Vintage Comics
Vintage Comics: these fit a particular time frame
When a collector says he wants vintage comics, this is a specific request. For many, vintage means old and valuable. Others think of it as an antique that has not been restored. Vintage includes many of the older classes of comics, but not the newer ones.
The different classifications of comics are the Platinum comics from 1897 to 1937. The Golden comics were printed from 1938 to 1955. The Silver Age of comics was from 1956 to 1969. The Bronze Age was from 1970 until 1979. If a comic was produced after 1980, they are of the modern era and not considered vintage.
For many, the first comic was a strip in a newspaper. This was also the first use of bubbles for narration. The strip was called Hogan’s Alley and was first put into print in 1895. This actually led to the creation of the term comic. In 1897, this same strip coined the phrase comic so this is the actual beginning of the first comic and the Platinum era of comics.
The first super hero came to life in 1936. This was the purple-costumed and black-masked Phantom. Like most comics up to this time, they were made for adults. Not until the following year were children the target audience for the comic book.
In 1939, another change occurred when just one character would be the focus of a comic book. The very first super hero to get this recognition was Superman.
These early comics are prized and valued by collectors. A comic made before 1955 is considered a vintage comic by most collectors. There are a few who believe the vintage comics are the ones printed until 1969, with the end of the silver age of comics. But that is a debate for another time.
