Found, and a suggestion: The Dark Age
The Dark Age: Grim, Great and Gimmicky Post-Modern Comics
by Mark Voger, TwoMorrows, published 3 1/2 years ago. isbn 9781893905535
After the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages of comics, might we find a space for a Dark Age? A brief time of edgy, adult, darker work, but Before comics descended into the current age of Superhero Decadence? (ref. Deppey, first citation and formal definition, and with a tip of the hat to The Groovy Age of Horror — and we’re all adults here but some images used to make the point are NSFW, browse at your discretion)
Did a Dark Age start in 1986 (Dark Knight & Watchmen) or back even further? — maybe 1983, cit. A Groovy Age of Horror again — or other mainstream comics of the late 70s, or the Comix of the late 60s?
If I had to pick a date, I’d go with May, 1971 and Amazing Spider-Man #96 when the up-till-then inviolate Comics Code began loosening their Victorian-prudish preferences and the industry could finally pick back up where they left off in 1954. (well, that and the emergence of a whole slate of comic publishers who gave less than a rat’s-ass for the CCA)
Please note: I haven’t read Voger’s book; it is possible he’s made all these points and more — I just came across the listing on Amazon this morning and felt the need to point it out.
Which is what my ‘found’ category is for.
More: www.rocketbomber.com/category/found/
Yes, I know picking 1971 means there is significant — if not total — overlap with the so-called Bronze age of comics
But that’s why I’m a blogger and not an academic. I’m throwing this out there; I’m hoping smarter, more comics-knowledgeable heads will pick up the thread and expand on it.
Comment by Matt Blind — 21 August 2009, 13:01 #
Why not redefine the Bronze Age to include more adult and serious works, of which AS-M #96 is a good milestone?
In archeology, there is a stone age, a bronze age, and an iron age.
Hesiod used Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic, Iron. Ovid used Golden, Silver, Bronze, Iron.
The mythological ages, as far as comics go, should be dubbed Gold, Silver, Plastic, Renaissance. (Some also use Platinum to refer to any comics published before Famous Funnies.)
Plastic, in reference to the cheapness, the technological mastery required, and the printing plates used (flexography). It begins, roughly, with the revision of the Comics Code and Kirby’s migration to DC. It ends with Adventures of Superman #500, 1993, the culmination of the speculation craze and the closing of numerous comics and collectible stores. It contains the growth of comicbook conventions, the meteoric rise and fall of the Direct Market, and the death of newsstand periodicals and the preteen market.
The Renaissance begins with the importation of Pokemon in 1999. Viz Comics, established in 1986, distributed by Publishers Group West, was able to effectively market Pokemon comics and books to non-comics retailers. The success of Pokemon and other anime/manga properties convinced bookstores to stock graphic novels. The success of GN sales then convinced traditional direct-only publishers to distribute books to the bookstore/library trade. Librarians, some comicbook fans, used graphic novels to lure reluctant readers into libraries, effectively eliminating any remaining the “sub-literate” prejudice among librarians and educators. Comics publishers reprinted and collected older stories into trade editions, non-comics publishers such as Random House and HarperCollins created new graphic novel lines, and original material (Stuck Rubber Baby, Blankets) was published to meet the new demand from the book trade.
As with the European Renaissance, old material was rediscovered, inspiring contemporary creators. New markets and patrons funded creativity. New technologies and techniques fueled the dissemination of new stories.
Platinum ( – 1934) prehistory – Famous Funnies
Gold (1934 – 1954) Famous Funnies – Comics Code
Silver (1954 – 1970) Showcase #4 – Kirby leaves Marvel
Plastic (1971 – 1993) Comics Code revision – speculation implosion
Renaissance (1999 – present) Manga/anime “invasion” revitalizes industry with new markets and audiences.
Comment by Torsten Adair — 21 August 2009, 17:55 #
There is a gap there, 93-98.
And Pokémon débuted as a TV show on Kids! WB in September of 1998, closely followed by the first two game titles (Red & Blue) for the Game Boy — Pokémon are a milestone in comics but also part of a multi-media push, and more of a manifestation of the the new gamer culture, or Japanese visual culture, and thus can be seen as an extension of an invasion that started in the fall of ’85 with the introduction of the NES (which shipped with Mario).
“The kids play the games, get used to the characters, and by the time something from Japan shows up on their local TV station, they don’t even think: they line up to buy.”
[I don’t know when my essay on this time period, Ages of Fan #5 will get reprinted here or elsewhere, but we’re working on it]
And there are other dates we could point to for a “manga” invasion: Akira in 1988, Animerica and Viz in 1993, Sailor Moon and Mixx (later Tokyopop) in 1997 — or Tokyopop again under their current name in 2002, with unflipped manga & $10 volumes on cheap newsprint shipping to the bookstores instead of the direct market comic shop.
I can go further back (though just on TV) — Astro Boy in ’63, Speed Racer in ’67, Battle of the Planets in ’78 (and known to many later fans as G-Force starting in ’86), Star Blazers/Yamato in ’80, Voltron in ’84, Robotech in ’85
There has been a slow and steady inoculation of Japanese Visual Culture for more than 5 decades — the ‘sudden’ emergence of manga in the late 90’s was in fact just a manifestation of a movement that had long been simmering just under the surface — and something that ran parallel to and separate from the US Funnybook Industry.
Comment by Matt Blind — 21 August 2009, 19:51 #
Oh, I know there is a gap… left that to others to figure out… “reconstruction”? (Marvel bankruptcy, self publishing and independent publishers)
As for manga, yes, I know how popular it was before. Pokemon was the explosion, when it all went mainstream. I mentioned Viz starting in 1986 (plus Dark Horse and Eclipse and Marvel published manga). There was anime on the Cartoon Network and Sci-Fi networks from day one.
I agree, manga and anime are part of a huge marketing machine. But then so is comics. The cartoons, the movies, the toys, the comics, the comicstrips, the clothing lunchpails backpacks school supplies food…
Pokemon saved the comics industry. Both financially and spiritually. Without teens reviving the format, it stagnates. Fresh blood fueled the Bronze Age, it fuels the independent scene, and it fuels mainstream comics. Otherwise it becomes inbred and boring (1990s Marvel).
The Bronze Age was influenced by the underground movement, which was inspired by MAD Magazine, which matured into a cultural force because of the Comics Code.
The bookstore market we have now dates back to the mid-1980s, when Pantheon published Maus and Life is Hell, Marvel and DC began their own trade lines, That market never matured (books were shelved in Humor or Science Fiction until 2000 or so) until manga proved there was a market for GNs.
There were serious themes in comics before the Bronze Age (EC Comics’ “Master Race” and “Judgement Day”). Marvel actively promoted realism in their superhero titles from 1961 onward. The Bronze Age happens because of the underground influence, maturing audience (college kids), and DC changing their storytelling techniques (Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Clark Kent moves to WGBS, Batman becomes gothic).
The next period: the digitization of comics and books. Yup, starting to happen already (Splitter, computer coloring and production, FTPs of the Dysfunctional Family Circus…) HOWEVER, it hasn’t hit critical mass like in Japan. Soon…
Comment by Torsten Adair — 22 August 2009, 12:28 #