bronze johnny

Before answering the OP’s question, it’s important to define the parameters of the Golden Age in terms of time and genres. The Golden Age begins with the birth of the superhero in Action Comics 1. The Golden Age superheroes that follow join Superman in leading the fight during World War 2 against tyranny. The end of the Golden Age coincided with the victory that World War 2 gave America and its allies. Superheroes tried fighting crime and to a lesser extent, delved into horror but they ultimately faded away with exception to DC’s Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman (yes, Aquaman!). The crime genre led by Crime Does Not Pay superseded the superhero genre during the postwar era from 1946 - 1950. Romance would follow thanks to Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. Horror would kick off with ACG’s Adventures into the Unknown, which was then followed by EC Comics and a slew of other comic book publishers (yes Eerie Comics 1 came out before Adeventures into the Unknown but unlike the latter ACG classic, had no impact on the rise of the horror genre). Jack Kirby is the greatest comic book artist and visionary of all time. Kirby was there for the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages and these were the greatest eras of the history of the American Comic Book. Kirby’s impact on the Golden Age was significant but he reaches his peak during the Silver Age. That being said, there’s no question that one of the most incredible artist of the Golden Age 1938 - 1945 would be Mac Raboy. Mac’s art was on a level way above any of his contemporaries during the Golden Age. Mac’s technique and style in drawing the superhero was superior to Schomburg’s. Eisner and Fine come close to Mac but Raboy was better. Wood wouldn’t peak until the 1950s and there’s no question he would take the mantle during that era. That being said, Raboy’s subjects were limited to the superhero genre so he cannot be the “one” without having had any impact on the Sci-Fi, Jungle, and Crime genres. Again, there are no horror (outside of Classic Comics/Illustrated) and romance genres during the Golden Age so the “one” cannot apply to these books. Schomburg on the other hand, had a tremendous impact as an artist. The corpus of Schomburg’s work at Timely and Nedor during the Golden Age is incredible but he’s not Eisner, Fine, or Raboy in terms of artistic talent. Then there’s Everett and he’s among the greatest of the Golden Age artists. Everett was also Centaur’s & Timely’s best artist at the time. When it comes to artistic talent, Everett is on a par with Eisner, Fine, and Raboy. Then there’s Jack Cole who is one of the most unique artistic talents that stood out. There are other greats like Simon, Crandall, Biro, and Binder who have staked their Golden Age claims. Frazetta joins Wood as among the greatest of the Atomic Age. Still, the question remains as to which artist is the “one” artist who could do it all. Raboy would be the one if the Golden Age was exclusive to the Superhero genre. Who could best draw all of the Golden Age genres? Superhero? Jungle? Crime? Science Fiction? Humor? Few drew them all and they were Fine, Eisner, Everett, Jack Cole, Schomburg, and Kirby. Again, my first thought is Schomburg but his art does not rise to the level of Fine, Eisner, or Everett. Jack Cole was truly remarkable but Plastic Man was never Superman, Captain Marvel, or Captain America. I don’t recall Jack Cole drawing any of these Golden Age greats. Among Fine, Eisner, and Everett, it’s just too close to call. Now if we are looking at the greatest artist and visionary, it’s Kirby all the way. America has had 46 U.S. Presidents so far but only 2 Kings.

Don’t forget Mac Raboy.

I’m curious to see what happens with Prog 1 since that’s the first time Dredd makes an appearance in a comic.

Jack, glad you included this among your other incredible books here. A much greater cover than Schomburg’s Suspense 3.

Is that your book because it’s an awesome edition to your amazing collection!

Awesome pick!

- please follow the format and place your single favorite cover. Which is it? The “wood” or the “world?”

I don’t see Showcase 4 as the introduction of a new character. Rather, it’s the introduction of a revamped Flash and his new alter ego, Barry Allen. The DC Silver Age (1956-1961) is defined by the reintroduction of Golden Age superheroes that includes the Green Lantern, Atom, and the newest version of the Justice Society of America in Brave and the Bold 28. It’s also important to point out that the DC Silver Age is also a time when Kirby introduced the Challengers of the Unknown, which is the first original creation of that era and is a greater influence on his Fantastic Four than the Justice League (Society) of America. We would see Marvel’s version of the Justice League of America when the Avengers appeared in their own mag in 1963. Credit for the Silver Age also goes to the Superman “family” book that Lois Lane, who along with the Challies, is the first to get their own titles in the DC Silver Age. Can’t forget the Legion of Superheroes in Adventure Comics 247 and their later role in the Adventure Comics run that kicked off with issue 300. Can’t leave out another significant part of the DC Silver Age: Big 5 War Books. Led by Sgt. Rock, the character driven big 5 war books were vastly superior to the war titles of the Golden and Atomic Ages. Our Army at War 83 is the Action Comics 1 of the war genre. Kanigher, Kubert, Heath, Grandinetti, and the rest of the 5 Five war comics team at DC took the war genre to its greatest heights. Can’t forget the great DC Sci Fi creations that followed the Challies - Adam Strange, Space Ranger, and Rip Hunter. Showcase 17 is Overstreet’s most valuable Science Fiction comic book for any age. These are pure Silver Age superhero and hero books As for Martian Manhunter, I personally like him but he was a new character, who couldn’t carry his own weight in a Silver Age anthology series. The ability of a character was the true test of whether they were a significant Silver Age creation and the Manhunter from Mars wasn’t one of them. One last thing to mention about the dawn of the Silver Age in 1956 is that Atlas tried to bring back the Timely superheroes when Young Men 24 hit the newsstands in the mid-1950s and they failed to gain any traction. The Timely failure was another reminder that the characters that fought to save the world against tyranny during the “Good War” saw their demise coincide with the end of the war. America had newfound postwar fears and cultural interests in a new Atomic Age. The comic book saw the rise and dominance of the crime, romance, horror, and Sci Fi that reached its apex with EC Comics - comic books that were nothing like the superhero comics of the Second World War. The era of McCarthyism and rise of World Communism during the early 1950s further contributed to the fear many Americans had at the time. Comics themselves were under attack when Wertheimer attributed juvenile delinquency to them. Kefauver would later challenge Gaines to explain the cover of Crime Suspenstories 22 and the end result was an industry that agreed to self-censorship. EC Comics ended its comic book publishing with exception to Mad Magazine. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman continued to regularly appear in comic books through the 1950s and then Julius Schwartz and the team at DC decided to make their own new universe that began in 1956. Stan and Jack would take it to a whole new level in 1961.

Only one word to describe - sweet!

Make sure you include the variants and don’t forget about our annual upcoming Pog Collectors Meeting!

Onto Copper & Paper Girls!!!

Continuing my review of the War Report, I want to make some observations about books that should be looked into further. They include EC Two-Fisted Tales 30 with one of the greatest covers from that era drawn by the legendary Jack Davis (taken from GCD): I want to take note of Marie Severin saying the following about Davis’ work on this cover: This is the cover that best matches Marie Severin’s 1995 description of an EC cover she didn’t color: “Davis sent in a beautiful rough for a war cover of a close up of a soldier’s head, and we used that as is.” There should be a section that includes this classic EC cover. Perhaps reduce the top Atlas books to a smaller number because Davis’ cover stands on its own and will surface in any all time Atomic era top 10 list if covers are taken into account. To be continued…

Finally getting around to my annual review of this year’s Overstreet Price Guide’s War Report and want to give a shout out to the gang for another great one! The War Report has evolved into a significant feature for the Guide and I hope it stays that way. Kudos for this year’s format and great to see the covers in color. Our Army at War 83 (OAAW 83) continues to hold its rightful place as the number one war key. There’s no question the first true appearance of the Rock by Kanigher and Kubert is the greatest war comic book of all time. There’s really not much to say about the top 3 books. That being said, Marie’s first appearance should be placed above the Rock prototype issues. The importance of the prototype issues should never be underscored but the end result is the Rock’s true first appearance in OAAW 83. Star Spangled War Stories 84 (SSWS) is a very unique book for the Big 5 because it is the first appearance of the most significant female hero of the war comic book genre since the dawn of the Silver Age. We are also in more diverse times now and it’s important for all of us to acknowledge the role women played during the war era. They weren’t in combat but played critical roles in combat support, not to mention the resistance fighters who Marie was based on. SSWS 84 is the number 4 Silver Age war key. To be continued…

I have “two origin issues” on the boards…

There was an issue with merging my old profile with new one. The merge was correctly resolved in 2009. I have no idea why it wasn’t updated to my original start date. Check out my threads back in early 2005 - see my Bronze Age thread on “Diversity.” My first day on these boards was January 31, 2005.

Can you add me to 2005? Thanks!

Agree 100%!

Great copy of a classic and excellent choice!

Agree with that and might be the answer to my question.

Disagree. Reserve auctions have their place. I’ve bid on books with reserves and have no problem with it. Depends how bad you want a book bad. Setting a reserve only takes two tech titans to bid when it comes to Action Comics 1.

18 years ago today, I joined the Class of 2005.

That’s why we have reserves for auctions

There’s a great deal of fiction in this hobby. I’m still wondering why this book wasn’t put up for auction?

This was extremely difficult for me and it came down to this: I loved 50s Sci Fi and horror and this one captures that era along with the lost world genre. The “War that Time Forgot” reminds me of “Kelly’s Heroes” meets the “Land that Time Forgot.” I also remember taking my plastic army soldiers and tanks and used them to fight the plastic dinosaurs my mom bought for me off the spinning rack in the local pharmacy. I’m so happy we didn’t have computer games and smart phones back in the early 1970s. It’s a “place and time that I will never forget…”