Episode 42 - Murdock and Marvel: 1996 Part 1

Well, here we are, Duane. At the End of Days. I have been promising you that everything was going to explode eventually. And finally we have arrived. Welcome to the fateful year 1996, when Marvel came crashing down.

Preshow

The Year in Comics

As usual, there was a lot of great stuff going on in comics this year. There was also a lot of junk, though, and 1996 is the year we start seeing that problem sort itself out.

Notable and Newsworthy

Sales & Industry Information

Passings

Eisner Awards

Dan's Favorite

The Year in Marvel

The year at Marvel started rough and just got worse, with fans, industry insiders and the stock market all seeming to be against them. Layoffs, failed storylines and an end of year bombshell made this a year to forget at Marvel comics.

TOTAL SERIES: 232
TOTAL NEW SERIES: 155
TOTAL ENDING SERIES: 169
THIS YEAR'S EVENT(S):

Onslaught Saga
Heroes Reborn

BEST SELLING COMICS:

Events & Happenings

New Titles (Ongoing and Limited)

New Characters

Series Ending

Who's in the Bullpen/Passings

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: David Finch

Dan's Favorite

Next week: 1996 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.

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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.