dipping my toes into the Silver Age...

[B-Lister]

As most of you know, I'm pretty much a Modern Age fan. This is because the Modern Age is when I "Got Into" comics.

now, my house wasn't a nunnery, Comics littered my bedroom floor as far back as I can remember, but I didn't get serious about it until High School. That said, I have had very little exposure to the Silver Age, and as I've gotten older, and seen my share of reprints, I just found that DC's Silver Age (in particular) was just too weird and goofy for me to take seriously.

but as I grow even older, I realize.....I'm not SUPPOSED to take it seriously, these were stories meant for kids, and they were meant for kids of a certain time.

granted, that was before MY time, but whatever, we're not here to argue semantics.

I'm also not here to debate who had a better Silver Age, Marvel or DC. Both were telling great stories with great characters. And I'm certainly not here to lament the return to those characters (I do enough of that bitching elsewhere).

so, anyway, here's the gist of what I'm talking about.

I have been buying some Silver Age books. And plan on purchasing many, many Showcases.

I can see the Silver Age (Especially in the 60s) as a creative boom, where many great ideas were explored, invented, and created. These were all refined in the Bronze Age.

I bought the Teen Titans Showcase today, mostly because I didn't wanna destroy my copy of Teen Titans #1 by reading it, but also because I wanted the stories that preceded that one, back in Brave and the Bold.

I plan, also to purchase the Metamorpho one. As I'm a big fan of Rex.

[John Moores]

Ha, that's fair enough. I'ma go back and delete some of what I said in the DCUC Wave 2 thread.

[measle]

FWIW, I have a very hard time reading most Silver Age stuff, at least most DC Silver Age stuff.  Truth be told it's written for a much younger audience.  With Marvel came the birth of the Bronze Age, an age which balanced more complex themes and characters, with an all ages medium.  If Silver Age is G, Bronze Age is PG or maybe even PG 13 in later years.  DC and Marvel are getting close to R ratings with their violence and chic pillow-talk.  Comics with a PG13 vibe or level of adultness is pretty much where I prefer them.  Even as an adult, I typically don't prefer comics that would be a hard R.  Just like in the movies, most of that shit is extraneous, and detracts from the story.

[measle]

That being said, I do like collecting Silver Age books, but more from a historical standpoint than from an enjoyment of the stories.  I love looking at the old ads and letter columns, and the artwork of course.

[John Moores]

Silver Age innocence is a double-edged sword to me. On the one hand I love the uncomplicated nature and frequently fun bizarreness of the books; on the other hand, the dumb motivations and sometimes trivial plots annoy me sometimes. And they're usually incredibly well-plotted and VFM in that you get a lot in one issue, but on the other hand, the heroes are bland, personality less cyphers for the most part.

[measle]

Yeah, and some characters work better than others.  SUperman for instance worked pretty good during those years, whereas Batman suffered miserably.  Not so much from a sales standpoint, but from a character standpoint, it took a long time to shake that.

[B-Lister]

Okay, after digging into the Teen Titans showcase, several things are apparent.

1) some of this stuff rates as a definite 8-9.5 on my 'Weird Shit-O-Meter', Haney was definitely tripping when he wrote some of this stuff.

2) There were an awful lot of billboards advertising the Batman show back then.

3) Kids sure did talk funny in the 60s!

4) Those Titans sure liked to break the 4th wall.

It all has a retro feel, and a kitsch factor that I find particularly appealing. I'm actually enjoying it quite a bit. (I find it largely appealing in the same way that I find the film "Mars Attacks!" Appealing. It's pure 60s sci-fi kitsch, all in a sweet package).

as for "Having a hard time reading SA Books", Mease, I know what you mean, I bought the first GL Showcase, and can't stand it. But with this one, I just can't put it down!

I can't believe they got away with some of the stuff they did, such as ripping on Wonder Girl all the time. They basically treated that girl like shit, but she took it all in stride!

[Coffee Joe]

FWIW, I have a very hard time reading most Silver Age stuff, at least most DC Silver Age stuff. 

Word.

I go back and read SA Spider-Man, FF, etc., and I can still get it.  It's not as sleek as today's stuff, but it's still highly readable.  Not so much with SA DC stuff... I mean, come on... the many colored costumes of Batman?  Robin Dies at Dawn?   All of the old JLA stuff?  I find it rather cumbersome to read...

[John Moores]

Yeah, and some characters work better than others.  SUperman for instance worked pretty good during those years, whereas Batman suffered miserably.  Not so much from a sales standpoint, but from a character standpoint, it took a long time to shake that.

The new look stuff from 1964 onwards is better than the eight years that preceded it. The two SHOWCASES are pretty readable, even though Bats is kind of a private eye in a mask rather than a Darknight Detective.

Blis, if you like fucked-up shit where you think the writer HAS to be tripping, try and find a thin TPB called "Tales of the Bizarro World" - not to be confused with those modern "Bizarro World" things - this one has a parody of ACTION #1 on the cover, with Bizarro lifting the car. These are from 1960, way, way before psychedelics were common, but they are FUCKED UP. The wrestling match story is the closest thing to anarchy I've ever seen in a good comic. It makes no sense, but is really entertaining. If I tried to explain the plot to you though t3h intarwebs would explode. And it's genuinely funny in places, which comics seldom are. Not so much laugh out loud funny, but worth a snicker.

And you've not lived til you've met Bizarro-Hipster Number One. I think he calls himself "MisterPL" now.

[kcekada]

The second Teen Titans Showcase is much stronger than the first. By the second volume, the kids had grown up quite a bit and added new members including Mal -- possibly DC's first black character to be featured in a regular role. The stories are definitely of a bygone era -- but the writers attempted a bit of relevance now and again.  By the end of this volume, the Titans are moving into the era in which I first found them -- supernatural-related crime stories. I was a bit like Scooby-Doo, but with real ghosts and goblins.

Nick Cardy was really running on all cylinders in these issues -- much stronger work than his earlier Titans issues. His strong use of inks really makes the artwork pop in b&W (though I'd still rather have color). Neal Adams and Gil Kane contribute some art as well. George Tuska does a few stories as well, but Cardy's inks soften his work a bit.

[B-Lister]

I'll definitely look into that.

thanks!

[Doghouse Reilly]

I tried my damnedest to get into the groove of that Teen Titans Showcase, but just couldn't do it. The DC Silver Age stuff I'm digging the most are the Superman and Superman Family collections. Those stories are the distilled madness of the human condition in a post-WWII world. To steal a line from Harlan Ellison, they're as crazy as a spider on ice skates.

The Green Lantern collections are cool too, as they embody that pulp sci-fi sensability that DC used to relaunch their heroes with. I know how you feel about Al-Hay Ordan-Jay, though Blister, so I won't recommend it to you. Everyone else, though. 

Really though, and this is coming from a man who will always be a DC guy at heart, Marvel owned (perhaps even pwned!) DC in the Silver Age. Hulk, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers... that was the gold standard of the era.

[John Moores]

I really was not thrilled by the Green Lantern SHOWCASE (and the Flash was disappointing too). I was very surprised to find myself enjoying te second-tier JLA buddies, Hawkman and Atom a lot more. Martian Manhunter was a big surprise too - pleasant and easy to read. Aquaman was awful, and Wonder Woman was just plain dreck. Superman and Batman (and related titles)? It's easy to see why they're the big two. I was familiar with a hell of a lot of that stuff already, but it's clearly head-and-shoulders. Whereas Hawkman and Atom were a surprise, since I've always thought Katar and Ray were...well, boring as fuck.

[measle]

Really though, and this is coming from a man who will always be a DC guy at heart, Marvel owned (perhaps even pwned!) DC in the Silver Age. Hulk, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers... that was the gold standard of the era.

Marvel changed the name of the game, and really ushered in the Bronze Age at that point, although it wouldn't really be called the Bronze Age until DC caught up. But without Stan, Jack, Steve, and the gang, there's some doubt that comics would be around today, or at least in any kind of force.  BUt yeah, Marvel is perhaps more responsable for the resuscitation of Batman than anyone. 

[B-Lister]

Really though, and this is coming from a man who will always be a DC guy at heart, Marvel owned (perhaps even pwned!) DC in the Silver Age. Hulk, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers... that was the gold standard of the era.

I don't think anybody could disagree with that statement. As much as I love DC, it was definitely Marvel's time.

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