When did the Silver age begin, title by Title?

[Hepcat]

For Mystery in Space a good case could be made that issue #53 in August of 59, with the introduction of Adam Strange, was the start of the Silver Age.

 

I can agree with Mystery in Space 53. And not coincidentally the first Tales of the Unexpected issue to feature Space Ranger was #40 which was cover dated in August 1959 and the first House of Secrets issue to feature Mark Merlin was #23 which was also cover dated August 1959! So the Silver Age for all three of these titles could be said to have begun in August 1959.

 

[Hepcat]

...or late to the game as with Batman's "new look". I'd argue that while the Bat-mite, Bat-woman, alternate costume, sci-fi era of Batman comics is clearly distinct from the "new look", those elements ( expanded supporting cast, aliens and mutations, goofy stories) are all hallmarks of the early DC Silver Age.

 

I agree! Bat-Mite, Bat-Hound, Batwoman and Bat-Girl were very Silvery, and I miss them dearly!

 

(thumbs u

[Hepcat]

...or don't have hours of time to pour into the research of the DC and Atlas/Marvel books. But, to name some,

 

Batman #156

Superman #123

 

What of consequence happened in those two comics?

 

[frozentundraguy]

I still contend that the single issue of Showcase 4 did not usher in the silver age. The CCA even less so. It took almost three years form Showcase 4 for the Flash to get his own title. Three years for Showcase 22 to bring on Green Lantern. A year later for the Justice League to debut, and a year after that for the FF to come along.

 

I know the SA Superman books as well as anyone does, the CCA and the month Showcase 4 came out didn't effect those titles. They slowly changed over time as they always had been. Art styles, stories, etc. For Superboy, plot lines like Pete Ross and the Legion were really what SA Supeboy was all about. I would say Action 232 with the first Swan Superman, Action 242 with Braniac (first real new villian of any consequence) and Action 252 with Supergirl are where we see real changes with Superman.

 

I don't prescribe to the silver age being a line (month) drawn in the sand or a single event. I also do not prescribe to the comic "ages" lining up next to each other. I don't believe the GA ended and the silver age began. To me, 50's comics have their own unique style and flavor that neither belong to the GA or SA. I see the GA as being the late 30's to late 40's and the silver age being basically all of the 60's.

 

I know these are just my opinions, I am not trying to convince anyone to adopt them.

 

Like all of you I am a big comics fan, and enjoy discussions about the history of our hobby. I think there will never be a definitive answer to the question this post asked...just opinions.

 

Oh, and for the record....50's comics are my favorites

 

I for one would agree that 1960 is closer to the start of the Silver age than 1956. 1956 is more of a point of convenience, that is used as the starting point of the Silve Age. My hunch is that for most DC books it took a few years to transition from the Atom Age into fully identifiable Silver Age comics.

 

Once the initial onrush of excitement was over, by about 1947 or so, there was a period of great diversity of genres, as Western's, Romance, Adventure, Horror, Funny Animal, Crime, and Teen Age comics took off, leaving only a handful of Superheroes to weather out the 50s'.

 

The real reason I started this thread was to encourage some discussion on each comic title of interest, to try and see if it was possible to nail down a certain issue of a given book as being the start of the Silver Age. I suspect that is not going to be possible for many DC titles.

 

Another point in demonstrating the gradual onset of the S.A. would be the Showcase series. For starters there is the Flash, soon followed by the Challengers of the Unknown, Adam Strange (Mystery in Space), Space Ranger (Tales of the Unexpected), Rip Hunter, the Green Lantern, Sea Devils, Aquaman,

the Atom, the Metal Men, and The Teen Titans in 1965. There was a similar effect from the Brave and the Bold title,as both JLA and Hawkman launched their own titles from those try out issues. Over a period of ten years from 1956 to 1965 you pretty much have the entire Silver Age underway for DC.

 

For Marvel the S.A starts in November of 1961 with the FF, or perhaps in June of 1961 with Amazing Adventures #1. Marvel continues to unleash new titles

through 1968 with Captain America and the Sub-Mariner finally earning their own books. By the time the Silver Age was fully launched it was nearly over.

[peewee22]

Here's my pick:

 

[rodan57]

For Marvel the S.A starts in November of 1961 with the FF, or perhaps in June of 1961 with Amazing Adventures #1. Marvel continues to unleash new titles

through 1968 with Captain America and the Sub-Mariner finally earning their own books. By the time the Silver Age was fully launched it was nearly over.

 

Fantastic Four -- August 8, 1961.

[Marty Mann]

Would you say that FLASH #104 was the end of the Golden Age for DC?

 

mm

[jjonahjameson1]

I know I'm in the minority here, but I belive there is a case to be made for Silver Age beginning with AF15 - the 1st original concept hero.

 

Showcase 4, 22, & B&B28 are re-hashes of previously used characters and I don't think they should be considered in discussions regarding the launch of the Silver Age.

[Norrin_Radd]

Would you say that FLASH #104 was the end of the Golden Age for DC?

 

mm

That was late 1948. I would go with All Star #57, which came out 2 years later. (thumbs u

[Marty Mann]

Forgot about that...my last ALL-STAR is #48.

 

mm

[Silver]

If I was going to try and nail down the end of the Golden age it would be the last issue of most of the Super-hero stuff (Capt. America, MM, Flash, Green Lantern, All Star Comics, etc) which would be right around 1949-1950. Interestingly enough, that is when Superboy 1 came out.

[heinlein99]

In my opinion....

 

The Silver Age started with FF #1 in 1961, not only because it was the beginning of a new decade, but because Stan's new Marvel Method caused (pardon the term) a paradigm shift in the way comics would be created & thought of in the future, which he would roll out as the 60's continued. (Compare Stan's writing as the 60's wore on; even though he'd been writing since the mid-40's, his work took on a new maturity as he stretched himself in ASM and JIM and similar titles starting about '63).

 

For me, the Ages roughly correspond to different decades:

 

Golden - 1940's (actually, ~1936 when the first modern comics were launched, up until about 1948 when the hero books post-WWII started winding down).

Atom - 1950's (post-war mentality, variety of genres spring up, from about 1948 to 1960-61).

Silver - 1960's (up until Marvel Comics prices go up to 15 cents, in my opinion).

Bronze - 1970's (15 cent covers up until about 1980, when paper quality changes and the Reagan era mood begins).

Copper - 1980's (Reagan era, b&w indie era, up until about the early-90's Explosion).

Modern - everything since 1990-91, start of Image.

 

One can make an argument of the Silver Age starting with the intro of the new Flash, because of the many DC heroes that followed: Green Lantern, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, etc. Also Mort Weisinger began his term as Superman titles editor in the late 50's. But things didn't really start rocking until FF #1 and Stan started to have an effect - in my opinion.

[Hepcat]

I know I'm in the minority here, but I belive there is a case to be made for Silver Age beginning with AF15 - the 1st original concept hero.

 

Well then that would be the introduction of the Fly by Archie Comics in the June 1959 issue of the Double Life of Private Strong.

 

 

 

Would you say that FLASH #104 was the end of the Golden Age for DC?

 

mm

That was late 1948. I would go with All Star #57, which came out 2 years later. (thumbs u

 

I agree. All Star Western 58 brought down the curtain on the Golden Age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[heinlein99]

Also, forgot to mention: the change to 12 cents began with FF #3, further cementing the change/shift.

[Hepcat]

Here's my pick:

 

 

It's a good one. I like it!

 

(thumbs u

 

[Marty Mann]

And then there was ALL-AMERICAN #102...last Green Lantern, Dr. Mid-Nite etc.

 

mm

[jjonahjameson1]

I know I'm in the minority here, but I belive there is a case to be made for Silver Age beginning with AF15 - the 1st original concept hero.

 

Well then that would be the introduction of the Fly by Archie Comics in the June 1959 issue of the Double Life of Private Strong.

 

No impact.

 

 

[Hepcat]

Well the Fly certainly had a meaningful impact on me. He was the character that ignited a lifelong interest in comic book superheroes within me.

 

 

 

 

 

[Silver]

This is kind of why I make the case for B&B 28, it had influnence to help bring on the FF and from there the Marvel age. It was also the culmination of DC's efforts to "relaunch" super-heroes.

[Hepcat]

And then there was ALL-AMERICAN #102...last Green Lantern, Dr. Mid-Nite etc.

 

Very sad. The editors should have been jailed for that!