The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2078: Famous 1st Edition F-8, September 1975

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Where was I?

After having sold a few comics at Purple Gorilla, I picked up some nice vintage-y stuff in exchange, including a couple of Famous First Edition Golden Age reprints and some cool Silver Age superhero stuff. I thought, as I try to wade back into daily writing (the pain has gotten much better in the last little bit), I'd do a comic from each of the major "Ages," one a day, for a while.

The delineation of ages I use comes from www.keycollectorcomics.com, and breaks down thus: Golden Age - (1934-1955), Silver Age - (1956-1971), Bronze Age - (1972-1985, Copper Age - (1986-1992, and Modern Age  (1993-Present). I don't think I've ever seen the Copper Age before, but it makes sense that we need to place something in what used to be the Modern era. I think it's a pretty good breakdown, and follows some important moments, at least in the later years.

That said, we'll start with Flash Comics #1, written almost single-handedly by Gardner Fox, and giving us our first looks at both The Flash and Hawkman. I actually really love the art for the Hawkman feature. It's very different from the usual Golden Age style, much more in keeping with the illustration-influenced work of the newspaper cartoonists. I imagine at this point in the industry there was a lot of crossover from comics to newspapers (though maybe there wasn't, I really don't know), or at the very least the newspaper strips of the previous Platinum Age had a great influence on the artists of the Golden Age. I kind of see it too in this comic in the way that the stories are structured. I can absolutely see the Flash feature filmed as an early Hollywood motion picture. The dialogue and the action put me in mind of old film serials, and I'm actually kind of surprised that no Flash serial was ever made.

More to follow.