The Silver Age of Comic Books, or more simply, The Silver Age, is an informal name for a period of renewed interest and commercial success of mainstream American comic books, predominately of the superhero genre from the roughly the mid 1950s to the early 1970s. It followed the Golden Age of Comic Books.

Contents

1 History 2 Noted Talents During the Period 2.1 Editors 2.2 Artists 2.3 Writers

History

The beginning and ending of this period are cause for debate, but it is thought the period began with DC Comics Showcase #4 which introduced the modernized version of The Flash. Under the editorship of Julius Schwartz, this was the first of a series of old characters revised into more modern versions such as Green Lantern, The Atom and Hawkman. The success of these character helped the company find a viable genre that could make for successful properties under the restrictions of the Comics Code Authority. This success helped breathe new life into the comic book medium and sales began to recover from the debacle of the backlash against horror and crime comics.

The period also saw the rise of Marvel Comics under the guidance of writer/editor Stan Lee and artists/cowriters Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko which introduced more sophisticated characterization and dynamic plotting to American comics. After an initial period of confusion about the reasons for Marvel's success, DC began to adopt some of the same artistic approaches.

The resurgence of the superhero genre proved so influential in the industry that publishing houses not known for their superheroes like Archie Comics, Charlton Comics and Dell Comics attempted their own superheroes, but met only very limited success either critcally or popularly. Tower Comics was an exception with the highly acclaimed T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series by Wally Wood which was also shortlived.

The period hit its commercial peak in 1966-1968 with the popularity of the Batman TV series, which both heightened interest in comics and damaged their public image as a legitimate artistic medium.

The precise end of the Silver Age is in some debate. Candidate periods include:

• The departure of Jack Kirby from Marvel Comics and beginning his Fourth World titles at DC Comics (1970).
• The advent of a darker tone in comic books such as the run of socially-conscious stories in the comic Green Lantern/Green Arrow by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams (beginning 1970), the death of Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man #121 (1973), and the rise of a new wave of horror comics such as Tomb of Dracula (circa 1972).
• The debut of the "All-New All-Different" X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975).

The period following the Silver Age has no widely-accepted name. Popular candidates include the Bronze Age of Comic Books (by analogy with Bronze Age), the Modern Age of Comic Books , the Dark Age of Comic Books (due to the popularity of grim titles such as Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen), and the Diamond Age of Comic Books (suggested by Scott McCloud, with the different facets signifying the current diversity in the medium).

The Underground comics scene got its major start in this period. However since its artistic content and goals and its marketing was so different from the mainstream companies, it is generally considered a separate movement in the medium.

Noted Talents During the Period

During this period in the mainstream companies, the writers were downplayed in favour of the editors. Artists, especially with the success of Marvel, began to play an increasingly important role in the writing process themselves.

Editors

• Stan Lee
• Julius Schwartz
• Mort Weisinger

Artists

• Gene Colan
• Steve Ditko
• Carmine Infantino
• Gil Kane
• Jack Kirby
• Joe Kubert
• Neal Adams
• Jim Steranko
• Curt Swan
• Wally Wood

Writers

• Stan Lee
• Roy Thomas