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From: David Chmelik <dchmelik@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.dc.universe
Subject: pre-crisis?
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2024 13:45:50 -0000 (UTC)
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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I had read superhero comic books (World's Finest, and any) from 1983 to 
1994, including The Death And Return of Superman, early (Timothy Drake) 
Robin stories, /Knightfall/, /KnightQuest/, /KnightsEnd/, /Legends/, then 
just science fiction & fantasy (SF&F) into '0s.  That was mostly Star 
Wars, ElfQuest, but when those changed too much (disliked The New Jedi 
Order novels) or went to black & white (b&w) I read ones of classic 
cartoons like Battle of The Planets, He-man And The Masters of The 
Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (despite b&w), GI Joe, ThunderCats, 
though these last seven mostly aren't DC (except WildStorm) just what I 
read in-between, though I read and really liked JLA/Avengers.

I always liked Battle of The Planets, but got tired of other cartoon  
books.  As a kid in (UK) first year/class/grade, they taught about 
Egyptian, Greek, Roman civilizations, which I always liked, so when /
Wonder Woman: Ends of The Earth/ (WW) came out (2009) I started reading, 
then also Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and still since 1980s many 
back issues of Batman, Flash, Green Lantern (GL), Justice League of 
America (JL), /(Superboy And The) Legion of Super-heroes/ (LSH), Teen 
Titans (TT), eventually WW, later /Batman: RIP/, along with /Final 
Crisis/, Batman's return, then /Infinite Crisis/, /Zero Hour/, /
Flashpoint/, Batgirl (Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon), Green Hornet, The 
Shadow (latter two not as much DC as Dynamite Entertainment), Titans vols. 
2, 3, some vol. 1 (and related), all WW vols. 3, 4, most vol. 5, some vol. 
2, such as most/all George Perez's run, /War of The Gods/.  I also read 
Trinity (Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman yearlong series), /Batman: 
Endgame/, /Green Lanterns/New Gods: Godhead/, Silver Surfer, Darkseid War, 
Convergence, but tired of crossovers.  This isn't anything close to all, 
just some most interesting stuff.

By 2012 I was more interested in modern fantasy--Vertigo DC--so read 
Hellblazer, The Books of Magic, Sandman, Lucifer, Justice League Dark, The 
Trenchcoat Brigade, Doctor Occult, Phantom Stranger, Mister E, Doctor 
Fate, The Demon (Etrigan), Zatanna, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Adam 
Warlock, and most/all (non-Amalgam) DC/Marvel crossovers.

I was still reading Green Lantern, Titans, Silver Surfer until earlier 
this year, but collected enough independent comic books I'm behind in 
reading, so stopped buying superhero comics.  I still bought /Hellblazer: 
Dead in America/ after seemed he wasn't going to remain a zombie.

However, I got tired of superheroes again; modern fantasy is more 
interesting.  Now I guess more comic books are written and illustrated by 
Millennials with aspects I don't identify with (characters watching/
collecting copious film/television, using cellphones other than travel/
emergency usage) and it's not uncommon digital art is significantly worse 
than average traditional art.  I'm a realist artist (drawing since before 
conscious) who took art classes when first offered (sixth year/class/
grade) through majoring in university, so am very aware when newer artists 
in digital media make major mistakes with techniques and basic anatomy 
even in top companies.  Of course, it was once said creators commonly work 
for DC early on, then later Marvel, due to it being 'The House of Ideas',  
and do better work/illustration at that time... I don't know how true that 
is, or described 1900s.  Marvel art was also better when artists used 
actual pencils & ink, though colouring may not have suffered as much.

If I like superheroes, traditional art (through 1990s or early 2000s) and 
prefer to read writers of The Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation 
X (my generation). but few Millennials, no Zoomers, what DC back issues or 
runs would you suggest from the following characters/teams, as well as any 
modern fantasy/magic characters (aforementioned)... though I plan to read 
all latter, so wondering about the following (pre-crisis to early 2000s)?

* The Atom
* Batman (SF&F only)
* GL (or GL/Green Arrow)
* Hawkman (hard SF)
* JLA (or individual SF&F characters)
* Justice Society of America (or individual SF&F characters)
* LSH
* (New) (Teen) Titans
* Superman (SF&F only)
* WW

When I asked about SF&F, I mean hard (space) science fiction like GL, 
Silver Surfer, and for fantasy, preferably magic (like aforementioned 
Vertigo DC) or at least mythology like WW (not horror without fantasy).