# Nostalgic for old comic books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [July 29, 2026, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999 "2026-07-29T12:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/121 "2026-08-24T22:07:46Z")
I think it was Gold Key that came out with a comic made up of UFO stories in the seventies. The cover had a tall green alien with big red eyes, referred to as the “Virginia Giant”. The same day I got a (I think) Marvel comic with horror stories. The best was about a guy who owned a maze, and offered a large prize for anyone who could navigate it. The thing was there was no way to get out the other end. Eventually people caught on, and another guy had a maze that was much cheaper but lots of fun. The guy who was ripping people off complained, and the guy who opened the new one offered to close down if the crook could escape his maze. Although everyone else got through the maze, the crooked guy couldn’t and was trapped forever. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/122 "2026-08-24T23:58:39Z")
Back in 1960 or '61, I had an extra-large _ **Archie** _ that was set entirely under the sea, with cities inside domed habitats. Archie and his pals got from place to place with Scuba gear, which was a big thing back then, as the popularity of period TV shows like _ **Sea Hunt** _ and _ **Assignment Underwater** _ will attest. Other fads at the time included helicopters (ala _ **Whirlybirds** _) and skydiving (ala _ **Ripcord** _). I’m wondering if there were any other comics that tried to cash in on them like _ **Archie** _ did with Scuba diving. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/123 "2026-08-25T00:30:08Z")
I used to like “Dial H for Hero”. > **[Dial H for Hero](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial_H_for_Hero)** > > Dial H for Hero is a comic book feature published by DC Comics about a magical dial that enables an ordinary person to become a superhero for a short time, such as an hour, by selecting the letters H-E-R-O in order. Each time it is used, the dial causes its possessor to become a superhero with a different name, costume, and powers. These superheroes are usually new, but on one occasion the dial caused its user to become a duplicate of Plastic Man. Some versions of the dial, like the original, T... Younger heroes could becomes super by dialing H\_E\_R\_O on a weird phone- but the powers seemed random (but always turned out to be useful) and short term= part of the fun was the hero trying to figure out just how being “the Human Starfish” would save the day. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/124 "2026-08-25T11:47:59Z")
I grew up in the 1960s, and my memories of comic books pretty much cover the 1960s and the early 1970s. The big comic companies were, of course, DC and Marvel. DC’s stories tended to be more science fiction-based (they had actual science fiction authors, like Edmond Hamilton and Gardner Fox writing for them on a regular basis), and books like Mystery in Space and Strange Adventures had stories in which solving the problem was frequently an exercise in logic rather than one of bashing the monster until it died. Marvel, on the other hand, was more emotional, with science that was frequently ludicrous. This was also often more fun. I learned a lot from DC comics (one thing that still stands out in my mind is the way Green Lantern looks at something shrinking, but ultimately loses sight of it because it becomes smaller than the wavelength of light.), but you could get lost in the sweep of a Marvel story. In DC, a magnified molecule looked like a chemistry class’ ball-and-stick model of conjoined spheres. In Marvel, when Dr. Doom enlarges molecules and throws them as projectiles, they look like rocks and boulders. Marvel eventually got more science fiction-y, like when they got Harlan Ellison to wrote an Avengers/Hulk story that involved a character named Psyclop (who had one big, jewel-like eye), or when they started adapting classic science fiction stories outright in the early 1970s. But I still liked the early 1960s DC stories with “Space Explorers” and Adam Strange and Space RAnger. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/125 "2026-08-25T13:45:11Z")
In the 1960s, at DC the stories were driven by the writers, whereas at Marvel the stories were driven by the artists. Jack Kirby and other “Marvel method” writers were no slouches at Science but they wouldn’t let it get in the way of amazing visuals and character design. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/126 "2026-08-25T21:30:13Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Younger heroes could becomes super by dialing H\_E\_R\_O on a weird phone- but the powers seemed random (but always turned out to be useful) I loved those. There was a follow-up series just called HERO, that starts with a random guy, years later, finding The Dial. It switches hands as others steal or stumble upon it, and chaos ensues. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/127 "2026-08-26T01:00:22Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I loved those. There was a follow-up series just called HERO, that starts with a random guy, years later, finding The Dial. Yeah, the reader- along with the hero- would try to figure out how those -often weird- powers could solve the problem. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/128 "2026-08-26T12:57:58Z")
They revived the series in 2012 under the name “Dial H”. It was written by China Mieville, but only lasted 15 issues. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2026, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/129 "2026-08-27T03:45:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I used to like “Dial H for Hero”. > > [Dial H for Hero - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial_H_for_Hero) > > Younger heroes could becomes super by dialing H\_E\_R\_O on a weird phone- but the powers seemed random (but always turned out to be useful) and short term= part of the fun was the hero trying to figure out just how being “the Human Starfish” would save the day. Of course, the real reason a lot of people read Dial H for Hero was to submit your character designs and concepts and hope they got used for one of the heroes or villains in the story. Mine never got used, alas. I only read the 80s version of Dial H with Chris King and Vicki Grant as the hero kids. This was when Dial H was the backup in Superboy, a book I would not have normally have read. I remember an ongoing plot with a villain in the background called The Master who was obsessed with getting his hands on the H Dials and turned out to be Robby Reed, the original Dial H for Hero kid, turned evil and amnesiac after messing with his H Dial years ago. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/130 "2026-08-31T14:02:45Z")
> [@bmoak1](#): > > Robby Reed, the original Dial H for Hero kid, turned evil and amnesiac… And here I was reading Superboy and the Dial H stories for the light nostalgia. But if that darker take on it sounds intriguing, that was the plot of those later China Miéville stories. And, as a bonus, covers by Brian Bolland. [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71uj+N4gmaL._AC_SL1261_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71uj+N4gmaL._AC_SL1261_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/131 "2026-09-05T14:58:03Z")
In contrast to First, Eclipse Comics was an eccentric, sprawling affair run by quirky characters (Publisher Dean Mullaney and Editor cat yronwode). Starting with publishing some of the earliest graphic novels, then launching an anthology black and white magazine (Eclipse Magazine)before launching monthly comics. Their first success was DNAgents, an angsty young super-team in the vein of X-Men and Teen Titans. It ran for a few years and spawned a spinoff regular series in Crossfire and several mini-series. Despite that, Eclipse didn’t publish a lot of superheroes in its first few years. Their early titles I remember reading were Doug Moench & Dan Day’s Aztec Ace, a trippy time-travel adventure, Scott McCloud’s superlative Zot! (technically but not really a superhero book) and the noir detective Ms. Tree by Max Allan Collins & Terry Beatty. Eclipse also picked up defunct titles from Pacific and got the license to reprint and colorize UK stuff from Quality/Warrior. Axel Pressbutton, Johnny Nemo and most importantly Miracleman. Eclipse was the first company to come out with a line of manga, but that was a few years later. Eclipse would publish derivative junk like Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters and then put out idiosyncratic stuff like Larry Marder’s Tales of the Beanworld or Donna Barr’s The Dreamery. Eclipse went on into the early 90s, but started falling apart after a flood destroyed their HQ, wiping out all of their back catalogue and production work for upcoming titles. Later, Mullaney and yronwode had a contentious divorce and Eclipse closed slightly after. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/132 "2026-09-05T15:04:28Z")
I think that I’m the only person in this thread who’s main comics reading/nostalgia period was the 80s… ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/133 "2026-09-05T15:15:58Z")
> [@bmoak1](#): > > Eclipse went on into the early 90s, but started falling apart after a flood destroyed their HQ, wiping out all of their back catalogue and production work for upcoming titles. Later, Mullaney and yronwode had a contentious divorce and Eclipse closed slightly after. Don’t forget the disastrous attempt to emulate DC/Marvel crossover events with “Total Eclipse”. For a company with entirely creator-controlled characters, this was a really dumb idea. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/134 "2026-09-05T19:33:50Z")
I would say that the other semi-major indie publisher of tthe early 80s that lasted a while (went bankrupt in the early 90s) was Comico, those boys from Norristown PA. They were a group of recent Philly art-school grads who decided to become B&W comic book publishers, with each of them to create and launch their own title. Comico could have easily and quickly gone bust like so many small-time B&W publishers did in the 80s, but a few key things turned their fortunes around: -One of the original founders was Matt Wagner, who turned out to be a major talent. First with Mage: The Hero Discovered (a modern day Arthurian urban fantasy) and then with Grendel, Wagner was Comico’s anchor. -In its 2nd year, Comics canceled all its original B&W titles and switched to color. -Comico hired Diana Schutz to be its chief editor. -It picked up two properties from defunct Texas Comics, which managed to put out one whole comic before folding. Comico had a pretty good run with The Justice Machine, but it was the Justice Machine backup, Bill Willingham’s Elementals, that became a big breakout hit. -Comico got the comics license for Robotech, which none of the major publishers wanted. Then they had the smart idea of publishing all three segments of Robotech simultaneously in their own titles. -Got the comics license for Jonny Quest. By itself, not much of a factor, but Comico brought in an all-star lineup of indie creators (Steve Rude, Wendy Pini, etc) to each do their own one or to part stories. Comico also got Jonny Quest creator Doug Wildey to do a three-issue mini-series called Jonny Quest Classics, where Wildey adapted three of his favorite classic JQ episodes in gorgeous painted color. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/135 "2026-09-05T19:41:15Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > [@bmoak1](#): > > > > Eclipse went on into the early 90s, but started falling apart after a flood destroyed their HQ, wiping out all of their back catalogue and production work for upcoming titles. Later, Mullaney and yronwode had a contentious divorce and Eclipse closed slightly after. > > Don’t forget the disastrous attempt to emulate DC/Marvel crossover events with “Total Eclipse”. For a company with entirely creator-controlled characters, this was a really dumb idea. Eclipse did own the rights the the Hillman Comics characters like Airboy, but yes, Total Eclipse was not a good idea/. I don’t know how much of a detriment it was to the company, though. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/136 "2026-09-08T18:13:54Z")
> [@bmoak1](#): > > I think that I’m the only person in this thread who’s main comics reading/nostalgia period was the 80s… Mine starts in the 80s and goes into the 90s. I started buying comics circa 1983. Mostly Marvel titles like Spider-Man, GI Joe, Transformers, and then whatever else I could get my hands on. Funds for comics were sporadic, so I never really had any single title I purchased at a reliable rate. Alas, my earliest comics were left behind in Germany when my father failed to secure them for the big move back to the United States. In the late 80s, I was able to purchase comics on a more regular basis and was into Spider-Man, Batman, and then occasionally whatever I might pick up on a whim. I was there when Image came onto the scene, still have my Spawn #1 which must be worth, $20? That’s it?! Oh, yeah. I also remember the speculation boom of the 90s. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/137 "2026-09-08T21:44:47Z")
I was buying less comics in the 90s. The comics store in my college town closed down (bought some sweet stuff at the close out sale at discount). Another one eventually opened up, but it was mainly a mainstream books/hot books/toys & merch store. My friends and I found a really good tip a few towns over when we were old enough to drive (Time Warp in Cedar Grove) and that was our store from senior year of high school into our college years when we were home on breaks and for the summer, but it closed when the apartment over the store had a kitchen fire that ruined the building. I discovered anime and manga, so much less of my disposable income was going to comic. I was also in Japan for my junior year abroad and not comics buying then. I also didn’t like the industry trends of the 90s. I wasn’t liking most of what Marvel was doing and not a whole lot of DC was doing. I dutifully tried all the Image books, but wasn’t a fan of any of the original titles. My favorite indie companies and titles of the 80s were gone and the new indie companies were almost all shared superhero universe types trying to put out the next hot book to be hyped up by Wizard Magazine. Also I decamped for Japan in '94 and was gone for the rest of the decade except for trips back to see the fam. I thought it was a very 90s comics industry thing that my suburban hometown of about 70K went from 0 comic book shops to 5 comic book shops back to 0 comic book shops in the early-to-mid 90s ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/138 "2026-09-08T22:00:14Z")
> [@bmoak1](#): > > I think that I’m the only person in this thread who’s main comics reading/nostalgia period was the 80s… That was probably my peak time for reading superhero comics. But I suspect no one is particularly interested that there used to be this hero called “Superman”. Also, as an adult I went back and re-read some of those DC comics I liked as a kid and many of them were kind of lame. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/139 "2026-09-10T02:44:33Z")
Marvel, seeing the success of the direct market and indie publishers, decided to get in on the action. Marvel had already launched Epic Illustrated Magazine, which was their version of Heavy Metal plus some more mainstream Marvel stuff like John Byrne’s Last Galactus Story, so expanding from it to a creator-owned direct-sales line. Jim Shooter made a smart choice having Archie Goodwin be Epic’s editor. Archie was well-liked and well-respected as an editor and could bring in creators that Shooter had alienated. Epic’s first mainstay was Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar. Another was Steve Engelhart and Steve Leialoha’s Coyote plus Potts & Cirocco’s Alien Legion.Epic also did a lot of mini-series and short series, which allowed them to use some of the highly-skilled artists of the 70s that had gotten on Shooter’s bad side by not being able to hold down a monthly book. You had Mike Kaluta on Starstruck, John Bolton on The Black Dragon, Bill Sienkiewicz’s Stray Toasters and Elektra Assassin, and Doug Munch and Paul Gulacy on Six From Sirius. Marvel was able to get some titles on the the newsstands as well. Groo the Wanderer, Dreadstar, and repackaged Elfquest reprints. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999/140 "2026-09-10T03:30:13Z")
And that’s pretty much it for my comics overview from the late 70s to the mid 80s. Mirage Studios hit it big with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in '85 and that change the industry, as everyone and their cousin decided to start a comic book company and get a B&W comic out there and hope it became the next big thing. This led to the big B&W boom and bust, where shops felt they had to order these books to be sure of not missing the next big thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgic-for-old-comic-books/1031999.md?page=8)