The era is more creative, tonal, and aesthetic than clearly delineated, but most consider its start point to be 1956, with Showcase #4 - the debut of the Barry Allen incarnation of the Flash. End dates vary, but it's generally accepted to be somewhere between 1970 (Green Lantern #76, which reworked both characters to be more socially relevant, and Jimmy Olsen #133, which signalled Kirby leaving Marvel to work with DC) and 1973 (Amazing Spider-Man #121, the death of Gwen Stacy, the first major event of Spider-Man after Lee left the book). Amazing Spider-Man #71, the first major comic to run without Comics Code approval and one of the first to feature drugs, is another bombshell.
In general, the Silver Age is typified by a few big factors: the Comics Code is not questioned, the majority of comics are aimed at children and written from the mindset of being sold in newsstands, and DC is the eight-hundred-pound gorilla while Marvel is the underdog studio with about five employees.
The era is more creative, tonal, and aesthetic than clearly delineated, but most consider its start point to be 1956, with Showcase #4 - the debut of the Barry Allen incarnation of the Flash. End dates vary, but it's generally accepted to be somewhere between 1970 (Green Lantern #76, which reworked both characters to be more socially relevant, and Jimmy Olsen #133, which signalled Kirby leaving Marvel to work with DC) and 1973 (Amazing Spider-Man #121, the death of Gwen Stacy, the first major event of Spider-Man after Lee left the book). Amazing Spider-Man #71, the first major comic to run without Comics Code approval and one of the first to feature drugs, is another bombshell.
In general, the Silver Age is typified by a few big factors: the Comics Code is not questioned, the majority of comics are aimed at children and written from the mindset of being sold in newsstands, and DC is the eight-hundred-pound gorilla while Marvel is the underdog studio with about five employees.
As mentioned here, general consensus among nerds like me is that it starts where this thread does. As for where it ends, around 1972, but the people who know what I'm talking about know it already and the people who don't deserve it to be a surprise.
The main thing separating the Silver Age from the Bronze Age is that the Bronze Age was much more willing to address societal issues due to being freed from the constraints of the CCA. By the time of the bronze age, a lot of silver age fans had grown up, so the comics in it tried to be more grown up themselves. As for the Silver Age versus the Golden Age; the Golden Age was absolutely dominated by the presence of dire wartime threats in the form of Germany and Japan for America that completely engrossed comic book heroes in a way no real world event has before or since. Once the war passed, comics that had been spending years punching Hitler and Hirohito were left with the burning question of "now what?"
The Dark Age can be thought of as either starting with crisis on infinite earths or the dark knight returns; though the Dark Age really became the Dark Age during the 90s. The current era is usually thought of as starting in the early 2000s or with Kingdom Come telling off the dark age's cynicism. Certainly there's a pretty markedly obvious shift in art style as digital drawing and colouring came into vogue and colours as a whole generally becoming much less flat very suddenly as traditional colouring largely fell out of favour.
Liefeld's penciling style hasn't changed too much between now and the 90s, but the changes in colouring tools do make quite a lot of difference.
He was however, very high profile and had a number of...let's be generous and call them quirks in his art style that made him an easy target for mockery. Also he thinks deadpool should be a serious character and just a straight deathstroke knock off so clearly he's a deeply silly man we shouldn't listen to.
And I mean, these days you can trawl on deviant art and trawl for character design commisions and find a whole heap of (rather surprisingly frequently south east asian) artists who could draw literal circles of better designed superheroes around him.
Also if by Lee you mean Pat Lee being better than actual scum isn't something to be proud of.
The main thing separating the Silver Age from the Bronze Age is that the Bronze Age was much more willing to address societal issues due to being freed from the constraints of the CCA. By the time of the bronze age, a lot of silver age fans had grown up, so the comics in it tried to be more grown up themselves. As for the Silver Age versus the Golden Age; the Golden Age was absolutely dominated by the presence of dire wartime threats in the form of Germany and Japan for America that completely engrossed comic book heroes in a way no real world event has before or since. Once the war passed, comics that had been spending years punching Hitler and Hirohito were left with the burning question of "now what?"
The Dark Age can be thought of as either starting with crisis on infinite earths or the dark knight returns; though the Dark Age really became the Dark Age during the 90s. The current era is usually thought of as starting in the early 2000s or with Kingdom Come telling off the dark age's cynicism. Certainly there's a pretty markedly obvious shift in art style as digital drawing and colouring came into vogue and colours as a whole generally becoming much less flat very suddenly as traditional colouring largely fell out of favour.
Liefeld's penciling style hasn't changed too much between now and the 90s, but the changes in colouring tools do make quite a lot of difference.
I would also put in an argument that there's a dividing age in between the Dark Age and the current one. After all, even the most liberal bets at the endpoint of the Dark Age would mean we've been in the current one for eighteen years.
My personal timeline looks something like this.
1938-1951: Golden Age. Large numbers of superhero characters are created. Much overlap between pulp and detective fiction. Style is mostly primitive and driven by one-offs, with some big standouts (The Spirit, Plastic Man). The only time you could get away with patriotic heroes. Aimed at most audiences, female and male of all ages. Racist. Begins with publication of Superman.
1952-1955: First Interregnum. Superhero books are largely cancelled (only Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman survive, along with some hanger-ons), with romance, crime, and horror taking their place. Seduction of the Innocent released. CCA forms in 1954, effectively killing EC Comics and the above genres and causing them to jump to Mad. Begins with cancellation of Jay Garrick Flash.
1956-1970: Silver Age. Widespread reintroduction of superhero characters, mostly in the form of reboots. Tends towards themes of science fiction, and introduces primitive continuity. Marvel Comics kicks into gear under the Lee/Kirby/Ditko triumvirate, but remains second place. Mostly aimed at young boys, with Marvel aiming at slightly older boys. Begins with publication of Barry Allen Flash.
1971-1985: Bronze Age. Collapse of the newsstand comic market mandating a switch to direct-sales comic shops. Marvel overtakes DC for the first time. Comics Code is largely gutted of its power. Storytelling becomes considerably more based in continuity, often to the point of soap opera. Comics are allowed to deal in themes of social relevancy. Aimed at teenage boys. Begins with Jack Kirby leaving Marvel.
1986-1996: Chrome Age. Formation of genuinely powerful indie blocs such as Image and Dark Horse, and the creation of the Vertigo imprint, leads to an unprecedented surge of diversity. "Big event"-driven storytelling in an attempt to drive up sales, which eventually backfires. Continuity becomes a major focus. Aimed at teenagers to young adults. Begins with Crisis on Infinite Earths.
1997-1999: Second Interregnum. Explosion and bursting of speculator market causes severe damage to the industry. DC largely returns to Bronze Age storytelling while Marvel flails about and sells off all its film rights. Begins with Marvel's bankruptcy.
2000-2010: Aluminium Age. Both maturity and nostalgia become major focuses in the industry. Pretty much everyone at both companies is a promoted fan. Crossover events become a yearly thing. Efforts are made to regress the influences of the Chrome Age, often to the point of retconning. "Writing for the trade" becomes common. Superhero films become a significant influence on the industry. Aimed at older audiences, often blatantly so. Begins with publication of Ultimate Spider-Man.
2011-Current: Silicon Age. Internet becomes a major influence on storytelling, and superhero films are at their apex in popularity. Themes of social justice and diversity become relevant. Marvel completely overtakes DC for most of this period as the latter attempts to deal with the fallout of the New 52. Massive boom in indie books, and their themes are heavily co-opted by the Big Two. Turnovers in books become a lot more rapid. Superheroes are more well-known and less widely-read than at any other time in history. Begins with New 52 relaunch.
After a spell of difficulty, let's jump right into this issue, written by Bill Finger and drawn and inked by John Sikela! Gotta love that period in history where everyone in the future wore capes.
As one might expect, the creator of Batman opens up this story with a mystery - the morning news, instead of broadcasting news, instead shows a future-man in a weird hat. The man, Edaw-8 from 30th century Scotland Yard, explains that a criminal, named Lorac-K7, has fled to the past in a time machine and is now impersonating someone in Smallville! Moreover, the man wishes to obtain the outlawed element of cobalt, so he can build a bomb and take it to the future. The detective advises Superboy to trust no one. Unfortunately, just when he's about to explain who the imposter is, the TV shorts out.
Wasting no time, Superboy springs into action - but despite the fact that Lorac was using one of DC's many Popemobile-sphere time machines, Superboy can't find it anywhere. Instead, then, he decides to go looking for cobalt, which isn't exactly common, and checks the local hospital, where their supply of cobalt is being used for radiation treatment.
Man, I'm not even going to get into the number of ways this shouldn't work.
When Superboy returns to the hospital, he finds that one of the doctors got slugged from behind and his room ransacked. Obviously, Lorac was there! Superboy inspects one of the people leaving - Lana Lang's dad, holding a lead box. As he says goodbye to his daughter, Superboy figures that the lead box would fit Lorac perfectly; it'd protect him from the radioactive material and hide him from Superboy. He changes into Superboy to head to class, watching Professor Lang like a hawk... when Lana shows up again.
Well, that's unfortunate. Clark goes to check on his dad...
Well, then.
When he goes to class, Clark finds the professor doing a fairly unsafe-looking experiment involving, you guessed it, cobalt. Unfortunately, before Clark can ponder the implications of this, the professor sets the whole table on fire. Quickly changing in the smoke, Superboy flies out with the desk and puts it out in a nearby storm cloud - but when he returns, he finds that the cobalt is gone.
Clark begins to study the other teachers, and zeros in on the chemistry teacher, Mr. Sands, when the teacher calls him "Superboy." Unconvinced by the "I just had Superboy on the brain" answer, he starts peering at the guy, when he hears about how they'll be doing a class trip to the local steel mill. Clark figures that since cobalt is used to treat steel, this would make the perfect excuse - but Mr. Sands ducks out, explaining he has a meeting. Back to square one again, he decides to tail the class trip instead.
Honestly, no answer I could give would beat whatever crazy thing is the real one.
Upon reaching the mill, he sees a whole truckload of the stuff.
Ah, when in doubt, throw something into orbit.
However, there's one purified chunk of the stuff still in the factory...
Not sure what the dike is actually for if that's actually solid metal, but you do you.
He gives chase to a car leaving the mill, passing over one being driven by Pa Kent... only to find the mayor inside, and very disgruntled. With only a few minutes to go before the time is up, Superboy makes a choice...
As it turns out? He's dead on the money. His reasoning? The last guy's name was "Wade" spelled backwards. "Lorac" is "Carol" spelled backwards... and ergo, Lorac was a woman the whole time. Plus, cobalt is magnetic - meaning that's what stopped the watches of those guys earlier.
Lorac explains she's actually a distant future descendant of Lana Lang, and therefore had access to her diaries and info on Smallville. She shows Superboy where Lana and the time machine are hidden, and tricks her into it. Lana comes to.
Oh, Lana, you haven't a dose of originality in your soul.
Superdickery Rating: 2.5/5
Yeah, all that cobalt is gone now. I don't care if he says he'd bring it back. You don't throw things into orbit if you want them to get used again.
Overall Review
A surprisingly solid mystery plot from Bill Finger, with a decent enough villain. I mean, it's not much, but the inclusion of a red herring is fairly advanced by our previous standards. And you'd think a bomb-chucking future Lana Lang was a concept with potential... even if the cover is a filthy lie.
Superman #123 - The Girl of Steel, The Lost Super-Powers, Superman's Return to Krypton
Oh, hey, another first appearance! Guess Otto Binder, Dick Sprang, and Stan Kaye are going to be carrying us through this one. Buckle in, we're going for some plot-relevance again! And it's calling itself "a great three-part novel!" Back in those days, that meant the story would cover the whole issue.
The story opens with Superman saving Lois from falling out of a helicopter, and the request once again for marriage. However, Superman rebuffs this, claiming only a Super-Girl could keep up with him. Weird how he uses that hyphen. Jimmy, on the other hand, wishes that there could be a girl who could indeed keep up with Superman, and then dismisses the idea because it's just an idle wish and wishes aren't real.
Jimmy, what world do you live in?
The next day, Superman rescues an archaeologist trapped in a cave with a bunch of Indian relics. In gratitude, he asks if there's anything he can do; Superman shrugs off and tells him to let Jimmy have one of those priceless treasures of the pre-Imperial era. One of them is a staff with a gemstone on it, upon which reads "Once every century, magic totem grants three wishes when rubbed under full moon." Jimmy shrugs it off, and rubs the totem that night, noting that if it did work, he'd wish for Superman to have a girl counterpart.
Man, that is one specific idle thought. But I guess I've had less elaborate theoretical wishes.
When Jimmy goes to sleep, the totem glows, and...
Wait, what? I thought maybe the totem would bring Supergirl to him. I mean, I've read every issue of Who's Who and I'm pretty sure this isn't her origin. You know, Argo City, being his cousin? And what's with the hyphen?
In any case, Super-Girl springs into action to help Superman rescue a falling plane, but she arrives on the scene so quickly she makes an air pocket and knocks him off-course. Nonetheless, she still manages to right the plane, and fills Superman in on who she is.
...Ew.
Anyway, Superman introduces his new Galatea-girl to his friends, and Lois is immediately of the opinion that it's only a matter of time before they bang.
Ew.
Well, she held back, at least?
Unfortunately, it seems Lois's prediction is off the money. Super-Girl is so powerful that her efforts to "help" Superman end up overkilling everything. Despite her meaning well, she blows the roof off a building that was meant to be put out, and she blasts open a vault that they were meant to merely melt the lock off of. Superman suggests they instead go their separate ways.
Unfortunately, this doesn't work either, as they just end up responding to the same crimes anyway. Eventually, Superman decides to just use the opportunity to be Clark Kent for a while and let Super-Girl solve crimes on her own. This backfires when she flies up to him in front of Lois and calls him Superman, sparking a round of questions from her.
Friggin' harsh.
At that moment, a train is passing over a suddenly-flooded area. Superman goes to the train's tracks and hoists them above water level, but two crooks decide to drop a lump of Kryptonite right on top of him.
Super-Girl leaps into action once more, and this time she bails him out. But in the process, she takes so much Kryptonite poisoning that it proves lethal.
Shit, bro.
In any case, the issue of Clark Kent being Superman gets resolved when Lois finds a proposal letter from Clark, and concludes that it can't be from Superman because Superman would never propose to her like that. She rejects the proposal because she could only marry him if he really were Superman.
...This logic makes my brain hurt.
In the meantime, Jimmy ponders what to do with his other two wishes.
Continuity Notes
This is what people in the comic collection business call a "tryout issue" - an issue that's very clearly made to test the waters for a new concept. Giving a character in an anthology narrative a prominent role, or doing a one-shot focusing on a new character, for example, would qualify. Usually, they serve to either gauge reader response or to ease them into the idea. This wasn't the first time a female character got Superman-level powers and started going by some variant of Superwoman or Supergirl (Lois has had happen a couple times), but it's definitely looking for a response.
Superdickery Rating: 3.5/5
Man, she's trying her best, Superman.
Overall Review
Silver Age stories love to throw bizarre melodrama into things, and the Old Yeller-style ending of this story is definitely up there. You really do feel for poor Super-Girl. It's kinda bizarre that it only takes up the first story, though. Also, Superman and Lois are really jerkish here. It's also become retroactively really creepy, since, you know. Cousins.
In the next story, Jimmy falls asleep without thinking of a second wish - and in the process, a number of gangsters (the same ones that killed Super-Girl, in fact) sneak into his house, having heard of the wishing totem, and wish for Superman to be deprived of all his powers. They then bury the totem so that the wish can't be reversed.
Superman has a very bad morning in the experience of suddenly being able to feel pain, and quickly goes to Jimmy, finding the totem missing. The crooks, though, aren't sure if the wish actually worked, and so decide to tail Superman to see if he still has his powers.
At various charity shows, parades, and demonstrations, Jimmy and Superman manage to fake him having superpowers. He "flies" by being held up with an invisible pole, "melts metal" while Jimmy gets to work on the other side with a blowtorch, and so on. The crooks quickly conclude that the totem, for whatever reason, doesn't work.
Superman, however, takes the Kryptonite from them and tosses it around like a ball. They conclude that he's become immune to the stuff, and immediately surrender. They're half-right; he's just immune because it can't take away his powers anymore. Jimmy restores Superman's powers, and thinks if there's any way he can make up screwing him over twice in a row.
Superdickery Rating: 1.5/5
None notable aside from being a bit showy. Still, weird how none of his super-feats were actually saving people.
Overall Review
A simple story, but a pretty fun one. The highlight of the whole thing is probably the morning, especially the revelation that Superman apparently normally showers in boiling hot water. Otto Binder has a gift for comedy.
Unsure once more of what to wish for, Jimmy sees Superman reminiscing about his lost homeworld, and decides to let him see his parents again. Immediately, the wish takes effect, and Superman is wished back to Krypton.
Initially, he has a great time, beholding things like flame beasts, time capsules, or buildings that automatically lower in the wind. However, when he meets his father, he then runs right into one of DC's oddball laws of time travel and Krypton - he doesn't exist yet, and therefore he doesn't exist on Krypton, either, being nothing more than a phantom.
This scene is sad enough that I almost overlooked that Kryptonians have the same marriage traditions as American humans. Jimmy gives the wish (he typed it down, so as to not alert Superman) another once-over... and finds that instead of writing "I wish for Superman to meet his parents on Krypton", he wrote "mate his parents."
...Honestly, this is probably the best interpretation the totem could have taken with that wording.
Things only get worse when Superman discovers that his parents were actually Space Nazis. However, as this issue is written by not-Nick Spencer, seconds later, government agents burst in, and Jor-El and Lara explain that they were actually spies infiltrating the hilariously-named Kil-Lor's movement. Worse, the radiation from Kil-Lor's superweapon wiped off his ID tattoo, and the guy they were working under died that morning.
With all evidence gone through crazy coincidences, the three of them are immediately launched into a "prison satellite", where onboard crystals will rehabilitate them over the next few decades. Superman follows the satellite along - and in the process, finds himself becoming solid! Apparently, outside of Krypton's area, he can exist properly, and so he rockets after the satellite.
Superman frees his parents, claiming to be a space traveler from Earth. Unfortunately, the reunion is cut short by Kil-Lor emerging from the satellite and realizing he now has superpowers. The two have a massive battle - Kil-Lor is inexperienced with his powers, but he's still very creative and very dangerous, retreating to practice with them and then fighting Superman to a draw.
Superman returns to his parents and explains that, while Kil-Lor isn't superpowered on Krypton and therefore can't return to conquer it, he can still do some major damage by tossing stuff at it from space - especially if he knows how to use his powers to create a nuclear explosion. Kil-Lor, thanks to his super-hearing, picks this up.
At that very moment, though, Kil-Lor collapses in the crater he made. Turns out that radiation plus minerals from Krypton plus a big explosion is a bad mix (as Superman knew when he was talking). He's just created the first Kryptonite in the galaxy.
The kryptonite radiation also undoes the effects of the radiation that erased Jor-El's ID, meaning his name is now cleared. Now that they can go back home, Jor-El and Lara thank the spaceman profusely, and a cheerful Jor-El proposes. They say their goodbyes (thankfully with a cheek kiss), and head back home. Superman himself returns to Earth, the wish now fulfilled - as he and Jimmy realize, the wish allowed Superman to ensure his parents would get together. Jimmy puts the totem in storage, noting sadly that they now don't have any wishes left. Superman reflects that's just as well; wishes don't always go as one might expect.
Continuity Notes
This isn't the first time Superman has visited his parents in some way, and it isn't the last. It might be the first time he's actually talked to them, though.
Superdickery Rating: 1/5
The only really bad thing he does is deprive us of an El-family teamup.
Overall Review
This is the highlight of the issue. Good art, a cool battle solved in a clever way, and the interaction between Superman and his parents is genuinely pretty touching. It's also the least-linked to the overall storyline, but that's not such a bad thing. And Kil-Lor is a great name.
Honestly, Zod has always been the lamest evil Kryptonian. Like, Jax-Ur is basically a Kryptonian version of Lex; the Evil Three are, well, a trio; Kru-El is A: a relative, and B: an exact lookalike of Supes; Quex-Ul is not actually guilty; Lar-On is a friggin' Superwerewolf...
Whereas Zod...uh, he isn't usually referred to by his full name, and...that's about it.
I'm not sure if the boiling-hot shower thing is a "this is the only way it feels warm" thing like how he can only shave his invincible chinscrabble with reflected heatvision or a "I can do it so nobody can stop me bitch" thing but either way it's fantastic.
Honestly, Zod has always been the lamest evil Kryptonian. Like, Jax-Ur is basically a Kryptonian version of Lex; the Evil Three are, well a trio; Kru-El is A: a relative, and B: an exact lookalike of Supes; Quex-Ul is not actually guilty; Lar-On is a friggin' Superwerewolf...
Whereas Zod...uh, he isn't usually referred to by his full name, and...that's about it.
Oh, and Xa-Du, the evil mummy king of the Phantom Zone. And Faora, one of the few things everyone liked in Man of Steel. And Nam Ek, who is an evil doctor and has a wonderfully portentious name. And El Gar Kur, the coincidental Jimmy Olsen lookalike.
Basically, screw Zod, is what I'm saying. If he weren't played by Terrence Stamp, nobody would even consider his existence.
Man, I knew Supergirl has been all over the place throughout her history but it's still weird to read this. Kara Zor-El Supergirl from Orlando's Rebirth series cemented her as one of my favorite superheroes, what with the whole fresh-off-the-boat take so it's interesting to see her debut. Ish. Even if it's this lol.
While I'm already aware I'm the only person that was still paying attention by that point in Man of Steel, all others numbed to near-death by the endless grey nightmare, Movie-Faora's defining trait is pretty much that she's good at martial arts and Supes trying to take her on by just hurling himself violently at her like a Kryptonian gorrilla leads to an embarrassing stomp.
