02-03-2013 09:20 AM
The Golden Age of Comics lasted from 1938-1951
1938 saw the debut of Superman in Action Comics #1 and I believe ending in 1951 with All-Star comics changing to All-Star Western and Timely ending Captain America, Human Torch and Sub-Mariner then changing their name to Atlas
One event cited for the beginning of the Golden Age was the 1938 debut of Superman in Action Comics #1, published by a predecessor of modern-day DC Comics. Superman's creation made comic books into a major industry. Some date the start to earlier events in the 1930s: The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide's regular publication The Golden Age Quarterly lists comic books from 1933 onwards (1933 saw the publication of the first comic book in the size that would subsequently define the format); some historians, including Roger Sabin (in Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels: a History of Comic Art), date it to the publication of the first comic books featuring entirely original stories rather than re-prints of comic strips from newspapers (1935), by the company that would become DC Comics. However, Superman, the first comic book superhero, was so popular that superheroes soon dominated the pages of comic books, which characterized the Golden Age. Between early 1939 and late 1941, DC and sister company All-American Publications introduced such popular superheroes as Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, the Atom, Hawkman, and Aquaman, while Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, had million-selling titles that featured the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America.
Although DC and Timely (which evolved to become Marvel Comics) characters are more famous today, circulation figures suggest that the best-selling superhero title of the era may have been Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel, whose approximately 1.4 million copies per issue made it "the most widely circulated comic book in America." Captain Marvel's sales soundly trounced Superman's self-titled series and Action Comics alike, and the comic at one point was issued biweekly to capitalize upon that popular interest.
Other popular and long-running characters included Quality Comics' Plastic Man, and cartoonist Will Eisner's non-superpowered masked detective the Spirit, originally published as a syndicated Sunday-newspaper insert in a quasi-comic book format.
World War II had a significant impact on comics, as reflected in the war-themed subject matter of the time. Comic books, particularly superhero comics, gained immense popularity during the war as cheap, portable, easily read tales of good triumphing over evil. American comic book companies showcased their heroes battling the Axis Powers: covers featuring superheroes punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, such as Captain America #1 by Timely comics in 1941, or fighting buck-toothed caricatures of Japanese soldiers have become relics of the age.
Although the creation of the superhero was the Golden Age's most significant contribution to pop culture, many genres appeared on the newsstands, including humor, Western, romance, and jungle stories. The non-superhero characters of Dell Comics — most notably the licensed Walt Disney animated character comics — that outsold all the supermen of the day. Dell Comics, featuring such licensed movie and literary properties as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Roy Rogers, and Tarzan, boasted circulations of over two million copies a month, and Donald Duck writer-artist Carl Barks is considered one of the era's major talents
10-15-2013 11:23 AM
I don't have to many n.1 Golden Age Comics.
This might be a reprint of a older comic.
But the GCD said it had an original story in it.
MAJOR VICTORY N.1 1944
02-03-2014 07:28 PM
Here is another Golden Age first issue that I have in my possession.
I might have posted this one else ware but not here.
Please tell me what you think of this Golden Age beauty.
BLACK CAT VOL.1 No.1 JULY 1946
02-03-2014 07:32 PM - edited 02-03-2014 07:33 PM
One of my small pleasures in life is posting comic covers.
If you do the crime you must pay the time.
CRIME & PUNISHMENT N.1 DEC 1947
02-03-2014 07:36 PM
I might have more first issues than I realized.
SWEET.
CRIME FIGHTERS No.1 1948
02-03-2014 07:43 PM
I hate to say this next one was missing the front and back cover and the first page of the story.
I am still very happy to own this comic no matter its condition.
I was able to print out a cover from the GCD which I am a member.
Big All-AMERICAN COMIC BOOK #1 DEC 1944
02-03-2014 07:48 PM
Here is another that was missing its cover.
What would I do without the Grand Comic Database.
OKAY COMICS N.1 JUL 1940
02-03-2014 07:53 PM
This one is a real GEM of a comic.
It has me all tied up.
GEM COMICS N.1 APR 1945
02-03-2014 07:57 PM - edited 02-03-2014 07:59 PM
I found this one in a stack of coverless comics that I bought at a comic book store.
Nobody wanted them because they was coverless.
It is beat but complete.
MARGE'S LITTLE LULU N.1 FEB 1948
02-03-2014 08:04 PM
I found this one at a antique store when I was flipping thru a stack of Time magazines.
PICTORIAL CONFESSIONS N.1 SEPT 1949
02-03-2014 08:07 PM
I found this one at a garage sale.
Wish I could find more like it but is is getting hard to find them.
PICTURE STORIES FROM THE BIBLE N.1 1942 2ND PRINTING
02-03-2014 08:20 PM
This might be the last Golden Age first issue that I own.
I will keep on looking.
I have other Golden Age comics.
Please let me know if anyone wants me to post them.
Cowboys 'N' Injuns N.1 1946
02-04-2014 06:23 PM
Post away Bob!
02-06-2014 02:50 PM
I found a few more first issues published in the early fifties.
MAJOR INAPAK THE SPACE ACE N.1 1951
02-06-2014 02:54 PM
This one is from the late Golden age early Silver age.
You decide which age it is from.
YANKS IN BATTLE No.1 SEPT 1956