A brief history of comics... the second installment

So after a brief breather, I shall continue with a shortened introduction to the history of comics:

The Bronze age (1970-1985)

There is no definate start to this age, no defining moment of creation (like the creation of superman in the golden era).  This was a steady shift in the mindset of the studios.  This age was the beginning of a more human-centred approach to comics.  Where you find out exactly how human each of these characters really are.  Notable examples are Spiderman with the death of Gwen Stacy, and Speedy from Green Arrow with a drug addiction. 

Another notable movement in this era was the relaxation of some regulations with regard to the supernatural.  This meant characters such as Ghost Rider and Swamp thing could be created.  The era also saw the introduction of several comic series which would later be turned into movies, Conan, Red Sonja, Kull, John Carter and Dark Shadows, to name a few (more on the impact of these comics on movies in a future blog entry).


Notable titles worth reading:
Death of Gwen Stacy
Demon in a Bottle (Iron Man)
Secret Wars (Large Marvel crossover)
Crisis on Infinate Earths (Large DC crossover)


Footnote: The DC implosion happened during this age, with the cancellation of many of its titles

the Death of Gwen Stacy

The Modern Age (1985-2011)

Yet another reinvention of the comic book world struck with The Watchmen.  This escalated the trend set in the bronze age, bringing to the fore the darker side of the super world.  Heros turned to villians, those you thought unkillable died, heroes were put through psychological torture and many were brought back to life.

Although this age saw, according to my opinion, some of the best story arcs to date; it also had some of the worst.  The most notable thing in this age is all the contingency errors, the back story rewrites and the often impossible ways they went about 'fixing' things (reality punch anyone?).  Another trend was the increased occurence of major events, reaching the point where there was an event every few months.

Although most experts have called this age an open ended one, I disagree.  Now that both Marvel and DC have decided to relaunch their titles, I think we might be in for a new age...

What should you expect from this new age? Read my predictions in one of my future entries.

Notable titles worth a read:
Death of Superman (Superman)
Identity crisis (cross over)
Death in the family (Batman)
Marvel vs DC (cross over)
Civil war (cross over)
Knightfall (Batman)
Kraven's last hunt (Spiderman)
House of M (X-Men)
Planet hulk (Hulk)
Amalgam titles (Marvel vs DC cross over)
Avengers vs X-Men (cross over)
Hush (Batman)