The Golden Age of Comic Books: Difference between revisions

{{Useful Notes}}

 

In June of [[The Great Depression|1938]], National Allied Publications began a new comic-book series, featuring several different heroes. A new character created by two young men from Cleveland was featured on the cover. The comic was ''Action Comics'' #1, and the character was [[Superman]].

 

 

The first [[Superhero|Super Heroes]] were generally Superman [[Follow the Leader|ripoffs]]. Characters like Wonder Man, Flash Lightning, and Dynamic Man, with the full set of beat-bad-guys-up powers, proliferated quickly. In fact, DC sued Wonder Man's publishers, Fox Productions, for copyright infringement, and won ([[Will Eisner]], who "created" Wonder Man, actually testified against Fox). Probably the most popular character of the Golden Age was not Superman, but Fawcett Comics' [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]]; at its height, ''Captain Marvel Adventures'' was published weekly and sold 1.3 million copies per month, and the Marvel Family included Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., the three Lieutenant Marvels, Uncle Marvel, Freckles Marvel, and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny. Eventually, more specialized heroes started showing up. [[The Flash]], with the ability to run faster than anyone else (incidentally the first hero with only one power); Doll Man, with the ability to shrink down to six inches high; the Human Torch, with the ability to become living flame. These, in turn, received their own imitators, and a wide range of characters and titles were thus born. (Almost universally in Golden Age comics, each issue contained several short stories, each featuring a different hero. Only the biggest characters got their own books, and even they usually had back-up stories featuring other characters.) Also popular were the pulp heroes themselves, translated to four colors. Based on precedents like [[Zorro]] and [[The Scarlet Pimpernel (novel)|The Scarlet Pimpernel]], these were usually [[Badass Normal]]s, occasionally with a gimmicky weapon but often with just their fists, who took out racketeers, white slavers, and saboteurs with aplomb. They often wore cap-sleeved leotards, finned cowl masks and buccaneer boots. [[Batman]] sprang from this breed, crossed with a dash of the crime-chasing detective.

* Quality Comics

** ''Police Comics'' ([[Plastic Man]], [[The Spirit]], [[Freedom Fighters (comics)|Phantom Lady, Human Bomb, Firebrand]])

* Timely Comics (later known as [[Marvel Comics]])

** ''Marvel Comics'' (Human Torch, [[Sub-Mariner]]; origin of the [[Marvel Universe]])

 

For other applications of the term "Golden Age", see: [[End of an Age]], [[The Time of Legends]], [[Nostalgia Ain't Like It Used to Be]].

----

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Ages of Super Hero Comics]]

[[Category:The Forties]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Age of Comic Books, The}}