Where to start in the silver age?

[shooshoomanjoe]

What's a good starting point for DC's silver age? I started at cover date Jan 1960 but the stories are too goofy/campy. When did DC stop writing these types of stories?

[DanMad1977]

I ask myself the same question. Hard to read, even for me, and I grew up reading these stories. ( I am not that old, 43, but I had access to it as a boy) Marvel was far ahead at the time, so i even knew back then that it was campy.

[Digifiend]

DC will seem retro compared to Marvel until the late 70s. The New Teen Titans started in 1980, and that was the start of things getting more dramatic and serious, and less camp.

The starting point for the silver age is 1956's Showcase #4, the origin of Barry Allen as The Flash. But if you're not a fan of camp, you should probably just skip to the bronze age.

[Lee Stone]

But if you're not a fan of camp, you should probably just skip to the bronze age.

I would second this.
DC’s Silver Age was full of camp, peaking in the late ‘60s with the Go-Go Checks period.

[LifeIsILL]

What's a good starting point for DC's silver age? I started at cover date Jan 1960 but the stories are too goofy/campy. When did DC stop writing these types of stories?

Green Lantern, Aquaman, Spectre, Teen Titans, some Justice League, and Star Spangled War Stories are not campy. Flash is campy but great. I mean, how can you not enjoy the 60s Flash stories, so many great ideas and villains presented.

Also Star Spangled War Stories when Enemy Ace shows up is a must read, this is better than most Marvel 60s stuff if you ask me.

There was a 60s Teen Titans story where they killed a baby, probably one of the most messed up DC stories out there. And the Aquaman vs Ocean Master/Black Manta stories were definitely not campy.

[ed2962]

DC will seem retro compared to Marvel until the late 70s. The New Teen Titans started in 1980, and that was the start of things getting more dramatic and serious, and less camp.

The starting point for the silver age is 1956's Showcase #4, the origin of Barry Allen as The Flash. But if you're not a fan of camp, you should probably just skip to the bronze age.

I think you can start before 1980. There's the Deadman stuff, O'Neal's Batman and Green Lantern is early 70's. The first Secret Six ( the Mission Impossible version) and the Sgt Rock stuff starts in the Silver Age. Jonah Hex...I'm sure there's lot's of other stuff that I'm not thinking of at teh moment.

[Uncanny Mutie]

DC will seem retro compared to Marvel until the late 70s. The New Teen Titans started in 1980, and that was the start of things getting more dramatic and serious, and less camp.

The starting point for the silver age is 1956's Showcase #4, the origin of Barry Allen as The Flash. But if you're not a fan of camp, you should probably just skip to the bronze age.

Perfect answer. This is why I generally have never really been interested in reading many DC back issues prior to the late 70s/early 80s; it took DC a while to shed all the camp and all the parent-approved style stories and catch up to the serious, more mature, written for ALL ages style that Marvel had already been using since they came on the scene in the early 60s.

[Restingvoice]

The Silver Age Volume 1 collections of Justice League of America, Teen Titans, Green Lantern, Supergirl, Legion of Super-Heroes, Doom Patrol, Hawk and Dove, World's Finest, and The Flash each

I'm a bit confused that you're asking for a less goofy/campy Silver Age though

[jb681131]

What's a good starting point for DC's silver age? I started at cover date Jan 1960 but the stories are too goofy/campy. When did DC stop writing these types of stories?

Mostly goofy storie in the Silver Age. You have to wait for the Bronze for goofyness to go away.

[LifeIsILL]

Perfect answer. This is why I generally have never really been interested in reading many DC back issues prior to the late 70s/early 80s; it took DC a while to shed all the camp and all the parent-approved style stories and catch up to the serious, more mature, written for ALL ages style that Marvel had already been using since they came on the scene in the early 60s.

Have you read the Enemy Ace stories from the 60s? Or the Aquaman vs Black Manta stories? I don't see how any of that stuff is campy.

[Jim Kelly]

I have a different understanding of camp. To me that was defined by the BATMAN show in 1966. At that point, comics from all the publishers tried to ride that train. Camp was pervasive--although I'd argue it wasn't maintained for very long at National/D.C. Stan Lee's wise-cracks in his Marvel Comics seem much more camp to me.

By contrast, I would say the prevailing sense of humour at National was ironic. So many stories have an ironic point to them--a wink to the reader. The humour is like that and that's not camp. Camp is obvious, irony is subtle.

The Flash is funny, intentionally so, but it can be read as straight adventure--you only see the funny stuff when you're older. When I was a kid, I could read all of these comics and take them completely seriously. It's only later, that I see that they were putting a lot of jokes into the stories, too--for themselves or older readers. But that doesn't ruin the enjoyment of the comics. It just adds another dimension to them.

I'd rather read a comic that's willing to laugh at itself than take itself too seriously.

Probably the best comics to read from the 1960s--if you can't stand the super-hero comics--is the outright funny comics. Read SUGAR & SPIKE. You can laugh at the intentional humour without experiencing any inner conflict.

[Jadeb]

Some people just aren’t going to dig the Silver Age, and that’s OK. Personally, I love it. I enjoy seeing how the characters and universe evolved over time.

That said, I think some characters are better served than others. Superman works really well in that fantastical, anything-goes era. I much prefer that approach to the dour or saintly takes on the character we often get today.

[LifeIsILL]

I have a different understanding of camp. To me that was defined by the BATMAN show in 1966. At that point, comics from all the publishers tried to ride that train. Camp was pervasive--although I'd argue it wasn't maintained for very long at National/D.C. Stan Lee's wise-cracks in his Marvel Comics seem much more camp to me.

Early Green Lantern stories were about building the lore and the history of its characters, I don't see how those stories could possibly be campy. Yes maybe a bit simple and not as complicated as they are now, but the same goes for Marvel stories during that time too. I mean, do people think Sinestro, Black Hand and the Guardians only showed up in the 80s and Green Lantern was fighting space bunnies before that or what? I just don't get it. Then where did all the Green Lantern and Alan Scott lore come from? They just got all serious one day out of nowhere?

[shooshoomanjoe]

Thanks for all the replies. I agree with Silver Age The Flash, Green Lantern, JLA and Sgt. Rock being entertaining. The ones I found to be dry reads were Challengers, Blackhawk, Wonder Woman and the Superman and Batman titles. I decided to drop the dry reads but I still want to read Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. I know Batman starts getting fun with Denny O'Neil's run. What about Wonder Woman and Superman? Which issues do these titles start to be enjoyable?

[Pinsir]

Start with Wonder Woman v1 #105. Wonder Woman was actually the first character to enter the Silver Age and the first character Bronze Age too.