Bronze age.

[davidelliott]

And it was these events that shifted us from the Silver to Bronze Ages that we shifted reading about our heroes on Earth One & Earth Two to an alternate Earth One & Earth Two...

The characters simply aren't the same...

It was also going into the Bronze Age when Superman was stuck at 29 and Superboy wans always 15 years (or so) behind... before that it was the opinion that it was the same guy from 1938 (IIRC)

[Gary]

It's interesting how many of the Bronze Age changes got rolled back, well before Crisis took us into the next era.

Lois went back to the Planet pretty quickly. Clark eventually did likewise, if only part-time. Curt Swan's art settled back into more of a Silver-Agey style, and a lot of the characters and concepts that had been dropped quietly from the series began to reappear.

The Titans went back to being costumed heroes pretty quickly. Wonder Woman eventually did as well. Green Lantern broke up with Green Arrow and he also went back to being a more or less straight action hero. The changed GA did stick, though he was relegated to guest appearances and backup features in places like World's Finest.

[crispy snax]

dont forget the bronze age revamp of the more serious batman and more homocidal joker did stick... although that was a more of a "returning to roots" after the camp age.

and after reading "showcase presents Green Arrow volume 1" i have to say GA really needed that personality makeover... if he wasnt made so political you can bet your back issues that green arrow and speedy wouldnt be so prominent in modern dc comics... only brought out for "nostalgic" purposes

and i liked how they tended to try and tie in superman with the rest of the DCU in those days, it made him seem more epic hero, made him a champion of the universe

what i DONT  like in the bronze age superman tales is... supermobile...its just so dumb even my usually abundant lovefor silly and wacky is taken aback... maybe its because it reeks of "toy tie-in"

[carmelo]

I think that early bronze age,in superman and batman case, was very much inspired from late 30s-early 40s comics."The Batman" without Robin,Superman with less powers ("Sandman saga"),The Joker that return a very dangerous homicide (see the "laugh gas").

[ShinDangaioh]

Strangely enough, in the Superfriends cartoon(and tie in comic), the Supermobile was used more often and a lot more logically. 

The Bronze Age has the rise of the Teen Titans, Amethyst, Infinity Inc, Young All Stars, All Star Squadron, and a few others

The 2nd and 3rd string heroes were outselling the Superman, Batman, and  Wonder Woman books.

[MatterEaterLad]

I do think that people overestimate the length of time the characters spent in their "roots".  Superman and Batman were both much less dark (or maybe just fleshed out) within 2 years after their debut.  Robin appears only a year after Batman's first appearance.

[TELLE]

I'm not a big fan of the periodization of American comics (meaning American superhero comics) into the metalllic Ages.  Mostly because it leads to these sorts of discussions.  Really, the first person to coin the term should have the final say and the endless hair-splitting and redefining is largely an ahistorical, useless (but fun!) pastime.  It's not like there is an official body of comics historians who will finally decide this matter (although it's not a bad idea).

Really, how can you argue for when a particular Age started if you can't define the characteristics of an Age?  Besides, I think better systems of categorization include genre, tone and readership.  As well, other artforms concentrate on artistic movements.  I'd love to see more discussion of the growth and decline of various "schools" within American superhero comics.  The Kirby school vs the Adams school, for instance.  Kirby jumping ship is a huge event.  As is the end of the distribution deal between National and Marvel --when Marvel increased its titles.

I think the changes in editorial, especially at DC, also had a huge impact on the content and marketing/presentation of the comics.
There is a definite flavour and tone to the Weisinger-era Superman books that simply ceased when he retired.  Ditto the change between the Lee and Thomas eras at Marvel, etc etc.


I think political/social eras are useful as well.  Most of Marvel's 60s superhero comics can accurately be characterized as "Cold War comics".  An most Bronze Age comics can usefully be lumped under the category "70s Malaise era comics".

[Permanus]

I think political/social eras are useful as well.  Most of Marvel's 60s superhero comics can accurately be characterized as "Cold War comics".  An most Bronze Age comics can usefully be lumped under the category "70s Malaise era comics".

Yup, I agree with you there, and it's a sort of nomenclature that can only be added after the fact. Much like Shakespeare and his lot weren't going around saying "We are making Elizabethan literature", nobody ever thought of themselves as a "Bronze Age Superman writer". As you say, it's far more useful to put them in their political/social context: The Golden Age is basically the end of the Great Depression and WW2, the Silver Age is the Cold War and to an extent the Swingin' Sixties (though for obvious reasons the counterculture was better represented by underground comix), then we move into 70s malaise, or Vietnam and Opec as I like to think of it, and so on.

Divisions like this are useful as shorthand in discussions, but are essentially artificial. I'm put in mind of the comedy sketch - can't remember who did it - in which a man walks onstage and says: "Hey everybody! The Thirty Years War has begun!"