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What's that, Barry? You say you don't want to talk about my SPACE BLIMP Of CHRISTMAS?! Hey, what's wrong with you, man? All Crivs everywhere are enthralled by the subject. Okay, then - you write about whatever you want, but don't blame me if people ask "Hey, where's the Blimp?"
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I believe there were many reasons why Marvel achieved such great popularity in the 1960s. At the time they were travelling a unique route and it drew me in. People refer to the “Silver Age” beginning with The Flash and they often discuss the complete DC reboot in Crisis, but Marvel had a major reboot in 1961. And it drew me in.
First, over the years I have been nicely asked, and also very rudely asked, why I wrote about Marvel in the Silver Age and not DC. An interesting question con-sidering I read twice as many DC books as Marvel. (Mainly because DC published twice as many books!) Simply, I had been paid to write about Marvel. If they pay me I would write about DC. Hell, pay me and I'd even write about Casper, the Friendly Ghost!!
The original reason I wrote about Marvel has all to do with... Batman! Yes, Batman!!!!! In the early 1960s a Batman letter column questioned a reader who claimed to be an authority. “Do you know that Batman carried a gun?” the editor asked. Well, I didn’t. Batman was 22 years old when I started reading him and he had a long history that I knew nothing about.
Batman #171 (May 1965) introduced The Riddler to Silver Age readers. In a footnote, the editor suggests reading his appearance in Detective Comics #140, published in 1948, as if I could just go and pick that issue up at the local stands. There were no reprints or comic book stores then.
You write about what you know!!! With Action Comics up to issue 300, Wonder Woman in the 150s, I knew I would never be able to catch up - or understand what they represented in their original time of the 1940s. For Marvel I felt I was there in the beginning, with Fantastic Four #1 and Amazing Adventures #1 with Dr. Droom. They didn’t have a 20 year history and many different writers ands artists. They were new.
Batman #171 (May 1965) introduced The Riddler to Silver Age readers. In a footnote, the editor suggests reading his appearance in Detective Comics #140, published in 1948, as if I could just go and pick that issue up at the local stands. There were no reprints or comic book stores then.
You write about what you know!!! With Action Comics up to issue 300, Wonder Woman in the 150s, I knew I would never be able to catch up - or understand what they represented in their original time of the 1940s. For Marvel I felt I was there in the beginning, with Fantastic Four #1 and Amazing Adventures #1 with Dr. Droom. They didn’t have a 20 year history and many different writers ands artists. They were new.
Or so I thought. Although it was ignored, Marvel did have a very Timely history. And an Atlas one, but unlike DC, which carried on with the Batman and Superman continuity and introduced Earth II with the JSA, Marvel ignored their past. During the “Silver Age” Marvel referred to their Golden Age continuity only three times: Fantastic Four Annual #4 and Sub-Mariner issues #8 and #14. They referred to their Atlas history twice - Captain America #153-155 and with the arrival of the “newest” Black Knight in Marvel Super-Heroes #17. Note that Stan Lee did it only once, in a Fantastic Four Annual, and Roy Thomas, who loved Marvel’s past, did it in all the others. (As editor he gave the assignment to Steve Englehart on the Captain America story.) Near the end of the Marvel Age, Roy added The Invaders, but with a different “history,” mostly, than the Timely era.
People don’t discuss this much, referring to the “Silver Age” beginning with The Flash and often discussing the complete DC reboot in Crisis, but Marvel had a major reboot in 1961. And it drew me in.
People don’t discuss this much, referring to the “Silver Age” beginning with The Flash and often discussing the complete DC reboot in Crisis, but Marvel had a major reboot in 1961. And it drew me in.
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Great stuff, Barry. Hopefully, all dutiful Crivs will respond with a grateful comment to say how much they enjoyed reading your post. But, like I said, don't blame me if they ask about the Blimp.
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