Who were the defining heroes of the Silver Age for DC?

[Hepcat]

Which super heroes could be said to have "defined" the Silver Age for DC?

[Shadow]

I went with Flash & Green Lantern as they were the big guns out of the gate for the SA. Superman & Batman hadn't left and were still main stays.

[Zonker]

Agreed. The early 1960s Superman, Batman, WW were continuations of the 1950s approach to those characters. What was new at DC was the more modern spin on super-heroes employed by Julie Schwartz's stable of creators on first Flash, then GL, then Hawkman, Atom etc. Arguably this was extended to Batman when Schwartz took those books over, but that wasn't until 1964.

[Flash105]

Is there even a transition or a change in the Superman and Batman titles that could be called bringing on the silver age in their books.

[Zonker]

It is not a popular opinion, but I've always considered Batman to only participate in the Silver Age with the arrival of Schwartz, Infantino, and Joe Giella inks on the continuing "Bob Kane" ghost penciller (Sheldon Moldoff). But that's way into 1964.

 

I'm not as close a follower of Superman during this period. My sense is it is even muddier. In the 1950s you have more Wayne Boring art, in the 1960s you have more Curt Swan art. But no clear cut dividing line. Some have argued for the introduction of the Legion and of Supergirl as points when the supporting cast starts to really expand.

 

[tth2]

Agreed. There was a clear moment when DC left the goofy 1950s Batman behind, but it wasn`t until 1964. With Superman, I don`t think there was ever such a moment, which perhaps was one reason why Superman got ditched by older collectors and he seemed to fade further and further into irrelevance as the 60s rolled on. Similarly, World`s Finest continued to retain that 1950s pre-Silver Age feel, which is one reason in my opinion that it continues to be so overlooked by collectors today.

[JohnT]

Althought the Silver Age began with Showcase 4, I picked JLA as the creation that defined the DC half of the SA. When the JLA exploded on the comic racks of America it announced DC's new focus on superheroes, and raised the level of popularity for this genre considerably.

 

As far as SA Superman goes, I think there was a huge expansion in the character in the early days of the Silver Age. The Legion was the first sign, but not the most important (they became important in their own right, but didn't have a huge impact on Superman). I'd point instead to Action 242, which was the first appearance of Brainiac and the bottle city of Kandor. From that point on the Superman "family" blossomed, and included Supergirl, super pets, Bizzaro this and that, new krytonite types, and many new details of his origin and background. Yes, Superman maintained a juvenile target audience, but the SA brought us a whole new Superman world.