im new to this but i want to get started and learn the history of the golden age of comics of Dc and marvel. Where should i start looking? and how do i get those older comics?
im new to this but i want to get started and learn the history of the golden age of comics of Dc and marvel. Where should i start looking? and how do i get those older comics?
The actual golden age comics cost a small fortune, and in some cases, cost more than an average person will earn in a lifetime.
You can get collected editions of a lot of them, but some of them arent cheap.. Your best bet is maybe digital through DC Universe where there a lot available there.
DC have reprinted a lot of the Golden Age material in the DC Archives and some in their Golden Age Omnibus/TPB lines
For the Archives DC published the following:
Title Vol. # Years covered Material collected
All-Star Comics Archives 0 1940 All-Star Comics #12
All-Star Comics Archives 1 19401941 All-Star Comics #36
All-Star Comics Archives 2 19411942 All-Star Comics #710
All-Star Comics Archives 3 1942 All-Star Comics #1114
All-Star Comics Archives 4 1943 All-Star Comics #1518
All-Star Comics Archives 5 19431944 All-Star Comics #1923
All-Star Comics Archives 6 19451946 All-Star Comics #2428
All-Star Comics Archives 7 19461947 All-Star Comics #2933
All-Star Comics Archives 8 1947 All-Star Comics #3438
All-Star Comics Archives 9 1948 All-Star Comics #3943
All-Star Comics Archives 10 1949 All-Star Comics #4449
All-Star Comics Archives 11 19491951 All-Star Comics #5057
Batman Archives 1 19391941 Batman stories from Detective Comics #2750
Batman Archives 2 19411942 Batman stories from Detective Comics #5170
Batman Archives 3 19431944 Batman stories from Detective Comics #7186
Batman Archives 4 19441945 Batman stories from Detective Comics #87102
Batman Archives 5 19451946 Batman stories from Detective Comics #103119
Batman Archives 6 19471948 Batman stories from Detective Comics #120135
Batman Archives 7 19481949 Batman stories from Detective Comics #136154
Batman Archives 8 19501951 Batman stories from Detective Comics #155170
Batman: The Dark Knight Archives 1 1940 Batman #14
Batman: The Dark Knight Archives 2 1941 Batman #58
Batman: The Dark Knight Archives 3 1942 Batman #912
Batman: The Dark Knight Archives 4 19421943 Batman #1316
Batman: The Dark Knight Archives 5 1943 Batman #1720
Batman: The Dark Knight Archives 6 1944 Batman #2125
Batman: The Dark Knight Archives 7 1945 Batman #2631
Batman: The Dark Knight Archives 8 19451946 Batman #3237
Batman: The World's Finest Comics Archives 1 19401944 Batman stories from The New York World's Fair Comics #2; World's Best Comics #1; World's Finest Comics #216
Batman: The World's Finest Comics Archives 2 19451947 Batman stories from World's Finest Comics #1732
Black Canary Archives 1 19471949, 1965, 19691972 Johnny Thunder and Black Canary stories from Flash Comics #86104; Comic Cavalcade #25; DC Special #3; Adventure Comics #399, #418419; The Brave and the Bold #6162
Blackhawk Archives 1 19411943 Blackhawk stories from Military Comics #117
Comic Cavalcade Archives 1 19421943 All stories from Comic Cavalcade #13
DC Comics Rarities Archives 1 19391940, 1944 All stories from The New York World's Fair Comics #12; The Big All-American Comic Book #1
Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives 1 19401944 Doctor Fate stories from More Fun Comics #5598
Golden Age Flash Archives 1 19401941 Flash stories from Flash Comics #117
Golden Age Flash Archives 2 1941 Flash stories from Flash Comics #1824; All-Flash Quarterly #12
Golden Age Green Lantern Archives 1 19401941 Green Lantern stories from All-American Comics #1630; Green Lantern #1
Golden Age Green Lantern Archives 2 19411942 Green Lantern stories from All-American Comics #3138; Green Lantern #23
Golden Age Hawkman Archives ** 1 19401941 Hawkman stories from Flash Comics #122
Golden Age Sandman Archives 1 19391941 Sandman stories from The New York World's Fair Comics #12; Adventure Comics #4059
Golden Age Spectre Archives 1 19401941 Spectre stories from More Fun Comics #5270
Golden Age Starman Archives 1 19411942 Starman stories from Adventure Comics #6176
Golden Age Starman Archives 2 19421944 Starman stories from Adventure Comics #77102
The JSA All-Stars Archives 1 19401942 Johnny Thunder from Flash Comics #15;
The Hour-Man from Adventure Comics #4852;
The Atom from All-American Comics #1923;
Scribbly (featuring the Red Tornado) from All-American Comics #2024;
Doctor Mid-Nite from All-American Comics #2529;
Mister Terrific from Sensation Comics #15;
Wildcat from Sensation Comics #15
Plastic Man Archives 1 19411943 Plastic Man stories from Police Comics #120
Plastic Man Archives 2 19431944 Police Comics #2130; Plastic Man #1
Plastic Man Archives 3 19441945 Police Comics #3139; Plastic Man #2
Plastic Man Archives 4 1945 Police Comics #4049; Plastic Man #3
Plastic Man Archives 5 1946 Police Comics #5058; Plastic Man #4
Plastic Man Archives 6 19461947 Police Comics #5965; Plastic Man #56
Plastic Man Archives 7 1947 Police Comics #6671; Plastic Man #78
Plastic Man Archives 8 19471948 Police Comics #7277; Plastic Man #910
Robin Archives 1 19471948 Robin stories from Star-Spangled Comics #6585
Robin Archives 2 19481950 Robin stories from Star-Spangled Comics #86105
Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives 1 19411942 Leading Comics #14
Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives 2 19421943 Leading Comics #58
Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives 3 19431945 Leading Comics #914
The Shazam! Archives 1 19401941 Flash Comics (ashcan) #1; Thrill Comics (ashcan) #1; Whiz Comics #215
The Shazam! Archives 2 1941 Special Edition Comics #1; Captain Marvel Adventures #1; Whiz Comics #1520
The Shazam! Archives 3 1941 America's Greatest Comics #1; Captain Marvel Adventures #23; Whiz Comics #2124
The Shazam! Archives 4 19411942 Captain Marvel Adventures #45; Master Comics #2122; Whiz Comics #25; America's Greatest Comics #2
The Shazam! Family Archives 1 1942 Master Comics #2332; Captain Marvel Jr. #1; Captain Marvel Adventures #18
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 1 1940 06/02/1940 12/29/1940
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 2 1941 01/05/1941 06/29/1941
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 3 1941 07/06/1941 12/28/1941
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 4 1942 01/04/1942 06/28/1942
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 5 1942 07/05/1942 12/27/1942
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 6 1943 01/03/1943 06/27/1943
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 7 1943 07/04/1943 12/26/1943
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 8 1944 01/02/1944 06/25/1944
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 9 1944 07/02/1944 12/31/1944
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 10 1945 01/07/1945 06/24/1945
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 11 1945 07/01/1945 12/30/1945
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 12 1946 01/06/1946 06/30/1946
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 13 1946 07/07/1946 12/29/1946
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 14 1947 01/05/1947 06/29/1947
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 15 1947 07/06/1947 12/28/1947
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 16 1948 01/04/1948 06/27/1948
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 17 1948 07/04/1948 12/26/1948
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 18 1949 01/02/1949 06/26/1949
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 19 1949 07/03/1949 12/25/1949
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 20 1950 01/01/1950 06/25/1950
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 21 1950 07/02/1950 12/31/1950
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 22 1951 01/07/1951 06/24/1951
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 23 1951 07/01/1951 12/30/1951
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 24 1952 01/06/1952 10/05/1952
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 25 19411944 10/13/1941 03/11/44 (daily comic strip)
Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives* 26 1952-2000s All Will Eisner drawn post-1952 stories and most new cover artwork, illustrations and pinups (missing are those Eisner did for Warren Publishing)
Superman Archives 1 19391940 Superman #14
Superman Archives 2 1940 Superman #58
Superman Archives 3 1941 Superman #912
Superman Archives 4 19411942 Superman #1316
Superman Archives 5 1942 Superman #1720
Superman Archives 6 1943 Superman #2124
Superman Archives 7 19431944 Superman #2529
Superman Archives 8 19441945 Superman #3035
Superman: The Action Comics Archives 1 19381939 Superman stories from Action Comics #120
Superman: The Action Comics Archives 2 19401941 Superman stories from Action Comics #2136
Superman: The Action Comics Archives 3 19411942 Superman stories from Action Comics #3752
Superman: The Action Comics Archives 4 19421943 Superman stories from Action Comics #5368
Superman: The Action Comics Archives 5 19441945 Superman stories from Action Comics #6985
Superman: The World's Finest Comics Archives 1 19391944 Superman stories from The New York World's Fair Comics #12; World's Best Comics #1; World's Finest Comics #215
Superman: The World's Finest Comics Archives 2 19451948 Superman stories from World's Finest Comics #1732
Wonder Woman Archives 1 19411942 All-Star Comics #8; Sensation Comics #112; Wonder Woman #1
Wonder Woman Archives 2 1943 Wonder Woman #24; Sensation Comics #1317
Wonder Woman Archives 3 1943 Wonder Woman #57; Sensation Comics #1824
Wonder Woman Archives 4 1944 Wonder Woman #89; Sensation Comics #2532
Wonder Woman Archives 5 19441945 Wonder Woman #1012; Sensation Comics #3340
Wonder Woman Archives 6 19451946 Wonder Woman #1315; Sensation Comics #4148
Wonder Woman Archives 7 1946 Wonder Woman #1618; Sensation Comics #4957
World's Finest Comics Archives 1 1952, 19541956 Superman and Batman team-ups from Superman #76; World's Finest Comics #7185
World's Finest Comics Archives 2 19571959 Superman and Batman team-ups from World's Finest Comics #86101
World's Finest Comics Archives 3 19591961 Superman and Batman team-ups from World's Finest Comics #102116
For the DC Omnibuses
Title Vol. # Years covered Material collected
Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus 1 1939–1941 Detective Comics #27–56; Batman #1–7; New York World's Fair Comics #2; World's Best Comics #1; World's Finest Comics #2–3
Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus 2 1941–1943 Detective Comics #57–74; Batman #8–15; World's Finest Comics #4–9
Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus 3 1943–1944 Detective Comics #75–92; Batman #16–25; World's Finest Comics #10–14
Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus 4 1944–1946 Detective Comics #93–112; Batman #26–35; World's Finest Comics #15–22
Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus 5 1946–1948 Detective Comics #113–132; Batman #36–45; World's Finest Comics #23–32
Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus 6 1948–1949 Detective Comics #133–153; Batman #46–55; World's Finest Comics #33–42
Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus 7 1949–1951 Detective Comics #154–173; Batman #56–66; World's Finest Comics #43–53
Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus 8 1951–1953 Detective Comics #174–191; Batman #67–75; World's Finest Comics #54–62
Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus 9 (final) 1953–1954 Detective Comics #192–208; Batman #76–84; World's Finest Comics #63–70
Green Arrow: The Golden Age Omnibus 1 1941–1947 More Fun Comics #73–107; Adventure Comics #103–117; World's Finest Comics #7–28
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus 1 1938–1940 Action Comics #1–31; Superman #1–7; The New York World's Fair Comics 1939, 1940
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus 2 1941–1942 Action Comics #32–47; Superman #8–15; World's Best Comics #1; World's Finest Comics #2–5
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus 3 1942–1943 Action Comics #48–65; Superman #16–24; World's Finest Comics #6–10
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus 4 1943–1945 Action Comics #66–85; Superman #25–33; World's Finest Comics #11–17
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus 5 1945–1947 Action Comics #86–105; Superman #34–43; World's Finest Comics #19–25
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus 6 1947–1948 Action Comics #106–125; Superman #44–54; World's Finest Comics #26–36
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus 7 1948–1950 Action Comics #126–143; Superman #55–65; World's Finest Comics #37–47
Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Omnibus 1 1941–1943 All-Star Comics #8; Sensation Comics #1–24; Wonder Woman #1–7; Comic Cavalcade #1–5
Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Omnibus 2 1943–1945 Comic Cavalcade #6–13; Sensation Comics #25–48; Wonder Woman #8–15; The Big All-American Comic Book
Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Omnibus 3 1945–1947 Comic Cavalcade #14–22; Sensation Comics #49–69; Wonder Woman #16–25
Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Omnibus 4 1947–1949 Comic Cavalcade #23–29; Sensation Comics #70–91; Wonder Woman #26–36
And for the DC Golden Age TPBs (these are essentially recuts of the larger omnibuses - 2 TPBs = 1 Omnibus) however they are released much slower than the omnibuses and might have been stopped
Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 1 DETECTIVE COMICS #27-45, BATMAN #1-3 and NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR COMICS #2.
Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 2 BATMAN #4-7, DETECTIVE COMICS #46-56, WORLDS BEST COMICS #1 and WORLDS FINEST COMICS #2-3.
Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 3 BATMAN #8-11, DETECTIVE COMICS #57-65 and WORLDS FINEST COMICS #4-6.
Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 4 BATMAN #12-15, DETECTIVE COMICS #66-74 and WORLDS FINEST COMICS #7-9.
Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 5 Batman #16-20, Detective Comics #75-81 and Worlds Finest Comics #10-11.
Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 6 Batman #21-25, Detective Comics #82-92, and World's Finest Comics #12-14
Superman: The Golden Age Vol. 1 ACTION COMICS #1-19, selections from SUPERMAN #1-3 and NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR COMICS #1!
Superman: The Golden Age Vol. 2 ACTION COMICS #20-31, SUPERMAN #4-7 and NEW YORK WORLDS FAIR COMICS #2.
Superman: The Golden Age Vol. 3 ACTION COMICS #32-40, SUPERMAN #8-11, WORLDS BEST COMICS #1 and WORLDS FINEST COMICS #2.
Superman: The Golden Age Vol. 4 Worlds Finest Comics #3-5, Superman #12-15 and Action Comics #41-47.
Superman: The Golden Age Vol. 5 Action Comics #48-57, Superman #16-19, and World's Finest Comics #6-8
Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Vol. 1 ALL STAR COMICS #8, COMIC CAVALCADE #1, SENSATION COMICS #1-14 and WONDER WOMAN #1-3.
Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Vol. 2 Sensation Comics #15-24, Comic Cavalcade #2-5 and Wonder Woman #4-7.
Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Vol. 3 Sensation Comics #25-36, Wonder Woman #8-11 and COMIC CAVALCADE #6-8.
If you like digital comics, Comixology has a sale on Marvel Masterworks, including a lot of golden age material.
Beyond that, I would highly recommend Will Eisner's The Spirit. There are a few readily available "Best Of" collections.
A collection of Jack Cole's Plastic Man gives a sense of possibly the best superhero series of the golden age.
Choke Gasp! The Best of 75 Years of EC Comics is a good introduction to that line of books, which isn't superhero comics, but is among the best and most popular of the era.
Sincerely,
Thomas Mets
It is strange to see so little of this early material in print now. At least the existing Archives and Masterworks give us a chance of seeing some of this old material.