That one era that defines a Superhero character/Team

So a random talk with my bro got me thinking:

Every Comic Book has that one era; that one run, or that one time when a specific writer and/or artist took up the helm.

As I sit here watching Thor The Dark World, I find that it likely took some inspiration from the Walt Simonson run, which I've heard is that moment for Thor (if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me).

X Men has Chris Claremont for that same time, and the Justice League Of America probably has Grant Morrison

So I started this to ask: What are the definitive runs for certain heroes or hero teams? What's that one time where everything was as close to perfect as it could get, that one time where you can say this is what the book is about", and this is everything you need to know about this dude or these dudes right here''?

Time to discuss.

edited 26th Jul '15 7:10:28 PM by HandsomeRob

One Strip! One Strip!

Well, let's see here...

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Marvel

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Spiderman: Stan Lee

Dr.Strange Stan Lee&Steve Ditko

Thor: Walt Simonson

Hulk: Peter David

Iron Man: Denny O' Niel

Fantastic Four: John Byrne

Avengers: Kurt Busiek

X-Men: Chris Claremont

Defenders: Steve Gerber

Man Thing: Steve Gerber

Howard the Duck: Steve Gerber (Seeing a trend?)

Alpha Flight: John Bynre

Adam Warlock: Jim Starlin

Daredevil: Frank Miller

Black Panther: Christopher Priest

Squadron Supreme: Mark Gruenwald

Nick Fury: Jim Steranko

Marvels' Conan the Barbarian: Roy Thomas

Captain Britain: Alan Moore

Killraven: Don Mc Gregor

Most of Cosmic Marvel in General: Dn A and Kieth Giffen

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DC

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Wonder Woman: George Perez

The Flash: Mark Waid

Justice League of America: Grant Morrision

Justice League International: Kieth Giffen and JMD

Teen Titans: Marv Wolfman

Swamp Thing: Alan Moore

Legion of Superheroes: Paul Levitz

Aquaman: Peter David

Animal Man: Grant Morrison

Suicide Squad: John Ostrander:

Justice Society of America: Geoff Johns

Metal Men: Robert Kanigher

Warlord: Mike Grell

The Fourth World/New Gods: Jack Kirby

Martian Manhunter: John Ostrander

Plastic Man: Jack King Cole

Captain Marvel: John Ordway

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...Huh. I've always considered myself more of a Marvel fan, but I'm honestly impressed with just how many DC examples I got. I still like Marvel more though. (Though DC's still alright.)

edited 27th Jul '15 9:02:44 AM by kkhohoho

Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around

Well, see, there are those that would say John Broome and Carmine Infantino for the Flash. Some people's favorite Justice League is the era immediately preceding the Detroit League. Or the Detroit League (believe it or not). It all depends on who you ask. My favorite Spider-Man is Stan Lee and John Romita Sr (I'm sorry, folks, but Romita kicks Ditko's pretentious ass all over town), which is probably not only the best Spider-Man but arguably the best pure super-hero comic ever made (and I'm really more of a Superman fan).

As a recent one, KSD defines Carol Danvers. It's so much better a take on the character than anyone else has had.

Claremont obviously defined the X-Men. No dispute there. But I think Morrison actually got the X-Men better than any other writer before or since.

Loki was utterly redefined by Kieron Gillen. Simonson had done quite a bit to define the character during his Thor run (which was, of course, the absolute definitive Thor run, and anyone who says otherwise is just wrong). But Gillen made Loki a far different character, and a far more compelling one, and a heartbreaking one.

Don Mc Gregor and Christopher Priest are the definitive Black Panther writers. Mc Gregor had his Black Panther stories in the '80s and into the '90s, Priest was in the 2000s.

Power Pack's definitive era was when Louise Simonson wrote it. Terry Austin's time was . . . not as good.

Garth Ennis is generally seen as having written the definitive Punisher. And not just because he punched a bear.

Joe Kelly wrote the definitive Deadpool. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong. That said, people who aren't old enough to have read Kelly's Deadpool, and who were first exposed to the character through Daniel Way's shitty, shitty run, tend to see that as the definitive take. Which is sad, because Waypool fucking sucks.

Boom-Boom was pretty well defined by Ellis' Nextwave. I mean, she was always a bit of a messed-up character in the first place, but Ellis turned that up, and subsequent writers have followed that, with her being insane.

For Excalibur, it's Alan Davis.

For X-23, it's Marjorie Liu.

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.

Beat me to the Deadpool example. Kelly is the best, absolutely. Some would say that Gail Simone would be a close second, but as much as I like her, I think that Fabian Nicieza's Cable & Deadpool run was better.

• Stan Lee and Steve Ditko on both Spider-Man (along with Romita) and Doctor Strange (although Roger Stern is close...on both)
• As already stated, Walt Simonson on Thor.
• You can't mention Daredevil without mentioning Frank Miller, and for good reason.
  • On that note, as much as I love Miller's early Batman stuff, I do think that Denny O'Neil is the one who fully brought him out of the Silver Age. Visually, Neal Adams defined Batman for me.
• Kind of an odd example, but to me the only Guardians of the Galaxy I care for are Abnett and Lanning's.
• Will Eisner and The Spirit are pretty much inseparable. He was the original, and still the best.
• Nick Fury wasn't Marvel's James Bond until Steranko got ahold of him.
• Captain America has had some great runs, but I don't think anyone's ever topped Brubaker.
• Hawkeye (both of them) have Matt Fraction.
  • Brubaker and Fraction together did more for Iron Fist than arguably every other writer, combined.
• Agreed on De Connick with Carol Danvers. I've read some of the previous series by Brian Reed, and KSD's stuff is LEAGUES above it.
• My definitive Iron Man probably David Michelinie (with Layton and Romita Jr. on art)
• Fantastic Four by Lee and Kirby is, overall, one of the best comics runs I've ever read.
• Fred van Lente and Greg Pak are the reason why we have a page for the Incredible Hercules.
• The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had some great stories with other writers, but Eastman and Laird themselves did the stories with most of the stuff that made it into adaptations.

Huh, thought I'd have more non-Marvel examples. Guess we see where my loyalties lie.

Weird in a Can (updated M-F)

I'll give Jim Valentino props for Guardians of the Galaxy, too. The original line-up was OK, a reasonably good set of sci-fi heroes engaging in sci-fi adventures that never really rose to greatness. Valentino, in the '90s, made them far more compelling, and gave them much better, and bigger, stories.

For Captain America, I'd also add Mark Gruenwald. While he made some definitely mistakes - he arguably over-played Cap's stance against killing, and even worse, the idea of comparing the Super-Soldier Serum to narcotics was just patently ridiculous - he also wrote a lot of classic stories. He basically defined Cap until Brubaker.

X-Men X-Pert, my blog where I talk about X-Men comics.

Iron Man's defining writer would be Dave Michelinie; Armor Wars basically codified the formula for future Iron Man stories, and he also made the defining alcoholism arc for Tony Stark.

I'd say O'Neill/Adams define at least my favorite Batman, with Wein/Englehart/Rogers era as a close second. Still, I'd call Frank Miller's Batman:Year One (even moreso that DKR) as probably the most influential to the way Batman is portrayed now. Except in animation, where Timm and Dini expressly said they were taking their version more from Englehart/Rogers than anywhere else. Ah, there's another one...the Timm/Dini Batman.

I thought the Johns/ Frank Superman was excellent, at least initially (they lost me around the New Krypton stuff...was that even them?) and did a beautiful job of re-establishing a workable status quo for Superman.

With X-Men,Animal Man,Doom Patrol and JLA (possibly Batman too for some folks) Morrison might be a record holder when it comes to being a definitive writer.

edited 2nd Aug '15 6:26:53 PM by zam

All of time and space, anywhere and everywhere, any star that ever was. Where do you want to start?

John Bryne will remain my Superman codifier. Alan Moore did the most memorable individual stories, tho.

Oh, and Byrne for She Hulk. He made her a memorable character.

edited 15th Aug '15 6:28:30 AM by AnotherGuy

We have a page of its own for this subject: My Real Daddy

edited 15th Aug '15 6:42:05 AM by Tuomas