My Comics Timeline

I've never agreed with the terms used to classify comics of differing ages, neither the start and end dates assigned to each nor the implication that quality has diminished over time from "golden" to "silver" to "bronze." I do agree with the BIP comics website "classifying the ages based on the inception and subsequent changes to the Comic Code Authority" and not "using one genre from a single publisher to explain the trends of the entire industry" (i.e. superheroes). I've long felt that there must be some repeating cycle which would be far more informative than a straight timeline of events. My theory is that there are waves with high points in the middle of each phase, measuring a constant 24 years between low (or starting) points, divided by 12 years of building up and 12 years of breaking down the unique characteristics of each particular phase.

Comics may date back to cave walls, but in 1929 Dell "published a 16-page, newsprint periodical of original, comic strip-styled material titled The Funnies" (Wikipedia). That's one reason I start there but it's not the only one. I feel major social change should occur at high and low points of each wave (or comic book age). 1929 is historically more significant than the years that Funnies on Parade or Action Comics came along. Lastly, newspaper strips stopped being just comedy in 1929 and borrowed more with each passing year from the genre-based fiction of pulp magazines of the previous decade. The superhero genre owes much to this development and could be considered merely an extension of it. Whether a person knows a character from the comic book they first appeared in or a subsequent TV show or movie adaptation can distinguish which "wave" they're riding in on.

We're currently approaching the high point of a fourth wave which started around the economic low point following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The success of The Dark Knight movie last year matches a pattern of mainstream acceptance demonstrated by the 1966 Batman TV show and the 1989 Batman movie, both occurring near the peaks of earlier phases. There are at least ten more Hollywood adaptations of comic books leading up to an Avengers movie in 2012. I've heard predictions for the death of print to be within the next three years, which would be 2012. If "the death of print" isn't enough to cause a downward slope for the comic book industry, then oversaturation from movies based Iron Man 2, Jonah Hex, Tintin and Scott Pilgrim in 2010 then Captain America, Green Lantern, Thor and Wonder Woman in 2011 will do it. See if you can find other patterns on my list below:

First wave (pulp fiction to Mad magazine)
1929 Tarzan and Buck Rogers (serious strips)
1930 Scorchy Smith (action/adventure genre)
1931 Dick Tracy (crime genre)
1932 Jane (pinup comic strip)
1933 Funnies on Parade (strips reprinted in a book)
1934 Famous Funnies #1 (monthly series in a book)
1935 New Fun Comics #1 (new material in a book)
1936 The Phantom (costumed hero genre)
1937 Feature Book (one-shot)
1938 Action Comics #1 (Golden Age/Superman)
1939 Marvel Comics #1 (superhero copycats/Human Torch/Sub-Mariner)
1940 Peak All Star Comics #3 (superhero team/Justice Society of America)
1941 Pep Comics #22 (teen humor genre/Archie)
1942 Sensation Comics #1/Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (female superheroes/Wonder Woman/Mary Marvel)
1943 Hit Parader #1 (comic book company/pop music)
1944 Funny Stuff #1 (funny animal genre)
1945 More Fun Comics #101 ("imaginary" stories/not in continuity/Superboy)
1946 Real Fact Comics #1 (educational genre)
1947 Young Romance #1 (teen drama genre)
1948 Western Comics #1 (western genre)
1949 Archie's Pal Jughead #1/Katy Keene #1 (spin-offs)
1950 Tales from the Crypt #1 (horror genre/New Trend titles)
1951 Mystery in Space #1 (science fiction genre)
1952 Frontline Combat #1 (realistic war genre)

Second wave (Comics Code Authority to direct market)
1953 Superman TV show
1954 Seduction of the Innocent (academic critique of the influence of comic books on youth)
1955 Detective Comics #225 (Batman in outer space era/Martian Manhunter)
1956 Showcase Comics #4 (continuity strikes!/Silver Age/Flash II)
1957 Showcase Comics #6 (familial adventure team/Challengers of the Unknown/Jack Kirby precursor to his Fantastic Four)
1958 Adventure Comics #247 (superhero team cameo/Legion of Super-Heroes)
1959 Action Comics #252 (continuity-stricken superhero counterpart/Supergirl)
1960 The Brave and the Bold #28 (superhero team revival/Justice League of America)
1961 The Fantastic Four #1 (Marvel era/revival copycats)
1962 Archie's Mad House #22/Archie's Pals 'n' Gals #23 (teen humor revival/Sabrina the Teenage Witch/Josie and the Pussycats)
1963 My Greatest Adventure #80 (Doom Patrol: epitome of the new trend of superhero pathos, started with Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the Hulk)
1964 Peak The Brave and the Bold #54 (sidekick superhero team/Teen Titans)
1965 Strange Tales #135 (superspy genre/S.H.I.E.L.D. & HYDRA/following the death of James Bond creator, Ian Fleming, in 1964)
1966 Batman TV show
1967 Strange Adventures #205 (Hinduism and reference to drugs under Comics Code/Deadman)
1968 Zap Comix #1 (underground comic books)
1969 The Brave and the Bold #85 (superhero with facial hair/politically left wing/Green Arrow)
1970 Conan the Barbarian #1 (Bronze Age/sword-and-sorcery revival)
1971 House of Secrets #92 (horror revival/Swamp Thing)
1972 Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (blaxploitation era)
1973 Adventure into Fear #19 (funny animal satire/metafiction/Howard the Duck)
1974 Amazing Spider-Man #129/Incredible Hulk #180 (increasing violence/Punisher/Wolverine)
1975 Giant-Size X-Men #1 (multicultural superhero team)
1976 Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster finally awarded financial recompense

Third wave (Amazing Spider-Man live-action TV series to Spider-Man live-action film)
1977 Cerebus the Aardvark #1 (self-publishing/creators' rights)
1978 A Contract With God, and Other Tenement Stories/Elfquest #1 (graphic novel/bookstore distribution)
1979 Daredevil #158 (shift to organized crime/noir/Frank Miller art)
1980 New Teen Titans #1 (shift to coming-of-age drama/Marv Wolfman script/George Pérez art)
1981 Dazzler #1 (direct market only from Marvel)
1982 Love & Rockets #1 (alternative comic books)
1983 American Flagg #1 (satire)
1984 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (B&W glut/merchandising)
1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (continuity reset/death/relaunches to follow)
1986 Watchmen #1 ("Dark" era/openly gay characters)
1987 Lone Wolf & Cub (Japanese manga in America)
1988 Peak Animal Man #1/Black Orchid #1/Hellblazer #1 ("British Invasion" of comic book writers/Grant Morrison/Neil Gaiman/Jamie Delano)
1989 Gotham by Gaslight #1 ("imaginary" story revival/Elseworlds/Mike Mignola art)
1990 Spider-Man #1 (style over substance/sells 2.5 million copies/Todd McFarlane art)
1991 Magnus Robot Fighter #1 (Valiant Comics reboots former Gold Key characters)
1992 Youngblood #1 (Image Comics)
1993 Enigma #1 (DC Comics' imprint, Vertigo, "Suggested for Mature Readers")
1994 Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #1 (horror revival/Jack Kirby, "The King of Comics, dies at age 76)
1995 Preacher #1 (weird western revival/Garth Ennis story/Steve Dillon art/precursor to their work on Marvel Knights' Punisher)
1996 Fantastic Four/Avengers/Iron Man/Captain America (Vol. 2) #1 ("imaginary" continuity resets/Marvel files for bankruptcy)
1997 A History of Violence (John Wagner, creator of Judge Dredd, scripts this graphic novel a year before Max Allan Collins' Road to Perdition)
1998 Daredevil (Vol. 2) #1 (Marvel Knights imprint/"Hollywood Invasion" of comic book writers/Kevin Smith script)
1999 100 Bullets #1 (post-Tarantino crime noir revival/realistic dialects and slang)
2000 Ultimate Spider-Man #1 (alternate continuity reset/Brian Michael Bendis script)