Would You Rather...? Great Bronze Age Runs

Doug: Here's a poser for you, spinning out of last weekend's conversation on our buying zeniths. In terms of greatness, readability, sustainability, influence, and yada yada yada, would you rather go to the first 50 (I use that term somewhat loosely) issues of the All-New, All-Different X-Men, or the Avengers encompassing the "Kree/Skrull War" through the "Celestial Madonna"? I don't know about you, but that's a tough choice for me.

I'm going to have to lean toward the X-Men on the greatness of the art alone. And then there was the awesomeness from issues 97-104 as classic baddies like the Sentinels, the Juggernaut, and Magneto rose up to attack our new band of mutants.

Of course, on the other side there's Neal Adams. And the bi-weekly "Avengers/Defenders War". And Englehart's time/space opera that ran from Avengers #129-135 and included three Giant-Size issues. Can I reconsider?

For our purposes, your "50"-issue runs are:

Giant-Size X-Men #1
X-Men #s 94-143
X-Men Annual #3

Avengers #s 89-135
Giant-Size Avengers #s 2-4

Would You Rather...? Spider-Man's Webs

Doug: I have three questions today about your preferences toward the fashions of everyone's favorite Wall-Crawler. Over the years several artists have exerted their influences on Spider-Man and his sartorial splendor. Of note today are Steve Ditko, John Romita, and Todd McFarlane.

Doug: So here's what I'd like to know -- in regard to the web design on Spider-Man's costume, the underarm webbing, and the style of the webs emanating from his web shooters, what's the look you favor? And of course you don't have to stick to one artist as any sort of a package deal -- you can mix-and-match 'em if you prefer.

Would You Rather...? Doc Ock's Physique

Doug: So I'm looking at the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #157 and I'm thinking, "Man, Otto is ripped!" And then I think that Jazzy Johnny Romita's version really isn't as Steve Ditko had imagined the kooky doctor. And the next thought was, "Shoot, JR didn't always draw him so buff."

Doug: We'll start off with Doc Ock today, but if you have other characters in mind who have over time taken on a quite different physical appearance when under the pencil of a given artist we can sure open this up. Today's conversation could really expand.

Would You Rather... They'd Played "The Break-Up Song"?

Doug: From time to time, in an effort to angst-up our funnybooks, authors will throw us a curve aimed right at the soap opera aspects we love. For example, way back in Fantastic Four #4 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby decided it would be a good idea to have Sue pine for Namor, effectively creating a love triangle that for all I know persists to the present. About a decade and a half later Chris Claremont attempted the same trick in the X-Men with Wolverine and Jean Grey, sometimes leaving us to wonder if ol' Scott Summers would be on the outside looking in.

Doug: So that's your discussion prompt for the day -- Where were those love triangles that you, well, loved, and where were the ones you loathed? And, how about love triangles you wish would have swung the way of the forbidden fruit? Or, maybe it's not a love triangle at all... Maybe you would have preferred further exploration of the affair between Hawkeye and the Black Widow rather than her progression away from him and finally ending up with Daredevil.

Doug: I have a few suggestions to get you thinking, but feel free to toss out your own ideas -- especially if they involve non-Marvel characters, as we always like to broaden our zuvembie-like horizons!

Would You Rather...? Sandman Fashions

Doug: So let's say you have a dinner date (OK, dinner meeting) with our pal Flint Marko (aka William Baker, aka the Sinister Sandman). How would you prefer ol' Sandy come dressed? Perhaps it depends on how high-end a restaurant you've chosen...

Would You Rather...? Human Torch Fashions

Doug: Getting in tune with the rest of the team, or homage to Jim Hammond? How do you like your Human Torch? Personally, I was a big fan of the red uni. It definitely harkened back to another time, but also came in an era when Medusa never switched to the standard-issue, unstable molecule driven Fantastic Four costume.

Would you rather see the Human Torch in a red suit or blue suit?

Would You Rather...? Fill-ins

Doug: So I lied. I think in our inaugural post last Tuesday, I made a comment that we'd be doing this again next week. And we will... But darned if I didn't get into a lengthy exchange on Twitter last night that was just too good not to bring over here for further discussion.

If you follow us on Twitter (@bronzeagebabies), you know I regularly tweet not only publicity for the day's post but also art samples from the classic art teams we often discuss. Well, in readying a Spinner Rack post for upcoming publication I came across the comic you see pictured below. I thought it would make for a fun tweet, so I copy/pasted the cover into a tweet that said, "Raise your hand if your enjoyment of the "Serpent Crown" series was crushed by this 2-parter of Dreaded Deadline Doom". One of our regular readers, Horace Austin, replied shortly with the tweet, "Raises hand". And off we went, into a conversation among five comics fans. As those things do, we twisted and turned through several topics. But the gem of the conversation was a link provided by @CubReporterK (K31th Callbeck) that jumped us over to the message boards hosted by Tales of Wonder.com's Marvel Masterworks Resource Page (linked at the top of this page). I'd encourage you at some point this weekend to check out that thread, because it's a lot of fun.

But, you recall that you have obligations here, right? Of course you do. Here's our discussion prompt --

Would you rather have waited for a delayed comic, or been given a fill-in issue?

Inaugural Post - Would You Rather...?

Doug: As we do around here from time to time, we'll throw something up against the wall and see if it sticks. The conversation prompt we're going to test drive is a play on that wonderful teenage game "Would you rather...?" For example, as I was searching for some images to use in the logo to the right, I came across one meme that queried, "Would you rather lick the pole on the subway or would you rather let five people on the subway kiss you?" Man... talk about a choiceless choice!

Doug: We'll take it just a bit easier on you here on the BAB. Today I'm going to ask you about two of the most famous, most valuable, and most significant comics of the Bronze Age. Now some of you may have had (or have) both of them, so you'll have to find your way into the conversation through your own experiences and perceptions. But considering the hobby of collecting, of monetary value, and of cultural significance, today we want to know --

Would you rather own Incredible Hulk #181 or Giant-Size X-Men #1?