There's a cutoff to my interest in reading older issues/stories

[tib2d2]

For some reason, I have a cutoff to my interest in going back and reading older story arcs or issues that are recommended to me. I feel my cutoff is the early 90s which is how "recent" I'll go with tracking down the old issues and reading them. If someone recommends something that is newer than the early 90s, my interest seems to fall off.

I'm not sure why that is. Maybe it feel pre-internet comic book days seem more special, that it represents a time where the community of comic lovers was smaller and less assessable. Maybe the pre-speculator era seems more special because it was a time before variant covers, gimmicks, and creators that had rock star status?

I don't know what it is, but if you tell me about an amazing series to check out that ran in '87-89, or one that ran from 2002-2005, I'll naturally gravitate towards the older recommendation.

[Powerboy]

I'll preface this by saying that, maybe five years ago, I was in a forum discussion about what the great recent shows are and what the great old shows were. At some point, Xena was mentioned. Most people agreed it was a great show but the younger crowd listed it as a great old show and the older crowd listed it as a great recent show. It came down to, "Recent show? It was the 1990s, over twenty years ago!" versus "Old show? It was only twenty years ago!"

The point being, of course, that, based on our age, we have different concepts of old and new.

That said, when I was younger, in my twenties, I was all about the recent stuff from maybe the last ten years. I loved updating characters and saying that a comic story from 1961 really happened only seven years ago with some slight updating. Now I prefer the older stories (which I define as the '50s, '60s and '70s). The '80s are sort of the middle of the road for me with the '90s and after being less interesting for me. The '80s really depends on whether the story is more of the earlier type or more leaning into the later type.

A lot of it is nostalgia. When I think about it, the stuff I love today is stuff like "Superman Smashes the Klan" or "Batman '66", stuff that is blatantly retro, although I am really liking the new Legion of Super-Heroes. The stuff I hate is stuff like DKR which I acknowledge it's greatness but despise for undermining the whole Superman/ Batman friendship.

There's irony there, of course, because it's from 1985 yet I consider it new stuff in terms of the types of stories that would be told in comics.

[babyblob]

I really enjoy the older stuff more then the new stuff. I love Golden age DC (But very much Dislike Golden Age marvel) I really love Silver age Marvel and DC. I have not really read comics from past the mid 70's. I have read some new stuff but the old stuff for me is where its at.

[DrNewGod]

I just ended a run of a wide range of both Marvel and DC from 1961-1992. I cut it off because I could see the 1990s excesses beginning to surface. I've since gone back to 1956, and have been reading forward in both.

[Zelena]

It’s not really that I read old comics, just they have a quality that makes them dearer to me.

Nostalgia? Maybe.

But they had a handcrafted aspect, unpretentious vibes. Maybe people who made them lived in times more hopeful. I feel more joy from them.

[GOLGO 13]

Marvel from the 70's? I'm there! Bronze age is what all the cool kids like.
DC from the 80's? Heck yeah lets do this!
90's? Indy's, for sure. A small handful of standouts from the big 2 like Sandman.

[tib2d2]

I just ended a run of a wide range of both Marvel and DC from 1961-1992. I cut it off because I could see the 1990s excesses beginning to surface. I've since gone back to 1956, and have been reading forward in both.

Yes! What you mentioned about the 90s excesses is what I feel alot. There's a point where the look and feel of the stories and characters shifted, and mostly not for the better.

There is something about reading comics during a time where they didn't have the spotlight on them like they did in the 90s-forward.

[DrNewGod]

Yes! What you mentioned about the 90s excesses is what I feel alot. There's a point where the look and feel of the stories and characters shifted, and mostly not for the better.

There is something about reading comics during a time where they didn't have the spotlight on them like they did in the 90s-forward.

I will say that I'm also reading a few titles from the tail end of the 1990s and into the 2000s. Granted, it's a select group, but some of the ships righted themselves.