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‘Super-Action: The Copper Age of DC Comics 1984 – 1991’ (review)

Written by William Schoell
Published by BearManor Media

 

Comic book “Ages” are, of course, rather arbitrary and it’s often hard to find any two people who agree on when one ends and another begins.

It makes sense to refer to the original decade and beyond as “The Golden Age” but when exactly did that end? Did it end when the superheroes died out or did it include the horror and crime comics booms of the 1950s? And what about characters like Superman or Donald Duck who just kept going without any pauses?

And the Silver Age?

Ah, my favorite! Did it begin with DC’s Flash revival or the Fantastic Four?

Or was the latter part of the oft-mentioned Marvel Age of Comics, which is a whole different can o’ worms?

Then came the oddly named Bronze Age, which was mainly the ‘70s, although some include the ‘80s and even into the ‘90s!

After that has generally been referred to as “The Modern Age,” even though it’s fading far enough back now that it’s hard to rationalize that title, too.

To confuse matters more, along comes author William Schoell with his new book, Super-Action: The Copper Age of DC Comics, 1984-1991. While there’s no doubt that the ‘80s were a bit of a renaissance for the lowly comic book, just prior to the Image-ized excess of the ‘90s (which led to my dropping my pull list), I’m not sure I’d categorize things the way Schoell has, and to highlight only DC, taking it out of context of the industry as a whole, does a disservice to the indie boom of that era.

Still, it’s hard to deny that DC had the edge: Alan Moore, the Crisis, Frank Miller’s Batman, John Byrne’s Superman reboot, Nightwing, new Robins, the new JLA, the new Flash, new Titans, the Charlton Heroes, and more. And yes, all of that is covered here. The problem is that so are much of the less interesting titles and issues that came out in that same period.

Schoell largely just retells the plot of one issue after another from within his Copper Age, whether or not it’s a particularly interesting or noteworthy story. For example, both Doug Moench and Alan Grant had numerous okay Batman stories in this period but here, they’re all weighted equally alongside Miller’s Dark Knight Returns or Batman: Year One. Occasionally, he’ll offer some minimal criticism but for the most part, it just feels like he loved everything, even lesser titles like Omega Men, the blue-skinned Starman, or Booster Gold.

Obviously, Crisis on Infinite Earths deserves and receives considerable coverage, but after that, DC seemed to be stuck in their company-wide crossover “events.” Also covered here, for example, are Legends, Millenium, Cosmic Odyssey, Armageddon 2001, and War of the Gods, all of which served mainly to just complicate the DCU even more than it already had been, leading to seemingly endless continuity reboots ever since.

The author clearly knows the characters, the creators, the titles, and has at least a working knowledge of their earlier histories. As an overview of DC Comics between 1984 and 1991, it’s a long but interesting read. It’s just that it didn’t seem to have a point of view beyond just restating the basic plots of the many comics covered.

Without placing any of these issues and stories into context outside of the company itself, there’s a clear and obvious gap in the book as any type of history. Those of us who were there already know the stories of the titles we were buying then. New fans don’t really need all the plot details of books they’ve either never read or maybe might want to read.

It feels as though, with hindsight and a modern perspective, a more perceptive history than Super-Action: The Copper Age of DC Comics, 1984-1991 could have been cobbled together by an author who so clearly knows his subject.

 

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