When did the Silver age begin, title by Title?

[Marty Mann]

Always thought Dr. Mid-Nite was cool!

 

mm

[rjpb]

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.

 

Marvel's SA begins with cover dated Jan 1959 books - the first issues of TTA and TOS - very quickly after that the Kirby aliens and monster covers start to dominate all of the Atlas/Marvel fantasy titles, as well as Battle, and the western titles. This coincides roughly with Kirby and to a lesser degree Ditko replacing Maneely and Burgos as Atlas' go-to cover artists - and of course the vast amount of Kirby/Ditko content appearing in the fantasy titles as well.

 

Not only are many of the monsters from this era later retconned into Marvel's superhero continuity, but prototype stories abound, and most importantly the emphasis on monsters and aliens is highly evident in the first year or so of Marvel superhero books. The Hulk basically is more monster than hero, and Ant-man makes his first appearance in a one-shot pre-hero fantasy story. Iron Man resembles a robot more than a costumed hero - especially in the early issues, and even Thor seems an unlikely superhero.

 

Stan may have been inspired by the success of the JLA to launch the Fantastic Four, but even then he hedged his bets with another monster (The Thing) and costumes that more closely resembled those of the Challengers of the Unknown than a group of superheroes. And look who they do battle with on the cover of the first issue - a giant subterranean creature that who wouldn't be out of place on a Tales to Astonish cover.

 

The connection between the Kirby era pre-hero "fantasy books" and early Marvel "hero" books is undeniable.

 

All in all 1959 seems like a good pick for the year the Silver Age really kicks into gear, but we can't ignore the SA Flash making his debut 2 and a half years earlier in Showcase, followed quickly by The Challengers ( another undeniably SA creation). Clearly the case is solid for Showcase #4 being the first SA comic, the problem is that that appearance did not have the same dramatic impact that Action #1 did 18 years earlier, so it took a while for the Silver Age of Heroic Comics to get under way.

 

I have no problem with most comics published with cover dates prior to 1959 to be considered Atom Age rather than Silver Age, in particular the post-code output of Atlas heavily featuring covers by Maneely and other stalwarts of the pre-code era like Everett, Burgos and Sinnot. Though toned down from the pre-code era, the immediate post-code books still have a similar feel. In many respects the Atom Age is an overlapping era, both at the start and the end.

 

"Kiddie comics" like those put out by Harvey and Dell, and "Teen" books - most notably the Archie titles, are more problematic, as the books from the early 1950s very much resemble the ones being published a decade or more later. I'd argue that these sort of books really exist outside of terms like Silver Age and Golden Age, with items like page count, CCA stamps and cover price being the only indicators of what era they might "belong".

[peewee22]

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.

 

(thumbs u

[otherworldsj33]

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.

 

Marvel's SA begins with cover dated Jan 1959 books - the first issues of TTA and TOS - very quickly after that the Kirby aliens and monster covers start to dominate all of the Atlas/Marvel fantasy titles, as well as Battle, and the western titles. This coincides roughly with Kirby and to a lesser degree Ditko replacing Maneely and Burgos as Atlas' go-to cover artists - and of course the vast amount of Kirby/Ditko content appearing in the fantasy titles as well.

 

Not only are many of the monsters from this era later retconned into Marvel's superhero continuity, but prototype stories abound, and most importantly the emphasis on monsters and aliens is highly evident in the first year or so of Marvel superhero books. The Hulk basically is more monster than hero, and Ant-man makes his first appearance in a one-shot pre-hero fantasy story. Iron Man resembles a robot more than a costumed hero - especially in the early issues, and even Thor seems an unlikely superhero.

 

Stan may have been inspired by the success of the JLA to launch the Fantastic Four, but even then he hedged his bets with another monster (The Thing) and costumes that more closely resembled those of the Challengers of the Unknown than a group of superheroes. And look who they do battle with on the cover of the first issue - a giant subterranean creature that who wouldn't be out of place on a Tales to Astonish cover.

 

The connection between the Kirby era pre-hero "fantasy books" and early Marvel "hero" books is undeniable.

 

All in all 1959 seems like a good pick for the year the Silver Age really kicks into gear, but we can't ignore the SA Flash making his debut 2 and a half years earlier in Showcase, followed quickly by The Challengers ( another undeniably SA creation). Clearly the case is solid for Showcase #4 being the first SA comic, the problem is that that appearance did not have the same dramatic impact that Action #1 did 18 years earlier, so it took a while for the Silver Age of Heroic Comics to get under way.

 

I have no problem with most comics published with cover dates prior to 1959 to be considered Atom Age rather than Silver Age, in particular the post-code output of Atlas heavily featuring covers by Maneely and other stalwarts of the pre-code era like Everett, Burgos and Sinnot. Though toned down from the pre-code era, the immediate post-code books still have a similar feel. In many respects the Atom Age is an overlapping era, both at the start and the end.

 

"Kiddie comics" like those put out by Harvey and Dell, and "Teen" books - most notably the Archie titles, are more problematic, as the books from the early 1950s very much resemble the ones being published a decade or more later. I'd argue that these sort of books really exist outside of terms like Silver Age and Golden Age, with items like page count, CCA stamps and cover price being the only indicators of what era they might "belong".

 

Lots of good points in this post.

[chrisco37]

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.

 

Marvel's SA begins with cover dated Jan 1959 books - the first issues of TTA and TOS - very quickly after that the Kirby aliens and monster covers start to dominate all of the Atlas/Marvel fantasy titles, as well as Battle, and the western titles. This coincides roughly with Kirby and to a lesser degree Ditko replacing Maneely and Burgos as Atlas' go-to cover artists - and of course the vast amount of Kirby/Ditko content appearing in the fantasy titles as well.

 

Not only are many of the monsters from this era later retconned into Marvel's superhero continuity, but prototype stories abound, and most importantly the emphasis on monsters and aliens is highly evident in the first year or so of Marvel superhero books. The Hulk basically is more monster than hero, and Ant-man makes his first appearance in a one-shot pre-hero fantasy story. Iron Man resembles a robot more than a costumed hero - especially in the early issues, and even Thor seems an unlikely superhero.

 

Stan may have been inspired by the success of the JLA to launch the Fantastic Four, but even then he hedged his bets with another monster (The Thing) and costumes that more closely resembled those of the Challengers of the Unknown than a group of superheroes. And look who they do battle with on the cover of the first issue - a giant subterranean creature that who wouldn't be out of place on a Tales to Astonish cover.

 

The connection between the Kirby era pre-hero "fantasy books" and early Marvel "hero" books is undeniable.

 

All in all 1959 seems like a good pick for the year the Silver Age really kicks into gear, but we can't ignore the SA Flash making his debut 2 and a half years earlier in Showcase, followed quickly by The Challengers ( another undeniably SA creation). Clearly the case is solid for Showcase #4 being the first SA comic, the problem is that that appearance did not have the same dramatic impact that Action #1 did 18 years earlier, so it took a while for the Silver Age of Heroic Comics to get under way.

 

I have no problem with most comics published with cover dates prior to 1959 to be considered Atom Age rather than Silver Age, in particular the post-code output of Atlas heavily featuring covers by Maneely and other stalwarts of the pre-code era like Everett, Burgos and Sinnot. Though toned down from the pre-code era, the immediate post-code books still have a similar feel. In many respects the Atom Age is an overlapping era, both at the start and the end.

 

"Kiddie comics" like those put out by Harvey and Dell, and "Teen" books - most notably the Archie titles, are more problematic, as the books from the early 1950s very much resemble the ones being published a decade or more later. I'd argue that these sort of books really exist outside of terms like Silver Age and Golden Age, with items like page count, CCA stamps and cover price being the only indicators of what era they might "belong".

 

Lots of good points in this post.

 

Indeed. Compelling arguement.

[Hepcat]

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.

 

Marvel's SA begins with cover dated Jan 1959 books - the first issues of TTA and TOS - very quickly after that the Kirby aliens and monster covers start to dominate all of the Atlas/Marvel fantasy titles, as well as Battle, and the western titles. This coincides roughly with Kirby and to a lesser degree Ditko replacing Maneely and Burgos as Atlas' go-to cover artists - and of course the vast amount of Kirby/Ditko content appearing in the fantasy titles as well.

 

You've convinced me as well. And that would dovetail neatly with DC's Silver Age beginning with the reestablishment in 1959 of the Flash in his own title.

 

What still puzzles me though is why it took so long for DC to relaunch the Flash in his own magazine given that the last Showcase appearance of the Flash was in June 1958 and the Challengers of the Unknown had been given their own title with only a three month delay after their last Showcase appearance.

 

 

(thumbs u

[rjpb]

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.

 

Marvel's SA begins with cover dated Jan 1959 books - the first issues of TTA and TOS - very quickly after that the Kirby aliens and monster covers start to dominate all of the Atlas/Marvel fantasy titles, as well as Battle, and the western titles. This coincides roughly with Kirby and to a lesser degree Ditko replacing Maneely and Burgos as Atlas' go-to cover artists - and of course the vast amount of Kirby/Ditko content appearing in the fantasy titles as well.

 

You've convinced me as well. And that would dovetail neatly with DC's Silver Age beginning with the reestablishment in 1959 of the Flash in his own title.

 

What still puzzles me though is why it took so long for DC to relaunch the Flash in his own magazine given that the last Showcase appearance of the Flash was in June 1958 and the Challengers of the Unknown had been given their own title with only a three month delay after their last Showcase appearance.

 

 

(thumbs u

 

I've wondered about this as well, and the only thing I can figure is that the Challs fit the late 50s sci-fi zeitgeist well enough that DC was ready to go straight into a launch of the series after the Showcase tryouts. They were perhaps more hesitant about revamped versions of their GA heroes, rolling them out pretty slowly. I've read that the Batman titles were doing poorly at this time, so I imagine DC was a tad reluctant to commit to superhero books that didn't directly connect with Superman somehow, though they were more willing through the 1950s to do sci-fi oriented series. While in retrospect Green Lantern seems like an obvious choice after The Flash for a revamp, it's probably no coincidence that the new version had a heavy sci-fi undercurrent that didn't really exist for the GA version.

[miraclemet]

I dont know why but for me Silver Age Archie kicks off with the introduction of Captain Pureheart (later Pureheart the Powerful) in Archie Comics #42 (1965)

 

It was the Archie comics response to the re-growth in super hero popularity ( which was what the silver age was all about) so it makes sense to me....

 

Anyone have a better milestone for Archie for the Silver Age?

[rjpb]

I dont know why but for me Silver Age Archie kicks off with the introduction of Captain Pureheart (later Pureheart the Powerful) in Archie Comics #42 (1965)

 

It was the Archie comics response to the re-growth in super hero popularity ( which was what the silver age was all about) so it makes sense to me....

 

Anyone have a better milestone for Archie for the Silver Age?

 

Archie Comics started doing Superhero books in 1959 outside the Archie Universe. The Pureheart and related stories are more of a parody of the superhero craze in full swing by 1965, than any kind of new direction.

 

I'd say the big Silver Age milestone for Archie is losing his bow tie and R sweater vest in the summer of 1964, but arguably late 1957 is when the publishers SA begins - when they switch from a four to three tier panel layout, allowing the newly hired Dan DeCarlo to refine the publisher's house style.

[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.

 

Marvel's SA begins with cover dated Jan 1959 books - the first issues of TTA and TOS - very quickly after that the Kirby aliens and monster covers start to dominate all of the Atlas/Marvel fantasy titles, as well as Battle, and the western titles. This coincides roughly with Kirby and to a lesser degree Ditko replacing Maneely and Burgos as Atlas' go-to cover artists - and of course the vast amount of Kirby/Ditko content appearing in the fantasy titles as well.

 

Not only are many of the monsters from this era later retconned into Marvel's superhero continuity, but prototype stories abound, and most importantly the emphasis on monsters and aliens is highly evident in the first year or so of Marvel superhero books. The Hulk basically is more monster than hero, and Ant-man makes his first appearance in a one-shot pre-hero fantasy story. Iron Man resembles a robot more than a costumed hero - especially in the early issues, and even Thor seems an unlikely superhero.

 

Stan may have been inspired by the success of the JLA to launch the Fantastic Four, but even then he hedged his bets with another monster (The Thing) and costumes that more closely resembled those of the Challengers of the Unknown than a group of superheroes. And look who they do battle with on the cover of the first issue - a giant subterranean creature that who wouldn't be out of place on a Tales to Astonish cover.

 

The connection between the Kirby era pre-hero "fantasy books" and early Marvel "hero" books is undeniable.

 

All in all 1959 seems like a good pick for the year the Silver Age really kicks into gear, but we can't ignore the SA Flash making his debut 2 and a half years earlier in Showcase, followed quickly by The Challengers ( another undeniably SA creation). Clearly the case is solid for Showcase #4 being the first SA comic, the problem is that that appearance did not have the same dramatic impact that Action #1 did 18 years earlier, so it took a while for the Silver Age of Heroic Comics to get under way.

 

I have no problem with most comics published with cover dates prior to 1959 to be considered Atom Age rather than Silver Age, in particular the post-code output of Atlas heavily featuring covers by Maneely and other stalwarts of the pre-code era like Everett, Burgos and Sinnot. Though toned down from the pre-code era, the immediate post-code books still have a similar feel. In many respects the Atom Age is an overlapping era, both at the start and the end.

 

"Kiddie comics" like those put out by Harvey and Dell, and "Teen" books - most notably the Archie titles, are more problematic, as the books from the early 1950s very much resemble the ones being published a decade or more later. I'd argue that these sort of books really exist outside of terms like Silver Age and Golden Age, with items like page count, CCA stamps and cover price being the only indicators of what era they might "belong".

 

 

I collect Marvel from late 1958 (with the return of Kirby, Ditko and Heck) to Jan./Feb. 1966 (the last of the original Ditko-designed colophons), including the teen titles, war and westerns. Naturally I have always found the history of this period to be very interesting and worthy of study. Using the same evidence as you, I might arrive at a slightly different conclusion.

 

I do believe that the Marvel Age of Comics was the creative forge of the Silver Age of Comics. However, though Lee, Kirby, Ditko, Heck and Ayers had been together, after the collapse of Atlas, since July 1958, it would be a long way to Fantastic Four #1.

 

In July and August 1958, Timely/Atlas did not even have a logo for its comic books or a collective name for its publishing company. Its publishing schedule consisted of the following books:

 

July 1958

Homer the Happy Ghost #22; Kid Colt Outlaw #81; Millie the Model #87; Miss America #93; Navy Combat #20; Two-Gun-Kid #44; Patsy Walker #79; and, World of Fantasy #14.

 

August 1958

Battle #61; Gunsmoke Western #49; Journey into Mystery #49; Love Romance #78; My Own Romance #66; Patsy and Hedy #61; Strange Tales #66; Wyatt Earp #20.

 

The company's output was sixteen bi-monthly titles due to a rather restrictive distribution contract and a weak marketplace. Their premier artist, Joe Maneely, was killed in a subway accident on June 7th and the next month Kirby walks into the Timely/Atlas office.

 

A great number of new books and scheduling changes took place before August 1961:

 

Strange Worlds, Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish hit the newsstand in September 1958, replacing Homer the Happy Ghost, Miss America and Navy Combat.

Strange Worlds and World of Fantasy are replaced with A Date with Millie and Kathy in July 1959;

Battle and Wyatt Earp are replaced with the revived titles, My Girl Pearl and Rawhide Kid in April 1960;

The title of My Own Romance is changed to Teen-Age Romance and Kid Colt Outlaw and Tales to Astonish go monthly in June 1960;

Journey into Mystery and Strange Tales go monthly in July 1960;

A Date with Millie becomes Life with Millie in August;

Kid Colt Outlaw goes back to bi-monthly and Tales of Suspense goes monthly in October 1960;

Atlas/Marvel does not publish any books in December 1960;

My Girl Pearl is replaced with Amazing Adventures in March 1961;

Two-Gun Kid is cancelled to allow Amazing Adventures to be published monthly in April 1961;

Linda Carter, Student Nurse begins in June 1961;

Fantastic Four #1 is released in August 1961.

 

This is a lot of genre, title and content manipulations at the hand of Martin Goodman. But it wasn't unusual for him. The company see-sawed back and forth between fantasy, western and teen books. Viewed collectively, I don't see this as the result of a new age of comic books but the result of perceived market trends and a new concentrated pool of talent. This company was not the same company that had the Atlas logo in the top left corner of its comics -- there was definitely a new flavour to the Lee, Leiber, Kirby, Ditko, Heck, Ayers books. But I see this as the birth of Marvel Comics not the Silver Age. I feel it's teleological to see this see-saw period as ramping up to the Second Heroic Age.

 

Timely Comics was, initially, an experimental off-shoot of Martin Goodman's pulp publications. It was always a second tier company throughout the forties and fifties. The Atlas implosion and the death of artist, Joe Maneely, set the stage for Marvel in 1957 and 1958 respectfully. Even given the talent at "the company with no name", it was three years before the release of the Fantastic Four and the beginning of what became known as the Marvel Age of Comics/Silver Age/Second Heroic Age.

 

What I conclude from all this is that 1958 was the beginning of Marvel Comics, but the three years between 1958 and 1961, were not Silver Age books. If Lee had never moved into superheroes, I could see the output of those three years sitting very comfortably with an Atomic Age designation --quirky monster/fantasy stories.

 

The beginning of the Marvel Silver Age, in my very traditional view, is still Fantastic Four #1.

[rjpb]

Rodan57

 

Thanks for the rundown on the 1958-61 publishing history. While I agree that the sci-fi/fantasy/monster content of the pre-hero books is easily associated with the "Atom Age", I still feel that the Kirby material in particular has far more in common with Marvel Superhero books in terms of look and content than with the earlier Atlas "Atom Age" output. It should also be noted that even after the cover spot was given over to costumed heroes in ST, JIM, TTA and TOS, that "fantasy" back up stories continued to appear in those titles for a couple of years.

 

No doubt the 1958-61 period was a transitional one, and could be seen as a bridge era rather than strictly Atom Age or Silver Age, but I see a parallel to the DC pre-hero books of the 30s , many of which predate Action #1, when DC not only had non-newspaper strip continuing characters in their books but was successfully moving from humor covers to action/adventure/mystery covers similar in content to the hero covers that would soon supplant them. Most collectors still consider these books to be Golden Age comics, even if the era itself is more closely associated with costumed heroes.

 

 

[rjpb]

I've only read a smattering of Batman stories from the late 40s through the early 60s, but I'd be curious as to when Batman fans feel the Golden Age ended and the Silver Age begins for him.

 

While there is a clear and abrupt change with the "new look" in 1964, it does seem a little late for his Silver Age to begin - more like a SA reboot in the middle of the era.

 

It appears there are some obvious, but overlapping transitions before then.

 

The late GA Batman seems to have even more interaction with his personal rogues gallery than he did in the early - mid 1940s, with The Joker, Catwoman, Two-Face and The Penguin making regular appearances, and the Riddler being introduced. This continues until the mid fifties when except for the Joker these characters disappear for a number of years.

 

In the early 1950s we start to see stories that are a hallmark of the decade- alternate Batman and costume storylines -Bat-Hombre, Jungle Batman, The 1st Batman, etc., culminating in the late 50s with Rainbow colored and zebra-striped suits.

 

Before most would consider the Silver Age to have begun, Kathy Kane is introduced as Bat-woman in an improbable yellow and red outfit in 1956, followed by Bat-girl and Bat-mite and kicking off an era of ridiculous stories often with fantastic creatures or aliens appearing in them.

 

The Batman/Superman teamups in World's Finest also start to become more absurd, increasingly indicating the general uselessness of Batman and Robin in such an arrangement.

 

By the early 1960s Batman appears to be a regular victim of bizarre mutations; toddler, ape, alien, two-dimensional, and the like.

 

The one thing I'm not quite clear on, is when giant props and the trophy room started appearing in Batman stories, but it seems to me this was largely a 1950s thing.

 

The upshot being that the Batman comics of the early 1960s are very different than those of the late 1940s, but the changes are gradual and even the transition of Sprang being the predominant artist on the character to Shelly Moldoff is slow to realized. It makes it difficult to say when one era ends and another begins.

 

 

[otherworldsj33]

Quote from rjbp -

"No doubt the 1958-61 period was a transitional one, and could be seen as a bridge era rather than strictly Atom Age or Silver Age, but I see a parallel to the DC pre-hero books of the 30s , many of which predate Action #1, when DC not only had non-newspaper strip continuing characters in their books but was successfully moving from humor covers to action/adventure/mystery covers similar in content to the hero covers that would soon supplant them. Most collectors still consider these books to be Golden Age comics, even if the era itself is more closely associated with costumed heroes."

 

This is turning into one of the more intelligent and creative threads in a while...

[Silver]

It's nice to see I am not completely alone in not thinking Showcase 4 is the beginning of the silver age. (thumbs u

 

Now...B&B 28 versus FF 1

[rodan57]

One needs to decide what the Silver Age means. Is just the successful return of the superhero or is it a new type of superhero?

[ComicConnoisseur]

The terms Golden Age and Silver Age were not originally intended to encompass all comic books, just "heroic" comics, and even then, not meant to include every super hero book published in the 30 or so years after Action #1. They were meant to describe approximate eras of significant reader interest in superhero books, and not rigid time frames. It's not like anyone ever thought of Showcase 1-3 as being part of the Golden Age, or Silver for that matter - they were just old comics.

 

They were also rather DC-centric terms, with Action #1 and Showcase #4 being the respective "firsts", and for many, All-Star #57 being the last GA book. It wasn't until dealers started dividing their stock, that the dilemma of what to do with all other genres and early-mid 1950s superhero books came about, and using the code stamp became an easy way of identifying which era ( or box) a book belonged in.

 

The problem with just using the code, is that there are still books that become tough to classify - when does Dell go from Gold to Silver, as the company did not use the CCA? Even some code approved Superhero books seem more GA than Silver - specifically the last few issues of Atlas' Sub-Mariner and Quality's Plastic-Man.

 

The terms have come to have dual meanings. For purely organizational purposes, the introduction of the CCA stamp becomes the dividing line for the vast majority of comics, and certainly no pre-code book is going to be considered to be in the Silver Age by anyone. On the micro level, the Silver Age begins at the latest when

a given title's adventures are clearly taking place in the larger continuity of that company's SA "universe", something not always easy to agree on.

 

The issue of DC's "big three", and their respective titles being published continuously through the 1950s will never be adequately resolved as the shift was gradual in the case of the Superman titles, 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.

 

Ultimately, collectors must decide for themselves on an individual basis where they are most comfortable with one era ending and another beginning, and if it's on a title by title basis, or they use "Atom Age" as a bridge between the eras, or they see the transition being gradual rather than distinct, then so be it.

 

I enjoy discussions and debates about the topic, not because I ever expect a broad consensus to emerge, but because it's interesting to see how people who actually collect books that aren't easily categorized as being in one era or the other feel about the issue.

 

I wonder how many collectors even realize that there is a Atom Age or Platinum Age? Those ages seem the most neglected and confusing.

[Marty Mann]

I still think that the first issue of any title bearing the CCA logo marks the beginning of the

Silver Age for that comic book.

 

mm

[rjpb]

I still think that the first issue of any title bearing the CCA logo marks the beginning of the

Silver Age for that comic book.

 

mm

 

So this is a Silver Age book?

 

 

or this?

 

 

[Marty Mann]

Yes!

 

mm

[steveinthecity]

I still think that the first issue of any title bearing the CCA logo marks the beginning of the

Silver Age for that comic book.

 

mm

 

So this is a Silver Age book?

 

You're not making it any easier to take a position on this subject.