>What do you think the best era for comics was? I would have to say the 80s was the peak for comics.
I'd probably agree with that. For my money my personal favorite time of comics was probably the late 70's to the mid 90's. It was not only a peak for mainstream comics but also independent comics.
Say what you will about the whole Marvel Vs. DC meme, but for a good 15 to 20 years Marvel put out way better comics than DC (on average),
>Conan the Barbarian by Berry Windsor Smith
>Master of Kung-Fu by Gene Day
>Tomb of Dracula by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colon
>Daredevil and Elektra by Frank Miller
>X-Men, New Mutants, Wolverine (Dark Pheonix Saga, DFP, Mutant Massacare) by Chris Cleremont, John Bryne, Frank Miller, Bill Sikevitch, ect
>Captain Marvel and Thanos stories by Jim Starlin
>Secret War by Marv Wolfman and George Perez
>Spider-Man by various (Alien Costume Saga, Fearful Symmetry, Death of Jean DeWolf)
>Captain America by Mark Gruenwald
Even licensed comics from Marvel where good, like Transformers by Bob Budinsky and ROM: Spaceknight by Bill Mantlo.
Not to say there where no good DC comics in the 70's before Watchmen and COIE, but they where few and far between).
>Teen Titans: The Judas Contract by Marv Wolfman and George Perez
>The Spectre by Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo
>countless Batman comics by various artist/writers (DKR, Year One, Killing Joke, Gothic, A Death in the Family, The Cult, Arkham Asylum, Son of the Demon)
>Swamp Thing by Bernie Wrightson and later by Alan Moore, Steven Bisset, John Totleben and Rick Veitch
>Green Arrow by Mike Grell
>The Question by Dennis O'Neil
>Camelot 3000 by Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland
>Ronin by Frank Miller
>Vertigo imprint under Karen Burger ( Sandman, V for Vendetta, Doom Patrol, Animal Man)
For the first time, mainstream comics seemed like they where a viable medium of creativity and storytelling.