The Iron Age of Comic Books: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"You'll Believe A Man Can Fly!"''|''[[Superman (film)|Superman]]'' Tagline}}

'''The Iron Age of Comic Books''' is a different interpretation of comic history that sees the [[The Dark Age of Comic Books]] and [[The Modern Age of Comic Books]] as one period. This age can be defined with its [[Retcon]]s, [[ReContinuity BootReboot|Reboots]], [[Retool]]s and [[Alternate Universe]]s that were deemed necessary after about fifty years of accumulated continuity threatening to create a [[Continuity Lock Out]] to new readers.

[[The DCU]] released ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'' in 1985, a [[Crisis Crossover]] that created the [[Post-Crisis]] universe that removed [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|the Silver Age's]] [[Shoo Out the Clowns|excesses]], in an attempt to make the stories more serious and plausible now given the opportunity to do so. [[Jim Shooter]] tried to mirror a move to realistic seriousness in [[Marvel Comics]] with ''[[The New Universe]]'' imprint, but this did not have good critical reaction at the time and thus Marvel would have to try again later, but they did put in their effort, the ''[[New Mutants]]'', as a part of the cultural atmosphere of the time, but this was not nearly as ground breaking of an effort as ''[[The New Universe]]'' was.

This zeitgeist of attempted plausibility and new found seriousness in superhero comic books is reflected in [[Alan Moore|Alan Moore]]'s [[Deconstruction]] ''[[Deconstruction|Watchmen]]'' and [[Frank Miller|Frank Miller's]]'s ''[[The Dark Knight Returns]]'', both released in 1986. As well, the DC imprint [[Vertigo Comics]] also followed suit in tone, coming to its zenith with ''[[The Sandman]]'' in 1989. The turn to seriousness, especially in ''[[The Dark Knight Returns]]'' also inspired the efforts of the ''[[Batman]]'' film in 1989 and ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' in 1992.

Perhaps because of the new blank slate attitude that prevailed [[Post-Crisis]], new comic book companies remergedemerged, like [[Dark Horse Comics]] in 1986 and [[Valiant Comics]] in 1989. They published such acclaimed works as ''[[Hellboy]]'' and ''[[Sin City]]'', as well as releasing works like ''[[Akira]]'', perhaps because this tone of serious and plausible now matched Japan's similar sense of serious and plausible, not to mention [[Japan Takes Over the World|the economic success of Japan at the time as well.]] Other new companies include [[Image Comics]] founded in 1992, which was a major [[Trope Codifier]] for the [[Nineties Anti-Hero]], in ''[[Spawn]]'' and most of Rob Liefeld's work. However these excesses quickly collapsed somewhere around 1996 due in part to the [[The Great Comics Crash of 1996]].

Also cutting down on the excesses from inside the pages of a comic book was ''[[Kingdom Come]]'' in 1996, which reminded writers and artists of the time that the goal was to be seriously realistic, not cynically gritty. Afterwards, ''[[Transmetropolitan]]'' was published in 1997, a celebrated work of plausible scientific rigor as well as reflecting the general tone of the period without dipping too far into the grittiness so as to be ridiculous.

Speaking of ridiculous, [[Marvel Comics]] was beginning to struggle majorly with its properties, especially ''[[Spider-Man]]'', who was knee deep in the [[Continuity Snarl]] that was the ''Clone Saga''. Perhaps trying to find wiggle room continuity-wise and to provide sources of much needed revenue, Marvel created such animated shows as ''[[Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]'', the ''[[Astonishing X Men]] animated series'', the ''[[Incredible Hulk]] animated series'', the ''[[Fantastic Four]] animated series'', and the ''[[Iron Man]] animated series''. Perhaps encouraged with the success of these works set in a alternate continuity and the potential new audience that was fostered by it, they gave the new universe thing a try again in 2000 with ''[[Ultimate Marvel]]'', and sales returned once again.

This effort with animation from both DC and Marvel helped spawn the new flow of superhero blockbusters, including the ''[[Spider-Man]]'' films, ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]'', and ''[[Watchmen]]'' among others. The Iron Age carries probably some of the greatest public awareness of superheroes than any other age due to the nice fresh starts, many a animated series, and successful blockbusters all getting the word out about this medium, fostering a new generation of [[Comic Book]] fans.