Best Marvel Comics Run of the '80's

CBR is running a pretty interesting poll. click here

I was pleasently surprised to see so many great runs across many different books. These were the books that shaped my childhood and made me a life-long comic reader and fan. Yes, there were some bad Marvel books out there too (Team America anyone???) but Marvel was really hitting on all cylinders in the '80's.

Going through the list, my loyalties quickly were torn between the Claremont/Byrne X-Men run, the Simonson Thor run and the Byrne FF run. Oddly enough I put the Miller Daredevil run in 4th place, closely followed by the Stern/JRJr Spider-Man run. I ended up choosing the Byrne FF run as it really captured the magic and spirit of the Marvel Universe for me each month. And it had great art!

Curious to see what folks here choose....

My vote went to the Peter David, Hulk run, awesome stuff.

I voted for the David/Macfarlane Hulk (Joe Fixxit) run. There's a ton of other cool runs listed in that poll but Grey Hulk is the comic that really stands out from comics from so, so long ago.

Damnit, I was torn between Byrne with X-Men or Byrne on Alpha Flight. In the end I went with the pure Byrne Alpha Flight run.

While the Sienkiewicz runs on both New Mutants and Moon Knight were two of my all time favorites, I had to give the vote to Frank Millers run on Daredevil. It has had the most lasting effect on comics in general from that decade.

frak, there are way too many great choices there for me to just go with one. wish theyd allow us to pick five. or in some cases list issue #s, because i recall a good number of those, but not all. and i wasnt paying attention to writer/artist teams until the '90s.

Went with the Miller/Jansen Daredevil run, but almost went Simonson Thor.

Tough call between Lee's Punisher, Miller's DD, Strikeforce Morituri, and Simonson's Thor.

Verily, 'tis Thor doth won the day.

Davis/Claremont's Excalibur was my favorite comic in the 80's. I didn't even bother reading what else was on the poll, I just found it and clicked it, because I loved it that much.

Too bad the fun only lasted for about 2 years before it started to suck.

Peter David's Hulk run is one of my favorite runs in comics, period. Though I do tend to associate it more with the 90s than the 80s. And while it's been literally years since I've read it, I'd put the Stern/Romita Jr. Spider-Man stuff right up there, too.

While I'm a big fan of Peter David's run on Hulk, like everyone else, but I had to vote for the Born Again story from Daredevil by Miller/Mazzucchelli. One of the best stories ever.

Had to go with the Claremont/Byrne X-Men days, since that's pretty much what made a comics junkie out of me for the last 30 years.

But the Simonson Thor run is right up there too. Just amazing stuff. Still have yet to see anyone make Thor seem so awesome.

Also loved the Stern/Buscema/Palmer run on the Avengers. Some truly great, and highly underrated, storytelling.

I can't bring myself to vote in this poll. But I can bring myself to go dig up a bunch of my old comics and read them again, which is what looking at this poll is compelling me to do.

Claremont X-Men Run period. Did not matter who the artist was. He took a no name series and created the mythos everyone uses for the movies and TV series.

Dark Pheonix Saga; God Loves Man Kills, Acts of Vengence, Mutant Massacare, etc.

I fondly remember Miller's Daredevil Born Again arc. Hadn't read Daredevil up to that point, being more of a Ironman, Spider-man and X-man/mutant fan.

Hmm, before even looking at the list, I thought of (in no order at all)

Miller/Janson DD
David/x - Hulk
Simonson Thor
Byrne - FF
Byrne - Alpha Flight

After looking at the list I'd also add:

Englehart/Rogers/Rubinstein Silver Surfer

I ended up voting for Simonson's Thor. That was some epic stuff. In fact, now that I think of it, it was one of these issues that brought me back into comics, when Thor was fighting the Celestials. I had stopped collecting for over a decade, saw this in a store and decided to read it there on the spot, to see what Thor was up to. From there I was hooked.

Note - I see "Strikeforce Morituri" is one of the choices. In Manticore's TF, Hopkins says something like "Taskforce *name*? More like Taskforce Morituri."

Miller's Daredevil run stands out in my mind.

I had to go with the early Grey Hulk stuff by David and McFarlane. Both were making careers on a book that John Byrne had left hanging when he went to go reboot Superman, and I lost respect for Byrne as a result, because he's never really stuck with a project since.

But Peter David went way back to the roots of the character, made the Grey Hulk utterly unforgettable, and set up the resolution of his identities brilliantly (and I'd argue created the Hulk we have now that genuinely is integrated with Banner). McFarlane really got to soar on this book, and the Wolverine issue is a standout.

I dearly, dearly love the Simonson run on Thor, but it was far too short. It was and remains for me the single best take on Thor ever, because Simonson wasn't afraid to embrace Thor's mythology, very much as Greg Pak did with Hercules not so long ago. And his final line on the book ('So say we all!') is one of the most majestic and heroic in comics. And he did the daring, which was to do all splash pages in the final climactic battle with the World Serpent and use the original mythology brilliantly.

Almost a tie, but not.


S.

The problem is that there wasn't an option to look at David's entire run (which I don't break up mentally as they did on the list), as I consider the Grey Hulk story to have run from McFarlane through Purves and into Dale Keown's stint on the book. That's something like forty issues, I think, and just on that arc alone.

Simonson's run was very self-contained and the last 20 issues really detracted when it wasn't Walt drawing in his style, which was perfectly suited for Thor.


S.

I am putting byrne's run on the fantastic four first
then the claremont/byrne run on the x-men (only by a VERY small margin)
the claremont/davis run on excaliber third

I picked Michelinie/Layton/Romita Jr. Iron Man

Its the series that really laid the ground work for where Tony Stark/Iron Man are today.