Top 20 Comic Books of the 80s 

I was a teenager in the 80's and had stopped reading comics. But one day I was bored and I picked up an Issue of Swamp Thing simply for nostalgia reasons. It just happened to be issue #21 'The Anatomy Lesson' by Alan Moore. I was so impressed by what they had accomplished and what the medium was capable of that I was instantly hooked again. The eighties remain my favourite decade in North American comics to this day. Great list!

The eighties are bomb! Now you are talking my era. Those were my teenage years. Good to see you back.

Good list. I bought every one of these (with the exception of TMNT) as they came out. Still own some of them. Hated Secret Wars then, and still do. But we did get Venom and the She Hulk becoming a member of the FF out of it. You're right - Crisis was a mixed bag. Great art, so-so story. But the next few years of DC comics were incredible. Comics I'd have had on this list: Dark Horse Presents #1. Concrete #1. Starslayer #10 (1st appearance of Grimjack). American Flagg #1. Scout #1. The Shadow: Blood and Judgement #1. The Saga of the Swamp Thing #21. Sandman #1. Great content on your channel. I'm glad RU-vid gave me the reccomend.

You missed some on the independent comics side of the aisle chaykins american Flagg rock n roll comicos grendel. Dark horse concrete ,mask dc comics wonder woman by George perez. Dreadstar by Stalin rocketeer by dave stevens

I own 12 out of the 20, it's good to know I haven't been collecting junk (for the most part)!

New Teen Titans was when the Marv Wolfman-George Perez team broke out into the mainstream. NTT was a giant sales success for DC, outselling X-Men for significant stretches. NTT took characters like Kid Flash and Robin and "grew them up," turning them into Flash and Nightwing, respectively (Kid Flash during Crisis). Wolfman and Perez later went on to do Crisis, which was obviously huge. Suffice it to say, NTT was the straw that stirred the drink of the 1980s DC Universe in a lot of ways. It is essential to understanding that era of DC.

as an 80's kid myself, I thoroughly agree with the turtles. I have a 5th or so printing of the first issue and it's one of my favourite comics...even though it's no way near a first printing. I especially love how the parody of daredevil with the hand/footclan and stick/splinter type stuff never over-powers the story but rather just nods towards it like an inside joke. great job my friend.

Great upload Dante, think Wolverine mini series was written by Chris Claremont tho, art by Miller? Keep up the good work, Bronze Age next ?

This era is my favorite. I started collecting in 1975 and bought up golden age comics where I could find them. Great but often silly without real stories. This era had obviously the awesome Byrne runs on X-Men, Avengers, and FF. I loved Mike Zeck on Shang-Chi and Captain America. He quotes the other greats of this period. I’d agree the Morrison Swamp Thing run should have been included. It was a wonderful time. In the 70s I’d get 2 dollars a week for chores and could buy five or six comics and candy to last me to the next week. I know I sound ancient and quaint but it’s true. I fondly remember having my new haul on my chest, pouring through them, lying in a hammock, and listening to WLS out of Chicago.

Trust me bruv. Your ship is in for a long journey and I am happy to be on board! 💓 Keep the cool videos flowing.

Another great post. Enjoyed watching and the comics picked good as well.

I’m an early 2000s kid, I wish I could time travel too the 80s!

Spiderman in the 80's had some wicked covers

I ate that 4-issue of Wolverine up...yes, it was great. I was a fan.

Excellent! You got almost everything! For people talking about missing Punisher, yeah he could have been included, but I believe his real prominence was in the 90s. The other book I would include is Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing.

My whole childhood was during the 80s & I return there often ... in my mind. It really was an great decade to be a kid or a teenager. - Just returned from the comic shop with X-Men #1, X-Force #1, WildC.A.T.S #1, & some old Valiant stuff all from the $1 & the .50 bins.

great list. Thanks for taking the time to make this video. 🤓👍🏼

I agree 100% with your list! Its awesome! Great research too!

Awesome list! I couldn’t agree more!

Great video and holds up a couple years later! I definitely agree with the #1 pick.

Awesome production. Can you do bronze and silver too 😂😂😊😊😊😊❤

X-Factor was the first comic book that i full-blown subscribed to via the mail.

As a kid, I collected comics in the 70’s and 80’s and to me the 80’s were the perfect mix of serious and fun in the terms of stories. It was the perfect mix of writing and artists too. The 90’s began the rock star artists and the speculation market, gimmicks and overly dark and serious stories that turned me off of comics forever.

With #8 I just the other day got the 4th issue in the series for my b-day from my great uncle along with 30 more comics from the 80’s

In my humble opinion you should have put Grimjack and American Flagg by First comics. Both gave Marvel and DC a run for their money. Grimjack was written by John Ostrander and art by Tim Truman. Later issues featured art by Tom Sutton, Tom Mandrake and even Flint Henry. Issue#26 had the first full color TMNT story. This Indy company even published a comic called Nexus by comics great Steve Rude.

80s was such a great time for comics so many great runs of xmen, new teen titans,superman,daredevil,fantastic four,dc rebooted pretty much everything with crisis alot going on but so much quality.

Absolutely great video Dante .For someone who wasn't collecting in the 80's you did an outstanding job with this list . I bought every issue on this list the day they came out with the exception of the TMNT .(I also passed on Walking Dead proving I SUCK at speculating ) Back to the subject at hand . The only book I wouldn't have had on this list was Hulk #340 . To me , it had no real relevance , it was just a really cool cover .Two candidates to replace it would be Legends , as this mini series helped to establish the new status quo at DC post crisis .As far as an individual issue , I would go with issue 4 or 5 ,I can't remember the exact one , that reintroduced Wonder Woman to the DC universe .Another candidate would be Jusrice League #1 , which used in the BEA HA HA version of the Justice League , that was wildly popular in the late 80's . And as far as the Crisis on Infinite Earths being convoluted , I think the main reason for that is that DC had 12 issues to clean up a half century of confusion .I'd been reading DC for years by then and I couldn't make heads or tails of it half of the time .Anyway , I've rambled enough . Once again , great video .

I remember making fun of a buddy in study hall because he was reading comics. I asked to look at one and I was hooked. That was the 1st issue of Secret Wars. Watchmen needs to be on the list

Amazing Sp;ider Man #259 - Mary Jane's life story and return to the black costume

Good list thought it had alot of Spiderman and Daredevil

Amazing Spider-Man 238. 1st appearance Hobgoblin. Iconic cover.

GOD I HATE I WASN'T THERE BUT LOVE IT GUY!! Love your own generation, don't fake your way into ours!

I enjoyed your top 20 and agree with you on the TMNT #1. This is my fav comic of all time and in my opinion the #1 blue chip comic of the 80’s/copper age.

ASM 238 should be on here Hobgoblin was to the 80's as Venom was to the 90's. He was huge

good list

Crisis on Infinite Earths was a HUGE event that lasted a full year and it was AWESOME! I loved how it brought in Captain Atom and Blue Beetle. I don't know what it would be like to read it all at one time, but the anticipation for each issue was what made it great.

Im longing to find a comick book called (Super powers the last stand,) where superman were under some kind of mind control and hed transform into a hulking creature and he attacked the entire leauge but was stopped by the Green lantern .. id love to see the return of that issue

It's odd because at 42 my favorite comics from the 80's are ones that I didn't read at that time. I would have dismissed Legion of Superheroes, for example, as being too escapist, though the current me loves them. The 14 year-old me, however, would have preferred Daredevil. Today I still love him (and love that after years of being ridiculed, we can now boast one of the best TV series ever, cough), but like other stuff much better.

Quarantined and rolling through old comic videos. Probably already commented on but you talked about ASM Annual #21 being hyped but didn't mention it is one of the first comics to sport a variant cover. The other cover had Spidey and guests in costume. #17 on the list, Man of Steel #1 is, I believe, the first comic to sport a variant cover. I LIVED these comic book years!

Solid list. I’d go for New Teen Titans #2 over #1 and I would have included Batman 423 and Spider-Man 300

I'm looking for a comic book that has a guy who wears blue. There's also a child murderer and there's some sort of mud like monster. Does anyone know what it is?

**Copper Age**

Where the hell is uncanny x men 137 (death of phoenix),? good video tho

List needs GROO, SWAMP THING, ELFQUEST, ZOT, FLAMING CARROT, THE TICK, LOVE & ROCKETS and CEREBUS (among others) - maybe a list with more independently published comics?

I got back into comics at the time of the British Invasion in the 1980’s, Alan Moore’s Saga of The Swamp Thing knocked me on my ass when I first read his story about a werewolf that happened to be an abused wife, that particular comic was kind of traumatizing for me back then but it also changed my perception of comics were capable of as a medium as well as Watchmen & V for Vendetta later on got me addicted to anything that had Alan Moore’s name on it from then on.

I remember first hearing about TMNT in 10th grade. I knew I had to get that comic book. I got it at the Mall when they had comic sellers setting up for some special event, and treasured it.

Apocalypse is underrated villain.

Born in 77. Let me tell you the 80s were an awesome time to be a kid from age 3 to age 12 . I remember it all and I was a kid the whole entire decade. If I had a time machine I would go back ! I didn’t collect comics until the 90s thou.

I agreeTMNT#1 but you forgot the Dark Knight Returns from the 80's.

GI Joe 21. Masterpiece.

Walt Simonson's run on Thor is incredible and so is John Byrne's run on Fantastic Four. Glad you mentioned days of future past and Superman 1 because to me John Byrne is the 80s.

As far as Crisis goes, it definitely helps if you are versed in DC lore before reading it. It is "for the fans" in a way that something like TDK is accessible to all. As far as what to read beforehand, I think understanding the multiverse structure and the role of the JSA is important, so something like Flash #123, JLA's "Crisis on Two Earths," is a great start. There are some amazing Roy Thomas runs that flesh out the history of Earth Two that really add to caring about the characters in Crisis. There are a bunch of issues of Green Lantern that also set the stage - GL is an unsung hero as far as populating the rest of the DC Universe outside of Earth. I found this list on Reddit, it's pretty good as a start. www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/4j62ap/what_should_i_read_before_crisis_on_infinite/ In many ways, the fact that the story has to comprehend 500-plus characters ends up blunting the motivations and emotional journeys of many characters. The characters who see the biggest arcs are Wally West (Kid Flash becoming Flash), Barry Allen (returning from the future and sacrificing his life) Supergirl, Golden Age Superman, and the trio of Alexander Luthor/Harbinger/Pariah who were mainly created for this series. But overall, I understand the criticism that Crisis doesn't really "work" on its own. It also has a plot structure that feels a bit repetitive, with the Anti-Monitor being set back multiple times only to come back stronger for some reason (i.e. to fill a few more issues out). Crisis #7 is really the best book of the bunch and the best self-contained story overall. It is really helped by being double-sized, and it features an excellent flashback to billions (!) of years prior that lays the groundwork for the Monitor/Anti-Monitor battle, the Oans becoming Guardians of the Universe, and the Pariah story. It also features Supergirl's rather moving sacrifice to save her cousin Superman. BUT, with all that said, George Perez's art is so incredibly good that I kind of just go along for the ride no matter what the structural problems might be.

I didn't quite understand your list. You kept the watchmen out because it was a limited series, but you included the secret wars and refer to it as a story arc? I don't get it

Been collecting in the 60's

Nice job bro

Tmnt were great!! Have to agree.. Very deserving of #1 spot on the 80s list

Gr8 video bro!!!! 80s comics had a great vibe and (general) color scheme to them! I like and subbed kep 'er up!

Anything wolverine is long term investment. Also secret wars. Spider-Man. And crisis infinit earth huge. Blue chips and 40-30+ yrs old now

ASM 252. Secret wars 8. And the daredevil team up. The trifecta of venom symbiot. Are grails of this age

Punisher 4 part mini series with Mike Zeck covers

i got the New Teen Titans (NTT) #1 when it came out...loved it! Read that series up to at least #50, but it became weird when they started to do that Baxter series, where they reprinted the comic as Tales of the NTT for those of us that bought our comics at the new stand because there were no comic shops in our towns.

Hope you have avengers annual number 10 on there

I grew up in this era. I am disappointed Stan Sakai was not listed or Cerebis 1. Peter Parker ssm 90 was before asm 252 as well as mug 141. Same month though. I will strongly recommend Scout and American Flagg. Those were great runs. You never mentioned any Alpha Flight or New Mutants. That was a shame. I will have to share more reading to you. Cheers and merry Christmas

Uncanny X-Men 137? Also, might not have fit the criteria, but The Death of Captain Marvel might count

Agreed , ask everyone what they remember from the eighties and always in there will be the turtles

I HAD BATMAN #357 AS A KID!!!!

Wolverine first mini series was written by Chris Claremont...not Frank Miller. Frank Miller drew it.

The best decade for superhero comics, hand in hand with the first half of the 2000's.

Uncanny X-Men (Volume 1) 133, 135 - 137. New Teen Titans (Vol 2) 2, 38, 39, 42 - 44, 50, Annual 3. New Teen Titans (Volume 3) 1 - 5. Legion of Superheroes (Volume 2) 290 - 294. Legion of Superheroes (Volume 3) 1 - 5. Batman and the Outsiders (Volume 1) 1.

Great energy!! I would add for consideration- The Judas Contract, The Great Darkness Saga, and Under Seige

2 books that deserve mentions: Transformers #1 and G.I. Joe #21. Transformers #1 was wildly successful and became the blueprint of toy cross media marketing of toys in the '80s. G.I. Joe #21 was the famous "silent issue" that contained no dialogue or sound effects in the entire issue.

I was born in 1970 I would buy comics early week or try too I still have my comics books

The x-men and the new teen titans #1 Marvel/DC crossover... helluurrrr! And spiderman vs. Wolverine #1. Both are big time stand alone stories that are epic 80's comics!!!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 could be argue as a start to the age of darker comics that Adults could take seriously, and not just see Comics for children.

You missed a few iconic Teen Titans books that I think are more significant than some books that made your top 20: DC Comics Presents #26 (first appearance of the new Teen Titans), New Teen Titans #2 (first appearance of Deathstoke), New Teen Titans #44 (First appearance of Nightwing).

I love your videos I suscribe

I have the punisher war journal non mutant mayhem from the 80s

Watchmen wasn't originally a graphic novel it was a monthly 12 part series. and even if we were to call DKR a graphic novel, (it's technically a treasury) watchmen still would not fit that format in its original state...

Wow'wow I'm just saying Wow'wow I'm just saying thank you for your powerful and deep point of view is indeed in my opinion "FOOD FOR THOUGHT And TRUTH BE TOLD THE TRUTH" And for me only I always, always read between the lines because it is always in black and white on white paper in black ink sometime in blue but never in red unless it is very important. B1

XMen 136 in 1980 had almost the same cover as Crisis 7 in 1985

11:19 The X-Men #136 ( August 1980 )

Tmnt was only known by comic book people until the cartoon. It took 6 years before the cartoon was introduced.

Green lantern 85. Hard to get darker than a teenager tied off and shouting up heroin on the cover.. God Bless Neal Adams and Denny O’Neil!

No Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, no Watchmen, No X Men , many great books are missing.

Great list..... But, why put Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen in a "honorable mention" category and not on the list? They were released in regular comic book limited series (DKR 4 issues and Watchmen had 12 issues). And we all know they were incredibly influential. Some of my other 80s favs were Judge Dredd, GI Joe, and Groo.

Right before you hit #1, I was wondering what could top spiderman 300, and briefly TMNT 1 entered my mind, but I thought, 'no way, that book is just out of reach of anyone who's not wealthy'. Imagine my shock :) And venom was big in the 90's, no the 80's.

I think tales of the teen Titans 44 had a huge impact as well as the first apearance of nightwing

Crisis was a great comic.

11:19 whaat? There are EC covers that show beheadings and dismemberment. Do you mean just ‘80s superhero comics?

I have some of these comics

The Killing Joke

Where’s swamp thing by Alan moore

I don't really care if Spider-Man remained married or not, but OMD was a terrible execution and idea for breaking them up. If you explain it to people they think it's stupid too.

I have a AMAZING FANTASY SPIDERMAN COMIC WOULD love Ike to ask a few questions

Comics are not just supehero comics...

14:31 Incorrect. First appearance of black suit Spider-Man is Marvel Age number 12. Issue 252 is just the first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man.

Punisher 1 Limited Series could have been in there.

The end of the Bronze age begat the Copper Age...not the Dark or Modern Age. X-Men ruled! The Killing Joke. Frank Miller DKR. GI Joe. Thor Beta Ray Bill 1st app. XMen Death of Jean Grey. Crisis On Inifite Earths was sublime! ASM 298 Todd's rendition blew people's minds...revolutionized Spidey. TMNT was spoof off Daredevil...and finally Cerberus! Decent enuff list, but lacking.

Entirely too many slots taken up with Spidey and X-Men-related stuff. No mention of Thor #362 ("Like a Bat out of Hell" featuring Skurge's last stand), Saga of the Swamp-Thing #21 ("Anatomy Lesson" the ultimate "everything you know is wrong" story), Animal Man #5 ("The Coyote Gospel"), The Doom Patrol #19 ("Crawling from the Wreckage"), or Sandman #s 1 thru 8 (compromising the "Preludes and Nocturnes" story arc)! Not to mention all the amazing Indy comics like the critically acclaimed series Zot, Love & Rockets, and Nexus! Heck, you didn't even mention the one issue of Spider-Man that even I, an admitted Spider-agnostic, would think was a lock - Amazing Spider-Man #248 with the back-up story everyone and their mother loves "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man". Top 20 Comic Books of the 80s? Not a chance …

Wolverine no.1 vol.1 was written by Chris Claremont, not frank.