What's the difference between the Golden Age and the Silver Age of comics?
I'm holding a comics-related discussion but I don't know the difference. Please help.
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What's the difference between the Golden Age and the Silver Age of Comics? What time period is each one from?3 comments to What's the difference between the Golden Age and the Silver Age of Comics? What time period is each one from? |
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The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s. During this time, modern comic books were first published and enjoyed a surge of popularity; the archetype of the superhero was created and defined; and many of the most famous superheroes debuted, among them Superman, Batman, Captain America, and Wonder Woman.
The period saw the arrival of the comic book as a mainstream art form, and the defining of the medium’s artistic vocabulary and creative conventions by its first generation of writers, artists, and editors.
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. The Silver Age is considered to cover the period from 1956 to circa 1970, and was succeeded by the Bronze and Modern Ages.
Golden Age of the Comics (1930s until the late 1940s) usually presenting the introduction of well-known superheros like Superman, Captain America, Wonder Woman and Batman. This era introduces the popular sidekicks or subheros to broaden up the stories of superheros such as Robin, Green Lantern, Aquaman and others. The Golden Age also included many funny animal, western, romance, and jungle comics such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Tarzan.
However, Silver Age comics (1956 to circa 1970) is when the comics are success in mainstream American comic books and previously superheros are firmly known by the readers.They are trying to promote the audience these new superheros which been introduced through their own titles or by showing up in the other superheros’ stories.This era also introduces the popular new heros in order to introduce different kinds of heros. The characters like X Men, The Hulk, Spiderman, Casper and Fantastic Four.
The gap between the eras is because of World War II interrupts the growth of the comics industry.
"No Picture Available" and "Mysterious" have the basic time frames right, although fans still debate the exact starts and stops of both eras.
Before publishers started experimenting with new material, and thus creating the Golden Age, what were called comic books back then were nothing but reprints of newspaper comic strips.
It’s generally believed that the "Great" Depression and World War 2 contributed to the success of the fledgling industry.
The Silver Age was a revitalization of what, at the time, was a dying business.
After World War 2, comic book readership started a downward spiral. The original readers were growing up, because even today there is still a stigma that comic books are "just for kids"; readers didn’t need such "escapism" media anymore, and the anti-comic book crusade spearheaded by the book "Seduction of the Innocent" certainly didn’t help matters either.
For a while, publishers tried anything and everything they could to keep their businesses going.
Many failed, which is why there are still less today than during World War 2.
But as America entered the 1950s, only the most popular (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Archie) were able to continue. Yet that’s where you get all the silliness of Bat-mite, Wonder Tot, etc.
What you know today as Marvel still existed in the Fifties, but was concentrating more upon romance, mysteries, and westerns at the time. Even Captain America disappeared from their publishing roster!
Yet Julius Schwartz decided to take a chance with a new version of a classic character called The Flash, in the original Showcase comic book at DC, which most people consider the start of the Silver Age and what became the comic book industry you know today.