End of the Bronze Age

[Hado]

Just wanted to get some of your thoughts:

 

After reading different sites and whatnot I'm not exactly sure when the Bronze Age ended and the Copper age began.

 

Some info I can find has the Bronze Age going until '79, but then the copper starts in '84.

 

What do you guys think?

[Hado]

No opinions?

 

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

Oh, there are opinions.

[miraclemet]

my bronze age ends in 1986 because thats when...

 

COIE ended (March '86)

Watchmen started to come out (Sept '86)

Dark Knight Returns comes out (Feb '86)

 

DC ended the Bronze age more than Marvel.

 

 

 

[Hado]

Oh, there are opinions.

Whats yours?

[Ditch Fahrenheit]

Oh, there are opinions.

Whats yours?

 

That there won't be a consensus.

[Hado]

Oh, there are opinions.

Whats yours?

 

That there won't be a consensus.

Good point

[Reno McCoy]

If you think that one age ends when another begins, then I'd say that the Bronze Age ended and the Copper Age started with the release of Moore's Swamp Thing and the release of Marvel Super Hero Secret Wars.

 

I believe they were released a couple of months apart, Swamp Thing at the end of 1983 and MSHSW in January 1984, so it's close enough to the same time, which would be the start of 1984.

[DrWatson]

The end of the Bronze Age is not a precise point in time. It's different for different series and different publishing houses. With some series, it dies out over more than one issue and with some it's like hitting a brick wall.

 

The Bronze Age ended in the X-Men with issue 143, but it started with issue 137. Fantastic Four is more definitive with 231 being the last Bronze Age issue. The Avengers is issue 200.

 

The Death of Captain Marvel is also an ending point for the Bronze Age, while the graphic novel hits its stride as a Copper Age creation.

 

The cancellation of the horror books also marks the end of the Bronze Age and the Wolverine mini series is certainly a Copper Age creation.

 

[Jeffro.]

Since there is far from consensus on the ending of the bronze age, I prefer Cronze, the pseudo-period that covers the years in question. Some prefer the term Bropper but that's crazy talk. Cronze to me is 1981-1984.

 

 

[jools&jim]

 

To make it easy for myself as a BA Marvel collector, I draw the line at books published with a cover date of September, 1980. This corresponds to the Death of Phoenix in UXM 137, and the death of my childhood as I entered high school...

[miraclemet]

makes me think of the Scene in Life of Brian....

 

 

The shoe! We must follow the Shoe!

 

no it's the Gourd! Follow the Gourd!

 

 

 

 

[shadroch]

For reasons of simplicity, I include any fifty cent book with my BA sales, sixty cents begin the CA.

10-12-15 cent covers = SA

20-50 cent covers = BA

60- $1.50 cent Marvels/DC= CA

anything else= moderns.

 

It doesn't fit perfectly but there are always exceptions to every rule.

 

 

[Reno McCoy]

It doesn't fit perfectly but there are always exceptions to every rule.

 

 

If the rule is that there are always exceptions to every rule, would that too be open to exceptions, and thus, at times, some rules actually don't have exceptions?

[Jeffro.]

It doesn't fit perfectly but there are always exceptions to every rule.

 

 

If the rule is that there are always exceptions to every rule, would that too be open to exceptions, and thus, at times, some rules actually don't have exceptions?

 

I think you just opened a rift in the space/time continuum

[rjpb]

As bronze is an alloy made mostly of copper, they are actually one and the same.

 

 

Okay, okay, what really differentiates the two eras is the mainstreaming via direct distribution of independent publishers who ignored the Comics Code Authority.

 

Companies like Eclipse, Pacific and First began publishing full color regular format comics with content much closer to that of mainstream publishers than the earlier underground indy and underground publishers.

 

As with all comic ages there is no hard cutoff date where one era ends and another begins. One could go as far back as 1974 and Star Reach to find the roots of copper, or 1977 with the publication of Cerebus, and Eclipse starts publishing graphic Novels in 1978.

 

At the other end of the spectrum, DC and Marvel just slowly transition from one era to another. Frank Miller's Daredevil - end of the Bronze Age or start of the Copper? New Teen Titans - DC's first Copper book? Flash #350 - last Bronze?

[rjpb]

Since there is far from consensus on the ending of the bronze age, I prefer Cronze, the pseudo-period that covers the years in question. Some prefer the term Bropper but that's crazy talk. Cronze to me is 1981-1984.

 

 

1968-1971, Brilver or Sonze?

[Maccai3]

i think Ages overlap, i dont think it ended with one book. Age's generally start with one book but its not to say they end with one

[Dr. Balls]

Personally, I always considered the Wolverine Limited Series the beginning of the BA, at least for Marvel. I've heard Secret Wars is also considered the end of the BA, but I always felt that was a little too late. 1982 seems right.

[Jeffro.]

Since there is far from consensus on the ending of the bronze age, I prefer Cronze, the pseudo-period that covers the years in question. Some prefer the term Bropper but that's crazy talk. Cronze to me is 1981-1984.

 

 

1968-1971, Brilver or Sonze?

 

You may be on to something here.