Growing up reading comics in the 80’s, I have a very well rounded point of view of the comics of that time, so when I heard that
people wanted to group early 70’s comics with comics from the early to mid 80’s in what would be called 'the Bronze Age of comics', something rang
very false to me. It made me stop and consider the whole ‘Bronze Age of comics’ because to me 80's comics were a very different animal to comics of the 70's.
Copper Age of Comics
1978 to 1988
What does the trend in horror comics or genera comics of the early 70's have to do with the superheroes of the 80's? We didn't have horror comics in the 80's. We had superheroes and anti-heroes. We had super teams and company wide crossovers. What did that have in common with the Tombs of Dracula, the Ghost Riders or the Masters of Kung Fu?
Comics of the horror trend of the early 70's from left to right and up to down, Marvel Spotlight #5, Apr 72, Tomb of Dracula #1, Apr 72, Swamp Thing #1, Dec 73, Phantom Stranger #6, Apr 70 |
Some people say that Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76, Apr 70 was the beginning of the Bronze Age while the Watchmen was the end. This rings so false for me. Why is this work from O'Neil/Adams considered the beginning of the Bronze Age and not their work on Brave and the Bold or Adams work on Strange Adventures or the Spectre? It was very different and new but it didn't really start any kind of trend or movement in comics. It didn't even sell that well.
For me the 80’s had a certain definite flavor different from anything that came before or after it. There was some kind of naïve optimism in the books of the 80’s that didn’t exist at any other time and a familiarity with the heroes or genre that was not there before. When I think of the 80’s comics, one comic that exemplifies it for me is West Coast Avengers vol. #1.
For me the 80’s had a certain definite flavor different from anything that came before or after it. There was some kind of naïve optimism in the books of the 80’s that didn’t exist at any other time and a familiarity with the heroes or genre that was not there before. When I think of the 80’s comics, one comic that exemplifies it for me is West Coast Avengers vol. #1.
When did the copper age begin?
Claremont’s writing on the
X-men was probably the start of the 80’s style comics. He brought a very strong sense
of character to his comics. No longer were you reading about the exploits of
the costumed character named Wolverine. Now he was Logan, a guy who sometimes
would don a code name and costume though they weren't always necessary.
Another big early marker of the comics of the 80’s was Marv Wolfman/ George Perez' New Teen Titans, started in November of 1980.
Another big early marker of the comics of the 80’s was Marv Wolfman/ George Perez' New Teen Titans, started in November of 1980.
So if we had to choose a marker that defined the beginning of the 80's, Copper Age comics, what would it be?
Surprisingly we don’t have to fabricate one because there are a few really good
markers already in place. 1978 was a big
upheaval for the comics industry. It was the year that DC Comics canceled dozens of it’s
titles, which has been affectionately called the DC Implosion.
1978 is also the year that Jim
Shooter became the editor and chief at Marvel and held the position throughout the 80's until 1987 helping to shape the comics of that era. In 1978 sales were down and the industry was going through a fundamental upheaval and Marvel was changing their tactics to compete by doing things like publishing intellectual properties like Star Wars which Shooter had claimed saved Marvel from going under. This trend to publish intellectual properties such as movies and toys continued on throughout the 80's. In fact Dark Horse Comics still uses it to this day.
By Marvel taking the initiative to publish a comic adaption of the movie Star Wars, Shooter has said that it saved Marvel Comics from going under. Star Wars #1, July 1977 |
Interestingly, 1978 also marks the very beginning of another great 80’s phenomenon,
Independent Comics. This was the year that both Dave Sim of Cerebus the Aardvark
fame and Wendy and Richard Pini of Elf Quest fame started regularly publishing their books. They were the forerunners of a booming movement of the 80's that would encompass hugely popular books like the Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles and Love and Rockets and multiple independent comics companies like Pacific, Eclipse, Fantagraphics, First Comics and Dark Horse Comics.
So if I had to designate a beginning for the 80’s 'Copper Age' of comics it would be 1978, exactly 40 years after Action Comics #1, the comic that started it all. I would mark the end of the Copper Age with the end of Watchmen,
basically the end of Moore’s involvement with DC Comics in Oct 1987. This is also the
year that Jim Shooter left Marvel. This 10 year span of the age makes much more sense than the previously suggested 15 year span because in the 10 year span you can see a trend begin, grow and resolve itself in that time, while the 15 year span that is defined as the Bronze Age is much more arbitrary, not necessarily beginning any trend or ending any other trend.
If you imagine that a comic age lasts 10 years beginning with Action Comics #1, 1938 the comic ages seem to make much more sense. Though these things are very far
from precise, there are some things are too obvious to ignore. If we use common sense
and look at things with a very wide angle lens, we can discover trends that better reflect the spirit of their times and ages of their comics.
Great article! (Technically Cerebus started December 1977 and not 1978, but close enough:))
ReplyDeleteBTW: Superboy (1949) -> Superboy & LSH (Sept 1977) -> LSH (Jan 1980)
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