Redartz: Welcome one and all! We've arrived at the conclusion of our thrilling threesome of Bronze age comic rankings. Week one was Marvel, last week was DC. Now we cover, well. basically....everyone else. In one sense, this week has been the most difficult to address. Unlike with the 'big two', generally there weren't many comics from other publishers that I followed so devotedly. Of course, there were exceptions.
Incidentally, one challenge for this topic was that some of my favorites failed to qualify (curses, foiled by my own restrictions). There were numerous Disney books from Gold Key, for instance, that I really liked; but they were reprint collections of classic Carl Barks duck stories. Then there were those excellent Warren Spirit magazines. Again, not included as they were reprints. However in that case, you'll see below one semi-exception there that I did sneak in. And with that , let's get started; there's a lot of potential ground to cover!
My Five Favorite Non-Marvel/DC Bronze Age Comics (that was a mouthful):
Archie Giant Series #182 (The World of Archie) - This book sort of acts as a representative of my whole 'Archie' period. Published in 1971, it was one of the earliest Archie books I remember buying. It was a 'giant' comic, with all those extra pages; and I always loved that. This book had many funny stories, and the concluding one was "Teaser for Ceasar": one of those historical tales with
Archie and the gang in ancient Rome. Probably my first exposure to that trope, which became a favorite (especially 'Caveman Archie'). All told, a pretty good early Bronze comic; and a fine visit with the Riverdale crew.
The Spirit (Kitchen Sink Comix) #30- Yep, here's the exception I sneaked in. After Warren ceased publishing the Spirit mags, they were continued (even continuing the numbering) by Kitchen Sink. Still reprints, except for this issue. Issue 30 was the monumental "Spirit Jam", with a new Spirit story written by Eisner. The art included Eisner of course, but also featured. the most spectacular array of creators I'd seen to that point (both artists and other writers contributed to the final product). This book is worth a post of it's own, and I might just do that one of these days. But to whet your interest for it, here's the list of contributors to the book:
Leslie Cabarba, Milton Caniff, Richard Corben, Will Eisner, Denis Kitchen, Pete Poplaski, John Pound, Brent Anderson, Terry Austin, Mike W. Barr, Terry Beatty, Fershid Bharucha, Brian Bolland, John Byrne, Chris Claremont, Max Allan Collins, Ernie Colon, Howard Cruse, Jim Engel, Chuck Fiala, Michael T Gilbert, Archie Goodwin, Fred Hembeck, Todd Klein, Alan Kupperberg, Harvey Kurtzman, Steve Leialoha, Denis McFarling, Frank Miller, Dean Motter, Mike Newhall, Dennis O'Neal, Tom Orzechowski, George Pratt, Sharon Rappaport, Trina Robbins, Marshall Rogers, Don Rosa, Josef Rubenstein, Peter Sanderson, Bill Seinkewicz, Bob Smith, Joe Staton, Ken Steacy, Roger Stern, Mike Tiefenbacher, Len Wein, Alan Weiss, Bob Wiacek, and Cat Yronwode, Whew...
Journey # 6- One of the best features of the late Bronze age was the rise of the "Indie" publishers with all the subsequent creator-owned content. Perhaps my favorite of the 'indies' was "Journey" by William Messner-Loebs. And this issue was my favorite of the series; an enchanting tale with frontiersmen, British "Redcoats", magic, an ancient French mage and formerly dead Spanish conquistadors. Oh, and a sort of crossover with another indie fave, "Neal the Horse" (see number five below). Yes, this issue truly had it all.
Doomsday +1 #1 -There weren't many Charlton books I followed, but this was one. It was quite enjoyable, and was my introduction to the work of John Byrne. And also to Rog 2000.
Charlton Bullseye #2- This was an anthology series, which I sampled occasionally. This particular issue was a biggie; it introduced me to Arn Saba's "Neal the Horse". Not long after this book was out, "Neal" began running in his own charming series published by Aardvark-Vanaheim. The new series was a black and white publication, so this Charlton issue was the only opportunity I had to read "Neal" in color!
Yes, my list is pretty eclectic. And it could easily have been much more so. I'd lay odds that you will have some rather esoteric entries as well. Hope you've been thinking ahead, and are ready to share some Bronze age goodness with the rest of us!