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The Copper Age of Comics 1985 - 200817100

Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
I remember this being cool as a kid with Venom being especially anti-hero before he went through his whole "I like to eat brains" phase that those terrible Venom miniseries throughout the 1990s characterized. I'd have to go back and reread it. The video game was solid.

Maximum Carnage














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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
The Evolutionary War. Marvel's first crossover event that took place exclusively through the 1988 annuals. This gave way to the crossover through annuals experiment for the next few years. In reading order:













Plus some "tie-in" issues.


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Please continue to ignore anything I post. southerncross private msg quote post Address this user
@Studley_Dudley I enjoyed Marvel doing that at the time.
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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
The 1989 Marvel annuals event was Atlantis Attacks. This had some interlude issues and backup stories within the annuals called "The Serpent Crown Saga" which recounts the history of said crown. Whereas the Evolutionary War was more loosely tied together, Atlantis Attacks was a much more cohesive and serialized story. In reading order:

Interlude: Hulk/Fixit fights a whale













Interlude: Namor returns











And the What If?

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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
The 1990 annuals had crossovers as well, but instead of one big one, there were a few across a few different titles. I don't believe I have any of the issues for The Terminus Factor and Spidey's Totally Tiny Adventure.

However, I do have the issues for Days of Future Present and Lifeform. In Days, future Franklin Richards swings back in time and is being hunted down by Ahab. In Lifeform, AIM is cooking up some craziness in the biological weapons department.

Days of Future Present. X-Factor annual #5 may actually be part 3 since it technically takes place after the New Mutants annual #6 but it was released before the NM annual.






Lifeform




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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
From the 1991 Annuals, I only have the storyline for Kings of Pain. Some mutants essentially try to free Proteus, the Shadow King gets involved, then the good guys win.







In 1992, Arize escaps from Mojoworld, and Mojo isn't too keen on letting him walk out. Some others too.

Shattershot






The System Bytes






Assault on Armor City



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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
Mutant Massacre 1986. The first big X-Men crossover with other titles like X-Factor, Thor, Power Pack and Daredevil. Probably still the best one. The plot is straightforward with the Marauders whooping the piss out of the Morlocks with plenty of fallout for the X-Men and X-Factor.

In reading order:












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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
As we fast forward to the next crossover event: the Fall of the Mutants. While looking at the promo poster, one would think it is a big crossover event, it is more of a spiritually linked event that took place in Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, New Mutants & some tie-in issues. Reading order is pretty much what one might expect given the event is self-contained to its core titles. I enjoyed the X-Factor and X-Men parts of the story but just couldn't get into the New Mutants portion.

X-Factor's story









X-Men's story






New Mutants' story





My poster

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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
The following event was Inferno. Whoa. Where to start with this. Let's just go with the TLDR version of Illyana and Madelyne Pryor and interdimensional demon hordes unleash hell on Earth. Sounds like it should be simple, but it just spreads all over. You can thank this for many other all-Marvel-title-encompassing crossovers that followed. The main story runs through Uncanny X-Men, Excalibur, New Mutants, X-Factor and X-Terminators, with tons of tie-in issues.

Inferno possible reading order:








































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Where's his Bat-package? Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user


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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
Late 1989 to early 1990 brings us the Acts of Vengeance. Not so much a continuous story but more of a thematically linked storyline like the Evolutionary War of Fall of the Mutants. The basic rundown is that a disguised Loki forms a cabal of other villains including Red Skull, Magneto, Dr Doom, Mandarin, and the Wizard to plan out an attack on the Marvel heroes. They spring a bunch of jabronis from the Vault with an idea for the various villains to fight the heroes, with the catch being that they take on heroes for whom they aren't a part of their usual rogue's gallery. Spidey vs Graviton, Daredevil vs Ultron, Punisher vs Dr Doom, X-Men vs Mandarin, etc. Not all issues are needed for the overarching continuity of the story and there are even some more humorous moments such as Damage Control doing its thing. Interesting concept with mixed results as is the case with most crossovers regardless of the size of the event. There are some other tie-in issues after the main arc concludes. I think ASM 329 is the only one I have. Other issues like New Mutants 84-86 and X-Factor 49-50 only devote some pages to it, even with the issues being labeled as Acts of Vengeance and Iron Man #250 has the AoV banner but has absolutely nothing to do with the story.
































































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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
I became an X-Men fan in the early 90s with the animated series. I had a friend who was a huge fan and when I would look at his comics, the one thing that stuck out was that art. Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio handling the pencils on the titles were a thing of beauty at the time.

The X-Tinction Agenda. A 1990-1991 crossover through the X-titles of the time. Genoshan magistrates along with an amnesiac Havok attack Xavier's place and kidnap some mutants. X-Men, X-Factor and New Mutants go there to rescue people and hijinks ensue. As far as crossovers go, not too bad. I reread it a few years ago, and maybe it's my nostalgic bias but I still liked it. The X-Men issues have the best art by far. Jim Lee was a rockstar on these issues. Liefeld was even adequate on the New Mutants run, and I don't know what the hell Bogdanove was doing on X-Factor because there were definite continuity gaps caused by his art.













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In 1991, The Muir Island Saga happened. The Shadow King is running roughshod over on Muir Island and there are a lot of moving parts with this and the fallout results in Professor X gets crippled after being able to walk for a while, X-Factor rejoining the X-Men which then becomes the blue and gold teams, and a new X-Factor team being recruited.








The aftermath which is pure awesome.






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Throwing something different out there. Before Garth Ennis revitalized the Punisher in the Marvel Knights line, the character had a bit of different style. More of a talker, could even be charming in the right circumstances. Final Days was a story where the Kingpin has Microchip abducted, drugged, forcefully amputates one of his fingers, and drops him in Southeast Asia all to get the Punisher to go after one of his business rivals. Frank obliges and it was also a setup. Frank is arrested, tried and sent to Ryker's Island. Inside, he runs into some old friends and Jigsaw exacts a measure of revenge.
This leads to a hilarious/cringeworthy follow up that wouldn't fly at today's super-inclusive world of Marvel/Disney. Honestly, I don't even know how they got away with this in the 90s either.









Really?



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Eurohit. The Punisher tracks an assassin to London where he meets his UK counterpart/copycat known as Outlaw. The action treks through London to France to Germany to Switzerland to Spain back to the UK. There are some well-done action sequences of Tarantula and Batroc fighting each other and eventually all is cleaned up with Outlaw learning that Punisher isn't a role model. A fun read, and I would recommend it. Annual #7 is a call back to Eurohit with Frank having to pretend he is the assassin to get in close to some Eurotrash criminals. The Eurohit portion of Annual #7 takes place in a flashback if I recall correctly while Frank is holding a dead-man's switch during Suicide Run in the present.








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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
Rocky Grimm, Space Ranger. Immediately following the events of Secret Wars, Thing remains on Battleworld. He finds that he is able to control his physical form be it Ben Grimm or the Thing and sets out on a quest to retrieve a device that allows him to see the Earth. Along the way, he encounters aliens, monsters, all sorts of sword & sorcery types, and even gets himself a girl in a nice bit of foreshadowing for later in the series. Eventually, Battleworld begins to crumble away and the Thing's reality on it is revealed to be anything but.












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Jigsaw Puzzle. Punisher vs Jigsaw in various locales while Jigsaw's face gets healed for a time due to some sorcerous mumbo-jumbo. I would have to reread this and I might only like it because I liked this series. Personally, I feel Jigsaw works better as the #1 henchman for someone else. This version of the character is better than whatever the f**k was going on in the mid-2000s with him








Punisher vs Wolverine. Jim Lee's art was rock star status on War Journal and this was a good two issue romp in Africa dealing with poachers searching for mokele-mbembe.




Dead Man's Hand. The three heroes attempt to stop Viper, Tombstone, et al from divvying up the Kingpin's empire after he "dies".












Sicilian Saga. Punisher crosses a corrupt senator and goes to Italy to lay low while coming into contact with some distant relatives who *shocked face* are feuding with some local mafioso types.



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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
Suicide Run. Frank gets the lowdown on a huge crime lord meeting and decides that it would be a good time to go to work. Unironically, the criminal bosses are all talking about killing Frank. The house is literally brought down, and the Punisher is thought to be dead. Several copycat vigilantes pop up in the same vein as Frank (with varying degrees of success). Frank returns at some point in a small town and has to stay alive.












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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
X-Cutioner's Song. Oh my. "Cable" attempts to assassinate Prof X with a techno organic virus. Turns out to be Stryfe, a clone of Cable from 2000 years in the future who was raised by Apocalypse. Mr Sinister gets involved by impersonating Apocalypse to get the old Horsemen (Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn & Ole Anderson) to do some dirty work so he can kidnap some X-Men. Sinister betrays Stryfe, the real Apocalypse gets involved, some more convoluted stuff. I'd have to reread this because my 9 year old brain was warped with this one so I can only imagine what it would do my 38 year old brain. But, all the issues came polybagged with a trading card, so that's a win.

The epilogue of UXM 297 is actually a pretty nice story about Prof X regaining the use of his legs temporarily as a result of the virus.













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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
Return of the Sinister Six. Doc Ock reassembles the Sinister Six sans Kraven. In his place is the Hobgoblin. Sandman is reluctant to join as he is trying to stay on the straight and narrow, but he is blackmailed into joining the group. Essentially, Doc Ock is a dick who is willing to sacrifice his comrades to kill Spidey. Before he went off the deep end with his views, Larsen became the ASM artist after Todd. Him and Micheline made a solid team on the title.

Revenge of the Sinister Six. Really, it's the Revenge of the Sinister Five. It's kind of a narrative mess. It's almost like he was able to use this storyline as his own personal sketchbook to draw characters that he didn't normally draw since the story is tons of cameos and super-90s all around.















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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
Fatal Attractions. As a kid, this was a cool one. I reread it a few years ago, and I found I still enjoyed it. Magneto's Acolytes extend an offer to Quicksilver to join them since he was still the fruit of Magneto's loins at the time. He declines. Meanwhile Magneto reveals himself to be the higher power. He was thought to have been deceased since X-Men #3 (1991). Professor X, Wolverine and some others teleport to Avalon and the fight ensues. Wolverine gets a good shot in on Magneto which results in him tearing the adamantium off of Wolverine's skeleton. Professor X mindwipes Magneto and they have to get back to Earth. Wolverine almost falls out of the Blackbird and Colossus elects to stay with Magneto.
This leads into some serious nonsense a few years down the road.








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It gets old smelling it everytime I go outside my door. Nearmint67 private msg quote post Address this user
@Studley_Dudley Dang it man, you have entirely too many comic books lol.......
If I were to guess, I would say you have to have 12,000 comics. How far off am I?
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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
@Nearmint67 not near that many... yet. I have approximately 5,500 according to my database but it might be more. I only update it once in a while and I've definitely acquired more stuff since the last update.

Edit: I should probably cool it for a while. I'm trying to unload some of the trash I've acquired.
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Where's his Bat-package? Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user
I should start uploading some of my non-graded books, too...
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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
Bloodties. During a civil war on Genosha, Fabian Cortez kidnaps his former boss' granddaughter. This brings the Avengers and X-Men into the fray. SHIELD is inept (as usual) while attempting to stop the Avengers from entering Genosha. Exodus swings down from space to kill not only Cortez but Luna as well for being human. Lots of fighting, good guys win, and it leads the dissolution of the West Coast Avengers in #102.





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Beaten by boat oars Studley_Dudley private msg quote post Address this user
From the 1991 Annuals. The Von Strucker Gambit. Baron Von Strucker unleashes some GMO-type assassins. The Crippler, Guillotine, Sathan. They're not cool. SHIELD gets helped out in this endeavor by DD, Punisher, and Cap.





From the 1992 Annuals. Citizen Kang. Goes a bit into Kang's history since the character can be a convoluted mess at times. FF and Avengers have to team up to fight warriors across different eras of Earth's history.




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I don't believe this....and I know you don't care that I don't believe this. GAC private msg quote post Address this user

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Where's his Bat-package? Byrdibyrd private msg quote post Address this user
DANG! You win, but at least mine's a newsstand edition.

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I don't believe this....and I know you don't care that I don't believe this. GAC private msg quote post Address this user
@Byrdibyrd Nice!!! I didn't pay attention to newstand back in the day....I wish I did. Sweet book!!
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Thank you sir. May I have another? Siggy private msg quote post Address this user





















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