View source for Silver Age of Comic Books

{{Short description|Era of American comic books (1956–1970)}}
{{Lead extra info|date=September 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
{{Ages of subjects
|type       = Silver
|subject    = Comic Books
|image      = Showcase4.JPG
|caption    = ''[[Showcase (DC Comics)|Showcase]]'' #4 (October 1956), generally considered the start of the Silver Age<br><small>Cover art by [[Carmine Infantino]] and [[Joe Kubert]]</small>
|date1      = 1956
|date2      = 1970
|parentage  =
|prevage    = [[Golden Age of Comic Books]] (1938–1956)
|nextage    = [[Bronze Age of Comic Books]] (1970–1985)
|subage     =
|see        =
}}
The '''Silver Age of Comic Books''' was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream [[American comic book]]s, predominantly those featuring the [[superhero]] [[archetype]]. Following the [[Golden Age of Comic Books]], the Silver Age is considered to cover the period from 1956 to 1970, and was succeeded by the [[Bronze Age of Comic Books]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Reynolds|first=Richard|title=Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology|year=1994|publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]]|pages= 8–9|isbn=0-87805-694-7}}</ref>

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, [[Seduction of the Innocent|controversy arose]] over alleged links between comic books and [[juvenile delinquency]], focusing in particular on crime, horror, and superheroes. In 1954, publishers implemented the [[Comics Code Authority]] to regulate comic content.

In the wake of these changes, publishers began introducing superhero stories again, a change that began with the introduction of a new version of [[DC Comics]]' [[The Flash]] in ''[[Showcase (comics)|Showcase]]'' #4 (October 1956). In response to strong demand, DC began publishing more superhero titles including ''[[Justice League of America (comic book)|Justice League of America]]'', which prompted [[Marvel Comics]] to follow suit beginning with ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|The Fantastic Four]]'' #1.

A number of important comics writers and artists contributed to the early part of the era, including writers [[Stan Lee]], [[Gardner Fox]], [[John Broome (writer)|John Broome]], and [[Robert Kanigher]], and artists [[Curt Swan]], [[Jack Kirby]], [[Gil Kane]], [[Steve Ditko]], [[Mike Sekowsky]], [[Gene Colan]], [[Carmine Infantino]], [[John Buscema]], [[Jim Steranko]], and [[John Romita Sr.]] Silver Age comics have become [[Comic book collecting|collectible]], with a copy in the best condition known of ''[[Amazing Fantasy]]'' #15 (August 1962), the debut of [[Spider-Man]], selling for $1.1 million in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bleedingcool.com/comics/spider-man-shocker-best-known-copy-of-amazing-fantasy-15-goes-for-1-1-million/|title=Best Known Copy of ''Amazing Fantasy #15'' goes for 1.1 million!|first=Mark|last=Seifert|website=Bleeding Cool|date=March 8, 2011|access-date=April 7, 2021}}</ref> In 2022, a copy of ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|The Fantastic Four]]'' #1 sold for $1.5 million.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/04/08/first-fantastic-four-comic-sells-for-15-million/ | title=First 'Fantastic Four' Comic Sells for $1.5 Million | website=[[Forbes]] }}</ref>

==Origin of the term==
Comics historian and movie producer [[Michael Uslan]] traces the origin of the "Silver Age" term to the [[Comic book letter column|letters column]] of ''Justice League of America'' #42 (February 1966), which went on sale December 9, 1965.<ref name="ae">''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #54 (November 2005), p. 79</ref> 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!"<ref name="ae"/> According to Uslan, the natural hierarchy of gold-silver-bronze, as in [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] medals, took hold: "Fans immediately glommed onto this, refining it more directly into a ''Silver'' Age version of the Golden Age. Very soon, it was in our vernacular, replacing such expressions as ... 'Second Heroic Age of Comics' or 'The Modern Age' of comics. It wasn't long before dealers were ... specifying it was a Golden Age comic for sale or a Silver Age comic for sale."<ref name="ae"/>

==History==
===Background===
{{further|History of American comics}}
Spanning World War II, when American comics provided cheap and disposable escapist entertainment that could be read and then discarded by the troops,{{Undue weight inline|date=September 2025|reason=This appears to over-emphasize a brief aside in the cited source quite heavily.}}<ref name="Mooney"/> the Golden Age of comic books covered the late 1930s to the late 1940s. A number of major superheroes were created during this period, including [[Superman]], [[Batman]], [[Wonder Woman]], [[Shazam (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]], and [[Captain America]].<ref name=Strausbaugh/> In subsequent years comics were blamed for a rise in juvenile crime statistics, {{Failed verification span|text=although this rise was shown to be in direct proportion to population growth.|date=September 2025|reason=The source says that the rate decreased.}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Juvenile Delinquency: A Compilation of Information and Suggestions Submitted to the Special Senate Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstste Commerce Relative to the Incidence of Juvenile Delinquency in the United States and the Possible Influence Thereon of So-called Crime Comic Books During the Period 1945 to 1950 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gyvz49B3h_sC&pg=PA139 |year=1950 |location=Washington |publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office]] |pages=139–140}}</ref> When juvenile offenders admitted to reading comics, it was seized on as a common denominator;<ref name="Mooney"/> one notable critic was [[Fredric Wertham]], author of the book ''[[Seduction of the Innocent]]'' (1954),<ref name="Mooney"/> {{Failed verification span|text=who attempted to shift the blame for juvenile delinquency from the parents of the children to the comic books they read.|date=September 2025|reason=The source says "He sought a way to take parents off the hook for their children's misdeeds, all in all a noble aspiration.", which is substantially different.}} The result was a decline in the comics industry.<ref name="Mooney">{{cite web |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1987/8701100104.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100117192458/http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1987/8701100104.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 17, 2010 |title=It's No Joke: Comic Books May Help Kids Learn to Read |access-date=2008-09-23 |last=Mooney |first=Joe |date=April 19, 1987 |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]}}</ref> To address public concerns, in 1954 the [[Comics Code Authority]] was created to regulate and curb sex, drugs and violence in comics.<ref>{{cite news |last=Van Gelder |first=Lawrence |date=February 4, 1971 |title=A Comics Magazine Defies Code Ban on Drug Stories |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/04/archives/a-comics-magazine-defies-code-ban-on-drug-stories-comics-magazine.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 1, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301225933/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/04/archives/a-comics-magazine-defies-code-ban-on-drug-stories-comics-magazine.html |archive-date=March 1, 2019}}</ref>

Unsuccessful attempts to revive the superhero archetype's popularity include [[Captain Comet]], who debuted in ''[[Strange Adventures]]'' #9 (June 1951);<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=14633|title=Permanent Damage: Issue #127|last=Grant|first=Steven|work=Comic Book Resources |date=February 18, 2004|publisher=(Column) Comic Book Resources|access-date=2009-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120410160905/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=14633|archive-date=April 10, 2012|url-status=live}} (Archive requires scrolling down.)</ref> {{Failed verification span|text=St. John Publishing Company's 1953 revival of Rocket Man under the title Zip-Jet;|date=September 2025}} [[Fighting American]], created in 1954 by the [[Captain America]] team of [[Joe Simon]] and [[Jack Kirby]]; Sterling Comics' Captain Flash and its backup feature Tomboy that same year;<ref>[http://www.toonopedia.com/capflash.htm Captain Flash] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20120912170737/http://www.toonopedia.com/capflash.htm Archived] from the original on April 9, 2012.</ref> Ajax/Farrell Publishing's 1954–55 revival of the [[Phantom Lady]];{{sfn|Booker|2014|p=283}} [[Charlton Comics]]' [[Nature Boy (comics)|Nature Boy]], introduced in March 1956, and its revival of the Blue Beetle the previous year;{{sfn|Booker|2014|pp=44, 228}} and [[Atlas Comics (1950s)|Atlas Comics']] short-lived revivals of Captain America, the [[Human Torch (android)|Human Torch]], and the [[Namor|Sub-Mariner]], beginning in ''Young Men Comics'' #24 (December 1953).{{sfn|Booker|2014|p=79}} In the United Kingdom, the [[Marvelman]] series was published from 1954 to 1963, substituting for the British reprints of the [[Shazam (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]] stories after [[Fawcett Comics|Fawcett]] stopped publishing the character's adventures.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sergi |first=Joe |year=2015 |title=The Law for Comic Book Creators: Essential Concepts and Applications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k42oBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |page=74 |isbn=978-0-7864-7360-1}}</ref>

The [[talking animals in fiction|talking animal]] superheroes Supermouse and [[Mighty Mouse]] were published continuously in their own titles from the end of the [[Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] through the beginning of the Silver Age.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nevins |first=Jess |year=2017 |title=The Evolution of the Costumed Avenger: The 4,000-Year History of the Superhero |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QI3DEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA243 |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group|Praeger]] |page=243 |isbn=978-1-4408-5483-5}}</ref> [[Atomic Mouse]] was given his own title in 1953, lasting ten years.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Booker |editor-first=M. Keith |year=2014 |title=Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jxfOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |page=156 |isbn=978-0-313-39750-9}}</ref> Atomic Rabbit, later named Atomic Bunny, was published from 1955 to 1959.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sassienie |first=Paul |date=1994 |title=The Comic Book: The One Essential Guide for Comic Book Fans Everywhere |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=unVlAAAAMAAJ |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Chartwell Books |page=202 |isbn=1-55521-999-3}}</ref>

By the mid-1950s, only three superheroes—[[Superman]] (and his younger incarnation as [[Superboy (Kal-El)|Superboy]]), [[Batman]] (with his sidekick [[Dick Grayson|Robin]]), and [[Wonder Woman]]—were still published under their own titles.<ref name="Jacobs34"/> According to DC comics writer [[Will Jacobs]], Superman was available in "great quantity, but little quality". Batman and Robin were doing better, but Batman's comics were "lackluster" in comparison to his earlier "atmospheric adventures" of the 1940s, and Wonder Woman, having lost her original writer and artist, was no longer "idiosyncratic" or "interesting".<ref name="Jacobs34"/> [[Aquaman]] and [[Green Arrow]] (with his sidekick, [[Speedy (DC Comics)|Speedy]]) were also still appearing as back-up features in ''[[Adventure Comics]]'', "the only other two superheroes" known to have remained continuously in print from the [[Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] as the Silver Age began.<ref>Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 51: "Following ''More Fun Comics'' change in focus the previous month, the displaced super-heroes Superboy, Green Arrow, Johnny Quick, Aquaman, and the Shining Knight were welcomed by ''Adventure Comics''".</ref>

===DC Comics===
The Silver Age began with the publication of DC Comics' ''[[Showcase (comics)|Showcase]]'' #4 (October 1956), which introduced the modern version of the Flash, [[Barry Allen]].<ref name=Shuttp20>{{cite book | last = Shutt | first = Craig | title = Baby Boomer Comics: The Wild, Wacky, Wonderful Comic Books of the 1960s! | publisher = [[Krause Publications]] | location = [[Iola, Wisconsin]] | year=2003 | page = 20 | isbn = 0-87349-668-X | quote = The Silver Age started with ''Showcase'' #4, the Flash's first appearance.}}</ref><ref name=sassienep69>{{cite book | first = Paul | last = Sassiene | title = The Comic Book: The One Essential Guide for Comic Book Fans Everywhere | year = 1994 | publisher = Chartwell Books, a division of Book Sales | location = [[Edison, New Jersey]] | page = [https://archive.org/details/comicbookoneesse0000sass/page/69 69] | isbn = 978-1555219994 | quote = DC's ''Showcase'' No. 4 was the comic that started the Silver Age | url = https://archive.org/details/comicbookoneesse0000sass/page/69 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=10649|title=DC Flashback: The Flash|access-date=2008-06-27|date=July 2, 2007|website=Comic Book Resources|archive-date=January 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112154005/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=10649|url-status=dead}}</ref> Jacobs describes the arrival of ''Showcase'' #4 on the newsstands as "begging to be bought", the cover featured an undulating [[film stock|film strip]] depicting the Flash running so fast that he had escaped from the frame.<ref name="Jacobs34">{{cite book |title=The Comic Book Heroes: From the Silver Age to the Present |last=Jacobs |first=Will |author2=Gerard Jones |year=1985 |publisher=[[Crown Publishing Group]] |location=New York, New York |isbn=0-517-55440-2|page =34}}</ref> Editor [[Julius Schwartz]], writer [[Gardner Fox]], and artist [[Carmine Infantino]] were some of the people behind the Flash's revitalization.<ref name="Schwartz">{{cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE2DC133AF931A25751C0A9629C8B63 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209125727/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE2DC133AF931A25751C0A9629C8B63 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 9, 2012 |title=Julius Schwartz, 88, Editor Who Revived Superhero Genre in Comic Books |access-date=2008-09-23 |last=Nash |first=Eric |date=February 12, 2004 |work=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref> [[Robert Kanigher]] wrote the first stories of the revived Flash, and [[John Broome (writer)|John Broome]] was the writer of many of the earliest stories.<ref>{{cite book | author = Kanigher| title = The Flash Chronicles, Volume One | publisher = [[DC Comics]] | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-4012-2471-4|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>[http://www.comics.org/series/1194/ ''Showcase''] at the [[Grand Comics Database]]</ref>

Although the Flash is generally regarded as the first superhero of the Silver Age, the introduction of the [[Martian Manhunter]] in ''[[Detective Comics]]'' #225 predates ''Showcase'' #4 by almost a year, and at least one historian considers this character the first Silver Age superhero.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031020180208/http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2003-09-22 |archive-date=2003-10-20 |url= http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/oddball/index.cgi?date=2003-09-22 |title=Oddball Comics |access-date=2008-09-04 |last=Shaw |first=Scott |date=September 22, 2003 |website=Comic Book Resources}}</ref> However, comics historian Craig Shutt, author of the ''[[Comics Buyer's Guide]]'' column "Ask Mister Silver Age", disagrees, noting that the [[Martian Manhunter]] debuted as a detective who used his alien abilities to solve crimes, in the "quirky detective" vein of contemporaneous DC characters who were "TV detectives, Indian detectives, supernatural detectives, [and] animal detectives".<ref name=Shuttp21>Shutt, p. 21</ref> Shutt feels the Martian Manhunter only became a superhero in ''Detective Comics'' #273 (November 1959) when he received a secret identity and other superhero accoutrements, saying, "Had Flash not come along, I doubt that the Martian Manhunter would've led the charge from his backup position in ''Detective'' to a new super-hero age."<ref name=Shuttp21/>

[[File:Julius Schwartz in 2002.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Julius Schwartz]], an instrumental figure at DC during the Silver Age]]
With the success of ''Showcase'' #4, several other 1940s superheroes were reworked during Schwartz' tenure, including [[Green Lantern]], [[Aquaman]], the [[Atom (character)|Atom]], and [[Hawkman]],<ref name="US"/> and the [[Justice Society of America]] was reimagined as the [[Justice League|Justice League of America]].<ref name="Schwartz"/> The DC artists responsible included [[Murphy Anderson]], [[Gil Kane]], [[Ramona Fradon]], [[Mike Sekowsky]], and [[Joe Kubert]].<ref name="Schwartz"/> Only the characters' names remained the same; their costumes, locales, and identities were altered, and imaginative scientific explanations for their superpowers generally took the place of magic as a [[modus operandi]] in their stories.<ref name="US">{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/tech/nextnews/archive/next040226.htm |title=Flash Facts |access-date=2008-06-27 |last=Pethokoukis |first=James |date= February 26, 2004 |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525005552/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/tech/nextnews/archive/next040226.htm|archive-date=May 25, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> Schwartz, a lifelong science-fiction fan, was the inspiration for the re-imagined Green Lantern<ref name="Space">{{cite web|last= Janulewicz| first=Tom | url= http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/gil_kane_000201.html | title=Gil Kane, Space-Age Comic Book Artist, Dies|publisher= Space.com|date=February 1, 2000|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090207181003/http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/gil_kane_000201.html | archive-date= February 7, 2009}}</ref>—the Golden Age character, railroad engineer [[Alan Scott]], possessed a ring powered by a magical lantern,<ref name="Space"/> but his Silver Age replacement, test pilot [[Hal Jordan]], had a ring powered by an alien battery and created by an intergalactic police force, the [[Green Lantern Corps]].<ref name="Space"/>

In the mid-1960s, [[Flash of Two Worlds|DC established]] that characters appearing in comics published prior to the Silver Age lived on a [[Parallel universes in fiction|parallel Earth]] the company dubbed [[Earth-Two]]. Characters introduced in the Silver Age and onward lived on [[Multiverse (DC Comics)|Earth-One]].<ref name="VV"/> The two realities were separated by a vibrational field that could be crossed, should a storyline involve superheroes from different worlds teaming up.<ref name="VV">{{cite web |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-06-27/books/superfan-returns/ |title=Superfan Returns |access-date=2008-09-23 |last=Singer |first=Matt |date=June 27, 2006 |work=[[The Village Voice]]|archive-date= May 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524165151/http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-06-27/books/superfan-returns/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Marvel Comics===
[[File:Fantastic Four vol.1-1 (Nov. 1961).jpg|thumb|upright|''The Fantastic Four'' #1 (November 1961), the cornerstone of [[Marvel Comics]]<br><small>Cover art by [[Jack Kirby]] (penciler)</small>]]
[[DC Comics]] sparked the superhero revival with its publications from 1955 to 1960. [[Marvel Comics]] then capitalized on the revived interest in superhero storytelling with sophisticated stories and characterization.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.comicbookbin.com/comicbookrevival001.html |title=Is DC Comics Spearheading a New Age in Super Hero Comics? |access-date=2008-07-15 |last=St.Louis |first=Hervé |date=October 9, 2005 |publisher=Comic Book Bin|archive-date= July 16, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716185058/http://www.comicbookbin.com/comicbookrevival001.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In contrast to previous eras, Marvel characters were "flawed and self-doubting".<ref name="collectors">{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEEDD1E3EF934A15753C1A967958260|title=ANTIQUES; Collectors Read the Bottom Lines of Vintage Comic Books|last=Reif|first=Rita|date=October 27, 1991|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2009-02-03}}</ref>

DC added to its momentum with its 1960 introduction of [[Justice League of America]], a team consisting of the company's most popular superhero characters.<ref>{{cite book |last=Daniels |first=Les |author-link=Les Daniels |year=1995 |title=DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes |chapter=The Justice League of America A Team of Good Sports |publisher=Bulfinch |pages=126–127 |isbn=0821220764}}</ref> [[Martin Goodman (publisher)|Martin Goodman]], a publishing trend-follower with his 1950s [[Atlas Comics (1950s)|Atlas Comics]] line,{{ref|note1|note 1}} by this time called [[Marvel Comics]], "mentioned that he had noticed one of the titles published by National Comics seemed to be selling better than most. It was a book called ''The'' [sic] ''Justice League of America'' and it was composed of a team of superheroes", Marvel editor [[Stan Lee]] recalled in 1974. Goodman directed Lee to likewise produce a superhero team book, resulting in ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|The Fantastic Four]]'' #1 (November 1961).<ref name="Lee">Stan Lee, ''[[Origins of Marvel Comics]]'' ([[Marvel Fireside Books|Simon and Schuster/Fireside Books]], 1974), p. 16</ref>

Under the guidance of writer-editor Stan Lee and artists/co-plotters such as [[Jack Kirby]] and [[Steve Ditko]], Marvel began its own rise to prominence.<ref name="Jacobs34"/> {{Failed verification span|text=With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 initiated a naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons, who squabbled and worried about the likes of rent-money. In contrast to the straitlaced archetypes of superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, and others complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became popular among college students who could identify with the angst and the irreverent nature of the characters such as [[Spider-Man]], the [[X-Men]] and the [[Hulk]] during a time period of social upheaval and the rise of the [[counterculture of the 1960s]].|date=September 2025|reason=The closest the cited source gets to saying any of this is "The fact that characters such as the Hulk and Spider-Man were embraced by college students indicates the degree to which Marvel successfully touched on the general effective tropes of resistance to appeal to a countercultural sensibility without being 'counter' to anything specifically."}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flegel |first1=Monica |last2=Leggatt |first2=Judith |year=2021 |title=Superhero Culture Wars: Politics, Marketing, and Social Justice in Marvel Comics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n7EVEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 |location=London |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury Academic]] |pages=33–35 |isbn=978-1-3501-4863-5}}</ref>{{Tone inline|date=September 2025}}<!-- The tone issues appear throughout the paragraph, hence the placement of this tag -->

Comic books of the Silver Age explained superhero phenomena and origins through science, {{Failed verification span|text=inspired by contemporary [[science fiction]],|date=September 2025}} {{Failed verification span|text=as opposed to the [[Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]], which commonly relied on magic or [[mysticism]].|date=September 2025}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Niederhausen |first=Michael |editor-last1=Cornog |editor-first1=Martha |editor-last2=Perper |editor-first2=Timothy |year=2009 |title=Graphic Novels Beyond the Basics: Insights and Issues for Libraries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZK_2EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=7 |isbn=978-1-59158-478-0}}</ref>

Comics historian [[Peter Sanderson]] compares the 1960s DC to a large Hollywood studio, and argues that after having reinvented the superhero archetype, DC by the latter part of the decade was suffering from a creative drought. The audience for comics was no longer just children, and Sanderson sees the 1960s Marvel as the comic equivalent of the [[French New Wave]], developing new methods of storytelling that drew in and retained readers who were in their teens and older and thus influencing the comics writers and artists of the future.<ref name="Sanderson">{{cite web |last= Sanderson |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Sanderson |url=http://comics.ign.com/articles/595/595576p1.html |title= Comics in Context #14: Continuity/Discontinuity |website=IGN.com |date=October 10, 2003 | access-date= 2009-02-20| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721101749/http://comics.ign.com/articles/595/595576p1.html|archive-date=July 21, 2011| url-status=live}}</ref>

===Other publishers===
One of the few most-selling American comics publishers in 1956, [[Harvey Comics]], discontinued its [[horror comics]] when the [[Comics Code]] was implemented and sought a new target audience.<ref name="Jackson"/> Harvey's focus shifted to children from 6 to 12 years of age, especially girls, with characters such as [[Richie Rich (comics)|Richie Rich]], [[Casper the Friendly Ghost]], and [[Little Dot]].<ref name="Jackson"/> Many of the company's comics featured young girls who "defied stereotypes and sent a message of acceptance of those who are different".<ref name="Jackson"/> Although its characters have inspired a number of nostalgic films and ranges of merchandise, Harvey comics of the period are not nearly as sought after in the collectors' market in contrast to DC and Marvel titles.<ref name="Jackson">{{cite journal |last=Jackson |first=Kathy Merlock |author2=Mark D. Arnold |title=Baby-Boom Children and Harvey Comics After the Code: A Neighborhood of Little Girls and Boys |journal=ImageText |volume=3 |number=3 |date=Summer 2007 |publisher=[[University of Florida]] |url=http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/v3_3/jackson/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129122406/http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/v3_3/jackson/ |archive-date=November 29, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The publishers [[Gilberton (publisher)|Gilberton]], [[Dell Comics]], and [[Gold Key Comics]] used their reputations as publishers of wholesome comic books to avoid becoming signatories to the Comics Code and found various ways to continue publishing horror-themed comics<ref name="Golden, Christopher 2000">{{cite book|last=Golden|first=Christopher|year=2000|title=The Monster Book|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]<!--|page='''???'''-->}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2025}} in addition to other types. {{Failed verification span|text=Gilberton's extensive ''[[Classics Illustrated]]'' line adapted literary classics, with the likes of ''Frankenstein'' alongside ''Don Quixote'' and ''Oliver Twist''; [[Classics Illustrated Junior]] reprinted comic book versions of children's classics such as ''The Wizard of Oz'', ''Rapunzel'', and ''Pinocchio''.|date=September 2025}} During the late 1950s and the 1960s, Dell, which had published comics in 1936, offered licensed [[TV series]] comic books from ''[[Twilight Zone literature|Twilight Zone]]'' to ''[[Top Cat]]'', as well as numerous [[Walt Disney]] titles.<ref name=dell>[http://www.comics.org/publisher/61/ Dell (publisher)] at the [[Grand Comics Database]]</ref> Its successor, Gold Key—founded in 1962 after [[Western Publishing]] started its own label rather than packaging content for business partner Dell—continued with such licensed TV series and movie adaptations, as well as comics starring such [[Warner Bros. Cartoons]] characters as [[Bugs Bunny]] and such [[comic strip]] properties as ''[[Beetle Bailey]]''.<ref name=goldkey>[http://www.comics.org/publisher/286/ Gold Key (publisher)] at the Grand Comics Database</ref>

{{Failed verification span|text=With the popularity of the ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' television show in 1966, publishers that had specialized in other forms began adding [[campy]] superhero titles to their lines. As well, new publishers sprang up, often using creative talent from the Golden Age. [[Harvey Comics]]' [[Harvey Thriller]] imprint released ''Double-Dare Adventures'', starring new characters such as [[Bee-Man]] and Magicmaster.|date=September 2025}} Dell published {{Failed verification span|text=superhero|date=September 2025|reason=The list of publications only verifies that Dell published series titled "Dracula", "Frankenstein", and "Werewolf".}} versions of [[Frankenstein]], [[Dracula]] and the [[Werewolf]].<ref name="dell" /> Gold Key did licensed versions of live-action and animated superhero television shows such as ''[[Captain Nice]]'', ''[[Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles|Frankenstein Jr.]]'' and ''[[The Impossibles (TV series)|The Impossibles]]'', and continued the adventures of [[Walt Disney Pictures]]' [[Goofy]] character in ''Supergoof''.<ref name=goldkey/> {{Failed verification span|text=[[American Comics Group]] gave its established character [[Herbie Popnecker|Herbie]] a secret superhero identity as the [[Fat Fury]], and introduced the characters of Nemesis and Magic-Man.|date=September 2025}} Even the iconic{{Tone inline|date=September 2025}} [[Archie Comics]] teens {{Failed verification span|text=acquired super powers and superhero identities in comedic titles|date=September 2025|reason=The cited source only verifies that publications with these titles exist.}} such as ''Archie as Capt. Pureheart'' and ''Jughead as Captain Hero''.<ref>[http://www.comics.org/publisher/71/ Archie (publisher)] at the Grand Comics Database</ref> Archie Comics also launched its Archie Adventure line (subsequently titled [[Mighty Comics]]), which included the [[Fly (Red Circle Comics)|Fly]], the [[Jaguar (Archie Comics)|Jaguar]], and a revamp of the Golden Age hero the [[Shield (Archie Comics)|Shield]]. In addition to their individual titles, they teamed in their group series ''[[Mighty Crusaders|The Mighty Crusaders]]'', joined by the [[Comet (Archie Comics)|Comet]] and [[Flygirl (Archie Comics)|Flygirl]]. Their stories blended typical superhero fare with the 1960s camp.<ref name="Weiland">{{cite web|url=https://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=2390|title='The Mighty Crusaders: Origin of a Super-Team' Ships November|work=Comic Book Resources |date=July 15, 2003|publisher=[[Archie Comics]] [[press release]] via ComicBookResources.com| access-date=2009-02-02|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111216033010/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=2390|archive-date=December 16, 2011| url-status=live}}</ref>

Among straightforward Silver Age superheroes from publishers other than Marvel or DC, [[Charlton Comics]] offered a short-lived superhero line with characters that included [[Captain Atom]], [[Judomaster]], the [[Question (character)|Question]], and [[Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt|Thunderbolt]]; [[Tower Comics]] had Dynamo, Mercury Man, NoMan and other members of the superhero espionage group [[T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents]]; and even Gold Key had [[Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom]].<ref>Misiroglu, Gina, ''The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes'' (Visible Ink Press, 2012), p. 10.</ref>
<!--The odd margins here make this appear as if it's copy-paste from a copyrighted source, and thus a copyvio. This needs to be investigated:
One of the new publishers that emerged briefly in the late 1960s was Lightning Comics, which released 3 issues of
Fatman the Human Flying Saucer by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck, the writer
and artist team responsible for many of the Golden Age Captain Marvel
stories. Another was M. F. Enterprises which published 5 issues of a series
also called Captain Marvel; this was a new character from Carl Burgos,
Golden Age creator of the Human Torch, which bore no relation other than
some in-joke allusions to the Golden Age Captain Marvel.<ref>For specific bibliographical information, see listings by title in Robert Overstreet, infra.</ref>
-->

===Underground comics===
{{main|Underground comix}}
According to John Strausbaugh of ''[[The New York Times]]'', "traditional" comic book historians feel that although the Silver Age deserves study, the only noteworthy aspect of the Silver Age was the advent of underground comics.<ref name=Strausbaugh/> One commentator has suggested that, "Perhaps one of the reasons underground comics have come to be considered legitimate art is due to the fact that the work of these artists more truly embodies what much of the public believes is true of newspaper strips—that they are written and drawn (i.e., authentically signed by) a single person."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ault|first=Donald|year=2004|title=Preludium: Crumb, Barks, and Noomin: Re-Considering the Aesthetics of Underground Comics |journal=ImageText|publisher=University of Florida|url=http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/v1_2/intro.shtml|archive-date=June 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603055638/http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/v1_2/intro.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> While a large number of mainstream-comics professionals both wrote and drew their own material during the Silver Age, as many had since the start of [[American comic book]]s, their work is distinct from what another historian describes as the "raw id on paper" of [[Robert Crumb]] and [[Gilbert Shelton]].<ref name="Mickey"/> Most often published in black-and-white with glossy color cover and distributed through [[counterculture]] bookstores and head shops, underground comics targeted adults and reflected the counterculture movement of the time.<ref name="Mickey">{{cite web |url=https://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2003/09/28/free_mickey/ |title=Free Mickey! |last=Heer |first=Jeet |date=September 28, 2003 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=2009-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022123958/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2003/09/28/free_mickey/ |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/8598/ |title=Drawing Peace In the Middle East |last=Keys |first=Lisa |date=April 11, 2003 |work=[[The Jewish Daily Forward]] |access-date=2008-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120410164425/http://forward.com/articles/8598/drawing-peace-in-the-middle-east/ |archive-date=April 10, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===End and aftermath===
[[File:NealAdams11.15.08ByLuigiNovi1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Artist [[Neal Adams]], whose work with writer [[Denny O'Neil]] on ''[[Hal Jordan#"Relevant comics"|Green Lantern/Green Arrow]]'' marks one possibility for the end of the Silver Age]]
The Silver Age of comic books was followed by the Bronze Age.<ref name=Blumberg/> 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''—starring one of the first revived heroes of the era—to the new-guard team of [[Denny O'Neil]] and [[Neal Adams]] in response to reduced sales.<ref name="Jacobs154">Jacobs, p. 154</ref> 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.<ref name=Strausbaugh/> However, by 1972 Green Lantern had become world-weary, with the character saying in one story, "Those days are gone—gone forever—the days I was confident, certain ... I was so young ... so sure I couldn't make a mistake! Young and cocky, that was Green Lantern. Well, I've changed. I'm older now ... maybe wiser, too ... and a lot less happy."<ref name=Strausbaugh/> Strausbaugh writes that the Silver Age "went out with that whimper".<ref name=Strausbaugh/>

Comics scholar Arnold T. Blumberg places the end of the Silver Age in June 1973, when [[Gwen Stacy]], girlfriend of [[Peter Parker]] (Spider-Man), was killed in a story arc later dubbed "[[The Night Gwen Stacy Died]]", saying the era of "innocence" was ended by "the 'snap' heard round the comic book world—the startling, sickening snap of bone that heralded the death of Gwen Stacy."<ref name=Blumberg>{{cite journal |url=http://reconstruction.eserver.org/034/blumberg.htm |title='The Night Gwen Stacy Died': The End of Innocence and the Birth of the Bronze Age |last=Blumberg |first=Arnold T. |date=Fall 2003 |journal=Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture |access-date=2009-02-20 |issn=1547-4348 |archive-date=January 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116034408/http://reconstruction.eserver.org/034/blumberg.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Silver Age historian Craig Shutt disputes this, saying, "Gwen Stacy's death shocked Spider-Man readers. Such a tragedy makes a strong symbolic ending. This theory gained adherents when [[Kurt Busiek]] and [[Alex Ross]]'s ''[[Marvels]]'' miniseries in 1994 ended with Gwen's death, but I'm not buying it. It's too late. Too many new directions—especially [the [[sword-and-sorcery]] trend begun by the character] [[Conan the Barbarian (comics)|Conan]] and monsters [in the wake of the [[Comics Code]] allowing vampires, werewolves and the like]—were on firm ground by this time."<ref name=Shuttp201>Shutt, p. 201</ref> He also dismisses the end of the 12-cent comic book, which went to 15 cents as the industry standard in early 1969, noting that the 1962 hike from 10 cents to 12 cents had no bearing in this regard.<ref name=Shuttp201/> Shutt's line comes with ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|Fantastic Four]]'' #102 (September 1970), [[Jack Kirby]]'s last regular-run issue before the artist left to join [[DC Comics]]; this combines with DC's ''[[Superman (comic book)|Superman]]'' #229 (August 1970), editor [[Mort Weisinger]]'s last before retiring.<ref name=Shuttp200>Shutt, p. 200</ref>

[[File:Alan Moore (2).jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Alan Moore]], who began the "neo-silver movement" with a 1986 Superman story]]
According to historian Peter Sanderson, the "neo-silver movement" that began in 1986 with ''[[Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?]]'' by [[Alan Moore]] and [[Curt Swan]], was a backlash against the Bronze Age with a return to Silver Age principles.<ref name="Context"/> In Sanderson's opinion, each comics generation rebels against the previous, and the movement was a response to ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', which itself was an attack on the Silver Age.<ref name="Context"/> Neo-silver comics creators made comics that recognized and assimilated the more sophisticated aspects of the Silver Age.<ref name="Context">{{cite web |url=http://comics.ign.com/articles/595/595589p6.html |title=Comics in Context #33: A Boatload of Monsters and Miracles |access-date=2008-07-15 |last=Sanderson |first=Peter |year=2004 |website=IGN|archive-date=June 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615073957/http://comics.ign.com/articles/595/595589p6.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Legacy==
The Silver Age marked a decline in horror, crime, romance, talking animal humor, and Westerns as American-comics genres.<ref>See, e.g. {{Cite book |last=Robbins |first=Trina |title=From Girls to Grrrlz |publisher=[[Chronicle Books]] |year=1999 |location=[[San Francisco, California]] |pages=45, 52–54, 67, 69–70, 76–77 and throughout |author-link=Trina Robbins}}</ref>

An important feature of the period was the development of the character makeup of superheroes. Young children and girls were targeted during the Silver Age by certain publishers; in particular, [[Harvey Comics]] attracted this group with titles such as ''[[Little Dot]]''.{{sfn|Robbins|1999|pp=19–20}} Adult-oriented [[underground comics]] also began during the Silver Age.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cart |first=Michael |year=2010 |title=Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=un4RJ8rOTTgC&pg=PA167 |location=Chicago |publisher=[[American Library Association]] |page=167 |isbn=978-0-8389-1045-0}}</ref>

Some critics and historians argue that one characteristic of the Silver Age was that [[science fiction]] and aliens replaced magic and gods.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Callahan |first=Timothy |date=2008-08-06 |title=In Defense of Superhero Comics |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17623 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429080152/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17623 |archive-date=April 29, 2009 |access-date=2008-09-05 |website=Comic Book Resources}}</ref> Others argue that magic was an important element of both Golden Age and Silver Age characters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dick O'Donnell; [[Maggie Thompson|Don Thompson]] and [[Richard A. Lupoff]] |title=The Comic-Book Book |publisher=[[Arlington House Publishers|Arlington House]] (1973) revised edition Krause Publications (1998) |isbn=978-1422390184 |chapter=It's Magic, eds.|date=September 2007 }}</ref> Many Golden Age writers and artists were science-fiction fans or professional science-fiction writers who incorporated SF elements into their comic-book stories.<ref>On [[Jerry Siegel]], [[Joe Shuster]] and [[Jack Kirby]] as science-fiction fans, see Benton, Mike, ''Masters of Imagination'', Taylor Publishing, 1994, pp. 17–18, 28; on Otto Binder as SF fan and writer, see Steranko, Jim, ''The Steranko History of Comics 2'', Supergraphics, 1972.</ref> Science was a common explanation for the origin of heroes in the Silver Age.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Feiffer |first=Jules |title=The Great Comic Book Heroes |publisher=[[Dial Press]] |year=1965 |pages=22–23 |author-link=Jules Feiffer}} Reissued, [[Fantagraphics Books]] (2003). {{ISBN|978-1-56097-501-4}}</ref>

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. An exhibition of comic strip art was held at the [[Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris|Musée des Arts Décoratifs]] of the Palais de [[Louvre]] in 1967, and books were soon published that contained serious discussions of the art of comics and the nature of the medium.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Couperie |first1=Pierre |title=A History of the Comic Strip |last2=Horn |first2=Maurice |publisher=[[Crown Publishing]] |year=1968 |location=New York City |type=translated from the French by Eileen Hennessy |display-authors=etal |author-link2=Maurice Horn}} {{cite book |first1=George |last1=Perry |first2= Alan |last2=Aldridge |title= The Penguin Book of Comics |publisher= [[Penguin Books]] |year=1967}} See especially the forward, introduction, and chapters 10–12 of Couperie ''et al.'', and chapter 6 of Perry and Aldridge.</ref>

In January 1966, a live-action ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' television show debuted to high ratings. Circulation for comic books in general and Batman merchandise in particular soared.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ro |first=Ronin |title=Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury USA]] |year=2004 |isbn=1-58234-345-4 |pages=110–111}}</ref> Other masked or superpowered adventurers appeared on the television screen, so that "American TV in the winter of 1967 appeared to consist of little else but live-action and animated cartoon comic-book heroes, all in living colour."<ref>Perry and Aldridge, p. 224.</ref> Existing comic-book publishers began creating superhero titles, as did new publishers. By the end of the 1960s, however, the fad had faded; in 1969, the best-selling comic book in the United States was not a superhero series, but the teen-humor book ''[[Archie Comics|Archie]]''.<ref>Robbins, p. 69.</ref>

Swedish cartoonist [[Joakim Lindengren]] draws a Silver Age pastiche in his ''Kapten Stofil'' comic book series (1998–2009) about the powers of nostalgia in a grumpy, old comic book named Captain Geezer who longs to return to the Silver Age.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Strömberg |first=Fredrik |date=2016-04-02 |title=Comics studies in the Nordic countries – field or discipline? |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2016.1141574 |journal=Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=134–155 |doi=10.1080/21504857.2016.1141574 |s2cid=147564102 |issn=2150-4857|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Lindengren also borrows many elements from Silver Age comics in [[United States of Banana]], a comic book he created with Puerto Rican author [[Giannina Braschi]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Poets, philosophers, lovers: on the writings of Giannina Braschi |publisher=Pittsburgh |others=Aldama, Frederick Luis, O'Dwyer, Tess. |date=27 October 2020 |isbn=978-0-8229-4618-2 |location=Pittsburgh, Pa. |oclc=1143649021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |volume=2|issue= 2|year=2018 |journal= Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures|title=A Graphic Revolution: Talking Poetry & Politics with Giannina Braschi|doi=10.2979/chiricu.2.2.10|jstor=10.2979/chiricu.2.2.10 |last1= Amy Sheeran|last2= Amanda m. Smith|page= 130|s2cid= 158357009}}</ref>

==Artists==
{{Further|List of Silver Age comics creators}}
[[File:Nick Fury7.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Nick Fury|Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.]]'' #7 (December 1968)<br><small>Cover art by [[Jim Steranko]], whose work here owes a debt to [[Salvador Dalí]]<ref name=Strausbaugh/></small>]]
Arlen Schumer, author of ''The Silver Age of Comic Book Art'', singles out [[Carmine Infantino]]'s Flash as the embodiment of the design of the era: "as sleek and streamlined as the fins Detroit was sporting on all its models".<ref name=Strausbaugh/> Other notable [[penciler]]s of the era include [[Curt Swan]], [[Gene Colan]], [[Steve Ditko]], [[Gil Kane]], [[Jack Kirby]], [[Joe Kubert]], [[Don Heck]], [[George Tuska]], [[Dick Ayers]], and [[John Romita Sr.]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Schumer |first=Arlen |year=2003 |title=The Silver Age of Comic Book Art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdcYe4YMVY8C |location=Portland, Oregon |publisher=Collectors Press, Inc. |page=45, 65, 70, 73, 83, 105, 117, 129, 190 |isbn=1-888054-85-9}}</ref>

Two artists that changed the comics industry dramatically in the late 1960s were [[Neal Adams]], considered one of his country's greatest draftsmen,<ref name="Baker"/> and [[Jim Steranko]]. {{Failed verification span|text=Both artists expressed a cinematic approach at times that occasionally altered the more conventional panel-based format that had been commonplace for decades.|date=September 2025|reason=The cited source says "unique art styles", but does not give anything approaching this description.}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Newbold |first=Jamie |year=2018 |title=The Forensic Comicologist: Insights from a Life in Comics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sCxfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA195 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=195 |isbn=978-1-4766-7267-0}}</ref> Adams' breakthrough was based on layout and rendering.{{Close paraphrasing inline|reason=The source says "Neal's breakthrough centered on layout and rendering."|date=September 2025}}<ref name=cbr13276/> Best known for returning Batman to his somber roots after the campy success of the Batman television show,{{Close paraphrasing inline|date=September 2025|reason=The source says "Best known for rescuing Batman from the camp hell of ABC's popular TV series by returning the Dark Knight to his somber, vigilante roots [...]"}}<ref name="Baker">{{cite news |last=Baker |first= R. C. |url= http://www.villagevoice.com/news/american-gods-6398021 |title= American Gods | work = [[Village Voice]] |date= November 18, 2003 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131110184102/http://www.villagevoice.com/2003-11-18/news/american-gods/full/ |archive-date= November 10, 2013 |url-status=dead}}<!--Additional WebCitation archive: https://www.webcitation.org/5x2ZAZQz0--></ref> his [[Realism (arts)|naturalistic]] depictions of anatomy, faces, and gestures changed comics' style in a way that Strausbaugh sees reflected in modern graphic novels.<ref name=Strausbaugh/>

One of the few writer-artists at the time, Steranko made use of a cinematic style of storytelling.<ref name=cbr13276>{{cite web |url= http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=13276 |title= Master of the Obvious: Issue #36 |access-date=2008-09-23 |last=Grant |first=Steven |author-link= Steven Grant |date= April 5, 2000 |website=[[Comic Book Resources]] | archive-date= August 11, 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150811222205/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=13276-stan-lee-mind-behind-spider-man-and-hulk | url-status=live}}</ref> Strausbaugh credits him as one of Marvel's strongest creative forces during the late 1960s, his art owing a large debt to [[Salvador Dalí]].<ref name=Strausbaugh>{{cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CEED81E3DF937A25751C1A9659C8B63 |title=ART; 60's Comics: Gloomy, Seedy, and Superior |access-date=2008-06-28 |last=Strausbaugh |first=John |date=December 14, 2003 |work=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201052021/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/books/art-60-s-comics-gloomy-seedy-and-superior.html| archive-date=December 1, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Steranko started by inking and penciling the details of Kirby's artwork on ''Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' beginning in ''[[Strange Tales]]'' #151, but by ''Strange Tales'' #155 Stan Lee had put him in charge of both writing and drawing Fury's adventures.<ref name="Jacobs144"/> He exaggerated the James Bond-style spy stories, introducing the vortex beam (which lifts objects), the aphonic bomb (which explodes silently), a miniature electronic absorber (which protected Fury from electricity), and the Q-ray machine (a molecular disintegrator)—all in his first 11-page story.<ref name="Jacobs144">Jacobs, p. 144</ref>

==Collectibility==
{{List missing criteria|date=September 2025}}
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Title & Issue
!Cover date
!Publisher
!Relevance
|-
|''[[Detective Comics]]'' #225
|Nov. 1955<ref>While the issue date precedes the Silver Age, at least one source includes it: {{cite book|title=The Justice League Companion|author-link=Michael Eury|first=Michel|last= Eury|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]| date=2005| page= 55|quote=While the Flash is popularly regarded as DC’s first Silver Age super-hero, that honor actually goes to the Martian Manhunter, whose debut predated Flash’s by nearly a year.}}</ref>
|DC
|First appearance of [[Martian Manhunter]]<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/12465/ ''Detective Comics'' #225] at the [[Grand Comics Database]].</ref>
|-
|''[[Showcase (comics)|Showcase]]'' #4
|Oct. 1956
|DC
|First appearance of the Silver Age [[The Flash|Flash]] ([[Barry Allen]])<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/13042/ ''Showcase'' #4] at the Grand Comics Database</ref> First Silver Age comic.<ref name="Shuttp20"/><ref name="sassienep69"/>
|-
|''Showcase'' #9
|Aug. 1957
|DC
|First of two pilot issues for the feature "[[Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane]]"<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/13625/ ''Showcase'' #9] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Adventure Comics]]'' #247
|April 1958
|DC
|First appearance of the [[Legion of Super-Heroes]]<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/14358/ ''Adventure Comics'' #247] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''Adventure Comics'' #260
|May 1959
|DC
|First appearance of the Silver Age [[Aquaman]]<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/15034/ ''Adventure Comics'' #260] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Action Comics]]'' #252
|May 1959
|DC
|First appearance of [[Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)|Supergirl]] (Kara Zor-El), cousin to [[Superman]]<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/14999/ ''Action Comics'' #252] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''Showcase'' #22
|Oct. 1959 
|DC
|First appearance of [[Green Lantern]] ([[Hal Jordan]])<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/15200/ ''Showcase'' #22] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[The Brave and the Bold]]'' #28
|March 1960 
|DC
|First gathering of DC's superheroes as the [[Justice League of America]]<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/15487/ ''The Brave and the Bold '' #28] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Richie Rich (comics)|Richie Rich]]'' #1
|Nov. 1960
|Harvey
|Richie Rich gets his own title.<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/228585/cover/4/ ''Richie Rich'' #1 at the Grand Comics Database.]</ref>
|-
|''Showcase'' #30
|Feb. 1961
|DC
|First of four pilot issues for [[Aquaman]]<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/16045/ ''Showcase'' #30] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''The Brave and the Bold'' #34
| March 1961
|DC
|First appearance of the Silver Age [[Hawkman (Katar Hol)|Hawkman]] and [[Shayera Hol|Hawkgirl]]<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/16086/ ''The Brave and the Bold'' #34] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[The Flash (comic book)|The Flash]]'' #123
|Sept. 1961
|DC
|Reappearance of the Golden Age [[Jay Garrick|Flash]]; introduction of [[Earth-Two]]<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/16418/ ''The Flash'' #123] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''Showcase'' #34
|Oct. 1961
|DC
|First appearance of the Silver Age [[Atom (Ray Palmer)|Atom]]<ref>Showcase 34 (Oct 1961)</ref>
|-
|''[[Fantastic Four (comic book)|The Fantastic Four]]'' #1
|Nov. 1961 
|Marvel
|First appearance of the [[Fantastic Four]]<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/16556/ ''The Fantastic Four'' #1] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Tales to Astonish]]'' #27
|Jan. 1962 
|Marvel
|First appearance of [[Henry Pym]], the future [[Ant-Man]]<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/16733/ ''Tales to Astonish'' #27] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[The Incredible Hulk (comic book)|The Incredible Hulk]]'' #1
|May 1962 
|Marvel
|First appearance of the [[Hulk]]<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/16935/cover/4/ ''The Incredible Hulk'' #1] at the Grand Comics Database</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1 = DeFalco|first1 = Tom|author-link = Tom DeFalco|chapter= 1960s|title = Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History|publisher = [[Dorling Kindersley]]|date= 2008|location= London, United Kingdom|page = 85|isbn =978-0756641238|quote= Based on their collaboration on ''The Fantastic Four'', [Stan] Lee worked with Jack Kirby. Instead of a team that fought traditional Marvel monsters however, Lee decided that this time he wanted to feature a monster as the hero.}}</ref>
|-
|''The Fantastic Four'' #5
|July 1962 
|Marvel
|First appearance of [[Doctor Doom]]<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/17043/ ''The Fantastic Four'' #5] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Amazing Fantasy]]'' #15
|Aug. 1962
|Marvel
|First appearance of [[Spider-Man]] (Peter Parker)<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/17099/cover/4/ ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Journey into Mystery]]'' #83
|Aug. 1962 
|Marvel
|First appearance of [[Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor]] (Thor Odinson / [[Donald Blake (Marvel Comics)|Donald Blake]])<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/17100/cover/4/ ''Journey into Mystery'' #83] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''Tales to Astonish'' #35
|Sept. 1962 
|Marvel
|First appearance of [[Ant-Man]] (Henry Pym)<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/17159/ ''Tales to Astonish'' #35] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom]]'' #1
|Oct. 1962
|Gold Key
|First appearance of [[Doctor Solar]]<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/17203/ ''Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom'' #1] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Magnus, Robot Fighter]]'' #1
|Feb. 1963
|Gold Key
|First appearance of [[Magnus, Robot Fighter]]<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/17510/ ''Magnus, Robot Fighter'' #1] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Tales of Suspense]]'' #39
|March 1963 
|Marvel
|First appearance of [[Iron Man]] (Tony Stark)<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/17575/cover/4/ ''Tales of Suspense'' #39] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Strange Tales]]'' #110
|Jul. 1963 
|Marvel
|First appearance of [[Doctor Strange]]<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/17779/cover/4/ ''Strange Tales'' #110] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Justice League of America (comic book)|Justice League of America]]'' #21
|Aug. 1963
|DC
|Reappearance of the Golden Age [[Justice Society of America]]<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/17812/cover/4/ ''Justice League of America'' #21] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Uncanny X-Men|The X-Men]]'' #1
|Sept. 1963 
|Marvel
|First appearance of the [[X-Men]] and [[Magneto (Marvel Comics)|Magneto]]<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/17896/ ''The X-Men'' #1] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[The Avengers (comic book)|The Avengers]]'' #1
|Sept. 1963 
|Marvel
|First gathering of Marvel's superheroes as the [[Avengers (comics)|Avengers]]<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/17888/cover/4/ ''The Avengers'' #1] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''The Avengers'' #4
|March 1964 
|Marvel
|Reappearance of [[Captain America]] (Steve Rogers) from the Golden Age of Comic Books<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/18287/cover/4/ ''The Avengers'' #4] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''[[Daredevil (Marvel Comics series)|Daredevil]]'' #1
|April 1964 
|Marvel
|First appearance of [[Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)|Daredevil]]<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/18338/ ''Daredevil'' #1] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''The Brave and the Bold'' #54
|June 1965 
|DC
|First appearance of the [[Teen Titans]]<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/18416/ ''The Brave and the Bold'' #54] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>
|-
|''Detective Comics'' #359
|Jan. 1967
|DC
|First appearance of [[Batgirl]] ([[Barbara Gordon]])<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/20693/ ''Detective Comics'' #359] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref> 
|-
|''[[Green Lantern (comic book)|Green Lantern]]'' #76
|April 1970
|DC
|"The New Green Lantern / Green Arrow" tackles social issues<ref>[https://www.comics.org/issue/23384/ ''Green Lantern'' #76] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref> 
|}

==Footnotes==
{{note|note1}}[[Apocrypha]]l legend has it that in 1961, [[Timely Comics|Timely]] and Atlas publisher Martin Goodman was playing [[golf]] with either [[Jack Liebowitz]] or [[Irwin Donenfeld]] of rival DC Comics (then known as National Periodical Publications), <!--also known as name is mentioned here because Stan Lee says "National Comics" in quote directly below this paragraph--> who bragged about DC's success with the [[Justice League of America]], which had debuted in ''[[The Brave and the Bold]]'' #28 (Feb. 1960) before going on to its own title.<ref name="Sinclair">{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2003/06/20/meet-stan-lee-mind-behind-spider-man-and-hulk/|title=Meet Stan Lee: The mind behind Spider-Man and Hulk |last=Sinclair|first=Tom|date=June 20, 2003 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=2009-02-01| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807190716/http://www.ew.com/article/2003/06/20/meet-stan-lee-mind-behind-spider-man-and-hulk| archive-date= August 7, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Film producer and comics historian [[Michael Uslan]] later contradicted some specifics, while supporting the story's framework:
{{blockquote|Irwin said he never played golf with Goodman, so the story is untrue. I heard this story more than a couple of times while sitting in the lunchroom at DC's 909 Third Avenue and 75 Rockefeller Plaza office as [[Sol Harrison]] and [production chief] Jack Adler were schmoozing with some of us ... who worked for DC during our college summers. ... [T]he way I heard the story from Sol was that Goodman was playing with one of the heads of [[Independent News]], not DC Comics (though DC ''owned'' Independent News). ... As the distributor of DC Comics, this man certainly knew all the sales figures and was in the best position to tell this tidbit to Goodman. ... Of course, Goodman would want to be playing golf with this fellow and be in his good graces. ... Sol worked closely with Independent News' top management over the decades and would have gotten this story straight from the horse's mouth.<ref>Michael Uslan letter published in ''Alter Ego'' #43 (December 2004), pp. 43–44</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Portal|Comics|1950s|1960s}}
* Hirsch, Paul S. ''Pulp Empire: The Secret History of Comic Book Imperialism'' (University of Chicago Press, 2021) on 1940s and recent media impact.

==External links==
* {{cite news| url=https://www.forbes.com/newsletter/2005/04/22/cz_ms_0422soapbox_inl.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050425181239/http://www.forbes.com/newsletter/2005/04/22/cz_ms_0422soapbox_inl.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=April 25, 2005 |last=Sullivan| first=Missy|title=Comic Book Superheroes Hit Six Figures|work= [[Forbes (magazine)|Forbes]]| date= April 22, 2005}}

{{Comics}}

[[Category:1956 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1970 comics endings]]
[[Category:1956 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1970 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Silver Age of Comic Books| ]]
[[Category:Reboot comics]]
[[Category:1950s in the United States]]
[[Category:1960s in the United States]]
[[Category:Nostalgia in the United States]]
[[Category:Golden ages (metaphor)]]