse!lorddunlow wrote:I loved Prime and the rest of the Ultraverse. Was Freex published by Ultraverse? I remember having a digital comic on CDROM of Freex #1 - I still have it.Bone-A-Fach-ee wrote:I'm pretty sure I collected the entire Ultraverse. Yep. Now, off the top of my head, there was Mantra, Prime, Exiles, The Solution, The Strangers, Hard Case, Sludge. I had them all.
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Re: The 1990s comic book fan confessional
Would Alan Moore's run on Wildcats fit? It was a terrific run (I'm sure Moore doesn't consider it such) and really opened up my eyes about what a good writer could do.
I was rather fond of Thunderstrike since Masterson was the Thor I recognized when I read my dads Avengers comics.
I know he embodied quite a few tropes, mysterious, from the furture and uses big guns but I liked Bishop a whole lot. I think because I hadn't been reading comics long and suddenly there is this guy who knows stuff but seems totally confused. Him, along with Spylocke, was my first taste of anti-heroes.
I tried to get every issue he appeared in and any mini series he might star in. I still have his ongoing series that fizzled out.
Maybe this wasn't quite a confessional so here is this: To this day I'm still rather fond of the 90's way super heroes would wear leather jackets over their spandex.
I was rather fond of Thunderstrike since Masterson was the Thor I recognized when I read my dads Avengers comics.
I know he embodied quite a few tropes, mysterious, from the furture and uses big guns but I liked Bishop a whole lot. I think because I hadn't been reading comics long and suddenly there is this guy who knows stuff but seems totally confused. Him, along with Spylocke, was my first taste of anti-heroes.
I tried to get every issue he appeared in and any mini series he might star in. I still have his ongoing series that fizzled out.
Maybe this wasn't quite a confessional so here is this: To this day I'm still rather fond of the 90's way super heroes would wear leather jackets over their spandex.
Last edited by Spylocke on Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:41:33 am, edited 1 time in total.