These newer comics seem to have lost the "edge" and maturity of previous years and have instead become clones of the ever increasing anime market (ie: blanked faces and snot bubbles?). I watched the characters evolve and even age, and now suddenly they look like 12yr old kids playing dress up .... wth!!?

Please understand that there are still some out there that I view as good, in regards to my personal taste, but I just cant help thinking that there is a growing trend of pushing forward entertainment without substance in regards to comics and/or cartoons.

I guess you could say that this current batch of comics make the mid 90's seem like a golden age.

Also: David Quinn's 20-or-so issue run on 'Doctor Strange' around the same time.

Interestingly, IIRC, Doctor Strange #60 (1993) was the first Marvel book to ever use computer coloring.

I don't know why I remember these things...

if you've ever seen a T-shirt with Gru on it for sale... could you please email me with the tip? it's my Christmas mission to find one for my brother.

I saw someone mention Joe Kelly’s Deadpool, which is as far away from “90s Good” as you can get... It’s not 90s Good. It’s just good.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. I read it and enjoyed it at the time, but now that I'm not thirteen it doesn't really hold up. The jokes are really juvenile and basic, and the characters are pretty monotonous.

Much better than the comic.

Knightfall was a gripping story (at least, it was when I was five- I may have to re-read it before I keep singing its praises) with an engrossing build-up and a pretty satisfying pay-off. Bruce's gradual decline due to his own obsessive behaviour was well written, IMO, and made more sense than Bane being able to beat him on his own merits. It was also very cool to see the rogue's gallery trotted out in a story that actually made sense (I'm looking at you, Hush).

And "flashy artwork?" My copies of Knightfall featured art from master storytellers Jim Aparo, Graham Nolan and Norm Breyfogle. Only one of them was even close to 'flashy', especially at that point in time. I dug the covers, too, but Kelley Jones is definitely a take-him-or-leave-him sort of artist, so I'll concede that.

DC took two years building up Bane and Azrael specifically for Knightfall. Why? Because the point of the story was to explain to the reader why Dick became Nightwing while Wally became Flash. The point was to explain that only Bruce could be Batman. (Much like the multitude of similiar stories that Marvel did in the 80s.) But, DC was obviously worried that the fanbase would like Dick as Batman, so they created Jean Paul to be a "bad" Batman (and by "bad" I don't mean poor replacement, I mean poorly written.)

I love year+ long storylines. I like to pretend that when Colossus lost his little sister in what appeared to be a one-off filler story that Claremont had Inferno planned from that moment and the rest was all foreshadowing and build up. But, while I think Claremont succeeded in making Illyana a character that the readers cared about and were emotionally invested in by the time Inferno started; I think that DC failed to make Bane and Azarel anything but flash-in-the-pan characters.

Take a look at the DCAU. Which Bane do we get there? The intelligent, calculating mastermind from Knightfall, or the dumb brick from Batman & Robin? Which story, therefore, has more lasting power?

And, how many issues did we get after the fact that went out of their way to explain the OOC actions taken in the story?

Knightfall failed me on multiple levels. I consider it poorly done. I consider it poorly thought out. I consider it to be an event intended to explain a continuity issue rather than intended to tell a good story.

I don't think of Knightfall as good, or even 90s good. I consider the whole thing to be an example of what made the 90s so bad. A huge "event" that told a poorly done story with flashy artwork, special covers, and that sold like hotcakes.

I guess Knightfall could be considered, "Colbert Good." It sold well so, as he would say, "The market has spoken," and it must be good, or else it wouldn't have sold.

Theno

Personally I'd rank the decades as:

70s, 60s, 80s, 50s (due to Comic Code), 40s, 90s

(leaving out the 30s and 00s as less than ten years of solid work.)

How off am I?

Nah - Alan Moore’s Wildcats was good. Maybe not “Alan Moore good” but still good

It was a plot driven story that ignored any characterisation, and relied on the reader not noticing that TAO was manipulating anyone, even though they mentioned it every time he did.
He also makes fun of people who read image comics several times during in the run.
It's really not good at all (I think he gave up when he realised they weren't going to give him a decent artist).
Add in a crossover that made changes to the characters, changes Moore had no interest in exploring at all, and you've got a pretty bad book all up.

Not too mention Spawn/Wildcats, which I read last night.
It made me kinda hate Alan Moore.
Sure he's given me a lot of good reading, but after reading that... I kinda hate him.

Have a good day.
John Cage

As a whole, the 90's were not a good period for comics. There's no real denying it. There was so much more bad than good, a lot of the good gets lost in the mix. Kinda like modern rap music.

I'd imagine that many of those "good for the 90's" comics might not see print today. I'm so glad we've (generally speaking) improved what sees print. Towards the end of the decade, I think I was down to less than ten titles per month.

On the other hand, I'll concede that the animated style DC books are "90s Good" considering how muddled the Batman and Superman books were for a good long while. Not to say some of the issues aren't incredible and still hold up magnificently, but I'd be kidding myself if they didn't have that "breath of fresh air" feeling for many.

Have a good day.
John Cage

I think that the point of the article holds up even with the list provided. If a publisher is putting out 100+ books a month, and we come up with a dozen titles that we all agree are "good period" not "good for the period" then that is still a small percentage.

This may be the decade that gave us Sandman, PAD's Hulk, and Cerebus. But, it is also the same decade that gave us Knightfall, Acts of Vengeance, and Team Youngblood.

Theno