• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

  • Reading Orders
    • Marvel
    • My Marvelous Year
    • DC Comics
    • All Comic Book Publishers
    • Most Recent
  • Beginner Guides
    • Beginner’s Guide To Comics In 2025
    • Marvel 2025: Where to Start?
    • DC 2025: Where to Start?
    • Best of Lists
    • Tablets for Comics
    • Guides for Digital Readers
  • Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
    • DC Comics
    • Comic Book Movies
    • Comic Book TV
    • Video Games
  • Podcasts & Video
    • My Marvelous Year
    • Best Comics Ever (CBH)
    • CBH on Youtube!
  • About Me
    • My Favorite Comics of All Time
    • Columns
    • CBH Email Newsletter
  • Support Comic Book Herald
    • Ways to support
You are here: Home / My Marvelous Year / My Marvelous Year – The 1970s

My Marvelous Year – The 1970s

Marvel comics in the 1970s! 

Click any year below to see more about the hero of the year winners, and to find all the comics we read for each individual year. Or, check out the 1970’s decade recap.

Join via:

Podcast — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed

Email club

 

Support For Comic Book Herald:

Comic Book Herald is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a qualifying affiliate commission.

Comic Book Herald’s reading orders and guides are also made possible by My Marvelous Year club support on Patreon, and generous reader donations.

Any size contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. Support CBH’s My Marvelous Year on Patreon for exclusive rewards, or Donate here! Thank you for reading!

Patreon support

1970

Hero of the Year: Spider-Man

Villain of the Year: Mephisto

Issue of the Year: Amazing Spider-Man #90

1971

Hero of the Year: The Avengers

Villain of the Year: Morbius

Issue of the Year: Amazing Spider-Man #100

1972

Hero of the Year: The Avengers

Villain of the Year: The Sentinels

Issue of the Year: Avengers #104

1973

Hero of the Year: Captain Marvel

Villain of the Year: Green Goblin

Issue of the Year: Amazing Spider-Man #121

1974

Hero of the Year: Captain Marvel

Villain of the Year: Thanos

Issue of the Year: Captain Marvel #33

1975

Hero of the Year: Adam Warlock

Villain of the Year: Thanos

Issue of the Year: Giant-Size X-Men #1

1976

Hero of the Year: X-Men

Villain of the Year: Bullseye

Issue of the Year: Uncanny X-Men #101

1977

Hero of the Year: X-Men

Villain of the Year: Thanos

Issue of the Year: Marvel Preview #11

1978

Hero of the Year: The Avengers

Villain of the Year: Korvac

Issue of the Year: Fantastic Four #200

1979

Hero of the Year: X-Men

Villain of the Year: Proteus

Issue of the Year: Iron Man #128

 

Heroically Support Comic Book Herald!

If you like Comic Book Herald, and are able to donate, any small contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. Donate here! Or, support CBH’s My Marvelous Year on Patreon for exclusive rewards! Thank you for reading!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Yasir Arafat says

    January 10, 2022 at 7:05 am

    Hey, can you make comic power rankings for other decades too? Your 1960’s guide for best comics is helping new readers like me a lot. Please consider that for us. Thank you very much

    Reply
  2. Preston says

    May 30, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    Hey, do you think you’ll have a 1970s comic power ranking like you had for the 60s (see below)? If not, will you make one?
    https://www.comicbookherald.com/best-1960s-marvel-comics/

    Reply
    • Gayle says

      July 5, 2018 at 11:00 pm

      I second this request. As a relatively new fan to the Marvel comic universe, I have found your ’60s guide to be tremendously helpful. I’d love to see a similar ranking with reading orders for the 70s.

      Reply
  3. Claude says

    March 17, 2016 at 9:26 pm

    Here is a topic for discussion: at what point in the 1970s do we hit the end of the Silver Age?

    I think most comic historians agree that the Silver Age started with the revival of The Flash in Showcase #4. And that prompted Marvel to get back into the superhero biz.

    We’ve been reading books by the stars of the Silver Age including writer Stan Lee and artists Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, John Buscema, and John Romita, Sr. But now we are moving into the era dominated by the next generation of creators: Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, Gerry Conway, Barry Smith and Jim Starlin.

    So I wonder at what point do we demarcate between the Silver and Bronze?

    Is it the advent of Social Relevance? (as we see in the Drug issues of Spider-Man)

    The change in art style? (with the more realistic art due to highly influential Neil Adams)

    The start of having a Darker Tone? (as exemplified by the Death of Capt. Stacy or another major character)

    Or perhaps the rise of number of alternative story types like sword and sorcery, supernatural or horror-oriented titles? (Conan, Dracula, Shanna the She-Devil)

    Thoughts?

    Reply
    • Dave says

      March 18, 2016 at 12:25 pm

      This is a great question. I think everything you mention certainly plays a role in transitioning from Silver to Bronze Age.

      An additional Marvel-focused lens: Jack Kirby’s final issue on Fantastic Four (September 1970). It marks the end of the era to me, and coincides with the darker tone and social issues that become increasingly prominent from that point forward.

      Reply
      • Claude says

        March 19, 2016 at 5:02 am

        Good point. I forgot to put that on the list. It all seems to coincide: creative changes, market changes, stylistic changes. I used to try to pin it on one moment, ala Showcase #4, in this case ASM 121. But maybe there is no one moment. Perhaps it was the combination of all teh factors that leads the change or eras with ASM 121 just being a “climax” that helps mark the pivot point….

        Reply
  4. Vin says

    March 8, 2016 at 9:36 am

    just FYI – i think comments are disabled on the 1970 reading list page. either that, or everyone else is just as far behind as i am!

    Reply
    • Dave says

      March 8, 2016 at 11:34 am

      Now open, thanks for the heads up!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

The My Marvelous Year Podcast!

Apple PodcastsRSS

CBH Newsletter!

My Marvelous Year Podcast and Reading Club 1

Recent Posts

  • 2010 Variant Cover E: Thunderbolts Review w/ Tiffany Babb May 12, 2025
  • Extra Issues – Lucifer Pt. 2 (2000) May 8, 2025
  • 2010 Pt. 9: Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Bucky on Trial, & Invincible Iron Man May 5, 2025
  • My Favorite Graphic Novels of April 2025 May 1, 2025
  • 2010 Variant Cover D: Dave Interviewed Donny Cates & Chris Claremont! And Daredevil: Born Again Review! April 27, 2025
  • 2010 Pt. 8: Daredevil: Shadowland April 21, 2025
  • 2010 Pt. 7: Wolverine, Second Coming, & Uncanny X-Force April 14, 2025
  • Extra Issues – Lucifer Pt. 1 (2000) April 7, 2025
  • 2010 Variant Cover C: Marvel Rivals Resurrects the X-Men’s Krakoa, Trivia & Jiggle Physics! April 7, 2025
  • My Favorite Graphic Novels of March 2025 April 7, 2025
  • 2010 Pt. 6: Hickman’s Fantastic Four: Three March 31, 2025
  • 2010 Pt. 5: Realm of Kings & Thanos Imperative March 24, 2025
  • 2010 Variant Cover B: Daredevil Born Again (Again) TV Series Review! March 17, 2025
  • 2010 Pt. 4: Amazing Spider-Man: Big Time & Dave’s Favorite Black Widow Story March 10, 2025
  • My Favorite Graphic Novels of February 2025 March 4, 2025

Popular Articles

DC Rebirth Guide

Batman Reading Order

DC New 52 Reading Order

Marvel Ultimate Universe Guide

Civil War Reading Order

Marvel Cosmic Reading Order

The Best Comics of All Time!

Deadpool Reading Order

Justice League Reading Order

Complete Thanos Reading Order

X-Men Reading Guide (Modern Era)

Age of Apocalypse Reading Order

Modern Marvel Universe in 25 Trades

Best Tablet For Digital Comics

Is Marvel Unlimited Worth It?

Footer

New to Comic Book Herald?

Hey there - my name's Dave and this is my comic book blog. It's my way of sharing my borderline obsessive addiction to the comic book medium, and I hope you like some of what's going on here.

Most people that come here are looking for my (WIP) Marvel reading order guide. You can probably also get a sense if CBH is for you by taking a look at some of my columns.

If you like what you see, let's connect on Facebook or Twitter. Or, leave a comment on the blog here, I'm always looking for new awesome people in the comic book community.

More on Comic Book Herald

  • Home
  • About
  • Support CBH
  • My Marvelous Year
  • Join!
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Recent Posts

  • 2010 Variant Cover E: Thunderbolts Review w/ Tiffany Babb
  • Extra Issues – Lucifer Pt. 2 (2000)
  • 2010 Pt. 9: Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Bucky on Trial, & Invincible Iron Man
  • My Favorite Graphic Novels of April 2025
  • 2010 Variant Cover D: Dave Interviewed Donny Cates & Chris Claremont! And Daredevil: Born Again Review!

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in