Era Breakdown

People in comic book stores, in forums, and wherever else geeks congregate tend to talk about "ages" of comics. The idea of an age, or era, is a way of defining movements in comic book history and how that time period differs from the others. After all when you look at when Superman first appeared and compare that to Miller's Dark Knight Returns there is a vast array of differences in both style and substance. Talking about these two books in terms of when they came out can help us put their creation into a sort of context. These ages are still up for debate although there are few that everyone agrees on. To add to some of the controversy, here is just one breakdown of the history of comics.

The Dark Age
pre-1896

Comics were coming together very slowly. Until the invention of the printing press, stories had to be told on walls with paint. Even after the printing press, it still took a long time until people figured out to make sequential stories with it.

Typical Comic: Cave painting, Bayeux Tapestry, political cartoons

The Platinum Age
1896 - 1938

The modern comic strip is invented and soon the deluge starts. Comics are flooding into newspapers across the country and they are extremely popular. They are so popular that they start printing up "funny books" or small collections of these newspaper comic strips. Soon, new characters begin to emerge in these books.

Typical Comic: The Yellow Kid, Little Nemo, Tarzan, Flash Gordan

The Golden Age
1938 - 1948

Everything changes when one of these new characters is Superman. Soon, the superhero is born. Comics begin to break away from under the shadow of comic strips. As World War II waged on, comics became even more popular. But once the soldiers returned home, the superhero genre began to deflat.

Typical Comic: Superman, Batman, All-Star Comics, Captain America

The McCarthy Age
1948 - 1956

Readers were interested less in superheroes and more in westerns, science fiction and romance. But the two most popular genres were crime and horror comics. While these were the two genres that were keeping comic book publishers in business, it also was what would bring the law down on their heads. In a time of watchdog mentality, the Senate held a committee hearing about whether or not comics were dangerous to children. To avoid trouble, the comic publishers adapted a comic code which basically killed the two popular genres, leaving publishers wondering what genre to turn to next.

Typical Comic: Tales from the Crypt, Young Romance

The Silver Age
1956 - 1967

The Flash bust on the scene and changed everything. Superheroes were popular again. DC Comics and the newly renamed Marvel Comics began a war trying to oust each other from controling the market. DC Comics tended to be more concisely written but Marvel Comics tended to have more realistic and sympathetic heroes.

Typical Comic: Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Justice League of America

The Dual Age
1967 - 1973

The times they were a changin' and comics were changing too. The youth market was moving away from the clean-cut superheroes and began wondering about sex, drugs and rock and roll. It was a time ripe for the making history and Robert Crumb was the man to do it. Crumb began the underground revolution when he began selling comics from a baby stroller in San Fransisco. Marvel and DC also changed to try and get this new market telling socially relevant stories about drug use and racial inequality. Then, in the world of comics, the greatest invention since the printing press came along: the comic book store.

Typical Comic: Zap Comics, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Spider-Man

The Bronze Age
1973 - 1986

Comics got more mature and with the invention of the comic book store and the direct market, there was a way to get those comics to the people. This also brought about the invention of the small press comic, small independent,

Typical Comic: X-Men, Cerebus, Conan

The Modern Age
1986 - 1993

As the political world grew darker under the Cold War, so too did the comic landscape. The Modern Age brought with it a maturity and darkness. Superheroes were shown to be vulnerable and weak. Readers wanted to see their heroes have to deal with "real" problems as well as perform superheroic tasks.

Typical Comic: Daredevil, Killing Joke, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Watchmen

The Post-Modern Age
1993 until present

In the hopes that they could reinvent the superhero genre, it began to reference itself more and more, becoming more and more self-aware. Whether that be in terms of marketing with the ever-growing X-Franchise at Marvel or with some of the self-aware story telling, comics were becoming more and more aware of itself as a medium and began playing with those very expectations and limitations.

Typical Comic: Animal Man, Authority, Uncanny X-Men, Tom Strong