I also wonder what people think is an END of such ages. Was there a book, an event, or even a change of creators that indicated that the age was over?

What do you think? We all know about the Golden age, the Silver Age, and the Bronze ages. What about the Marvel age? The Tin age? The Grim and Gritty/Glum and Dull age?

Was there a Batman age? A Superman or Spider-Man age?

I'm not talking about a flash in the pan that lasted a month or two. I'm talking about a significant amount of time. For example... some people think that the Golden Age started with Action Comics #1 and ended with All-Star comics #57. Do you agree? Or did it end with Marvel Family #89?

I reckon you see what I mean. Let us know what you think about these, and when these eras covered. Even name some ages that you think about that others might not, e.g., the Tin age (after the Bronze age.)

The Byrne Age at Marvel was from 1977 - 1986.

Though his artwork was featured prominently in Marvel Team Up and Iron Fist, it wasn't until he jumped on board the All-New All-Different X-Men (and a little 3-parter in the Avengers around the same time) that his work shot through the roof. 

I remember as a kid, my little brother and I would have debates of who was the better artist. Being a big fan of George Perez at the time, I always choose him. My brother would state JB. I held that belief until late summer/early fall of 1979.

JB was drawing 3 books at that time, X-MEN, AVENGERS, and FANTASTIC FOUR. I then made the confession that if someone is doing the art for 3 books in one month, they have to be damn good.

My 14 y/o self yielded to my brother and declared JB the better artist.

I love Perez' work, but JB holds the crown.

To make clear, I'm not saying all of these comics are of equal quality. I'm just saying comics in these decades were often characterized by either -- or a combination of -- horror for mature readers only, more violence than Comics Code approved titles had ever allowed for, "superhero revisionism" (or "deconstruction," which I don't think is the right word), cynicism or nihilism, explicitly political characters with powers tackling real-world issues (which tends towards "darkness" because the real world is full unjustifiable violence and death), badly written "superheroes" who aren't heroic...hell, Wolverine and the Punisher, both killers, as "breakout" characters...

I don't know what Age we're living in now. I've seen "Modern" but that's nonsense -- were 20th century comics "pre-modern"? "The Age of Decline" is more like it, as fewer an fewer people buy comics in their traditional format all the time. 

And while I still like WATCHMEN -- or at least I did when I last read it in 2009 before the awful movie came out -- its influence has been almost universally bad. IDENTITY CRISIS, SUPREME POWER, CIVIL WAR, most of DC's New 52 titles -- these comics should never have been published. The best thing I can say about them is that they're not at all enjoyable to read. 

On the other hand, while I'm still not sure if DOOMSDAY CLOCK was a good idea -- bringing Dr. Manhattan et al into the DC Multiverse still feels kinda wrong -- I like that Geoff Johns wrote a real rebuttal to WATCHMEN. Hope and altruism beat cynicism and nihilism. Superman, more than any other costumed and/or superpowered character, is the one that humanity needs and will always need. I dig it. 

Agree.

If Johns wants to prove that hope and altruism beats cynicism and nihilism he should write a great Superman story (he certainly had his fair amount of opportunities!) not write a "rebuttal" to a 35 year old comic.

I guess the counter-argument to your point of view is that the shadow of WATCHMEN has screwed up mainstream superhero comics for too long -- especially DC comics in the 21st century. (DOOMSDAY CLOCK really was a statement that "The New 52 was a bad idea" -- that DC published it at all surprises me, somewhat. It really was a middle finger to Dan DiDio and his ideas.)

It also explained, in story, why the mainstream DC Universe has numerous reboots, i.e. multiple timelines. They "live" and "die" (or, really, "live on" as parallel universes) and get "replaced" as the first appearance of Superman keeps getting pushed further and further into the future.

Honestly, I enjoyed DOOMSDAY CLOCK more than WATCHMEN, despite the constant delays. But I'm a sucker for "why Superman will always matter" stories. 

I don't agree, but it's a subjective thing. His "Secret Origin was objectively terrible, though. The only significant Superman story IMHO of the "modern era" or whatever was Morrison's ALL STAR SUPERMAN. And in the "rebuttal" vein (still a pointless exercise) "What's so funny about truth, justice and the american way?" was much better.

To think Geoff Johns was a rebel of sorts in that era is wishful thinking at best. He was there all the way, in a position of power. If he didn't agree with the direction he should've resigned. He did the opposite, endorsed it, and wrote the most offensive reboots. No way around that.

Also, if he were fighting "Didio and his ideas" where the heck does the WATCHMEN thing come from? No correlation.

Apart from the obvious infatuation and love/hate relationship Johns has with every comic Alan Moore ever wrote (Morrison also guilty of this). 

LET GO.