Silver Age of Comic Books

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Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956), generally considered the start of the Silver Age. Cover art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Kubert.
Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956), generally considered the start of the Silver Age. Cover art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Kubert.

The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly in the superhero genre, that lasted roughly from the late 1950s/early 1960s to the early 1970s. It was preceded by the Golden Age of Comic Books.

During the Silver Age, the character make-up of superheroes evolved. Writers injected science fiction concepts into the origins and adventures of superheroes. More importantly, superheroes became more human and troubled, and since the Silver Age, character development and personal conflict have been almost as important to the image of a superhero as superpowers and epic adventures.

Contents

[edit] Events leading to the Silver Age

Following World War II, superheroes faced a steady decline in popularity. Their development was complicated by the rise of gritty horror and crime comic books, as well as by national parental concerns ignited by Dr. Fredric Wertham's influential book Seduction of the Innocent, and fanned by U.S. Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency. In response, the comic book industry implemented the Comics Code, which forbade gore, excessive violence, sexual suggestiveness, and disrespect of authorities, among other tenets. This made certain genres more difficult to publish, though comic books, like the similarly constrained media of film and television, of necessity, developed new means of storytelling and new types of stories.

[edit] History

Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962), the debut of one of the Silver Age's most significant superheroes. Cover art by Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko.
Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962), the debut of one of the Silver Age's most significant superheroes. Cover art by Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko.

The beginning of the Silver Age is cause for debate, but comics historians generally agree that the period began with DC Comics' Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956), which introduced the modern version of the superhero the Flash. Under editor Julius Schwartz, super-speedster the Flash took only his power and his superhero name from the company's 1940s star, and became the first of many old characters DC revised as streamlined, science fiction-influenced models. Other DC heroes published continuously from from the 1930s and 1940s, such as Superman and Batman, were retconned as living in an alternate universe called Earth-Two, with the present-day versions considered as living in the modern-day mainstream continuity, Earth-One.

DC added to the momentum by introducing the Justice League of America, an all-star group consisting of its most popular characters, the success of which prompted rival Marvel Comics to introduce its own superhero team, the Fantastic Four.[1]

This led to the era's rise of Marvel under the guidance of writer-editor Stan Lee and such artists/co-writers as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. Marvel introduced more sophisticated characterization and dynamic plotting into superhero comics, and began aiming at teen and college-age readers in addition to the children's market. Aside from the Fantastic Four, the most popular and influential Marvel characters of this period were Spider-Man and the Hulk.[2] Other significant and enduring Marvel heroes introduced during the Silver Age include Iron Man, Thor, Daredevil, the X-Men, and Marvel's own all-star group, the Avengers. After an initial period of hesitance, DC began to adopt some of Marvel's creative approaches.

Comics historian Peter Sanderson wrote that in the 1960s,

“ DC was the equivalent of the big Hollywood studios: After the brilliance of DC's reinvention of the superhero.... in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it had run into a creative drought by the decade's end. There was a new audience for comics now, and it wasn't just the little kids that traditionally had read the books. The Marvel of the 1960s was in its own way the counterpart of the French New Wave.... Marvel was pioneering new methods of comics storytelling and characterization, addressing more serious themes, and in the process keeping and attracting readers in their teens and beyond. Moreover, among this new generation of readers were people who wanted to write or draw comics themselves, within the new style that Marvel had pioneered, and push the creative envelope still further.[3] ”

The resurgence of superheroes proved so influential that publishing houses not known for such characters — including Archie Comics, Charlton Comics and Dell Comics — attempted their own superheroes, but met with limited critical and popular success. Tower Comics was an exception with the well-received if short-lived T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series by Wally Wood.

In addition, new artists, many of whom grew up with comics as well as being formally trained, began to expand the mainstream medium into new art styles. Major examples include Neal Adams who introduced naturalism with his illustrative style, and Jim Steranko who introduced op art, touches of Surrealism, and graphic design elements.

The period hit its commercial peak from 1966 to 1968 with the popularity of the ABC network's campy Batman TV series, which both heightened interest in comics and damaged their public image as a legitimate artistic medium — this despite the Batman comic books themselves having taken a more serious tone in 1964 with the introduction of the "New Look Batman".

Underground comics got their start during the 1960s portion of the Silver Age. However, because the artistic content, goals and marketing of these comic books were so different from the mainstream companies, it is generally considered a separate movement in the medium.

[edit] Origin of the term

The Silver Age gets named in a letters column: Justice League of America #42 (Feb. 1966); art by Mike Sekowsky (penciler), Murphy Anderson & Bernard Sachs (inkers)
The Silver Age gets named in a letters column: Justice League of America #42 (Feb. 1966); art by Mike Sekowsky (penciler), Murphy Anderson & Bernard Sachs (inkers)

Comics historian and movie producer Michael Uslan traced the origin of the term to the letters column of Justice League of America #42 (Feb. 1966), which went on sale December 9, 1965. Letter-writer Scott Taylor of Westport, Connecticut wrote, "If you guys keep bringing back the heroes from the [1930s-1940s] Golden Age, people 20 years from now will be calling this decade the Silver Sixties!"[4] The natural hierarchy of gold-silver-bronze, as in Olympic medals, also took hold, and as Uslan writes, "Fans immediately glommed onto this, refining it more directly into a Silver Age version of the Golden Age. Very soon, it was in our vernacular, replacing such expressions as ... 'Second Heroic Age of Comics' or 'The Modern Age' of comics. It wasn't long before dealers were ... specifying it was a Golden Age comic for sale or a Silver Age comic for sale".[4]

[edit] End of the Silver Age

The precise end of the Silver Age is in some debate. Candidate periods include:

  • Jack Kirby's departure from Marvel Comics to produce Fourth World titles at DC Comics (1970).
  • The retirement of Mort Weisinger, long-time editor of the Superman family of comics for DC (1970). The Superman titles were then divided among several editors, including Julius Schwartz, Murray Boltinoff, E. Nelson Bridwell, Mike Sekowsky and, briefly, Jack Kirby.
  • The change of rules to the Comics Code Authority which allowed for more controversial topics to be discussed (1971). This led to a wave of horror comics such as Ghost Rider and Tomb of Dracula.
  • When Stan Lee stopped writing for Marvel Comics, at the same time stepping down as Editor-In-Chief (1972).
  • The advent of darker superhero stories in the early 1970s. During this time, Batman returned to his roots as a dubious vigilante, and Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams started the gritty, urban-themed series Green Lantern/Green Arrow.
  • The death of Gwen Stacy, the girlfriend of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) in The Amazing Spider-Man #121 ("The Night Gwen Stacy Died") (1973).
  • The debut of the "All-New All-Different" X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), restarting a franchise that would dominate subsequent decades.
  • Adventure Comics #452 (1977), starring Aquaman, where the villain Black Manta kidnaps and murders Aquaman's infant son.

In summary, by any standard, the Silver Age of Comics ended in the early to, at the very latest, mid-1970s.

[edit] Subsequent eras

Typical Marvel Silver Age cover: silent action and floating heads. Iron Man #18 (Oct. 1969), art by George Tuska.
Typical Marvel Silver Age cover: silent action and floating heads. Iron Man #18 (Oct. 1969), art by George Tuska.

After a brief period dominated by horror and fantasy titles, a third period of superheroes (commonly referred to as the Bronze Age) began, with a new wave of creators including writers Steve Englehart, Mike Friedrich, Steve Gerber, Don McGregor, Doug Moench, and Len Wein, and artists such as Rich Buckler, Marshall Rogers, P. Craig Russell, and Bernie Wrightson.

The period after that is variously referred to as the Modern Age of Comic Books, the Dark Age of Comic Books (referring to both a decline in the industry and the popularity of grim titles such as Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen),[citation needed] the Iron Age of Comic Books,[citation needed] or the Diamond Age of Comic Books (suggested by Scott McCloud,[citation needed] with the different facets signifying the current diversity in the medium).

"Neo-silver", a term many attribute[citation needed] to IGN columnist Peter Sanderson, has been used in the 2000s to describe comics such as Kurt Busiek's Astro City that attempt to return to the lighter, more noble aspects of Silver Age comics while retaining the maturity and complexity of later ages.

[edit] Stylistic conventions

Certain styles and conventions were generally common to titles during the Silver Age.

It was common for the first page (also called the "splash page") to serve as a second cover, giving a tease to what was to come later in the issue. Most stories actually started on page two.

[edit] Comic book covers

DC covers of the Silver Age are notable for the abundance of speech balloons. Marvel, after its first year or so, generally opted for an action scene or a dramatic tableau, frequently with such symbolic elements as floating heads watching and reacting, and only returned to speech balloons occasionally toward the end of the era — creating controversy among Marvelites at the time. Speech balloons eventually fell out of favor and are rarely seen on covers today, except as homage or parody.

[edit] Noted Silver Age talents

During this period in mainstream companies, artists, especially at Marvel, began to play an increasingly important role as story co-plotters.

The groundbreaking Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961). Cover art by Jack Kirby and unconfirmed inker.
The groundbreaking Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961). Cover art by Jack Kirby and unconfirmed inker.
Eastern mysticism meets American sideshow: Deadman in Strange Adventures #207 (Dec. 1967). Art by Neal Adams.
Eastern mysticism meets American sideshow: Deadman in Strange Adventures #207 (Dec. 1967). Art by Neal Adams.
Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #7 (Dec. 1968): signature surrealism by Jim Steranko.
Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #7 (Dec. 1968): signature surrealism by Jim Steranko.

[edit] Editors

[edit] Writers

[edit] Pencilers

[edit] Inkers

[edit] Key Issues of the Silver Age

DC Comics

Title Issue Publisher Relevance
Adventure Comics 247 DC Comics Superboy meets the Legion of Super-Heroes
Brave and the Bold 28 DC Comics 1st Appearance of the Justice League of America
Detective Comics 225 DC Comics 1st Appearance of Martian Manhunter
Detective Comics 327 DC Comics New Direction for Batman
Detective Comics 359 DC Comics The New Batgirl
Doom Patrol 121 DC Comics Entire team dies, a first in comics history
Flash 123 DC Comics Barry Allen meets Golden Age Flash
Justice League of America 1 DC Comics First Issue
Our Army at War 81 DC Comics 1st Appearance of Sgt. Rock
Showcase 4 DC Comics 1st Appearance of Barry Allen as the Flash
Showcase 9 DC Comics Lois Lane stars in her own adventure
Showcase 22 DC Comics 1st Appearance of Silver Age Green Lantern
Showcase 34 DC Comics 1st Appearance of Ray Palmer as the Atom
Superman 233 DC Comics Clark Kent becomes a television reporter
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen 1 DC Comics Jimmy Olsen gets his own series
World’s Finest Comics 71 DC Comics Batman and Superman learn each other’s secret identities

Marvel Comics

Title Issue Publisher Relevance
Amazing Fantasy 15 Marvel 1st Appearance of Spider-Man
Amazing Spider-Man 1 Marvel Spider-Man gets his own series
Amazing Spider-Man 3 Marvel 1st Appearance of Dr. Octopus
Amazing Spider-Man 14 Marvel 1st Appearance of Green Goblin
Amazing Spider-Man 39 Marvel Unmasked by the Green Goblin
Amazing Spider-Man 50 Marvel 1st Appearance of Kingpin
Amazing Spider-Man 96 Marvel Anti-drug theme, no Comics Code approval
Avengers 1 Marvel 1st Appearance of the Avengers
Avengers 4 Marvel 1st Appearance of Silver Age Captain America
Daredevil 1 Marvel 1st Appearance of Daredevil
Fantastic Four 1 Marvel 1st Appearance of the Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four 4 Marvel 1st Silver Age Appearance of Sub-Mariner
Fantastic Four 5 Marvel 1st Appearance of Dr. Doom
Fantastic Four 48 Marvel 1st Appearance of Silver Surfer
Fantastic Four 52 Marvel 1st Appearance of Black Panther
Hulk 1 Marvel 1st Appearance of Hulk
Journey Into Mystery 83 Marvel 1st Appearance of Thor
Marvel Super-Heroes 12 Marvel 1st Appearance of Captain Marvel
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1 Marvel Jim Steranko artwork
Strange Tales 110 Marvel 1st Appearance of Dr. Strange
Strange Tales 135 Marvel Nick Fury as lead character
Tales of Suspense 39 Marvel 1st Appearance of Iron Man
Tales of Suspense 59 Marvel Captain America and Iron Man have their own series
Tales to Astonish 27 Marvel 1st Appearance of Hank Pym
X-Men 1 Marvel 1st Appearance of X-Men

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Apocryphal legend has it that in 1961, Timely and Atlas publisher Martin Goodman was playing golf with either Jack Liebowitz or Irwin Donenfeld of rival DC Comics, then known as National Periodical Publications, who bragged about DC's success with the Justice League (which had debuted in The Brave and the Bold #28 [Feb. 1960] before going on to its own title). However, film producer and comics historian Michael Uslan partly debunked the story in a letter published in Alter Ego #43 (Dec. 2004), pp. 43-44:
    “ Irwin said he never played golf with Goodman, so the story is untrue. I heard this story more than a couple of times while sitting in the lunchroom at DC's 909 Third Avenue and 75 Rockefeller Plaza office as Sol Harrison and [production chief] Jack Adler were schmoozing with some of us ... who worked for DC during our college summers.... [T]he way I heard the story from Sol was that Goodman was playing with one of the heads of Independent News, not DC Comics (though DC owned Independent News). ... As the distributor of DC Comics, this man certainly knew all the sales figures and was in the best position to tell this tidbit to Goodman. ... Of course, Goodman would want to be playing golf with this fellow and be in his good graces. ... Sol worked closely with Independent News' top management over the decades and would have gotten this story straight from the horse's mouth. ”
    Goodman, a publishing trend-follower aware of the JLA's strong sales, confirmably directed his comics editor, Stan Lee, to create a comic-book series about a team of superheroes. According to Lee in Origins of Marvel Comics (Simon and Schuster/Fireside Books, 1974), p. 16:
    “ Martin mentioned that he had noticed one of the titles published by National Comics seemed to be selling better than most. It was a book called The [sic] Justice League of America and it was composed of a team of superheroes. ... ' If the Justice League is selling ', spoke he, ' why don't we put out a comic book that features a team of superheroes?' ”
  2. ^ Mark, Norman. "The New Super-Hero Is a Pretty Kinky Guy". Eye Magazine, Hearst Corporation, vol. 2, #2 (Feb. 1969). Reprinted in Alter Ego #74 (Dec. 2007), pp. 16-25
  3. ^ Sanderson, Peter. IGN.com (Oct. 10, 2003): Comics in Context #14: "Continuity/Discontinuity"
  4. ^ a b Alter Ego vol. 3, #54 (Nov. 2005), p. 79

[edit] External links