1997-8: Marvel's years of false promise

[gurkle]

The late '90s are often considered a bad time at Marvel, because of the bankruptcy and the declining fortunes of X-Men and Spider-Man that led to the firing of Bob Harras. But reading the comics of 1997, I think there was actually some promising stuff going on, like a false promise of a new Marvel renaissance. That year we had:

- Busiek and Bagley's Thunderbolts
- Joe Kelly's Deadpool
- Steve Seagle's weird and enjoyable take on Alpha Flight
- John Ostrander's Heroes For Hire
- Karl Kesel and Cary Nord's Daredevil, returning him to his Silver Age roots years before Waid did it

With the Avengers and Fantastic Four out of the Marvel Universe due to Heroes Reborn, some writers who were not longtime Marvel hands stepped up and launched some unusual books, and there was a general feeling that the Extreme '90s were over and it was time to have fun again.

Plus even though the Heroes Reborn line was not terribly good, it did help revive the popularity of the Avengers and FF and Iron Man (not so much Captain America, because Waid had already fixed him) and set the stage for their successful relaunches in 1998.

1998 was the year of the Heroes Return relaunches, which mostly turned out pretty well, and the Marvel Knights line, which had Smith's Daredevil (I liked Kesel's better, but it was successful) and Priest's Black Panther. Also, giving X-Men to Seagle and Kelly, as a reward for their interesting work on smaller books, seemed promising, like they were finally recognizing the need for fresh writing talent on this franchise.

Most of this progress fell apart in 1999 with the horrible Spider-Man relaunch, the constant X-Men editorial interference that drove Seagle and Kelly to quit, Waid quitting Captain America, etc. By the time Quesada took over, Marvel was clearly a company in trouble again. But there was a moment there when it looked like they might get it together, and some of those 1997-8 books hold up quite well.

[Habis]

The late '90s are often considered a bad time at Marvel, because of the bankruptcy and the declining fortunes of X-Men and Spider-Man that led to the firing of Bob Harras. But reading the comics of 1997, I think there was actually some promising stuff going on, like a false promise of a new Marvel renaissance. That year we had:

- Busiek and Bagley's Thunderbolts
- Joe Kelly's Deadpool
- Steve Seagle's weird and enjoyable take on Alpha Flight
- John Ostrander's Heroes For Hire
- Karl Kesel and Cary Nord's Daredevil, returning him to his Silver Age roots years before Waid did it.

Those were good titles. I remember fondly Thunderbolts, Alpha Flight and Heroes for Hire. I can't remember very well what Daredevil was doing at the time, and I got tired of Deadpool very soon. That said, those titles were very much unlike the "inflated-muscles-with-pouches-and-big-phalic-guns" style comics that made the 90s infamous.

But really, during the XXI century we had the Young Avengers and its sequel, we had the Runaways, Avengers Academy, Journey Into Mystery Loki and Loki: Agent of Asgard, Hank Pym's Mighty Avengers, a couple Defenders mini-series...etc., and now we have Ms. Marvel.

That stuff was fresh and interesting, instead of all this twisting the same old heroes and making them do evil stuff and fight each other.

Sadly, those interesting stories didn't sell well enough. During the 90s only the X-Men sold well, and as today, only the characters in the movies sell well enough, and only the most important characters get into the movies. It's a vicious circle.

[SoupStainedTie]

The late '90s are often considered a bad time at Marvel, because of the bankruptcy and the declining fortunes of X-Men and Spider-Man that led to the firing of Bob Harras. But reading the comics of 1997, I think there was actually some promising stuff going on, like a false promise of a new Marvel renaissance. That year we had:

- Busiek and Bagley's Thunderbolts
- Joe Kelly's Deadpool
- Steve Seagle's weird and enjoyable take on Alpha Flight
- John Ostrander's Heroes For Hire
- Karl Kesel and Cary Nord's Daredevil, returning him to his Silver Age roots years before Waid did it

With the Avengers and Fantastic Four out of the Marvel Universe due to Heroes Reborn, some writers who were not longtime Marvel hands stepped up and launched some unusual books, and there was a general feeling that the Extreme '90s were over and it was time to have fun again.

Plus even though the Heroes Reborn line was not terribly good, it did help revive the popularity of the Avengers and FF and Iron Man (not so much Captain America, because Waid had already fixed him) and set the stage for their successful relaunches in 1998.

1998 was the year of the Heroes Return relaunches, which mostly turned out pretty well, and the Marvel Knights line, which had Smith's Daredevil (I liked Kesel's better, but it was successful) and Priest's Black Panther. Also, giving X-Men to Seagle and Kelly, as a reward for their interesting work on smaller books, seemed promising, like they were finally recognizing the need for fresh writing talent on this franchise.

Most of this progress fell apart in 1999 with the horrible Spider-Man relaunch, the constant X-Men editorial interference that drove Seagle and Kelly to quit, Waid quitting Captain America, etc. By the time Quesada took over, Marvel was clearly a company in trouble again. But there was a moment there when it looked like they might get it together, and some of those 1997-8 books hold up quite well.

A truly underrated period. It was a nice back to basics "recovery" after the bubble burst, with Marvel really stepping up the quality and streamlining their line. It often gets ignored, as it's wedged between the quantity over quality 90's, and NuMarvel of the early 2000's.

[DDD]

After 4 years of absolute crap, it certainly seemed great. I still think Joe Q's Marvel and nowadays "writing" gets good reviews because of 92-96 was so bad.

[TomServofan]

Don't forget the Blade movie also saved the company as well

[The Sword is Drawn]

Thunderbolts, Alpha Flight, Heroes for Hire. Great books.

I'd add Jorge Gonzales and Jim Cheung's Maverick series to that. Maybe Pete Milligan's Elektra series, too.

There was just so much more of an UNIVERSE for Marvel then. A lot of new books didn't make it to a full second year, but they certainly weren't cancelled after 3 issues like so many today.

I think it's criminal that there has been no Heroes for Hire collection. Loved that run. I went off to Uni in 1998. My own copies got dumped by my folks while I was away.

[t hedge coke]

Considering sales in the early 90s, I find it pretty funny how vehemently negative "everyone" is about it now.

The era that gave us Elektra Lives Again, Slapstick, Larry Hama on Wolverine, one great Cap run after another, one fun FF run after another, Len Kaminsky's insane Iron Man, Warren Ellis on Druid and Excalibur, Epic and Marvel's other secondary imprints, Pat Mills on Punisher 2099, PAD following up Louise Simonson on X-Factor... these were not the end times of comics, or the burning times, or whatever scary label. If all you read from that era, or all you know from that era was crap, that wasn't the era, it wasn't even Marvel during those years, it just says something about the comics you're looking at.

[The Sword is Drawn]

Considering sales in the early 90s, I find it pretty funny how vehemently negative "everyone" is about it now.

The era that gave us Elektra Lives Again, Slapstick, Larry Hama on Wolverine, one great Cap run after another, one fun FF run after another, Len Kaminsky's insane Iron Man, Warren Ellis on Druid and Excalibur, Epic and Marvel's other secondary imprints, Pat Mills on Punisher 2099, PAD following up Louise Simonson on X-Factor... these were not the end times of comics, or the burning times, or whatever scary label. If all you read from that era, or all you know from that era was crap, that wasn't the era, it wasn't even Marvel during those years, it just says something about the comics you're looking at.

Agreed. A lot of the less mainstream books were genuinely great. And it was still a time where Marvel actually did try new books, rather than purely satellite titles. Well, outside of the X-Men office, anyway.

There were low points, sure. Some truly horrible redesigns for the Avengers characters, for example. But it wasn't all bad. We just remember the Liefelds and the steroid pumped Image Comics style that got applied to a few places it probably shouldn't have been. But tht was only part of the 90s.

[Kusanagi]

This is actually the point where I can pinpoint becoming a comics fan. Prior to this era I might have picked up the odd issue of X-men on a whim, but nothing consistently.

Being a young kid from Detroit, I wasn't used to seeing people like me on comic covers and here's Luke Cage standing next to the Hulk on a shiny new Heroes for Hire #1.

Pick it up out of curiosity, few issues later I'm hooked and a few issues after that a certain merc with a mouth guest starred and the rest is history.

[Nevets]

The late '90s are often considered a bad time at Marvel, because of the bankruptcy and the declining fortunes of X-Men and Spider-Man that led to the firing of Bob Harras. But reading the comics of 1997, I think there was actually some promising stuff going on, like a false promise of a new Marvel renaissance. That year we had:

- Busiek and Bagley's Thunderbolts
- Joe Kelly's Deadpool
- Steve Seagle's weird and enjoyable take on Alpha Flight
- John Ostrander's Heroes For Hire
- Karl Kesel and Cary Nord's Daredevil, returning him to his Silver Age roots years before Waid did it

Those titles, as well as Ka-Zar, Elektra, Quicksilver, and Maverick...it really was a great, period. Heck, I even Journey into Mystery during that time too.

[Nomads1]

One of my favorite periods in comics, which led to some of the best comics Marvel has ever put out. I still consider Ostrander and Pascal's H4H perhaps the single best comicbook series Marvel has ever published. I LOVED it. Quicksilver, Thunderbolts, Heroes Return... It was a true renaissance. Good times.

Peace

[phantom1592]

But really, during the XXI century we had the Young Avengers and its sequel, we had the Runaways, Avengers Academy, Journey Into Mystery Loki and Loki: Agent of Asgard, Hank Pym's Mighty Avengers, a couple Defenders mini-series...etc., and now we have Ms. Marvel.

That stuff was fresh and interesting, instead of all this twisting the same old heroes and making them do evil stuff and fight each other.

Sadly, those interesting stories didn't sell well enough. During the 90s only the X-Men sold well, and as today, only the characters in the movies sell well enough, and only the most important characters get into the movies. It's a vicious circle.

??

Not sure I understand this... but one of the reasons I don't buy much anymore (post XXI century), is that between the civil wars, secret invasions and AvX... I have a hard time finding an event where heroes fight VILLAINS.... Everywhere you look now it's always hero vs. hero and usually with no resolution. In the old days if heroes fought it was a misunderstanding and they got over it by the end... now it stretches on for years and years....

Agreed. A lot of the less mainstream books were genuinely great. And it was still a time where Marvel actually did try new books, rather than purely satellite titles. Well, outside of the X-Men office, anyway.

There were low points, sure. Some truly horrible redesigns for the Avengers characters, for example. But it wasn't all bad. We just remember the Liefelds and the steroid pumped Image Comics style that got applied to a few places it probably shouldn't have been. But tht was only part of the 90s.

This. There were so MANY books released during that time that of COURSE you can point to bunch that sucked.... Myself I was fond of the Midnight Sons era too. But every week there seemed to be new titles that were all over the place in quality. Some of my favorite times in comic history. DESPITE the badness of certain corners.

One thing I find interesting, is that all the crap people complained about the industry back then... still happens today. People just don't care anymore. Pointless variant covers. Multiple #1 issues and relaunches... The same characters showing up all the time in all the books... Price raises... Even Liefield drawing... at least it was comicbookish... there is a LOT of artists now that are either TOO dark and serious... or too comic strippy/goofy looking.

Still happens now. Just costs MORE and I feel the quality plummeted without the comic code. i'd love to go back to that kind of writing/drawing.