Comic books have been around now since the 1930s. In order to simplify the various eras and styles of comics, collectors have broken down comics' history into a series of rough periods commonly referred to as "AGES". The basic ages associated with comic book collecting are the GOLDEN AGE (1938 to 1955), the SILVER AGE (1956 to 1969), the BRONZE AGE (1970 to 1979), & the MODERN AGE (1980 to present). The dates given are approximate, but are roughly equivalent with the most common conception of the ages, and the above dates are the ones EBAY uses in it's category breakdowns. Some collectors further break down the comic book ages with the ATOMIC AGE (coinciding with height of the Cold War approx. 1945 to 1955), and the DARK AGE (1980 to mid -90s and approximating the "grim & gritty" era noted for characters such as Marvel's Punisher).

THE GOLDEN AGE (1938 TO 1955)

The Golden Age of comics is considered by most to be the greatest era of comic books ever. At first comics were merely retooled versions of the daily comic strips. FUNNIES ON PARADE was the first comic book in 1933.  Then came ACTION COMICS #1 , all new and featuring the greatest comic book hero of all time- SUPERMAN!!

During the Golden Age, all the major hero-character types first appeared. Of course, Superman was first, then Batman, Wonder Woman and others followed. The Shield, the first patriotic hero debuted in PEP COMICS #1. The Justice Society pioneered the super-hero team concept in ALL-STAR COMICS #3.  Marvel introduced the Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America.  Fawcett gave us Captain Marvel & the  Marvel Family. Dell  & Harvey Comics continued to provide comics based on the newspaper strips,  at first reprints, but  then original stories of adventure heroes like Terry & the Pirates, Joe Palooka,  as well as humor characters such as Blondie.

There were more types of comics published during this period than would ever be in later eras. Publishers were still experimenting with genres, trying to figure out what would sell. Comics were selling in the millions of copies- in fact, any one of today's mega-hits would have been considered a publishing failure during the Golden Age. Comics featuring the adventures of radio, movie, and early TV stars such as Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, Tarzan, Gangbusters  were big sellers.   Love story books like Young Romance very popular, as were teen age humor such as Archie. Crime and Detective comics were huge sellers, as exemplified by books like Crime Does Not Pay! and Justice traps the Guilty. And no one has ever done horror comics better than EC, a fact not overlooked by the many imitators who released horror titles trying to cash in. Unfortunately, the many not so tasteful comics produced led to changes within the system, the introduction of the Comics Code, and the disappearance of many small companies. The cleaning-up of the comic book racks signalled the end of the Golden Age. With the exception of only Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Blackhawk, almost all of the super-hero comics faded away. Horror was gone thanks to the comics code, and the racks now belonged to western heroes like Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger, animated characters such as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Casper the Friendly Ghost, and the humor teens like Katy Keene & Archie.  Still, great series such as Classics Illustrated thrived.

And  soon the super heroes would rise to take over the racks again...in the SILVER AGE!