Definition of Bronze Age ending point for purposes of the boards

[ivegotneatstuff]

I was about to post some comics for sale from 1985 and before on the boards..but now I'm wondering.. what is the definition of Bronze age for the purposes of the Collectors Society?

 

I always considered Bronze to be 1970 to 1979.. now I see it pushed up to 1982..eBay defines it as up to 1983.. and Wikipedia defines it as up to 1985..

 

Anyway..I thought I would do a survey.. Just thought it would be interesting to see what the majority of the board members think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Comicopolis]

The Bronze Age never ended.

[shadroch]

To keep things simple, I put 50 cent cover books in the BA, anything after that used to be modern, now its copper.

[ivegotneatstuff]

Funny how the range is all over the map

[Logan510]

The Bronze Age never ended.

 

 

I wish

[InvstmntComcSuply]

 

No Crackety crack?

[MK Ultra]

Can't we pick books? You know, Conan 1, GL 76, ASM 121/122 for the beginning.

 

Maybe TMNT 1, or something for the end? Not as familiar with the end. Did you look in the cooper forum?

[Crimebuster]

I consider Uncanny X-Men #137 to be the end of the Bronze Age. But maybe that's just me.

 

New Teen Titans #1 came out just a couple months later as well. Sort of a one-two combo for me.

[Bosco685]

I consider Uncanny X-Men #137 to be the end of the Bronze Age. But maybe that's just me.

 

New Teen Titans #1 came out just a couple months later as well. Sort of a one-two combo for me.

 

There are quite a few takes on the beginning of the Copper Age. Either:

 

- Some of the Uncanny X-Men and New Teen Titan events.

 

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 as a launch of the B&W mass kickoff.

 

- Crisis On Infinite Earths as a series

 

- Frank Miller taking creative control of Daredevil by 168

 

- Alan Moore's work on Saga of the Swamp Thing

 

- All of the above, as there was a series of events leading to an anti-hero/B&W/creator-owned period that is the Copper Age

 

Many lean towards the last as a transition from Bronze to Copper.

[bababooey]

Bronze Age ended when Byrne stopped drawing more than four panels to a page.

[ChrisInBaltimore]

Wasn't ASM 252 the end of the Bronze Age? That might just be in terms of a Spidey fan, but the line between Bronze and Copper is pretty blurry.

[oakman29]

I would say Bronze started with Conan 1/GL 76,and ended with the emergence of the independent comic genre TMNT 1.

[AmazingComics413]

Personally, I feel that the death of Gwen Stacy is a perfect spot to end the silver age and begin the bronze age.

 

As for the end.....TMNT 1.

[Bosco685]

I would say Bronze started with Conan 1/GL 76,and ended with the emergence of the independent comic genre TMNT 1.

 

 

[oakman29]

I would say Bronze started with Conan 1/GL 76,and ended with the emergence of the independent comic genre TMNT 1.

 

 

Okay syrup head,what say you?

[Bosco685]

 

I'll find a list later tonight that Joe Collector put together. It was very thoroughly and well thought out.

 

I know - someone hijacked his username.

[oakman29]

 

I'll find a list later tonight that Joe Collector put together. It was very thoroughly and well thought out.

 

I know - someone hijacked his username.

Damn now I'm in the mood for chocolate milk.

[A.Romeo]

Truthfully, all the ages are dumb, they should just break it down by cost of the book or just go by the decade.

[zosocane]

I was an avid kid collector from '78 to '86 and bought most new stuff that was coming out each week. I remember the late 70s (with exceptions) as being a fairly dead period in comics creativity and originality. And I remember vividly the fresh, new, and very original works coming out from the new independent publishers (Pacific, First, Eclipse as early as 1981), the new creative teams of Wolfman & Perez for New Teen Titans (November 1980) and Claremont and Byrne for X-Men (Dark Phx saga begins around X-Men #135 June 1980). My friends and I would bring copies of X-Men and Teen Titans comics to school because they (together with Dungeons & Dragons) were the biggest things going on at the time for junior high school kids. And what followed this 1980/1981 period was a wave of terrific stuff from other creative teams (Miller/Janson's Daredevil and Dark Knight; Fingeroth/Romita Jr.'s run on ASM (Hobgoblin); Howard Chaykin's American Flagg; Marvel's Secret Wars; TMNT; etc.). I clearly remember the new vibe at the local comic shop starting around 1980/1981 that was non-existent before.

 

So I would define the end of the Bronze Age as the beginning of the Copper Age when we had a "big bang" of sorts with all this new, original stuff coming out. So 1980 is the end of the Bronze Age and start of the Copper Age.

 

My 2 cents.

[zosocane]

I would say Bronze started with Conan 1/GL 76,and ended with the emergence of the independent comic genre TMNT 1.

 

TMNT #1 was 1984. You need to go back a few years earlier to end the bronze age and start the copper age. In that regard, Pacific Comics was the first really important independent publisher to burst on the scene in 1981 with Captain Victory (Jack Kirby), Ms. Mystic (Neal Adams) and Starslayer (Mike Grell) plus Twisted Tales, Alien Worlds and Somerset Holmes. Then came First Comics around 1982 with American Flagg, Jon Sable and Grimjack. Let's not forget Eclipse's Ms. Tree and Nexus. Yes, I had complete runs and even multiple copies of all of these and others. These works were truly wonderful -- in both story and art - compared to the trash Marvel and DC had been pumping out the prior several years leading to 1980/1981. I credit these visionary (and risk-taking) independent publishers with waking up Marvel and DC and causing them to start putting out mini-series (e.g., the Wolverine) and improving their story-telling and art. That was a revolutionary period in comics history, no doubt.

 

One more key consideration about the importance of the wave of independents bursting on the scene in 1981/1982: the paper quality that they were publishing on. Pacific and First were asking us to fork over $1 a book instead of the 50 cents DC and Marvel charged. That was gutsy! But we felt it was worth it because we weren't reading on pulp, but off a much higher quality paper stock that resulted in better copies and better colors. Not to mention that you could handle the book more nimbly without having to worry about dinging the spine etc. off the weaker paper stock used by DC/Marvel.