shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Nov 12, 2014 17:50:28 GMT -5
Stealing the concept from Randle-El's thread, it occurs to me that this Classic Comics Forum spends very little time discussing the supposed Golden Age of classic comic books. I, myself, have read no more than 30 or 40 Golden Age stories in my life and generally didn't think much of them, but clearly they mattered to a previous generation of readers who grew up with them. So, Bernard Bailey Spectre covers aside, what was so great about 1940s comic books? Was it the sheer rawness? Or perhaps just the fact that superheroes started there? |
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Post by hondobrode on Nov 12, 2014 17:55:42 GMT -5
I didn't think much of them as a kid, with their mostly crude art and simplistic stories.
As I've grown older, and appreciate the history and back story, they've become more endearing with their Wild West no rules and crazy lets-see-what-sticks mentality.
The social climate of then and now is also quite contrasting and entertaining.
Continuity was fairly loose and you could pick up almost any issue and have a complete story too.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Nov 12, 2014 17:58:38 GMT -5
Continuity was fairly loose and you could pick up almost any issue and have a complete story too. That's a good point. You got a tremendous amount of content for your dime. There were usually six or seven complete stories in the average issue, if I recall correctly, including a variety of characters and genres, and the covers were usually quite striking as well. They really seemed to TRY harder to offer you a quality product for your dime in the recession era, but the talent didn't think much of comics; it was just a gig that paid the bills, so most of them didn't strive to be pioneers of the medium. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2014 18:02:52 GMT -5
Classic Archie artwork in the 40s was Archie at its best.  |
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 12, 2014 18:04:20 GMT -5
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,871
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Post by shaxper on Nov 12, 2014 18:10:41 GMT -5
Classic Archie artwork in the 40s was Archie at its best. Call him "chic"?? |
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 12, 2014 18:25:38 GMT -5
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 12, 2014 18:40:35 GMT -5
What was good about the 1940s?
"Sky Girl"
Oh, that Ginger Maguire! Such mind-boggling shenanigans!
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Post by Phil Maurice on Nov 12, 2014 18:41:46 GMT -5
So, so much was great about 1940s comics. Very near the top of my list would be "The Monster Society of Evil" storyline that ran for nearly two years in Captain Marvel Adventures and is one of the earliest examples of a super-villain team comprised of villains which the hero had previously encountered. This sort of thing would become standard operating procedure in the Silver Age, continuing through the present.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2014 18:42:00 GMT -5
I haven't read much at all from the 1940's.
I'm reading through two series in the 1930's right now (Mickey Mouse and Dick Tracy), that will eventually reach the 40's. A lot of the older stuff I've been reading was from the 50's though. But before this year I was very unfamiliar with Golden Age comics altogether.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2014 18:43:46 GMT -5
Classic Archie artwork in the 40s was Archie at its best. </div>I'm very interested in getting into early Archies |
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 12, 2014 18:50:54 GMT -5
So, so much was great about 1940s comics. Very near the top of my list would be "The Monster Society of Evil" storyline that ran for nearly two years in Captain Marvel Adventures and is one of the earliest examples of a super-villain team comprised of villains which the hero had previously encountered. This sort of thing would become standard operating procedure in the Silver Age, continuing through the present. I was going to suggest picking any random Captain Marvel story. But "The Monster Society of Evil" is a fine fine choice if you want to get specific.
Have you ever read that Ibis story (I think it's in "Ibis" #1) where there's an Asian warlord who is so terrifying and so terrible that Churchill, Hitler and Stalin have a meeting and agree to suspend World War II until the new menace is taken care of? Wow! (Ibis takes care of it in 13 pages. Because he has a magic stick.)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2014 18:51:53 GMT -5
So much of it was great. I love so much of the Golden Age. They were making this stuff up as they went along...
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Post by berkley on Nov 12, 2014 18:56:43 GMT -5
Every time I look at a Stardust story I think, this is a strong contender for the weirdest and scariest superhero series of all time. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 12, 2014 19:04:13 GMT -5
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