Timeline for the ages. 2 2

[Robert Doggett]

Age old question:  What time frames has CGC assigned to the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Copper Age and Modern Age?  Want to offer some books for sale but don't know where one age ends and another starts up.  

I have looked around the boards but can't seem to find a concise timeline to reference.  I could go best guess, I suppose.

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 11/29/2021 at 2:23 PM, Robert Doggett said:

Age old question:  What time frames has CGC assigned to the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Copper Age and Modern Age?  Want to offer some books for sale but don't know where one age ends and another starts up.  

I have looked around the boards but can't seem to find a concise timeline to reference.  I could go best guess, I suppose.

look up the different ages under this cgc link  

https://www.cgccomics.com/resources/glossary/

GOLDEN AGE. CGC Registry term for a period of comic book publishing that ran from Action Comics #1 (June 1938) through 1959.
View the top Golden Age comic sets.

SILVER AGE. CGC Registry term for comics published 1960 through 1969.
View the top Silver Age comic sets.

BRONZE AGE. CGC Registry term for comics published 1970 through 1979.
View the top Bronze Age comic sets.

COPPER AGE. CGC Registry term for comics published 1980 through 1989.
View the top Copper Age comic sets.

MODERN AGE. CGC Registry term for comics published 1990 through the present.
View the top Modern Age comic sets.

[Robert Doggett]

You rock, Adamantium!  I looked but couldn't find anything!  I will write this down and post it physically in plain view somewhere near my monitor!

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Robert Doggett

[GACollectibles]

On 11/29/2021 at 3:23 PM, Robert Doggett said:

Age old question:  What time frames has CGC assigned to the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Copper Age and Modern Age?  Want to offer some books for sale but don't know where one age ends and another starts up.  

I have looked around the boards but can't seem to find a concise timeline to reference.  I could go best guess, I suppose.

Forum specific ages are clarified HERE in the Marketplace Rules (Rule #2), it allows for some overlap

"Opinions vary about when the bronze age ends and the copper age begins, so the moderation team considers 1980–1984 an overlap period; books from the start of 1980 through the end of 1984 are considered appropriate for either the G/S/B sub-forum or the C/M sub-forum. Books from before that period should be posted in G/S/B, and books from after that period should be posted in C/M. Books from any age are allowed in Mixed Age Threads and Misc."

Edited November 29, 2021 by GACollectibles
link added

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 11/29/2021 at 2:56 PM, GACollectibles said:

Forum specific ages are clarified HERE in the Marketplace Rules (Rule #2), it allows for some overlap

"Opinions vary about when the bronze age ends and the copper age begins, so the moderation team considers 1980–1984 an overlap period; books from the start of 1980 through the end of 1984 are considered appropriate for either the G/S/B sub-forum or the C/M sub-forum. Books from before that period should be posted in G/S/B, and books from after that period should be posted in C/M. Books from any age are allowed in Mixed Age Threads and Misc."

Ya for sale is probably a bit different, so use the link in this post @Robert Doggett

[valiantman]

On 11/29/2021 at 2:27 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

look up the different ages under this cgc link  

https://www.cgccomics.com/resources/glossary/

GOLDEN AGE. CGC Registry term for a period of comic book publishing that ran from Action Comics #1 (June 1938) through 1959.
View the top Golden Age comic sets.

SILVER AGE. CGC Registry term for comics published 1960 through 1969.
View the top Silver Age comic sets.

BRONZE AGE. CGC Registry term for comics published 1970 through 1979.
View the top Bronze Age comic sets.

COPPER AGE. CGC Registry term for comics published 1980 through 1989.
View the top Copper Age comic sets.

MODERN AGE. CGC Registry term for comics published 1990 through the present.
View the top Modern Age comic sets.

1930s comics
1940s comics
1950s comics
1960s comics
1970s comics
1980s comics
1990s comics
2000s comics
2010s comics
2020s comics

Why is this better?  Because it doesn't have people asking the same question about ages for the past 50 years.  

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 11/29/2021 at 3:35 PM, valiantman said:

1930s comics
1940s comics
1950s comics
1960s comics
1970s comics
1980s comics
1990s comics
2000s comics
2010s comics
2020s comics

Why is this better?  Because it doesn't have people asking the same question about ages for the past 50 years.  

Ya I feel bad, cause I was just trying to give a "cgc definition", yet even that varies.

Still a general idear  is better than no eye deer, there is a dad joke

 

[ADAMANTIUM]

Ha, just hope I helped. 

[PopKulture]

On 11/29/2021 at 2:27 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

GOLDEN AGE. CGC Registry term for a period of comic book publishing that ran from Action Comics #1 (June 1938) through 1959.

Pretty lazy parameters here. Showcase 4 and Challengers of the Unknown 1 are both golden age books? 

It's almost as bad as saying golden age comics are anything with a 10-cent cover price; silver age comics have a 12-cent cover price; bronze age books start with a 15-cent cover price...   

[JazzMan]

Modern age is going on almost 32 years.  Isn't it time to sub divide that era, too?

[MattTheDuck]

I would look at these more as terms of art or "as a general rule" rather than being hard and fast.  As noted, the sales forums can consider 1980-1984 as part of the Bronze Age.  Also, the Silver Age is defined elsewhere as running back into the mid-50s.

[Randall Dowling]

On 11/29/2021 at 4:18 PM, PopKulture said:

Pretty lazy parameters here. Showcase 4 and Challengers of the Unknown 1 are both golden age books? 

It's almost as bad as saying golden age comics are anything with a 10-cent cover price; silver age comics have a 12-cent cover price; bronze age books start with a 15-cent cover price...   

Remember when the debate was over which was the first SA book- Detective 225 or Showcase 4?  I still think one of those 2 is the best dividing point as the resurgence of super-heroes that would continue as the dominant genre in comics to the current day.  I tend to like GL 76 as the start of the bronze age as it introduced serious themes that were grittier into comics and changed the tone from that point on.  

[PopKulture]

On 11/29/2021 at 4:29 PM, Randall Dowling said:

Remember when the debate was over which was the first SA book- Detective 225 or Showcase 4?  I still think one of those 2 is the best dividing point as the resurgence of super-heroes that would continue as the dominant genre in comics to the current day.  I tend to like GL 76 as the start of the bronze age as it introduced serious themes that were grittier into comics and changed the tone from that point on.  

I like both Showcase 4 and GL 76 for the reasons you mention. Some people tag Conan 1 for the harbinger of bronze, but that follows GL 76 by a few months. No doubt Bronze started in that stretch in 1970. Books like Marvel's Spoof 1 and Super DC Giant Love 1970 reek early bronze, as do all that Adams Batman and Detective work, as well as stories by the like of Wrightson appearing in titles like Chamber of Darkness. 

[Ken Aldred]

On 11/29/2021 at 10:18 PM, PopKulture said:

Pretty lazy parameters here. Showcase 4 and Challengers of the Unknown 1 are both golden age books? 

It's almost as bad as saying golden age comics are anything with a 10-cent cover price; silver age comics have a 12-cent cover price; bronze age books start with a 15-cent cover price...   

I was surprised by the Golden Age range, as that has been extended quite a bit by merging previous definitions of late 30s-to-end 40s Golden Age + early-to-mid 50s Atom Age + early, post Showcase 4 Silver Age.

 

[KirbyJack]

Yeah, Having the late 50s in Gold is just plain wrong. Flash 105 Gold? No.

[namisgr]

In terms of conducting buying and selling on the CGC boards, I'm just one seller, but I prefer flexibility.  Sometimes people have for sale a grouping of books that straddle the traditional boundaries of comic ages.  Other times they have a grouping mostly from one age, but a couple of additional items that fit thematically in the sale but come from a different age.  It usually makes better sense and produces a better sale when an entire grouping made either on the basis of age or theme can be listed together in a single sales sub-forum.

The goal is certainly not to re-write the history of comic book ages, but to make things more beneficial for sellers and their prospective customers.  And with that in mind, I personally favor continuing to keep a single sub-forum for listing Gold, Silver, and Bronze comics.  Sellers are for the most part very good at identifying the ages of the comics they intend to list for sale right upfront in their sales thread titles.

As for defining the ages for historical context, I continue to lean on the Overstreet Guide.  Yes, they've changed their cutoffs over the decades, but their guidelines have been used by most hobbyists since long before the advent of CGC, and should be considered more authoritative than CGC for at least that basis.

Edited November 30, 2021 by namisgr

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 11/29/2021 at 5:23 PM, JazzMan said:

Modern age is going on almost 32 years.  Isn't it time to sub divide that era, too?

I think so.

• The Golden Age ends in 1956.
• The Silver Age ends in 1970.
• End the Bronze Age at 1984.
• End the "Copper Age" at 1999.
• Make the Modern Age 21st Century.

[Crops068]

On 11/30/2021 at 8:03 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I think so.

• The Golden Age ends in 1956.
• The Silver Age ends in 1970.
• End the Bronze Age at 1984.
• End the "Copper Age" at 1999.
• Make the Modern Age 21st Century.

Spoiler

I have no real disagreement, just wanted to post that and your post seemed the best to do it to.

 

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 11/30/2021 at 9:37 AM, Crops068 said:

  Hide contents

I have no real disagreement, just wanted to post that and your post seemed the best to do it to.

 

[valiantman]

These arguments always remind me that there's always going to be a debate inside the community that makes zero sense to people outside the community.

The answer to "How far is it from Los Angeles to Miami?" is "about a 5 hour flight" or "about 40 hours driving" or "about 2,700 miles"... and those answers are ALL good enough unless you're in charge of the programming team that writes the code for Google maps.

Knowing that it's 2,732.741 miles from a particular building in Los Angeles to another particular building in Miami is what it sounds like when you guys want to talk about Showcase #4 is Silver, Showcase #3 isn't, Detective #225 is-but-isn't, but either way we know Detective #224 is Golden Age, and that building in Los Angeles has a west wall that's further from Miami than the east wall, so we need to really get more specific about this answer, right?  Don't we need to continue debating the Golden/Silver dividing line for each title (issue #3 = Golden, issue #4 = Silver, issue #224 = Golden, issue #225 = Silver) within each age for another 60 years?

No, we don't.

The Golden Age is the 1930s to the 1950s.

The Silver Age is the 1960s and probably started before in a few titles.

The Bronze age is the 1970s.

Debating how far it is from a particular brick in a particular wall on a particular side of a particular building to another particular brick on a particular wall on a particular side of another building is ridiculous.  Some of you have been arguing for decades. It will never end until you end it or die.  Let it die before you do.

Edited November 30, 2021 by valiantman