Golden Age DC comics?

Question

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about comics but I did grow up on Superman and Batman...I know that they have brought those back with graphic novels by artists like Frank Miller (I think I have those titles written down somewhere) but I want to understand the history more...

their is golden, silver, earth one, earth two, and i think something called like earth b..etc. The comic world is confusing! I was wondering if their is just one book or novel that is the Golden Age DC comics (froms 40s to 50s?)

I am not someone who is out to collect comic books, but it would be nice to familiarize myself with the history a little better. Thanks.

Answer 1

For my favorite brand - Marvel try links 1 an 2:

"In the late '90s, Marvel was going down the tubes, both financially and creatively. There was an enormous amount of dreck flooding the shelves, and no matter what schemes they tried, either with product or licensing, they were losing money like crazy. Before declaring bankruptcy, they released two trade paperback collections of their Golden Age material, presenting a selection of the best of that era. While they may not have been well-received by the younger crowd, it was one of the best ideas Marvel had in a while (definitely going against the grain), and it was a treat for fans of comic history. Once again, readers could enjoy the simplistic stories of classic WW-II Marvel characters such as Captain America, Sub-Mariner, the Angel, the Destroyer, Marvel Boy, the Fin, Citizen V, and the Human Torch.
The Golden Age of Marvel Comics, Volumes 1 and 2 can be considered Marvel's equivalent of a public service. It's historical preservation in a market that has a notoriously short attention span. When the majority of fans and retailers were demanding more high-octane heroes showering their foes with bullets, we got two beautiful yet affordable collections of Golden Age greats, showing readers that, while the stories and art of the Golden Age might not have been all that "golden", the characters and their appeal more than made up for it. You can clearly see the elements of these stories that fascinated aspiring writers and artists, leading to their expanding these characters in ways never dreamed of during Marvel's Silver Age and beyond. The covers for both volumes are beautiful: for 1, a battle scene by Ray Lago; for 2, a Kirby/Theakston image. The intros provide some very good historical perspective on the contents."

For lots of links to the Golden Age of DC, try link 3

For DC: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes (Hardcover) link 4:

"In 1935, popular culture was transformed forever when DC published its first book of "all-new, all-original comic material. To the delight of millions of kids everywhere, the modern comic book was born.
With the introduction of Superman in 1938. DC Comics made history again, this time with the publication of the first super hero comic book. To this day, the Man of Steel remains the most recognized and celebrated hero in the world. Inspired by its innovative early success, DC went on to create legions of other superheores--Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and dozens more of the most popular comic book characters ever created.

In the sixty years since the first super heroes wer ecreated, the artists, writers, and editors of DC Comics have been develooping, refining and extending the reach of their comic book characters. The DC fictional world has branched into a worldwide profusion of entertainment formats: books, toys, movies, radio, television, videogames, and an online computer network.

Here, for the very first time, is the complete story of America's favorite heroes and their talented, dedicated creators. In over 100 short and spirited essays, author Les Daniels offers remarkable new anecdotes about the company's history, traces the complex genealogies of the characters, describes behind-the-scenes politics that influence the stories, and interviews dozens of artists and writers--the real stars of his engrossing tales. The reader can open the book anywhere and become immersed immediately in the fantasy world of high adventure and magical mayhem. "

Link 5 offers another DC history":

"History of the DC Universe (Paperback)
by Marv Wolfman (Author), George Perez (Illustrator), Karl Kesel (Illustrator)

Link 6 is the DC comics encyclopedia.

Link 7 is the Marvel comics encyclopedia.

Answer 2

There's no one book that will explain EVERYTHING because of the whole elsewords stories, or multiple earths thing (for story/explanation of multiple earth in particular read Crisis of Infinite Earths). The DC history is a little screwy, and they've made attempts to fix/streamline/explain it several times. The DC comics Encyclopedia will give you the run down of every character (some irrelevant characters but you can pick & choose what to read). It will give you the basics on the big ones, enough to jump in and start reading. Golden & silver are just referances to times in which comics were published. They really don't have any relevance to the characters or stories. For good collections of the old stories check out the line that DC put out called the "Showcase Presents". They are good black & white collections of the old stories at a decent price. They have them for most of the main titles of the time (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, JLA, Green Lantern, Flash, Atom, Green Arrow, Brave & the Bold, and some 'minor' titles like Jonah Hex, Batgirl, Metamorpho, among others). Good readin'.

Answer 3

The DC Comics Encyclopedia (Hardcover)
by Phil Jimenez (Author), Daniel Wallace (Author), Scott Beatty (Author)

The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics (Paperback)
by Dennis O'Neil (Author)

Hope that helps. Pax - C.

Answer 4

As I comprehend it, superhero comics dropped in popularity for the time of the WWII years, and in basic terms the main widely used heroes (Superman, Batman, ask your self woman) have been waiting to stay to tell the story. by using the '50s and '60s, even although, the appetites of comics readers for superheroes have been restored, so DC desperate to deliver back various the extra useful creations from those early years. even although the shift in tastes led them to offer those heroes distinctive origins that have been extra oriented in the direction of sci-fi and myth. The JSA/JLA crossovers have been particularly a gimmick that extra approximately the full Earth-a million/Earth-2 situations that DC finally did away with in "disaster on infinite Earths" in 1985.

Answer 5

I am just like you here is a book you can buy anywhere, personaly its cheapest on Amazon....
A Guide to Batman
and A Guide to Superman
it explains a lot......