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The Bronze Age of Comics


Christopher R Taylor

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The "ages" of comics are a matter of considerable debate and subjective judgment, but it is generally agreed that they arrange roughly like this:

Golden Age: 1938~1950

Silver Age: 1956-1970

Bronze Age: 1970-1990

Iron/Dark Age: 1986-2000?

Modern Age: 1990-present

 

Again, this could be debated forever.  The only real clear milestones seem to be 1st comic book with Superman, 1st modern appearance of the Flash, and then probably Watchmen/Dark Knight Returns.

 

In any case, the Golden Age of comics has been well presented in Champions, with several editions of Golden Age sourcebooks (and possibly another on the way, hope hope).  This period is characterized by strong patriotic themes, WW2, Strong theme heroes and villains, generally lower power levels (although Spirit, Captain Marvel, and Superman broke this mold), and very clear good vs evil dichotomies.  Sidekicks were common, and stories were generally not episodic or connected at all.

 

Silver Age comics are often less serious than the Golden Age, with monkey, dog, horse, and other companions for PCs.  Continuity was irrelevant and even ignored blatantly.  Wild, outrageous adventures of time travel and jumping to other eras were common even in comics that had no conceptual basis for it (Batman in the old west, etc).  Vehicles and gadgets were common.  On the other hand, Marvel Comics changed the themes by the late Silver Age to make heroes more human and relatable rather than being so fantastic.

 

Bronze Age, though... what characterizes this time?  Because in addition to being the time period most dear to me as a comics reader, it is the one that I believe best encapsulates the Champions RPG and in turn Champions fits best with its rules and concepts.  Instead of the simple, outrageous power swings and apparently random powersets of previous ages, characters are pretty well defined.  But most of the very popular characters (Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Spider-Man, etc) aren't super powerful with incredibly detailed extensive ranges of abilities.  And the characters aren't bloody or likely to die very often, in a more "cinematic" sort of setting.

 

I'd love to see a whole series of Age books for Champions, for each major period.  Want to go commie bashing in the swingin' 60s?  Pull out your Silver Age of Champions book!

 

So what best characterizes the Bronze Age?  Seems to me themes of social relevance - but not controversial ones - like drug use and racism were present.  More female and minority characters were present than previous ages (although Golden age had an awful lot of them).  Bronze Age books were often about grand cosmic stories instead of odd comical ones or war-related ones in previous ages.  Almost no sidekicks were around, no pets.  And the villains were often more nuanced and fleshed out characters than simply a nuisance or bad guy to fight.

 

Any other thoughts?

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I haven't read mainstream comics for a while now.  I think the last one I really looked at was the Civil War series and just gave up.  

 

Bronze Age seems pretty focused on continuity too, the first age where it mattered what happened before and how stories fit together.  It was in the Bronze Age where crossovers really started happening and major events were reflected in other titles.

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Bronze Age is my preferred 'tone' also - 70s and 80s are the comics I grew up on, although I remember reading a giant stack of 60s Amazing Spider Man that was in my grandma's garage.

 

I think you've hit the highlights.  A lot of folks consider the era starting with the Green Lantern/Green Arrow 'road trip', where they tackle the above-mentioned racism and topical social issues such as Speedy's drug addiction.   I gather this was controversial at the time, as it openly defied the Comics Code.  The documentary Superheroes! explores this and is worth a watch.

 

This was also the era in which Tony Stark was revealed as an alcoholic; I also remember an issue c. 1970 in which Peter Parker was diagnosed with nervous exhaustion!  So the true cost of being a superhero began to take precedence.

 

And there was something of a backlash against the Silver Age.  Batman, for example was redefined as a dark brooding avenger after the camp of the TV series.  Retcons like the Invaders tried to piece together gaps in character histories.  And as you say, villains began to take on more depth, with actual motivations rather than just cackling gleefully.  It saw comics stretching the boundaries of the medium and diversifying into a potpourri of styles, with wacky parody in Howard the Duck, characters breaking the fourth wall for the first time,  up to brooding post-modernism.  As far as creativity goes, the true Golden Age.

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Unfortunately, Batman and Superman stopped being fun in the Bronze Age.

 

Batman became all serious - although he had had earlier periods of this - and just kind of earnest and dull. His side characters - Robin, Batgirl and even Huntress stayed interesting, though.

 

Superman lost most of the imagination and fun that featured his stories in the Silver Age. Without that he began to resemble the boring and overpowered character that he is often stereotyped as.

 

The Flash was another character that began to suck in the Bronze Age, leading him to be killed off in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Green Lantern, on the other hand, stayed pretty cool, and wasn't turned into a massive hole until decades later.

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I'd love to see a whole series of Age books for Champions, for each major period. Want to go commie bashing in the swingin' 60s? Pull out your Silver Age of Champions book!

 

Any other thoughts?

I think that yoy shouldn't tie an era as a sourcebook to a particular time. If you look at Pulp, from sci-fi to the wild west to sword and sorcery, its not the time that defines it but rather how the characters interact which defines its pulp content.

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Another company has done age books and the ones I read were good for what they were. It went more into saying what that age was about and how to run one more then setting anything in stone. Except for golden, that's pretty much blocked out.

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As much flack as john Byrne gets some days his Generations I & II are good reads. Superman and Batman, the whole crew actually comes out in the years.they priemered and age as they go along. Each story progresses 10-11 years and the tone fits the 'age' it's in.

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I think that's ideal for a period sourcebook; more information about how to make the game feel right, be time-appropriate, and tips on running games (with dozens of scenario ideas and a few larger fleshed out ones).  Villain builds and some sample heroes, a nice timeline, and some data on time period gear are useful too - and information on what doesn't fit or isn't period appropriate.  The Golden Age Champions books all did a great job of this.

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Golden age is one of my fave books next to strike.force. IMHO age books should be built. Like strike force was. Yes itnwad built around Alston's [rip] campaign ir gave a solid foundation of what a champions game was and probably a good (if not perfect) example of late silver to early bronze. Grantrd it's been a decade since I actually read it. Some.of.it still burned in my brain (along with Puck's closing from midsummer's night dream (blame senior English)).

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Controversy and debate?

 

The roots of modern comics generally are traced to at least as early as 1889 with The Argosy, and Munsey's Magazine, influencing the 1913 Hugo Gernsback Experimenter Publishing, which went into business with Electrical Experimenter (later Science and Invention), and evolved through the excitement of the 1920's to publish Amazing Stories and after bankruptcy when 1929's Wonder Stories, the science fiction magazine that inspired Superman and Batman both, began. If 1938 was the birth of the golden age of comics, then before that was a primordial age of comic titans. So I propose the Titanium Age for 1889-1938.

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Most people call the pre-Superman age "Platinum" but Titanium works too.  Not really comic books in the sense we now know, but stories with sequential art, especially with works like Little Nemo in Slumberland.

 

I agree the Copper Age is probably useful.  A lot of people end the Bronze Age in the mid-80s with Watchman, Crisis, and Secret Wars, but its not really the Iron/Dark Age until Image comes out.  So a transitional period is reasonable.

 

I freely admit I'm not fond of modern comics, they seem to have lost their fun, heroism, and wonder and replaced it with gritty angst, anger, emo whining, and brutal thugs while throwing in political activism for fun once in a while.  It just isn't much fun to read any more, even if the art is usually fantastic.  They've dumped good storytelling and characterization for epic Pwning and great art.

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The "ages" of comics are a matter of considerable debate and subjective judgment, but it is generally agreed that they arrange roughly like this:

Golden Age: 1938~1950

Silver Age: 1956-1970

Bronze Age: 1970-1990

Iron/Dark Age: 1986-2000?

Modern Age: 1990-present

 

Again, this could be debated forever.  The only real clear milestones seem to be 1st comic book with Superman, 1st modern appearance of the Flash, and then probably Watchmen/Dark Knight Returns.

 

In any case, the Golden Age of comics has been well presented in Champions, with several editions of Golden Age sourcebooks (and possibly another on the way, hope hope).  This period is characterized by strong patriotic themes, WW2, Strong theme heroes and villains, generally lower power levels (although Spirit, Captain Marvel, and Superman broke this mold), and very clear good vs evil dichotomies.  Sidekicks were common, and stories were generally not episodic or connected at all.

 

Silver Age comics are often less serious than the Golden Age, with monkey, dog, horse, and other companions for PCs.  Continuity was irrelevant and even ignored blatantly.  Wild, outrageous adventures of time travel and jumping to other eras were common even in comics that had no conceptual basis for it (Batman in the old west, etc).  Vehicles and gadgets were common.  On the other hand, Marvel Comics changed the themes by the late Silver Age to make heroes more human and relatable rather than being so fantastic.

 

Bronze Age, though... what characterizes this time?  Because in addition to being the time period most dear to me as a comics reader, it is the one that I believe best encapsulates the Champions RPG and in turn Champions fits best with its rules and concepts.  Instead of the simple, outrageous power swings and apparently random powersets of previous ages, characters are pretty well defined.  But most of the very popular characters (Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Spider-Man, etc) aren't super powerful with incredibly detailed extensive ranges of abilities.  And the characters aren't bloody or likely to die very often, in a more "cinematic" sort of setting.

 

I'd love to see a whole series of Age books for Champions, for each major period.  Want to go commie bashing in the swingin' 60s?  Pull out your Silver Age of Champions book!

 

So what best characterizes the Bronze Age?  Seems to me themes of social relevance - but not controversial ones - like drug use and racism were present.  More female and minority characters were present than previous ages (although Golden age had an awful lot of them).  Bronze Age books were often about grand cosmic stories instead of odd comical ones or war-related ones in previous ages.  Almost no sidekicks were around, no pets.  And the villains were often more nuanced and fleshed out characters than simply a nuisance or bad guy to fight.

 

Any other thoughts?

 

Actually the critical delineator between Silver and Bronze is the abandonment of the Comics Code.  Suddenly people can have drug problems.  The Silver Age universe is a setting in which illegal pharmaceutical use does not exist.  Neither does political or police corruption.  Vampires, werewolves, devils and the walking dead don't exist...as such...but sometimes there are things that are kind of like them.   

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Note that almost all of them were Marvel characters.  It's important to remember that Silver and Bronze Age Marvel and DC were very different from each other, far more than is presently the case.  Silver Age Marvel's team books were much more soapy in their internal character interaction, and Marvel acknowledged the existence of the Cold War much more.  DC was also slower to make a complete transition into the Bronze Age.  

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The Bronze Age of Comics had stores which attempted to introduce Social Relevance to it's stories.  Speedy becoming a Heroin Addict, the Secret Empire with a thinly disguised Richard Nixon as it's leader, Captain America giving up his identity and becoming the Nomad, etc..  

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