It goes like this: Comics began in the 1930s, a time period known as The Golden Age, which lasted until the mid-1950s, give or take. The Silver Age begins approximately 1956, with the Barry Allen Flash, lasting until about 1970, when The Bronze Age kicks in. The end of Crisis on Infinite Earths also marks the end of that period, but various sources refer to the following period differently, some calling it The Copper Age, some The Iron Age, and a few cynics, The Dark Age. Regardless, the Modern Age of Comics kicks in somewhere between 1996 and 2000, depending on whom you ask. Though I started reading comic books squarely in the middle of the Bronze Age, I’m a sucker for Silver Age nonsense, leading to today’s segmented query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) actually personally finds a couple of sub-categories, such as the books from about 1948 to the mid-50s as an era that I think of as The Atomic Age, asking: Which Age of Comics is your favorite?
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The Indy Age. I would paint this as starting with Pacific Comics (though maybe Star*Reach) and running through the market collapse of the mid-to-late 90’s, possibly with the bankruptcy shuttering of Eclipse. This period saw a concerted effort of comics publishing to break away from the Big 2 + Archie that it had fallen into. It gave us Comico, Dark Horse, Image, Innovation, Caliber, Eternity/Malibu/etc., as well as publishers that revolved around singularly successful properties like Mirage, NEC, and Aardvark-Vanaheim.
It was a time when a single creator could go from zero to success by independently publishing. That’s something that’s pretty much relegated to the internet these days, and so while it’s still conceivably possible to reach that level of success, it is definitely a different beast.
Late silver age through the first quarter of the Copper age. Which pretty much also covers the era of the independent publishers mentioned above.
I had always thought the bronze age started with the modern Marvel books being published, but to each their own.
And question – If we are in the “modern” age now….. whats next? the post modern expressionist era?
Me
Traditional North American Super Heroes, probably late 70’s to mid 90’s, European French/Belgian comics 70’s & 80’s, everything else, from early 2000’s until now and going.
Oooh… Belgian Comics of the 70s….
Most of the traditional heavy hitters started in early 60’s or even earlier but 70’s was the time when they all were still going strong and new ones started to appear towards the tail end of the decade.