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My proposal for the End of the Silver Age/ Beginning of Bronze:

Started by Forbush-Man,

36 posts in this topic

Jayman

Jayman

Posted
Posted
Not sure whether others would agree but I've always associated these "bordered" issuses with the Bronze age. Just my two cents...

 

Anybody have any idea why the bordered covers became popular during the 70's?

 

I've always thought of it as a decision to make Marvel's books more recognizable and "stand out" from the other books on the rack. Similar to DC's "racing stripes" that appeared at the top of their titles for a while.

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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I've always thought of it as a decision to make Marvel's books more recognizable and "stand out" from the other books on the rack. Similar to DC's "racing stripes" that appeared at the top of their titles for a while.

 

Whatever the reason, I think it really worked, and often wonder why it was stopped?

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Jayman

Jayman

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I'll say it worked! To this day you can tell at a glance 50 feet away tha it is a Marvel book, NO mistake. As to why it stopped? It probably got old and tired plus the fact that some artists wanted to use the entire "canvas" of the cover.

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awe4one

awe4one

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And this whole "House of Mystery" deal is totally off-base, as that was simply a change in focus from the Dial H for Hero days into a more horror-based format. It's not like DC wasn't doing horror at the time, as books like House of Secrets were pumping out very similar content.

 

No way HOM 174 was an Age-defining book, and was just a shift away from the poor-selling Dial H format, into a comic resembling the other DC horror books.

 

A clarification is needed...

 

House of Secerts wasn't doing horror before HOM #174. They switched the format two months later with #81. Before that, they were featuring pseudo-superhero adventures with Eclipso and Prince Ra-Man.

 

The title closest to producing horror was Unexpected and it was more along sci-fi, monster in the lab, type stories than horror.

 

So yes, HOM #174 was a fundamental change for DC's line as they started focusing a large number of their titles on the horror format afterwards. Also, it got Marvel to introduce their own horror titles (Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness) before they went away from the format in favor of superhero horror.

 

Do I think it the start of the DC Bronze Age though? No.

 

Jim

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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A clarification is needed...

 

House of Secerts wasn't doing horror before HOM #174. They switched the format two months later with #81. Before that, they were featuring pseudo-superhero adventures with Eclipso and Prince Ra-Man.

 

A clarification is needed:

 

While HOS did feature those stories, these were only headliners as of issue #75 (6-7 issue run, depending), and this was a 'quickie change" that resembled in no way the long-running Dial H for Hero run in HOM.

 

Before that, Mark Merlin was the headliner, and although he tried to disprove the scenarios (and was kind of campy), this was obviously horror/suspense/occult-related.

 

41068081142.64.gif

 

41068081142.63.gif

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awe4one

awe4one

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Mark Merlin was still more firmly attached to superhero oriented tales than horror. HOM #174 was a fundamental shift towards telling true horror stories, not a story with, depending on the issue, horror elements. The format spawned a plethora of other titles in a similar vein. HOS and Unexpected within a couple of months and then The Witching Hour, Ghosts, Weird Western Tales (change format from All-Star) and Weird War Tales later.

 

The format also caught the eye of Marvel who roughly a year after HOM #174 decided to try the format with their own titles.

 

Jim

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BassGMan

BassGMan

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Mark Merlin was still more firmly attached to superhero oriented tales than horror. HOM #174 was a fundamental shift towards telling true horror stories, not a story with, depending on the issue, horror elements. The format spawned a plethora of other titles in a similar vein. HOS and Unexpected within a couple of months and then The Witching Hour, Ghosts, Weird Western Tales (change format from All-Star) and Weird War Tales later.

 

The format also caught the eye of Marvel who roughly a year after HOM #174 decided to try the format with their own titles.

 

Jim

 

So maybe we can agree that HoM #174 was at least the start of Bronze Age Horror?

 

I know this "start of the ages" thing gets alot of debate, but really, why does it matter? It may help our anal retentive categorizing needs in our heads, and may get a few books on different lists, but what does it really affect? Or are we just debating, like many before on this subject, for entertainment value alone and just cuz' we like to talk about comics in various different ways? -----Sid

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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Mark Merlin was still more firmly attached to superhero oriented tales than horror. HOM #174 was a fundamental shift towards telling true horror stories, not a story with, depending on the issue, horror elements. The format spawned a plethora of other titles in a similar vein. HOS and Unexpected within a couple of months and then The Witching Hour, Ghosts, Weird Western Tales (change format from All-Star) and Weird War Tales later.

 

I agree, but it really depends on what you class as "horror". If it's scary sci-fi/fantasy/occult tales of twisted, horrific fates, then DC had been doing this for decades.

 

If it's more conventional werewolf/dracula/zombies/ghouls, then yes, those old rummies were more present in the updated versions.

 

Personally, I really don't separate the two, and I remember this reprint story being scary enough for me as a little kid:

 

41068081142.59.gif

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awe4one

awe4one

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So maybe we can agree that HoM #174 was at least the start of Bronze Age Horror?

 

I'd agree....but it shouldn't be considered the start of the Bronze Age.

 

I know this "start of the ages" thing gets alot of debate, but really, why does it matter? It may help our anal retentive categorizing needs in our heads, and may get a few books on different lists, but what does it really affect? Or are we just debating, like many before on this subject, for entertainment value alone and just cuz' we like to talk about comics in various different ways? -----Sid

 

To be honest, I could care less what comic started the Bronze Age but would agree that whatever comic is chosen, if anyone could really pin it down, it would have to be either Conan #1 for Marvel or Kirby's start at DC. In fact, if I was going to give a single comic the award it would probably be a DC as the publisher was experimenting with many different formats (both editorial and pamphlet-wise) when Marvel started overtaking them in market share.

 

Regardless, for my tastes, anything 1970 or later with a 25 or 20 cent cover price is Bronze. Everything before is Silver. grin.gif

 

Jim

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Aman619

Aman619

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Not sure whether others would agree but I've always associated these "bordered" issuses with the Bronze age. Just my two cents...

 

Anybody have any idea why the bordered covers became popular during the 70's?

 

I've always thought of it as a decision to make Marvel's books more recognizable and "stand out" from the other books on the rack. Similar to DC's "racing stripes" that appeared at the top of their titles for a while.

 

 

those were GO-GO Checks!!! DCs response to Marvels Pop-Art Productions cover slug..

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Jayman

Jayman

Posted
Posted
Not sure whether others would agree but I've always associated these "bordered" issuses with the Bronze age. Just my two cents...

 

Anybody have any idea why the bordered covers became popular during the 70's?

 

I've always thought of it as a decision to make Marvel's books more recognizable and "stand out" from the other books on the rack. Similar to DC's "racing stripes" that appeared at the top of their titles for a while.

 

 

those were GO-GO Checks!!! DCs response to Marvels Pop-Art Productions cover slug..

 

Ah, yes GO-GO Checks. I knew they were called something else when I typed that but it slipped my mind at the time. You are right, but I was using it as an example of "rack noticeability" rather than what it was in responce to.

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Aman619

Aman619

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they certainly were noticeable on the racks! But totally out of place. Sure reflected the panic on DCs part as Marvel started to really take off... but in a totally useless direction. Like an old guy trying to wear a Carnaby suit or a Nehru jacket to appear "hip".

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Jayman

Jayman

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*Note to self* Toss the Nehru jacket...

 

Send it to me, I like the "Dr. Evil" look! 893applaud-thumb.gif

 

I will do just that...for one meeellion dollars!!! (pinky to lip etc.) 27_laughing.gif

 

OT but "Dr. Evil" was the BEST action figure EVER!!!

and I'm talking the Captain Action series! sumo.gif

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