Were the 1980s the Greatest Decade for Marvel?

The 1970s was a decade of much upheaval for Marvel Comics. Although plenty of great characters and storylines were introduced in that period, such as “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” or Doctor Strange meeting God, the beginning of the 1980s saw many of Marvel’s all-time greatest creators turning in landmark runs on their most popular books. This is the time of Frank Miller’s Daredevil, John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, David Michelinie’s Iron Man and the height of Chris Claremont’s X-Men, with Roger Stern’s Amazing Spider-Man and Walt Simonson’s Thor right around the corner. If you want to know how these characters have endured to the current day, those names are major reasons why.

When looking at the full history of the Marvel Universe, the 1980s may very well be the company’s true golden age. Join us for Part 7 of our look at the essential issues of Marvel!

The Dark Phoenix Saga and Other All-Time X-Men Stories

Chris Claremont’s franchise-defining run on X-Men started in 1975, but perhaps its three greatest stories were all published during the early ‘80s. The first is the Dark Phoenix Saga in X-Men #129-137, assuredly the most well-known X-Men story of all time, and for good reason. After years of Jean Grey being the Phoenix, the cosmic entity corrupts her personality (alongside some help from the villainous Hellfire Club), temporarily turning her into the Dark Phoenix and one of the X-Men’s greatest enemies. This cosmic space opera, pencilled and co-plotted by John Byrne, isn’t just an incredible story, but it also features the first appearances of Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat, Emma Frost, and even Dazzler (really). The sacrifice of Jean Grey after she regains her faculties is one of the most heartbreaking moments in the X-Men pantheon, even if you’re aware she will eventually return. The story has been adapted numerous times, including in X-Men: The Last Stand and Dark Phoenix, although most fans would agree neither film did the tale justice. Cartoons have done a better job, with the saga appearing in full in X-Men: The Animated Series and in an abridged version in Wolverine & the X-Men.

The next iconic story was only a few issues later, with Days of Future Past in X-Men #141-142. The most famous story involving the Sentinels, the mutant-hunting robots first introduced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1965, features an adult Kitty Pryde going back in time to prevent the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly by Mystique and her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, an event that triggers an apocalyptic future where Sentinels rule North America. Despite being only two issues, this arc is one of the X-Men’s most famous, and the Days of Future Past reality has been revisited by other creators down the line. The story was adapted in the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past, and was also used as the basis for the season arc of Wolverine & the X-Men.

Rounding out the best X-Men stories from this period is X-Men #150, where a battle between the X-Men and Magneto that nearly leads to Kitty Pryde’s death causes the villain to reveal that he’s a Holocaust survivor. This backstory has been set in stone ever since, and is the foundational plot turn that would trigger his later development into a more morally ambiguous figure.

The First Appearances of Rogue, She-Hulk, and the New Mutants

There were still some major characters yet to be introduced until the 1980s, including some of Marvel’s most notable female heroes. For example, that includes Rogue, one of the most popular members of the X-Men, although you might not know she started off as a villain! Marvel’s Southern Belle made her first appearance in Avengers Annual #10 as a member of Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and was said to be Mystique’s foster daughter. Mystique had Rogue drain Carol Danvers aka Ms. Marvel of her powers, forever altering the course of both characters. This issue also featured Carol rebuking her former allies the Avengers because they didn’t do anything to save her from Marcus Immortus, the man who raped and impregnated her as revealed in Avengers #200 (one of the worst Marvel issues of all time). Carol would become more of an X-Men affiliated character for years until she eventually made up with the Avengers. It would be too thorny to adapt, but Avengers Annual #10 is a critical moment in Marvel history all the same.

Another major Marvel heroine debuted in her own series with Savage She-Hulk #1. The last character Stan Lee co-created during his original tenure at Marvel, Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk was established as Bruce Banner’s lawyer cousin who took on similar powers after an emergency blood transfusion when Jennifer was nearly killed by a mobster. Her first solo book wasn’t very good, but She-Hulk became a better character when she joined up with the Avengers and Fantastic Four. Tatiana Maslany would go on to play She-Hulk in her self-titled MCU show, of course.

This period also saw the first X-Men spin-off series, The New Mutants, who debuted in Marvel Graphic Novel #4 before transitioning to their own book. The first lineup of teenage mutant students since the original X-Men included Cannonball, Sunspot, Karma, Wolfsbane, and Dani Moonstar, who later took up the moniker Mirage. Illyana Rasputina aka Magik, the younger sister of Colossus, would join the group in issue #15, with many of her biggest stories happening during her time on the team. This lineup sans Karma was used in the 2020 New Mutants film, with Anya Taylor-Joy playing Magik.

Iconic Storylines for Daredevil, Iron Man, and Captain America

If you want to see an issue that changed a character forever, look no further than Daredevil #168. The first issue of Frank Miller’s writer-artist run on the book (he pencilled the previous 10 issues but didn’t write them) saw the introduction of Elektra, as well as Miller’s radical reinvention of the Man Without Fear’s mythology. For the next two years, Miller wove an epic saga of gritty realism and crime noir that saw Kingpin became Matt Murdock’s new nemesis, the addition of the blind sensei Stick to Matt’s backstory, his first battle with the Punisher, and the iconic issue #181 where Bullseye kills Elektra with her own sai (she was resurrected in #190, but without Matt’s knowledge). Let’s be real: If you read Daredevil, you’ve already read this run. But if you don’t read comics and want to know where both the 2003 film and the 2015 Netflix series (set to be continued with the MCU show Daredevil: Born Again later this year) got their inspiration from, be sure to check out Miller’s definitive work in Daredevil #168-191.

Two major Avengers also saw big storylines during the early ‘80s. The last masterwork from David Michelinie and Bob Layton’s first run on Iron Man is Doomquest in Iron Man #149-150. This story features Iron Man’s first solo battle with Doctor Doom (he’d previously fought him alongside his Avengers pals before, but never by himself), which results in the pair being sent back to the time of Arthurian legend. Iron Man joins forces with King Arthur while Doom allies with the evil witch Morgan le Fay, and although the two villains don’t succeed, Doom and Morgan would reunite as co-conspirators and even lovers in later stories. This arc made Doom an official member of Iron Man’s rogues gallery, even if Doom’s #1 foe will always be Mr. Fantastic.

Another great arc, albeit one that’s a bit less well-known, is Captain America’s battle with Baron Blood in Captain America #253-254. The best story from Roger Stern and John Byrne’s brief run on the title, this one involves Cap confronting John Falsworth aka Baron Blood, a Nazi vampire with ties to Cap’s time with the WWII super team the Invaders. A much darker tale than was typical for Captain America’s book, it’s a great read with stellar artwork and a brutal finale.

Moon Knight Becomes a Hero and Marvel Helps Create the G.I. Joe Mythology

Rounding out the most influential comics from this period are two more #1 issues, Moon Knight #1 and G.I. Joe #1. Any Moon Knight fan worth their salt can tell you that the Fist of Khonshu first appeared in Werewolf by Night #32, but the Doug Moench and Don Perlin creation wasn’t fully himself just yet, cast as an antagonist to Jack Russell aka the Werewolf. After some backup stories in various titles, Moon Knight received his own series that firmly established him as a heroic figure, told his full backstory, and introduced his alternate personalities Steven Grant and Jake Lockley. All of Moon Knight’s future stories built off the changes made to him in this issue.

As for G.I. Joe, although the franchise isn’t owned by Marvel, the House of Ideas is the reason nearly all of their characters exist. The Real American Hero toy line was advertised with a tie-in Marvel comic starting in 1982, with Marvel editor Archie Goodwin coming up with the concept for Cobra, and series writer Larry Hama fleshing out the vast majority of the character roster, including icons like Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Lady Jaye, and the Baroness. Hama’s strong plotting and characterization made G.I. Joe one of Marvel’s most popular titles in the mid-‘80s, and Hama said in interviews that the comic was a major hit with women readers because the female members of the Joe team were treated equally to the men. If you love G.I. Joe, then you owe Larry Hama and Marvel a debt of gratitude.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Bluesky.