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The Silver Age of Comic Books - TV Tropes

  • ️Sun Feb 25 2024

MediaNotes / The Silver Age of Comic Books

"Today we once again venture forth into the deepest depths of insanity known as 'the Silver Age'... when comics cost 12 cents, Superman could juggle planets with his pinky finger, and stories didn't have to follow anything like 'logic' or 'natural plot development'!"

Depending on who you ask, either a magical time when comic books were wonderful and everyone read them, or a historical relic where everything was childish, pointless, and/or ludicrous. (Or both.)

The Silver Age lasted from 1954note  to about 1972 (although some people count everything up until 1985 as part of it, folding in The Bronze Age of Comic Books). Note that this is the period that spawned the Adam West Batman series and the Superman Broadway musical, and no, this is not a coincidence. The Silver Age was a time of talking gorillas and super-powered pets, of covers that were created before the story and seventeen types of Kryptonite. It was naïve and visionary, futuristic and outdated.

And every Superhero comic published today owes something to it.

In the late 1930s, the Superhero was born. The genre quickly exploded, with hundreds of titles published at the height of the time now known as The Golden Age of Comic Books. Unfortunately, by 1950, the popularity of superhero comics had declined precipitously. This was due largely to the end of World War II taking away nearly all of the go-to enemies for heroes to fight, plus the knock-on result of people just being tired of fighting in general. During this period, superhero comics slowly vanished from the stands, to be replaced by horror comics, Westerns, monster comics, romance comics, humor comics, and other genres, with only a few (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman among them) still surviving.

That all changed in 1954 with the publication of Frederic Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, a book that accused comics of creating juvenile delinquency and sexual "deviancy", creating a backlash that led directly to the creation of The Comics Code, which caused the destruction of the old comics paradigm almost literally overnight.

And then, in the September-October 1956 issue of DC Comics's Showcase, something magical happened. A remake of super-speed character The Flash — with a new costume, secret identity, and origin — spiked the sales charts. After a couple more test issues, they gave him his own title, and tried redoing another Golden Age character, Green Lantern. This too was successful, and the Superhero genre was off to the races. Within a couple years, several other companies threw their hats into the ring, such as Atlas, Charlton, and ACG. In 1961 Marvel Comics tasked Stan Lee to create something in the vein of DC's Justice League of America. Thus, the Fantastic Four appeared on the stands, and Marvel's innovative characterization-based approach to comic books appeared. Thus, some people split the age by referring to the period between the introduction of the Barry Allen Flash and that of the Fantastic Four as the "Early Silver Age".

The Silver Age can be split between two approaches — the more old-fashioned Golden Age style with stalwart, lantern-jawed heroes solving the plot through logic and creative use of their signature abilities... and the more characterization-based style, where heroes dealt with supervillains and inner demons alike. One could say that the Silver Age ended when Jack Kirby, one of the creators of the latter style at Marvel, moved to DC, the mainstay of the old-fashioned approach. However, Steve Ditko, the third major founding talent of Marvel Comics and co-creator of Spider-Man, had crossed over before him.

The Silver Age was, in a word, silly. Especially by today's standards. Due to the assumptions of The Comics Code, creators were generally restricted to creating entertainment for children, and the Code's guidelines as to what was age-appropriate were very strict, precluding a lot of possible storylines that might deal with more mature themes. The '50s also saw a general turn toward conservatism in American society as a reaction against the disruption of the War, and pushing the envelope or questioning social norms was frowned upon. This is most obvious when it comes to female characters, who had been more independent back in the Golden Age — this is the era when Wonder Woman became vaguely apologetic about rescuing male characters; and Lois Lane, who had been portrayed as an ambitious career woman before, decided her main goal in life was forcing Superman to marry her and becoming a housewife.

Morality in Silver Age comics was extremely black and white; heroes in particular followed a strict, moralistic code of conduct. Since dealing with serious real-world issues was frowned upon, wacky Speculative Fiction plots that bore no relation to reality became increasingly common. Supervillains' plans were usually more goofy than genuinely threatening — yet, despite this, they would always be defeated and punished, with the Comics Code forbidding the existence of any Karma Houdinis. Superheroes had names like [Something Person] or [The Adjectival Superhero], which would seem too narmy today, and they would develop New Powers as the Plot Demands no matter how flimsy the justification or how absurd the power (one word: super-weaving).

Since realism and consistent characterization were not exactly high priorities, the age saw a lot of Superdickery; Silver Age Covers Always Lie, and characters would frequently be seen doing something bizarrely out-of-character on the cover just to attract more buyers.note  Depending on who you ask, all this wackiness is either the Silver Age's fatal flaw or all part of the charm.

Another fascination of the Silver Age was Science! The Silver Age occurred alongside The Space Race. Science was the answer to, and source of, every problem. The mutations of the X-Men, the alternate universe known as Earth-Two,note  the alien conqueror known as Starro — the genre was filled to the brim with Speculative Fiction Tropes. Many of the more fantasy-based heroes of the Golden Age were remade with scientific origins and powers. Of course, the science wasn't necessarily very scientific. The authors were rarely scientists themselves, and even those who were didn't let the facts get in the way of an exciting story, especially when the stories were already so goofy. Thus, you had stuff like ice missiles that were attracted to speed, people who were exposed to radiation receiving superpowers instead of cancer, and so on.

Which is not to downplay its significance, mind you. Many of the most famous comic book characters and story-lines came from this era (The Avengers, Spider-Man, X-Men, Daredevil) and many new ideas were created that would become standard in future comics: Superheroes as a social platform? The teenage masked hero? They started here. As well as how already existing characters were changed. (Many of the most famous elements and characters in The Green Lantern were non-existent in the Golden Age). And despite its reputation as being whimsical, this view is often based less on the actual comic books and more on its parody or the Batman TV show. While it generally had a lot of silly moments, it was also host to surprisingly mature storytelling at times.

Over time, social mores relaxed and the moral panic around comic books faded. The Superhero genre began deliberately distancing itself from Silver Age silliness in an attempt to prove that comic books were a medium that could tell stories that were relevant to adults as well as kids and could deal with serious real-world issues. This trend toward a more serious tone and more socially relevant stories continued throughout the Bronze Age and culminated in the grim darkness of the Dark Age. In the Modern Age, however, the pendulum has started to swing back (which might qualify the various Ages as parts of a Cyclic Trope). Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which ran from 2008-2011, attempted to revive the age in a modern setting.

Notable series of the Silver Age:

  • Aquaman — Aquaman received his first solo comic.
  • The Avengers
  • Batman — Several of the comics from The Silver Age of Comic Books are very bizarre and surreal; some stories involve a magical being named Bat-Mite who's Batman's biggest fan and a Reality Warper, others include stories where Batman becomes a toddler and fights crime, Batman and Robin being turned into paper-thin beings by a multicolored monster, Batman becoming a genie, etc. Justified by the fact the anti-comic book crusade that led to The Comics Code forced DC to tone down the violence and the seriousness of the earlier years.
  • Captain America — Captain America was revived in 1964, later recieving a new series in 1968.
  • Charlton Comics — They got into the superhero game in this era with their Action Heroes line, and became noted for their low page rates versus their high degree of creator freedom, which appealed to both new and veteran creators alike. Their line of characters would later inspire Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen, who's characters were expies of Charlton (then acquired by DC) and MLJ heroes, created after DC editors denied them use of the actual characters, the former because they had plans for them Post-Crisis and the latter because it turned out they didn't actually own them.
    • Blue Beetle — Revived from a Fox Features Golden Age hero, this version of the character was an archaeologist who was empowered by an ancient Scarab amulet found in a pyramid. After being killed off, Steve Ditko, who had just left Marvel, rebooted the character. This time, the Beetle was Ted Kord, a millionaire who could not use the Scarab's powers but had fancy gadgets which he used to fight crime as an acrobatic, wisecracking bug-themed superhero. (Sound familiar?) Both versions of the character inspired Nite Owl I and II in Watchmen.
    • Captain Atom — An atomic-powered hero co-created by Joe Gill and Ditko, who was changed entirely when DC rebooted him in the 80s. He was the inspiration for Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen.
    • Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt — An early martial arts hero with a touch of mysticism, trained in Tibet and the inspiration for Ozymandias in Watchmen. Rights to Peter Cannon, uniquely among the Charlton heroes, remained with his creator, which is why he has appeared in publications by a company other than DC.
    • The Question — A faceless vigilante created once again by Steve Ditko, as a more commercial version of his Underground Comics character Mr. A, who acted as a walking Author Tract for Ditko's Objectivist beliefs. This character would inspire Watchmen's Rorshach, and his DC revival has become a fan favorite, with notable appearances in Justice League, portrayed there by Jeffrey Combs.
  • Fantastic Four — Beginning of the modern Marvel Universe.
  • The Flash — Considered to be the founding comic of the Silver Age. It introduced the Alternate Universe to The DCU and in general exemplifies the age with its out-there science fiction reimagining of old gimmicks.
  • Green Lantern — A revival of Green Lantern (1941).
  • The Incredible Hulk — First true anti-hero of that age, and arguably the last "monster comic" that Jack Kirby and Stan Lee did.
  • Iron Man
  • Justice League of America
  • Teen Titans
  • Thor
  • Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. by Jim Steranko which looked like no other mainstream comic with his trippy surrealism and flowing cinematic style.
  • Showcase — An Anthology Comic series that acted as a testing ground for new ideas, that introduced updated versions of Golden Age heroes, such as Flash, Green Lantern and The Atom, as well as popular new characters like the Metal Men and Teen Titans.
    • Showcase #4 (1956) — The first appearance of the second Flash, Barry Allen, credited for kickstarting the Silver Age.
  • Spider-Man — Most successful instance of the Marvel style.
  • Superman:
    • Superman's Silver Age started around 1955-1958 (first appearance of Krypto, the Fortress of Solitude, Brainiac and the Bottle City of Kandor) and lasted until 1971 (when editor Mort Weisinger stepped down in favor of Julius Schwartz, and the Kryptonite Nevermore/The Sandman Saga hit the shelves). This period saw the expansion of the Superman lore, as DC embraced the sci-fi roots of the character, introducing characters and concepts which inform most of what the average person thinks when they hear "Superman".
    • The Super-Dog from Krypton!: (March, 1955). Krypto's first appearance and origin.
    • The Super-Duel in Space: (July, 1958). First Superman vs. Brainiac battle and first appearance of the bottle city of Kandor.
    • The Boy of Steel vs. the Thing of Steel: (October, 1958). First appearance of Bizarro, Superman's antagonistic duplicate which spawned countless imitations.
    • Superman's Other Life: (October, 1959). Superman sees a computer simulation of what his life could have been had Krypton not been destroyed.
    • How Luthor Met Superboy: (April, 1960). The origin of Lex Luthor and his feud with Superman, told by Jerry Siegel himself.
    • Superboy meets Supergirl!: (April, 1960). Supergirl goes back in time to meet Superboy in order to lessen their feelings of loneliness and alienation.
    • Superman's Return to Krypton: (November, 1960). Superman accidentally time-travels and gets stuck in Krypton some while before its destruction and meets his parents.
    • The Phantom Superboy: (April, 1961). Superboy discovers the Phantom Zone.
    • Superboy's Big Brother!: (June, 1961). Superboy meets a mysterious amnesiac stranger who he believes to be his relative. Mon-El's first appearance.
    • The Death of Superman (1961): (November, 1961) The original "The Death of Superman" story, and the first Elseworlds.
    • The Last Days of Superman: (October, 1962). One of the earliest Superman is dying plotlines.
    • Superman In Kandor: (January, 1963). Superman and Jimmy Olsen create the identities Nightwing and Flamebird to fight crime in the Bottle City of Kandor.
    • "The Three Ages of Superboy": (March, 1963). Superboy travels across time and space to locate and neutralize three Red Kryptonite meteors.
    • The Untold Story of the Phantom Zone: (April, 1963). Story which delved into the Phantom Zone's origins and nature.
    • Superman Under The Red Sun: (May, 1963). Superman gets stranded in the distant-future and becomes trapped in a dead planet orbiting a red sun.
    • The Amazing Story of Superman Red and Superman Blue: (July, 1963). Superman gets split in two Superman, and they set out to fix everybody's problems.
    • The Team of Luthor and Brainiac!: (February, 1964). First Luthor-Brainiac team-up.
    • The Tyrant Superman: (October, 1964). Superman loses his powers as protecting Earth from a meteor and is forced to cede his title to a young Kandorian, who turns out to be a little too big-headed for everyone's own good.
    • The Future Superman of 2965: (November, 1965-May, 1967). The adventures of the Superman of the 30th century, and his team-ups with his era's Batman.
    • The Super-Revenge of Lex Luthor: (January-March, 1966). Lex Luthor plots to destroy Superman psychologically via gaslighting.
    • The Leper from Krypton: (May-August, 1968). Lex Luthor cultures his own strain of Virus X and gets Superman infected with an incurable disease.
    • The Immortal Superman: (February-April, 1970). The final story of the Mort Weisinger era.
    • Supergirl: The main and most famous version of the character, was introduced in this period early on and given her own regular backup strip (which, unlike her cousin's, averted the Status Quo Is God prevalent at the time).
      • The Supergirl From Krypton (1959): (May, 1959). Kara Zor-El's first appearance and origin story.
      • Supergirl's Super Pet: (December, 1959). Streaky the Supercat's origin story.
      • Supergirl's Three Super Girl-Friends: (May, 1961). Supergirl and Brainiac 5 officially join the Legion of Super-Heroes.
      • The Unknown Supergirl: (July, 1961-February, 1962). The first multi-part storyline in Superman comics. Superman decides it is past time for him revealing his cousin's existence to the world. However, something -or someone- is affecting Supergirl's powers, and plotting against both heroes as well as the whole planet.
      • The Death of Luthor: (March, 1962). After Supergirl has revealed herself, Lex Luthor plans to expose her as a hoax or, should she be real, destroy her.
      • Supergirl's Greatest Challenge: (April, 1962). Supergirl is called to the 30th century to replace the Legion as they get their powers back. However, her friends being depowered is part of a greater and subtler scheme to destroy the whole Legion.
      • The Super-Steed of Steel: (September, 1962-July, 1963) Comet the Super-Horse's origin story arc.
      • The Girl with the X-Ray Mind: (December, 1962-March, 1963). Story involving Lex Luthor's little sister Lena, Supergirl's oldest enemy, and the Phantom Zoners.
      • Supergirl's Big Brother: (August, 1963). Supergirl meets a man claiming to be her adoptive parents' long-lost son.
      • The Untold Story of Argo City: (February-September, 1964). Supergirl investigates the death of Argo City and her parents' real fate...Supergirl's revamped origin, which remained canon until her death in 1986.
      • Brainiac's Blitz: (July, 1966). First Supergirl/Brainiac battle, and first story written by Jim Shooter.
      • The Supergirl-Batgirl Plot: (September 1967). First Supergirl/Batgirl's team-up.
      • The Mysterious Motr of Doov: Adventure Comics #394 (June, 1970). Supergirl and Streaky live an adventure which pays homage to The Wizard of Oz, and ends the Silver Age for Supergirl.
    • Legion of Super-Heroes — DC's future super-team, introduced in a Superboy story. The series occasionally dealt with deep subjects for the time, especially those stories written by Jim Shooter.
      • The Legion of Super-Heroes!: (April, 1958). Legion's first appearance.
      • The Death of Lightning Lad: (January-September, 1963). Storyline featuring the first death of a main character in super-heroe comics.
      • The Condemned Legionnaires: (October, 1963). Supergirl is called to protect her fellow female Legionnaires from someone who looks like a sinister and twisted reflection of hers.
      • The Unknown Legionnaire: (July, 1965). The Legion is having difficulties to find and apprehend a fugitive criminal in a planet inhabited by hostile shape-shifters when they are helped by a masked, nameless, amnesiac super-being.
      • Computo the Conqueror: (January-February, 1966). Brainiac 5 builds a mobile super-computer to serve humanity. His creation, Computo, decides that humanity is inefficient and should be wiped out, and the Legion of Super-Heroes isn't powerful enough to stop it and its Computroid army.
      • One Of Us Is A Traitor: (July-August, 1966). First story of the Jim Shooter's run. The Legion must stop the Khund Empire from conquering or destroying Earth, unaware that one of their newest members is a saboteur spy.
      • The Death Of Ferro Lad / The Fatal Five: (January-February, 1967). The arrival of a star-eating cosmic abomination forces an undermanned Legion to recruit several notorious super-criminals called the Fatal Five. Nonetheless, the Sun-Eater may be too powerful to be stopped by any combination of forces, and any hypotetical victory might demand a heavy toll.
      • The Origin of the Legion: (May, 1968). Three young kids with powers come together to create the far future premiere super-team.
    • Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen: (1954-1974) First series starring a Superman's sidekick, focusing on Jimmy Olsen's weird adventures.
    • Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane: (1958-1974) First series featuring Lois Lane as a light-hearted romcom.
  • Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman's shorts shrunk until she was essentially wearing a swimsuit, and she spent much of the era fighting duplicates of herself and giants, and teaming up with Wonder Tot and Wonder Girl both of whom were herself.
  • X-Men

The brilliant computer game Freedom Force and its almost-as-brilliant sequel Freedom Force Versus the Third Reich, both from Irrational Games, are loving homages to the Silver Age, played 100% straight. Another homage is Alan Moore's 1963 universe, a series of interrelated comics that are all affectionate parodies of the early Marvel books.

"Holy Musical B@man!" is an homage and affectionate parody of superheros in general, but with a special emphasis on the Silver Age. The moral of the play is essentially "don't take it so seriously", and "superheroes are cool in their own right and don't need to be made dark or gritty to be entertaining".

"A teenage sidekick ruins the gritty realism of a man dressing as a bat and fighting crime."

— Dark Knight fanboy

Usually accepted as lasting from the foundation of The Comics Code until Jack Kirby's move to DC. (1954-1970). Alternatively starting with the reintroduction of The Flash (1956), or the first issue of Fantastic Four (1961). Alternatively ending with price increases to 15 cents (1969) or The Amazing Spider-Man #100 (1971). Many also argue that The Amazing Spider-Man #121 is a much more important and fitting end: The Night Gwen Stacy Died, in which the violent death of a major sympathetic character in a manner other than Death by Origin Story killed off both the optimism of the Silver Age, and its Status Quo Is God.