Mostly agreed. The early signs of the speculator age were in place as early as 1986, when Man of Steel #1 got the world's first variant cover, but I consider 1994 a more clear turning point for the industry, as this is when MANY comic fans abandoned the market in response to excessive hype and over-saturation. From 1995 onward, the industry is in a constant state of panic, attempting to recapture sales while experts wring their hands and cry that the medium is on its way out.

So my personal breakdown goes as follows:


Golden Age: 1938-1945

The early success of the superhero genre


Atom Age: 1946-1955

The end of the war marks a serious decline in interest in superheroes, and other genres rise in popularity.


Silver Age: 1956-1969

The return of the superhero, first at DC, and then the Marvel renaissance


Bronze Age: 1970-1984

Superheroes go deeper, take on more daring topics, and explore more extensive continuity and sweeping story arcs.


Copper Age: 1985-1994

The rise of the direct market changes EVERYTHING. Both Crisis on Infinite Earths and Secret Wars forever change DC and Marvel, both for better and worse.


Modern Age: 1995 to current

The comic industry suffers a slow and lingering half-death. Comics cease to be a mainstream medium, servicing a smaller niche clientele. One could argue this era should begin with 1997 and the death of Hero World, I suppose.

Well, I've learnt something new. Can honestly say I had never come across "Atomic Age" or "Copper Age" as designations previously.

Are you referring to the Platinum Age?

I generally agree. Just curious about the Dark Age -- both the name and the years you chose.

I've stopped using Ages and simply refer to it as comics from the 30s, comics from the 40s, comics from the 90s etc. if I want to reference a certain era. There are very few common threads to the traditional eras outside of time/publishing era if you move outside of the genre of American super-hero comics, so why not directly refer to the time period you are trying to reference instead of vague terms where people quibble over the beginning and end of because they try to take characteristics of super-hero comics from that time and apply them to other genres and it just doesn't work.

What is a Golden Age comic? Is there common characteristics between what was being published in Detective Comics and Dell's Four Color (and others that can define the parameters of what a Golden Age book is, or is it just books from the 30s and 40s? If the latter, why use Golden Age at all and just call them comics form the 30s and 40s and save a lot of confusion and useless debate?

-M

I think the rationale behind the original use came from the ages of man in Greek thought (I want to say it was Hesiod but it's been so long since I have worked with classical stuff my memories have clouded) and it always seemed to me a weak attempt at legitimizing comics and validating those who collected them by fancying it up with those classical allusions. I remember reading my first Overstreet and the article that tried to define the eras and thinking it sounded like a lot of pretentious twaddle to try to justify you liked old comic books and thought they held some monetary value.

-M

I nominate "the Postmodern Age".