The Silver Age

[quozaxx]

Recently, I was asked to help GM a silver age campaign. Set in 1966.

 

Now in reality, I was born in 1966 and have not read comic books until 1976.

 

So, is there anything that I might need to "know" about the silver 1966 age?

 

Note: Somebody has already mentioned it had a lot of gorilla themes in it. I'm still not sure if that helped me much.

[SKJAM!]

Re: The Silver Age

 

Actual death should be kept to an absolute minimum. In particular, heroic characters should be extremely reluctant to use lethal force Villainous characters can be allowed to threaten death, but hardly ever succeed in inflicting it.

 

Good and evil should be fairly clear-cut. Anti-heroes are rare, and usually at the fringes of what's allowed. They certainly won't be joining the player character team! Most villains should be bad because of their motivations (greed, envy, hate, selfishness), but a few can be simply misguided, trying to serve a good cause but doing it wrong.

 

It is permissible to create situations that make it look like a hero will have to make a lose-lose choice, but the GM should always allow a fair shot at the "third option."

 

Science is good. When the problem is science gone wrong, the solution is more science, correctly applied.

 

Reward cleverness. The Silver Age had a lot of heroes who tended to think their way out of problems before resorting to just hitting things.

[Clonus]

Re: The Silver Age

 

The most important thing about a Silver Age game is that it must abide by the strictures of the Comics Code Authority.

 

No blood

No vampires, werewolves, zombies or mummies and no cannibalism

No premarital sex.

No depiction of the forces of law and order as anything other than trustworthy and decent. (Stupid on the other hand...that was allowed.)

The bad guys are bad. The good guys are good. There are no shades of gray.

The good guys may not kill the bad guys. Code versus Killing is mandatory. The bad guys will knock out the good guys after which they will put them in "death traps" which are not in fact especially lethal.

DNPCs are inviolate. The bad guys can and do kidnap them to lure the characters into traps and they can stumble into danger, but they never die. Naturally a failure to take "threats" to them serious still dings experience awards.

 

Apart from that, the Silver Age was in the middle of the Cold War. The Russians and Communist Chinese were generally depicted as evil, although of course defectors were another matter. A few non-white heroes did exist, but they were all foreigners.

 

Also there's the matter of origins. Common origins in the Silver Age were

 

Being an alien/being in contact with aliens

Being an inventor who used his big discovery to fight crime

Accidental exposure to some form of radiation or chemicals

 

Mutants were an innovation in the Silver Age. They only really caught on in the Bronze Age with the New X-Men

[kahuna's bro]

Re: The Silver Age

 

skjam and clonus are correct

forgoood examples of the silver age i suggest the early justice league-justice society team ups

[Clonus]

Re: The Silver Age

 

There are a couple of other more sinister aspects to the Silver Age, incidentally.

 

Codes versus killing do NOT apply to artificial constructs, no matter how sentient they might be. This can be justified by the fact that they have no blood and can always be rebuilt or regrown out of the fragments. Heroic artificial constructs had a distinct tendency to be angsty about their nature.

 

There is no problem at all with inflicting partial amnesia on people. Heroes do it all the time.

 

Also, in Marvel's Silver Age, one exception to the "bad is bad" rule is that sometimes villains would switch sides, usually shortly after having been introduced. This could lead to them being regarded with suspicion, but once they were heroes, they were heroes.

 

One more thing. 1966 was after the idea of kid sidekicks was abandoned for everyone except Batman and The Hulk. DC's former kid sidekicks were grouped into the Teen Titans. The new characters Marvel introduced didn't have kid sidekicks (except for the The Hulk). Marvel's teen heroes were Spider-Man and the X-Men, not junior versions of some adult hero but heroes in their own right. DC's equivalent was the Legion. The JLA had Snapper Carr for a "mascot" and Rick Jones was a somewhat more useful equivalent for the Avengers.

[Cassandra]

Re: The Silver Age

 

I suggest looking at the classic 1950s science fiction films to get story ideas for a Silver Age campaign. The giant ants of Them!, the super-science wielding Martians of War of the Worlds, and the unemotional Thing from Another World all were the kinds of threats that Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash faced during this era. The Hulk's origin is practically out of a sci-fi movie!

[kahuna's bro]

Re: The Silver Age

 

welcome back cassandra

[assault]

Re: The Silver Age

 

No vampires' date=' werewolves, zombies or mummies[/quote']

 

You can have characters with similar attributes to these monsters, though. They're just aliens, mutants, robots or whatever.

 

The bad guys are bad. The good guys are good. There are no shades of gray.

 

There are angsty monsters like the Thing and the Hulk. Of course, in the end they will always do the right thing.

 

Villains who reform aren't uncommon.

 

There are occasional villains who will flirt with heroes - Catwoman, Black Widow and so on. In the end they will either reform or go to prison, even if they get away a couple of times beforehand.

 

The bad guys will knock out the good guys after which they will put them in "death traps" which are not in fact especially lethal.

 

Most would be lethal enough if the good guys didn't escape. Others weren't designed to be lethal. Imprisoning the heroes 'forever', using them as batteries and so on are legitimate deathtraps - but so is strapping them to chairs in a room with a timebomb.

 

Also there's the matter of origins. Common origins in the Silver Age were

 

Being an alien/being in contact with aliens

Being an inventor who used his big discovery to fight crime

Accidental exposure to some form of radiation or chemicals

 

Good old fashioned intensely trained normals are legit too: Batgirl, Hawkeye etc.

 

---

 

Basically, most of the superhero tropes are in their heyday in the 60s. Even sidekicks and flagsuits are still around - although they are both probably less common than in the Golden Age. The roots of the Bronze Age are only just beginning to show in '66, but they're kind of there - you can have a character with problems, or who deals with 'relevant' social issues, even if the latter are dealt with rather trivially.

 

Finally, many characters relied more on thinking than fighting. This should be reflected in a game, even though there should also be senses-shattering slugfests for those so inclined.

[Deadborder]

Re: The Silver Age

 

Gorillas. Lots and lots of Gorillas.

[Clonus]

Re: The Silver Age

 

 

Villains who reform aren't uncommon.

 

Only in Marvel, and they usually reformed quite soon after their introduction as intended.

[Certified]

Re: The Silver Age

 

Thanks for all the advice so far. There are a lot of really great points in this thread.

 

Gorillas. Lots and lots of Gorillas.

 

To this, I started a thread on the NGD Board to kind of get to the bottom of the Gorilla Age of Comics.

[Arkham]

Re: The Silver Age

 

I suppose an important question is, is the game just set during the 'silver age', or is it intended to have a silver age tone?

 

You can easily have a rusty iron, bronze age, or modern amalgam style game set in '66.

[Certified]

Re: The Silver Age

 

I suppose an important question is, is the game just set during the 'silver age', or is it intended to have a silver age tone?

 

You can easily have a rusty iron, bronze age, or modern amalgam style game set in '66.

 

The year is tentatively 1966 as that seemed to be when around the time the Silver Age hit some major milestones. It's really intended to be set during the Silver Age and carry the tone and themes of the age.

[quozaxx]

Re: The Silver Age

 

What about the villains? Did they always get caught? Or get away?

 

Or get caught by one writer just to be not in jail by another writer in the next issue?

[Clonus]

Re: The Silver Age

 

What about the villains? Did they always get caught? Or get away?

 

Or get caught by one writer just to be not in jail by another writer in the next issue?

 

Sometimes they'd get caught. But if they were major players they had a distinct tendency to vanish in explosions and cave-ins and the like while trying to get away, only to reappear later. Learn this line and use it often: "Nobody could have survived that!"

[McCoy]

Re: The Silver Age

 

Something that should have been mentioned earlier is the Comics Code Authority. These were "voluntary" guidelines for comic books that most publishers followed from 1954 through the 70's and 80's.

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The Amazing Spider-Man #96-98 (May-July 1971) was the first story arc in the mainstream comics published without CCA approval, and led to the code being updated several times in the 70's and afterward. But this is the code as it was applied almost universally during the Silver Age.

 

PREAMBLE

 

The comic book medium, having come of age on the American cultural scene, must measure up to its responsibilities.

 

Constantly improving techniques and higher standards go hand in hand with these responsibilities.

 

To make a positive contribution to contemporary life, the industry must seek new areas for developing sound, wholesome entertainment. The people responsible for writing, drawing, printing, publishing and selling comic books have done a commendable job in the past, and have been striving toward this goal.

 

Their record of progress and continuing improvement compares favorably with other media in the communications industry. An outstanding example is the development of comic books as a unique and effective tool for instruction and education. Comic books have also made their contributiuon in the field of letters and criticism of contemporary life.

 

In keeping with the American tradition, the members of this industry will and must continue to work together in the future.

 

In this same tradition, members of the industry must see to it that gains made in this medium are not lost and that violations of standards of good taste, which might tend toward corruption of the comic book as an instructive and wholesome form of entertainment, will be eliminated.

 

Therefore, the Comics Magazine Association of America, Inc. has adopted this Code, and placed strong powers of enforcement in the hands of an independent Code Authority.

 

Further, members of the Association have endorsed the purpose and spirit of this Code as a virtual instrument to the growth of the industry.

 

To this end, they have pledged themselves to conscientiously adhere to its principles and to abide by all decisions based on the Code made by the Administrator.

 

They are confident that this positive and forthright statement will provide an effective bulwark for the protection and enhancement of the American reading public, and that it will become a landmark in the history of self-regulation for the entire communications industry.

 

 

CODE FOR EDITORIAL MATTER

 

General Standards Part A

 

1. Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.

 

2. No comics shall explicitly present the unique details and methods of a crime.

 

3. Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.

 

4. If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.

 

5. Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates the desire for emulation.

 

6. In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.

 

7. Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gun play, physical agony, gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.

 

8. No unique or unusual methods of concealing weapons shall be shown.

 

9. Instances of law enforcement officers dying as a result of a criminal's activities should be discouraged.

 

10. The crime of kidnapping shall never be portrayed in any detail, nor shall any profit accrue to the abductor or kidnapper. The criminal or the kidnapper must be punished in every case.

 

11. The letter of the word "crime" on a comics magazine shall never be appreciably greater than the other words contained in the title. The word "crime" shall never appear alone on a cover.

 

12. Restraint in the use of the word "crime" in titles or sub-titles shall be exercised.

 

General Standards Part B

 

1. No comics magazine shall use the word horror or terror in its title.

 

2. All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.

 

3. All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated.

 

4. Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly nor as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.

 

5. Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism and werewolfism are prohibited.

 

General Standards Part C

 

All elements or techniques not specifically mentioned herein, but which are contrary to the spirit and intent of the Code, and are considered violations of good taste or decency, shall be prohibited.

 

Dialogue

 

1. Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.

 

2. Special precautions to avoid references to physical afflictions of deformities shall be taken.

 

3. Although slang and colloquialisms are acceptable, excessive use should be discouraged and wherever possible good grammar shall be employed.

 

Religion

 

1. Ridicule or attack on any religious or racial group is never permissible.

 

Costume

 

1. Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure.

 

2. Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.

 

3. All characters shall be depicted in dress reasonably acceptable to society.

 

4. Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities. NOTE: It should be recognized that all prohibitions dealing with costume, dialogue, or artwork apply as specifically to the cover of a comic magazine as they do to the contents.

 

Marriage and Sex

 

1. Divorce shall not be treated humorously nor represented as desirable.

 

2. Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at or portrayed. Violent love scenes as well as sexual abnormalities are unacceptable.

 

3. Respect for parents, the moral code, and for honorable behavior shall be fostered. A sympathetic understanding of the problems of love is not a license for moral distortion.

 

4. The treatment of love-romance stories shall emphasize the value of the home and the sanctity of marriage.

 

5. Passion or romantic interest shall never be treated in such a way as to stimulate the lower and baser emotions.

 

6. Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested. 7. Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.

 

 

CODE FOR ADVERTISING MATTER

 

These regulations are applicable to all magazines published by members of the Comics magazine Association of America, Inc. Good taste shall be the guiding principle in the acceptance of advertising.

 

1. Liquor and tobacco advertising is not acceptable.

 

2. Advertising of sex or sex instruction books are unacceptable.

 

3. The sale of picture postcards, "pin-ups," "art studies," or any other reproduction of nude or semi-nude figures is prohibited.

 

4. Advertising for the sale of knives, concealable weapons, or realistic gun facsimiles is prohibited.

 

5. Advertising for the sale of fireworks is prohibited.

 

6. Advertising dealing with the sale of gambling equipment or printed matter dealing with gambling shall not be accepted.

 

7. Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product; clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals.

 

8. To the best of his ability, each publisher shall ascertain that all statements made in advertisements conform to the fact and avoid misinterpretation.

 

9. Advertisement of medical, health, or toiletry products of questionable nature are to be rejected. Advertisements for medical, health or toiletry products endorsed by the American Medical Association, or the American Dental Association, shall be deemed acceptable if they conform with all other conditions of the Advertising Code.

[quozaxx]

Re: The Silver Age

 

Were Hostess snack cakes advertisements back then, or did they come in the 70s?

[kahuna's bro]

Re: The Silver Age

 

the'70's if memory serves,if you measn the print ads that had super-heroes

[quozaxx]

Re: The Silver Age

 

How about reoccurring themes or plot seeds specifically for that age / concept.

[Clonus]

Re: The Silver Age

 

You know there's a bunch of telephone-book like collections of silver age comics you could probably find in your library.

 

One recurring thing both Marvel and DC did was the team-breakup. You have four team members. Bad guy runs away down a tunnel. As soon as he's out of sight, the tunnel splits into four different tunnels and if the characters stay together, they'll be cramped in close quarters and the bad guy will double back and escape. The characters must divide up and each faces a boobytrap, often suspiciously appropriate for that particular character. Only after dealing with the trap do they find that the tunnels rejoin each other and they regroup to face their villain as a team again. Team of bad guys have a master plan that involves a certain number of mystic artifacts each concealed in a scenic locale (at least one of which will be underwater for the fish guy to have something to do). The team must break up evenly into teams and face both the defenses protecting the item and their counterparts from the enemy team.

 

Marvel was fond of characters introducing themselves either with a pointless brawl because of misunderstanding or going in as pawns of the bad guy who rebel against their master when it turns out they like the good guys better. They also liked having the Russians invent evil but inferior counterparts of the good guys. The Titanium Man was the big and clunky counterpart of Iron Man (and since Iron Man was a capitalist he got a second counterpart in the Crimson Dynamo). The Crimson Ghost and his Super-Apes were counterparts of the Fantastic Four. Spider-Man had no true Russian counterpart (Strangely, he never met Black Widow in the 60s) but the Chameleon debuted as a Spider-Man impersonator. The Hulk's Russian equivalent was The Abomination. The Russian equivalent of Captain America was The Red Guardian. Thor's Russian equivalent was not introduced until after the Silver Age though. DC didn't do that though since their stuff was a lot less reality-based back then. So one thing you really might want to consider is a contest between your heroes and Communist bloc mirrors.

[assault]

Re: The Silver Age

 

I find it useful to think of the Silver Age as the Pulp Era, thirty years later. This is especially useful for the early, mainly DC, Silver Age, but is still good for the later period.

 

Basically, in the Silver Age, a lot of stuff we take for granted now was Super-Science, or at least cutting edge. A lot of it was simply absent outside the most developed countries. TV is a good example. The first regular TV broadcasts in Australia were in 1956, after a period of test broadcasts. The first regional broadcasts were in 1961. Source. And Australia was a developed country! The rest of the world lagged behind.

 

Computers, jets, rockets, nuclear power... all were relatively new and gee whiz back then. Aside from some military applications, they were generally absent from most of the world.

 

The pulp era comparison isn't "realistic" of course, but it does reflect the source material pretty well. And there is, as I've shown, a grain of truth to it. The world back then was closer to the 30s than it is to us. Much of the world was only superficially changed, and some of it not even that. And yet there was super-science!

 

No wonder people were expecting flying cars in the 21st Century.

 

Oh yes, there's that, too, isn't there? The 21st Century is The Future, not the lame place we live.

[SKJAM!]

Re: The Silver Age

 

Another frequent Silver Age (though it's used elsewhere) gimmick is the group of villains/opponents that's a one-for-one matchup for the heroes, either having the same but more powers (evil duplicates) or powers that exactly counter the particular hero's (the nemesis team.) Often the heroes will first lose in one-on-one combats with their counterparts, then in the big melee at the end they get the bright idea to switch opponents. (this always works, but you're not allowed to do it before the climax of the story.)

 

Similarly, setting up a series of death traps that the heroes individually placed in can't escape, but each hero can use thier powers/abilities to aid another hero to escape in a round-robin fashion.

 

Most characters should have Contractual Genre Blindness--Villains will not make the connection that death traps never work, heroes will never discount threats to their DNPCs, the flimsiest of disguises will entirely shield a Secret ID, etc. Foxbat, by his very nature, should be the only one who notices the "rules." (And even then only when it's funny.)

[Clonus]

Re: The Silver Age

 

Doesn't have to be death traps of course. Just restrains custom-made for the person in them that somehow lets one restrained person use just enough of their abilities to release another hero.