Comics Over Time

Murdock and Marvel: 1995 Part 2

Episode 41 - Murdock and Marvel: 1995 Part 2
It was a tough year in comics, especially for the big two.  Comic shops were having trouble, readers seemed to be moving on to other things, and corporate overlords continued to demand ever higher profits.  1995 was a bit of an…apocalypse. 
This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 1995.
 
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil #336-347, Elekrta: Root of Evil #1, Marvel Super-Heroes Megazine #4 and 6, Spider-Man: Power of Terror #2 - #4, Sabertooth Classic #11, Marvel: Portraits #2 - #4, What if…? #73, Ghost Rider #61, X-Universe #1 – #2, Ruins #1, Incredible Hulk #434, Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe #1, Over the Edge #1, and Double Edge: Omega graphic novel   
Writing: Gregory Wright (336-337), Alan Smithee [actually Dan G Chichester] (338-342), Warren Ellis (343), J.M. DeMatteis (344-347) 
Pencils: Tom Grindberg (336-337), Alexander Jubran (339-340), Keith Pollard (341-342), Pollard and Arvell Malcolm Jones (343), Ron Wagner (344-347) 
Inks: Don Hudson (336-337), Andre Parks and Hudson (338), Parks, Hudson Bud LaRosa and Rodney Ramos (339), Parks, Hudson and Marie Severin (340), Art Nichols (341), Tom Palmer (342-343), Bill Reinhold (344-347) 
The year begins with the final 2 chapters of the Fathoms of Humanity story arc that started last year. You’ll recall that story stared with Daredevil following a homeless man into the sewers and coming befriending him and a whole group of people who live there. He battled the King of the Sewers and defeated him again. And we also saw the kingpin attempting to slowly grow his power back. In these final two chapters we learn the homeless man Daredevil followed was once a superhero himself – peacekeeper – in order to help Daredevil and his community against the Sewer King’s attempts to take back control of the community and defeat Daredevil.
From there, we get the story of Victor “Kruel” Krueller and the Ghost of a Chance diner in flashbacks to explain why Kruel is going after those near and dear to Daredevil/Matt Murdock (Foogy, Glorianna, DA Malpher, Ben Urich). Seems he double crossed Wilson Fisk and at the diner, Fisk caught him and nearly killed him – then covered it up by drugging those same people to wipe their memory. Now Kruel is bent on revenge and is seeking out the witnesses to help him remember what happened. During the quest for information, Kruel kills Glorianna which causes Fisk and Daredevil to team up to locate and confront Kruel. When they do, Fisk ends up killing Kruel.  
There’s a side story going on in this story as we see Karen Page trying to get information about some troubling images, she saw on a CD given to her by her former adult movie producers.  
After a stand-alone book that was part of the Over the Edge event that didn’t really make a lot of sense involving the Punisher. We get the start of the Inferno story arc. In it, we see a second Daredevil in the original red and yellow costume and a bonding around the city and talking with Foggy and Karen (as well as leaving taunting messages with Matt). We also see a villain names Sir who’s attacking and killing women.  
At one point, the two meet and Sir beats up Daredevil so badly, Sir is able to take his costume. 
This leads to a very confusing confrontation in which Sir as Daredevil fights the red and yellow daredevil – who happens to be Murdock as an alternate personality. In the end, Batlin as Daredevil defeats Sir as Daredevil and Karen and Foggy come to realize that Batlin is actually Matt Murdock! 
Elektra: Root of Evil 
Daito of the Snakeroot kills himself with the Sakki sword and makes it impure. So the rest of the snakeroot need to kill three specific people to purify the blade again. (not sure how they know who). There’s a brief cameo by Daredevil is issue 1 where he stops Elektra from killing some random mercenaries who are after her. 
Elektra wants to form her own Ryu (ninja group like the Chaste) and works with Nick Fury to get recruits.  We briefly meet Target, Lynch, Impact, Masquerade, Niko and Salvo before most are killed in their very first battle against the snakeroot (like the X-force in Deadpool 2).  
Via flashbacks, we learn Elektra has an older brother, Orestez who saved Elektra when she was a child and whom killed their mother for seemly cheating on their father. Though Elektra did turn out to be their father’s daughter 
Other flashbacks show Elektra was a member of the Snakeroot and fell in love with Tekagi – whom she ends up killing at the end of this series with new sais covered in poison before they could kill all 3 purity people. 
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #347 December 1995 “Inferno Part 3” 
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions
The Takeaway
Sometimes the crossover is actually cool.
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 

Murdock and Marvel: 1994 Part 2

Episode 39 - Murdock and Marvel: 1994 Part 2
1994 was a crazy year in the comics world, with both DC and Marvel continuing to crank out new books, even as other companies tried to claw their way into the market.  Retailers and fans were nearly helpless as the onslaught of comics overwhelmed them, leading to one of the worst years in the history of modern comics. 
This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 1994.
 
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil #324-335, Daredevil Man without Fear #4 and #5, Daredevil Annual #10, Real Heroes #3, What if…? #58 and #64, Marvels #2-4, Marvel Comics Presents #150 - #151, Marvel Tales #285, Spider-Man Unlimited #6, Marvel Super-Heroes Megazine #1- #3, Spider-Man Megazine #1, Spectacular Spider-Man #218 and #219, Guardians of the Galaxy #54, Amazing Spider-Man #396 plus Death of Captain Marvel novel, Punisher Ashcan Edition novel, Marvel Limited: Fantastic Firsts novel and Marvels novel
Writing: Dan G Chichester (324-327, 329-332), Gregory Wright (328, 333-335) 
Interviews:
Chichester: https://www.manwithoutfear.com/daredevil-interviews/Chichester
Wright: https://www.manwithoutfear.com/interviews/ddINTERVIEW.shtml?id=Wright
Pencils: Scott McDaniel (324-327, 329-332), Sergio Cariello (328), Tom Grindberg (333-335)
Inks: Hector Collazo and Michael Avon Oeming (324), Hector Collazo (325-327, 329, 331-332), Ariane Lenshoek-Pinharo (328), Collazo and Rich Rankin (330). Ray Kryssing (333) Don Hudson (334-335) 
The year begins with the final 2 installments of the Fall from Grace story arc. In it we see the ACTUAL return of Elektra (in an all white outfit) who fights alongside Matt Murdock to kill the ninjas and the Erynys that has part of her essence inside – which see does and absorbs the essence back into herself. Murdock ends up fighting the Hellspawn and after taking the weird virus to become human, it dies in the final fight with Snakeroot. Murdock uses the body to fake his death and become Jack Batlin. Ben Urich realizes his intern Sara Harrington was the one that hacked his files and shared Murdock’s secret identity (hence Murdock faking his death). 
Next, we jump right into another multi-book story called Tree of Knowledge. This 6-part story with an extra interlude book (by a different creative team) starts in March with issue 326 and shows Daredevil and Captain America taking on a gang of hackers called System Crash which is being led by Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker of Hydra. Since this is the only full story this year, this will be our spotlight story for the week. 
The year ends with the first half of another named storyline Fathoms of Humanity that will end in February 1995. Written by Gregory Wright and Penciled by Tom Grindberg while Chichester and McDaniel work on Elektra: Root of Evil (which was promoted extensively at the end of these books). In this story we see Daredevil follow a homeless man into the sewers where a tribe of people are living including their “King” whom Daredevil rescued Wilson Fisk’s wife Vanessa from back in the original Frank Miller days. Daredevil defeats his old foe – which endears him to the rest of the community (and causes the King to seek out an altar to summon some creature to enact revenge). We also see him take on Bushwacker (another old foe with a gun for an arm). During this story we also see Kingpin who’s working out of an abandoned subway car as he slowly starts working towards regaining his power and influence. 
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #326 March 1994 “Tree of Knowledge Part 1” through Daredevil #332 September 1994 “Tree of Knowledge Finale” 
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions
The Takeaway
A great year if you can get through the junk
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
 

Murdock and Marvel: 1995 Part 1

Episode 40 - Murdock and Marvel: 1995 Part 1
It was a tough year in comics, especially for the big two.  Comic shops were having trouble, readers seemed to be moving on to other things, and corporate overlords continued to demand ever higher profits.  1995 was a bit of an…apocalypse.
Preshow 
Daredevil Born Again coming March 4, 2025
The Year in Comics 
Notable and Newsworthy
Sales & Industry Information
Eisner Awards
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Marvel
It was a crazy year at Marvel, with pressures to increase sales leading to massive cuts and layoffs, even as the company continued to acquire other businesses and expand its plans.  Get ready for a bumpy ride.
TOTAL SERIES: 289TOTAL NEW SERIES: 191 TOTAL ENDING SERIES: 215 THIS YEAR'S EVENT(S):  
Age of Apocalypse
The Crossing
BEST SELLING COMICS: X-Men, Spider-Man
Events & Happenings
New Titles (Ongoing and Limited)
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen/Passings
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Mark Waid
Dan's Favorite
 
Next week: 1995 Part 2 - The year in Daredevil 
 
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 

Murdock and Marvel: 1994 Part 1

Episode 38 - Murdock and Marvel: 1994 Part 1
1994 was a crazy year in the comics world, with both DC and Marvel continuing to crank out new books, even as other companies tried to claw their way into the market.  Retailers and fans were nearly helpless as the onslaught of comics overwhelmed them, leading to one of the worst years in the history of modern comics. 
The Year in Comics 
Notable and Newsworthy
Sales & Industry Information
Eisner Awards
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Marvel
It was a pretty rough year at Marvel, both creatively and in terms of sales.  New corporate sales mandates drove a wedge between the staff, and overproduction meant too many books by less talented creators.  Even so, there were some bright spots! 
TOTAL SERIES: 336 TOTAL NEW SERIES: 195 TOTAL ENDING SERIES: 234 THIS YEAR'S EVENT(S):  
Phalanx Covenant (Generation X Debuts)
BEST SELLING COMICS: Marvels
Events & Happenings
New Titles (Ongoing and Limited)
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen/Passings
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Mike Deodato
Dan's Favorite
 
Next week: 1994 Part 2 - The year in Daredevil 
 
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
 

Murdock and Marvel: 1993 Part 2

Episode 37 - Murdock and Marvel: 1993 Part 2
There are arguments to be made that this was the best year in the history of comics.  There are also a number of ways in which it may have been the worst.  In any case, it was not boring. Welcome to 1993, the year everything that has been building for the last decade or so comes to a head. 
This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 1993.
 
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil #312-323, Daredevil Annual #9, Daredevil: Man without Fear #1-5, Fantastic Four #373 and #378, Slapstick #4, What If…? #47, #48 and #55, Ghost Rider #36, Marvel Comics Presents #129 and #136, Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #55, Thor #464, Punisher War Journal #57 and #58, Web of Spider-Man #106, Alpha Flight #127, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #57, Infinity Crusade #1-6, and Marvel Masterworks #25 
Writing: Dan G. Chichester (312-323) 
Pencils: Scott McDaniel (312-315, 317-323), Kevin Kobasic (316) 
Inks: Bud LaRosa (312-317) LaRosa and Greg Adams (318), Hector Collazo and Harry Candelario (319), Michael Avon Oeming (320), Hector Callazo (321), Collazo and Rich Rankin (322-323) 
The year starts with a mysterious fire at a Hell’s Kitchen pizzeria in which a young man “Marky” is killed and his girlfriend Lisa Rizzo needs to be rescued. After, she gets arrested and goes to court as an apparent arsonist – so Matt Murdock volunteers to be her lawyer. With Lisa not talking, Daredevil looks into the various patrons the day of the fire to figure out what really happened. In the end we find out Lisa is pregnant with Marky’s child and the pizza shop owners set fire to their own store to get the insurance money. 
In Daredevil Annual #9, We get 3 different stories. In devouring madness, we see Daredevil break up a museum robbery. On the clock shows a typical day in the life of our fearless hero and Resurrection shows Calypso resurrect a zombie to fight Daredevil. 
Next, Daredevil takes on a new incarnation of Mr. Fear… Shock who is Alan Fagan’s (the original Fear) daughter. The story, however, turns a bit weird as Shock enlists Taskmaster, the Wildboys and Stiltman to go after Daredevil – with the ending in issue 318 that’s played off as silly more than anything. The issue itself has a weird “That’s it folks! The last issue of Daredevil Before… Daredevil #319” on the cover. I had no idea what that meant until… 
Issue 319 starts the final story arch of the year… Fall from Grace. This year we get a prologue and the first 4 chapters of the story (which appears to go through issue 325 – February 1994). We’ll speak in more detail about this story during our spotlight. 
In Daredevil: Man without Fear we get a thorough retelling of the Daredevil origin story as well as his relationship with Elektra. This 5-book story was written by Frank Miller and penciled by John Romita Jr (Al Williamson on inks). This story goes into far more detail than what we got originally. We also see how Kingpin came into power as well as introduced to a few new characters (Mickey/Lars). Despite knowing the story well, I really enjoyed this series. It looked amazing. 
This Week's Spotlight: #319 August 1993 “Fall From Grace Prologue: Temptation” through Daredevil #323 December 1993 “Fall From Grace Chapter 4: Conflict”
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions
The Takeaway
Garbage in, Garbage out.
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
 

Murdock and Marvel: 1993 Part 1

Episode 36 - Murdock and Marvel: 1993 Part 1
There are arguments to be made that this was the best year in the history of comics.  There are also a number of ways in which it may have been the worst.  In any case, it was not boring.  Welcome to 1993, the year everything that has been building for the last decade or so comes to a head. 
Announcements
Show Tweaks
The Year in Comics 
Notable and Newsworthy
Sales & Industry Information
Eisner Awards
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Marvel
TOTAL SERIES: 313 TOTAL NEW SERIES: 198 TOTAL ENDING SERIES: 170 THIS YEAR'S EVENT(S):  
Maximum Carnage
Bloodties
Fatal Attractions
BEST SELLING COMICS: Uncanny X-Men, Cable, ASM, SM Unlimited, X-Men 2099
Events & Happenings
New Titles (Ongoing and Limited)
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Salvador LaRocca
Dan's Favorite
 
Next week: 1993 Part 2 - The year in Daredevil 
 
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
 

Murdock and Marvel: 1992 Part 2

Episode 35 - Murdock and Marvel: 1992 Part 2
Well, here we are.  Image starts a new creator-owned era, even as the man who created the superhero sensation dies, along with one of his creators. 1992 was a very big year for changes. 
This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 1992.
 
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil #300-311, Daredevil Annual #8, Punisher Annual #5, Web of Spider-Man Annual #8, Infinity War #1-4, Death’s Head 2 #4, Fantastic Four #367-368 and #370, Alpha Flight #111, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #41 and #43, Marvel Comics Presents #113, Spider-Man Special Edition #1, What if…? #44, Daredevil Gangwar and Infinity Gauntlet graphic novels and Marvel Masterworks #21 and #22 
Writing: Dan G Chichester (300-309) , Glenn Herdling (310-311) 
Pencils: Lee Weeks (300), M.C. Wyman (301-303), Ron Garney (304), Scott McDaniel (305-311) 
Inks: Al Williamson (300), Chris Ivy (301-303, 305), Bud LaRosa (304, 306-311),  
The year begins with the huge double issue that concludes the Last Rites storyline that began late in 1991. Daredevil has been enlisted by SHIELD to take down Kingpin and by extension Hydra who is bankrolling his media empire. Last week we saw the pieces get put in place and during our spotlight this week, we’ll see how this terrific story ends. 
Next, we see Daredevil take on one of his oldest foes, the Owl, in a solid 3-book story arc.
Outside of the spotlight book, “34 Hours” from May 1992 is one of the best single-story books in the last few years. In it we see Daredevil saving lives across a 34-hour timeframe.  
We are then introduced to a new villain, Surgeon General, who’s picking up men in clubs, drugging them and then operating on them to steal body parts for the black market. To set a trap for the Surgeon General, Daredevil sets a trap using Peter Parker as bait. Fortunately for Peter, the trap worked with the help of Parker’s secret identity, Spider-Man. 
Next, we get another multi-book story arc involving the Nomad and Punisher called Dead Man’s Hand. This 7-part story arc that takes place in Las Vegas shows various crime factions all trying to get a piece of the Kingpin’s empire now that he’s not there to lead it. During this event we also see what has happened to the kingpin. Among the groups fighting for Kingpin’s empire include – The Hand, Yakuza, the Maggia, Hydra, Hammer Industries, Andreas and Andrea Strucker (Known as Fenris?). This story was hard to follow as several parts of the story appear in other books (parts 3&4 were in Nomad & Punisher books) and part 6 was somewhere else but was communicated to the reader.  
After Vegas, Matt Murdock returns to New York and we finish out the year with a multi-book story arc with Calypso, the Nameless One and a Daredevil doppelganger known as Hellspawn from the Infinity War Crossover. This story centers around a Haitian refugee named Yves Chapoteau who is seeking asylum in the U.S. During the story Calypso performs a voodoo ritual on Daredevil and enslaves him to her. He is able to escape by destroying her magic soul-possessing jars which also free some other zombie refugees who attack her. In an epilogue of this story, we see two people digging up someone's grave. 
New Powers, Toys or Places: Back in Vegas for the Dead Man’s Hand story arc.
New Supporting Characters: Yves Chapoteau (Haitian refugee who seeks out Matt Murdock for his asylum case)
New Villains: Surgeon General (woman seducing men and then stealing organs for the black market), Hellspawn (Daredevil doppleganger from Infinity War crossover who’s killed by Calyspo)
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #300 January 1992 “Last Rites Part 4: Long Live the King”
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
The Takeaway
Writers still matter!
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra’s Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details.   
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
Joshua and Jamie Do Daredevil: A fantastic podcast that does a deep-dive into Daredevil comics.  This ran from 2018-2020, and covered most of the first volume of Daredevil, and was a fun way to get an in-depth look at each issue of Daredevil from 1-377. 
My Marvelous Year: This is a reading-club style podcast where Dave Buesing and friends chose important or interesting books from a particular year to read and discuss.  This helped me remember some fun and crazy stories, and would be a great companion piece to Murdock and Marvel for those who want more comic-story-specific coverage. 
BOOKLIST 
The following books have been frequently used as reference while preparing summaries of the comic history segments of our show.  Each and every one comes recommended by Dan for fans wanting to read more about it! 
Licari, Fabio and Marco Rizzo.  Marvel: The First 80 Years: The True Story of a Pop-Culture Phenomenon.  London: Titan Books, 2020.  This book is sort of a mess, as the print quality is terrible, and Titan doesn’t even credit the authors unless you check the fine print.  It’s like this was published by Marvel in the early 60s! But the information is good, and it is presented in an entertaining fashion.  So its decent, but I would recommend you see if you can just borrow it from the library instead of purchasing. 
Wells, John.  American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964.  Raleigh: Two Morrows, 2015.  Not cheap, but a fantastic series that is informative and fun to read. 
Wright, Bradford.  Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.  This is the revised edition. 
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2022.  The academic in my rails at using information from any work that doesn’t have an author credit, but this is a decent (if very surface) look at each year in the history of Timely / Marvel from 1939 to 2021.   
Cowsill, Alan et al.  DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2010.  Because its nice to occasionally take a peek at what the Distinguished Competition is up to. 
Dauber, Jeremy.  American Comics: A History.  New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.  An excellent, relatively compact history of the domestic comic industry from its 19th century origins through to recent 21st century developments.  An excellent successor to Bradford Wright’s Comic Book Nation. 

Murdock and Marvel: 1992 Part 1

Episode 34 - Murdock and Marvel: 1992 Part 1
Well, here we are.  Image starts a new creator-owned era, even as the man who created the superhero sensation dies, along with one of his creators. 1992 was a very big year for changes.
The Year in Comics 
Comic books managed to make it into the news and public consciousness in different ways in 1992, as movies, TV shows, new companies and a massive character death kept things interesting! 
Notable and Newsworthy
Sales & Industry Trends
Beginnings and Endings
Memorials
Eisner Awards
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Marvel
1992 is a weird year, in that as it begins nothing seems to have changed from the heady days of 1991.  But the Image artists no longer are present as the summer rolls around, and the Marvel Universe itself moves into darker territory.  Here begins the anti-hero turn of the 90s, with dark futures and truly irredeemable villains. 
TOTAL SERIES: 246 TOTAL NEW SERIES: 149 TOTAL ENDING SERIES: 129 THIS YEAR'S EVENT(S):  
Operation Galactic Storm (Avengers and Quasar in a Kree/Shiar war)
X-Cutioner’s Song (X-Men fight Stryfe) 
BEST SELLING COMICS: Death of Superman, Spawn and all the Image books 
Events & Happenings
New Titles (Ongoing and Limited)
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Chris Bachalo
Dan's Favorite
 
Next week: 1992 Part 2 - The year in Daredevil 
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra’s Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details.   
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
Joshua and Jamie Do Daredevil: A fantastic podcast that does a deep-dive into Daredevil comics.  This ran from 2018-2020, and covered most of the first volume of Daredevil, and was a fun way to get an in-depth look at each issue of Daredevil from 1-377. 
My Marvelous Year: This is a reading-club style podcast where Dave Buesing and friends chose important or interesting books from a particular year to read and discuss.  This helped me remember some fun and crazy stories, and would be a great companion piece to Murdock and Marvel for those who want more comic-story-specific coverage. 
BOOKLIST 
The following books have been frequently used as reference while preparing summaries of the comic history segments of our show.  Each and every one comes recommended by Dan for fans wanting to read more about it! 
Licari, Fabio and Marco Rizzo.  Marvel: The First 80 Years: The True Story of a Pop-Culture Phenomenon.  London: Titan Books, 2020.  This book is sort of a mess, as the print quality is terrible, and Titan doesn’t even credit the authors unless you check the fine print.  It’s like this was published by Marvel in the early 60s! But the information is good, and it is presented in an entertaining fashion.  So its decent, but I would recommend you see if you can just borrow it from the library instead of purchasing. 
Wells, John.  American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964.  Raleigh: Two Morrows, 2015.  Not cheap, but a fantastic series that is informative and fun to read. 
Wright, Bradford.  Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.  This is the revised edition. 
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2022.  The academic in my rails at using information from any work that doesn’t have an author credit, but this is a decent (if very surface) look at each year in the history of Timely / Marvel from 1939 to 2021.   
Cowsill, Alan et al.  DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2010.  Because its nice to occasionally take a peek at what the Distinguished Competition is up to. 
Dauber, Jeremy.  American Comics: A History.  New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.  An excellent, relatively compact history of the domestic comic industry from its 19th century origins through to recent 21st century developments.  An excellent successor to Bradford Wright’s Comic Book Nation.