Marvel Comics har haft en afstemning blandt læserne om de 70 bedste Marvel blade nogensinde. Ja, Marvel zombierne har givet læsningen en pause og tænkt lidt over, hvad de egentlig har spildt deres ungdom på i dette kaotiske univers. På www.marvel.com kan I se hele listen, der indeholder for mange newies, synes jeg. Dog bliver the founding fathers, Kirby og Ditko, anerkendt som de vigtigste kunstnere blandt FOOM folket – fans, der vel er Friends of Old Marvel (FOOM), the Merry Marvel Marching Society, som var Marvels officielle fan klub i 60’erne. The M.M.M.S. wants you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6L8Q3C2oCw&feature=player_embedded
En enkelt newie sniger sig ind på top ti, ellers er fordelingen Jack “King” Kirby med fire hæfter, John Byrne med to, Steve Ditko, Dave Cockrum, og Gil Kane med én placering hver, og så en ny tegner, Steve Epting, som jeg ikke kender. Men det kan også være, at Steve Eptings “Captain America” nummer er valgt på grund af Ed Brubakers manuskript. Brubaker (eller måske Marvel bosserne) lod jo Cap dø, altså Steve Rogers, kaptajnen.
Her er så alle tiders Marvel Comics top 10, som valgt af læserne i en afstemning, der sluttede 31. marts i år (2009), 70 året for Timely/Atlas/Marvels grundlæggelse og udgivelsen af “Marvel Comics” #1, som også opnåede en 43. plads i læser kåringen:
CELEBRATING 70 YEARS OF MARVEL COMICS WITH THE FIRST 12!
“In September 1939 a new voice hit the newsstands and changed the comic-book world forever—Marvel Comics #1, with it’s blazing Human Torch cover, had arrived! And this 64-page pulp package wasn’t your typical assortment of super-powered, straight-laced, do-gooders, this was something new.
The Human Torch, the amazing android creation of Dr. Phineas Horton, was neither man, nor hero, he was a blazing force of nature that shocked mankind. Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, the half-human/half-underwater dweller ventures into the world of man not with a mind towards peace, but towards vengeance! These two characters would form the foundation for the style of conflicted hero that defines Marvel to this day, and you’ll see them evolve across twelve full issues from their raw forms into the battling fire and water mega-hits of the Golden Age!
They’re flanked by an eclectic set born out of the fast-paced energy and imagination of the Golden Age including the heroic Angel; the wild and incomparable robot invention, Electro; the hard-edged detective, the Ferret; Terry Vance the boy adventurer; the Western Masked Raider; and the ongoing jungle adventures of Ka-Zar the Great.
Featuring an extensive essay on Marvel’s pulp magazine pre-history, publisher Martin Goodman and the birth of Marvel Comics by noted historian Will Murray, and topped off with special bonus features including original artwork and items never seen since 1939, this collection forms the cornerstone of Marvel history essential for every comic book fan, collector and historian!”
Collecting MARVEL COMICS #1 & MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS #2-12
(from the official Marvel solicit)
Nr. 10 blev et godt bronze alder blad, “The Uncanny X-Men” #141, af Claremont, Byrne, og Austin, fra 1981 – “Days of Future Past”:
Nr. 9 blev “The Incredible Hulk” #1 af Jack “King” Kirby, fra 1962:
Nr. 8 blev “Captain America” #25, den eneste newie på top 10:
Om det var Brubakers beslutning at lade Steve Rogers dø, eller det var Marvels beslutning, er ikke godt at vide. Brubaker har sagt, “I’ve been planning something along these lines ever since I brought back Bucky.”
Nr. 7 blev “The X-Men” #1 af Jack “King” Kirby, fra 1963:
Nr. 6 blev “Amazing Spider-Man” #121 af Gil Kane, fra 1973. Det er det berømte nummer skrevet af Gerry Conway, hvor Gwen Stacy dør. Forsiden er af John Romita:
fra http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2008/08/top-10-tuesdays-10-shocking-comic-book.html
Ah, Gwen Stacy, the whore. Er, I mean, Gwen Stacy, the loving and faithful girlfriend of Peter Parker. They were the perfect couple – young, happy and in love. Nothing could go wrong. Except getting thrown off a bridge and having your neck snapped.
While having your girlfriend die doesn’t seem like a big deal in comics anymore, this was revolutionary at the time. People didn’t die in comics, especially not the hero’s loved ones (unless it was origin related), and it was never because the badguy learned the hero’s secret identity either.
This death changed the landscape of Spider-Man stories and comics, in general, and many consider this death to signal the end of the Silver Age of comics.
Nr. 5 blev “The Avengers” #4 af Jack “King” Kirby, fra 1964. Kirby lader Captain America vende tilbage i Marvels Silver Age univers.
fra http://www.comicvine.com/the-avengers-captain-america-joins-the-avengers/37-7025/
This issue marked another milestone in the Avengers when Captain America joined the team! Found in a block of ice, Captain America astonished the world and the Avengers when he showed up alive after years of the public believing that he had perished at the end of World War II. Now a man out of time and place, Captain America must struggle to find his way once again, but thankfully for him, the Avengers are there to help him out, and when they offer him membership, he easily accepts.
Nr. 4 blev “Uncanny X-Men” #137 af Claremont, Byrne, og Austin, fra 1980, endnu et bronze alder blad:
Nr. 3 blev “Giant-Size X-Men” #1 af Dave Cockrum, fra 1975, første blad med det nye mutant team, som skulle blive Marvels mest populære team blad med så mange spin-off serier, at det er til at brække sig over:
At the end, Angel says to everyone: “What are we going to do with 13 X-Men?”
Nr. 2 blev “Fantastic Four” #48 af Jack “King” Kirby, fra 1966, den kosmiske historie “The Coming of Galactus!”, hvor Galactus og Silver Surfer optræder for første gang. Dette nummer er et af de mest eftertragtede blandt Marvel samlere. Jeg havde chancen for at købe et pænt eks. i 80’erne og endnu et pænt et i 90’erne til rimelig penge – en 20 eller 30 engelske pund, men jeg var for nærig, så nu har jeg det i genoptryk i Masterworks og i en gammel tp – FF #48, 49, og 50 udgør Galactus trilogien.
Nr. 1 blev det blad, hvori Marvels mest populære figur, Spider-Man, optrådte for første gang, i en historie i antologien “Amazing Fantasy” #15, af Steve Ditko, fra 1962 (forside af Jack Kirby). Steve Ditkos originale sider til den første Spider-Man historie er blevet doneret til Library of Congress i Washington D.C. af en anonym samler.
fra http://www.marvel.com/seventy_years/countdown/winners/comics/rank/1
A boy, his beloved aunt and uncle, a burglar, a radioactive spider, power and responsibility. Combine with Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The result: the greatest Marvel Comic of all time.