Episode 44 - Murdock and Marvel: 1997 Part 1

We’ve got a pretty quiet week in comic terms, partly because everything has gone completely to the dogs, and there is a lot less happening than there was a few years ago. Still, I was surprised to find that 1997 had some pretty great things going on under the surface!

Preshow

The Year in Comics

As harsh as 1996 had been, 1997 was in most senses even worse. Sales continued to plummet, Marvel had to dig out from a messy financial mess, and other publishers felt the pain as well. Once again, as they had before in the 50s and in the 70s, people were asking if this was the end for American comic books.

Notable and Newsworthy

Sales & Industry Information

Eisner Awards

Dan's Favorite

The Year in Marvel

It was a rough year to be Marvel. The line continued to shrink, sales plummeted, and fewer and fewer series seemed to last more than a few issues. Plus, both the sticker company and the distribution company had to go.

TOTAL SERIES: 179
TOTAL NEW SERIES: 120
TOTAL ENDING SERIES: 126
THIS YEAR'S EVENT(S):

Operation: Zero Tolerance
Unlimited Access (with DC)
Heroes Reborn: The Return
Flashback

BEST SELLING COMICS: Uncanny X-Men 345, Heroes Reborn #1

Events & Happenings

New Titles (Ongoing and Limited)

New Characters

Series Ending

Who's in the Bullpen/Passings

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Leinil Francis Yu

Dan's Favorite

Next week: 1997 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.