Comics: Evolution Through The Ages – Part II
The first Silver Age look of the Avengers before Captain American joined forces
Comics: The Silver Age
There was a short period of time between the Golden Age and the Silver Age of comics. After World War II had ended there was a dip in the demand for comics, especially superheros. This is understandable seeing how the Allied Forces had won the war and their respective countries were beginning to prosper and life was good. And why not we earned it. Super heroes inspired us during the war but now that it was over…It was at this time that the comic industry had introduced some new genres into the mix.
The comic publishers were now printing more stories of crime, horror and romance. On the social and family scene it was the criminal and horror comics that were said to be largely responsible for the rise in teenage crime and violence that had been seen at the time. So 1954 saw the creation of the CCA or The Comics Code Authority.
This “Authority” as it were was created to regulate the content that could be published in the comics. A form of censorship. Yep, that’s right, censorship to protect our innocent youth from the ill effects of such graphic depictions of gore, criminal behavior and sexual inuendo.
Publishers had to become members of the CCA and it is my understanding that the comic publishers had to submit every new installment for inspection or censorship (depending on how politically correct you like to be. I’m not much for being PC myself, I’m more realistic than that). Anyhow, the CCA created guidlines that the material had to abide by. These were things like… there were to be no depictions of criminals getting the best of any law enforcement especially no incidents of an officer dying from any of the criminals actions.
The CCA's seal of approval
Gruesome scenes of gore and excessive violence wasn’t permitted. There were special restrictions placed on using certain words. Anything that was related to any form of sexual deviation outside the sanctity of marriage was prohibited. Last but not least, good had to always triumph over evil! All of these types of things helped the return of the super hero into our lives.
Eventhough comic publishers could have published their materials pretty much how they had been, they wouldn’t have been able to sell the stuff. Part of the deal with the CCA was that if your material passes their scrutiny then they would impose their “Seal of Approval” on it and the vendors wouldn’t sell the comics without this formal “Okey Dokey” from the CCA. So at this point the publishers didn’t have much choice but to “play ball” if they wanted to make any sales.
The Silver Age of comics is generally referred to as the period of comic publications between the early to mid 1950′s to about 1970. These dates vary a little depending on who you talk to. For example, the credit for being the first new super hero to usher in the Silver Age is given to the Flash with his revival appearance in Showcase #4 by DC Comics in 1956 but the Martian Manhunter was the first exclusively published Silver Age super hero debuting in 1955. There is also Captain Comet debuting in 1951. This was a science fiction comic that made its frist appearance in a publication called Strange Adventures. This is why I say it “depends on who you talk to”. There doesn’t seem to be any particular event that closed the era either.
If you click on these Silver Age comics take notice that some have the CCA Seal of Approval on them.
The Silver Age saw the revival of more than one of the Golden Age’s biggest super heros but also saw the creation of some of today’s most popular characters. This era in comics saw the creation of the super hero team with the introducion of DC’s Justice League of America and Marvel responded to DC with their creation of the Fantastic Four. Other very popular heros of today were also launched during this time including Iron Man, X-men, Thor, Avengers, Daredevil and thanks to the atomic age and a dash of creative thought, The Hulk.
Rare Silver Age Marvel Comics DITKO Strange Tales Gold rare modern too