Opinions - Determining the beginning/end of a comic "Age"?

[Darthdiesel]

MOs - my two cents - and no facts to back it up - just the way I see it and heavily Marvel influenced .

 

Bronze age ends before 1982 with release of Miller's Wolverine 1-4 Limited series and then an ambiguous period of Dark knight returns/Watchmen - don't know what to call it?

 

Then you have to account for the Independent/B&W age after Laird and Eastman's TMNT 1 for some time until people got off the B/W fad.

 

Then maybe the MacFarlane Age 89-90 as he reivigorates Spider Man in ASM and new title. Punisher age as well as he is played out by appearing in every freaking book/crossover of the day....eeecchhh.

 

You may want to include the Image/Valiant Age (1991-1995?) - a real low for comic collectors everywhere.

 

96-99 - the flailing age? Comic interest almost nonexistent - I made it by on collecting Top Cow hoochie covers so for me this is the Michael Turner/Witchblade/Tomb Raider Top Cow age

 

summer 2000-X-Men movie generates interest - kicks off fad of tying in comicbook sales performance with Movie hype.

 

Fall 2000 - a glimmer of hope as we enter the Ultimate Age - Spider-Man made cool again by Bendis after the clone saga took the character to Hell. Sales up again and interest in comics on the rise.

 

2001 - The Origin Age - Wolverine's long lost history brought to light

 

there are overlaps as well: CGC Age doesn't begin with inception of company...begins when "mad" multiples of Overstreet guide are paid for a semi key slabbed copy... we are still in it!

 

Maybe someone with a better hold of it can consolidate all of these mini stints of popularity, into a true age/epoch/era category.

 

 

 

 

 

[hammer-migration]

The best & most practical way to determine where & how the comic ages are partitioned ( where they begin & end ) is to look at the Ebay categories on their sell page .

[Guest]

Thats a lot of ages Darth. I guess were in the graded age now. I also like the idea of people seperating the 80s comics from the junk that was made in the 90s. I think someone called it the copper age?

[The_Man_Of_Steel]

1998 = The eBay Age of comics

[ArnoldTBlumberg]

Sorry, accidentally deleted the e-mail I received to come post over here. I'm not sure what question you want me to answer, Man of Steel. But I'll check back here and do my best!

 

Arnold

[Zonker]

OK, MoS, I'll play

 

Gold: began Action 1 (1938) ended All-Star 57 (1951)

Atomic: began first EC New Trend (1950) ended with comics code (1955)

Silver: began Showcase 4 (1956) ended Fantastic Four 102 (1970)

Bronze: began Detective 395 (January 1970) ended Detective 443 (December 1974)

Modern: began Giant Size X-Men 1 (Summer 1975) ended with Heroes Reborn ( 1996)

Current/Contemporary/Millenium: began with Grant Morrison's JLA 1

 

[comicinvestor-migration]

Here's my take, using one DC and one Marvel example if applicable:

 

Silver Age - Showcase 4 / Fantastic Four 1

 

Bronze Age - Conan 1 / Green Lantern-Green Arrow 76

 

Modern Age - Secret Wars / Dark Knight Returns & Crisis

 

Speculator Age: Spider-man 1, X-Force 1 and X-men 1 / Death of Superman

 

No Continuity Age: Marvel Ultimates/MAX/Origin/New X-Men/etc.

 

There are also various end-points to the ages (along with natural lulls between), such as my opinion that X-Men 137 and Daredevil 181 slammed the door on the Bronze Age as each did the Dance of Death with two very popular characters and hastened the way for Byrne and Miller to leave their hot-selling books.

[FlyingDonut]

Platinum (or, as I refer to it, "The Waste of 50 pages in Overstreet) Age: Yellow Kid in McFadden Flats, 1897 - New Fun 1, 1935 (first DC book)

Pre-Superhero Golden Age: New Fun 1, 1935 - Action 1, June, 1938

Superhero Golden Age: Action 1 June, 1938 - All-Star Comics 57, March, 1951

Wertham Age: Crime Patrol, January 1950 - Mad 23, May, 1955

Early Silver Age: Showcase 4, October, 1956 - Fantastic Four 1, November, 1961

Marvel Rules! Silver Age: Fantastic Four 1, November, 1961 - Green Lantern 76, April, 1970

Bronze Age: Green Lantern 76, April 1970 - Crisis on Infinite Earths 1, April 1985

The "Grim and Gritty" Age: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 1, March, 1986 - Superman 75, March, 1993

The "Polybagged" Age: Superman 75, March, 1993 - Ultimate Spider-Man 1, October, 2000

The Modern Age: Ultimate Spider-Man 1 - present

 

I think its important to split the Golden Age and Silver Age, as there are different and distinct periods within them.

[Guest]

So GI Joe is in the Bronze age?? Never heard that before.