Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
SuperMegaMonkey The Rules Comments page
Advanced Search
Godzilla Timeline
Quality Rating
Acknowledgements
Recent Updates
What's Missing?
General Comments
Forum
Previous | Main | Next Spider-Man is still the gem of the line, followed by Fantastic Four. In addition to having the best writing (the writing on Spidey is actually sometimes good, and on FF it varies) both have great art by Romita Sr. and Kirby (in his prime) respectively. Another highlight is Jim Steranko's Nick Fury stories in Strange Tales. Gene Colan is also doing a great job on Daredevil and Tales of Suspense's Iron Man, but unfortunately the stories don't live up to the art. The Hulk finally gets a consistent artist in Marie Severin, who is pretty good. Don Heck handles the Avengers for most of the year, but things get better when John Buscema takes over at the end. Daredevil is the clunker of the line. His villains are terrible, the Foggy/Matt/Karen drama interminably drags at a time where the melodramatic romance dramas in Spidey, Thor, and Iron Man are finally moving on, and the Mike Murdock sub-plot is pure insanity. From a shared universe perspective, the Marvel Universe is pretty much solid at this point. Villains move between books without any real hoopla at this point, and their backstories are handled well. The coordination between Captain America (the only character at this point who has his own book and is also a member of a team) and the Avengers is very tight. Amazing Spider-Man #44-45 Daredevil #24 Fantastic Four #57-60Inhumans free from Great Refuge Uncanny X-Men #281st Banshee Daredevil #251st Leap-Frog Uncanny X-Men #29 Amazing Spider-Man #461st Shocker Uncanny X-Men #30 Avengers #38J: Hercules Tales Of Suspense #87-88 (Iron Man) Tales Of Suspense #88-90 (Captain America) Daredevil #26 Amazing Spider-Man #47Flash Thompson leaves for Viet Nam Avengers #39 Uncanny X-Men #311st Candy Southern & Cobalt Man Fantastic Four #61-631st Blastaar Daredevil #27 Tales Of Suspense #89-90 (Iron Man) Amazing Spider-Man #48-49 Avengers #40 Tales Of Suspense #91 (Captain America) Daredevil #28 Strange Tales #150-168 (Nick Fury)1st Baron Strucker in modern age. 1st Contessa & Clay Quatermain Strange Tales #147-156 (Dr. Strange)1st Umar Strange Tales #157-168 (Dr. Strange)1st Living Tribunal & Yandroth Uncanny X-Men #32-33 Marvel Super Heroes #14 Fantastic Four #641st evidence of Kree (Kree Sentry) Tales Of Suspense #91 (Iron Man) Fantastic Four annual #51st Psycho-Man Avengers #41-42 Fantastic Four #651st Supreme Intelligence & Ronan the Accuser Thor #141 Tales To Astonish #92-93 Fantastic Four #66-671st Adam Warlock. 1st Enclave Daredevil #29 Amazing Spider-Man #501st Kingpin Daredevil #30-32 Thor annual #2 Daredevil #33-34 Thor #142 Uncanny X-Men #34 Amazing Spider-Man #51-521st Robbie Robertson Tales Of Suspense #92 (Captain America) Avengers #43-44 Tales To Astonish #94-100 Untold Legend of Captain Marvel #3 Alpha Flight Special #1 Uncanny X-Men #35 Tales Of Suspense #93-94 (Captain America)1st MODOK Uncanny X-Men #36 Daredevil annual #1 Avengers annual #1 Amazing Spider-Man annual #4 Avengers #45 Tales Of Suspense #92-94 (Iron Man) Amazing Spider-Man #53-56 1st Whiplash & Madame Masque Thor #143 Thor #144 Thor #145 Uncanny X-Men #37-39 Avengers #46 Tales Of Suspense #95 (Captain America) Fantastic Four #68-71 Alpha Flight #9-10 (origins) Alpha Flight #11 (origins) Filter by character: The Silver Age magic starts to peter out just a bit. The quality of the writing probably isn't actually declining (it's never been very good to start with, in an absolute sense) but as the storytelling engines solidify, the fast and furious ideas that provided the energy to propel the mediocre writing is no longer really there. Stan Lee is still handling the majority of the writing himself, with Roy Thomas doing occassional fill-ins and handling Avengers and X-Men. Stan's writing is better, mainly due to the fact that there is a tongue-in-cheek self-awareness to his style. Thomas writes more earnestly, and while in an immediate sense it is to the detriment of the books he's writing, it is a good thing overall as it sets the groundwork for serious writers that will follow him. Thomas' books are also very reference heavy, which i enjoy.
Notable events: New characters: Ulik, Sif, Banshee, Leap Frog, Shocker, Abomination, Blastaar, Kingpin, Robbie Robertson, Supreme Intelligence, Ronan the Accuser, Adam Warlock, MODOK, Contessa Valentina Allegra De la Fontaine, Clay Quartermain, Captain Stacy, Wrecker