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When did the Silver age begin, title by Title?

Started by frozentundraguy,

133 posts in this topic

frozentundraguy

frozentundraguy

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I was researching Strange Adventures today. Issue 113 from February of 60, the "The Deluge from Space!" is close, as the giant fish has purple eyebrows, fins and lips. :o However, to me it appears issue #117, the "Challenge of the Gorilla Genius", with the first appearance of the Atomic Knights would be a better starting point of the S. A. for this title.

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frozentundraguy

frozentundraguy

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There's more to Silver Age fandom than gushing over high grade Marvels and prattling on endlessly about AF #15 people!

 

Let me hasten to agree.

 

Come on - where are the Charlton fans!

 

The Charlton Guy was banned for being a thorn in the side of the board owners. But I'm here and I say the Silver Age at Charlton began with the March 1960 introduction of Captain Atom in Space Adventures 33.

 

:preach:

 

I would agree, Captain Atom by Ditko in Space Adventures 33, seems like a excellent point to kick of the Silver Age for Charlton. (thumbs u

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Hepcat

Hepcat

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The Silver Age of horror began in 1965 with the publication of Creepy #1, and ended in 1983, when Warren ceased publication. :insane:

 

Have you some scans to share?

 

And here's the thread in which he should post them:

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=765195#Post765195

 

It could use a bit more activity.

 

;)

 

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rodan57

rodan57

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My view on this is also unlikely to create any converts, but I see each book moving into the Silver Age at its own pace. Just because a book was published a month after Showcase #4 doesn't make it Silver Age, IMHO.

 

Look at the Golden Age by way of example. If we agree on Action #1 starting GA, then we have to say Detective #1 is Platinum (or pre-Golden, or what have you). Detective #17 doesn't automatically become Golden Age just because it share the newstand with Action #1. To my way of thinking it is not until #27 arrives that Detective Comics "joins" the GA. (Sorry, Crimson Avenger fans.)

 

Likewise, Marvel's Strange Tales #51 doesn't enter the Silver Age just because Showcase #4 is published. That happens once the Human Torch feature moves in with #101. (Sorry, "prototype" fans).

 

So I'm completely cool with Batman entering the Silver Age with Detective #327 all the way in 1964. After all, nothing says Silver Age DC like Infantino artwork. I'm fine to consider all those odd Bat-stories from the mid 1950s and early 1960s to belong to some weird post-Atom, pre-Silver non-Age.

 

The 1958 arrival of Andru/Esposito to replace H.G. Peter works for me as the SA shift for Wonder Woman.

 

For Superman, I'll peg it at Adventure #247, about the same time in 1958 as the WW shift. It's a bit of revisionist history, I'll admit, as The Legion wasn't the start of the Weisinger-era expansion of the Super-mythology. But I do think it kicked into high gear the recurring secondary characters that began to populate the feature: Supergirl, Kandor, the Bizarros, and multi-colored Kryptonite all arrived after this point.

 

I would tend to agree with all of this.

 

If one is going to seek to identify when titles entered the Silver Age, then some agreed upon definition of what constituted the age is needed. Somewhat traditionally the age has been defined as the reemergence of the superhero as the dominant genre. Given this definition and looking at books, title by title, its pretty clear that Marvel superhero books are defining the era as early as 1963.

 

Some titles, and perhaps even some publishers, never enter the Silver Age as defined by the new generation of superheroes. So deciding when and if a book became Silver is simply a very interesting historical debate -- it won't be neat and it won't be devoid of argument -- 'nuff said.

 

However this is not a definition of collecting convenience.

 

By convenience, many comics are Silver Age by virtue of when they were published and not by virtue of content. And that's fine. Let Showcase and the Fantastic Four lead the way into a new era that not all titles participated in and let the 15¢ comic book end it.

 

One can define 1967 by the Summer of Love but not everyone had long hair, listened to the Dead and protested the war.

 

 

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Hepcat

Hepcat

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Shining a pair of shoes on Bloomfield Avenue only brought me a dime...not to many tippers in those days.

 

That of course is in stark contrast to kids theses days who not only never do things like shine shoes or sell/deliver newspapers to make a dime/buck, but they're coddled 24 hours a day as their parents drive them to school, structured sporting activities, play dates, etc. Then after eighteen years of being coddled they're all of a sudden in college and you get this:

 

 

 

 

doh!

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Hepcat

Hepcat

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My view on this is also unlikely to create any converts, but I see each book moving into the Silver Age at its own pace. Just because a book was published a month after Showcase #4 doesn't make it Silver Age, IMHO.

 

Look at the Golden Age by way of example. If we agree on Action #1 starting GA, then we have to say Detective #1 is Platinum (or pre-Golden, or what have you). Detective #17 doesn't automatically become Golden Age just because it share the newstand with Action #1. To my way of thinking it is not until #27 arrives that Detective Comics "joins" the GA. (Sorry, Crimson Avenger fans.)

 

Likewise, Marvel's Strange Tales #51 doesn't enter the Silver Age just because Showcase #4 is published. That happens once the Human Torch feature moves in with #101. (Sorry, "prototype" fans).

 

So I'm completely cool with Batman entering the Silver Age with Detective #327 all the way in 1964. After all, nothing says Silver Age DC like Infantino artwork. I'm fine to consider all those odd Bat-stories from the mid 1950s and early 1960s to belong to some weird post-Atom, pre-Silver non-Age.

 

The 1958 arrival of Andru/Esposito to replace H.G. Peter works for me as the SA shift for Wonder Woman.

 

For Superman, I'll peg it at Adventure #247, about the same time in 1958 as the WW shift. It's a bit of revisionist history, I'll admit, as The Legion wasn't the start of the Weisinger-era expansion of the Super-mythology. But I do think it kicked into high gear the recurring secondary characters that began to populate the feature: Supergirl, Kandor, the Bizarros, and multi-colored Kryptonite all arrived after this point.

 

I would tend to agree with all of this.

 

If one is going to seek to identify when titles entered the Silver Age, then some agreed upon definition of what constituted the age is needed. Somewhat traditionally the age has been defined as the reemergence of the superhero as the dominant genre. Given this definition and looking at books, title by title, its pretty clear that Marvel superhero books are defining the era as early as 1963.

 

Some titles, and perhaps even some publishers, never enter the Silver Age as defined by the new generation of superheroes. So deciding when and if a book became Silver is simply a very interesting historical debate -- it won't be neat and it won't be devoid of argument -- 'nuff said.

 

However this is not a definition of collecting convenience.

 

By convenience, many comics are Silver Age by virtue of when they were published and not by virtue of content. And that's fine. Let Showcase and the Fantastic Four lead the way into a new era that not all titles participated in and let the 15¢ comic book end it.

 

One can define 1967 by the Summer of Love but not everyone had long hair, listened to the Dead and protested the war.

 

 

I agree as well, with the exception that I think Batman entered the Silver Age well before Detective 327. Batwoman, Bat-Hound, Bat-Mite and the science fiction themes that populated Batman titles pre-Detective 327 were all very Silvery in my book.

 

:makepoint:

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VintageComics

VintageComics

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My view on this is also unlikely to create any converts, but I see each book moving into the Silver Age at its own pace. Just because a book was published a month after Showcase #4 doesn't make it Silver Age, IMHO.

 

Look at the Golden Age by way of example. If we agree on Action #1 starting GA, then we have to say Detective #1 is Platinum (or pre-Golden, or what have you). Detective #17 doesn't automatically become Golden Age just because it share the newstand with Action #1. To my way of thinking it is not until #27 arrives that Detective Comics "joins" the GA. (Sorry, Crimson Avenger fans.)

 

Likewise, Marvel's Strange Tales #51 doesn't enter the Silver Age just because Showcase #4 is published. That happens once the Human Torch feature moves in with #101. (Sorry, "prototype" fans).

 

So I'm completely cool with Batman entering the Silver Age with Detective #327 all the way in 1964. After all, nothing says Silver Age DC like Infantino artwork. I'm fine to consider all those odd Bat-stories from the mid 1950s and early 1960s to belong to some weird post-Atom, pre-Silver non-Age.

 

The 1958 arrival of Andru/Esposito to replace H.G. Peter works for me as the SA shift for Wonder Woman.

 

For Superman, I'll peg it at Adventure #247, about the same time in 1958 as the WW shift. It's a bit of revisionist history, I'll admit, as The Legion wasn't the start of the Weisinger-era expansion of the Super-mythology. But I do think it kicked into high gear the recurring secondary characters that began to populate the feature: Supergirl, Kandor, the Bizarros, and multi-colored Kryptonite all arrived after this point.

 

I would tend to agree with all of this.

 

If one is going to seek to identify when titles entered the Silver Age, then some agreed upon definition of what constituted the age is needed. Somewhat traditionally the age has been defined as the reemergence of the superhero as the dominant genre. Given this definition and looking at books, title by title, its pretty clear that Marvel superhero books are defining the era as early as 1963.

 

Some titles, and perhaps even some publishers, never enter the Silver Age as defined by the new generation of superheroes. So deciding when and if a book became Silver is simply a very interesting historical debate -- it won't be neat and it won't be devoid of argument -- 'nuff said.

 

However this is not a definition of collecting convenience.

 

By convenience, many comics are Silver Age by virtue of when they were published and not by virtue of content. And that's fine. Let Showcase and the Fantastic Four lead the way into a new era that not all titles participated in and let the 15¢ comic book end it.

 

One can define 1967 by the Summer of Love but not everyone had long hair, listened to the Dead and protested the war.

 

 

I agree as well, with the exception that I think Batman entered the Silver Age well before Detective 327. Batwoman, Bat-Hound, Bat-Mite and the science fiction themes that populated Batman titles pre-Detective 327 were all very Silvery in my book.

 

:makepoint:

 

Love reading this thread and I agree with you guys. The transition was gradual and different for every title.

 

 

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