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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2015 20:41:07 GMT -5
I'm not quite sure I understand your reasoning. You say you quit reading comics in 1984 and so have no concept of the Bronze Age, but the Bronze Age is basically the 1970s. I've been dealing in comics for some years and collecting for close to forty, and while the dates can be fluid, pretty much everybody I know considers the Bronze Age to last from 1970 to the early eighties. That's true now, but at the time we didn't use the term "Bronze Age". When I stopped buying comics in 1978 I would have said that it was still the Silver Age. I don't know when the term Bronze Age became common, but it wasn't during the Bronze Age. I first heard the term Bronze Age circa '86 or '87 when after reading Amazing Heroes #100, the Kirby Special, I asked the owner of the first LCS I went to if he had any Kirby Fourth World back issues I could look at, and he said something to the effect of "Sure, I keep all the Bronze Age stuff no one ever asks for down in the basement in boxes, you can go down and look around if you want..."...I was like what's Bronze Age and he answered 70s stuff after the Silver Age ended, stuff that's not really collectible (how things have changed since then). This was a shop that didn't have back issues available to browse through or bagged and boarded unless they were in the glass showcase. If you were hunting back issues, you asked the owner of his employee for a title (I was collecting my Avengers run at the time so I would ask for Avengers back issues) and they would go int he back and take a stack of comics off of the metal shelving unit and put it on the counter in front of you and you could flip through it. They were in no particular order I would go through a stack and it would be like #9, #53, #114, #151, etc. etc. Nothing was graded or priced, just sitting int he stack. You would pull out what you were interested in and he would grade in on the spot, look it up in Overstreet , and quote you a price (it varied if he liked you or not, if you bought a lot of books form him or not, how old you were-he tended to give kids a better price if they were just getting into the hobby-it was like Overstreet says $.25 for the issue, how about a $1 for you or the like, or if he didn't like you, Overstreet's a little behind how about $1.50 for the issue, etc. and if you agreed witht he price, he would write in in pencil under the indicia on the first page and move on to the next book and quote you a price. When he got Golden Age books or Silver keys they went in the Showcase priced and graded, but rank and file stuff always went through that process, and "Bronze Age" stuff he kept down in the basement (unless it was part of an ongoing popular series like Batman, Avengers, Spidey et. al. So at least by the mid 80's the term Bronze Age stuff was coming into play, -M |
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Post by tingramretro on Sept 22, 2015 1:17:20 GMT -5
I'm not quite sure I understand your reasoning. You say you quit reading comics in 1984 and so have no concept of the Bronze Age, but the Bronze Age is basically the 1970s. I've been dealing in comics for some years and collecting for close to forty, and while the dates can be fluid, pretty much everybody I know considers the Bronze Age to last from 1970 to the early eighties. That's true now, but at the time we didn't use the term "Bronze Age". When I stopped buying comics in 1978 I would have said that it was still the Silver Age. I don't know when the term Bronze Age became common, but it wasn't during the Bronze Age. I don't recall the term Bronze Age ever being used in the 70s either, but even as a kid back then, I knew the Silver Age had been the 60s. I think it was simply regarded as : 1935-1950 Golden Age 1955-1969 Silver Age 1970- Modern age (and of course, that period in the early 50s was a kind of interim era nobody could agree a name for). |
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Post by tingramretro on Sept 22, 2015 1:18:18 GMT -5
So we might be living in the nickel age and not even know it? Personally, I think we're living in the plastic age. |
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Post by tingramretro on Sept 22, 2015 1:24:09 GMT -5
#50 Elasti-Girl That's a great image, but it occurs to me that those people in the street below must be getting quite a surprising perspective on Rita. Particularly the startled looking guy by the blue car on the left. Maybe the miniskirt wasn't such a great idea for a giantess, with hindsight? |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2015 2:49:52 GMT -5
Good Point there ... tingramretro
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2015 6:07:31 GMT -5
#49 Beautiful Dreamer Alter Ego - Beautiful Dreamer First AppearanceForever People #1, (February–March 1971) Bronze Age ... Some people that I know puts her in the Silver Age Costume Features that I like the mostSimple, Clean, and Nothing Fancy Liked her boots - Very Stylish Here But, I like her Black Costume Better Photos #1 and #2  Very Easy on the Eye and nothing fancy about it. That's why I like it so much! Photo #3 Cool Splash Page with Darkseid Photo #4  One with the Black Dress!
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Post by dbutler69 on Sept 22, 2015 7:51:47 GMT -5
Yeah, 1984 is pretty close to the end of the Bronze Age, though I'd probably go with 1986 as the last year of the Bronze Age, personally. I've seen 1983 or 1984 listed as the end of the Bronze Age in places, though. It starts around 1970, though I've seen some people even say as early as 1968. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to this. It should be fun. I'd say 1986 was a bit late. At one time, Bronze Age used to be considered to be 1970-1980 but it's kind of crept up to the point where I think I personally would put it about 1983. Just before that '80s revolution in the US comics industry that really started with the "British Invasion" of DC. For Marvel I might go with about 1983, but I've seen Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and especially Crisis on Infinite Earths as markers for the end of the Bronze Age at DC, and I think they're all from 1986. The Bronze Age needn't be the same dates for both companies, and DC indeed seems to generally be behind Marvel in a lot of these sorts of things. |
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Post by tingramretro on Sept 22, 2015 8:00:13 GMT -5
I'd say 1986 was a bit late. At one time, Bronze Age used to be considered to be 1970-1980 but it's kind of crept up to the point where I think I personally would put it about 1983. Just before that '80s revolution in the US comics industry that really started with the "British Invasion" of DC. For Marvel I might go with about 1983, but I've seen Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and especially Crisis on Infinite Earths as markers for the end of the Bronze Age at DC, and I think they're all from 1986. The Bronze Age needn't be the same dates for both companies, and DC indeed seems to generally be behind Marvel in a lot of these sorts of things. See, it would never occur to me to think of it like that. Having grown up in Britain in the 70s, where Marvel and DC titles were just some of a multitude of foreign imports from half a dozen companies sitting on the shelves alongside an equal number of home grown titles from another half dozen companies rather than actually dominating the market, I've never thought of the industry in terms of just those two companies, but rather as just comics as a whole. If the Bronze Age ended for one company in one year, then it must logically have ended for every company in that year. Of course, in the end it's all irrelevant, since these designations are purely arbitrary descriptions decided years after the fact. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Sept 22, 2015 9:20:48 GMT -5
For Marvel I might go with about 1983, but I've seen Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and especially Crisis on Infinite Earths as markers for the end of the Bronze Age at DC, and I think they're all from 1986. The Bronze Age needn't be the same dates for both companies, and DC indeed seems to generally be behind Marvel in a lot of these sorts of things. See, it would never occur to me to think of it like that. Having grown up in Britain in the 70s, where Marvel and DC titles were just some of a multitude of foreign imports from half a dozen companies sitting on the shelves alongside an equal number of home grown titles from another half dozen companies rather than actually dominating the market, I've never thought of the industry in terms of just those two companies, but rather as just comics as a whole. If the Bronze Age ended for one company in one year, then it must logically have ended for every company in that year. Of course, in the end it's all irrelevant, since these designations are purely arbitrary descriptions decided years after the fact. Yes, the UK/US thing would make a big difference, and yes, I mostly think of the Bronze Age (and Silver Age) in terms of DC and Marvel, though not necessarily so in terms of the Golden or Modern Age. As far as the timing of the eras being slightly different at different companies, if we think of the things that make the Bronze Age the Bronze Age (such as darker plot elements and more socially relevant storylines) then I think that this started at Marvel before it started at DC. Marvel was quicker to notice that their readers weren't all 10 year old boys, and wrote the stories accordingly. DC noticed what Marvel was doing and eventually followed suit. At least, that's my interpretation. |
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Post by tingramretro on Sept 22, 2015 9:48:09 GMT -5
Hmm, well, DC did do the socially relevant thing as early as 1970 in Green Lantern/Green Arrow, but that was rather a departure from the norm for DC. Yes, I'd agree that Marvel really took the lead with the more mature themes, generally.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2015 10:47:05 GMT -5
Elasti-Girl: I always thought she was classy looking with her little white gloves and hair in a head-band, fixed just so. Great art in the Doom Patrol series. Always had a clean and elegant look. Her costume was pretty, not complicated, fashionable, stylish, and perfect for the 60s.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2015 13:58:18 GMT -5
#48 Hawk Alter Ego - Hank Hall First AppearanceShowcase No. 75 (June 1968) Silver Age Costume Features that I like the mostMask, Unusual Wings, and Distinctive Features Futuristic Design, Great Use of Red and White Photo #1 Another View of Hawk  Photo #2 - Up Close of the Mask - It's top feature!  Photo #3 - Scene in Teen Titans with Speedy and Wonder Girl  Photo #4 - Favorite Adventure with Hawk and Dove 
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2015 15:17:02 GMT -5
Hawk and Dove's costumes are another example of great silver age costumes. Hawk's cape is unique and his and Dove's looks remind me a bit of Battle of the Planets. The red evokes anger and agreesion, while Dove's blue evokes calm and peace. Great dynamic between the brothers, a dynamic I believe DC did not take full advantage of. Hawk's look is a testament to great design as it is still being used (with a few tweaks) nearly 50 years later.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Sept 22, 2015 15:27:14 GMT -5
Hmm, well, DC did do the socially relevant thing as early as 1970 in Green Lantern/Green Arrow, but that was rather a departure from the norm for DC. Yes, I'd agree that Marvel really took the lead with the more mature themes, generally. I think you have to look at War and Horror Comics more than any other genre for this discussion because they are generally the darkest/heaviest/most "mature" through the classic eras. . '50s - Marvel publishes Battlefield and Battlefront and other true-to-life-ish Kurtzman inspired war books. Dc (as far as I know) doesn't publish anything quite so dark. Even after the code gutted Marvel's war and horror lines, they're still putting out these short Ditko psychological thrillers. Advantage: Marvel.'60s - Sgt. Rock is darker and more 'relevant' than Sgt. Fury - lots of weighty themes and greater ethnic diversity earlier, with Jackie Johnson and Johnny Cloud. The new, revamped-into-EC-style House of Mystery debuts in '68. (Note: The Kubert Enemy Ace is still my favorite DC series of all time.) Advantage: DC. '70s - DC has a greater variety of non superhero-romance-teen humor comics, but Marvel has it's magazine line. Slight Advantage: Marvel. '80s - Thriller, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Camelot 3000, Watchmen.... vs. Epic comics. Advantage: Marvel. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Sept 22, 2015 15:27:57 GMT -5
And really good picks so far, MG.
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