Atomic age 1946 1956 the beginnings of the cold war, expansion of world communism, and reactionary rise of mccarthyism in america along with the fears and paranoia that coincided with this era saw the demise of the superhero genre and in its place the ascendancy of crime, romance, and horror genre comic books. Although a platinum age of comic books is recognized, it was. The different comic book ages and what they brought. The 8 ages of comic books by alex grand comic book historians. The dark age of comic books was the culmination of a gradual move towards an older audience for comic books, particularly those featuring superheroes that had started in the bronze age of comic books. And if youre interested in selling your comic books, knowing what age they fall in is vitally important for valuing your comic books. The golden age of comic books introduced the archetype of the superhero. The majority of comic books arent really aimed at all adults, but at hardcore comic book fans of all ages who grew up reading comics and simply never stopped. The ages discussed in this node refer directly to north american comic book publishers, as different worldwide comic book publishing industries experienced different defining eras. The dark age of comic books useful notes tv tropes. From these hundreds of books, we select only the books that we feel have the strongest potential impact on the reader. The bronze age signaled a more realistic style within comic books as a younger generation of artists, including neal adams, john byrne, george perez, frank miller, and others, replaced aging artists who had helped to create the superhero comic books of the 1930s and 1940s. Comic books are a reflection of modern society, so as society changed, so did the comic book plots, characters and themes.
The magazine format has grown into the general term comic book over the last 60 years. Most people begin this in 1938 with supermans debut, but would the actual debut of comic books. The ages of comic books explained people do mention the golden age, the silver age, the bronze age, and the modern age. Well, im up for the challenge to explain 79 years of comics.
These eras include the golden age 19381950, the silver age 19561970, the. During approximately the first 15 years of this period, many comic book characters were redesigned, creators gained prominence in the industry, independent comics flourished, and larger publishing houses. The 8 ages of comic books by alex grand comic book. You may have heard terms like the golden age of comics. I was just thinking if the sa was better than the ba, and the ba was better than the ca, that would by default be a decline. Many parents will either disregard comic books as a reading option or assume that. Like antiques, comic books fall into periods known as ages. Captain marvel proved to be one of the most popular superhero comics of the golden age, regularly outselling the adventures of superman during the 1940s. Take a second to support stephen bedard on patreon. Over at dc comics, carmine infantino applied his art to various genre of comic books, and one that struck a cord with the mainstream and did. And if youre interested in selling your comic books, knowing what age they fall in is vitally important for valuing your comic books here are the four major ages for comic books in chronological order. Here are the four major ages for comic books in chronological order. An alternative name for the period after the mid1980s is dark age of comic books, due to the popularity and artistic.
Over the years, comic fans have come up with different ages of comics to reflect how the style and content of comics has changed over the years. Throughout the history of comic books, publishers have made comics is different sizes. The sales of comic books increased markedly during world war ii. The five ages of comics introduction pointless ephemera.
Comics historians divide the history of american comic books into ages. In the 20th century, comics became an autonomous art medium and an integral part of american culture. Heres the first video in our series explaining the different ages in comic books, this time we explain the golden age of comics. Comic books are commonly categorized into four major ages based on when they were published. Back then, the united states and the world was a drastically different place. The ages begin with the golden age of the 30s, 40s and early 50s, followed by the silver age late 50s and 60s, the bronze age. Sometimes, to follow the goldsilverbronze progression, the dark age is folded in with the modern age and called the iron age of comic books, and at other times it is jokingly called the chrome. When most people talk about comic books they are actually talking about comic magazines. The superhero archetype was created and many wellknown characters were introduced, including superman, batman, captain marvel, captain america, and wonder woman. The era itself, though, left an indelible mark on comic books with many of the characters remaining popular almost 70 years later. Is the average age of comic book readers increasing. Following the golden age of comic books and an interregnum in the early to mid1950s, the silver age is considered to cover the period from 1956 to circa 1970, and was succeeded by the bronze and modern ages. The bronze age of comic books is an informal name for a period in the history of american.
We will discuss the different genres of books under fiction and nonfiction categories. The above types of books can be further divided into many subcategories and each of these subcategories is a genre. We know kids have different interests and different lifestyles and we do our very best to showcase a diverse list of books for all ages. Sure there were newspaper sections, tabloids, digests, and books, that contain a sequential series of cartoon panels that tell a story and are. Like a victorian era chair, the age that a book was printed in tells you a lot about the industry and environment of the time. Ill start off telling you that comic books have been around in one form or another for over two hundred years.
Top 50 most valuable comic books of the bronze age. They were cheap, portable and had inspirational, patriotic stories of good triumphing over evil. I dont know how much this is going to apply for current younger generations who grew up on videogames, tv, the internet and movies based on comic books as opposed to comic books. The 100 most influential pages in comic book history.
Platinum age 18971937, golden age 19381947, atomic age 19481955. The silver age of comic books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream american comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Charlie harris, owner and operator of charlies comic books in tucson, arizona, said theres also a wide variety of genres and allages materials to attract young people as well as new female. Webcomics could act as a possible free gateway to professional comic books.
A graphic novel is longer and is usually a single story. Also in 1970 mort weisinger, the long term editor of the various superman titles, retired to be replaced by julius schwartz. Silver age 1956 1970 bronze age 1970 1985 modern age 1985 present day. What size of bags and boards do i need to protect my comic. While the event comic first came about in the 80s with books like contest of champions, secret wars, and arguably the biggest of them all, crisis on infinite earths, event books in the dark age tried to have more lasting effects than their earlier counterparts events like knightfall, the death of superman, the clone saga, onslaught, and others looked to upend the status quo in ways that most. This is the third article in our series, following from most valuable golden age comics and most valuable silver age comics here are the key issues to look for when youre at garage sales yes, they do turn up. How do people decide when the different ages in comics start and end. With dc rebirth and all new all different marvel, the tone of the comic book genre has been a little more brighter and easier for everyone to love. Silver age key comic books, variants, pressing and cleaning services. The modern age of comic books is a period in the history of american superhero comic books which is generally considered to have begun in the mid1980s and continues through the present day.
When more information is available ill be writing about this as well. There is a lot of history to cover and i am doing it piece by piece. Fans use these ages to categorize the different eras of comic books based on times in history that share concerns, storytellings, techniques, marketing strategies, styles of writing and art, and approach genre conventions. Scott runs you through a brief history of comic books to dive into what makes the golden age, silver age, bronze age, and modern age so important to how comics and the industry are today. Because of this, comic books are generally categorized into different ages based on when they were published. But even there, its fortunes have gone up and down, and this has influenced the perception of superheroes in general. There are an unknown amount of victorian age comic books, this era of comic book history is still being discovered, researched and recorded. Platinum age 18971937, golden age 19381947, atomic age 19481955, silver age 19561969, bronze age 19701984, dark or copper age 19851991, extreme age 19921998, movie age 1998 2016.
My name is jamie coville and this is my comic book history website. For the purpose of bag and board sizes, bcw has simplified the sizes into three groups, or. The history of american comics began in the 18th century in mass print media, in the era of yellow journalism, where newspaper comics served as a boon to mass readership. Starting with supermans first appearance in 1938, super hero comics have been going for almost threequarters of a century. Tracing the evolution of comic books by looking at the pictures, panels, and text that brought them to. Each age has had its own good and bad qualities, its classics and its trash. The super hero genre is bestknown in the medium of american comic books. It is, of course, essential to recognize what was before, because not every character from those early days is. Comic books are selling better than they have in 20 years heres why theyre so popular. Werthams book misrepresented the industry and was inherently biased, but. These eras include the golden age 19381950, the silver age 19561970, the bronze age 19701985, and the modern age 1985present. So, for instance, bone is a graphic novel, and the essential calvin and hobbes is a comic book. The golden age of comic books describes an era of american comic books from 1938 to 1956.
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