Comic Book Era: 1 - The Golden Age

Much like any form of art (or history for that matter), comics have also undergone periods of exposure and development. In my attempt to not only entertain but also to educate I feel it's important that you the reader should know and understand these eras as well.

So where better to start than the very begining?

The Golden Age

By the 1930'2 comics had been around in some form or another, but it was one man who started the super-hero boom. Well it wasn't a man perse, but in fact it was a Superman.

In 1938 in the pages of DC's Action Comics #1, two Jewish immigrants Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, set out to tell the story of a super strong, bulletproof man who could jump over buildings and would fight injustice and tyranny.

The rest is history.

America fell in love with the stranger with superpowers from another planet and a year later, in 1939, DC unleashed their next big hit with Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.

A year later Kane and Finger added another character to the roster with Batman's teen sidekick Robin. After the Boy Wonder's debut sales of Detective Comics DOUBLED.

That same year a new hero debuted in autonomous Flash Comics #1 (which also featured the first appearance of Hawkman).

Also in 1940, out of the pages of All-American Comics #16 came the first of DC's Green Lanterns by Batman creator Bill Finger and cartoonist Martin Nodell. 3 months later in the same title came DC's The Atom.

Yet another year later in 1941, lightning struck again in the pages of All Star Comics #8, with the first appearance of Wonder Woman by William Moulton Marston (the inventor of the polygraph test).

Then also in 1941, everyones favorite-least favorite superhero Aquaman made his debut in More Fun Comics #73.

And it must be noted, that while it look like DC was cleaning house at this point, other comic book publishers were far from falling behind this trend. In 1940, Marvel fired their opening shot with the first appearances of Captain America (by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby), Namor the Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch.

It also must be noted that none other than The Spirit by Will Eisner also came about in 1940.

But while other companies made their contribution it's easy to see that DC Comics really led the charge at this time, with the creation of the main cornerstones of their publishing division all being created within the span of three years of each other.

But what about "______"?

Yes, there were a slew of other characters created at this point. One of the most popular (if not the most popular) was Captain Marvel published by Fawcett Comics. It's believed that during his heyday, Captain Marvel actually OUTSOLD Superman, and because of this DC sued Fawcett claiming that Marvel infringed upon their copyright of the costumed superhero.

This trend of superheroes continued through the 40's but by the 50's, the publics favor of superheroes began to wane and instead turned more towards Westerns, Sci-Fi and Humor.

At this point DC started buying up smaller competitors and their characters, a practice they would use to aquire Quality Comics in 1956, Fawcett Comics in 1972, and Charlton Comics in 1980.

So what came next? Well that'd be The Silver Age of course, but that's for another time.