Posted: 12 February 2018 at 6:50pm | IP Logged | 2
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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
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