History MediaNotes / TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks

The precise end of the Golden Age is vague. After World War II ended, SuperHero comics became less popular, with other genres such as funny-animal comedy (which had already been outselling it), crime fiction, teenage romance and westerns replacing it. As the 1940s moved on, more and more titles either changed genre or were canceled altogether[[note]]An extreme example is "Moon Girl", starting out under that title as a superhero comic, it changed within the span of a few issues to the more "real crime" "Moon Girl Fights Crime" and within a couple more issues to "A Moon, A Girl -- Romance!"[[/note]]. In 1950, the last Timely (later to become MarvelComics) superhero title was canceled, and in 1951 the last Golden Age adventure of the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica went by. In 1954, Dr. Frederic Wertham published the book ''Seduction of the Innocent''. [[NewMediaAreEvil It argued that comic books were responsible for corrupting the youth of America, leading them to juvenile delinquency and sexual perversion]] (if comparison to [[TheNewRockAndRoll later criticisms of rock music, Dungeons & Dragons]], and [[UltraSuperDeathGoreFestChainsawer3000 video games]] comes to mind, that's not surprising). This led to the creation of the restrictive [[UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode Comics Code Authority]], which forbade comic book stories that included moral ambiguity, more than minimal violence, or practically any portrayal of sexuality, resulting in comics that were much more strictly and consciously kid-oriented than before. If the Golden Age wasn't already dead by that point, the Code was the last nail in the coffin.

-->"Without me, Super-Man Zero, there would be no you. Without me, there would be no superheroes. For I am the '''very beginning'''"

* Creator/CharltonComics
** ComicBook/BlueBeetle

** ''Detective Comics'' (Franchise/{{Batman}}). The oldest continuously running American comic book series, though between 2011 and 2016 it was renumbered after a [[Comicbook/{{Flashpoint}} linewide reboot]] before resuming the original numbering at #934.

** ComicBook/TheSpirit, another spin off of the Will Eisner Newspaper Comic

** Red Bee

* Creator/DellComics (The Owl)

** Dynamo (formerly Electro)
[[/index]]
** Thor (Noticing a pattern here? They also had a [[NamesTheSame Dr. Doom]])
** [[NamesTheSame Wonder Man]], which resulted in a lawsuit by DC Comics...
[[index]]

The first {{Super Hero}}es were generally Superman [[FollowTheLeader ripoffs]]. Characters like Wonder Man, Flash Lightning, and Dynamic Man, with the full set of beat-bad-guys-up powers, proliferated quickly. In fact, DC sued Wonder Man's publishers, Fox Productions, for copyright infringement, and won. Probably the most popular character of the Golden Age was not Superman, but Creator/FawcettComics' [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] (Now better know as Shazam); at its height, ''Captain Marvel Adventures'' was published weekly and sold 1.3 million copies per month, and the Marvel Family included Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., the three Lieutenant Marvels, Uncle Marvel, Freckles Marvel, and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny. Eventually, more specialized heroes started showing up. Franchise/TheFlash, with the ability to run faster than anyone else (incidentally the first hero with only one power); Doll Man, with the ability to shrink down to six inches high; the Human Torch, with the ability to become living flame. These, in turn, received their own imitators, and a wide range of characters and titles were thus born. (Almost universally in Golden Age comics, each issue contained several short stories, each featuring a different hero. Only the biggest characters got their own books, and even they usually had back-up stories featuring other characters.) Also popular were the pulp heroes themselves, translated to four colors. Based on precedents like Franchise/{{Zorro}} and Literature/TheScarletPimpernel, these were usually {{Badass Normal}}s, occasionally with a gimmicky weapon but often with just their fists, who took out racketeers, white slavers, and saboteurs with aplomb. They often wore cap-sleeved leotards, finned cowl masks and buccaneer boots. Franchise/{{Batman}} sprang from this breed, crossed with a dash of the crime-chasing detective.

The first {{Super Hero}}es were generally Superman [[FollowTheLeader ripoffs]]. Characters like Wonder Man, Flash Lightning, and Dynamic Man, with the full set of beat-bad-guys-up powers, proliferated quickly. In fact, DC sued Wonder Man's publishers, Fox Productions, for copyright infringement, and won (Creator/WillEisner, who "created" Wonder Man, actually testified against Fox). Probably the most popular character of the Golden Age was not Superman, but Creator/FawcettComics' [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] (Now better know as Shazam); at its height, ''Captain Marvel Adventures'' was published weekly and sold 1.3 million copies per month, and the Marvel Family included Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., the three Lieutenant Marvels, Uncle Marvel, Freckles Marvel, and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny. Eventually, more specialized heroes started showing up. Franchise/TheFlash, with the ability to run faster than anyone else (incidentally the first hero with only one power); Doll Man, with the ability to shrink down to six inches high; the Human Torch, with the ability to become living flame. These, in turn, received their own imitators, and a wide range of characters and titles were thus born. (Almost universally in Golden Age comics, each issue contained several short stories, each featuring a different hero. Only the biggest characters got their own books, and even they usually had back-up stories featuring other characters.) Also popular were the pulp heroes themselves, translated to four colors. Based on precedents like Franchise/{{Zorro}} and Literature/TheScarletPimpernel, these were usually {{Badass Normal}}s, occasionally with a gimmicky weapon but often with just their fists, who took out racketeers, white slavers, and saboteurs with aplomb. They often wore cap-sleeved leotards, finned cowl masks and buccaneer boots. Franchise/{{Batman}} sprang from this breed, crossed with a dash of the crime-chasing detective.

*** Human Torch: The first Marvel superhero alongside Sub-Mariner. Similar to but unrelated to the [[ComicBook/FantasticFour later and more famous Human Torch.]]

Even before America entered UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the {{Super Hero}}es would often fight minions of the Axis powers -- PatrioticFervor was almost universal. Dozens of America-themed characters were created: Miss America, The Shield, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, and others. Some heroes joined the Army or the Navy in their secret identities (as did many writers; Bert Christman is known to have written tales of a band of fighter pilots while himself serving as an airman for the Navy). The public was thirsty for tales of good triumphing over evil. Of course, [[WartimeCartoon war propaganda]] was in full effect; Japanese soldiers especially would often be drawn as barely human, Nazis and Fascists also portrayed as green-skinned sneering half-men. (Naturally, juvenile pulps and comics produced in Axis territory did the same thing, but ''even worse''.)

** Crimebuster, who later appeared on the cover of the RageAgainstTheMachine album Evil Empire...

However, those who are familiar with UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks are sometimes surprised to learn that Golden Age comics are often significantly less goofy, less moralistic and less blatantly childish by comparison. The [[TheThirties 1930s]] and [[TheForties 1940s]] were in many ways a less conservative era in the U.S. than TheFifties, and UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode didn't exist yet. Creators were much less concerned about making their stories age-appropriate and portraying heroes as moral exemplars. Superman was a rougher, more aggressive, somewhat mischievous character, described by his creators as "a thorn in the side of the establishment" -- hardly the paragon of LawfulGood we have today. Batman was a dark and violent vigilante long before the ComicsCodeAuthority turned him into a camp icon[[note]]Although his notorious [[BatmanGrabsAGun gun usage and willingness to kill]] are a case of BrieferThanTheyThink, lasting less than two years, the stories were indeed more violent and the villains more murderous[[/note]] . Possibly as a reflection of real-life women moving into traditionally masculine roles as men left for the war, Golden Age female characters tended to be bold, assertive, fast-talking career gals, often tougher and more independent than their Silver Age counterparts. (This may also reflect the fact that a larger percentage of the comic-reading audience was female during the Golden Age than at any time after.)

** ''Detective Comics'' (Franchise/{{Batman}}). It was also the oldest continuously running American comic book series, until the post-''Comicbook/{{Flashpoint}}'' reboot.

However, those who are familiar with UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks are sometimes surprised to learn that Golden Age comics are often significantly less goofy, less moralistic and less blatantly childish by comparison. The [[TheThirties 1930s]] and [[TheForties 1940s]] were in many ways a less conservative era in the U.S. than TheFifties, and UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode didn't exist yet. Creators were much less concerned about making their stories age-appropriate and portraying heroes as moral exemplars. Superman was a rougher, more aggressive, somewhat mischievous character, described by his creators as "a thorn in the side of the establishment" -- hardly the paragon of LawfulGood we have today. Batman was a dark and violent vigilante long before the ComicsCodeAuthority turned him into a camp icon. Possibly as a reflection of real-life women moving into traditionally masculine roles as men left for the war, Golden Age female characters tended to be bold, assertive, fast-talking career gals, often tougher and more independent than their Silver Age counterparts. (This may also reflect the fact that a larger percentage of the comic-reading audience was female during the Golden Age than at any time after.)

Usually accepted as lasting from the publication of Action Comics #1 to approximately the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. 1938–~1945.

However, those who are familiar with TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks are sometimes surprised to learn that Golden Age comics are often significantly less goofy, less moralistic and less blatantly childish by comparison. The [[TheThirties 1930s]] and [[TheForties 1940s]] were in many ways a less conservative era in the U.S. than TheFifties, and UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode didn't exist yet. Creators were much less concerned about making their stories age-appropriate and portraying heroes as moral exemplars. Superman was a rougher, more aggressive, somewhat mischievous character, described by his creators as "a thorn in the side of the establishment" -- hardly the paragon of LawfulGood we have today. Batman was a dark and violent vigilante long before the ComicsCodeAuthority turned him into a camp icon. Possibly as a reflection of real-life women moving into traditionally masculine roles as men left for the war, Golden Age female characters tended to be bold, assertive, fast-talking career gals, often tougher and more independent than their Silver Age counterparts. (This may also reflect the fact that a larger percentage of the comic-reading audience was female during the Golden Age than at any time after.)

TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks was, however, just around the corner...

** ''Leading Comics'' (The SevenSoldiers of Victory)