Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login
The John Byrne Forum MOBILE
Byrne Robotics | The John Byrne Forum << Prev Page of 2
Topic: Designation Of Comic Book Ages Post Reply | Post New Topic
Author
Message
Phil Geiger
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 08 May 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 444
Posted: 12 February 2018 at 6:01pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Defining comic book Ages down to individual issues or specific dates seems to me very much like the need for every issue of a title needing to fit into a tight continuity and never forgotten. Very fan driven. I don't think it's that important to be that precise and I only use the terms as a general reference to when a book came out or a time frame in the industry. But then, I grew up in comic's Silver Age, before we had to have everything defined and documented to the nth degree. You know, back in the historical Dark Age.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
Posted: 12 February 2018 at 6:50pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

I agree that there is inevitably overlap between these times and that it is useless to try to determine absolutes with so many subjective factors in play. 

I do think, however, that while determining the starting points of certain periods is unproductive, there are eventually points where you have to say, "This can no longer be from the previous era. It has to be from the later one." Kurt Busiek's suggestion that the snapping of Gwen Stacy's neck put an end to the Silver Age is like that. I don't believe you can say that any Marvel moment after that point happened in the Silver Age. While a great deal of discussion can take place as to what other events may have presaged that; Lee's departure from Marvel editorial, Kirby's arrival at DC; "Kryptonite No More;" the dismissal of DC's old guard writers... There are any number of possible starting lines, but at a certain point, one does have to acknowledge, looking back, that the change has taken place; that a point of no return has been passed.

At a back issue retailer where I used to work, the line was drawn at the move to 20 cents on the cover. Lots of discussion can be held as to events before that, but it was maintained that there was no such thing as a regular-sized, 20 cent Silver Age book. It had to be Bronze. Conversely, anything before that had to be seen as Silver. Since sales were often predicated upon such demarcations, the line had to be drawn somewhere and that's where it fell.

As a fan, I enjoy the ambiguity of such questions. Julius Schwartz liked to tweak fans who maintained that the Silver Age began with Barry Allen's debut in Showcase #4. What about J'onn J'onzz? He was a League member and he began as a back-up in Detective #255. Before that, there was a Detective Comics story in which Batman teamed up with a Martian law enforcement officer with similar coloring and powers. If J'onn had a predecessor, why wouldn't the whole thing start with him? Or with Captain Comet, a mutant spaceman who was later treated as a super-hero in DC books? He began in 1951...

For me, it's Showcase #4. That was the domino that started all of the others in motion. J'onn J'onzz wasn't a super-hero to begin with. He was a gimmick detective like Roy Raymond, TV Detective or Pow-Wow Smith, Indian Lawman. He was a flatfoot with a badge and a trick up his sleeve; not a super-hero. Nothing came of his debut. The character wasn't treated as a super-hero until the JLA came about and J'onn's strip moved over into the House of Mystery. If J'onn doesn't count, then neither does his predecessor. Captain Comet was a generic spaceman with a gimmick, not a super-hero. He didn't kick off anything else and his inclusion later.in super-hero stories was a nostalgic sop more than anything else. 

But it's not up to me, and so the debate rages on... Which is fine. I agree that some things don't need to be nailed down. Unless you're pulling books to be included in this month's Bronze Age Specials sale, and then, yes, you have to pay close attention to that cover price...


Edited by Brian Hague on 12 February 2018 at 6:51pm
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Eric Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2280
Posted: 12 February 2018 at 8:42pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I don't think any one issue at any one company can be the dividing line between ages.  It has to be a general feeling, crossing company lines and also affecting or being affected by the fans.  The Silver Age may have gotten rolling with SHOWCASE #4, but, Captain Comet and J'onn J'onzz were building blocks.

The Silver Age (at DC) and the Marvel Age may have coincided but they felt different at the two companies.  Still, we include the Marvel Age within the Silver Age as shorthand and because both were the age of new beginnings and the return of super-heroes.  DC's Silver Age started in the mid-50's, but the Marvel Age definitely started in 1961 with FANTASTIC FOUR #1.  But not much was happening at Marvel/Atlas before then so we throw those years in with the Marvel Age and call it all Marvel's Silver Age.

Skipping to the Dark Age, Brian Hague's account above of all the dark things happening all across the industry is right on target and shows that the "spreading darkness" was more of a movement than a specific plan of any particular company.

There's a book in all this!


Edited by Eric Jansen on 12 February 2018 at 8:44pm
Back to Top profile | search
 
Jason Larouse
Byrne Robotics Member


Joined: 10 May 2011
Posts: 515
Posted: 12 February 2018 at 9:16pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

In terms of the "modern age" question I think you can make a pretty solid argument that a new age started around 2000 when Joe Q took over Marvel and writing for the trade became a big thing. There's definitely a difference between the way comics read post-2000 than in the 90s and mid-late 80s.   
Back to Top profile | search
 

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login
If you are not already registered you must first register

<< Prev Page of 2
  Post Reply | Post New Topic |

Forum Jump

 Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login

You are currently viewing the MOBILE version of the site.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL SITE