For centuries now, comics have been printed and collectors classify them into 5 Periods: 1897 to 1937 Platinum; 1938 to 1955 Golden Age; 1956 to 1969 Silver Age; 1970- 1979 Bronze and 1980 to present Modern Era. The value for vintage comic books is given based on condition, issue and title and rarity. Some of the popular titles are Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Incredible Hulk and X-Men.
Among the first comics to be published was Hogan's Alley in 1895 and this featured the first lead character and speech bubbles. The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats was published in 1897, which created the comic book term and this signifies the start of the Platinum Era, which continued until 1937.
Immediately after newspaper comic strips like Mutt and Jeff had been reprinted as books and the publishers started to experiment with periodic books, which were sold for 10 cents at the newsstands. The pre-superhero comic strips had been mainly pulp stories of detectives, adventure, criminals and exotic travel. The very first costumed hero had been The Phantom, which came out in 1936 wearing black mask and a purple costume.
The Golden Age started in 1937, and comics, formerly intended for adults were now centered more on youngsters. During 1938 an innovative new series called Action Comics #1, released Superman first comic character with superhuman capabilities. Batman came out in the following year in Detective Comics #27, much grittier than the Superman and at first much more mysterious than the superhero comics.
In 1939, Superman received his own book and this brand-new format took over as the standard for the American comics. The Golden Age continued to 1955 and presented characters like Captain Marvel, Captain America, The Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash and The Spectre.
The Silver Age revamped The Flash with superheroes coming back from the post WW2 decline. There were characters such as Fantastic Four, X-Men and The Avengers
In 1962, Spider-Man was introduced to great success because he was similar to an average person. Some other characters introduced during this era include Dr. Doom, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter.
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