[SkeleTony]

Greetings all,


I started collecting and reading comics back in 1982 or so. I started out a Marvel guy (Alpha Flight, The Hulk etc.) but when I discovered my local comic specialty store (the Legendary O'leary's Books and Comics in Lakewood, WA) I became enthralled by the independent comics that were on sale there. I then started slowly moving away from the Marvel stuff and picking up titles like The Elementals, The Justice Machine, The Badger, Jon Sable TMNT etc. and I loved the 'black and white boom' of the mid 1980s. Sure there were plenty of crappy titles being released but for every handful of Pre-Teen Dirty Gene Kung-Fu Kangaroos type titles there was a gem like Roachmill, the Dark Horse books, Grim Jack (Which was full color, written and drawn by top-level talent) etc.

In the late 1980s of course I picked up stuff like The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen (and a handful of other DC titles) but I think I was only picking up maybe one or two Marvel issues. By 1992 I was done with Marvel and DC and stuck to independent books. Bunch of indie' companies went out of business or were bought by Marvel(such as Malibu). Since then I have only purchased back-issue independent books and on occasion a new book by an indie artist like Del Barras or someone like that. I can talk all day about Blackthorne Comics, First, Malibu/Eternity/Aircel/Adventure etc.

Anyway that is my introduction for what it is worth.

*Salutes

-Tony

[bowers]

Always glad to welcome a fellow Washingtonian! Enjoy the site- Cheers, Bowers

[The Australian Panther]

Hi SkeleTony and Welcome. I was still reading comics in the 80s (Started a lot earlier) and know most of the history and titles you mention. I like the path you have been on. You should find a lot of good stuff to enjoy here.   

[paw broon]

Hello Tony and welcome to CB+.
Excellent intro.  Thank you. Although I've been reading, studying and collecting for a bit longer, your story is close in some ways to mine. I also had a love of all those - or some, perhaps I should say - indie titles.  At that time I was a partner in a comic shop here in Scotland and I have to tell you that ordering those indies, deciding how many to bring in and wondering how many I could put my regulars on to, was a nightmare at times. We weren't the biggest shop in the world and had competition from a major chain in the same city, but we did have contacts and friends in the highest corners of the comics industry. 
Grim Jack was a good one, for me and my customers.  But I also enjoyed, and sold, Elementals; JM and the others you mention. 
You didn't talk about one of my favourites which I still enjoy today - The Twilight Avenger.  Great stuff.   A couple of other titles that tickled my fancy were Vital Man, and Southern Squadron/Crusaders.
There were quite a few more and you've got me digging in boxes now for re-reads of obscure stuff. Perhaps this would make an interesting topic? Hmmmmmmm.

[SkeleTony]

Hello Tony and welcome to CB+.
...
Grim Jack was a good one, for me and my customers.  But I also enjoyed, and sold, Elementals; JM and the others you mention. 
You didn't talk about one of my favourites which I still enjoy today - The Twilight Avenger.  Great stuff.   A couple of other titles that tickled my fancy were Vital Man, and Southern Squadron/Crusaders.
There were quite a few more and you've got me digging in boxes now for re-reads of obscure stuff. Perhaps this would make an interesting topic? Hmmmmmmm.

Make no mistake, I am a huge Twilight Avenger fan. I picked up the first (and second) issue of the original Elite series when it first appeared as well as all of the Eternity issues and the one "Miracle studios" issue that completed the Elite mini-series and have the new(er) Pulp 2.0 TPBs.

I never picked up Vital-Man but I do still have some Southern Squadron issues somewhere and have a LOT of the Crusaders (assuming the Red Circle/Archie characters is what you refer to).

Thank you to all of you for the warm welcomes. This site seems like exactly the type of comic-book site I have been looking for for a while.

[The Australian Panther]

Re independent books in the 80's. The old brain has been fermenting and these came to mind. Badger, Coyote, Nexus, (But of course!) Cerberus the Aardvark (laugh out loud funny at the beginning of its run) and William Messner-Loeb's 'Journey' You forget just how many there actually were then!   

[paw broon]

Tony and the rest of you, I shouldn't write stuff after dinner and vino. I wrote Southern Squadron when it should have been Southern Knights - the group with the dragon And, of course, the Crusaders I mentioned was the title of the group for the 1st. issue, a name which was changed to Southern Knights because of the Red circle group, Mighty Crusaders.  Humble apologies.
But I also like Southern Squadron, the Aus. group. 
Panther's post reminds me that I was a Badger fan and the early Nexus, with that lovely Steve Rude art, was great fun.
Cerberus really was laugh out loud, and, from experience, I can say that Dave Sim is seriously good company.
Thinking about Justice Machine reminds me of Hero Alliance.  Being a superhero freak, I hoovered them up.
So many and now it'll have to be a rake through my shelves for the really small press titles.