| The Silver Age of comic books is a term that refers | | | | Stanley "Stan Lee" Lieber to create a team of |
| to a period between 1956 and the early 1970s. It's | | | | super-heroes to compete. What he and Jack Kirby |
| characterized by the resurgence of super-hero | | | | came up with was The Fantastic Four in 1961. |
| comics, a re-interpretation of Golden Age heroes, | | | | The creation and style of Marvel Comics begins the |
| increasingly outlandish storylines, and the debut of Stan | | | | slow decline of DC's Silver Age mentality in favor of a |
| Lee and Marvel Comics as a major force in comic | | | | more "realistic" tone in Marvel's comics: The Fantastic |
| book publishing. | | | | Four's Thing was a monster, Spider-Man was a |
| Frederic Wertham's book, Seduction of the Innocent | | | | science nerd driven by the murder of his uncle and |
| and the Comics Code Authority that came as a | | | | reviled by all of New York City, and the X-Men were |
| response to it in the early 1950s torpedoed EC Comics | | | | misfits who were hated by the very people they were |
| and set extremely tight limits in what could be included | | | | vowed to protect. Nobody got along, and many |
| in a comic book. Super-heroes were out of fashion, but | | | | heroes were just plain unhappy. But their problems |
| westerns, romances and war comics were on the | | | | were much easier to relate to than what practical joke |
| decline as well. | | | | Superman was going to play on Lois Lane this month. |
| Most scholars agree that the Silver Age begins with | | | | There is no consensus on when the Silver Age ended |
| Showcase #4 and The Flash. During the Golden Age, | | | | and the Bronze Age began, but there were several |
| The Flash was Jay Garrick, a football star. The new | | | | things that happened in the early 1970s: |
| Flash introduced in Showcase #4 was Barry Allen, | | | | - Marvel Comics published Conan the Barbarian #1, |
| police forensic scientist. The success of the character | | | | portraying a tone and style of violence that hadn't |
| led DC Comics Editor Julius Schwartz to spearhead a | | | | been seen since the creation of the Comics Code |
| campaign to revamp many of the Golden Age heroes. | | | | Authority. |
| A major characteristic of these heroes was that they | | | | - Marvel publishes Amazing Spider-Man #96-98, |
| were often based in science fiction, whereas their | | | | featuring a drug abuse storyline, in direct violation of |
| predecessors were either based in fantasy, science | | | | the Comics Code. |
| fantasy or just superb athletes: Green Lantern was a | | | | - The Comics Code's regulations are loosened, and |
| test pilot who became a member of an intergalactic | | | | DC Comics begins to emulate Marvel's style with more |
| peace-keeping force; Hawkman and Hawkgirl were | | | | realistic storylines and characterizations, as in Green |
| alien police officers trapped on Earth; The Atom was | | | | Lantern #85-86, where Green Arrow's sidekick |
| a college professor who had a fragment of a dwarf | | | | Speedy (now called Red Arrow) deals with his own |
| star in his hand that gave him the ability to change his | | | | drug problem. |
| size or mass. A new team, the Legion of | | | | - The trend established by Marvel in Fantastic Four #1 |
| Super-Heroes travels back in time from the 30st | | | | for darker, more dramatic storylines and themes is a |
| century to recruit Superboy to their team. | | | | model that is followed by most comic book companies |
| DC did so well with their revamps and science fiction | | | | even today. |
| heroes, that rival publisher Martin Goodman asked | | | | |