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Amazing Spider-Man Collecting Thread!
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Started by Point Five,

16,040 posts in this topic

trmoore54

trmoore54

Posted
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On 9/2/2024 at 4:58 AM, Webhead2018 said:

I asked that awhile back. Where is the breakdown to each age. I took always thought end of silver was death of Gwen.

Informally most recognize the Bronze Age as 1970 - 1985.  And thus for all comics it would be DEC 1969 issue. That being said many acknowledge a floating SA end/BA beginning depending on the arc of the book (writer(s)/artist/characters/story line(s)/etc)...as has been discussed here. 2c

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sledgehammer

sledgehammer

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Posted

I've always thought that the last 15 cent cover makes perfect sense, but having #100 being the transition to bronze, and being either age, seems fine to me.

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sledgehammer

sledgehammer

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I hear you. I've always thought of ASM 144, and the intoduction of Gwen's clone, as the beginning of the Nonsense Age.

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Lee Enterprises

Lee Enterprises

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For the purpose of building competitive sets within the CGC Comics Registry, CGC categorizes the various ages this way when we're registering a particular book into a defined set (with fairly well recognized key turning point issues noted). 

Golden Age 1938 - 1955 (Marvel) / 1956 (DC) (Action Comics #1 marked the beginning of the GA.)

Silver Age 1956 - 1969 (Showcase #4 marked the beginning of the SA in September/October of 1956 with a 7/5/56 release date.)

Bronze Age 1970 - 1979 (Green Lantern #76 marked the beginning of the BA.)

Copper Age 1980 - 1989 (There seems to be a much fuzzier boundary from Bronze to Copper that many people point out in this discussion.)

Modern Age 1990 - present (Spider-Man #1 from 1990 was a defining comic at the beginning of the Modern Age)

I'm most familiar with these "definitions" from adding to my registry sets. I definitely hear your points related to artists ending their run (like Kirby in FF) and storyline turning points (like the death of Gwen in ASM). 

With the Copper Age, a lot of the turning point issues were around 1984 such as the various first appearances of Spider-Man's black costume and the introduction of the TMNT. 

Then, there's the issue of the Modern Age going on now for 30+ years and counting. 

This is a debate that will probably never end, but it's still fun to discuss and hear different perspectives. 

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pmpknface

pmpknface

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Posted
On 9/2/2024 at 12:36 PM, Lee Enterprises said:

For the purpose of building competitive sets within the CGC Comics Registry, CGC categorizes the various ages this way when we're registering a particular book into a defined set (with fairly well recognized key turning point issues noted). 

Golden Age 1938 - 1955 (Marvel) / 1956 (DC) (Action Comics #1 marked the beginning of the GA.)

Silver Age 1956 - 1969 (Showcase #4 marked the beginning of the SA in September/October of 1956 with a 7/5/56 release date.)

Bronze Age 1970 - 1979 (Green Lantern #76 marked the beginning of the BA.)

Copper Age 1980 - 1989 (There seems to be a much fuzzier boundary from Bronze to Copper that many people point out in this discussion.)

Modern Age 1990 - present (Spider-Man #1 from 1990 was a defining comic at the beginning of the Modern Age)

I'm most familiar with these "definitions" from adding to my registry sets. I definitely hear your points related to artists ending their run (like Kirby in FF) and storyline turning points (like the death of Gwen in ASM). 

With the Copper Age, a lot of the turning point issues were around 1984 such as the various first appearances of Spider-Man's black costume and the introduction of the TMNT. 

Then, there's the issue of the Modern Age going on now for 30+ years and counting. 

This is a debate that will probably never end, but it's still fun to discuss and hear different perspectives. 

All good stuff.  Generally, I agree with it - especially if you are trying to paint broad strokes over the entire publishing world.  However I believe that specific titles have their own transition period.  For example, the silver age Flash may work for that character or even DC, but has no bearing on what Atlas / Marvel was doing.  

I've weighed in on this earlier, so this will be it.  Ok, here's the speech...

When it comes down to titles and nailing down a specific issue from one age to the next it almost always gets really difficult.  What I believe is that instead of specific issues it's more like this:

image.png.2bdf53211cfaa606f9a57d6fe40f6351.png

It starts out in one era, and slowly moves to the next.  Before you know it, you've moved over into the next "age" of comics.  So with ASM maybe it started out with the death of Cap. Stacey, then the drug issues, price changes happen, the books get narrower, creative teams change, and all of a sudden Gwen dies and there we are!  This is what I think makes decisions like this so hard.  We all have our own interpretation of which of the changes designate a cross-over into a new era.  

Keeping this to just ASM, though..  I recall hearing a long time ago about the death of Gwen being a turning point too.  It was a sort of an "end to an innocence" age with a main reoccurring character being killed.  However looking at things now I believe that to be a bit too late and likely (if using the chart above) firmly in the solid dark area, beginning that "color" for the next decade or so.  

With all of that said, and us having to take 1 issue to flip over to the Bronze ASM thread I'm sticking with #100.  Heck, I'd even make it a last post here and a first post there!  :D 

In any case, that's my $.02 but I'll go along with the group.  Thanks for listening!  :foryou:

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Lee Enterprises

Lee Enterprises

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On 9/2/2024 at 1:52 PM, pmpknface said:

All good stuff.  Generally, I agree with it - especially if you are trying to paint broad strokes over the entire publishing world.  However I believe that specific titles have their own transition period.  For example, the silver age Flash may work for that character or even DC, but has no bearing on what Atlas / Marvel was doing.  

I've weighed in on this earlier, so this will be it.  Ok, here's the speech...

When it comes down to titles and nailing down a specific issue from one age to the next it almost always gets really difficult.  What I believe is that instead of specific issues it's more like this:

image.png.2bdf53211cfaa606f9a57d6fe40f6351.png

It starts out in one era, and slowly moves to the next.  Before you know it, you've moved over into the next "age" of comics.  So with ASM maybe it started out with the death of Cap. Stacey, then the drug issues, price changes happen, the books get narrower, creative teams change, and all of a sudden Gwen dies and there we are!  This is what I think makes decisions like this so hard.  We all have our own interpretation of which of the changes designate a cross-over into a new era.  

Keeping this to just ASM, though..  I recall hearing a long time ago about the death of Gwen being a turning point too.  It was a sort of an "end to an innocence" age with a main reoccurring character being killed.  However looking at things now I believe that to be a bit too late and likely (if using the chart above) firmly in the solid dark area, beginning that "color" for the next decade or so.  

With all of that said, and us having to take 1 issue to flip over to the Bronze ASM thread I'm sticking with #100.  Heck, I'd even make it a last post here and a first post there!  :D 

In any case, that's my $.02 but I'll go along with the group.  Thanks for listening!  :foryou:

Those are good points. It's pretty clear that the industry has used the progression of DC characters and storylines as the standard for defining the parameters of the Golden, Silver and Bronze ages. I have to admit that I've always been a Marvel guy at heart (albeit with many DC characters tucked away in there too) so I'm open to all perspectives on this. 

I'm ok with going to #100 on this thread and then switching to the Bronze ASM thread. That's a nice clean transition point. You normally beat us all to the first daily post :Rocket:so just take the lead and give us a reminder that you're making the shift.  

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pmpknface

pmpknface

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The march toward #100 continues!!!

Time to hop into action with the Kangaroo!  Ok... maybe they took the animal-themed villains a bit to far here, but what the hey - Spidey has the best gallery of baddies in comics and one of the most colorful too.  ASM #81:

ASM_81a.jpg

Edited by pmpknface
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