Comic Book Eras
Man, Comic Book Historians are a lazy bunch. Comics have been around since at least the 40s (possibly as early as the 20s, I just called Comic Historians lazy, but I'm too lazy to look up when "The Yellow Kid" debuted), but the only Eras that have been defined are The Golden Age (which runs from the beginning of comics until the 60s) and the Silver Age (which runs from the 60s until ?). In my opinion, almost every single decade in Comic Book History has some sort of quality that defined at least the mainstream. In fact, here's my list. Feel free to debate my choices.
The Beginning through The 40s: The Birth. Comics are born as the bastard child of books and newspaper strips. Over time, comics gain their own independant identity and become a form of art and literature that is different from other forms of art and literature. Will Eisner, among others, begins breaking the rules of newspaper strips to further give comics their own look. The Superhero is born (Superman is, technically, the first Super powered Hero, although if I remember correctly, he wasn't actually the first Masked Hero character to appear in comics) further giving comic books their own defining quality.
The 50s: The EC Era. Superhero comics almost universally die off and are replaced by numerous other genres including Horror, Crime, War, Western, Sci-Fi, and even Romance comics. The biggest company during this time period is EC Comics which not only produces the most lurid comics, but also the most high quality in terms of art and writing. Unfortunately, this is the McCarthy era, and comics come under the scrutiny of Government Censors due to Frederick Wertham's dreaded book, "Seduction of the Innocent". The Government doesn't actually legally do anything to comics, but EC's competitors use the Government as an excuse to create the dreaded Comics Code (BOOO!!!) which pretty much kills off EC.
The 60s: The Return of the Superhero. DC resurrects its old Superhero comics and reinvents many of its classic characters. Timely/Atlas transforms into Marvel, and armed primarily with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, unleashes an onslaught of comics on an unsuspecting audience. Super heroes return to the forefront of the mainstream, and thanks to Marvel's formula of creating down to Earth heroes with feet of clay, Marvel develops a stranglehold on the industry.
The 80s: Comics Grow Up. Comic Book Writing and Art becomes more sophisticated. A number of epic, groundbreaking works come out during this time period, including Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Watchmen, and V for Vendetta, Frank Miller's Daredevil and Dark Knight Returrns, and John Byrne's X-Men, Superman, and Fantastic Four runs. The idea that comics were more than just for kids begins to actually take hold.
The 90s: The Boom and Bust. The speculator market is born, and suddenly everyone starts thinking that comics are a worthwhile investment. Comics become a big money item, and Marvel, DC, and the various independants begin cranking out comics by the truckload. Seven of the top Marvel creators form their own company, Image, and suddenly everyone thinks that they can form their own comics company. Hundreds of new comic book companies are launched seemingly every month. Companies start coming up with various gimmicks to ensure that people will buy their books. Unfortunately, no one really worries about the quality of the actual comics, and with some rare exceptions aside, most comics put out during this period are little more than flashy crap. Eventually, the Market falls out, and suddenly NO ONE is buying comics. Hundreds of comic book companies bite the dust, and Marvel goes bankrupt. Hundreds of comic book stores close, and Diamond becomes the industry's primary distributor.
The New Millenium: Comics as Movies, Movies as Comics. With the speculator period at an end, most surviving comic book companies have come to the startling conclusion that they have to produce high quality books in order to survive. A wave of successful Comic Book Movies gives the industry a new lease on life, and many companies begin farming out books specifically designed to be made into movies, with varying degrees of success. Marvel pretty much specializes in this approach, most noteably with their incredibly cinematic Ultimate line.
So, notice anything missing? Yep, I skipped the 70s. Why? Because nothing important happened in the 70s. Marvel and DC rested on their laurels. The only thing of note was that Jack Kirby produced a bunch of killer books that had virtually no commercial success and all got cancelled. Further proof that people in the 70s sucked.
The Beginning through The 40s: The Birth. Comics are born as the bastard child of books and newspaper strips. Over time, comics gain their own independant identity and become a form of art and literature that is different from other forms of art and literature. Will Eisner, among others, begins breaking the rules of newspaper strips to further give comics their own look. The Superhero is born (Superman is, technically, the first Super powered Hero, although if I remember correctly, he wasn't actually the first Masked Hero character to appear in comics) further giving comic books their own defining quality.
The 50s: The EC Era. Superhero comics almost universally die off and are replaced by numerous other genres including Horror, Crime, War, Western, Sci-Fi, and even Romance comics. The biggest company during this time period is EC Comics which not only produces the most lurid comics, but also the most high quality in terms of art and writing. Unfortunately, this is the McCarthy era, and comics come under the scrutiny of Government Censors due to Frederick Wertham's dreaded book, "Seduction of the Innocent". The Government doesn't actually legally do anything to comics, but EC's competitors use the Government as an excuse to create the dreaded Comics Code (BOOO!!!) which pretty much kills off EC.
The 60s: The Return of the Superhero. DC resurrects its old Superhero comics and reinvents many of its classic characters. Timely/Atlas transforms into Marvel, and armed primarily with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, unleashes an onslaught of comics on an unsuspecting audience. Super heroes return to the forefront of the mainstream, and thanks to Marvel's formula of creating down to Earth heroes with feet of clay, Marvel develops a stranglehold on the industry.
The 80s: Comics Grow Up. Comic Book Writing and Art becomes more sophisticated. A number of epic, groundbreaking works come out during this time period, including Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Watchmen, and V for Vendetta, Frank Miller's Daredevil and Dark Knight Returrns, and John Byrne's X-Men, Superman, and Fantastic Four runs. The idea that comics were more than just for kids begins to actually take hold.
The 90s: The Boom and Bust. The speculator market is born, and suddenly everyone starts thinking that comics are a worthwhile investment. Comics become a big money item, and Marvel, DC, and the various independants begin cranking out comics by the truckload. Seven of the top Marvel creators form their own company, Image, and suddenly everyone thinks that they can form their own comics company. Hundreds of new comic book companies are launched seemingly every month. Companies start coming up with various gimmicks to ensure that people will buy their books. Unfortunately, no one really worries about the quality of the actual comics, and with some rare exceptions aside, most comics put out during this period are little more than flashy crap. Eventually, the Market falls out, and suddenly NO ONE is buying comics. Hundreds of comic book companies bite the dust, and Marvel goes bankrupt. Hundreds of comic book stores close, and Diamond becomes the industry's primary distributor.
The New Millenium: Comics as Movies, Movies as Comics. With the speculator period at an end, most surviving comic book companies have come to the startling conclusion that they have to produce high quality books in order to survive. A wave of successful Comic Book Movies gives the industry a new lease on life, and many companies begin farming out books specifically designed to be made into movies, with varying degrees of success. Marvel pretty much specializes in this approach, most noteably with their incredibly cinematic Ultimate line.
So, notice anything missing? Yep, I skipped the 70s. Why? Because nothing important happened in the 70s. Marvel and DC rested on their laurels. The only thing of note was that Jack Kirby produced a bunch of killer books that had virtually no commercial success and all got cancelled. Further proof that people in the 70s sucked.
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