Marvel Comics In The 1980s: An Issue-By-Issue Field Guide To A Pop Culture Phenomenon

TwoMorrows Publishing presents Marvel Comics in the 1980s, the third volume in Pierre Comtois’ heralded series covering the pop culture phenomenon on an issue-by-issue basis! This new book covers Marvel’s final historical phase, when the movement begun by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko moved into a darker era that has yet to run its course. The 1980s saw Stan Lee’s retreat to the West Coast, Jim Shooter’s rise and fall as editor-in-chief, the twin triumphs of Frank Miller and John Byrne, the challenge of independent publishers, and the weakening hold of the Comics Code Authority that led to the company’s creative downfall — and ultimately the marginalization of the industry itself. Comics such as the Chris Claremont/John Byrne X-Men, Frank Miller’s Daredevil, the New Universe, Roger Stern’s Avengers and Spider-Man, the new wave of dark heroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher, and more are all covered, in the analytic detail — and often irreverent manner — readers have come to expect from the previous 1960s and 1970s volumes. However, the 1980s represented years of upheaval in the comics industry — with Marvel at the center of the storm — so expect a bumpy ride in the 1980s decade that marked the beginning of the end of Marvel Comics as you knew them!

Author Biography

Pierre V. Comtois has been the editor and publisher of Fungi, the Magazine of Fantasy and Weird Fiction since 1984 and has had a number of books released by numerous publishers including Goat Mother and Others by Chaosium Fiction in 2015, A Well Ordered Universe by Desert Breeze Publishers in 2016, and three volumes dealing with Marvel Comics including Marvel Comics in the 1980s: An Issue by Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon, Marvel Comics in the 1970s, and Marvel Comics in the 1980s by Twomorrows Pubs in 2015. More recent releases include Scheduled for Extinction, a science fiction novel from Desert Breeze and Talismanic, a horror novel from Rogue Phoenix Press. Comtois has contributed fiction to many small press magazines over the years including various Chaosium Books anthologies. The author has also written a number of other books including novels such as Strange Company and Sometimes a Warm Rain Falls; non-fiction such as Our Lives, Our Fortunes, Our Sacred Honor; and short story collections such as The Way the Future Was and The Portable Pierre V. Comtois. Comtois has also found the time to contribute non-fiction articles to such magazines as World War II, America’s Civil War, Wild West, and Military History, many of which were collected in Hazardous History. For more information visit www.pierrevcomtois.com