What's the earliest year you'd read back to?

[TheDragonKing]

For example, I think the earliest I'd read back to would the the 1980s. Anything before that I wouldn't read. What is the furthest you'd let yourself go back to?

[jb681131]

For example, I think the earliest I'd read back to would the the 1980s. Anything before that I wouldn't read. What is the furthest you'd let yourself go back to?

Why wouldn't you read before that ??
Me it's 1939, I've read Detective Comics #27.

[sifighter]

I guess I’ve gone back to the 50/60’s as I have recent golden and silver age trades of Legion of Superheroes, Teen Titans, and Supergirl.

[MRP]

for DC: 1937-I'd read Detective #1 if I had the opportunity (there's a Millennium Edition reprint but I've never come across it in the wild to purchase). I've read from Action #1 (from 1938) forward when I have had access to the material over the years (I have all the volumes of Superman Chronicles and the first 3 Golden Age Batman Archives, plus some of the GA Wonder Woman and All Star Comics collections. Of course I've read back to 1929 with comic strips, having read the earliest Buck Rogers strips that debuted that year (and the Alex Raymond Flash Gordon strips debuting in 1934 are a particular favorite), and I've read a bunch of Tintin stories including the first serial that launched in 1930, so my comic reading goes back before DC was a growing concern at all.

-M

[Tzigone]

I've read Action Comics #1 (and several other first appearances) along with continuing and ready numerous (but nowhere near all) stories for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Marvels and handful of stories for others. For me, Golden Age stories are generally something I read occasionally and only a couple at at time. I can't binge read them, as they're just too short/sparse to hold my attention over time.

Silver age for me is variable, with Flash being one I actively like (and read several years worth of issues) and GL better than the older golden age characters' titles that grew into the silver age (Lois, Lana, and Steve were often horrible). I do tend to prefer the less cracky.

By 1970 and with several titles moving into bronze-age storytelling (more geared to older readers), I have a difficult time understanding reasons people wouldn't want to read that don't also apply to the 1980s. Unless, of course, they just want to limit themselves to post-COIE continuity, and no have multiple realities in their head. Obviously, that doesn't apply to every title, and it's not a hard demarcation point, with some still having "sillier" stories much later, but I mean for there being widespread content in that tone, rather than everything being in that tone. But obviously, there are other differences that I just don't really notice.

I know some really have issues with dialog, even into the 1970s, but I do not. I like more dialog (and fewer giant splash pages) in comics. Partially because I'm not really an art person, but mostly because I just feel like I'm getting more content - it takes longer to read, so I'm not finished in 10 minutes.

I will say that while there are character ars, story arcs tend to be shorter pre-1980s. But for me personally, that means many later runs can pretty much only be binge-read because it takes forever to finish a story and as you get even later, you have numerous issues where very little actually happens because it's all set up for later. I actually began reading comics in the 1990s, and even then I tended to let several issues pile up (had subscription) before reading anything, because it was more enjoyable that way. I like being able to get a complete story in one issue, though I can definitely enjoy the issue/story is part of a larger arc.

So I'm middling. If not binge reading or reading TPBs, I like a story to be one to four issues long. Not one one story a year or 3 stories an issue. Too short and there's not enough development to me. Too long (and not read in one sitting) and momentum is lost and you end up with several issues that just seem like filler. Binge-reading obviously greatly reduces the downside of latter.

[Air Wave]

All the way. 1935.

[Jekyll]

Depends on the character or team. Most of the characters that DC promotes heavily I really don't care for and probably will not read that far back. However, characters that I love like Jay Garrick I have gone back and read several of his golden age adventures and the same goes for the Justice Society.

[seismic-2]

I'm not a huge fan of Golden Age superhero comics, but I have always liked the Disney comics from that era. I still enjoy re-reading Barks' Duck stories and Gottfredson's Mouse stories from the 1940s and 1950s. I enjoy reading crime, war, and romance comics from that era too, just as period pieces rather than as really good stories (since most of them aren't).

EDIT: Oh sorry, I forgot that this is a DC-specific thread. I used to buy Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, Jimmy, and Lois comics from off the spinner racks back in the day, but I would have limited interest in going back and re-reading them now. Most of the "old" DC comics that I go back and read (many of them for the first time!) are in fact post-Crisis.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

I'd go back to the beginning with no problem. That wouldn't mean I would binge Slam Bradley or whatever, but I could read a few Golden Age comics per day for awhile.

I'd likely have no problem re-reading the comics I grew up with -- the 1970s and early 1980s. Post-Crisis comics are generally better, but since I was older at the time, I don't feel nostalgic for them, so they don't have the same magic for me.

For me, it's not how far back I'd go, but how current I'd go.

Beginning with the year 2000 and going forward, I care about those comics less and less. I'm generally not interested in today's stuff at all.


This was my 1600th post.

[Jim Kelly]

Since I've read the first issue of NEW FUN (maybe not every single page but a lot of it) and that was the first thing that National Allied published, coming out in January 1935, that's the earliest I can go back for this publisher. I should really look for the stories that Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson wrote before he started as a comic book publisher. I've read comics from other publishers that go further back in time. I've read issues of CAPTAIN BILLY'S WHIZ BANG.

Why wouldn't someone want to read works from earlier days? I mean, I guess high school can ruin us for some things. I remember being forced to read THE ILIAD in high school--not all of it, just selections--and I couldn't even bring myself to do that, just skimming the pages and hoping I wouldn't be tested on my knowledge. However, in university, I did Classical Studies and I had a wonderful professor, who made reading THE ILIAD a pleasure--I didn't have to read the entire book for the course, but I did, and THE ODYSSEY, too.

When I was in high school, I did read the entire King James Bible on my own. And I'm glad I did because that served me well in many university courses. I've even read bits of THE MAHABHARATA in translation and a summary of the whole thing. But I've yet to read THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH--I should do that before I die.

[EmeraldGladiator]

I am a bronze age guy myself (1970-1984). It is the era I started in and most storytelling before then doesn't work for me. I love the JSA but the JSA stories I love are bronze age and beyond. The only books pre-bronze that I really reread are early Batman, Fantastic Four and Spiderman otherwise it's bronze and beyond for me.

[a moment closer]

So far I've gone back and read things from between 2005 and 2011. I wouldn't mind reading something older but my interest isn't really there. I don't see myself buying something from DC that wasn't published in the last 20 years. I do have a DC Infinite account and plan on reading some older stuff but I haven't truly explored the library yet.

[Adset]

This is a relevant question for me since my free time has exploded exponentially since quarantine hit (as I imagine it has for a lot of people). I got a DC Universe subscription fairly early on, and I’ve really been diving into some books I might otherwise never get to.

Superman/Batman — I’ve read a few runs prior to 1992, when I started reading comics, but I really don’t have a strong desire to jump into stories pre- Death of or Knightfall. I’m just not a huge Super-fan or Bat-fanatic, so diving into the decades of stories that came before I started reading has just never been a priority. That could change one day, of course.

GL/Flash/Legion — these are my favorite DC franchises, and through omnibuses/Showcases/back issues I’ve read just about every issue of these respective books from their first Silver Age appearances onward. I haven’t read much Golden Age Flash/GL just because the opportunities aren’t there.

Teen Titans — I decided to skip the first/original version and I started with Wolfman/Perez’s New Teen Titans #1 in 1980 and read every iteration of the book up to present day. The stuff prior to 1980 just didn’t interest me, though I concede it’s probably better than some of the volumes I did read along the way. (I still don’t know who the New 52 Titans were marketed for).

JLA/Wonder Woman — I’m going to start one of these next. I was thinking of starting JL from the beginning in the 60s and marching forward through time to present day, whereas I have zero interest in beginning WW prior to Perez. Maybe I’m missing out...

[SecretWarrior]

1938, but then I'd skip the 50s-- That whole decade just looks lackluster

[Restingvoice]

The earliest I read was Action Comics #1 but I don't have a set limit. If there's anything interesting before, like, for example, Detective Comics #1, I'd read it.