DC Through the 80s: The End of Eras

by Paul Levitz

Newsstands died! Spinner racks vanished! Would comics even survive? The early 1980s saw a tectonic shift rumble through the world of comic books. The newsstands and mom-and-pop stores that had been comics' primary distribution points were vanishing, taking with them the familiar "Hey Kids! Comics!" displays. In their place, new world of comic book specialty shops was opening up, changing the medium's audience--and everything else about the art form. In the first of three comprehensive volumes exploring this revolutionary ... Read More

Newsstands died! Spinner racks vanished! Would comics even survive? The early 1980s saw a tectonic shift rumble through the world of comic books. The newsstands and mom-and-pop stores that had been comics' primary distribution points were vanishing, taking with them the familiar "Hey Kids! Comics!" displays. In their place, new world of comic book specialty shops was opening up, changing the medium's audience--and everything else about the art form. In the first of three comprehensive volumes exploring this revolutionary decade, former DC Comics president and veteran comics writer Paul Levitz revisits the stories that exemplified this vanishing world: once dominant genres like war and mystery that were fading from prominence; veteran creative talents doing some of their last--and best--work; and the final stories of the world's greatest superheroes to be done in the styles typical of the era, before Crisis on Infinite Earths changed everything. Presented here are milestones in graphic storytelling from a host of comics' legendary figures, including: Jim Aparo, Mike W. Barr, Cary Bates, Stephen R. Bissette, E. Nelson Bridwell, Rich Buckler, Gerry Conway, Denys Cowan, Johnny Craig, J.M. DeMatteis, Tony DeZunija, Lee Elias, Mark Evanier, Michael Fleisher, Ramona Fradon, Dave Gibbons, Dick Giordano, Sam Glanzman, Mike Grell, Irwin Hasen, Don Heck, Carmine Infantino, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Gil Kane, Bob Kanigher, Joe Kubert, Paul Kupperberg, David Michelinie, Alan Moore, Dennis O'Neil, Nestor Redondo, Kurt Schaeffenberger, Walter Simonson, Tom Sutton, Curt Swan, Rick Veitch, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and many more! They are accompanied by a wealth of never-before-reprinted rarities, including excerpts from DC's first printed style guide by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, the long-unseen Masters of the Universe Preview, and Alan Moore's complete proposal for his unpublished Twilight maxiseries--all framed by new essays recounting these amazing events from hands-on participants Elliot S! Maggin, J.M. DeMatteis, Andy Kubert, Jack C. Harris, and Paul Kupperberg. Look back on a vanished time and smile again at its magic with DC Through the '80s: The End of Eras--where the modern era of comics was born! Read Less