Comic book industry 1970s

Neither the second world war nor 911 stopped weekly comic book. Holy economic history of the american comic book industry, batman. With that caveat stated, without further ado, here is a list of 50 important comics from the 1970s. Its first title, the funnies, was the first original american comic, but since it was published in a tabloid format vs. In the early 70s, kirby decamped to rival publisher dc, where he. Comic books published between 1970 to 1985 belong to the bronze age of comics. Shazam number 1 was the most touted comic book happening of the seventies, with stories about the return of the character appearing in national magazines and newspapers. It was during this year that the industry began to shake off the oppressive yoke of the comic book code and start to put out books which tackled important social topics of. Dc didn t really get into the game until the 1970s, when the industry.

Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually, dialog contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. Its almost as if the industry knew that they shouldnt be getting too excited and going all in. So many people bought this book, expecting it to be a rare collectable, that dc went back and did a second printing, unheard of in the industry. Even the best selling marvel books have a hard time selling 60,000 these days. A market study, which provides some broad insights into comics sales in the mid1970s. The thing andthor vintage 1970s bronze age comic book. Some of the most important and rare comic books to be published in the golden age appeared as part of allamerican comics full article. While the form originated in 1933, american comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of action comics, which included the debut of the superhero superman. That ones not only comprehensive, but it actually tells the story of comics as a comic. When the comicbook industry banded together to form the comics code. We are all still dealing with the legacy of this ideology. A carnival of comics is generally accepted as the first american comic book. An american comic book is a thin periodical originating in the united states, on average 32 pages, containing comics. Comic books limped through the 1960s as a cheap disposable form of entertainment for children, found on magazine racks that catered to parents.

Highbrow art opera ballet nongenre novels poetry lowbrow art genre novels plays parti. The period was marked with complex stories that had more realistic character conflicts, as well as some moral ambiguity. Dc didnt really get into the game until the 1970s, when the industry. Newsstands were plentiful in the 1930s and 1940s and the industry flourished. Judgment calls are great, but not necessarily comprehensive. Once barry windsorsmith shook off the kirby influence he became one of the greatest comic book illustrators of all time. After comic fans began working in the industry in the 1970s we started seeing comics by fans for fans, and they wanted stories that appealed to them at their age. Jews and comic books, explains that in contrast to the advertising industry, the comic book industry was free of antisemitism since many of the publishers were jews, and no expensive academic degrees were required. Kane cocreated the modernday versions of the superheroes green lantern and the atom for dc comics, and cocreated iron fist with roy thomas for marvel comics.

Super heroes all died out between 1950 and 1955 with only superman, batman and wonder woman and a few smaller ones still being published. The 100 most influential pages in comic book history vulture. Dc didnt really get into the game until the 1970s, when the industry began to take its inspiration from. By the 1970s, the american comic book had lost its. The comic book writer arie kaplan, who wrote the book from krakow to krypton. It would probably be unfair of us to even include comic book history of comics by fred van lente and ryan dunlavey seen at our right. The big names in the comic book industry dominate the market when it comes to superheroes, leaving smaller companies such as dark horse hellboy and 2000ad judge dredd to pick up whatever. Covers of sleazy italian adult comic books from the 1970s and 80s these italian comic books for the discerning gentlemen were popular in the 1970s and 1980s. That might be because they remember the infamous crash of the comic book industry in the 1990s and some of the reasons that led to it. Comic books much like the film industry they now fuel. In 1933, funnies on parade became the first color comic book printed in the now standard size of 6 58 x 10 14 inches. Kevin smith tours the biggest comic book store in the world mile high comics duration. A snapshot of mid1970s comic book sales carol l tilley. After the war, sales dropped dramatically and then continued to slide down throughout the 1950s.

In the days before marvel was actually called marvel they were timely and atlas and other names in the golden and silver ages, the company was not an innovator in the. Marvel, with a slate increasingly devoted to superheroes, was better positioned than other publishers to enter the 1970s but all publishers would find it one of. The code can only be justified by the fact that a comic book is essentially a childrens reading device. The comics code authority cca was formed in 1954 by the comics magazine association of america as an alternative to government regulation. Here is my attempt to squeeze a decade of brilliant comic work in to 10 choices. The comic book industry began mainly to reprint comic strips published in newspapers during the 1930s, but soon the industry changed with the commission of original strips for the format. By the 1970s, the american comic book had lost its status as a mass medium. Two big changes shaping future of comic book industry. He drew marvels wolverine with author mark millar as part of the characters 30thanniversary celebration.

Kevin smith tours the biggest comic book store in the world. Covers of sleazy italian adult comic books from the 1970s. The 10 greatest comic book artists of all time creative bloq. In february 1935, dc comics precursor, national allied publications. The untold story was a reminder of the many wonderful prose books dedicated to the history of the comic book industry out there, telling the. Conans success as a comic hero resulted in adaptations of other howard characters. Thats the final year comics stayed at 10 cents, the price theyd been since the modern comic book dawned in the 30s. Modernism classified art into highbrow and lowbrow art. To say the comic book industry has a slight gender skew is like saying superman is kind of strong. Men in white coats carry one of the cartoonists, bill elder, from the street, while harvey kurtzmanthe cover artist himselfsells his comic books hiding in a street corner. Keep reading to see what some of those reasons may have been.

The 100 most influential pages in comic book history. Marvel comics has been the top dog in comic book publishing recently, because of its wellreceived highprofile movies, strong sales, and popular characters. There are many top lists out there covering important or key comics from the 1970s, but the ones ive seen are all either based upon individual judgment calls or the high sale prices observed in the marketplace. There was a time in the 1990s when just about every comic book was selling 50,000 copies and a comic wasnt considered a hit until it sold 250,000 copies. The 1970s remains special for me as that was when i became a comic book fan. By the mid1970s, dc had begun to stagnate and marvel became the industry leader, a position they have held ever since. How star wars saved marvel and the comic book industry.

When i was a young girl in the 1970s, comic book readers. Gil kane april 6, 1926 january 31, 2000, born eli katz, was a comic book artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and every major comics company and character. John romita jr was nominated for a will eisner comic industry award in 1989 for his work on daredevil. This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of world war ii. The comics industry has one of the most loyal fan demographics, and printing another deadpool variant for the sake of selling it feels like theyre taking advantage of that loyalty. In 1970, marvel published the first comic book issue of robert e. In addition to the bestresearched pricing in the hobby, youll find market reports, key sales, indepth historical information, tips on grading, and the most complete record of comic books from the 1800s to the present. The late 1970s were a bad time for comics declining sales and new forms of media were coming into the limelight, and the local comic book. The marvel cinematic universe has helped bring in new readers and has kept the spotlight on superheroes as a medium. Since its origins in the 1930s the comic book industry has been a part of.

List of important comics from the 1970s rare comics. The middle decade of the last century was not a good one for the comics industry. Fumetti featured underdressed women being menaced and molested by men robot men, perverted men, alien men, dead men, men with beards, mummified men, men with knives and monkeys. The comics industry should be focused on writing good stories, and this practice feels like a thinly veiled moneygrabbing tactic. A brief history of comics distribution and that pesky. Prior to the 1970s, most comics were found in newsstands, grocery, drug, convenience, and. Comics analysis site comichron wrote an article listing the average prices of comics based on dc, marvel, and archie for each year since 1961. The first monthly comic book, aptly titled comics monthly, began publication in 1922, though it also featured reprints of daily newspaper comic strips. A look at comic prices and price inflation over the years. Dc comics responded with comics featuring warlord, beowulf, and fritz leibers fafhrd and the gray mouser. At the same time, a rapidly growing network of used comicbook dealers began to spring up at flea markets, conventions. Romitas jrs bold composition of panels still influence comic book artists today. By the mid1970s marvel had successively overtaken dc comics on the comic book.

Tracing the evolution of comic books by looking at the. Dc released rebirth last year and that issue sold millions of copies. Enter a new era of collecting with the overstreet comic book price guide. The comic industry has operated since the early 1970s on a direct market model, in which a distributor the main one being diamond comic distributors sells comics to comic shops on a. Ive also posted more lists of key comic books by year including other decades. A comic book or comicbook, also called comic magazine or simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes.