Modern Age of Comic Books

The Modern Age of Comic Books is an informal name for the period in the history of mainstream American comic books generally considered to last from the mid-1980s until present day. In this period, comic book characters generally became darker and more psychologically complex, creators became more well-known and active in changing the industry, independent comics flourished, and larger publishing houses became more commercialized.

Alternate names for this period include the Dark Age of Comic Books, due to the popularity and artistic influence of grim titles, such as Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen; and the Diamond Age of Comic Books, which was suggested by  Scott McCloud, because of the new diversity found in the medium. Another name for this period is Iron Age of Comic Books which is based on the idea from Greek mythology of four ages: First Gold, followed by Silver, followed by Bronze, with the last being Iron. A more tongue-in-cheek name for this period is the Adamantium Age of Comics, in reference to Wolverine, whose popularity grew to immense proportions at the dawn of this age.

Although not commonly considered part of the Modern Age, the period between the early 1970s and early 1980s is referred to as the Bronze Age of Comic Books.

Important developments
Because the time period encompassing the Modern Age is not well defined, and in some cases disputed by both fans and most professionals, a comprehensive history is open to debate. Many influences from the Bronze Age would overlap with the infancy of the Modern Age. The work of creators such as John Byrne (Alpha Flight, Fantastic Four), Chris Claremont (Iron Fist, Uncanny X-Men), and Frank Miller (Daredevil) would reach fruition in the Bronze Age but their impact was still felt in the Modern Age. The Uncanny X-Men is the most definitive example of this impact as Bronze Age characters such as Wolverine and Sabretooth would have a huge influence on the Marvel Universe in the 1980’s and beyond.

For DC, an event such as Crisis on Infinite Earths is the bridge that joins the two ages together. The result was the cancellation of The Flash (with issue 350), Superman (with issue 423), and Wonder Woman (with issue 329). The post-Crisis world would have Wally West as the New Flash, John Byrne writing a brand new Superman series, and George Pérez working on the new Wonder Woman series. Batman would also get a makeover as the Batman: Year One storyline would be one of the most popular Batman stories ever.

In rough chronological order by the beginning of the trend, here are some important developments that occurred during the Modern Age, many of which are interrelated:

Rise of independent publishers
The late 1970s saw famed creators going to work for new independent publishers. The arrival of Jim Shooter as Editor in Chief at Marvel Comics saw the departure of key creators at Marvel such as  Steve Gerber,  Marv Wolfman, and others. In these new companies (Pacific, Eclipse, First) creators were free to create very personal stories. Mike Grell's  Jon Sable Freelance, Howard Chaykin's  American Flagg!,  Mike Baron and  Steve Rude's Nexus, and  Timothy Truman's GrimJack attracted quite some attention and garnered a number of awards. These creators were going to be attracted by DC editor Mike Gold to create defining works such as Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters by Grell, Blackhawk by Chaykin, and Hawkworld by Truman. With Alan Moore, Frank Miller, and  Art Spiegelman's Maus (which was going to receive the  Pulitzer Prize), this period marks the summit of the artform per comics expert Scott McCloud.



Fantasy, horror and "sophisticated suspense"
Horror and science fiction titles were absent from the mainstream comics market since the establishment of the restrictive  Comics Code in the 1950s though independents like  Gold Key comics did start doing horror titles as early as 1965. In the early 1970s (during the Bronze Age), Marvel revived these genres with their new fantasy and horror comics, including Conan the Barbarian by Roy Thomas, and Tomb of Dracula. Steve Gerber’s work on Man-Thing and Howard the Duck was also very influential in this period based on its philosophical impact of questioning society. These titles would be the foundation for what was to come in the mid-1980’s (the beginning of the Modern Age).

Starting with Alan Moore’s groundbreaking work on DC Comics's Swamp Thing in the early 1980s, horror comic books incorporated elements of science fiction/fantasy and strove to a new artistic standard. Other examples include Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (followed a few years later by  Garth Ennis and  Steve Dillon’s Preacher). These new comics transcended easily identifiable genres.

Striving to apply some label to these titles, some of which did have at a similar feel and approach, some people began to use the phrase "sophisticated suspense." DC’s Vertigo line, under the editorship of Karen Berger, was launched in 1993, with the goal of specializing in this genre.

Existing titles such as Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Hellblazer, and Shade, the Changing Man were absorbed into this new line. Later in the decade, popular titles such as The Books of Magic, The Dreaming, The Invisibles, Lucifer, and  Sandman Mystery Theatre would continue to exert Vertigo’s influence. Vertigo would prove to be a very influential line of comics as it would continue to be published into the 21st Century. Titles such as 100 Bullets, American Virgin, Fables, Y: The Last Man, and the publishing of Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor would cement Vertigo’s reputation as a viable alternative to the superhero genre.



The rise of anti-heroes
In the mid 1970s Marvel anti-heroes such as the X-Men’s Wolverine, the Punisher and writer/artist Frank Miller’s darker version of Daredevil challenged the previous model of the superhero as a cheerful  humanitarian. Miller also created Elektra who straddled the conventional boundary between love interest and villain.

Two artistically influential DC Comics limited series contributed to the trend: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, also by Frank Miller and Watchmen by  Alan Moore and  Dave Gibbons, both of which were series of impressive psychological depth that starred troubled heroes.

By the early 1990s, anti-heroes had become the rule rather than the exception, and among the most popular were Marvel comics' Cable and Venom and Image Comics' Spawn, although some fans complained that too many of them were unlikable psychopaths of little depth and originality.

Some critics believe that this trend is tied to the cynicism of the 1980s, when the idea of a person selflessly using his extraordinary abilities on a quest for good was no longer believable, but a person with a deep psychological impulse to destroy criminals was.

The trend of creating characters with more psychological depth that were less black and white also affected supervillains. For example, The Joker, Batman's nemesis, was portrayed less as an evil criminal and more of a mentally ill psychopath who can't control his actions, Marvel Comics' galactic planet-eater Galactus became a force of nature who meant no personal malice in his feedings, and the X-Men's nemesis Magneto became more benign and sympathetic as a man who fights for an oppressed people, albeit through means others deem unacceptable.



Development of the X-Men franchise
By the mid-1980s X-Men had become one of the most popular titles in comics. Marvel decided to build on this success by creating a number of spin-off titles, sometimes collectively referred to as X-Books. These early X-Books included New Mutants (which would later become X-Force), X-Factor, Excalibur, and a Wolverine solo series.

By the early 1990s X-Men had become the biggest franchise in comics, and by the middle of the decade over a dozen X-Men-related comic books, both continuing and limited series, were published each month. On an almost annual basis from 1986 until 1999, one storyline crossed-over into almost every X-Book for two to three months. These "X-Overs" usually lead to a spike in sales.

This sales boom resulting in a great deal of merchandising, such as action figures,  video games and  trading cards. This success was thanks in no small part to the Fox Network's animated X-Men series, which debuted in 1992 and drew in a large number of younger fans.

The sales boom began to wane in the mid to late 1990s, due to the crash of the speculators market and the effect it had on the industry. Marvel declared bankruptcy, and as a result, scaled back all of their franchises, including X-Men. A number of "X-books" were canceled, and the amount of limited series published, as well as general merchandise, was reduced.

In the early 2000s, a series of blockbuster X-Men movies have kept the X-Men franchise healthy, and have resulted in a larger market presence outside of comics. In 1999-2000, a new animated series, X-Men: Evolution debuted, while new toys have been developed and sold since the success of the first X-Men feature film. The comic books themselves have been reinvented in series such as Grant Morrison's New X-Men and the  Ultimate X-Men, which, like Marvel's other "Ultimate" series, is an alternate universe story, starting the X-Men tale anew. (This was done for X-Men, and other books, because Marvel feared that the long and complex histories of the established storylines of certain titles were scaring off new readers.)

Effect on other comics
The success of the X-Men had several effects on the comic book industry. Series featuring superhero teams, especially ones in which internal friction contributed to storylines, became much more common. DC Comics's The New Teen Titans series of the 1980s show the influence of the X-Men as do 1990s Image Comics teams such as Youngblood, WildCATs, and Gen¹³. By the peak of the X-Men's popularity in the early 1990s, the team's chemistry was often imitated and many series featured an obvious Cyclops character (stoic leader), Wolverine character (gruff loner) and Storm character (strong-willed woman).

Also, many series tried to imitate the model the X-Men carved as a franchise. Marvel and DC expanded popular properties, such as Punisher, Spider-Man, Batman, and Superman into networks of spin-off books in the mid-to-late 1980s. Like the X-Books, some of these spin-offs highlighted a concept or supporting character(s) from a parent series, while others were simply additional monthly series featuring a popular character. In another similarity to the X-Books, these franchises regularly featured crossovers, where one storyline overlapped into every title in the “family” for a few months.

With regards to storylines overlapping, the Superman stories from 1991–2000 were written on a weekly basis. One needed to buy Superman, Adventures of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman: The Man of Steel (and eventually, Superman: The Man of Tomorrow) to keep up with any existing storylines. If a collector only bought Action Comics, they would only get twenty-five percent of the story. A triangle was featured on the cover of every Superman title with a number on it. This number indicated which week of the year the Superman title was released.

Makeovers and universe reboots


Complementing the creation of these franchises was the concept of redesigning the characters. The Modern Age of comics would usher in this era of change. The impact of Crisis on Infinite Earths was the first example as long-time Flash (Barry Allen) died in issue 8. Barry Allen signified the beginning of the Silver Age of Comics and his death was highly shocking at the time. Marvel Comics' Secret Wars would usher in a new change as well as Spider-Man would wear a black costume.

The interest in the speculator market of a new Spider-Man costume led to other changes for Marvel characters in the 1980s. Iron Man would have a silver and red armor in issue 200. Captain America would be fired and would be reborn as the Captain, wearing a black outfit in issue 337 of the series. The Incredible Hulk would revert to his original Grey skin color in issue 325. Issue 300 of the first Avengers series resulted in a new lineup including Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, of the Fantastic Four.

The 1990s would bring similar changes to the DC Universe. The two flagship characters of DC, Superman and Batman, would be subject to huge changes. The death of Superman in 1992 resulted in the creation of four new Supermen (see Adventures of Superman 500) while Azrael became the new Batman, equipped in a gold armour (see Batman 500). Neither one of these changes would last long and this would be the trend with two other makeovers. Wonder Woman lost a challenge and Diana was replaced by Artemis as the new Wonder Woman (see issue 92) until her death in issue 100. Guy Gardner went from being a Green Lantern to drinking from a chalice in a cave and becoming Warrior. The only change that would last for more than 10 years was when Hal Jordan became Parallax and killed off all the Green Lanterns, resulting in Kyle Rayner becoming the new Green Lantern in issue 50 of the second series.

In addition to individual character or franchise/family wide makeovers, Crisis on Infinite Earths ushered in a popular trend of "rebooting", "remaking", or seriously reimagining the publisher wide universes every 5-10 years on varying scales. This often resulted in origins being retold, histories being rewritten, and so forth. These reinventions could be on as large a scale as suddenly retconning seminal story points and rewriting character histories, or simply introducing and/or killing off/writing out various important and minor elements of a universe. Crisis on Infinite Earths resulted in several miniseries' which explicitly retconned character histories, such as Batman: Year One, Superman: Man of Steel, and Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals. An example of a less ambitious scale of changes is Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, which did not explicitly retcon or retell Green Arrow's history, but simply changed his setting and other elements of the present, leaving the past largely intact. This trend of publisher wide reinventions, which often consists of a new miniseries and various spinoff storylines in established books, continues today, with DC's recent Infinite Crisis and the spinoff storylines - One Year Later, 52, and Countdown to Final Crisis - and Marvel's House of M and Civil War storylines, the results of which are still being felt in the Marvel Universe.

Image Comics and creator rights disputes
In the mid-1980s, artist Jack Kirby, co-creator of many of Marvel's most popular characters, came into dispute with Marvel over the disappearance of original pages of artwork from some of his most famous titles. Alan Moore, Frank Miller and many other contemporary stars, became vocal advocates for Kirby.

This event, as well as the influence of vocal proponents of independent publishing, helped to inspire a number of Marvel artists to form their own company, Image Comics, which would serve as a prominent example of creator-owned comics publishing.

By the early 1990s, Marvel artists, such as X-Men’s Jim Lee, The New Mutants/X-Force’s  Rob Liefeld and Spider-Man’s  Todd McFarlane, became extremely popular and were idolized by younger readers in ways more common to sports stars and musicians than comic book artists.

Propelled by star power and upset that they did not own the popular characters they created for Marvel, several illustrators, including the above three formed Image Comics in 1992, an umbrella label under which several autonomous, creator-owned companies existed. Image properties, such as WildCATs, Gen¹³, Witchblade and especially McFarlane’s Spawn provided brisk competition for long-standing superheroes. However, many criticized Image for prioritizing flashy artwork and cheap gimmicks over storytelling and originality. Image in particular is singled out by some fans for contributing to the conditions which led to the speculator market crashing, as Image was known to release many alternate covers, foil covers, and other "collectible" comics.

Many popular creators followed Image's lead and attempted to use their star power to launch their own series; ones that they would have licensing rights for and editorial control of. Chris Claremont, famous for authoring Uncanny X-Men, created Sovereign Seven, Joe Madureira, also made popular by Uncanny X-Men, launched Battle Chasers, and  Kurt Busiek and  Alex Ross, the creative team behind the popular limited series Marvels, created Astro City.

A Valiant effort
Valiant Comics was one of the largest companies in the American comic book market during the 1990s, initially packaging specialty comics and going on to sell more than 80 million comic books in its first five years. Its characters have seen print in a number of languages internationally and have been featured in video games that have sold over 10 million units.

In 1988, former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter and a group of other investors attempted to purchase Marvel Comics. Shooter's group submitted the second highest bid, but ultimately investor/entrepreneur Ronald Perelman wound up submitting the highest bid to purchase the company. Steven J Massarsky, former manager of the Allman Brothers Band, and Shooter then convinced a venture capital firm, Triumph, to back their creation of a new comics publisher. They founded Voyager Communications Inc. and its comic-book publishing imprint, Valiant Comics, and hired Bob Layton away from Marvel to help with its planned superhero line. Voyager/Valiant licensed three dormant properties from 1960s and 1970s publisher Gold Key Comics: Magnus Robot Fighter; Doctor Solar; and Turok Dinosaur Hunter.

In 1990, Valiant launched its superhero line, mixing modified versions of the Gold Key characters with several original titles and characters such as Archer and Armstrong, Eternal Warrior, Harbinger, Rai, Shadowman, and X-O Manowar, to establish a new shared universe. In mid-1992, the company published a line-wide crossover called Unity. By producing unique characters, Valiant quickly developed a passionate fanbase. Through word of mouth and marketing, the popularity of the company grew. Publications like the Overstreet Price Guide and Wizard Magazine took notice of Valiant's success, specifically the escalating demand for rarer pre-Unity books that established the new universes origins and featured the first appearances of its characters.

Despite this burgeoning success, Shooter's security within the company was not ensured. His relationship with Triumph had been badly damaged and he reportedly resisted his partners' plans to position the company for a rapid sale. This dispute lead to Shooter's dismissal. Bob Layton then took over the bulk of Shooter's duties in publishing operations while Kevin VanHook became Executive Editor. Valiant greatly expanded its comics line and soon became the #3 comic book publisher in terms of market share, behind only industry giants Marvel and DC. In 1993, the first issue of Turok Dinosaur Hunter sold 1.75 million copies. This was one of a series of highly successful books that cemented Valiant's place as an industry heavyweight - Bloodshot #1 sold 900,000 copies, X-O Manowar #0 sold 850,000, Rai #9 sold 800,000, Ninjak #1 sold 500,000, etc.

A year later, in June 1994, Voyager Communications, Inc. was sold to the video game giant Acclaim Entertainment for $65 million. Along with the rest of the comics industry, Valiant's sales soon slumped as the speculative boom collapsed, and Acclaim management took a more active role in publishing decisions.

In 1996, Acclaim relaunched the Valiant Comics line as Acclaim Comics. Their primary motivation was to make the properties more suitable for use in video game development. This lead to the creation of the Shadowman and Turok Dinosaur Hunter video game franchises.

In 1999, Acclaim began publishing Unity 2000, written by Jim Shooter, that was supposed to integrate the old Valiant universe and new Acclaim Universe. However, Shooter used the high profile book as an opportunity to strike back at his former partners, creating a group of new villains who mimicked their looks and personalities. Additionally, Acclaim failed to market the books but, nevertheless, saw a good deal of interest on the issues that saw print. Acclaim was forced to stop the series after only three issues because of an art return fiasco with Jim Starlin (artist on the series) and a payment problem with Jim Shooter. The company ceased all publication two months later to focus on its faltering core business.

In 2004, Acclaim filed for bankruptcy and shut down its offices.

The rise and fall of the speculator market
By the late 1980s, important comic books, such as the first appearance of a classic character or first issue of a long-running series, were sold for thousands of dollars. Mainstream newspapers ran reports that comic books were good financial investments and soon collectors were buying massive amounts of comics they thought would be valuable in the future.

Publishers responded by manufacturing collectors’ items, such as trading cards, and “limited editions” of certain issues featuring a special or variant cover. The first issues of Marvel Comics' X-Force, X-Men, vol. 2 and Spider-Man became some of the first and most notorious examples of this trend. Another trend which emerged was foil-stamped covers. The first Marvel comic book with a foil-stamped cover was the second volume of the Silver Surfer, issue 50. A glow-in-the-dark cover for Ghost Rider, volume 2, issue 15 appeared as well. This led a market boom, where retail shops and publishers made huge profits and many companies, large and small, expanded their lines. Image Comics in particular became notorious for this, with many of its series debuting with alternate covers, wide use of embossed and foil covers and other "collectible" traits.

This trend was not confined to the books themselves, and many other pieces of merchandise, such as toys, particularly "chase" action figures (figures made in smaller runs than others in a particular line),  trading cards, and other items, were also expected to appreciate in value. McFarlane Toys was notable for this, as it created many variations in its high-quality toys, most of which were main characters or occasional guest stars in the Spawn series.

But few, in the glut of new series, possessed lasting artistic quality and the items that were predicted to be valuable did not become so, often because of huge print runs that made them commonplace. A crash occurred, sales plummeted, hundreds of retail stores closed and many publishers downsized. In 1996, Marvel Comics, the largest company in the industry, declared bankruptcy (it has made a slow recovery since). The industry has still not yet fully recovered from the speculator crash.

The crash also marked the relative downfall of the large franchises, inter-connected "families" of titles that lead to a glut of merchandising. While the big franchise titles still have a large amount of regular titles and merchandising attached to them, all of these things were notably scaled back after the crash. Several franchises have once again gained prominence, such as the X-Men, due in large part to the feature films X-Men and X2, and many DC heroes thanks to the success of various animated series' based on their characters, such as Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Teen Titans.

The rise of the trade paperback format
Although sales of comic books dropped in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, sales rose for trade paperbacks, collected editions in which several issues are bound together with a spine and often sold in bookstores as well as comic shops.

Some series were saved from cancellation solely because of sales of trade paperbacks, and storylines for many of the most popular series of today (DC’s JLA and various Batman series and Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man and New X-Men) are put into trade paperback instantly after the storyline ends.

Trade paperbacks are often even given volume numbers, making them serializations of a serializations of sorts. Due to this, many writers now consider their plots with the trade paperback edition in mind, scripting stories that last four to twelve issues, which could easily be read as a “graphic novel.”

The popularity of trade paperbacks, has resulted in older material being reprinted as well. The Essential Marvel Comics line of trade paperbacks has reprinted heroes such as Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four and has been able to introduce these silver age stories to a new generation of fans. These editions tend to resemble a phone book in that these are very thick books and are black and white (to help keep the cost down).

DC Comics has followed suit by introducing a line called Showcase Presents. The first four have included Superman, Green Lantern, Jonah Hex, and Metamorpho, The Elemental Man. Other characters have included Green Arrow, The Superman Family, The Teen Titans and The Elongated Man.



Celebrity writers and artists
While many creators, artists, and writers had achieved celebrity status by the modern age (1960s-era Marvel Comics innovators Jack Kirby and  Stan Lee being perhaps the best known), the late 1980s and the 1990s saw this phenomenon become very widespread.

Artists Rob Liefeld,  Todd McFarlane, and  Jim Lee, writers  Neil Gaiman,  Alan Moore, and  Grant Morrison and writer/artist Frank Miller, became very well known and developed dedicated fans who followed their work closely. This changed comics readership to some extent. Previously, fans were more dedicated to specific characters and franchises than creators. By the 1990s, many readers, especially older ones, began to follow their favorite artists and writers more fervently.

The rise of celebrity artists and writers helped to make the independent comics boom possible. Moore and Miller launched independently-published unconventional comics, such as Moore's historical fiction epic From Hell and Miller's noir series Sin City. Meanwhile, Liefeld, McFarlane and Jim Lee banded together with four other former Marvel artists to form Image Comics in 1992, which used the star power of its owners/contributors to instantly become the biggest competitor to Marvel and DC in 30 years.

Many Hollywood directors and producers became involved with Marvel and DC Comics. Filmmaker Kevin Smith was responsible for the relaunch of Daredevil and wrote Green Arrow for DC. J. Michael Straczynski, of Babylon 5 fame, became involved with the Amazing Spider-Man, turning Spider-Man into a high school teacher. Later on, he became the scribe of the Fantastic Four. Reginald Hudlin, the president of BET became the writer of Black Panther and scripted the wedding of the Black Panther and Storm in 2006. Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer became the successful writer of Astonishing X-Men and later Runaways, and is currently reviving both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series Angel as ongoing comics set in the TV series' canon. Richard Donner, who directed the Superman blockbusters of the 1970s, became a writer on Action Comics in 2006, co-writing with comics writer (and Donner's former production assistant)  Geoff Johns. Paul Dini, producer and writer of  Batman: The Animated Series and  Superman: The Animated Series, started writing for DC in 1994 on special projects and took the helm as writer of Detective Comics in 2006.

The lines between novel writer and comic book writer are blurring. Peter David is well-known as both, Neil Gaiman went from star comic writer to star fantasy writer and number one New York Times bestseller,  Michael Chabon who won he Pulitzer Price with  The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a novel about the start of the Golden Age of comics, then went on to write comics for DC and Dark Horse. Brad Meltzer first became famous as a novelist and then as a comic book writer. As a result some trade collections covers are designed as novel covers with the author's name in huge print.

Noted Modern Age talents
NOTE: This is not a definitive list whatsoever. These are merely people who have represented a high level of quality and have been involved with some of the greatest projects of the age.

Writers

 * Dave Sim (Cerebus)
 * Brian Michael Bendis (Powers, Daredevil, New Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man)
 * Ed Brubaker (Sleeper, Captain America, Daredevil, Catwoman, Uncanny X-Men, Immortal Iron Fist, Criminal)
 * Kurt Busiek (Astro City, Marvels, Thunderbolts, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, Avengers, Conan)
 * Chris Claremont (Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine)
 * Darwyn Cooke (DC: The New Frontier)
 * Peter David (X-Factor, Supergirl, Incredible Hulk, Aquaman)
 * Roman Dirge (Lenore)
 * Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
 * Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, The Authority)
 * Garth Ennis (Preacher, Punisher)
 * Neil Gaiman (Eternals, Sandman, Marvel 1602)
 * Geoff Johns (Justice Society of America, Action Comics, Infinite Crisis, Teen Titans, Green Lantern)
 * Dan Jurgens (DC vs. Marvel, Superman)
 * Robert Kirkman (Marvel Zombies, The Walking Dead, Invincible)
 * Jeph Loeb (Batman: Dark Victory, "Batman: Hush", Batman: The Long Halloween)
 * Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics, Zot!)
 * Mike Mignola (Hellboy)
 * Mark Millar (Ultimates, Civil War, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, The Authority)
 * Frank Miller (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil, Sin City, All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, 300)
 * Alan Moore (Swamp Thing, From Hell, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, America's Best Comics)
 * Grant Morrison (52, All Star Superman, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, New X-Men, Seven Soldiers of Victory)
 * Jeff Smith (Bone)
 * Jhonen Vasquez (Johnny the Homicidal Maniac)
 * Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Runaways, Ex Machina)
 * Mark Waid (Flash, JLA, Kingdom Come)
 * Joss Whedon (Astonishing X-Men, Runaways, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fray)
 * Bill Willingham (Fables)

Artists

 * Mark Bagley (Amazing Spider-Man, Thunderbolts, Ultimate Spider-Man)
 * Ed Benes (Birds of Prey, Supergirl, Justice League of America)
 * Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows, Shanna The She-Devil, University2)
 * Tony Daniel (Batman, Teen Titans)
 * Roman Dirge (Lenore)
 * Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
 * Bryan Hitch (The Ultimates, The Authority, JLA)
 * Adam Kubert (Action Comics, X-Men)
 * Andy Kubert (Batman, X-Men, Ultimate X-Men)
 * Erik Larsen (Amazing Spider-Man, Savage Dragon)
 * Gerhard (Cerebus)
 * Jae Lee (Inhumans)
 * Jim Lee ("Batman: Hush", Uncanny X-Men, WildC.A.T.s)
 * Rob Liefeld (X-Force, Youngblood)
 * Todd MacFarlane (Spider-Man, Spawn)
 * George Pérez (Avengers, Crisis on Infinite Earths, JLA/Avengers, Wonder Woman)
 * Joe Quesada (Ash, Daredevil, X-Factor)
 * Frank Quitely (All Star Superman, New X-Men, The Authority)
 * John Romita, Jr. (Amazing Spider-Man, Eternals)
 * Alex Ross (Kingdom Come, Marvels)
 * Tim Sale (Batman: Dark Victory, Batman: The Long Halloween)
 * Dave Sim (Cerebus)
 * Jeff Smith (Bone, Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil)
 * Arthur Suydam (Marvel Zombies)
 * Jhonen Vasquez (Johnny the Homicidal Maniac)

Timeline of events

 * Please see Bronze Age of Comic Books for events prior to 1984

1980s

 * 1984: Alan Moore takes over writing on Swamp Thing


 * 1984: Eastman & Laird publish their first issue of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."


 * 1984: Marvel begins releasing the first "big event" storyline, Secret Wars, which would, along with Crisis on Infinite Earths, popularize big events, and make them a staple in the industry.


 * 1985: DC begins to publish Crisis on Infinite Earths, which would drastically restructure the DC universe, and popularize the epic crossover in the comics industry along with Secret Wars.


 * 1985: In the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC cancels The Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman.


 * 1986: DC publishes wFrank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, setting a new grim tone for Batman.


 * 1986-1987: DC Comics begins to release Watchmen as a limited series.


 * 1986: DC Comics begins publishing Watchmen, seen by many as a pivotal title of the Modern Age.


 * 1986: Dark Horse Comics is founded. It would come to be the third largest comic publisher in the U.S., and would be known for its line of film-based comics (notably Alien| Alien (film)|Alien and Predator), its small line of Manga, and the titles Sin City (Frank Miller) and Hellboy (Mike Mignola.)


 * 1986: To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Marvel Universe, Marvel launches the New Universe. While this would fail, it was the first of many new universes launched by Marvel.


 * 1986-1987: Superman is relaunched by John Byrne. The relaunch starts in 1986 with the six-issue limited series titled The Man of Steel. A new Superman # 1 begins in Summer 1987.


 * 1987: The first volume of Art Spiegelman's Maus is published. It would become one of the most famous graphic novels of the modern age.


 * 1988: Neil Gaiman's The Sandman debuts.


 * 1988-1989: Batman: A Death in the Family published. The storyline called for readers to phone a  900 number to decide the fate of then-Robin  Jason Todd.  The majority decided he should die, so he was brutally murdered by the Joker.


 * 1989: Tim Burton's Batman film premieres, to commercial success and critical acclaim.


 * 1989: Fantagraphics Books publishes the first issue of Daniel Clowes' Eightball, which would became a famous alternative comic, and would serialize a number of Clowes' most famous stories, including "Ghost World" and "David Boring".

1990s

 * 1990: The first issue of Hate by Peter Bagge is published by Fantagraphics books.  The comic would come to be associated with the Seattle Grunge scene, which was becoming popularized by bands such as Nirvana and  Alice in Chains.


 * Summer 1990: Todd MacFarlane releases Spider-Man #1 with two alternate covers (one green, one black). It becomes the best-selling comic book in history, only to be supplanted by X-Men #1 the following year.


 * 1991: The X-Men universe is radically reinvented, with a new X-Men monthly series, including 5 different covers for the first issue, running alongside of the Uncanny X-Men, a new X-Factor lineup, and the creation of the follow up to The New Mutants, X-Force. Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee ascend to star status, partly because of their work on these titles.  At this time, X-Men became a huge franchise and would remain so until the mid 90's, with toys and an animated series giving the series wide mainstream exposure by drawing in a new generation of fans.


 * 1991: Jeff Smith begins publishing Bone, which would become well known in the comics world. It would end its run in 2004.


 * 1991: Volume 2 of Maus is released.


 * 1991: Frank Miller's Sin City begins, originally in Dark Horse Presents.


 * 1991: The beginning of foil stamped, and other gimmick covers begins with Silver Surfer # 50.


 * 1992: Maus wins a Pulitzer Prize


 * 1992: Dark Horse begins to publish comic books based on the Star Wars films. The first project is titled Dark Empire.


 * 1992: Image Comics is founded by a number of former Marvel artists who were unsatisfied with how Marvel handled them and its books. The artists included Todd MacFarlane, Rob Liefeld, Jim Lee, Jim Valentino, Marc Silvestri and Erik Larsen. The company would become controversial in the comics world, but had a huge number of fans following the work of the artists, whom published their own creations under the Image name. This same year, naturally, saw the first issues of many of the best known image titles, including Spawn, Youngblood, Savage Dragon, and WildCATs


 * 1992: Marvel launches the 2099 universe. This will fail also.


 * 1992: November - The Death of Superman in Superman #75.


 * 1993: DC launches its Vertigo imprint. The early titles include Sandman, Animal Man and the Doom Patrol.


 * 1993: Dark Horse launches "Comics Greatest World." Their first venture into Super-Heroes features characters such as the undead vigilante X, Ghost and Barb Wire (which becomes a film starring Pamela Anderson). The series includes 16 books released weekly for $1 each.


 * 1993: Malibu Comics launches the Ultraverse, including characters such as Prime, Hardcase, and Mantra; several issues come bagged with a coupon. Upon getting all the coupons, fans could mail in the coupons to receive Ultraverse # 0. Malibu Ultraverse becomes well-known for its computer colouring process and is acquired by Marvel Comics in 1995.


 * 1993: Azrael assumes the role of Batman in Batman # 500.


 * 1993: February-Archie Comics starts producing the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series.


 * 1994: February - Kyle Rayner becomes the new Green Lantern.


 * 1994: Lady Death and Shi are both published, by Chaos! Comics and Crusade, respectively. This begins the Bad girl art phase.


 * 1994: Warren Ellis starts writing in America. His early works include Doom 2099 and Hellstorm.


 * 1994: October - The Spider-Man Clone Saga begins.


 * 1994: Gen¹³ debuts and quickly becomes one of the most popular titles in the medium. Its popularity not only ignites a trend of bad girl/good girl superhero titles but capitalizes on the craze of alternate covers. Gen¹³ Vol. 2, No. 1 has 13 covers including spoofs of the Janet Jackson  Rolling Stone cover, Heavy Metal, the  Brady Bunch, Sandman, and Pulp Fiction.


 * 1995: Sam Kieth begins publishing The Maxx via Image Comics.


 * 1995: Artemis becomes the new Wonder Woman but dies in issue # 100.


 * 1995: The last issue of Sandman is published. The acclaimed DC/Vertigo series ends at # 75.


 * 1995: David Lapham publishes Stray Bullets and the craze towards alternative comics begins.


 * 1996: In the wake of Onslaught, Marvel outsources some of its older franchises to revive them as part of the Heroes Reborn event.


 * 1996: December - The Spider-Man Clone Saga ends.


 * 1996: Amidst a sales slump, the speculators crash, and massive downsizing in the industry, Marvel officially declares bankruptcy.


 * 1996: Summer - Marvel Comics unleashes Onslaught. The battle against Onslaught results in the "deaths" of Captain America, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and the Fantastic Four. The result is the cancellation of Captain America, Iron Man, Avengers, and Fantastic Four. All four books are relaunched in Fall 1996 with Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee spearheading the creative teams.


 * 1996: The Amalgam Comics run, an infusion of DC Comics and Marvel Comics, begins


 * 1997: Batman & Robin premieres in theatres, and is a huge financial and critical flop, causing Warner Bros. to put the Batman franchise on hold. There would not be another Batman film until 2005, with  Batman Begins.  The flop of Batman and Robin resulted in studios exercising more caution in adapting comics to film.


 * 1997: The Amalgam Comics run ends, with a total 24 books published.


 * 1997: Marvel reingrates its outsourced series in the Heroes Reborn event and outsources other characters to Independent publisher Joe Quesada under the Marvel Knights franchise. This will be a popular and critical success and will eventually lead to Quesada being offered the Editor in Chief position.


 * 1999: DC Comics begins to publish its MILLENNIUM EDITIONS. A total of 56 editions are published on a weekly basis as a way of honoring the great achievements in DC Comics history. All editions contain reprinted material and the first edition is a reprint of Action Comics # 1. Other reprints include Detective Comics # 27 and Showcase # 4.

Unknown dates in the 1990s timeline

 * The rise and fall of the speculator market occurred roughly in the frame of 1990–1996, but pinpointing exact dates for this events is difficult, although some would argue that one of the definitive moments of the crash was when Marvel declared bankruptcy. Many would go so far as to argue that the Marvel bankruptcy marks the end of the era of the speculators market.  The rise of the market is trickier to pinpoint, though most would place it in the timeframe of 1989–1991, with the seeds being planted  by mainstream media reports on comics appreciating in value.  The seeds grew in to the full speculator boom sometime in the early 1990s, but the process was so gradual that specific dates are not possible.

2000s

 * 2000: Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, is published by Fantagraphics as a single graphic novel. The story was previously serialized in the Acme Novelty Library magazine, but it gained a great deal of attention when it was published in 2000 in a single edition.  It received some mainstream media exposure, including an article on  CNN's website.


 * 2000: Marvel launches its Ultimate Marvel line, which would feature recreations of its most popular titles, due to the fear that the complex history behind their established books was turning off potential new readers.


 * 2000: The long awaited X-Men film adaptation is a big enough hit to revive the superhero film genre, which had been damaged reputation wise by 1997's massive flop, Batman and Robin.


 * 2001: Marvel Comics hires writer Grant Morrison to reinvent the X-Men, resulting in New X-Men, or "Grant Morrison's X-Men" as some fans would call it.


 * 2001: The hit television series Smallville begins its first season.


 * 2001: As a way of honoring the tragedy of September 11, 2001, all comics companies create special edition comics. Marvel Comics creates Heroes, A Moment of Silence (a comic consisting solely of art, without dialog or narration), and Amazing Spider-Man # 36 (an issue devoted to Spider-Man's reaction to the tragedy, featuring a black cover). DC Comics and other companies publish two special editions called 9/11. A black and white version. 9/11 Emergency Relief, is also published.


 * 2002: The first ever Spider-Man movie launched and broke the record of the highest grossing movie in first day and week. Spider-Man's super success was also followed by Spider-Man 2 in 2004 which was even a bigger success and made the Spider-Man franchise the most successful superhero movie series ever made.


 * 2002: The first Free Comic Book Day, the North American comic book industry's major annual marketing push.


 * 2004: Dave Sim and Jeff Smith both end the runs of their respective books, Cerebus and Bone, both of which had become famous in the comics world and helped popularize self publishing.


 * 2004: DC begins the Identity Crisis limited series. This series resulted in the death of Elongated Man's wife, Sue Dibny, and marked the start of a darker tonality for DC's product line.


 * 2004: Green Lantern: Rebirth is published, marking Hal Jordan's return to the mantle of Green Lantern.  The character had ceased being Green Lantern nearly a decade earlier.  The move is seen by some as the start of a nostalgia movement within DC Comics.


 * 2004: Mark Millar releases Wanted. The plot is that all the world's super-villains decided to band together in 1986 and use their vast collective powers — including mad science, magic and mind control — to eliminate all the world's superheroes and rewrite reality in their own dark image


 * April 1 2005: Sin City is released in theaters. Co-directed by  Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller.


 * June 15 2005:  Batman Begins is released in theaters as a reboot of the Batman film series. A commercial and critical success, it is credited with reviving the franchise. A sequel is scheduled for 2008.


 * 2005: Vertigo/DC along with Warner Brothers Studio release V for Vendetta movie based on Alan Moore's graphic novel.


 * 2005: DC begins the Infinite Crisis limited series, a sequel to the Crisis on Infinite Earths of two decades earlier. This series results in a "new Earth" being created that has more capacity for a less cynical idealism while restoring bits of continuity back into the DC Universe, such as Wonder Woman being a founder of the JLA. Marvel releases its own crossover event limited series, House of M. The House of M series results in "M-Day", in which most of the mutant characters lose their powers.


 * 2005: DC launches their "All Star" brand of comics, beginning with All Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder #1, by Frank Miller and Jim Lee.   This brand is created in an attempt to tell iconic, out-of-continuity stories about DC's characters, using some of the more popular creators in the industry.  All Star Batman and Robin is followed by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All Star Superman.
 * 2005: Marvel Zombies makes their first appearance in Ultimate Fantastic Four # 21. By the end of the year, Marvel Zombies would become a series in December 2005 with painted covers by Arthur Suydam. Each Marvel Zombies related book is a homage cover of a famous cover from Marvel history, featuring zombie versions of the characters.


 * 2006: DC follows up Infinite Crisis with One Year Later, where all storylines jump ahead one year and 52, a weekly comic lasting 52 issues which will chronicle that missing year.


 * 2006: Marvel begins the Civil War. After a group of superheroes accidentally kill some school children while fighting a group of supervillains, the US government passes the Superhero Registration Act, subjecting superheros to government oversight. Some heroes, most prominently Iron Man, see it as a necessary step and are quick to register; others are opposed to it and form a resistance movement under Captain America, bringing them into conflict with those registered heroes who try to enforce the new law. In a move controversial with fans, Spider-Man unmasks at a press conference and reveals his identity to the public.


 * 2006: X-Men 3 and  Superman Returns are released in theatres.


 * 2007: Captain America is killed during Marvel's Civil War, resulting in attention from the national media.


 * 2007: Spider-Man 3 breaks earlier opening records. Sony announces four sequels.


 * 2007: DC Comics' 52 concludes with the Multiverse being re-established. There are now 52 earths in the DC Universe.


 * 2008: The Winter Soldier dons the Captain America costume in Captain America # 34.