There was definitely a downturn in quality, overall, for the Big Two in the late 70s-- so much so that I gave up on comics for several years. But the early 80s brought a nice little renaissance (especially at Marvel under Jim Shooter) that coincided with the birth of the direct market and the renaissance of comics in general. Quality continued to be maintained, at a diminishing level, until about the early 90s and then became increasingly sporadic. In the 2000s-- and my dates here are very general because it all kind of blurs together now-- the Big Two became pretty much unreadable. However, I don't think this has as much to do with corporate ownership as it does with the fact that the industry has been taken over by fanboys of substandard talent and the fact that they are becoming more and more desperate to hang on to a diminishing audience (not to mention general fashions in pop culture being so ugly).
And, while I do believe that most characters belong in a certain historical context, that idea was never embraced by the industry itself. By the Silver Age, it would have been impossible to pretend that the DC Universe was happening in real time, even if they had ever made that effort. Marvel was more that sort of company-- showing evolution of characters like Peter Parker moving on to college or Reed and Sue getting married and having a kid-- but by the late 70s it could no longer be pretended that these characters were linked to real time. I'm not one to defend business decisions controlling art, but I can't really begrudge them that-- the only other option would have been to let their most popular characters get old, retire and die while new characters, or new versions of the old characters, took over. And that would have been a dicey proposition, to say the least.
As for the movies, I haven't seen most of them because I have little interest in comic book characters transitioning to movies and TV. They never seem to get it right. But I do have an interest in Captain America and X-Men: First Class because they were done as period pieces. Purist that I am, I'd like to see more of that. Sherlock Holmes belongs circa the 1890s, The Shadow belongs circa the 1930s and the Fantastic Four belongs in the 60s.
And, while I do believe that most characters belong in a certain historical context, that idea was never embraced by the industry itself. By the Silver Age, it would have been impossible to pretend that the DC Universe was happening in real time, even if they had ever made that effort. Marvel was more that sort of company-- showing evolution of characters like Peter Parker moving on to college or Reed and Sue getting married and having a kid-- but by the late 70s it could no longer be pretended that these characters were linked to real time. I'm not one to defend business decisions controlling art, but I can't really begrudge them that-- the only other option would have been to let their most popular characters get old, retire and die while new characters, or new versions of the old characters, took over. And that would have been a dicey proposition, to say the least.
As for the movies, I haven't seen most of them because I have little interest in comic book characters transitioning to movies and TV. They never seem to get it right. But I do have an interest in Captain America and X-Men: First Class because they were done as period pieces. Purist that I am, I'd like to see more of that. Sherlock Holmes belongs circa the 1890s, The Shadow belongs circa the 1930s and the Fantastic Four belongs in the 60s.
