The Independent and Modern Eras

[Jeff of Earth-J]

This is the fourth thread in a series which includes...

1. The Golden Age of Comics
2. The Silver Age of (Superhero) Comics
3. The Bronze Age of (Superhero) Comics
4. The Independent and Modern Eras
5. The Grand Unified Theory of Comic Book Ages

Up until now, the "Ages" I have identified have had gaps between them, but we are now at the point at which dominant trends begin to overlap, starting with...

THE INDEPENDENT ERA [1977 to the present]

1. Phase 1: Self-Publishing - (Cerebus #1, 1977)
2. Phase 2: Creator's Rights - (Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers, 1981)

Cerebus #1 pioneered alternative publishing, distribution and the comic-shop phenomenon, and eventually led to the b&w boom and bust in the'90s. New companies (such as Pacific Comics, Eclipse, First, Dark Horse and Image) began enticing top talent with the opportunity to own the characters they created.

THE MODERN ERA [1985 to the present]

1. Phase 1: The "Dark Age" - (The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, 1986)
2. Phase 2: The "Digital Age" - (Shatter Special #1, 1985)
3. The CCA - Marvel dropped the Code in 2001; DC followed suit in 2011

The one/two punch of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen ushered in a new era of "grim 'n' gritty" comics (although the term itself was originally coined to describe John Ostrander and Timothy Truman's GrimJack). The "Digital Age" is characterized by computer-generated art, rendered color, machine lettering, special visual effects and electronic production techniques.

Next time will attempt to tie it all together and fill in some of those gaps I left in earlier posts.

[Richard Willis]

ushered in a new era of "grin 'n' gritty" comics

you might want to fix this typo. (same typo in Grand Unified thread)

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Ha! Got it. 

"(same typo in Grand Unified thread)"

Yeah, I copied this post over.

Thanks!