Marvel Comics - the 1970s

[Buried Alien]

When I first started looking at American comic books in the late 1970s, the first books I gravitated towards were Marvel (had a few DCs and smaller companies in the mix, but mostly Marvel). To this day, the first iteration of the Marvel Comics universe in my mind is its 1970s incarnation, especially from 1977 onward.

Overall, the 1970s were not financially prosperous for Marvel. At one point, the company was perilously close to going out of business, and its saving grace was the timely intervention of STAR WARS, for which Marvel gained the initial comics license.

From the perspective of storytelling, characterization, and art, however, how do you rate the Marvel Comics of the 1970s? In spite of the company's financial troubles at the time, did it represent a fertile creative period? Or was it a dark age in terms of quality of product as well?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Tiamatty]

I was born in 1985, and grew up on '90s comics. It was only a couple years ago that I read the '70s comics. And, honestly? Not to my tastes. The dialogue wasn't quite as hammy as in the '60s, but it still got pretty cheesy a lot of the time. There was a constant jumping on fads. And there were too many writers editing their own books. Yeah yeah, "creative freedom" and whatever, but there's a reason writers usually have editors. Editors serve a vital purpose in the creative process. Any good writer (or artist, for that matter) will be more than happy to tell anyone who will listen just how important a good editor is. Because an editor will catch errors, point out ideas that don't work, and most important, they'll actually suggest ideas that will make the story better. And I don't care how good a writer you are, having an editor who helps you to narrow down what you're trying to say and how best to say it is a necessity.

In the '70s, Marvel routinely allowed writers to edit themselves. So they didn't have that external outlet to bounce ideas off of. They talked with their friends, of course, but that's different. Talking ideas over with a friend and talking ideas over with an editor are very different things, with different results. And a good editor will almost always make a story better.

And I think the lack of editorial oversight was felt in a lot of the books, which could come across as self-indulgent. Which wasn't helped by half the writers being on drugs and just writing whatever crap came to them while they were stoned.

There were very few '70s comics I actually enjoyed reading. Most of that comes down to taste - I'm used to a different style of storytelling. But there were also plenty of comics that I just found stupid.

[RedWhiteAndBlueSupes]

I mean I wasn't alive then, starting reading Marvel around Maximum Carnage, Cosmic era, but have sense gone back and reread the majority of Silver Age marvel.

I think the 1970s were a great time for Marvel personally, so many great classic stories from that period.

Captain America: Secret Empire(the original one) , Madbomb, Baron Blood, Caps my favorite, does it show?

Thor: Ragnarok-up through Eternals Saga.

I actually really liked the Spectacular Spider-man book. (Spider man during the 70's was the best IMO)

Yeah i think it was a pretty good creative period for Marvel, the 70's were a rough time for comics allover.

Storytelling-great

Characterization-Great

Art-Ross Andru, Gene Colon on Daredevil, John Romita. Its one of the better periods art-wise IMO.

overall i give the 70s an A-

[Marvell2100]

One of if not the best eras for Marvel. Some of the best story-telling and the continuity was tight. My favorites:

Avengers
Master of Kung-Fu
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu
Savage Sword of Conan
Marvel -Two-In-One
Marvel Team-Up
Captain Marvel
Captain America
Iron Man
X-Men

[ed2962]

I was born in 1985, and grew up on '90s comics. It was only a couple years ago that I read the '70s comics. And, honestly? Not to my tastes. The dialogue wasn't quite as hammy as in the '60s, but it still got pretty cheesy a lot of the time. There was a constant jumping on fads. And there were too many writers editing their own books. Yeah yeah, "creative freedom" and whatever, but there's a reason writers usually have editors. Editors serve a vital purpose in the creative process. Any good writer (or artist, for that matter) will be more than happy to tell anyone who will listen just how important a good editor is. Because an editor will catch errors, point out ideas that don't work, and most important, they'll actually suggest ideas that will make the story better. And I don't care how good a writer you are, having an editor who helps you to narrow down what you're trying to say and how best to say it is a necessity.

In the '70s, Marvel routinely allowed writers to edit themselves. So they didn't have that external outlet to bounce ideas off of. They talked with their friends, of course, but that's different. Talking ideas over with a friend and talking ideas over with an editor are very different things, with different results. And a good editor will almost always make a story better.

And I think the lack of editorial oversight was felt in a lot of the books, which could come across as self-indulgent. Which wasn't helped by half the writers being on drugs and just writing whatever crap came to them while they were stoned.

There were very few '70s comics I actually enjoyed reading. Most of that comes down to taste - I'm used to a different style of storytelling. But there were also plenty of comics that I just found stupid.

I can't laff too loud cuz I'm at work, but yeah...MANTIS MARRIED A TREE FROM OUTER SPACE!

[ed2962]

One of if not the best eras for Marvel. Some of the best story-telling and the continuity was tight. My favorites:

Avengers
Master of Kung-Fu
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu
Savage Sword of Conan
Marvel -Two-In-One
Marvel Team-Up
Captain Marvel
Captain America
Iron Man
X-Men

I'd add Starlin's Warlock and Englehart's Strange to that list. And maybe Gerber's Howard.

[_Feely_]

I'm only 36, so I wasn't there when it happened, but I got into comics through British reprints of 70's Marvel titles.

It's still my favourite era. And I like to think that i'm not talking simply nostalgically.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

One of if not the best eras for Marvel. Some of the best story-telling and the continuity was tight. My favorites:

Avengers
Master of Kung-Fu
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu
Savage Sword of Conan
Marvel -Two-In-One
Marvel Team-Up
Captain Marvel
Captain America
Iron Man
X-Men

Good choices! I would add the following:

Deathlok the Demolisher
Tomb of Dracula (which, in my opinion, doesn't get nearly enough props as being one the best horror comics ever produced)

[Nomads1]

There was some pretty good stuff, but I think I prefer the 80's in terms of creativity in comics, especially more towards the second half of it. The 80's is my favorite decade when it comes to comics, even if I did start reading in the mid-70's.

Peace

[Walter West]

The 70s has a soft spot in my heart because that's when I started reading comics. I started reading them from 1977 to 1979 (aged 5 to 7), but there was a used book store down the road that had boxes full of dog-eared or covers-missing copies of issues from the previous 10+ years.

I got to read The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, Marvel Two In One, Marvel Team Up, Marvel Triple Action, all the Spider-Man books including Marvel Tales and Spidey Super Stories (The Electric Company, anyone?), Doctor Strange, Conan, Red Sonja (my mother wasn't watching closely, I guess), the Fantastic Four---an amazing time for an FF fan (anybody remember Dr. Doom's son, who had all the FF's powers, turned against his dad, and got killed by his dad?), Nova - The Human Rocket (not a great comic, but Diamondhead, Condor, and Powerhouse were neat characters to me as was the Sphinx), The Invincible Iron Man, Shang Chi - Master of Kung Fu, The Uncanny X-men, What If, and even the Star Wars comic---which I thought was junk at the time.

70s had a lot of weird stuff like Howard the Duck (Doctor Bong), psychedelic Doctor Strange, and Marvel staff getting reefer sent in the mail by fans, but for a kid who was just starting to read, it was a really magical time. The Avengers, The Hulk, and The Amazing Spider-Man were basically how I really got interested in reading. Heck, the Punisher made his debut with the Jackal back then. Who knew he would take off the way he did?

Fantastic time for me personally, and I thought the 80s became even better.

[Buried Alien]

The 70s has a soft spot in my heart because that's when I started reading comics. I started reading them from 1977 to 1979 (aged 5 to 7)...

Walter, I do believe we might be twins.

I sort of came into the Marvel Universe through the side door, though. I was drawn in by Marvel's licensed titles (set in the Marvel Universe): GODZILLA, SHOGUN WARRIORS, and ROM SPACEKNIGHT, mostly, which led me to titles such as AVENGERS, FANTASTIC FOUR, DAREDEVIL, GHOST RIDER, WHAT IF?, etc.

Ironically, I never really got deeply into Marvel's two big draws: SPIDER-MAN or X-MEN. I encountered these characters frequently in team-up/crossover books with other Marvel properties, but never followed their books proper. The Marvel titles I followed during the late 1970s to mid-1980s tended to be their "unhip," relatively less popular ones.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Witchfan]

I am a fan of Bronze Age Marvel (1970-1985). There were a lot of great stories and great ideas expressed. Lots of good characters were created.

[Walter West]

Walter, I do believe we might be twins.

I sort of came into the Marvel Universe through the side door, though. I was drawn in by Marvel's licensed titles (set in the Marvel Universe): GODZILLA, SHOGUN WARRIORS, and ROM SPACEKNIGHT, mostly, which led me to titles such as AVENGERS, FANTASTIC FOUR, DAREDEVIL, GHOST RIDER, WHAT IF?, etc.

Ironically, I never really got deeply into Marvel's two big draws: SPIDER-MAN or X-MEN. I encountered these characters frequently in team-up/crossover books with other Marvel properties, but never followed their books proper. The Marvel titles I followed during the late 1970s to mid-1980s tended to be their "unhip," relatively less popular ones.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

I take that as a compliment from one Flash fan to another.

I had two of those tall plastic hollow Shogun Warrior action figures that were almost as tall as me at one point. I remember reading a couple of issues of Shogun Warriors, Godzilla, and Micronauts, and I remember the first issue of Rom being on the metal wire revolving comic rack at the local corner store. Alas, I was too interested in The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, etc.

I loved a lot of DC though. I was a big 35-cent and 40-cent pre-Crisis fan of Superman, the JLA, the Warlord (a bit), Jonah Hex, Detective Comics, Batman, The Brave and the Bold, DC Comics Presents, and early Firestorm that I think had Airwave as a 7-page backstory.

Strangely enough, I wasn't a huge fan of The Flash back then. He was too goody-goody, and I was already a big Superman fan, so I guess one boy scout was enough at the time. I was drawn to Wally because he started off as a jerk and a legacy character who eventually grew into a decent person, eventually a family man and father---I identify a lot with that now, and I guess that's why I enjoy the current Superman stories where he has a son.

I'll try not to digress from the thread topic too much though. I thought Ghost Rider was really cool back then. There was an issue when the Ghost Rider battled Death in a motorcycle race back then. Now I wonder just how much pot the writers were smoking when I read back through some of those old stories from the 70s.

[EmeraldGladiator]

Starlin's Captain Marvel and Thanos stories,
Avengers: Korvac saga, and Thanos stories
Thor: that Celestrials war with the Gods
The FF books especially the Doom and Galactus issues
The only exception being DnA's work in Marvel cosmic and Peter David's Captain Marvel title this is the high water point for Marvel's cosmic storytelling. My favorite corner of Marvel comics.

[gurkle]

I think the '70s was strongest in weird, quirky books and weakest in big flagship books.

Because there was hardly any editing, a creator could get away with the most bizarre things. That's how you got stuff like Steve Gerber's Man-Thing, Defenders and Howard the Duck, or Starlin's Warlock, or the X-Men reboot, or some of the other fondly-remembered crazy runs of the era.

But most of the big flagship books became dull because they couldn't take those risks, but they didn't have the strong editorial hand to point them in a new direction. It's hard for me to remember many Fantastic Four or Thor stories after Kirby left, or many Spider-Man stories after Gwen died. They kept doing the same old things. And the lax editing often resulted in inconsistent art and lettering.

Steve Englehart is my favorite mainstream comics writer of the '70s (even though he was never as good after) because he was able to bring some of those wild new ideas to flagship books, which is why his Captain America and Avengers are so fondly remembered. Most of the other key Marvel talents of the era were not flagship material.

Another problem of the era: terrible covers. The cover art was almost completely standardized: every cover had to have dialogue, and most of them had stock poses like the villain on the left attacking the hero on the right. There are fewer memorable Marvel covers from the '70s than from almost any other era except maybe the early '00s.

When Jim Shooter took over he did some things that needed to be done: hire a full staff of editors, ban writers from editing their own books, get better-looking and less standardized covers, and try to have more consistent art and lettering teams on books. The result eventually was that the flagship books mostly improved, but because editorial control was tighter, there were fewer weird and quirky books.