Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities What was happening in comics during your 'Golden Age'?

Just 'cause I'm bored, here are some more memories from my golden age, ca. 1973-74:

LUKE CAGE: HERO FOR HIRE: My first exposure to blaxcomix (the comics equivalent of blaxploitation films). The first issue I read featured a villain called Chemistro, who was dumb enough to turn his own foot into glass, then watch as it disintegrated. About a year later, I picked up Luke Cage's battle with the original Power Man over ownership of that name. Sweet Chris'mas!

THOR: He was teaming up with a weird-looking guy named Mercurio, who was red on one side and blue on the other and who had both fire and ice powers. They were trying to free Sif and someone else from being trapped inside a living jewell mountain. I loved the Starjammer, a viking ship that carried the Asgardians through space.

FLASH: My brother was never a comics fan, but he picked up the first issue of Flash that I read. It featured two nifty villains, The Top and Mirror Master. Of special note was MM breaking out of jail by polishing his shoes, then holding them up on either side of his head. The shoes contained some sort of dimensional warp gadgetry that teleported him away.

AVENGERS (again): After the Defenders crossover, there was a multi-part story featuring a crime cartel called Zodiac. They were the weirdest and most dangerous-looking villans I'd seen. Still, I was relieved when my sign (Libra) turned out to be not be such a bad guy and was in fact the father of Mantis, an Avenger. I always thought Zodiac were the coolest villains, yet they were never seen again as a major threat, or at least not as a complete team. Two members of Zodiac did subsequently appear as solo villains:

~ Aquarius, in GHOST RIDER, had made a deal with the devil to gain the powers of all 12 members. (Word to the wise: Don't EVER make a deal with the devil.)

~ Aries appeared in CAPTAIN AMERICA. He was transformed by the alien Lucifer into a second Lucifer. Neither he nor Aquarius survived their solo outtings as villains.

A new version of Zodiac, consisting of Life Model Decoys (a form of android) appeared in DEFENDERS later on, but they were a big letdown.

DEFENDERS consisted of an expanded team of Dr. Strange, Valkyrie, Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Hawkeye and The Silver Surfer when I began reading it. But the team soon paired down to a core of Doc, Val, Hulk and newcomer Nighthawk (ex-Squadron Sinister). Guest heroes included The Son of Satan, Yellowjacket and Luke Cage. Then things turned strange during writer Steve Gerber's run. (Gerber invented Howard the Duck, after all). He even had an elf with a gun going around zapping people! One story title from this period stands out and sums it all up: "We're All Bozos In This Book."

JLA (again): Immediately after the JSA/Freedom Fighters storyline, Hawkman quit the team. This caused a furor among fans and a letter-writing campaign to get old Katar Hol reinstated. I wrote my first letter to a comic book about that very subject. I was naive enough to think it would be published in the next issue. It never appeared.

PREZ: One of DC's campiest comics, it featured America's first teen-aged president. His national security advisor (I think) was a young Native American, complete in ceremonial outfit. In the fourth and final issue, a legless vampire stalked the White House. (No, I'm not making this up.)

WONDER WOMAN: As a boy, I wasn't too interested in reading a "girl's" comic, but I did check out several issues of this title which featured the JLA as guests. Wonder Woman wanted to be reinstated in the League, but didn't know if she still had what it took. So, she asked the League to send her on 12 trials, a la Hercules. Each issue featured a different JLA member "supervising" her progress.

THE BRAVE & THE BOLD: Each issue featured Batman teaming up with a different co-star. I first encountered The Spectre, Wildcat, and Mister Miracle thanks to B&B. The best part was, if Batman's co-star didn't look interesting, you could skip the issue and not miss a thing.

Welcome to the Titans, Terra.

BAT books- "Knightfall" was going on. Bane was stalking the Bat. This story got me into comics.

GREEN ARROW- "Crossroads" was the story, Ollie was walking the line between hero and vigilante (killing crooks.) This was around the time DC was tearing down all it's heroes. Supes died, Bats crippled, etc.

GREEN LANTERN- Jordan insane and Kyle Rayner puts on the ring. Sorry H.E.A.T, I liked "Emerald Twilight" and beyond.

WONDER WOMAN- Messner-Loebs & Deodata took away Diana's title and replaced her with Artemis. Man I miss this team.

HAWKMAN- Katar Hol and Shayera Thal. Say what you want about the Hawk mess, these were some good stories.

X-FORCE- Leifeld had just left and Nicezeamaneiouiosyufa (sp) was making this a damn good read.

NINJAK- Some guy name Quesada drew a pretty fun book.

Stern/Buscema on Avengers.

Simonson on Thor.

Levitz/Giffen on Legion.

Wolfman/Perez on Teen Titans.

Stern/Paul Smith on Dr. Strange.

Stern on Spider-Man.

Claremont/Byrne, Cokcrum, Paul Smith, JRJR on Uncanny.

Miller on DD.

Late seventies early eighties is my favorite "era" in comics. Early eighties for sure!

I love this era of Avengers, too. It's what I consider the 2nd of my 4 Golden Ages of the Avengers.