Thread 149027340

How does one define where one period for comics starts and where it ends? Is there a Dark Age inserted somewhere?

Ignore /co/. The "Ages" are abso-fucking-lutely NOT defined by DC continuity.

The Golden Age irrefutably begins with the first appearance of Superman. It ends sometime between 1945 and 1950, but it's hard to say when exactly.

The Silver Age irrefutably begins with the first appearance of Barry Allen. When it ends it hard to define. The earliest I've seen proposed is 1968 when Marvel expands their line and DC starts to move away from camp. The latest that I could see it being is with the revisions to the Comics Code Authority in the early 70s.

The Bronze Age, as far as I'm concerned, is cut and dried: The CCA revisions to the DC Implosion.

"Modern Age" is absolutely not a thing. Neither is "Dark Age" (regardless of what Morrison thinks).

>>149027340 (OP)
Golden Age: Starts with Superman. Ends sometime in the early 50s at the latest.

Silver Age: In full swing/peak by the 60s but built up throughout the mid/late 50s.

Bronze Age: 70s to early 80s, but establishes trends that last a lot longer (impractical costumes and topical references foremost)

Iron Age: Late 80s-Early 00s. Everyone goes through a dark age but some dark ages are darker than others.

Plastic Age: Mid 00s-Mid 10s. All those boomer favorites from the Silver Age are back, but with gratuitous sex and violence now!

Microplastic Age: Late 10s-current.

>>149027618
>an. It ends sometime between 1945 and 1950, but it's hard to say when exactly.
>The Silver Age irrefutably begins with the first appearance of Barry Allen.
There's anywhere between 11 to 6 years a gap between this, by your definition.

>>149027340 (OP)
superman late 70s early 90s
batman 80s and 90s
all ages irrellavant

>>149027340 (OP)
A comics dark age implies that things will get better after it

>>149028305
Correct.

>>149028424
What are you talking about?

>>149028469
A "dark age" refers to a "lost" period of a society or industry, or what have you, where much of the information and record of it is lost, whether due to poor record keeping or some other cause.

>>149027340 (OP)
Surely we've moved into a new age by now? Perhaps the Media Age with the slew of superhero films and they're big influence back on the comics.

>>149028626
Age names should be kept to a type of material. I liked the suggestion an anon made in a previous thread of the same topic calling the current era the "Plastic Age". Starting from the early-mid 2010's where the industry hard pivoted to catering to SJWs. For the 2000s I suggested the Lead Age since that era was still distinct from the 90s to the stagnaion of today.

>>149028722
Why ditch the metallic theme? There's still other materials like copper, steel, and aluminum.

>>149028541
>Correct.
So then what is between the Gold and Silver age?

>>149028722
That's not how the terminology works.

>>149028899
The period between the Gold and Silver Age.

>>149027340 (OP)
Some of the early ages were defined and talked about during the age itself, some of the ages were talked about and defined after the ages but ultimately it is just a conversation between creators, academics and fans. No one age will ever fit an entire scope of things because there is always exceptions to the rule.

People have tried to define a modern age further, a post modern age, a dark age, or simply the present with various arguments. I would say the modern age died somewhat during the 90s with the crash destroying comics as an American past time and the 00s were the attempt at a rebuild with the 10s having comics become overshadowed by every other form of media or manga.

>>149028852
Because the current era doesnt deserve a metal
>>149028944
whomp whomp

>>149028469
The DEI Age

>>149027340 (OP)
The peak of the superhero genre happened from the early 80s though the early 90s. Call it the Renaissance. From there, it got progressively worse. I'm waiting on an Enlightenment now.

>>149027340 (OP)
The ages are all loosly 15 years.
Golden Age = 1938-1956
Silver Age = 1956-1970
Bronze Age = 1970-1985

>Is there a Dark Age inserted somewhere?
Marvel considers the start of the modern age when Marvel Knights launched in 1998 so logically
Dark Age = 1985-1998

Following the usual pattern it makes sense to set the next age transition at the launch of All-New, All-Different Marvel which was in 2015 so
Modern Age = 1998-2015
LGBTPQ+ Age = 2015-*

>>149030365
>The peak of the superhero genre
>the early 90s

You're pushing it.

>>149030425
This entire post is inaccurate.

>>149028194
>>149030425
I think the post Bronze Age 80s through to the end of the 90s should be at least 3 smaller ages, I'd split it into a (thematically) Dark Age of the mid to late 80s, with the British Invasion and Superhero Comics Not Just For Kids, an Extreme Age (Chromium Age?) in the early to mid 90s with the rise of Image and the star artist-driven books, and a separate age in the later 90s that was more of a retro- and nostalgia-based reaction against the excesses of the previous two eras, and Marvel in particular playing it safe because of their bankruptcy.

If there was a Dark Age in the 80s, 2001-2012 was the Edge Age, the current Dung Age that comics are stuck in really took off around 2012-2013.

>>149028469
It was dark because every neckbeard writer decided putting using rape and gore as often as possible made their works more mature

>>149028626
I agree somewhere around the emergence of the MCU should divide the previous "Modern Age" and our current age
>>149028722
While this fits a theme I feel like it's limiting and also that it's revisionist. When I was a kid it was inarguable that the Dark Age existed, and honestly it seemed the theme was more one of declining innocence, quality or mindset than being centered around arbitrary metal. Gold was good because it was the best, the heyday, no school like the old school when they were inventing everything. Silver was silver because it was almost as good but could be quite wacky (though this is overstated as Spider-Man debuted in the Silver Age and there were plenty of "serious" comics still), Bronze was where things declined post-crises but we got a nice balance of optimistic with gritty. Racial commentary started making its way into stories, Green Arrow's sidekick got addicted to heroin, but Wolverine also fought a leprechaun. Dark Age went full on gritty with Black Suit Spidey, the Death of Superman, Batman becoming a sociopathic abuser with a BDSM Rei Ayanami sidekick, Liefeld and various muscle monstrosities that had names like Blood XXXtreme, and all the rape and gore comics before ewe settled into the previous Modern Age where people tried to walk it back but couldn't quite capture that previous optimism a d heroism.

I think it should be something like:
> Golden Age: Debut of Superman to the enacting of the Comics Code Authority
> Silver Age: The enacting of the CCA to 1970. Arguably with a period of lost years and an early silver age subcategory.
> Bronze Age: 1970; Jack Kirby leaves Marvel for DC, Superman's longtime Editor retires, Stan Lee defies the CCA by publishing an issue of Spider-Man which mentions recreational drugs effectively killing the code, and Gwen Stacy dies ushering in a new grittier era of comics. This last until 1986

>>149031546
> Dark Age: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen usher in a new, even darker age of comics featuring more overt sexuality, adult material, and often vulgarity (as well as Chrome halofoil covers!) This is further cemented by Crisis on Infinite Earth rewriting DC comics continuity forever, effectively divorcing the era from the Golden, Silver, and Bronze ages of comics. This lasts until 1996
> Post-Modern Age: Kingdom Come effectively deconstructs the last 10 years of comics, Hal Jordan becomes a hero again, and the comic crash of '96 creates a new era. This lasts until 2008
> Pander Age: Spider-Man sells his marriage and unborn child to Mephisto in a story that ends in January 2008, signalling the beginning of an era where creators purposely ruin characters to pander to an audience they view as less problematic than those who are currently reading comics. 2008 also marks the beginning of the MCU with the debut of Iron Man beginning a new era and a type of pandering to normies never previously seen with comics.

>>149031546
>When I was a kid it was inarguable that the Dark Age existed

No, it wasn't.

>>149031546
>>149031550
This is pure revisionism.

>>149027340 (OP)
A bit ago I was working on a truncated comics history around the Ages using this as reference
https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/O3XCEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

>>149031997
And here's where I stopped giving a shit. Need to get back to finishing this thing.

>>149031978
>>149031984
>>149031997
>>149032019
I like

>Victorian Age (1842–1897)
>Platinum Age (1897–1938)
>Golden Age (1938–1956)
>Silver Age (1956–1970)
>Bronze Age (1970–1986)
>Dark Age (1986–1991)
>Extreme age (1991-1997)
>Event (decompressive) age (1997-2011)
>Synergy age (2011-2019)
>Multiverse fatigue and multiple version of the same hero faituge age(2020-2027)

>>149033415
> Multiverse fatigue
This has more to do with the adaptations than the comics themselves.DC multiverses were way more prominent in the 70s and early 80s.

>>149033415
>Multiverse fatigue
It's everything fatigue. Superhero families, events, evil Superman, universe restarts, etc.

>>149033415
>Victorian Age (1842–1897)
How is it notable enough for distinction from the previous years?

>>149027340 (OP)
You don't.

>>149036621
Why not

The Age heroes was when creators held the most power then Disney bought Marvel and with the rise of social media the Iron age began.

>>149027340 (OP)
Iron/Dark Age starts with Spider-Man #1 or Rai #0.
I don't think the next era really starts until the Iron-Man movie makes comics a testing ground for movie first.

>>149031978
>>149031984
>>149031997
>>149032019
awful

>using speculator terms to refer to industry history

FFS, /co/.

>>149031550
did the 'less problematic' crowd want peter to be alone? never heard that

>>149027340 (OP)
Golden Age: Before Superman began
Dark Age: Superman was created and all those capeshits that followed afterwards

>>149039542
you can be nicer than that, my friend, he put some work into that.

>>149027340 (OP)
Golden Age is Action Comic #1 in 1937 until the Comics Code was brought in to effect in the early 1950's. There's a little bit of grey area but the end of the golden age usually coincides with the Comics Code Authority becoming a thing and the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency effectively banning horror comic books in America until the 70's.

The Silver Age starts with Showcase #4 (Barry Allen - Flash) in 1956 technically but for my money the real meat of the Silver Age is Fantastic Four #1 and then Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1961 and 1962 respectively.

The Bronze Age starts in the early 1970's and I think you can point to three important books. Conan The Barbarian #1 in 1970, which was a huge hit and basically paved the way for the whole "Barbarian" gere that would sweep pop culture in the 70's and 80's. Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85–86 "Snowbirds Don't Fly" (Speedy Drug storyline) in 1971. I would say the Bronze Age is solidly a thing during "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" Spider-Man story in 1973.

Anybody got a name for that mini-age in comics from like around 1995/'96 to around 2002 that was very "we lust for the Gee Whiz nostalgia of yesteryear but understand the world is grim and gritty now" that was a total reaction to the Dark Age that was happening at the time?

I would include books like
>Mike Allred's Madman
>Kurt Busiek's Astro City and run on The Avengers with George Perez
>Mark Waid and Alex Ross's Kingdom Come
>James Robinson's Starman
>Alan Moore's America's Best Comics line especially Tom Strong

>>149040744
They're just 90s-00s comics.

You guys are overthinking this.