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111-538: Debuting in the Bronze Age of Comic Books , Mongul has been featured in other DC Comics-endorsed products such as animated series , video games , a direct-to-DVD film, and merchandise such as action figures and trading cards . Mongul debuted in the title DC Comics Presents and was created by writer Len Wein and artist Jim Starlin . Starlin often receives credit as creator of the character, but Wein in an interview stated: "Well, [Mongul] had Starlin visuals, but he

222-618: A Silver Age pastiche in his Kapten Stofil comic book series (1998–2009) about the powers of nostalgia in a grumpy, old comic book named Captain Geezer who longs to return to the Silver Age. Lindengren also borrows many elements from Silver Age comics in United States of Banana , a comic book he created with Puerto Rican author Giannina Braschi . Arlen Schumer, author of The Silver Age of Comic Book Art , singles out Carmine Infantino 's Flash as

333-510: A cinematic approach at times that occasionally altered the more conventional panel-based format that had been commonplace for decades. Adams' breakthrough was based on layout and rendering. Best known for returning Batman to his somber roots after the campy success of the Batman television show, his naturalistic depictions of anatomy, faces, and gestures changed comics' style in a way that Strausbaugh sees reflected in modern graphic novels. One of

444-506: A copy in the best condition known of Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), the debut of Spider-Man , selling for $ 1.1 million in 2011. In 2022, a copy of Fantastic Four #1 sold for $ 1.5 million. Comics historian and movie producer Michael Uslan traces the origin of the "Silver Age" term to the letters column of Justice League of America #42 (February 1966), which went on sale December 9, 1965. Letter-writer Scott Taylor of Westport, Connecticut, wrote: "If you guys keep bringing back

555-451: A darker, sarcastic and more mature approach to superhero storylines. Writers Artists Silver Age of Comic Books The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books , predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype . Following the Golden Age of Comic Books , the Silver Age

666-506: A differing set of styles and aggressively sought talent from Asia and Latin America. The X-Men were originally created in 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby . However, the title never achieved the popularity of other Lee/Kirby creations, and by 1970, after a brief run with Neal Adams' more realistic Silver Age style, Marvel ceased publishing new material and the title was turned over to reprints. But in 1975 an "all-new, all-different" version of

777-597: A few African-American characters. Archie largely switched to paperback digest format in the late 1980s. Children's comics were still popular with Disney reprints under the Gold Key label along with Harvey 's stable of characters which grew in popularity. The latter included Richie Rich , Casper and Wendy , which eventually switched to digest format as well. Again Marvel and DC were unable to emulate their success with competing titles. An 'explicit content' market akin to

888-553: A few unconventional comic book series from the period featured one or more villains as their central character ( Super-Villain Team-Up , Secret Society of Super Villains , The Joker ). Archie Comics dominated the female market during this time with their characters, Betty and Veronica having some of the largest circulation of titular female characters. Several clones were attempted by Marvel and DC unsuccessfully. Several Archie titles examined socially relevant issues and introduced

999-508: A few. In the mid-'70s, DC launched numerous new titles such as Jack Kirby 's New Gods and Steve Ditko 's Shade, the Changing Man . Jenette Kahn would eventually take the helm of the company in 1976. The company followed this up in 1978 with the " DC Explosion " where the standard line of books increased in page count and 50 cent price. Many of these titles added backup features with various characters. However, DC greatly overestimated

1110-480: A lifelong science-fiction fan, was the inspiration for the re-imagined Green Lantern —the Golden Age character, railroad engineer Alan Scott , possessed a ring powered by a magical lantern, but his Silver Age replacement, test pilot Hal Jordan , had a ring powered by an alien battery and created by an intergalactic police force. In the mid-1960s, DC established that characters appearing in comics published prior to

1221-433: A line of books by comic-book veterans such as Jack Kirby, Mike Grell and Sergio Aragonés , for which the artists retained copyright and shared in royalties. In 1978, Will Eisner published his " graphic novel " A Contract With God , an attempt to produce a long-format story outside the traditional comic book genres. In the early 1980s Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly began publishing Raw magazine, which included

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1332-491: A lot less happy." Strausbaugh writes that the Silver Age "went out with that whimper". Comics scholar Arnold T. Blumberg places the end of the Silver Age in June 1973, when Gwen Stacy , girlfriend of Peter Parker (Spider-Man), was killed in a story arc later dubbed " The Night Gwen Stacy Died ", saying the era of "innocence" was ended by "the 'snap' heard round the comic book world—the startling, sickening snap of bone that heralded

1443-471: A lot more credit for their creations, even though they were still ceding copyrights to the companies for whom they worked. Pencil Artists were allowed to keep their original artwork and sell it on the open market. When word got out that Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were living in poverty, artists such as Neal Adams, Jerry Robinson and Bernie Wrightson helped organize fellow artists to pressure DC in rectifying them and other pioneers from

1554-431: A message of acceptance of those who are different". Although its characters have inspired a number of nostalgic films and ranges of merchandise, Harvey comics of the period are not nearly as sought after in the collectors' market in contrast to DC and Marvel titles. The publishers Gilberton , Dell Comics , and Gold Key Comics used their reputations as publishers of wholesome comic books to avoid becoming signatories to

1665-587: A metaphor for real-world minorities, became wildly popular. Other well-known "relevant" comics include the " Demon in a Bottle ", where Iron Man confronts his alcoholism, and the socially conscious stories written by Steve Gerber in such titles as Howard the Duck and Omega the Unknown . Issues regarding female empowerment became trends with female versions of popular male characters ( Spider-Woman , Red Sonja , Ms. Marvel , She-Hulk ). Writers and artists began getting

1776-455: A rise in juvenile crime statistics, although this rise was shown to be in direct proportion to population growth. When juvenile offenders admitted to reading comics, it was seized on as a common denominator; one notable critic was Fredric Wertham , author of the book Seduction of the Innocent (1954), who attempted to shift the blame for juvenile delinquency from the parents of the children to

1887-496: A superhero team book, resulting in The Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961). Under the guidance of writer-editor Stan Lee and artists/co-plotters such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko , Marvel began its own rise to prominence. With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, The Fantastic Four #1 initiated a naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons, who squabbled and worried about

1998-549: A team consisting of the company's most popular superhero characters. Martin Goodman , a publishing trend-follower with his 1950s Atlas Comics line, by this time called Marvel Comics , "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", Marvel editor Stan Lee recalled in 1974. Goodman directed Lee to likewise produce

2109-405: Is also marked by the cancellation of most titles in the genres of romance, western, and war stories that had been mainstays of comics production since the 1940s. Most anthologies, whether they presented feature characters or not, also disappeared. They had been used since the Golden Age to introduce new characters, to host characters that lost their own title or to feature several characters. This had

2220-465: Is considered to cover the period from 1956 to 1970, and was succeeded by the Bronze Age . The popularity and circulation of comic books about superheroes had declined following World War II , and comic books about horror, crime and romance took larger shares of the market. However, controversy arose over alleged links between comic books and juvenile delinquency , focusing in particular on crime, horror, and superheroes. In 1954, publishers implemented

2331-557: Is no one single event that can be said to herald the beginning of the Bronze Age. Instead, a number of events at the beginning of the 1970s, taken together, can be seen as a shift away from the tone of comics in the previous decade. One such event was the April 1970 issue of Green Lantern , which added Green Arrow as a title character ( Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76). The series, written by Denny O'Neil and penciled by Neal Adams (inking

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2442-641: The Comet and Flygirl . Their stories blended typical superhero fare with the 1960s camp. Among straightforward Silver Age superheroes from publishers other than Marvel or DC, Charlton Comics offered a short-lived superhero line with characters that included Captain Atom , Judomaster , the Question , and Thunderbolt ; Tower Comics had Dynamo, Mercury Man, NoMan and other members of the superhero espionage group T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents ; and even Gold Key had Doctor Solar, Man of

2553-641: The Comics Code Authority to regulate comic content. In the wake of these changes, publishers began introducing superhero stories again, a change that began with the introduction of a new version of DC Comics ' The Flash in Showcase #4 (October 1956). In response to strong demand, DC began publishing more superhero titles including Justice League of America , which prompted Marvel Comics to follow suit beginning with The Fantastic Four #1. A number of important comics writers and artists contributed to

2664-453: The Golden Age as the Silver Age began, largely due to their creator's ongoing affection for them. Jacobs describes the arrival of Showcase #4 on the newsstands as "begging to be bought", the cover featured an undulating film strip depicting the Flash running so fast that he had escaped from the frame. Editor Julius Schwartz , writer Gardner Fox , and artist Carmine Infantino were some of

2775-490: The Hulk during a time period of social upheaval and the rise of the counterculture of the 1960s . Comic books of the Silver Age explained superhero phenomena and origins through science, inspired by contemporary science fiction , as opposed to the Golden Age , which commonly relied on magic or mysticism . Comics historian Peter Sanderson compares the 1960s DC to a large Hollywood studio, and argues that after having reinvented

2886-456: The Justice League of America . The DC artists responsible included Murphy Anderson , Gil Kane , Ramona Fradon , Mike Sekowsky , and Joe Kubert . Only the characters' names remained the same; their costumes, locales, and identities were altered, and imaginative scientific explanations for their superpowers generally took the place of magic as a modus operandi in their stories. Schwartz,

2997-576: The Martian Manhunter in Detective Comics #225 predates Showcase #4 by almost a year, and at least one historian considers this character the first Silver Age superhero. However, comics historian Craig Shutt, author of the Comics Buyer's Guide column "Ask Mister Silver Age", disagrees, noting that the Martian Manhunter debuted as a detective who used his alien abilities to solve crimes, in

3108-649: The New Universe and X-Factor (an extension of the X-Men franchise). After the Bronze Age came the Modern Age of Comic Books . According to Shawn O'Rourke of PopMatters , the shift from the previous ages involved a "deconstructive and dystopian re-envisioning of iconic characters and the worlds that they live in", as typified by Frank Miller 's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Alan Moore 's and Dave Gibbons ' Watchmen (1986–1987). Other features that define

3219-869: The Phantom Lady ; Strong Man, published by Magazine Enterprises in 1955; Charlton Comics ' Nature Boy , introduced in March 1956, and its revival of the Blue Beetle the previous year; and Atlas Comics' short-lived revivals of Captain America, the Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , beginning in Young Men Comics #24 (December 1953). In the United Kingdom, the Marvelman series was published from 1954 to 1963, substituting for

3330-471: The Silver Age of Comic Books and is followed by the Modern Age of Comic Books . The Bronze Age retained many of the conventions of the Silver Age, with traditional superhero titles remaining the mainstay of the industry. However, a return of darker plot elements and storylines more related to relevant social issues began to flourish during the period, prefiguring the later Modern Age of Comic Books. There

3441-534: The Superman: Villains one-shot (May 2020), Mongul is killed and succeeded by his son, Mongul MDCCXCII. Mongul possesses immense superhuman physical abilities comparable to Superman. Furthermore, he can teleport, generate energy blasts, possesses limited telepathy and telekinesis, and wields a chest-mounted cannon. For a time, he was also part of the Sinestro Corps, having access to all that it entailed; i.e.,

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3552-680: The Werewolf . Gold Key did licensed versions of live-action and animated superhero television shows such as Captain Nice , Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles , and continued the adventures of Walt Disney Pictures ' Goofy character in Supergoof . American Comics Group gave its established character Herbie a secret superhero identity as the Fat Fury , and introduced the characters of Nemesis and Magic-Man. Even

3663-528: The "quirky detective" vein of contemporaneous DC characters who were "TV detectives, Indian detectives, supernatural detectives, [and] animal detectives". Shutt feels the Martian Manhunter only became a superhero in Detective Comics #273 (November 1959) when he received a secret identity and other superhero accoutrements, saying, "Had Flash not come along, I doubt that the Martian Manhunter would've led

3774-731: The 1930s and 1940s extremely valuable. DC experimented with some large-size paperback books to reprint their Golden Age comics, create one-shot stories such as Superman vs. Shazam and Superman vs. Muhammad Ali as well as the early Marvel crossovers. The popularity of those early books also opened up a market for specialty shops. The existence of these shops made it possible for small-press publishers to reach an audience, and some comic book artists began self-publishing their own work. Notable titles of this type included Dave Sim 's Cerebus and Wendy and Richard Pini 's Elfquest series. Other small-press publishers came in to take advantage of this growing market: Pacific Comics introduced in 1981

3885-502: The 1930s and 1940s. Newer publishers, such as Pacific Comics and Eclipse Comics, negotiated contracts in which creators retained copyright to their creations. One of the most significant developments during the period was a substantial rise in the number of black and other non-white minority superheroes. Before the 1970s, there had been very few non-white superheroes (Marvel Comics' Black Panther and Falcon introduced in 1966 and 1969, respectively, being notable exceptions) but starting in

3996-575: The Apes , Godzilla , Logan's Run , Indiana Jones , Jaws 2 , 2001: A Space Odyssey , Star Wars ), TV shows ( The Six Million Dollar Man , Lost in Space , The Man from Atlantis , Battlestar Galactica , Star Trek , The A-Team , Welcome Back Kotter ), toys ( G.I. Joe , Micronauts , Transformers , Rom , Atari Force , Thundercats ), and even public figures ( Kiss , Pope John Paul II ). Though not necessarily "non-superhero",

4107-447: The Atom . According to John Strausbaugh of The New York Times , "traditional" comic book historians feel that although the Silver Age deserves study, the only noteworthy aspect of the Silver Age was the advent of underground comics. One commentator has suggested that, "Perhaps one of the reasons underground comics have come to be considered legitimate art is due to the fact that the work of these artists more truly embodies what much of

4218-599: The Bold #28 (Feb. 1960) before going on to its own title. Film producer and comics historian Michael Uslan later contradicted some specifics, while supporting the story's framework: 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

4329-516: The British reprints of the Captain Marvel stories after Fawcett stopped publishing the character's adventures. The talking animal superheroes Supermouse and Mighty Mouse were published continuously in their own titles from the end of the Golden Age through the beginning of the Silver Age. Atomic Mouse was given his own title in 1953, lasting ten years. Atomic Rabbit, later named Atomic Bunny,

4440-468: The Comics Code and found various ways to continue publishing horror-themed comics in addition to other types. Gilberton's extensive Classics Illustrated line adapted literary classics, with the likes of Frankenstein alongside Don Quixote and Oliver Twist ; Classics Illustrated Junior reprinted comic book versions of children's classics such as The Wizard of Oz , Rapunzel , and Pinocchio . During

4551-716: The Gray Mouser . They also took over the licensing of Edgar Rice Burroughs 's Tarzan from longtime publisher Gold Key and began adapting other Burroughs creations, such as John Carter , the Pellucidar series, and the Amtor series . Marvel also adapted to comic book form, with less success, Edwin Lester Arnold 's character Gullivar Jones and, later, Lin Carter 's Thongor . The murder of Spider-Man 's longtime girlfriend, Gwen Stacy , at

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4662-531: The James Bond-style spy stories, introducing the vortex beam (which lifts objects), the aphonic bomb (which explodes silently), a miniature electronic absorber (which protected Fury from electricity), and the Q-ray machine (a molecular disintegrator)—all in his first 11-page story. The following comics are sought after by collectors due to their historic significance. A near-mint-plus copy of Amazing Fantasy #15,

4773-957: The Man Who Has Everything ", Mongul attacks Superman on his birthday and imprisons him in a dream world using the Black Mercy plant. Batman , Robin , and Wonder Woman defeat Mongul and use the Black Mercy on him. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity reboot, Mongul is reintroduced as the ruler of the Warworld empire. Mongul captures Superman, who works with Mongul's champion Draaga to defeat him. Mongul later destroys Hal Jordan 's hometown of Coast City, leading to his transformation into Parallax . In Underworld Unleashed , Neron kills Mongul after he refuses his offer of power. Following Mongul's death, his son Mongul II succeeds him as ruler of Warworld and battles Superman to prepare him for

4884-467: The Palais de Louvre in 1967, and books were soon published that contained serious discussions of the art of comics and the nature of the medium. In January 1966, a live-action Batman television show debuted to high ratings. Circulation for comic books in general and Batman merchandise in particular soared. Other masked or superpowered adventurers appeared on the television screen, so that "American TV in

4995-406: The Silver Age lived on a parallel Earth the company dubbed Earth-Two . Characters introduced in the Silver Age and onward lived on Earth-One . The two realities were separated by a vibrational field that could be crossed, should a storyline involve superheroes from different worlds teaming up. Although the Flash is generally regarded as the first superhero of the Silver Age, the introduction of

5106-660: The Silver Age or simpler cartooning of the Golden Age. The so-called "House Style" of DC tended to imitations of Adams' work, while Marvel adopted a more realistic version of Kirby's style. This change is sometimes credited to a new generation of artists influenced by the popularity of EC Comics in the 1950s. Artists who could distinguish themselves from these House Styles would achieve some renown. Such names include Berni Wrightson , Jim Aparo , Jim Starlin , John Byrne , Frank Miller , George Pérez and Howard Chaykin . A secondary line of comics at DC, headed by former EC Comics artist Joe Orlando and devoted to horror titles, established

5217-688: The Titans of the Bronze Age of Comics was launched in 2003, and lasted for four years. During the Silver Age, comic books frequently had several features, a form harkening back to the Golden Age when the first comics were anthologies. In 1968, Marvel graduated its double feature characters appearing in their anthologies to full-length stories in their own comic. But several of these characters could not sustain their own title and were cancelled. Marvel tried to create new double feature anthologies such as Amazing Adventures and Astonishing Tales which did not last as double feature comic books. A more enduring concept

5328-462: The X-Men was introduced by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum in Giant-Size X-Men #1, with Chris Claremont as uncredited assistant co-plotter. Claremont stayed as writer on just about all X-Men-related titles, including spinoffs, for the next sixteen years, after which other regular writers such as Louise Simonson , Fabian Nicieza and Scott Lobdell joined and Claremont eventually left. One of

5439-489: The ability to create fear-based energy constructs and gain power from the fear of others. As a Pale Vicor, Mongul can negate the powers of the emotional spectrum and generate a protective aura. In 2009, Mongul was ranked as IGN 's 41st Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time. Bronze Age of Comic Books The Bronze Age of Comic Books is an informal name for a period in the history of American superhero comic books , usually said to run from 1970 to 1985. It follows

5550-418: The appeal of so many new titles at once, sales dropped severely during the harsh 1978 winter and it nearly broke the company and the industry, including Charlton Comics ; this event has been called the " DC Implosion ". Marvel eventually gained 50% of the market and Stan Lee handed control of the comic division to Jim Shooter while he worked with their growing animation spin-offs. As the Bronze Age began in

5661-561: The artist left to join DC Comics ; this combines with DC's Superman #229 (August 1970), editor Mort Weisinger 's last before retiring. According to historian Peter Sanderson, the "neo-silver movement" that began in 1986 with Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by Alan Moore and Curt Swan , was a backlash against the Bronze Age with a return to Silver Age principles. In Sanderson's opinion, each comics generation rebels against

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5772-460: The best-known pop art painters, specifically chose individual panels from comic books and repainted the images, modifying them to some extent in the process but including in the painting word and thought balloons and captions as well as enlarged-to-scale color dots imitating the coloring process then used in newsprint comic books. An exhibition of comic strip art was held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs of

5883-419: The books loudly proclaimed on their covers to promote sales. The Spider-Man drug issues were at the forefront of the trend of "social relevance" with comic books noticeably handling real-life issues. The above-mentioned Green Lantern/Green Arrow series dealt not only with drugs, but other topics like racism and environmental degradation. The X-Men titles, which were partly based on the premise that mutants were

5994-513: The character] Conan and monsters [in the wake of the Comics Code allowing vampires, werewolves and the like]—were on firm ground by this time." He also dismisses the end of the 12-cent comic book, which went to 15 cents as the industry standard in early 1969, noting that the 1962 hike from 10 cents to 12 cents had no bearing in this regard. Shutt's line comes with Fantastic Four #102 (September 1970), Jack Kirby 's last regular-run issue before

6105-750: The charge from his backup position in Detective to a new super-hero age." Unsuccessful attempts to revive the superhero archetype's popularity include Captain Comet , who debuted in Strange Adventures #9 (June 1951); St. John Publishing Company's 1953 revival of Rocket Man under the title Zip-Jet; Fighting American , created in 1954 by the Captain America team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ; Sterling Comics ' Captain Flash and its backup feature Tomboy that same year; Ajax/Farrell Publishing's 1954–55 revival of

6216-617: The comic books they read. The result was a decline in the comics industry. To address public concerns, in 1954 the Comics Code Authority was created to regulate and curb violence in comics, marking the start of a new era. The Silver Age began with the publication of DC Comics' Showcase #4 (October 1956), which introduced the modern version of the Flash. At the time, only three superheroes— Superman (and his younger incarnation as Superboy ), Batman (with his sidekick Robin ), and Wonder Woman —were still published under their own titles. According to DC comics writer Will Jacobs , Superman

6327-505: The counterculture movement of the time. The Silver Age of comic books was followed by the Bronze Age. The demarcation is not clearly defined, but there are a number of possibilities. Historian Will Jacobs suggests the Silver Age ended in April 1970 when the man who had started it, Julius Schwartz, handed over Green Lantern —starring one of the first revived heroes of the era—to the new-guard team of Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams in response to reduced sales. John Strausbaugh also connects

6438-714: The death of her father in Amazing Spider-Man #90 and the beginning of the Dennis O'Neil / Neal Adams tenure on Batman . In 1971, Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Stan Lee was approached by the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare to do a comic book story about drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story, " Green Goblin Reborn! ," which portrayed drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. At that time, any portrayal of drug use in comic books

6549-412: The death of Gwen Stacy." Silver Age historian Craig Shutt disputes this, saying, "Gwen Stacy's death shocked Spider-Man readers. Such a tragedy makes a strong symbolic ending. This theory gained adherents when Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross 's Marvels miniseries in 1994 ended with Gwen's death, but I'm not buying it. It's too late. Too many new directions—especially [the sword-and-sorcery trend begun by

6660-586: The early 1970s this began to change with the introduction of characters such as Marvel's Luke Cage (who was the first black superhero featured in his own comic book in 1972) of the Defenders , Storm of the X-Men , Blade , Monica Rambeau of the Avengers, Misty Knight , Shang-Chi , and DC's Green Lantern John Stewart , Bronze Tiger , Black Lightning , Vixen and Cyborg of Teen Titans , many of whom were black (with

6771-411: The early 1970s, and the medium reverted by the mid-1970s to selling predominantly superhero titles. A concern with social issues had been a part of comic book stories since their beginnings: early Superman stories, for example, dealt with issues such as child mistreatment and working conditions for minors . However, in the 1970s relevance became not only a feature of the stories, but also something that

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6882-406: The early 1970s, popularity shifted away from the established superhero genre towards comic book titles from which superheroes were absent altogether. These non-superhero comics were typically inspired by genres like Westerns or fantasy & pulp fiction. As previously noted, 1971's revised Comics Code left the horror genre ripe for development and several supernaturally-themed series resulted, such as

6993-577: The early part of the era, including writers Stan Lee , Gardner Fox , John Broome , and Robert Kanigher , and artists Curt Swan , Jack Kirby , Gil Kane , Steve Ditko , Mike Sekowsky , Gene Colan , Carmine Infantino , John Buscema , and John Romita Sr. By the end of the Silver Age, a new generation of talent had entered the field, including writers Denny O'Neil , Gary Friedrich , Roy Thomas , and Archie Goodwin , and artists such as Neal Adams , Herb Trimpe , Jim Steranko , and Barry Windsor-Smith . Silver Age comics have become collectible , with

7104-582: The early serialization of Spiegelman's award-winning graphic novel Maus . Comics sold on newsstands were distributed on the basis that unsold copies were returned to the publisher. Comics sold to comic shops were sold on a no-return basis. This allowed small-press titles sold through the direct market to keep publishing costs down and increase profits, making viable titles that otherwise would have been unprofitable. Marvel and DC began taking advantage of this direct market themselves, publishing books and titles distributed only through comic book shops. This period

7215-414: The effect of standardizing the length of comics stories within a narrow range, so that multiple stand-alone stories would appear within a single issue. The underground comix of the 1960s counterculture continued, but contracted significantly and were ultimately subsumed into the emerging direct market . One commonly used ending point for the Bronze Age is the 1985–1986 time frame. As with the Silver Age,

7326-504: The embodiment of the design of the era: "as sleek and streamlined as the fins Detroit was sporting on all its models". Other notable pencilers of the era include Curt Swan , Gene Colan , Steve Ditko , Gil Kane , Jack Kirby , Joe Kubert , Don Heck , George Tuska , Dick Ayers , and John Romita Sr. Two artists that changed the comics industry dramatically in the late 1960s were Neal Adams , considered one of his country's greatest draftsmen, and Jim Steranko . Both artists expressed

7437-540: The end of the Bronze Age relates to a number of trends and events that happened at around the same time. DC Comics published Crisis on Infinite Earths , which overhauled the history of the DC Universe and several of the company's major characters, and revitalized sales for the company, again making it a serious market contender against Marvel. During this period Marvel published the crossover Secret Wars , cancelled Defenders and Power Man and Iron Fist , and launched

7548-450: The end of the Silver Age to Green Lantern. He observes that in 1960, the character embodied the can-do optimism of the era. However, by 1972 Green Lantern had become world-weary, with the character saying in one story, "Those days are gone—gone forever—the days I was confident, certain ... I was so young ... so sure I couldn't make a mistake! Young and cocky, that was Green Lantern. Well, I've changed. I'm older now ... maybe wiser, too ... and

7659-452: The end of the careers of many of the veteran writers and artists of the time, or their promotion to management positions and retirement from regular writing or drawing, and their replacement with a younger generation of editors and creators, many of whom knew each other from their experiences in comic book fan conventions and publications. At the same time, publishers began the era by scaling back on their superhero publications, canceling many of

7770-404: The era are a higher amount of adult-oriented material, the X-Men becoming Marvel Comics' "dominant intellectual property", and the comics distribution system being reorganized throughout the industry. These changes would also lead to the appearance of new independent comic book publishers in the early 1990s—such as Image Comics , with titles like Spawn and Savage Dragon which also boasted

7881-535: The exception of Shang-Chi himself). Additionally, Jewish superheroes became more visible with the appearances of Marvel's Kitty Pryde of the X-Men and Moon Knight , respectively. Characters such as Luke Cage, Mantis , Misty Knight, Shang-Chi and Iron Fist have been seen by some as an attempt by Marvel Comics to cash in on the 1970s crazes for kung fu films. However, these and other minority characters came into their own after these film trends faded, and became increasingly popular and important as time progressed. By

7992-555: The few writer-artists at the time, Steranko made use of a cinematic style of storytelling. Strausbaugh credits him as one of Marvel's strongest creative forces during the late 1960s, his art owing a large debt to Salvador Dalí . Steranko started by inking and penciling the details of Kirby's artwork on Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. beginning in Strange Tales #151, but by Strange Tales #155 Stan Lee had put him in charge of both writing and drawing Fury's adventures. He exaggerated

8103-543: The first appearance of Spider-Man, sold for $ 1.1 million to an unnamed collector on March 7, 2011. ^ 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 of America , which had debuted in The Brave and

8214-569: The first of which was Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man . This was followed by a second Superman and Spider-Man, Batman vs. the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men vs The New Teen Titans . Another title, The Avengers vs. the Justice League of America was written by Gerry Conway and drawn by George Pérez with plotting by Roy Thomas, but was never published, reflecting the later animosity between

8325-509: The future. One of the few most-selling American comics publishers in 1956, Harvey Comics , discontinued its horror comics when the Comics Code was implemented and sought a new target audience. Harvey's focus shifted to children from 6 to 12 years of age, especially girls, with characters such as Richie Rich , Casper the Friendly Ghost , and Little Dot . Many of the company's comics featured young girls who "defied stereotypes and sent

8436-538: The hands of the Green Goblin in 1973's Amazing Spider-Man #121–122 is considered by comics scholar Arnold T. Blumberg to be the definitive Bronze Age event, as it exemplifies the period's trend towards darker territory and willingness to subvert conventions such as the assumed survival of long-established, "untouchable" characters. However, there had been a gradual darkening of the tone of superhero comics for several years prior to " The Night Gwen Stacy Died ", including

8547-441: The hero brings him a key to activate Warworld . Mongul is rendered unconscious by the mental strain from using Warworld, but escapes before the heroes destroy it. Mongul then tries to conquer Throneworld, the home planet of Prince Gavyn / Starman . He murders Gavyn's sister and obtains a Sun-Eater that he attempts to use to destroy Earth's sun before the Justice League of America and Legion of Super-Heroes stop him. In " For

8658-621: The heroes from the [1930s–1940s] Golden Age, people 20 years from now will be calling this decade the Silver Sixties!" According to Uslan, the natural hierarchy of gold-silver-bronze, as in Olympic medals, took hold: "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

8769-646: The iconic Archie Comics teens acquired super powers and superhero identities in comedic titles such as Archie as Capt. Pureheart and Jughead as Captain Hero . Archie Comics also launched its Archie Adventure line (subsequently titled Mighty Comics ), which included the Fly , the Jaguar , and a revamp of the Golden Age hero the Shield . In addition to their individual titles, they teamed in their group series The Mighty Crusaders , joined by

8880-548: The late 1950s and the 1960s, Dell, which had published comics in 1936, offered licensed TV series comic books from Twilight Zone to Top Cat , as well as numerous Walt Disney titles. Its successor, Gold Key—founded in 1962 after Western Publishing started its own label rather than packaging content for business partner Dell—continued with such licensed TV series and movie adaptations, as well as comics starring such Warner Bros. Cartoons characters as Bugs Bunny and such comic strip properties as Beetle Bailey . With

8991-401: The likes of rent-money. In contrast to the straitlaced archetypes of superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, and others complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became popular among college students who could identify with the angst and the irreverent nature of the characters such as Spider-Man , the X-Men and

9102-479: The long-term editor of the various Superman titles, retired to be replaced by Julius Schwartz . Schwartz set about toning down some of the more fanciful aspects of the Weisinger era, removing most Kryptonite from continuity and scaling back Superman's nigh-infinite—by then—powers, which was done by veteran Superman artist Curt Swan together with author Denny O'Neil . The beginning of the Bronze Age coincided with

9213-520: The market, changing the medium from one dominated by a few large publishers to a more diverse and eclectic range of books. In 1970, Marvel published the first comic book issue of Robert E. Howard 's pulp character Conan the Barbarian . Conan's success as a comic hero resulted in adaptations of other Howard characters: King Kull , Red Sonja and Solomon Kane . DC Comics responded with comics featuring Warlord , Beowulf and Fritz Leiber 's Fafhrd and

9324-498: The market, which played a key role in their becoming the overall market leader among comic publishers. Suddenly many titles featured reprints: X-Men , Sgt. Fury , Kid Colt, Outlaw , Rawhide Kid , Two-Gun Kid , Outlaw Kid , Jungle Action , Special Marvel Edition (the early issues), War is Hell (the early issues), Creatures on the Loose , Monsters on the Prowl and FEAR , to name just

9435-400: The mid-1960s; DC cancelled most of its superhero titles other than those starring Superman and Batman, while Marvel cancelled weaker-selling titles such as Dr. Strange , Sub-Mariner and The X-Men . In their place, they experimented with a wide variety of other genres, including Westerns, horror and monster stories, and the above-mentioned adaptations of pulp adventures. These trends peaked in

9546-527: The mid-1980s, Storm and Cyborg had become leaders of the X-Men and Teen Titans , respectively, and John Stewart briefly replaced Hal Jordan as the lead character of the Green Lantern title. Starting with Neal Adams' work in Green Lantern/Green Arrow a newly sophisticated realism became the norm in the industry. Buyers would no longer be interested in the heavily stylized work of artists of

9657-456: The most apparent influences from this series was the creation of what became DC Comics' answer to X-Men's character-based storytelling style, The New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez , which became a highly successful and influential property in its own right. Wolfman would associate himself with the title for sixteen years, while Perez established a large fan base and a sought-after pencilling style. A successful cartoon based on

9768-471: The niche Underground Comix of the late '60s was ostensibly opened with the Franco-Belgian import Heavy Metal Magazine . Marvel launched competing magazine titles of their own with Conan the Barbarian and Epic Illustrated which would eventually become its division of Direct Sales comics. The paper drives of World War II and a growing nostalgia among Baby-Boomers in the 1970s made comic books of

9879-510: The people behind the Flash's revitalization. Robert Kanigher wrote the first stories of the revived Flash, and John Broome was the writer of many of the earliest stories. With the success of Showcase #4, several other 1940s superheroes were reworked during Schwartz' tenure, including Green Lantern , Aquaman , the Atom , and Hawkman , and the Justice Society of America was reimagined as

9990-422: The popular The Tomb of Dracula , Ghost Rider and Swamp Thing . In the science fiction genre, post-apocalyptic survival stories were an early trend, as evidenced by characters like Deathlok , Killraven and Kamandi . The long-running sci-fi/fantasy anthology comic magazine Metal Hurlant and its American counterpart Heavy Metal began publishing in the late '70s. Marvel's Star Wars series

10101-493: The popularity of the Batman television show in 1966, publishers that had specialized in other forms began adding campy superhero titles to their lines. As well, new publishers sprang up, often using creative talent from the Golden Age. Harvey Comics ' Harvey Thriller imprint released Double-Dare Adventures , starring new characters such as Bee-Man and Magicmaster. Dell published superhero versions of Frankenstein , Dracula and

10212-409: The previous, and the movement was a response to Crisis on Infinite Earths , which itself was an attack on the Silver Age. Neo-silver comics creators made comics that recognized and assimilated the more sophisticated aspects of the Silver Age. The Silver Age marked a decline in horror, crime, romance, talking animal humor, and Westerns as American-comics genres. An important feature of the period

10323-612: The public believes is true of newspaper strips—that they are written and drawn (i.e., authentically signed by) a single person." While a large number of mainstream-comics professionals both wrote and drew their own material during the Silver Age, as many had since the start of American comic books , their work is distinct from what another historian describes as the "raw id on paper" of Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton . Most often published in black-and-white with glossy color cover and distributed through counterculture bookstores and head shops, underground comics targeted adults and reflected

10434-451: 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

10545-516: The storyline was entitled " Snowbirds Don't Fly ," and it revealed that the Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy had become addicted to heroin . The 1971 revision to the Comics Code has also been seen as relaxing the rules on the use of vampires, ghouls and werewolves in comic books, allowing the growth of a number of supernatural- and horror-oriented titles, such as Swamp Thing , Ghost Rider and The Tomb of Dracula , among numerous others. However,

10656-457: The superhero archetype, DC by the latter part of the decade was suffering from a creative drought. The audience for comics was no longer just children, and Sanderson sees the 1960s Marvel as the comic equivalent of the French New Wave , developing new methods of storytelling that drew in and retained readers who were in their teens and older and thus influencing the comics writers and artists of

10767-624: The threat of Imperiex . In the prelude to Blackest Night , Mongul obtains a Sinestro Corps ring and seizes control of the Corps before Sinestro imprisons him in the Yellow Lantern power battery. In The New 52 continuity reboot, the original Mongul is resurrected and attacks the Sinestro Corps. After being deposed by Sinestro, Mongul allies with the Pale Vicors, a group who loot planets and nullify their inhabitants' ability to feel emotions. In

10878-483: The tone of horror comic stories had already seen substantial changes between the relatively tame offerings of the early 1960s (e.g. Unusual Tales ) and the more violent products available in the late 1960s (e.g. The Witching Hour , revised formats in House of Secrets , House of Mystery and The Unexpected ). At the beginning of the 1970s, publishers moved away from the superhero stories that enjoyed mass-market popularity in

10989-514: The two companies. Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter was not pleased that DC wanted the fourth company crossover to include The New Teen Titans , DC's best-selling title at the time, as he wanted the crossover to be the X-Men and the Legion of Super-Heroes. This led to Shooter's decision to stall and cancel the JLA/Avengers project. Beginning around 1970, Marvel introduced vast numbers of reprints into

11100-463: The weaker-selling titles, and experimenting with other genres such as horror and sword and sorcery . The era also encompassed major changes in the distribution of and audience for comic books. Over time, the medium shifted from cheap mass market products sold at newsstands to a more expensive product sold at specialty comic book shops and aimed at a smaller, core audience of fans. The shift in distribution allowed many small-print publishers to enter

11211-499: The winter of 1967 appeared to consist of little else but live-action and animated cartoon comic-book heroes, all in living colour." Existing comic-book publishers began creating superhero titles, as did new publishers. By the end of the 1960s, however, the fad had faded; in 1969, the best-selling comic book in the United States was not a superhero series, but the teen-humor book Archie . Swedish cartoonist Joakim Lindengren draws

11322-486: Was a Golden Age comic for sale or a Silver Age comic for sale." Spanning World War II, when American comics provided cheap and disposable escapist entertainment that could be read and then discarded by the troops, the Golden Age of comic books covered the late 1930s to the late 1940s. A number of major superheroes were created during this period, including Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Captain Marvel , and Captain America . In subsequent years comics were blamed for

11433-544: Was an important element of both Golden Age and Silver Age characters. Many Golden Age writers and artists were science-fiction fans or professional science-fiction writers who incorporated SF elements into their comic-book stories. Science was a common explanation for the origin of heroes in the Silver Age. The Silver Age coincided with the rise of pop art , an artistic movement that used popular cultural artifacts, such as advertising and packaging, as source material for fine, or gallery-exhibited, art. Roy Lichtenstein , one of

11544-576: Was available in "great quantity, but little quality". Batman and Robin were doing better, but Batman's comics were "lackluster" in comparison to his earlier "atmospheric adventures" of the 1940s, and Wonder Woman, having lost her original writer and artist, was no longer "idiosyncratic" or "interesting". Aquaman and Green Arrow (with his sidekick, Speedy ) were also still appearing as back-up features in Adventure Comics , "the only other two superheroes" known to have remained continuously in print from

11655-605: Was banned outright by the Comics Code Authority , regardless of the context. The CCA refused to approve the story, but Lee published it regardless. The positive reception that the story received led to the CCA revising the Comics Code later that year to allow the portrayal of drug addiction as long as it was depicted in a negative light. Soon after, DC Comics had their own drug abuse storyline in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85–86. Written by Denny O'Neil with art by Neal Adams ,

11766-505: Was by Adams or Dick Giordano ), focused on "relevance" as Green Lantern was exposed to poverty and experienced self-doubt. Later in 1970, Jack Kirby left Marvel Comics , ending arguably the most important creative partnership of the Silver Age (with Stan Lee ). Kirby then turned to DC , where he created The Fourth World series of titles, starting with Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 in December 1970. Also in 1970, Mort Weisinger ,

11877-562: Was my creation". Wein said he conceived Mongul specifically as a villain to physically challenge Superman . Starlin commented on the character as well stating, "When I went over to DC... I went over and created Mongul and he was definitely supposed to be Thanos in the DC universe" Mongul is the ruler of his species until he is overthrown and forced to flee his planet. In his first appearance, Mongul kidnaps Superman's friends Lois Lane , Jimmy Olsen , and Steve Lombard and threatens to kill them unless

11988-418: Was published from 1955 to 1959. DC Comics sparked the superhero revival with its publications from 1955 to 1960. Marvel Comics then capitalized on the revived interest in superhero storytelling with sophisticated stories and characterization. In contrast to previous eras, Marvel characters were "flawed and self-doubting". DC added to its momentum with its 1960 introduction of Justice League of America ,

12099-510: Was that of the team-up book, either combining two characters, at least one of which was not popular enough to sustain its own title ( Green Lantern/Green Arrow ). Even DC combined two features in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and had team-up books ( The Brave and the Bold , DC Comics Presents and World's Finest Comics ). Virtually all such books disappeared by the end of the period. Marvel and DC worked out several crossover titles

12210-467: Was the development of the character makeup of superheroes. Young children and girls were targeted during the Silver Age by certain publishers; in particular, Harvey Comics attracted this group with titles such as Little Dot . Adult-oriented underground comics also began during the Silver Age. Some critics and historians argue that one characteristic of the Silver Age was that science fiction and aliens replaced magic and gods. Others argue that magic

12321-739: Was very popular with a nine-year run. Other titles began from characters originally found in 20th century pulp magazines or novels. Noteworthy examples are the long running titles Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan (the latter was published as a magazine, bypassing the Comics Code), as well as Master of Kung-Fu . The early success of these titles soon led to more pulp character adaptations ( Doc Savage , Kull , The Shadow , Justice, Inc. , Tarzan ). During this period, Charlton, Western Publishing / Gold Key , Marvel and DC also regularly published official comic book adaptations for various projects, including popular films ( Planet of

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