What book started the Bronze Age of Comics???? 2 2

[FlyingDonut]

Now JC's point of the Payoff in the GL books coming after 76 is valid, however the seed was set in 76. So it may be that a trio of books that established the BA: GL 76, Conan 1 and ASM 96. Each of these books tried to bring a higher level of realism and more importantly Grit to its readership through new approaches to story and art.

All the arguments have merit. However, this just reinforces the point that there is no clear single comic that started the BA.

 

Yes there is. Ronald McDonald 1. The end.

[jbud73]

Now JC's point of the Payoff in the GL books coming after 76 is valid, however the seed was set in 76. So it may be that a trio of books that established the BA: GL 76, Conan 1 and ASM 96. Each of these books tried to bring a higher level of realism and more importantly Grit to its readership through new approaches to story and art.

All the arguments have merit. However, this just reinforces the point that there is no clear single comic that started the BA.

 

Yes there is. Ronald McDonald 1. The end.

 

[Timulty]

I guess you would have to decide what defines a BA comic first. Then I would expect it would be easier to figure out which one would be first. One could make the argument that the Bronze Age started differently for Marvel than DC. With Showcase #4, that book started the trend of Superheroes(and revamped superheroes). So, knowing what makes a Bronze Age book BA is probably the best point to start. If we say that BA books have more "Real World" type story telling and character development then GL #76 seems to fit the bill, at least for DC.

[Forbush-Man]

I use to feel it was Kirby leaving Marvel and going over to DC. At the time that marked an end of an era for me.

[B-Smooth]

Conan...Conan...Conan.

[HouseofComics.Com]

Agree. Conan #1.

[rjpb]

While there seems little agreement on what the first BA book is - there does seem to be a concensus that the Bronze Age starts around 1970. Collecting in the early 70s, it seemed to me that there was no aknowledgement that the Silver Age had actually ended. I dropped out of collecting around 1974, and didn't return until the 1980s. I don't recall when the term Bronze Age became poular for the 1970s, but certainly the Silver age was long over by then. My question for long time collectors - When did it dawn on you that the Silver Age had ended, and what did you consider the end of the Silver Age at the time?

[awe4one]

While there seems little agreement on what the first BA book is - there does seem to be a concensus that the Bronze Age starts around 1970. Collecting in the early 70s, it seemed to me that there was no aknowledgement that the Silver Age had actually ended. I dropped out of collecting around 1974, and didn't return until the 1980s. I don't recall when the term Bronze Age became poular for the 1970s, but certainly the Silver age was long over by then. My question for long time collectors - When did it dawn on you that the Silver Age had ended, and what did you consider the end of the Silver Age at the time?

 

As a convienence I use 20 cent covers as a starting point...

 

Jim

[HouseofComics.Com]

We use 15-cent covers for the start of our bronze age section on the website.

[Aman619]

Ive always liked the 15 cent mark as the start too.

[Aman619]

because the 12 cent price had lasted so long... 15 cents was the first price increase in what? 9 years??

[Timulty]

It just seems a little weird to use prices to determine a comic age. Not disagreeing necessarily but comic ages before had been determine by changes within the industry.

[rjpb]

For Marvel in particular the 20¢ covers were a departure from the previous look - though I would include thier one-month 25¢ covers as the start of the new look - picture frame covers to be precise. At the time while I wasn't thinking that a new "Age" had begun, the 20¢ era cemented the idea that comics were changing - Kirby was at DC, "Weird" and "Horror" titles were popular, Marvel was cranking out more and more reprint titles, and many of the "relevant" and "hip" books and storylines begun in the 68-70 period were either done with or coming to a close; GL/GA, Hawk and Dove, Captain America's "easy rider" phase, Nick Fury, agent of SHIELD, stories with"Campus" in the title, drug stories, the "mod" Wonder Woman, etc.

 

I think of the Bronze Age as when more 1970s pop-culture trends began to be reflected in comics like Kung-Fu and Blaxploitation movies.

 

 

While many of the contenders for first BA book have 15¢ covers - by and large the look of comics didn't really change right away when the price jumped up from 12¢.

[mar-vell]

Conan #1 -as i recall this book changed the way comics were marketed-highly anticipated!!! Seems to take itself a little more seriously than the lighthearted days of the silver age as well! The first 24 issues are easily one of the best runs in comic book history.

[HouseofComics.Com]

It just seems a little weird to use prices to determine a comic age. Not disagreeing necessarily but comic ages before had been determine by changes within the industry.

 

It's just a rough guide though. Maybe one can say that the silver age ended with the final 12-cent comics even if one doesn't feel that the bronze age had quite begun.

 

In any case, for our website purposes we can't pick one book and then remember which issue of each title therefore becomes the first bronze age issue. So for us if we're putting a 15-center into the database it's in as bronze, 12-cent as silver. Makes it easier on us and it's just as arguably accurate as any other system. I know some dealers call 15-centers honorary silver age but to me that's another reason not to put them into SA.

 

Marc

[TupennyConan]

[PowderedH2O]

I was having this discussion with a fellow collector yesterday.. I googled the topic and it led me to this very old thread. With all of the debate about GS X-Men 1, there was no debate about that on a couple of other places I looked (such as wikipedia, not that wikipedia is the definitive source by any stretch). I was wondering if after all of these years, does anyone have any more thoughts on this topic?

[namisgr]

9 minutes ago, PowderedH2O said:

I was having this discussion with a fellow collector yesterday.. I googled the topic and it led me to this very old thread. With all of the debate about GS X-Men 1, there was no debate about that on a couple of other places I looked (such as wikipedia, not that wikipedia is the definitive source by any stretch). I was wondering if after all of these years, does anyone have any more thoughts on this topic?

The new X-Men team were launched in the mid '70s.  It's much more common to consider evolutionary comics from around 1970 to be the start of the Bronze Age, such as Conan #1 and Green Lantern #76.  For others, it's when Jack Kirby left Marvel for DC.

Edited July 2, 2019 by namisgr

[shiverbones]

Hom 175 

[MGsimba77]

I'm sure this was mentioned somewhere along this thread but maybe the official death of the puritan silver age was the introduction of drug stories in '71. Also when the comics code authority decided to get with the times and approve them after holding out for a little while