When Did The Golden Age End And The Silver Begin?

[Kirby101]

The Silver Age is no doubt defined by the Marvel heroes. Especially the FF and Spider-man. But when we talk about when it started, I have never seen an article, book or panel discussion where Showcase #4 was not considered the start.
This would be like moving away from Action #1 as the Start of the Golden Age. Were there other comics before, yes, but it really isn't debated.

[Mister Mets]

But those were mainly a revival or updating of characters Golden Age superheroes titles that were cancelled. The Fantastic Four were new characters for a new age in comics. You could argue that the FF was Jack bringing along some of his ideas from Challengers of the Unknown to Marvel. It was a concept that Jack Kirby did contribute to the Showcase series. But there are some significant differences also, noted below. Kirby had became persona non grata at DC for pursuing a lawsuit against them over the percentages demanded by DC editor Jack Schiff for the Sky Masters newspaper strip. So Kirby either left DC or was blacklisted, whatever you want to call it to go over to Atlas comics with Stan Lee.

Marvel was mostly a new pantheon of heroes but they did bring along golden age Sub-Mariner early on and Captain America shortly after. Spider-Man quickly followed the debut of the Fantastic Four and soon became Marvel's top seller. It was like the kid that would have been a sidekick to the adult hero was the main hero. The Fantastic Four never dealt with the secret identities and were publicly known. They to deal falling in and out of the public's favor along with super-villains. They had financial problems early on and went bankrupt. Peter Parker had to deal with the typical teen problems of the times getting his homework done, deal with the school bully Flash Thompson and so forth. They dealt with problems everyday people would have to deal with and not live in a Fortress of Solitude.

But one of the elements of the silver age was the new versions of golden age DC heroes. That's why Showcase #4 mattered. It created a new DC continuity. It also coincided with new directions for Superman, as Mort Weisinger took over as editor of the line. It led to the formation of the Justice League of America, a title whose success led Lee & Kirby to come up with the Fantastic Four.

One problem with viewing the debut of the Fantastic Four as the beginning of the silver age is that it turns DC's role in the silver age primarily one of trying to copy Marvel.

As a side note, this thread got me to the rabbit hole of looking up discussions about when the silver age Batman debuted.

https://therealbatmanchronologyproje.../thesilverage/

[Iron Maiden]

But one of the elements of the silver age was the new versions of golden age DC heroes. That's why Showcase #4 mattered. It created a new DC continuity. It also coincided with new directions for Superman, as Mort Weisinger took over as editor of the line. It led to the formation of the Justice League of America, a title whose success led Lee & Kirby to come up with the Fantastic Four.

One problem with viewing the debut of the Fantastic Four as the beginning of the silver age is that it turns DC's role in the silver age primarily one of trying to copy Marvel.

As a side note, this thread got me to the rabbit hole of looking up discussions about when the silver age Batman debuted.

https://therealbatmanchronologyproje.../thesilverage/

I think it is interesting to note that this article calls this process that DC was going through a reboot of the Golden Age. So IMO that's not anything really new esp looking back from today perspective where I've lost track of the reboots that have occurred in comics like the new 52 going back to Marvel's Heroes Reborn/Heroes Reborn phase. DC didn't really change their content to being more relevant to modern times until they were pushed into it by Marvel's success.

[Kirby101]

DC didn't really change their content to being more relevant to modern times until they were pushed into it by Marvel's success.

That may be true IM, but without DC publishing new heroes using the names of their GA characters, Martin Goodman would never had Stan create new heroes for Marvel. It wasn't a reboot the way you mentioned. The Flash, GL, the Atom were all new charactyers using names DC owned. And that is why it is always acknowledged that Showcase is the start of the SA. These ages are arbitrary consensuses that are used by fans to designate different publishing periods. So when 99.9% of the fan community agrees with a certain start, like Action #1 and Showcase #4, what is the point of nay saying. Now if you want a good ongoing debate, try the start of the Bronze Age. Conan #1, Giant Size X-Men? Jimmy Olsen #137?

[DrNewGod]

That may be true IM, but without DC publishing new heroes using the names of their GA characters, Martin Goodman would never had Stan create new heroes for Marvel. It wasn't a reboot the way you mentioned. The Flash, GL, the Atom were all new charactyers using names DC owned. And that is why it is always acknowledged that Showcase is the start of the SA. These ages are arbitrary consensuses that are used by fans to designate different publishing periods. So when 99.9% of the fan community agrees with a certain start, like Action #1 and Showcase #4, what is the point of nay saying. Now if you want a good ongoing debate, try the start of the Bronze Age. Conan #1, Giant Size X-Men? Jimmy Olsen #137?

There is no denying Showcase #4 was a watershed. It always interested me though, that the early Barry Allen stories had a lot of the feel of the late E2 superhero stories, Green Lantern's in particular. The tone was often as much a continuation of the creative trends near the end of the All-American line characters as it was the start of something new. Different? Yes, but also very familiar.

Still, I'd have to agree that Showcase #4 was the threshold of the Silver Age. I can't help feeling, however, that it didn't really get underway until Green Lantern debuted three years later.

I also wonder whether Wertham was one of the milestones of the indicating the Golden Age's end?

[Electricmastro]

There is no denying Showcase #4 was a watershed. It always interested me though, that the early Barry Allen stories had a lot of the feel of the late E2 superhero stories, Green Lantern's in particular. The tone was often as much a continuation of the creative trends near the end of the All-American line characters as it was the start of something new. Different? Yes, but also very familiar.

Still, I'd have to agree that Showcase #4 was the threshold of the Silver Age. I can't help feeling, however, that it didn't really get underway until Green Lantern debuted three years later.

I also wonder whether Wertham was one of the milestones of the indicating the Golden Age's end?

I suppose due to the senate hearings considerably limiting what comics could show, and possibly due to the Korean War and Vietnam War tensions stirring up at that time I suspect, that comic book publishers just looked for any alternatives they could think of to what their comics could be about, and the superhero trend that had since shifted was one of them, even if only briefly, considering DC’s consistent success with them and even having a popular superhero show on TV.

[Electricmastro]

[Mister Mets]

There is no denying Showcase #4 was a watershed. It always interested me though, that the early Barry Allen stories had a lot of the feel of the late E2 superhero stories, Green Lantern's in particular. The tone was often as much a continuation of the creative trends near the end of the All-American line characters as it was the start of something new. Different? Yes, but also very familiar.

Still, I'd have to agree that Showcase #4 was the threshold of the Silver Age. I can't help feeling, however, that it didn't really get underway until Green Lantern debuted three years later.

I also wonder whether Wertham was one of the milestones of the indicating the Golden Age's end?

It will take a while for new eras to be fully underway, as it takes some time for publishers to respond to new developments. They'll have still commissioned work from earlier eras.

There are also going to be prominent comics that aren't affected. The Carl Barks duck stories, some of the best and most important comics ever, weren't altered much by what was going on with Marvel and DC.