Comics Trivia | 100 trivia & facts about Comic books [Part 2]

Comic books is a medium that is gaining more and more popularity as the years go by. So, it is time to dive into the history of the American comic books.

We already found out some things about the medium of comic books. So let’s find out some trivia and facts about their history.

American comics historians generally divide 20th-century American comics history chronologically into ages
The first period, called Golden Age, extends from 1938
It marks the first appearance of Superman in Action Comics #1 by National Allied Publications, a corporate predecessor of DC Comics
The Golden Age extends to 1954
Then, happenned the introduction of the Comics Code
The following period, the Silver Age, goes from 1956 to early 1970s
The Bronze Age follows immediately and spans until 1986
Finally the last period, from 1986 until today, is the Modern Age
This division is standard but not all the critics apply it, since some of them propose their own periods
Furthermore, the dates selected may vary depending on the authors
Of note if that there are at least four dates to mark the end of the Bronze Age
An alternative name for the period after the mid-1980s is Dark Age of Comic Books, due to the popularity and artistic influence of titles with serious content
The most notable examples of this era are Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen
Pop culture writer Matthew J. Theriault proposed an alternative periodization scheme in which the recent history of comics is divided in ages: dark (Dark Age, from 1985 to 2004), modern (Modern Age, from 2004 to 2011; the era began with the publication of “Avengers Disassembled” and “Infinite Crisis”), and postmodern (Postmodern Age, since 2011; the era began with the publication of Ultimate Fallout #4, the first appearance of Miles Morales)
Comics creator Tom Pinchuk proposed the name Diamond Age for the period starting with the appearance of Marvel’s Ultimate line (2000–present)
Originally only the Golden Age and the Silver Age had a right of citizenship since the terms “Golden Age” and “Silver Age” had appeared in a letter from a reader published in the nº 42 of Justice League of America in February 1966
The letter stated: “If you guys keep bringing back the heroes from the Golden Age, people 20 years from now will be calling this decade the Silver Sixties!”
The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956
During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity
The superhero archetype was created and many well-known characters were introduced
Some of the most notable characters introduced are Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Captain America, and Wonder Woman
The first recorded use of the term “Golden Age” was by Richard A. Lupoff in an article, “Re-Birth”, published in issue one of the fanzine Comic Art in April 1960
An event cited by many as marking the beginning of the Golden Age was the 1938 debut of Superman in Action Comics #1
Superman’s popularity helped make comic books a major arm of publishing
This led rival companies to create superheroes of their own to emulate Superman’s success
Between 1939 and 1941 Detective Comics and its sister company, All-American Publications, introduced popular superheroes such as Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Doctor Fate, the Atom, Hawkman, Green Arrow and Aquaman
Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, had million-selling titles featuring the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America
Although DC and Timely characters are well-remembered today, circulation figures suggest that the best-selling superhero title of the era was Fawcett Comics’ Captain Marvel
The sales of this comic were about 1.4 million copies per issue
The comic was published biweekly at one point to capitalize on its popularity
Patriotic heroes donning red, white, and blue were particularly popular during the time of the second World War following The Shield’s debut in 1940
Many heroes of this time period battled the Axis powers, with covers such as Captain America Comics #1 (cover-dated March 1941) showing the title character punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler
As comic books grew in popularity, publishers began launching titles that expanded into a variety of genres
Dell Comics’ non-superhero characters (particularly the licensed Walt Disney animated-character comics) outsold the superhero comics of the day
The publisher featured licensed movie and literary characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Roy Rogers and Tarzan
It was during this era that noted Donald Duck writer-artist Carl Barks rose to prominence
Additionally, MLJ’s introduction of Archie Andrews in Pep Comics #22 (December 1941) gave rise to teen humor comics
The Archie Andrews character remaining in print well into the 21st century
At the same time in Canada, American comic books were prohibited importation under the War Exchange Conservation Act
This act restricted the importation of non-essential goods
As a result, a domestic publishing industry flourished during the duration of the war which were collectively informally called the Canadian Whites
The educational comic book Dagwood Splits the Atom used characters from the comic strip Blondie
According to historian Michael A. Amundson, appealing comic-book characters helped ease young readers’ fear of nuclear war and neutralize anxiety about the questions posed by atomic power
It was during this period that long-running humor comics debuted, including EC Comics’s Mad and Carl Barks’ Uncle Scrooge in Dell’s Four Color Comics (both in 1952)
In 1953, the comic book industry hit a setback when the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was created in order to investigate the problem of juvenile delinquency
After the publication of Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent the following year that claimed comics sparked illegal behavior among minors
Comic book publishers such as EC’s William Gaines were subpoenaed to testify in public hearings
As a result, the Comics Code Authority was created by the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers to enact self-censorship by comic book publishers
At this time, EC canceled its crime and horror titles and focused primarily on Mad
During the late 1940s, the popularity of superhero comics waned
To retain reader interest, comic publishers diversified into other genres, such as war, Westerns, science fiction, romance, crime and horror
Many superhero titles were cancelled or converted to other genres
In 1946, DC Comics’ Superboy, Aquaman and Green Arrow were switched from More Fun Comics into Adventure Comics so More Fun could focus on humor
In 1948 All-American Comics, featuring Green Lantern, Johnny Thunder and Dr. Mid-Nite, was replaced with All-American Western
The following year, Flash Comics and Green Lantern were cancelled
In 1951 All Star Comics, featuring the Justice Society of America, became All-Star Western
The next year Star Spangled Comics, featuring Robin, was retitled Star Spangled War Stories
Sensation Comics, featuring Wonder Woman, was cancelled in 1953
The only superhero comics published continuously through the entire 1950s were Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Batman, Detective Comics, Superboy, Superman, Wonder Woman and World’s Finest Comics
Plastic Man appeared in Quality Comics’ Police Comics until 1950
Then, the comic’s focus switched to detective stories
His solo title continued bimonthly until issue 52, cover-dated February 1955
Timely Comics’ The Human Torch was canceled with issue #35 (March 1949)
Marvel Mystery Comics, featuring the Human Torch, with issue #93 (Aug. 1949) became the horror comic Marvel Tales
Sub-Mariner Comics was cancelled with issue #42 (June 1949)
Captain America Comics, by then Captain America’s Weird Tales, were cancelled with #75 (Feb. 1950)
Harvey Comics’ Black Cat was cancelled in 1951 and rebooted as a horror comic later that year
The title would change to Black Cat Mystery, Black Cat Mystic
It eventually Black Cat Western for the final two issues, which included Black Cat stories
Lev Gleason Publications’ Daredevil was edged out of his title by the Little Wise Guys in 1950
Fawcett Comics’ Whiz Comics, Master Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures were cancelled in 1953
The Marvel Family comic was cancelled the following year
The Silver Age of Comic Books is generally recognized as beginning with the debut of the first successful new superhero since the Golden Age, DC Comics’ new Flash, in Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956)
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype
Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the period from 1956 to circa 1970
This period was succeeded by the Bronze and Modern Ages
The popularity and circulation of comic books about superheroes had declined following World War II, and comic books about horror, crime and romance took larger shares of the market
However, controversy arose over alleged links between comic books and juvenile delinquency, focusing in particular on crime, horror, and superheroes turning them into glorified firefighters
In 1954, publishers implemented the Comics Code Authority to regulate comic content
In the wake of these changes, publishers began introducing superhero stories again
This change began with the introduction of a new version of DC Comics’ The Flash in Showcase #4 (October 1956)
In response to strong demand, DC began publishing more superhero titles including Justice League of America
This prompted Marvel Comics to follow suit beginning with The Fantastic Four #1
A number of important comics writers and artists contributed to the early part of the era
The best known writers were Stan Lee, Gardner Fox, John Broome, and Robert Kanigher, and artists Curt Swan, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, Steve Ditko, Mike Sekowsky, Gene Colan, Carmine Infantino, John Buscema, and John Romita, Sr.
By the end of the Silver Age, a new generation of talent had entered the field, including writers Denny O’Neil, Gary Friedrich, Roy Thomas, and Archie Goodwin, and artists such as Neal Adams, Herb Trimpe, Jim Steranko, and Barry Windsor-Smith
Silver Age comics have become collectible
It is of note that the nicest known copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), the debut of Spider-Man, was sold for $1.1 million in 2011
Comics historian and movie producer Michael Uslan traces the origin of the “Silver Age” term to the letters column of Justice League of America #42 (February 1966)
The title went on sale December 9, 1965
Letter-writer Scott Taylor of Westport, Connecticut, wrote, “If you guys keep bringing back the heroes from the [1930s–1940s] Golden Age, people 20 years from now will be calling this decade the Silver Sixties!”
According to Uslan, the natural hierarchy of gold-silver-bronze, as in Olympic medals, took hold
The Silver Age of comic books was followed by the Bronze Age
The demarcation is not clearly defined, but there are a number of possibilities
Historian Will Jacobs suggests the Silver Age ended in April 1970 when the man who had started it, Julius Schwartz, handed over Green Lantern to the new-guard team of Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams in response to reduced sales
John Strausbaugh also connects the end of the Silver Age to Green Lantern
He observes that in 1960, the character embodied the can-do optimism of the era
The Silver Age marked a decline in horror, romance, funny-animal humor, and Westerns as American-comics genres
The Silver Age coincided with the rise of pop art, an artistic movement that used popular cultural artifacts, such as advertising and packaging, as source material for fine, or gallery-exhibited, art
Roy Lichtenstein, one of the best-known pop art painters, specifically chose individual panels from comic books and repainted the images, modifying them to some extent in the process but including in the painting word and thought balloons and captions as well as enlarged-to-scale color dots imitating the coloring process then used in newsprint comic books