During approximately the first 15 years of this period, many comic book characters were redesigned, creators gained prominence in the industry, independent comics flourished, and larger publishing houses. Golden age comics public domain comic books collectible. In june of 1938, national allied publications began a new comicbook series, featuring several different heroes. A new character created by two young men from cleveland was featured on the cover. They became widespread and popular and many still popular comic book icons made their debut, beginning in the mid 1930s and ending around the mid1950s. Flashback golden age comic reprints comic books all regular issues are out of stock. Dropping literally out of the sky to kick off the golden age, superman represents the comic book origin story. With the exception of the beginning of the golden age and the beginning of the silver age, little consensus exists on startingending dates. The golden age of comic books useful notes tv tropes.
Money back guarantee ensures you receive the item you ordered or get your money back. Pregolden age 193338 the birth of the modern comic book. The dark age 19801993 unlike the actual dark ages, this era was where comic books achieved enlightenment. This timeline presents milestones, trends, and pivotal events that defined the comics medium during each of these eras. The golden age was a magical time for comic books, as superheroes from many different companies fought the axis during world war ii, but, like all good things, it came to an end about 1949, as most of the superhero titles fell victim to changing public tastes and cancellation. Comic books are a reflection of modern society, so as society changed, so did the comic book plots, characters and themes.
The golden age of comic books blog and podcast home facebook. Overstreet, the overstreet comic book price guide, published annually. The hardships of being a superhero by howard siegel. I imagine most people say this age runs until 1986, a watershed year in comics. Senate held hearings to investigate werthams claims. Created by jerry siegel and joe shuster, superman is possibly the most recognizable comic book character to this day. Our contributor found an unusual 1950s comic book at an auction, titled negro romance this was the golden age of comic books, when americans voraciously consumed stories about. The goal was identifying golden age comic books 19371949 with the most impressive covers.
The importance of looking at comic books for understanding science in popular. Collecting comic books from golden age including tricks, tips and things to look for in this free video series on collecting antiques brought to you by an antiques store owner. Scroll down to add issues to your want list and well email you when they arrive view pictures of their covers. A brief history of comic books the pioneer 15001828, victorian 18281883 and platinum 18831938 ages please note. This is the facebook page for bill jourdains golden age of comic books blog and podcast. After the war, sales dropped dramatically and then continued to slide down throughout the 1950s. Platinum age 18971937, golden age 19381947, atomic age 19481955.
Modern cultural logic regards comic books as a childrens medium, a decidedly minor facet of american popular culture. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. I have a collection of old comic books ranging from superman to iron man, years ranging from 1967 to 1990i am needing to know how much they are worthi also have a marvel transformers head masters vol. This category collects materials related to the golden age of comic books, circa 19381955. Shortlived titles of the golden age shortlived titles of the golden age 3 3. Two of the most common are androids and heroes that needed to convince someone close, or the public at large, that their heroic persona and their alter ego were in fact different people. African american comic book history detectives pbs. Shortlived titles of the golden age cgc comic book. In june of 1938, national allied publications began a new comic book series, featuring several different heroes.
The history of comic books may seem like a series of articles on comic books, but it shows the infectious nature of heroes. In that year, dc swept away the vestiges of the silverbronze ages with crisis on infinite earths, frank miller redefined batman with the dark knight returns, and alan moore and dave gibbons did watchmen. Flashback golden age comic reprints comic books for sale. The 100 most influential pages in comic book history vulture. The darts history sounds less like an origin story and more like a test to see if 1940s comic book publishers were even capable of rejecting ideas. The following period, the silver age, goes from 1956 to early 1970s. The superhero archetype was created and many wellknown characters were introduced, including superman, batman, captain marvel, captain america, and wonder. There is no single event that comic experts agree signified the start of the bronze age, though at the same time there was a marked change in the overall tone of many popular books in the early 70s that many consider to herald the start. The origins and early adventures of the classic superheroes of the comic books by. Dec 30, 2005 the standard guide to golden age comics is the 2006 edition from krause publications, who have been publishing outstanding books about collectibles for many years. Finally, though it wasnt produced during the bronze age, the recent and ongoing the dark age storyline in kurt busiek and brent andersons astro city is a layered, incisive homage to. The golden age for comic books is known for plots that dont appear in modern day comics. The format is another defining characteristic of the golden age of comics, one which would put the beginning of this era quite earlier, in 1933.
Reprints of classic comic books and strips of yesteryear, alongside articles about comics history. Representations of american culture from the great depression to the cold war before beginning a historical study of comic books, it is necessary to shed our modern perception of the medium. Until then, the golden age s uncomplicated right and wrong still echoed if just subtly updated to suit the times. Comics historians divide the history of american comic books into ages. Following world war ii, the popularity of superheroes as comic protagonists was in decline and the major comic companies switched to a number of alternative genres such as horror, romance and crime. Zippo, microface, nightmare and sleepy, boy king and the giant, and twilight and snoopy art by. Welcome to cbh, today were talking about the 8 ages of comic books including the. Fredric wertham published seduction of the innocent, a book purporting that comic book reading causes juvenile delinquency. I had this book when i was a kid and remembered the photos of the old comic book covers superman, batman, wonder woman, the spectre, daredevil, blue beetle, green giant, captain marvel, green lantern and other golden age heroes from the world war ii era.
American comics historians generally divide 20thcentury american comics history chronologically into ages. Super heroes all died out between 1950 and 1955 with only superman, batman and wonder woman and a few smaller ones still being published. It concerns the golden age dc comics superheroes entering the 1950s and facing the advent of mccarthyism. It begins in ancient rome, where the gods give caius martius the secret of darting thru the air to battle evil. So a comic book might have an initial print run of 250,000. The first recorded use of the term golden age was by richard a. These comics, modeled on womens trueconfession pulps, offered something vital, and were part of a generation of comic books trying to age up. Jun 02, 2017 comic books are a reflection of modern society, so as society changed, so did the comic book plots, characters and themes. Golden age superhero stories, including ajax the sun man by otto binder.
Labonog, keston fulcher, robert cat conrad, and matt nelson. These events tended to wipe the slate clean and signal that comics had grown up. During this time, modern comic books were first published and. The amazing stylistic history of comic books 99designs. That year saw the introduction of the comic format we know today which fill the. Even as the first small print run of the golden age comic book index was being delivered to a small number of friends and collaborators, howard keltners fragile health failed him. Golden age experts of the collectors society participated in the heritage auctionscertified guaranty company poll, conducted by society members benjamin j. A short history of censorship in comics and the cbldf. The most collectible comics from the golden age are always issue number one of a title. Superhero, superhero, a fictional herowidely popularized in comic books. Most valuable comic books comic book values comic book.
The middle decade of the last century was not a good one for the comics industry. During this time, modern comic books were first published and enjoyed a surge of popularity. The 8 ages of comic books by alex grand comic book. Mar 02, 2016 as you can see, comic books have gone through a clear evolutionary path to get us to where we are today. Out of the ashes of the golden age, the atomic age was born. The golden age of comic books was a period in the history of american comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s. Subcategories this category has the following 53 subcategories, out of 53 total. A book i would recommend for the artwork alone, the text is short but revealing. The book chronicles the early years of the comic book publisher, which has brought the world batman, superman and wonder woman, with followup volumes covering the rest of the companys history. Because of this, comic books are generally categorized into different ages based on when they were published. However, through this period comic books based on the superman, batman, and wonder woman characters retained a modest audience. See more ideas about comics, golden age and comic covers. As you can see, comic books have gone through a clear evolutionary path to get us to where we are today.
This publication redefined the idea of comics from features to be found on the pages of the newspaper to stand alone. Jan 21, 2008 collecting comic books from golden age including tricks, tips and things to look for in this free video series on collecting antiques brought to you by an antiques store owner. See more ideas about comic book collection, comics and golden age. These eras include the golden age 19381950, the silver age 19561970, the bronze age 19701985, and the modern age 1985present.
The runaway success of the new flash marked a vital moment in comicbook history. The modern comic book began with the classic superhero comic. Sparkle city comics is most interested in purchasing comic books pre1985, so if youre interested in selling your golden age, silver age or bronze age comics, give us a call at 8007439205. This guide to strictly the golden age of comics covers titles from 1938 to 1956 with some 30,000 prices and is edited by alex malloy and stuart wells iii, the same men who edit the. The silver age of comics refers to an era that ran from 1956 to the early 1970s.
The golden age is a 1993 fourissue elseworlds comic book miniseries by writer james robinson and artist paul smith. Advancement of storytelling and legal lessons in early comic strips by alex grand chester goulds dick tracy and his 1930s era war on crime by alex. The golden age of comic books blog and podcast home. It is to date, according to most sources, the most highly valued comic book, at one time selling for usd 1. Golden age 19381956 silver age 19561970 bronze age 19701985 modern age 1985present the modern age of. In this article, all dates given for various ages are approximate. Claiming to be a new kind of comic book, the mad hatter fought crime while often composing rhymes. The golden age of comic books describes an era of american comic books from 1938 to 1956. The modern age of comic books is a period in the history of american superhero comic books which is generally considered to have begun in the mid1980s and continues through the present day. The golden age of comics comics have been in existence since the end of the 19th century, but it was after the depression that the popularity of newspaper cartoons expanded into a major industry. Reprints, golden age 193855, comics, collectibles picclick. Its insane to see how much the comic book world has changed for the better, especially for creatorowned and new ideas, he says.
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