I saw a thing online that said that The Marvel Universe, as we have known it since 1961, is ending!” My reaction was, “Really? That means it’s 1970, right? So I started wondering. When did The Marvel Universe as weve known it since 1961 end, at least for me? Heres a book-by-book answer: FANTASTIC FOUR: When Kirby leaves. An argument could be made that FF lasts until #200, but it flounders around so much after Kirby leaves that it feels like a new beginning when Roy comes aboard and does an origin-recap/update issue. THOR: When Kirby leaves. HULK: When Len Wein leaves. SPIDER-MAN: Easy to say “when Ditko leaves,” but when Stan leaves the first time. Or #150. IRON MAN: When Archie Goodwin leaves. ANT-MAN/GIANT-MAN: When his Tales to Astonish run ends. CAPTAIN AMERICA: When Kirby leaves the second time. AVENGERS: longest sustained run. Ends around #201. DAREDEVIL: When Stan leaves. Or maybe when Gerry Conway leaves. Over by #100, anyway. X-MEN: #66. Easy one. SGT. FURY: Hell, I don’t know. The whole original run, maybe? I havent read enough of it to really judge. NICK FURY AGENT OF SHIELD: When Steranko leaves. Or maybe end of the 1968 series run. DR. STRANGE: When Ditko leaves. Or when his 1968 solo series ends. Or when Englehart leaves. What came after those runs is often good, but it doesn’t feel like a continuation of what started in 1961, but like a new treatment. Byrne’s FF is good stuff, but it’s a reworking more than a continuation. Same for Claremont’s X-MEN. Theyre not part of the first wave, theyre a retrenchment, a retooling, a break with the old more than an organic continuation of it.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 00:04:03 +0000
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