The Bronze Age of Comics spans from 1970 to the mid 1980's and retains many of the same traits found in Silver Age Comics including colorful superheroes and powerful villains. As society changed over time Bronze Age Comics began reflecting those changes and tackling more mature content. Both heroes and villains began sheding their perennially immortal status and many comics began covering tough real world subjects such as death and addiction.

1970 marked the dawn of a new age in comics and changes, including subject material as mentioned above, gave many comics a more mature feel. Several notable events in 1970 fueled discussions that a new era in comic books had begun. One such event was the departure of Jack Kirby from Marvel comics which also brought to an end his partnership with another comic book legend, Stan Lee.

Amazing Spider-Man #90 in 1970 tackled the death of Gwen Stacy's father (Spider Man's girlfriend) and by issue #121 tackled murder when Gwen herself was killed. 1970's comics moved away from romance and western themes and pressed the limits of what was considered acceptable by the Comics Code Authority. In 1971 Stan Lee was asked by the United States Department of Health to write a story involving drug abuse (see Amazing Spider-Man #96-98) and portray it as unglamorous but the CCA would not approve the story. Stan Lee, then Editor-in-Chief of Marvel, published it anyway and the resulting reaction prompted the CCA to revise the rules so long as abuse remained in a negative light.

Times change - and the post war comic book industry changed right along with them. Labor agreements between publishing companies and writers/artists allowed artists to retain more copyrights to their works, comic art styles became more realistic and the launch of non-superhero titles such as Conan, Swamp Thing and Jonah Hex covered the comic stands. Changes in code circa 1971 by the CCA regarding the use of vampires, ghouls and werewolves also opened the doors to new horror comics such as Ghost Rider and Tomb of Dracula.

Much like its beginning, the end of the Bronze Age of Comic Books isn't defined by a single event and no specific date can be pointed to with certainty. During the bronze age DC comics lost ground to Marvel by over-saturating the market with too many new titles too quickly but by the end of the bronze age of comics had re-defined its product line to include hits like Crisis on Infinite Earths and Watchmen. Over in the Marvel camp the new Secret Wars project featuring the X-Men also brought a change in direction and by 1986 the cancellations of Power Man and Iron Fist as well as Defenders marked significant milestones.

Collecting comics during the bronze age was an exciting hobby for many because finding a character to relate to had become easier. Comic book characters and collections remain an exciting hobby today and Comic Book Style hopes you find and enjoy many new titles from this exciting period. Comic book value and price plays a role in the decision making of many collectors today and the Bronze age provides valuable comics that are 25 to 40 years old while at the same time not being near impossible to find. Thanks for visiting and enjoy the ride!