End of the Bronze Age

[comicwiz]

In a nutshell 40s & 50s books are Gold, 60s books are Silver, 70s books are Bronze, 80s books are Copper, and 90s to now are Moderns.

 

Works for me.

 

Yeah, this is more or less how I've always looked at it.

[Cimm]

For me...

 

1938-1945 GOLD

1946-1955 ATOM

1956-1967 SILVER

1968-1979 BRONZE

1980-1992 COPPER

1993-2005 CHROME

2006-Now MODERN

[Hado]

BTW, since it has been Hado which asked, Spider-Woman started to turn crappy slightly afterwards…

Blasphemy

[Maccai3]

For me...

 

1938-1945 GOLD

1946-1955 ATOM

1956-1967 SILVER

1968-1979 BRONZE

1980-1992 COPPER

1993-2005 CHROME

2006-Now MODERN

 

really? what book do you see as the start of Bronze if not GL76?

[Hado]

I had a short nap and woke up to all this great insight, thanks guys! (thumbs u

 

The idea of decades is a good one, of course then we'd run into a series that has a creative team that starts a book in '79, but most of the work is done throught the '80's. Is it bronze is it copper, follow the shoe, no the holy gourd, the holy gourd of jerusalem!

[vaillant]

BTW, since it has been Hado which asked, Spider-Woman started to turn crappy slightly afterwards…

Blasphemy

 

Now, don’t tell me you like Michael Fleisher’s Spider Woman.

And Claremont was 50/50, if you ask me.

 

However, the editors' factor I suggested is a pretty objective factor, while key issues or storylines or characters are another, but I would keep Marvel and DC separate: they are different things, indeed.

 

BTW, I never thought of the 1950s as being "Gold": they are "Atomic", by all means!

And if we have to be strict, Modern applies to the 1990s. The fact there has been no new designation afterwards is pretty an indication that nothing serious happened…

[Cimm]

For me...

 

1938-1945 GOLD

1946-1955 ATOM

1956-1967 SILVER

1968-1979 BRONZE

1980-1992 COPPER

1993-2005 CHROME

2006-Now MODERN

 

really? what book do you see as the start of Bronze if not GL76?

 

DC's House of Mystery 174 is the start of the Bronze Age for me. I collect pre-code horror, and Bronze Horror. From the start of the CCA to the new direction for DC's mystery titles is Silver Age.

 

EDIT... I'm afraid my worldview as regards comics has little if anything to do with superheroes...

[zuulioso]

Now, don’t tell me you like Michael Fleisher’s Spider Woman.

And Claremont was 50/50, if you ask me.

 

However, the editors' factor I suggested is a pretty objective factor, while key issues or storylines or characters are another, but I would keep Marvel and DC separate: they are different things, indeed.

 

BTW, I never thought of the 1950s as being "Gold": they are "Atomic", by all means!

And if we have to be strict, Modern applies to the 1990s. The fact there has been no new designation afterwards is pretty an indication that nothing serious happened…

 

Does that mean all books moving forward will forevermore be part of the modern age?

 

Or did someone have the foresight that there will never be comics after "now"?

[rjpb]

I think referring to them by decade rather than ages makes a lot of sense. However, would fandom at large accept that? That's the real challenge.

 

If fandom gets told anything a few times then the majority sheep will accept it and the minority informed will spend the next hundred years arguing over it.

 

Fixed.

[spidrvacc]

In a nutshell 40s & 50s books are Gold, 60s books are Silver, 70s books are Bronze, 80s books are Copper, and 90s to now are Moderns.

 

Works for me.

d

 

That's pretty much how I look at it.

[valiantman]

For me...

 

1938-1945 GOLD

1946-1955 ATOM

1956-1967 SILVER

1968-1979 BRONZE

1980-1992 COPPER

1993-2005 CHROME

2006-Now MODERN

How about...

 

1930-1939 = 1930s

1940-1949 = 1940s

1950-1959 = 1950s

1960-1969 = 1960s

1970-1979 = 1970s

1980-1989 = 1980s

1990-1999 = 1990s

2000-2009 = 2000s

2010-2019 = 2010s

 

[VintageComics]

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?

 

Every age goes through a transition stage. It begins to end at a point and there is another point where you can tell that there is no previous age left.

 

For the bronze age it's usually thought of as being approx 1969-1973/74.

 

Most people point roughly to GL #76 (or that time period) as the "start" to a new era and ASM #121/122 to the "big end" to the SA.

 

There really is no definitive start / end point to any era. Think of it more as a change over time.

[jaeldubyoo]

For me...

 

1938-1945 GOLD

1946-1955 ATOM

1956-1967 SILVER

1968-1979 BRONZE

1980-1992 COPPER

1993-2005 CHROME

2006-Now MODERN

How about...

 

1930-1939 = 1930s

1940-1949 = 1940s

1950-1959 = 1950s

1960-1969 = 1960s

1970-1979 = 1970s

1980-1989 = 1980s

1990-1999 = 1990s

2000-2009 = 2000s

2010-2019 = 2010s

 

 

(thumbs u

 

 

[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?

 

Every age goes through a transition stage. It begins to end at a point and there is another point where you can tell that there is no previous age left.

 

For the bronze age it's usually thought of as being approx 1969-1973/74.

 

Most people point roughly to GL #76 (or that time period) as the "start" to a new era and ASM #121/122 to the "big end" to the SA.

 

There really is no definitive start / end point to any era. Think of it more as a change over time.

thanks (thumbs u

[thunsicker]

For me...

 

1938-1945 GOLD

1946-1955 ATOM

1956-1967 SILVER

1968-1979 BRONZE

1980-1992 COPPER

1993-2005 CHROME

2006-Now MODERN

How about...

 

1930-1939 = 1930s

1940-1949 = 1940s

1950-1959 = 1950s

1960-1969 = 1960s

1970-1979 = 1970s

1980-1989 = 1980s

1990-1999 = 1990s

2000-2009 = 2000s

2010-2019 = 2010s

 

 

I prefer:

1930-1939 = Frontier

1940-1944 = Pencil Shavings

1945-1946 = Olive

1947-1962 = Chevrolet

1963-1970 = Homefront

1971-1978 = Buffet

1979-1992 = Blue 42

1993-2010 = Handkerchief

2011-Now = Now

[rjpb]

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?

 

Every age goes through a transition stage. It begins to end at a point and there is another point where you can tell that there is no previous age left.

 

For the bronze age it's usually thought of as being approx 1969-1973/74.

 

Most people point roughly to GL #76 (or that time period) as the "start" to a new era and ASM #121/122 to the "big end" to the SA.

 

There really is no definitive start / end point to any era. Think of it more as a change over time.

 

I agree, though it seems many collectors are drawn to the idea of hard cut-off dates. I'd even go further to say that the transitional periods can even be categorized as sub-ages of their own, usually lasting about 5 years or so, up until the early-mid 90s, and then it gets harder to really do.

 

1933-38 Pre or early golden age dominated by newspaper reprints and original material meant to mimic them, mostly "funny" covers.

 

1938-41 Dawn of the heroic age, action/adventure type covers and eventually superheros take over most existing titles, and account for new ones.

 

1941- 1945 World War 2 era. Fighting Nazis and Japs the preoccupation of most comic book characters.

 

1945-1950 Late GA or early Atomic Age, decline of the superhero, rise of genre comics ( funny animal, teen, crime, jungle, western, romance and eventually sci-fi and horror)

 

1950-1955 Atom age or pre-code era. Comics get thinner, quality of interior art generally increases. Horror comics become so popular that non-horror genres start to borrow from them, anti-communist stories are common, as are lurid and violent covers. Korean conflict fuels war comic explosion. Superhero books barely visible on the newstand.

 

1955 - 1960 Early Silver, sci-fi elements popular, superhero revival starts slowly and tentatively, westerns, romance, Disney, teen and sci-fi/fantasy dominate, though Superman related titles remain constant strong sellers.

 

1960- 1968 Silver Age really gets under way, superhero revival takes off, and superhero books become synonymous with comic books again.

 

1968 - 1972 End of Silver start of Bronze, code loosens, "horror" returns, comics address real world issues in order to be "relevant", B/W magazines and undergrounds rise in popularity outside the code.

 

1972-1979 Heart of the Bronze Age, next generation of heroes, DC implosion, undergrounds wane, "Graphic Novels' begin to appear, Sci-fi/fantasy revival in both code and non-code approved books.

 

1979 - 1985 Copper transition, grittier hero books, rise of the independent, direct marketing. Gold Key and Charlton fold. "newwave" and second generation underground comics get rolling.

 

1985-1992 Copper age, DC and Marvel begin what will become routine "major events", code becomes irrelevant with numerous Independents and B/W glut, rise of creator owned books including "small press". Porno comics swamp the "altenative" comic marketplace. Image and Valiant compete directly with the big two. Writers given more leeway in interpreting and re-interpreting existing characters, often outside "continuity".

 

1992 - 2000 Excess takes it's toll, gimmicks burn out fanbase on the "new", sales decline, "alternative comics" begin to give way to trade collections and hardbacks of original material. Cheaper color printing leads to B/W comics being more a creative than economic choice for non-mainstream publishers. multi-issue crossover company wide events for DC and Marvel on a nearly annual basis, Vertigo becomes an official imprint. Creator-owned properties reach new heights of success.

 

2000 - Now: Constant revamps/reboots of superhero properties, non superhero books continue to gain in popularity, mostly creator owned. Trade collections of almost everything, digital comics.

 

 

 

[seanfingh]

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?

 

Every age goes through a transition stage. It begins to end at a point and there is another point where you can tell that there is no previous age left.

 

For the bronze age it's usually thought of as being approx 1969-1973/74.

 

Most people point roughly to GL #76 (or that time period) as the "start" to a new era and ASM #121/122 to the "big end" to the SA.

 

There really is no definitive start / end point to any era. Think of it more as a change over time.

 

I agree, though it seems many collectors are drawn to the idea of hard cut-off dates. I'd even go further to say that the transitional periods can even be categorized as sub-ages of their own, usually lasting about 5 years or so, up until the early-mid 90s, and then it gets harder to really do.

 

1933-38 Pre or early golden age dominated by newspaper reprints and original material meant to mimic them, mostly "funny" covers.

 

1938-41 Dawn of the heroic age, action/adventure type covers and eventually superheros take over most existing titles, and account for new ones.

 

1941- 1945 World War 2 era. Fighting Nazis and Japs the preoccupation of most comic book characters.

 

1945-1950 Late GA or early Atomic Age, decline of the superhero, rise of genre comics ( funny animal, teen, crime, jungle, western, romance and eventually sci-fi and horror)

 

1950-1955 Atom age or pre-code era. Comics get thinner, quality of interior art generally increases. Horror comics become so popular that non-horror genres start to borrow from them, anti-communist stories are common, as are lurid and violent covers. Korean conflict fuels war comic explosion. Superhero books barely visible on the newstand.

 

1955 - 1960 Early Silver, sci-fi elements popular, superhero revival starts slowly and tentatively, westerns, romance, Disney, teen and sci-fi/fantasy dominate, though Superman related titles remain constant strong sellers.

 

1960- 1968 Silver Age really gets under way, superhero revival takes off, and superhero books become synonymous with comic books again.

 

1968 - 1972 End of Silver start of Bronze, code loosens, "horror" returns, comics address real world issues in order to be "relevant", B/W magazines and undergrounds rise in popularity outside the code.

 

1972-1979 Heart of the Bronze Age, next generation of heroes, DC implosion, undergrounds wane, "Graphic Novels' begin to appear, Sci-fi/fantasy revival in both code and non-code approved books.

 

1979 - 1985 Copper transition, grittier hero books, rise of the independent, direct marketing. Gold Key and Charlton fold. "newwave" and second generation underground comics get rolling.

 

1985-1992 Copper age, DC and Marvel begin what will become routine "major events", code becomes irrelevant with numerous Independents and B/W glut, rise of creator owned books including "small press". Porno comics swamp the "altenative" comic marketplace. Image and Valiant compete directly with the big two. Writers given more leeway in interpreting and re-interpreting existing characters, often outside "continuity".

 

1992 - 2000 Excess takes it's toll, gimmicks burn out fanbase on the "new", sales decline, "alternative comics" begin to give way to trade collections and hardbacks of original material. Cheaper color printing leads to B/W comics being more a creative than economic choice for non-mainstream publishers. multi-issue crossover company wide events for DC and Marvel on a nearly annual basis, Vertigo becomes an official imprint. Creator-owned properties reach new heights of success.

 

2000 - Now: Constant revamps/reboots of superhero properties, non superhero books continue to gain in popularity, mostly creator owned. Trade collections of almost everything, digital comics.

 

 

 

Setting aside the naming of eras, this is very well done.

[Hado]

For the most part I understand there aren't hard fast dates, I was trying to figure out where certain series fit. For instance: the first spider-woman appearance in Marvel spotlight 32 came out in February of '77 and I always considered this a Bronze Age book, thought the Spider-woman run that started in April of '78 feels more like Copper. I guess I failed to consider a transition period of the different publishers and titles.

 

Again thanks for all the great insight.

[VintageComics]

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?

 

Every age goes through a transition stage. It begins to end at a point and there is another point where you can tell that there is no previous age left.

 

For the bronze age it's usually thought of as being approx 1969-1973/74.

 

Most people point roughly to GL #76 (or that time period) as the "start" to a new era and ASM #121/122 to the "big end" to the SA.

 

There really is no definitive start / end point to any era. Think of it more as a change over time.

 

I agree, though it seems many collectors are drawn to the idea of hard cut-off dates. I'd even go further to say that the transitional periods can even be categorized as sub-ages of their own, usually lasting about 5 years or so, up until the early-mid 90s, and then it gets harder to really do.

 

1933-38 Pre or early golden age dominated by newspaper reprints and original material meant to mimic them, mostly "funny" covers.

 

1938-41 Dawn of the heroic age, action/adventure type covers and eventually superheros take over most existing titles, and account for new ones.

 

1941- 1945 World War 2 era. Fighting Nazis and Japs the preoccupation of most comic book characters.

 

1945-1950 Late GA or early Atomic Age, decline of the superhero, rise of genre comics ( funny animal, teen, crime, jungle, western, romance and eventually sci-fi and horror)

 

1950-1955 Atom age or pre-code era. Comics get thinner, quality of interior art generally increases. Horror comics become so popular that non-horror genres start to borrow from them, anti-communist stories are common, as are lurid and violent covers. Korean conflict fuels war comic explosion. Superhero books barely visible on the newstand.

 

1955 - 1960 Early Silver, sci-fi elements popular, superhero revival starts slowly and tentatively, westerns, romance, Disney, teen and sci-fi/fantasy dominate, though Superman related titles remain constant strong sellers.

 

1960- 1968 Silver Age really gets under way, superhero revival takes off, and superhero books become synonymous with comic books again.

 

1968 - 1972 End of Silver start of Bronze, code loosens, "horror" returns, comics address real world issues in order to be "relevant", B/W magazines and undergrounds rise in popularity outside the code.

 

1972-1979 Heart of the Bronze Age, next generation of heroes, DC implosion, undergrounds wane, "Graphic Novels' begin to appear, Sci-fi/fantasy revival in both code and non-code approved books.

 

1979 - 1985 Copper transition, grittier hero books, rise of the independent, direct marketing. Gold Key and Charlton fold. "newwave" and second generation underground comics get rolling.

 

1985-1992 Copper age, DC and Marvel begin what will become routine "major events", code becomes irrelevant with numerous Independents and B/W glut, rise of creator owned books including "small press". Porno comics swamp the "altenative" comic marketplace. Image and Valiant compete directly with the big two. Writers given more leeway in interpreting and re-interpreting existing characters, often outside "continuity".

 

1992 - 2000 Excess takes it's toll, gimmicks burn out fanbase on the "new", sales decline, "alternative comics" begin to give way to trade collections and hardbacks of original material. Cheaper color printing leads to B/W comics being more a creative than economic choice for non-mainstream publishers. multi-issue crossover company wide events for DC and Marvel on a nearly annual basis, Vertigo becomes an official imprint. Creator-owned properties reach new heights of success.

 

2000 - Now: Constant revamps/reboots of superhero properties, non superhero books continue to gain in popularity, mostly creator owned. Trade collections of almost everything, digital comics.

 

 

 

Setting aside the naming of eras, this is very well done.

 

Yup, it's brilliant and really speaks closer to how mainstream comics storytelling changed through the years than just trying to lump everything into 4 or 5 eras.

 

Love it.

[rjpb]

An additional observation about superhero books in particular though not exclusively.

 

In the 30s through the 50s there was little if any concern for continuity, and character development was virtually non-existent. Publishers doubted that readers would be aware, let alone care what a character had been doing just a few years earlier.

 

What differentiates the Silver Age and continues forward is the idea that a character's history matters to the readers, and Marvel in particular begins to exploit soap opera elements in their characters lives to build long term interest. Continuity becomes important, as publishers grow increasingly aware of a collecting fanbase that keeps track of past events.

 

By the 1980s there is an increasing awareness that continuities have become unwieldy, convoluted and have events ( Reed Richard's fighting in WW2) that become increasingly difficult to thread together with current storylines. The multitude of universes and constant rebooting and reinventing of characters along with giving writers the opportunity to completely ignore or cherry-pick past continuity is a hall-mark of the copper to modern eras. While there are still attempts to reconcile decades of a character's stories, only the most ardent fan boy really cares about fitting Bane and Bat-mite into the same continuity.