Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride

October 2, 2013

I used to be a huge comics fan. And like any fanboy, I was hooked on DC and Marvel. But that was back in the day, long before Marvel became the home of paranoia and dark inks. How anyone can read a Marvel comic today is beyond me. (To be fair, I do think that putting Doc Ock’s brain in Peter Parker’s body is brilliant.) Today I stick to the classics- subtly simple, like Carl Barks’ Ducks. Sequential image mastery, like Segar’s Popeye. But deep down, I’ve always been a DC guy, and more specifically, a Superman fan. Give me a big, barrel chested Wayne Boring Superman anytime.

But we’re not quite going back that far today, just to 1982.

This was DC’s 1982 style guide, featuring their biggest stars and their color guide. A whooping 50 colors! This is Alex Ross’ worst nightmare- only 50 colors.

So let’s take a look at some of the characters. Superman has died and returned, Green Lantern died and returned, Supergirl died and stayed dead, one of the Robins died, Batgirl got crippled, and Hawkman and Hawkgirl got retconned over and over and over.

And now today.

Check out those stats. 1050 heroes. 22 of them Superman!

While I may not be the biggest DC fan anymore, I am glad to see the medium is doing well. It may not be thriving, but it is still growing and evolving. Way to go!

Tags: 1982, Alex Ross, Batman, bmj2k, Carl Barks, DC, Doc Ock, Donal Duck, Flash Gordon, Green Lantern, Marvel, Mr. Blog, Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride, Mr. BTR, New 52, Peter Parker, Popeye, Robin, Scribbblenauts, Scrooge McDuck, Segar, Spider-Man, Supergirl, Superman