Several posts ago, it was mentioned in this venue that the North Metro library has acquired a copy of Watchmen. Watchmen was a comic book miniseries released in the mid-1980's. The comics were later compiled into graphic novel format and in 2009 a successful movie adaptation of the books was released.
Watchmen is significant for another reason. Some use the release of the Watchmen miniseries to denote the 'end' of the so-called
Bronze Age of comics and the start of the Modern Age of comics. (It should be noted that there are many other possibilities for dating the start of the Modern Age and the end of the Bronze Age, including the release of the Batman miniseries the Dark Knight Returns.)
Comics books are considered to have undergone four defined periods, or 'ages.' These include the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, and the Modern Age. The Modern Age is often referred to by many titles, including the Platinum Age, Diamond Age, and Iron Age. One
column by Shawn O'Rourke suggested that of the four ages, only the Golden Age deals with comics exclusively. The other ages deal with the idea of superheroes themselves on the grounds that superheroes expanded into television, film, etc.
Again, there are many opinions as to when one age started and another ended. This is a matter that is subjective in nature. Opinions will vary depending upon who you speak with. Different comic book companies also vary in how they define the start and end of these ages on an internal basis. Most sources will tend to define the start of the Bronze Age as sometime in the early 1970's. Perhaps the latest date for the start of the Bronze Age is the release of Giant Size X-Men in 1975.
The Bronze Age also marks the years that Marvel comics overtook DC comics as the leading publisher in the industry. (Remember that Marvel published the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men, etc., while DC published Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, etc.) Independent publishers and creators began to make some headway in the industry. This is marked by the publication in 1977 of the 1st issue (out of a 300 issue miniseries!) of Cerebus by Dave Sims.
A big event in the Bronze Age was the death of Spider-Man/Peter Parker's girlfriend Gwen Stacy at the hands of the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man 121 in 1973. This significant comic death would have a long impact upon the Spider-Man universe. It also demonstrated an already underway slow movement of the genre as a whole toward darker themes and storylines, a dytopic movement that would culminate in the Modern Age.
Minority superheroes, vampire/horror comics, and a brief spat of team-up books (usually featuring a popular character and a guest character in each issue) became popular during the Bronze Age. Certain styles and genres fell from popularity and were almost extinct by the end of the period, particularly westerns, romance comics, and war comics. Teen comics, best identified with Archie comics, would adapt and survive.
The release of Giant Size X-Men 1 cannot be underestimated. Giant-Size introduced a new lineup of X-Men, one that was more diverse culturally and ethnically. Created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum, the 'new' X-Men became popular with fans, launching a new era of team superhero comics. The publication of X-Men 94, the new team's second appearance, would move the title out of the dregs of reprints. Cockrum would soon work with writer Chris Claremont to flesh out the characters. Claremont and artist John Byrne would take the series into the stratosphere of popularity. The death of Marvel Girl/Jean Grey/Phoenix in issue 137 is considered by many to be one of the great moments in comic history. The X-Men franchise would be established as the dominant franchise at Marvel by the end of the Bronze Age and would lead to many immitators at both Marvel and DC. The X-Men, in the modern age, would transition into cartoons and film. Wolverine, arguably the most popular X-Man, would be one of the first 'anti-heroes' to gain popularity in comics, trailblazing for a plethora of similar heroes in the Modern Age.
The Bronze Age would come to an end during the mid-1980's. Some say that the release of the Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen were part of the Bronze Age and define its end. Others say these books are considered Modern Age and mark that period's beginning.
One significant moment near the end of the Bronze Age was the release, in 1984, of Secret Wars by Marvel. This was an epic 12 issue miniseries featuring many of the main characters from the Marvel Universe. Secret Wars would pave the way for a slew of 'event' storylines that would later crossover across multiple titles for several months, a style that DC later adopted.
Perhaps the best demarcation for the end of the Bronze Age is the release of Crisis on Infinite Earths by DC in 1985. Crisis, like Secret Wars, would pave the way for the large multititle crossovers of the Bronze Age. Crisis also helped to solve some problems for DC. DC had decades of continuity to deal with regarding its characters. Mainstay characters also had issues that needed to be sorted out to move them forward, such as the near infinite power level of Superman. DC decided to solve these problems through a massive miniseries that had far reaching aftershocks. Massive amounts of continuity were done away with or altered. The idea of multiple earths, such as Earth-2, were eliminated to avoid confusion. Some heroes, such as the Batman, were moderately altered with regard to their character and background. Superman and Wonder Woman were rebooted. Superman's origin was redone by John Byrne, making the Man of Steel less godlike in his power level. Supergirl and the Silver Age flash died heroically in the Crisis and would not be seen again for many years. The Crisis itself would be revisited in the Modern Age with the release of Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis.
More on the Bronze Age and the other ages, including researching them in Galileo, to follow . . . .
JWF
Posts
