Re: Bronze Age of Super-Heroes

In article <1q5vf.22018$z45.16892@trnddc02>,
"Free Spirit" <Free_Spir120@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> On 3-Jan-2006, rgorman@xxxxxxxxx (David Johnston) wrote:
>
> > The Bronze age's been and gone.
> >
> > Golden Age: Almost every hero is Doctor Something, or Mister
> > Something or Captain Something or Somethingman, or the Colour Name
> > Something. Namor is very much ahead of his time in that regard.
> > Despite the image of the Golden Age as being innocent, many characters
> > are very casual about killing the bad guys. Racial stereotyping is
> > incredibly unsubtle and the bad guys tend to be forgettable goons,
> > evil scientists or deformed freaks. Boy sidekicks are common under the
> > mistaken theory that the children reading want someone to identify
> > with (and because the radio heros needed someone to whom they would
> > have to explain everything they were doing.) Most characters are
> > relatively powerless, just athletic people with costumes and a usually
> > gun-like gimmick. Female superheros tend to get captured and tied up a
> > lot. The most common origins are random accidents with chemicals,
> > visits to secret societies, usually in Tibet, and stumbling across an
> > ancient magical artifact. Batman is a two-fisted clean living avenger
> > of the night.
> >
> > In between the Golden Age and the Silver there was actually a bit of a
> > hiatus, caused by the collapse of superheros. In the 50s, once you
> > leave
> > out DC's Big Three, what you see are mostly horror comics and giant
> > monster comics. Batman becomes very silly and fights in settings with
> > many over-sized props.
> >
> > Then in the Silver Age: The upper levels of power available to the
> > most powerful superheros go off the charts. Characters can fly at
> > interstellar speeds, move planets or transform them into lime jello.
> > The most common origins are being an extraterrestrial, being exposed
> > to radiation,
> > getting an extraterrestrial's junk, or inventing a costume or belt
> > that gives
> > you powers. Interstellar travel becomes a common event in the lives of
> > major heros. Heroes stop killing bad guys, even the forgettable bad
> > guys. Teenage sidekicks go out of style. (Yay). Teenage teams or solo
> > heroes take their place as writers realise that nobody wants to
> > fantasize about being a second banana. The idea that the public will
> > regard the superhuman as being dangerous freaks is introduced. Batman
> > becomes a super brainy master detective in the second half of the
> > Silver Age. And a truly amazing number of apes are encountered,
> > particularly in DC comics. When Gwen Stacy comes to an abrupt
> > halt...so does the Silver Age.
> >
> > Then in the Bronze Age: The rule saying that the hero must always save
> > the girl no longer applies. From then on the hero just may find his
> > girl in the refrigerator when he comes home. Heros still have a rule
> > against killing but some anti-heros appear as opponents. The Punisher
> > for example first showed up as a vigilante trying to kill Spiderman
> > for killing Gwen Stacy and Wolverine showed up as a remarkably stupid
> > Canadian attempt to kill the Hulk. Patriotic heros start to be
> > deconstructed. The most common origins are being magically cursed by
> > sinister supernatural forces, finding or making a costume with
> > circuitry built into it, being rebuilt by secret government programs
> > into a living weapon, deliberate genetic engineering. Many of the
> > stronger characters are depowered. Batman turns into a creature of the
> > night, emphasising stealth and intimidation. When the Punisher and
> > Wolverine get their own comics that's the end of the Bronze Age.
> >
> > Then in the Iron Age: "Heroes" who are or pretend to be ruthless
> > killers become increasingly common, as are heroes who hold themselves
> > above mere mortal authorities. Identity crises become more commmon
> > with the older characters reinventing themselves in new identities or
> > having their old identities usurped by unfit pretenders for extended
> > periods of time. Heros frequently find their powers going on the fritz
> > or turning on them. Batman becomes a deranged petty tyrant. I'm really
> > not sure whether the common origins have changed much.
>
> With all that said, who is the Bronze Age Green Lantern? Who is the
> Bronze Age Flash?
>
> Likewise, who is the Iron Age Green Lantern? Who is the Iron Age Flash?

There are numberous errors in the above so it is no wonder you are having
problems.

The Golden Age ran roughly from 1938 to the decline of superheroes comics
in favor of Western themed books c1948. Most heroes were loners and did
not have sidekicks (Batman and Captain American being the noted exceptions)
The above forgets that many of the best known villains today originally
came from the Golden Age. The Red Skull, Lex Luthor, Joker, Two Face, and
Scarecrow all came from the Golden Age.

The Silver age begins Showcase #4 (1955)/Fantastic Four (1961) and come to
a slow end with Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76 (1970) and Amazing
Spider-Man #96-98 (1971). This age saw the appearance of heroes belonging
to minories along with the power levels going off the charts. The stories
would swing from the wildly campy to the somewhat serious.

The Bronze Age was originally named for the horror comic revival begun in
the mid 1960's but eventually came to describe the change in writing style
that ocurred being with Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76 and Amazing
Spider-Man #96-98. Stories started dealing with real world social issues
directly rather than metophoricly. Unlike the change from the Gold to
Silver Age there was no major break with characters so many Silver Age
characters continued on but with a desidedly darker aspect to them.
FOr this reason there really isn't a 'Bronze Age' GL or Flash - their
stories just got a lot more serious and villians more dangerous and deadly.
The most memorial characters this age put out were the 'new' X-men, Orion,
Darkside, and Swamp Thing.

The Iron Age is generally agreed to begin with the ending of Crisis and
Secret Wars I (1985). Many things held to be 'true' in the Silver and
Bronze ages are retconned to be false or to have a dark 'truth' about them.
Heroes no longer really trusted anyone even themselves. Guy Gardner was
the early Iron Age GL with his smart ass attitude and general disregard for
his team mates and his 'bosses' the Guardians. Wally West the Iron Age
Flash was friends with the villains of the Silver Age Flash for a short
time but they all desided going back to their old way with him as their
foil. Slowly the villains and the heroes became more brutal, more savage,
and darker resulting in large bluring between villian and hero.
.

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