The readers have spoken!
The final poll results to determine which era of comic books is your favorite have made your choices clear! The majority of comic fans frequenting this blog have chosen the Silver Age as their favorite era of comics! That isn't surprising, when one realizes that the Silver Age is when comics experienced a dramatic rebirth, spurred on by Marvel and DC comics, who brought forth the comics renaissance of the 60's! Also not surprising considering how many readers of a certain age, like myself, grew up with these comics! The final percentage of readers preferring Silver Age comics was 43%!
Coming in at a close second is the Golden Age, at 35%. While I love the Silver Age, I am a fan of the Golden Age because the more I explore those older comics, the more amazing stuff I discover. Many great names that Silver Age fans are familiar with actually began working in the Golden Age, and a close look will reveal what I call 'hidden treasures' by great artists like Gil Kane, Joe Sinnott, Gene Colan, John Romita, Jack Kirby, etc, etc., etc.! I think I love Golden Age comics also because they are the foundation for all the comics that followed, obviously, and serious study of them will uncover incredible and fascinating things that you may not have been exposed to before.
The Bronze Age received 12% of the votes, and many of us collecting comics have scads of these beauties. Like any of the eras, this one produced some good, some bad, some great, and some really awful comics. The closer we get to the present, the more comic publishers and therefore the more comics there were for us to buy! The more comics there were, the more new artist were appearing, and the face of comics changed again.
The Copper Age and the Modern Age each received 1% of the votes. This isn't a comment on the quality of the comics produced then, merely a reflection of this blog's readership, who obviously don't come here to look at new comics. It was during this time frame that technology really progressed and changed the way comics were produced, for better or worse. Lotsa great stuff in these eras, too!
Finally, we had 5% of readers who admitted they thought that this blog was a porn site. As far as I know, it isn't. Sorry, you 5 % -- I hope you still drop in and enjoy the comics!
Thanks, everyone who voted! Soon I will post another poll designed to discover more of your likes and dislikes, your deepest hidden thoughts, and your discriminating preferences regarding yet another scintillating comic book topic! I already know I have the best blog readers in the world coming here...not only are you intelligent, you're also good-looking!
If you voted (or even if you didn't), feel free to leave a comment now as to why you feel a certain era is better or not compared to the others, won't you? I'd love to hear what you have to say!
The Copper Age and the Modern Age each received 1% of the votes. This isn't a comment on the quality of the comics produced then, merely a reflection of this blog's readership, who obviously don't come here to look at new comics. It was during this time frame that technology really progressed and changed the way comics were produced, for better or worse. Lotsa great stuff in these eras, too!
Finally, we had 5% of readers who admitted they thought that this blog was a porn site. As far as I know, it isn't. Sorry, you 5 % -- I hope you still drop in and enjoy the comics!
Thanks, everyone who voted! Soon I will post another poll designed to discover more of your likes and dislikes, your deepest hidden thoughts, and your discriminating preferences regarding yet another scintillating comic book topic! I already know I have the best blog readers in the world coming here...not only are you intelligent, you're also good-looking!
If you voted (or even if you didn't), feel free to leave a comment now as to why you feel a certain era is better or not compared to the others, won't you? I'd love to hear what you have to say!
I didn't get to be a regular reader of your blog until after the poll closed, but my choice would have been "The Golden Age".
ReplyDeleteThough I grew up through the bronze age and had access to my big brothers solver age comics, there's something so appealing about the first wave of any pop-art form that's hard to describe. It's the artists and writers dealing with a new medium and having no direct influences as they figure it all out.
Also, so much of the golden age was referenced to in silver and bronze age comics and a few reprints in teh back pages, but for the most part the bulk was unaccessable...till NOW. In the age of the internet we can easily find treasure troves of shared golden age material to sink our teeth into.
Something old that's new again for us youngens not quite a half century old.
I was an active reader in the second half of the Silver Age and in the first half of the Bronze Age. In my opinion, the outstanding work of that interval was in the late Silver Age and early Bronze Age. The industry began to shake-off the effects of the Code, the writers began thinking that a significant share of their readers could be teen-agers and adults (especially as artistic and social critics began to discuss comic books seriously and as something other than a blight), and I don't dare name any of the outstanding artists because I would then unjustly fail to include someone as good or better.
ReplyDeleteBut the renaissance was exhausted by the late mid-70s, printing at Marvel was lousy, prices were ever-escalating, and the distribution system was in shambles. I gave up on buying new comic books.
Anyway, there's little of the sort of Silver Age comics that I might otherwise want to see that I haven't in fact already seen, either in original publication or in later reprint. Likewise, I've seen most of the early Bronze Age stuff in original publication.
There's lots of Golden Age stuff that I've never seen and would want to see, and lots of it is in the public domain. And my exposure to the Platinum Age is even spottier.
I know that some remarkable work began appearing within a few years after I walked away. But I'm also aware that people who hate the heroes of my generation are often empowered to control their destinies. Hal Jordan becomes a killer; Barbara Gordon is crippled by the Joker; Supergirl is killed; Spiderman becomes a swinging single. And writers and artists who sincerely think of themselves as fans of the characters with whom they work often exhibit outrageous cluelessness, as in the handling of the Batman and of Captain America.
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteThat sums up my take on Golden Age comics, there being so much great stuff that most of us have never seen before! I think that's why I am so rabid for Golden Age comics now.
Daniel,
How true about the bad printing and the rising prices! At one point it seemed like prices jumped a nickel per week! I can really relate to what you said -- very much as you did (and Jeff), I really only caught the end of the Silver Age as a kid and really started buying comics in earnest during the Bronze Age. It was only exposure to my friend's older brothers comic collection that I really discovered the classics of the Silver Age and, like you, have either collected them later in life or have been exposed to so many in reprint form that I am now fascinated by the previous era, the Golden Age, if only for the fact that I had very limited prior exposure to what I now know to be true classics.
Addressing the topic of how utterly different the 'Modern' heroes bearing the same name as their Golden, Silver, and even Bronze Age equivilents, I also am bewildered as to how current comic writers have almost destroyed the characters that many have come to love from years past, as nowadays they bear little if any resemblance to their classic counterparts/forebearers.
My particular example is Nick Fury. While it appears Marvel has recently resurrected Fury again(for the ?th time), I came to know and love Nick Fury as portrayed by comics genius Steranko, who launched the character from relative obscurity into the highest heights of popularity the character had/has ever seen. So when writers with a Samuel L. Jackson fetish decided to recreate this iconic character as being an African-American (basically drawn as Samuel L. Jackson) I was not pleased at all. I have no predjudice against black, brown, yellow, or green characters, but I do have a problem when they take a beloved character, one that was so heavily identified with Steranko, who without a doubt reinvigorated the comic medium in his day, and totally disrespect the character, I do not appreciate it. For comics fans who know what I'm talking about, I realize that this 'black Fury' exists in an 'alternate' reality, but the fact is that for some time, this was the only Nick Fury one would see in a Marvel comic. If the artists and writers really had a 'hard-on' for Samuel Jackson, they could have created a new character, and not subverted my favorite comic creation as they did. To this day, Marvel has not been able to follow Steranko's version with anything that comes close to being as cool, or as excellently done as Steranko's version. Have some respect, new writers!
Phew! I do tend to get worked up about my Steranko era Nick Fury! So sorry!
Thanks for the great comments! Everyone else, waiting to hear from you!
simply outstanding....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.akshaychugh.blogspot.com
I think the best age of comics is the age that, or series, that a reader and collector appreciates most. Meaning, collect what you like most and enjoy comic books as much as they have to offer.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Steven G. Willis
XOWComics.com
Oh!!...Here is some of comics collections....All are really so good and funny ....Great job!.....Keep it at any time...Thanks for all your valuable thoughts...
ReplyDeletemarvel