Comic book Ages?

[fulltimer56]

OK, I know Golden, Silver, Bronze & Modern ages but what is Copper?

Linda http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/fulltimer56/smiley/ZZZshehulk2.gif

[Greg]

Generally it's late eighties to early nineties, but I am sure you will have different people who claim different years to be the exact start and end.

84/85 or so until 90/93

Somewhere around those years.

[Hoss]

:D I knew this would pop up! That's why I didn't put any years on the ages! What are good start and end times for the comic ages?

[gifflefunk]

I tend to go with the following:

1933-1954 Golden Age
1954-1971 Silver Age
1971-1989 Bronze Age
1989-today Copper Age

And here are my reasons:

Comic Ages Timeline (http://www.bipcomics.com/showcase/docs/ages.html)


There is also a long, long thread over at crap-bay on this topic also:

The Comic Book Ages (http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=400027188&start=0)

[jaeldubyoo]

Personally, I don't think there are definitive start and end times for some of the comic ages. There are just too many varying opinions out there. What I use is Overstreet. Not because it's the last word on the comic ages, but because it is the most generally accepted. It is far more convenient to go with what most collectors will use than to debate the fine points of when each age begins or ends. I leave that to the comic historians.

[Gallinator]

I still can't think of a really convincing need to be too precise when it comes to the Ages. Is GL #76 Silver, post-Silver, pre-Bronze, Bronze? Does it matter to anyone, really?

Since all I collect is Silver and newer, the GA is like some sort of fossilized record to me. I can learn about it and think on it for a while, but then move on.

Silver is pretty simply defined in my world: Showcase #4 for DC and FF #1 for Marvel, up until comics changed to 15 cents. Then we had a little in-between period until the BA really started to cook, somewhere around GS X-Men #1.

The BA was over sometime before Dark Knight Returns and right about then was when I went feet-first into comics, which I had collected casually for 7 years already. It's all Modern to me after that. I'll let the next few years decide when the next break occurs.

[rowand]

I just posted Detective # 226 yesterday. It was from December 1955. Most common thought places this comic squarely in the Golden Age but reasonable thought is that the Golden Age ended when Fawcett ceased publishing the Marvel Family of comics in what 54?

The Golden Age Martian Manhunter musta just finally gone home and never made it into any further DC continuity.

[SILLYSHIP--pirate eye--]

I still say that the new age should be called plastic. It's what we store them in, and is the most prevelant and important material of this era.

[mordo]

I used to want precise definitions for all of the ages, but these days I think it's not necessary. It'll be impossible, for instance, to pinpoint an exact starting date/issue for the Bronze Age. Everyone is going to have a differing opinion.

I tend to follow Overstreet's definitions but with slight variations and subscribe to the age shifts perspective.

1933-1938 -- Platinum Age or Pre-Golden Age
1938-1954 -- Golden Age
1946-1954 -- Still part of the GA, but with the much maligned Atom Age as a sub-era
1954-1970 -- Silver Age. I agree the CCA's initial influence has to be acknowledged
1961-1969 -- Marvel Age (existing within the boundaries of the SA)
1970-1984 -- Bronze Age
1984-1986 -- A vague period of Bronze and Copper co-existence
1986 - 1992 -- Copper Age, typified by gritty storylines that pushed the envelope
1992- Present -- Modern Age. Everything goes in this age, even the killing of the greatest comic book icon

It seems weird that Overstreet had decided to extend the ages way back into the 1500's. I understand that early comics strips and broadsheets played an early role in the eventual invention of the comic book format. From a historical perspective they are important, however, in the world of modern (post 1933) comic books they are irrelevant and should not be included in the ages discussion.

[marvelguy]

Me thinks that the last two years DC and Marvel has been stepping up their game at each other's throats. It appears that whatever happens in the next few years will signal the start of a new age due to changing universes in the comics companies. Titles like Civil War and Infinite Crisis(my head hurts trying to understand the whole plot,I felt disappointed after the last issue, still even confused) is trying to update everything but Civil War, I think will be a big factor, is really changing the status quo. Before long you can say that the Modern Age began with these books or rather, Ultimate Marvel. I don't know, I'm just guessing things here.

[mordo]

I just posted Detective # 226 yesterday. It was from December 1955. Most common thought places this comic squarely in the Golden Age but reasonable thought is that the Golden Age ended when Fawcett ceased publishing the Marvel Family of comics in what 54?

The Golden Age Martian Manhunter musta just finally gone home and never made it into any further DC continuity.

I wonder if there is any support for Detective #225 as the first Silver Age comic? After all Martian Manhunter is an original SA character, unlike the Flash, and you can say he helped pave the way for the return of the superhero genre just as much as Flash.

Or, what if the Silver Age Flash was developed as the backup for Detective #225 while MM made his first appearance in Showcase #4? Would people still look at it the same way or would they see DET #225 as the 1st SA book on account of the revival of the Flash character?

The Fawcett angle is notable. I think it was 1953 when the last Marvel Family related book was released although I could be wrong. Captain Marvel is strongly associated with the Golden Age. I can see how the end of the Marvel Family of comics can thus be viewed by some collectors as the end of the GA too.

[Gallinator]

I like Mr. Silver Age's explanation for using Flash vs. MM. IIRC, it's that MM was really just introduced as a detective who happened to be from Mars and only later adopted the typical attributes of a super-hero - after Flash renewed/refreshed the genre.

[mordo]

True.

[camper49]

For those off you who don't read the eBay board, here's a question I threw at the masses yesterday, open for debate here....


Here I sit listing some old JL of A auctions when I suddenly came up to JL of A #82.
The 2006 OPG #36 officially states this book as being the "1st S.A. appearance of G.A. Batman (cameo)".
The date on this book is November 1970.

Does this mean that Green Lantern #76 can no longer officially be an option for the dawn of the Bronze Age since GL 76 is dated April 1970?

Are there any other books out there that the OPG refers to as still being in the S.A. witha leter date than JL of A #82?
Inquiring minds wanna know.....