12 AGES OF COMICS
Steve Ditko’s version of Starman (Prince Gavyn) would be featured in issue #467
and subsequent issues; Dial “H” for Hero would also have a prominent run; and more
Superboy and legion stories would return. Th e series ended in 1983 (along with simi-
lar titles such as DC Comics Presents , Brave and the Bold , and World’s Finest Comics )
as DC began plans for new editorial and character directions that would eventually
lead to 1985’s Crisis on Infi nite Earths.
As of 2009, DC plans to relaunch Adventure Comics as a vehicle to showcase the
cancellation-plagued Legion of Super-Heroes.
D. R. Hammontree
AGES OF COMICS. Comic books, with the central genre of narratives involving
superheroes leading the way, have evolved through at least four distinct historical
periods, usually referred to as “ages.” Especially in the case of the evolution of the
American superhero, historians of comic books refer to these four periods as the
Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Modern (or Iron) ages. Adapted from the ages of Greek
and Roman myth, these ages refl ect emerging stages in the material production of
the comics industry, though genres other than superhero comics sometimes evolved
diff erently. (For example, the Golden Age of horror comics occurred in the late
1940s and early 1950s and was thus both shorter and slightly later than the Golden
Age of superhero comics.) In addition, the era of the evolution of the comic book
medium, prior to the rise of superheroes in the 1930s, is often referred to as the
Platinum Age.
Th e Golden Age of superhero comics, dated from the early to mid-1930s through
the late 1940s, encompasses the publication of the fi rst book-length comics and World
War II. Th e earliest comic books, collections of previously printed strips, were pub-
lished in 1933; the fi rst collections of original stories were published in 1935. Many of
the superhero fi gures that subsequently defi ned the genre debuted during this period,
including Superman , who fi rst appeared in DC Comics’ Action Comics #1 in 1938.
DC Comics also introduced Batman in Detective Comics #27 in 1939, the Flash in
Flash Comics #1 in 1940, the Green Lantern in All-American Comics #16 in 1940, and
Wonder Woman in All Star Comics #8 in 1941. Timely Comics , the forerunner of
Marvel Comics , premiered Captain America in Captain America Comics #1 in 1941,
while Captain Marvel fi rst appeared in Fawcett Comics’ Whiz Comics #2 in 1940
before becoming a DC character. Th e meteoric popularity of these and other superhero
fi gures of the period can be attributed in part to their association with wartime patrio-
tism and anti-Nazi propaganda. Superman was featured in several stories highlighting
his success in eradicating enemies of the Allies, including hand-delivery of Hitler and
Mussolini to the United Nations.
Some commentators label the period between the mid-1940s and the mid-1950s
as the Atomic Age because of comics writers’ preoccupation with nuclear proliferation
and the burgeoning arms race. However, this period is best understood as a transition
to the Silver Age of comics, which was characterized by increased public scrutiny of
