Comic Book Ages – Part III

Categories: The Spotlight|Published On: October 17, 2003|Views: 11|

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The feedback continues to come in, and unless you read it you won’t believe
the degree of thought some folks have put into it.

In the July 18
Scoop (and in The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #33), we
started a discussion about comic book ages. Now we’re getting all sorts of great
input from collectors, dealers and other enthusiasts. We’ll be featuring the
feedback here and in Overstreet’s Comic Price Review.

If you’d
like to chime in with your thoughts, please do! Just e-mail feedback@gemstonepub.com
with “Comic Book Ages” in the subject line.

As it stands, here’s our
line-up:

1828-1882 Victorian Age
1883-1938 Platinum Age
1938-1945
Golden Age
1946-1956 Atom Age
1956-1971 Silver Age
1971-1985 Bronze
Age
1986-1992 Copper (DC’s Crisis kicks off new era)
1992-1999 Chrome
(Image debuts)
2000-Present Modern

There’s still plenty of room for
debate, so don’t be shy. Now, onto the show!

From: Peter Coogan,
pcoogan@fontbonne.edu
To: feedback@gemstonepub.com
Subject: Comic Book
Ages

Here’s a bit from my dissertation, “The Secret Origin of the
Superhero: The Emergence of the Superhero Genre in America from Daniel Boone to
Batman” (Michigan State University, American Studies, 1992). This is from the
introduction to chapter nine, “The Evolution of the Superhero: the Ages and
Stages of Superhero Comics.”

Ever since the revival of the Flash in 1956,
comic book fans have use the concept of “ages” to distinguish periods of comic
book history that share a nexus of concerns, storytelling techniques, marketing
strategies, styles of art and writing, and approaches to genre conventions. A
general consensus regarding the names and starting and ending points of the ages
has emerged in the fan community, but any specific starting or ending point for
a given age is argumentative and somewhat arbitrary. The following list is my
own but is based upon the existing consensus. Because the ages of superhero
comics fit neatly with the stages of genre evolution laid out by Thomas Schatz
in Hollywood Genres (p. 37-38), I have included the names for those stages with
brief descriptions drawn from Schatz’s analysis. The names of the first and
last ages of superheroes are my own, as is the name of the final stage of genre
evolution (please note: the names of the ages are specific to superhero comics,
but the names of the stages apply to genres generally).

Antediluvian
Age/Pre-genre stage:
The genre’s conventions exist, but the genre has not
coalesced. The three main streams that led to the superhero are: the
science-fiction superman, Frankenstein, 1818; the dual-identity
avenger-vigilante, Nick of the Woods, 1837; and the pulp ubermensch,
Tarzan, 1912.

Golden Age/Experimental stage: The
conventions of the genre are isolated and established. Action Comics #1,
1938; the debut of Superman.

Silver Age/Classic stage: The
conventions reach “equilibrium” and are mutually understood by artists and
audience. Showcase #4, 1956; the first appearance of the new
Flash.

Bronze Age/Refinement stage: Certain formal and stylistic
details embellish the form. Teen Titans #32, 1971; the end of
relevance.

Iron Age/Baroque stage: The form and its embellishments
are accented to the point where they themselves become the “substance” or
“content” of the work. DC Comics Presents #26, 1980, the debut of the new
Teen Titans.

Renaissance Age/Reconstructive stage: The conventions
of the genre are reestablished and the cycle starts over. Justice League
#1
, 1987; the post-Crisis Justice League. This start date is the
least definite because the Iron Age continued in many series through the
1990s.

And here’s a bit on Schatz’s theory:

Thomas Schatz in
Hollywood Genres offers a four stage evolutionary cycle that can be applied to
nearly any genre:

a form passes through an experimental stage, during
which its conventions are isolated and established, a classic stage, in which
the conventions reach their “equilibrium” and are mutually understood by artist
and audience, [a stage] of refinement, during which certain formal and stylistic
details embellish the form, and finally a baroque (or ‘mannerist’ or
‘self-reflexive’) stage, when the form and its embellishments are accented to
the point where they themselves become the “substance” or “content” of the work
(37-38).

These stages fit neatly with the ages of superhero comics:
Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron. Genre, in this view, is a system of
interaction between the producers and audiences of a medium embodied in
privileged story forms in which basic social conflicts are narratively animated
and resolved. Genres evolve when the narrative resolution of social conflict no
longer holds true for the audience, which responds by not buying the product,
which in turn leads the producers to increase the level of complexity and
self-consciousness of the story formulas and conventions to satisfy the
audience. This “conversation” continues through the cycle of genre evolution
until it makes a complete round and a genre breaks down for both the producers
and the consumers. The conventions of the genre are then reconstructed and the
genre is made to work again (note-not every genre runs smoothly or evenly
through the cycle).

This evolution occurs due to “both internal (formal)
and external (cultural, thematic) factors” (Schatz 36). External factors
include large cultural movements that influence the way genre products are
received by their audiences, especially in terms of sophistication, themes
engaged, and character presentation. Internal factors reflect the degree of
formal transparency, that is the degree to which the genre products transmit and
reinforce the genre’s social message, i.e. its ideology. As a genre evolves, it
moves from formal transparency to opacity. In the beginning, “any stylistic
flourishes or formal self-consciousness will only impede the transmission of the
message,” but as the creators and audience become more familiar and comfortable
with the conventions of the genre, experimentation occurs and the conventions
are portrayed with increasing levels of complexity (Schatz 38).

We
begin the genre cycle by looking through the form as represented in the genre’s
conventions at the genre’s social message (transparency) and end by looking at
those conventions (opacity) “to examine and appreciate its structure and its
cultural appeal” (Schatz 38). In general, genres move from social to aesthetic
concerns, although both are present throughout the cycle.

Sincerely,
Dr. Peter Coogan
Writing Specialist
Kinkel
Center
Fontbonne University

From: Adams, Weldon
(Weldon.Adams@ppcnet.com)
To: feedback@gemstonepub.com
Subject: Comic
Book Ages

*MY* 2Cents.

1828-1899 Victorian Age
1900-1938
Platinum Age
1938-1945 Golden Age
1946-1956 Atomic Age
1956-1971
Silver Age
1971-1985 Bronze Age (catalyst: Amazing Spider-Man #96,
Drug issue.)
1986-1992 Copper Age (DC’s Crisis kicks off new
era)
1992-1999 Chrome Age (Image debuts) [Although I see the appropriateness
of “Chrome”, the ‘TIN Age’ or the ‘Nickel-Plated Age’ may be more
appropriate…]2000-Now: Modern Age

I suggest that ASM #96 is
a landmark issue in that it opened the door for the ‘Real World’ to come
back into the ‘Comic Book World.’ Finally, comics were allowed to be ‘relevant’
again, a term that DC would soon take to heart as well. The Green
Lantern/Green Arrow
run as DC would not have happened if not for this
issue. By affecting change in the major 2 publishers, this book changed the
industry.

An alternative book to mark the beginning of the Bronze Age
could be Jimmy Olsen #133 in October of 1970. The Fourth World series was
a major departure from the comics of the time. And the change in
appearance and style could not be more evident than by comparing Jimmy Olsen
#132 to Jimmy Olsen #133. As the saying goes, “This was not your father’s Jimmy
Olsen.” The impact of the Kirby Era at DC is arguable among comic fans, but I
doubt any could argue the importance of Amazing Spider-Man
#96
.

From: Wungai@aol.com
To:
feedback@gemstonepub.com
Subject: comic book ages

Hi,

I’m
still trying to make up my mind about the parameters of the various comic book
ages, having had my previously held positions affected by the recent TV special
on A&E, and discussions with my fellow members of Capa-Alpha and with Craig
Shutt, and by his recent series of articles in CBG, as well as the
articles in The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide.

I have come to
some conclusions, although I’m still open to being convinced by some differing
points of view.

What makes a new “Age” of comics begin or end? As for
the beginning, it should be something that happens to change a direction,
something that has enough influence to give momentum to something that creates
(or revives) an interest, something that is successful enough to be copied or
imitated. The ending, however, is not always as dramatic, sometimes just fading
or tailing off, sometimes just giving way to whatever replaces it, only
occasionally being marked by an important event or issue that demonstrates a
finality to something that preceded it.

Because of that, I believe that
Ages overlap, so that a new one may start before the old one is completely gone,
and also that preliminary signs, precursors, if you will, appear during the
final stages of the old Age, but before the new one has begun (and therefore are
definitely not the “first issues” of the new Age because they weren’t important
enough in themselves to begin it), and can retroactively be seen to fit more
appropriately with the new one.

So, although I approve of the name
Platinum Age, since the name suggests, as the recording industry already
acknowledges, something rarer and more valuable than gold, and I believe the
Victorian Age, as a name for pre-1900 material, is appropriate (and one I’m
interested in reading more about and studying further), I find the name Atomic
Age unnecessary. It seems just a transitional time in which the Golden Age
eventually fades and makes way for the Silver, rather than any actual “Age”
begun by any particular issue or event or characterized by any particular type
of comic. An event in the “real” world, like the first atomic explosion, isn’t
necessarily a sign of any new “Age” in comics.

I also believe there are
other “Ages” that overlap and have nothing to do directly with the ones we’re
most interested in. Our view is too limited in that it only describes
super-hero comic Ages. If you’re a humor, or western, or horror comic fan, your
Golden and Silver Ages, etc., legitimately begin and end with completely
different dates and issues than the ones we’re discussing. However, since it’s
super-hero comics that brought the hobby to its heights and even allowed it to
survive this long, that terminology will no doubt continue to dominate. But
perhaps as a courtesy to fans of other genres, dates and issues important in
their major eras should be listed within, or alongside the “traditional” ones.

Like most fans, I have no problem agreeing on the beginnings of the
Golden and Silver Ages, Action Comics #1 and Showcase #4,
respectively. But the Bronze and later Ages seem less well-defined. I have no
idea at all why the Gwen Stacy death issue, as outstanding as it may be in some
ways, should have any claim to being the basis for any new “Age.” On the other
hand, the renewed excitement that began with the renovation of Prof. X’s mutants
in Giant-Size X-Men #1 in summer 1975 seems a likely candidate for such a
landmark, as championed by Craig Shutt, an idea I first agreed with. But looking
more closely at the earlier Green Lantern/Green Arrow team-ups, I see
that as worthy of serious consideration, as possibly the beginning of stories
turning more toward real-world issues and not-quite-so-goodie-goodie heroes,
later further developed by Wolverine, Punisher, the grimmer Dark Knight Batman
and others. Conan is also claimed by some as a Bronze beginning, but the
barbarian and s&s genres seem less widespread in their influence.

Other possibilities, from a different viewpoint, are the first
creator-owned features, such as Star-Reach and Cerebus, which
culminate in the launching of Image and others some decades later, though they
may be just the “precursors” of that later era.

I see DC’s Crisis
as a definite landmark, but as the end of the previous era, with a new one
beginning with all the reboots that followed, at DC, and eventually elsewhere.

I don’t particularly like copper, or chrome (or iron, or any other
metal) as a title for recent Ages. I’m waiting to hear something better. As
for “Modern”, no Age should ever be named that permanently, since eventually it
won’t be modern anymore. How about “current”, with a small “c”, instead, until
it acquires a name, which usually happens in hindsight.

I’m sure I’ll
have more to add when I’ve had a chance to read everyone else’s ideas and sort
them out.

Thanks,
Gerry
Sorek
wungai@aol.com


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