Marvel 1985 - Art & Discussion

I am on the fence about this latest Marvel event, 1985. I am not sure what it is or what to expect of it, but the press releases are starting to come in, so I can tell you that it's written/coordinated by Mark Millar (Civil War) and it apparently has to do with either revising historical events in the Marvel Universe that unfolded in/around 1985 or recounting them.

I'm thinking it's more the former than the latter, because the first real PR I got for it has lines like "Millar lays down the foundation for things to come" - which means I am not going to like it.

We've been discussing continuity and so forth here lately - and it's a big topic throughout Comicdom right now - thanks to the One More Day debacle, but if this is what I think it is, it's tantamount to blasphemy! The 1980s were Marvel's real "Golden Age" - and I don't mean that by way of collectors' terms - or maybe I should say "Golden Years" to avoid confusion.

Let's face it: by all accounts, the 1970s blew all the way around, but the 1980s were a watershed era in comics - specifically for Marvel. Even excepting the Epic line (which we really shouldn't, because it alone made the 1980s for Marvel, but since a lot of the properties and products had little to do with the MU, we can ignore it for this discussion), Marvel really developed in the 1980s; the Universe was basically created in the '60s (overlooking the characters and their incarnations that were built-upon but already existed [Cap, Namor, etc.]), but it was cemented in the '80s.

Now we have an entire event that "explores remote and familiar corners of the Marvel Universe in ways that only the man behind such past blockbuster series could" (from the PR). And while I think I would enjoy this event if it were basically a retelling of accepted, historical stories - say, the Dark Phoenix Saga as seen by the Watcher or Rick Jones' version of events retelling the Gray Hulk run - I am going to pretend like this whole thing never happened if it starts ret-conning and revising everything that we know of the Marvel Universe.

If 1985 actually did what a project like this should do - further develop and cohere the events that took place during that time, explaining and solidifying continuity that exists to this day (except for Spidey) - then it would be the must-have collectible for every Marvel Zombie. This would be the real, definitive, bookend for all serious fans: the Alpha and the Omega of the Marvel Universe. And a project like that would sell-out before it ever went to press! That would sell-out at the fricking announcement!

Think about that:

If 1985 basically filled-in continuity concerns and definitively said, "This is what actually happened, this is when it happened, and everything else stemming from these events now makes that much more sense," every Marvel fan would be lined-up around the block to get their hands on every issue involved in this because it would answer all the long-standing "No-Prize" questions that have niggled us for decades. AND every non-fanboy would be lined-up around the block because this would be the definitive "jumping-on" point for the entire Marvel line!

I'm interested in seeing how this plays-out, but my first impression is that it's a prosaic attempt to "recapture" some of the quality of those stories and that era, in general - which is a convoluted way of saying, "it's a cheap marketing ploy to move units."

This month's CBG echoed my own sentiments in basically every article concerning the whole "event" marketing strategy currently running amok throughout the The Big Two - you can tell this has been the watercooler topic in the offices. Further, they echoed the things I have said about the industry and the people who run it: they don't know what they're doing! They make the very same mistakes time and time and time, again! They have shoved this entire event thing down our throats, run it into the ground, and worn us out with it. What's worse, none of it has been any good!

With the current reign of mundanity from the Big Two, I think this whole 1985 bit is about as remarkably stupid a move as one could make! I mean, these guys can't manufacture a contemporary crossover event that's worth the overpriced paper on which it's printed, so why are they making one that undoes all the good ones that have passed?

I am pleased to finally say what we all wanted to say in the early 1990s: Image Comics is producing the best comics on the market and everything from the Big Two is basically shit. While there have been some misses here and there, Image is consistently producing one knock-out project after the next; DC and Marvel are not only churning-out product, they are churning-out sub-par product which is seriously damaging long-standing properties by alienating fans, causing a loss of industry buzz among their targeted consumer base.

In other words, Image Comics is finally making-good on their original promise of bringing creator-owned and run, quality comics to the market - comic books aimed at fans of comics - while The Big Two are doing what they've always done: pandering to non-fans in an attempt to move units. Which means Marvel and DC will blow the bottom out of the market, then have a run of quality work in the next decade or so that will not be recognized until years after it's over, which will then cause a resurgence in hobby interest, which they will then reward with a tidal wave of bullshit which will kill said revived interest, ad nauseam.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008