I'd say that I was more of a 'DC Guy' at this stage. I'm a huge Batman fan, and there were plenty of high quality Bat-titles to go around. Still, I am ashamed to admit that I was not reading Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing, Sandman etc... (you get the idea).
Yup, I love Batman. Always have, always will. I particularly love Batman of this era. The late 80s and into the early 90s was a great time, as the stories were quite intense and Norm Breyfogle showed me that Jim Aparo wasn't the only Batman artist worth following. I remember thinking the 'new' Robin was a pretty big deal, as Tim Drake seemed so much more appealing than Jason Todd. It's hard to believe that he's been around nearly two decades now. I haven't held onto every book I bought back then, but I'm pretty sure I've still got all my Batmans and Detectives from this era.
Much like Batman, I was buying everything Justice League at the time. Much like the Avengers, I'd followed the JLA since I was a kid. Unlike the Avengers, however, the Justice League seemed to improve with age. There were so many great story lines at this stage (Break Downs was very impressive), and some great new characters (the whole General Glory bit really cracked me up). It was a great time for this team, and it's hard to believe how far it fell a few years later. That being said, I did actually once spend hard earned cash on a copy of Extreme Justice. Yikes!
If you were to ask me to name my favourite comic book series during my high school years, I'd answer Green Arrow without hesitation. From the Long Bow Hunter onwards, there was something about Ollie and Dinah's life in Seattle that really resonated with me. Keep in mind, this was still a few months before I heard 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' for the first time. It seemed fitting that Ollie's title would hit an anniversary right around my high school graduation as it gave us both a few more pages to contemplate our places in the world. 
Legends of the Dark Knight was a real revelation to me. I realized that taking a bit more time to constructed a story and to place it at varying points in Batman's history made for some amazing comics. I was totally hooked (pun intended) by the 'Venom' storyline. I realize that it eventually led to all sorts of Bane-ality, but as a standalone story arc, it is still very strong. At this point in time, I had already read Dark Knight Returns and Killing Joke, and while I would never put this story up there with the former, it really isn't all that far behind the latter. It was just a great piece of storytelling, perfect for the mature high school graduate that I had become.
3 comments:
Okay, this is just eerie. I too went from an all Marvel reading list (replace The Avengers with Alpha Flight)in the 80's to Batman and Justice League in the late 80's/90's.
Although, I have to say that I was a die-hard Breyfogle man from the start. Aparo's work by '87 was kinda stiff.
Yikes! I guess 1991 was when my comics-buying was out-of-control, at least when it came to DC's side of the racks. The only issues I *didn't* buy were ST:TNG #22, the TSR titles (Spelljammer, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, and Forgotten Realms), Tiny Toon Adventures #4, and Adventures of Superboy #19! And the Enemy Ace softcover, but only because I already had the hardcover!
I actually thought the Venom Batman books were nearly as good as the Killing Joke. The JGL art is some of his very best and the story, delving effectively into both the insecure and the doggedly unshakeable side of Batman's personality is unique and compelling.
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