Do you like Golden Age comics?

[kav]

Did xx oo xx get banned already?

[Lazyboy]

Stu usually gets erased pretty quickly.

[kav]

dang I was sending him a pic I drew

[dupont2005]

I like the EC ones.

[kav]

For xx 00 xx:

[Gotham Kid]

If you're like me and you love Golden Age comics but can't afford to buy many, there's a great book out there from the maesters at Taschen called 'The Golden Age of DC Comics'. This was published in 2013 and I finally picked it up last month.

 

It's a super high quality book which features a visual history of National/Detective Comics Inc. It features high-res scans of actual copies of all of the most important and most valuable comics ever published. It's a giant tome with 400 pages at 13x10, with the majority of it scans of old comics. Take a look:

 

Looks like an awesome book. (thumbs u

A lot of those exact same cover scans can also be found in "The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1937-1945" by Richard O'Brien, 1977.

Cheap large format too, on Amazon and eBay ($5 used/$12 new).

 

 

Hey cool, I'll check that out. Just FYI, it's not just the covers in the book from Taschen, it's actual copies that have been scanned in all their glory. It's like having a high grade copy of Tec 27 in your lap

I know what you mean. Fun stuff, like flipping through a million dollar book! I scanned the 'Tec 31 from the O'Brien book and made into a large wall poster. That's why I noticed they're the exact same scans. In book-form they're 'actual size', I believe, or close to it. It has 40 scans w/ blank backs.

 

 

VERY COOL

 

+1

[Gotham Kid]

Those are history ladies and gents and none of the books today would exist without them.

 

'nuff said.

[ThoseBackPages]

No

[Vexsus]

Absolutely, I think the history behind them both character and medium wise is fascinating. They are a small window into the past for someone like me that has grown up so far away from that time. I just wish I had the wealth to actually purchase them. Perhaps someday when I am no longer a college student.

[oakman29]

My brother gave me that book last year for Christmas, great book. Along with photos of covers and art, I also enjoy the photos of kids reading comics in the era and of the books being printed and distributed.

 

Are these the books that are as big as a house? I must get them one day.

[Mr 9.8]

Comics pre 1970's were pretty awful in my opinion.

[oakman29]

Comics pre 1970's were pretty awful in my opinion.

Growing up with them was awesome,guess it's all about perspective.

[kav]

So spiderman 1-70 bad avengers 1-70 bad hulk, FF everything terrible.....

hmmm

[Cyclops]

My brother gave me that book last year for Christmas, great book. Along with photos of covers and art, I also enjoy the photos of kids reading comics in the era and of the books being printed and distributed.

 

Are these the books that are as big as a house? I must get them one day.

 

There was a book by Taschen called '75 Years of DC Comics' which was indeed as big as a house. The book that I posted is just the Golden Age section of said book, albeit a little more fleshed out and smaller in size (13x10).

[rjrjr]

Comics pre 1970's were pretty awful in my opinion.

 

Some Golden Age material is hard to read, but some of it is very good. I do not think I will ever get tired of reading an EC title for example and War War II era Timely's are still a treat to read and look at.

 

What I always find amusing, the idea that Marvel comics in the 60s (Silver Age) were "mature" and "realistic". Compared to their DC counterparts and what came before, absolutely. Compared to what has come in the ages since, they are quaint and simplistic.

 

I loved the pre 70s comics when I first got into collecting. Some of those same comics I loved are laborious to read these days. Not all of them though. Early Spider-Man has always been a tough read for me, but I find early Fantastic Four still enjoyable. I also enjoy Thor, whereas Daredevil is a bit harder to read. With Spider-Man and Daredevil, it is the constant reminder of the "key" story elements that get old (Aunt May is close to death, Karen Page, etc.) Spider-Man has developed a terrific rogue gallery over the years, but some of the issues where he is fighting organized crime...

 

Some of the 70s comics have slipped into that same laborious reading territory. The exposition in some of those comics is very hard to wade through. Especially some Marvel's cosmic stories like Warlock. I also find it impossible to read a Steve Gerber title like Man Thing or Howard the Duck.

 

For me, comics peaked in the mid 80s. I can still sit down and read runs of titles from that era and they are as enjoyable today as they were when I bought them off the shelf. I also know this has to do with when I first got into comics (late 70s.)

[Buzzetta]

I am a fan...

[steveinthecity]

Reading the GA section on this forum has contributed greatly to my appreciation of GA books. I mostly enjoy the humor genres, Spirit, and EC stuff from that period, but I do realize there's a wealth of great stories and art from the Golden Age that would take me forever to discover and read. I think it's a shame anyone would discount this or any other comics era without at least heavily sampling what is out there.

[Norrin's lawyer]

I love the GA books! I am historically a SA collector, but after spending a little time on these boards, and reading discussions by the GA masters... I discovered the different GA genres. I fell in love with their history and relevance to the modern books, but then started becoming enamored with the cover art...all of a sudden I was buying and reading them, and just like the PCH books, I genuinely started to love the stories. I am now addicted to the GA books.

[shadroch]

I collect GA for the covers. Not much of a fan of the stories. I recently picked up two books that had Schomburg art on the stories. He made the right choice sticking to covers, imo. His interior artwork was pretty pedestrian.

 

[Senormac]

I collect GA for the covers. Not much of a fan of the stories.

 

+1

 

GA covers