By Rachel Kane, WPAMC Class of 2022
Overview
Figure 1. An example of a glossy, full-color comic book cover. From Sultan, Charles. Major Victory #1. New York: H. Clay Glover Co, 1944.
The Golden Age of comic books in the United States spanned 1938 to1956. During this period, the American comic industry expanded rapidly, capitalizing on both technological innovations in printing and the shifting sociopolitical landscape surrounding World War II. Golden Age comics employed established hallmarks of previously published comic material while also developing material and stylistic traits that would become iconographic within the American printed materials canon.
Golden-age comic books were available at newsstands, along with other ephemeral paper products like newspapers, magazines, and pulp novels. Early comic books were anthologized reprints of newspaper comic strips . Brightly colored comic book covers were made of the same glossy, coated paper used on magazines (Figures 1 and 2). Internally, the pages were printed on simple wood pulp newsprint, which was inexpensive and easily accessible. While still printed in color, these pulp paper pages were matte, smooth, and slightly translucent (Figure 3). Often the same companies produced both pulps and comics, specializing in single use printed materials that were intended to be discarded after use, rather than preserved for the future.
Comic book images were produced by differentiated teams of pencillers, inkers, letterers, colorists, and printers. Pencillers sketched each page before the inker added black lines and shading. Colorists laid down tones used as guides in the printing process. Lettering was done separately by professional letterers with task specific tools, like an Ames Lettering Guide, which helped create the distinctive typography of comic books and would later influence the infamous font, Comic Sans (Figure 4).
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Figure 2. Another example of a glossy, full-color comic book cover. From Raboy, Mac. The Green Lama #5. Springfield, MA: Spark Comics, 1945.
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Figure 3. Internal wood pulp paper with full color comics. From Various Artists. Sky Girl. New York: Fiction House, c. 1945.
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Figure 4. An Ames Lettering Guide in use. From Guigar, Brad. "Typography terms," Webcomics.com, https://webcomics.com/articles/art/how-to-use-the-ames-lettering-guide/.
There were three types of color printing used to produce early comic books. Most commonly the Ben-Day process, a photomechanical technique that uses four colors of dots layered on top of each other. The Ben-Day process uses prepared sheets of colored patterns, referred to as printing films, that are burnished onto the surface in pre-specified areas (Figure 5). Used in repetition, these dot arrangements matrices create additional colors and add depth to the image (Figure 6). Printing films are mounted on adjustable frames, making it easy to mass produce the same page. This process required skilled laborers who were able to cut, ink and apply printing films, which lead to the formation of unions for comic printers. Widespread use of the Ben-Day process was in place by the 1930s. While it was phased out during the late 20th century, the Ben-Day dots became part of comic book iconography.
Spot color printing and Craftint were other common printing methods. Time intensive and limited in scope, spot color printing is an older technique that uses letter press to print one color at a time. Due to the inability to layer colors, these images appear flat with little depth and no texture. Available by the 1940s, Craftint is a paper type with a latent inlaid linear pattern. When treated with a developer, the lines became visible, making it easy to achieve cross hatching. This first layer of shading takes the place of one of the Ben-Day printing films, reducing the number of printing films needed for each page and making the process more efficient (Figure 7). However, this was more expensive than simply using two Ben-Day screens, limiting its use in comics.
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Figure 5. Ben-Day printing films, from Ben Dalgin, Chapter 2, "Developments of Photoengraving,” in Advertising Production: A Manual on the Mechanics of Newspaper Printing, pp. 18-35 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1946).
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Figure 6. Example of Ben-Day dots. From Crossen, Ken Atoman #1. Springfield, MA: Spark Comics, 1946.
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Figure 7. Blue Craftint lines, visible in the shadowing on the right hand side. From Unknown Artist. Out of this World #1. Derby, CT: Charlton Comics, 1956.
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Figure 8. Staples in a Golden Age comic binding. Image courtesy of Worthpoint. “The Big All American Comic Book…", https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/big-all-american-comic-book-1944-1807349217.
Once the pages were printed, comic books were bound simply with a stapled saddle stitch style binding, either with one or two staples (Figure 8). They were short, averaging 30 to 60 pages, which made this an efficient binding technique. It also allowed each page to open fully, easily displaying the entire image. Each successive era of comic publishing introduced slightly different comic dimensions. During the Golden Age different publishing companies produced differently sized pages, but on average, comics ran approximately 10.5 by 7.5 inches.
While early collections of comics did not sell particularly well, Golden Age superhero comics, first appearing in response to World War II, massively popularized the industry. Detective Comics, now abbreviated to DC, began publication in 1937, producing anthologies of monster and mystery stories. In 1938, they released Action Comics #1, which debuted the first American superhero, Superman. This sparked the development of an entire genre, and Superman would become a national symbol still in use today. Other famous characters, including Batman and Captain America, were developed during World War II as well. They were meant to encourage young boys to look forward to their military service, while promoting nationalism and spreading information about the war effort.
Figure 9. Comics Code Authority Seal From Iger Shop. Wonder Boy #17. New York: Farrell Publishing, 1955.
However, there was a strong social reaction against the often-violent storylines in comics. Most scholars place the end of the Golden Age around 1954, the same year as the beginning of the Comics Code Authority (CCA). In April of that year the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency heard statements about the negative psychological effects of comic books on children, leading to the formation of a voluntary censorship body that began to issue seals of approval that were printed on comic book covers (Figure 9). These labels alerted shops and parents that the content had been evaluated for morality . This type of filtration deeply impacted the production field for comics and strongly diminished their popularity.
The advent of digital drawing and printing technology vastly changed the comic industry, but they continue to be a popular and profitable publication type. Although very few of the original production techniques are still in use, many of the heroes from the Golden Age remain cultural juggernauts, especially given the prominence of 21st century film adaptations. There is also a growing body of scholarship surrounding graphic narratives and sequential art, including comic historians like Scott McCloud and Roger Sabin, and supported by bodies like the Graphic Narratives Network (GNN) based out of Michigan State University libraries.
As for Golden Age comics, they have become increasingly more valuable to collectors, both in museums and archives, as well as for hobbyists. Comics are auctioned in a variety of ways, through stores, dealers, and online. The most common evaluative mechanism is the Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) system, in which trained consultants grade comics. The CGC employs a 10-point scale with corresponding quality measures, similar to fields like coin and stamp collecting . In 2014, a 9.0 graded copy of Action Comics #1 (1938, Superman’s debut) sold on eBay for $3.2 million, making it the highest value comic ever sold.
Diagram of Golden-Age Comic Book
Image from Mastroserio, Rocco. Out of this World #1. Derby, CT: Charlton Comics, 1956.
Glossary of Terms
Patented in 1879, it is a printing process that uses prefabricated printing films with evenly spaced colored dots. A burnisher is used to transfer the dots onto treated paper with an adjustable frame press. It was used for serial print making in the 20th century.
A third-party body that evaluates comics based on a ten-point system focus on quality and value. It’s the most widely used evaluative service.
The member of a comic production team who adds the colors after the lines are drawn.
An extra-governmental censorship body that evaluated comics for morality and marked those that passed. It became a barrier to sale in newsstands and comic stores. Established in 1954, it was widely used until the 1980s, dissolving in 2011.
Underground comics produced by individuals or through small, independent presses. They became popular in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s.
Paper treated with invisible, colorful diagonal lines. When coated with developer, these lines become visible, creating a background layer on paper without a press, eliminating one of the steps and printing matrices needed for the Ben-Day process.
Comics bound into a larger volume, either as one story or in anthology.
The use of keyboard symbols to express profanity in comics. For example: %#&$!
The blank space surrounding comic panels. This space indexes the passing of time and story progress in sequential art. It is a unique but essential component to comic structure.
The member of a comic production team who covers initial sketch lines with final black ink lines. They also add the first layer of shading.
The member of a (pre-digital) comic production team who hand writes in the text.
Used by the letterer, these are devices that help construct neat lettering. Used first in architectural draft work, they produce uniform lettering with a distinctive style.
Individual image box within the full page of a comic book.
The member of a comic production team who produces the basic sketches.
Movable matrices that could be used in adjustable frame printing presses. They had prefabricated textures or colors that could be added to the page quickly.
A term from Will Eisner, it is a series of images that communicate the passage of time. Comics are one example of sequential art.
Comic pages that have no individual panels or gutter space, instead the image comes to all four outer edges of the page.
A letterpress style printing process where one color at a time is laid down by a press, producing single shade colors without depth or texture.
- The Golden Age (1938-56)
- The Silver Age (1956-c.70)
- The Bronze Age (1970-84)
- The Modern Age (1984-Present)
Annotated Bibliography
This website is the home base for the Certified Guaranty Company, which is the prevailing body for evaluating the comparative quality of comic books. This page details the scale used in order to assign ranking to comics, but the entire website provides valuable insight into the process and institution that operates behind the comic collecting industry. They also offer some light preservation services, encouraging comic owners to take care of their historical printed ephemera. In order to understand the modern collection of historic comics, understanding the gradation of the issues on the market is critical.
Full Citation: “CGC Grading Scale,” Certified Guaranty Company, https://www.cgccomics.com/grading/grading-scale/.
Published by two prominent comic artists, this volume details the processes involved in modern and historic comic making. It does not specifically address materiality in any great detail but focuses on the job structure underlying the creation of comics as well as the origins of certain stylistic markers. This chapter deals with the development of the distinctive lettering in comic books and explains the quality of the lettering as a product of lettering guides. They also explain the most commonly used tool, the Ames lettering guide, and demonstrate its use through illustrations.
This is the patent which details most of the process unique to creating and using Craftint paper for printing crosshatched patterns. It does specifically address both the method for making these sheets as well as the material media which is involved in the process. Baker identifies this as a time saving innovation in printing meant to reduce the cost of Half-tone printing, and, specifically, to be more efficient than Ben-Day dot printing. There are illustrations which are of limited use but demonstrate the visible parallel lines indicative of this method.
This resource involves a lengthy, illustrated chapter detailing the rise of different mechanical photoengraving processes used in advertising during the 1930s and 40s. This includes the Ben-Day printing process, as both an artistic and a mass production mechanism. The liberal use of diagrams aids in conveying the mechanism at work to readers who are not experts in the process of pre-digital printing methodologies. Although the reading focuses more on the derivation of Ben-Day from lithography, the reader can infer the process used in comic manufacturing from the information provided.
This is the patent in which inventor Benjamin Day sets out the tools and methods needed to make Ben-Day process prints. Though highly technical, it illustrates the basic concept of creating depth in prints by using overlapping geometric patterns transferred from sheets. This patent details the unique qualities of his improved “printing films” which are the essence of the Ben-Day printing process. He is quite vague about the intended use for this process and focused instead on the chemical and mechanical resources used to create his printing films and transfer the texture between surfaces.
This article investigates the online comic marketplace as an example of how the quality of goods are signaled within digital sale spaces. Comics provide an ideal study for this system as they vary widely in value, but also have several evaluative methods attached to them. This covers the use of the CGC guidelines and their effect on the value and sale of comic books. Although this particular text deals primarily with comics from the Silver Age, the market description and the manner in which value is assigned remains the same for Golden Age comic books. There are sections that detail the depreciation based on wear, as well as the effects of warranties, digital reputation, and image quality on the sale and resale of comics.
Written in two parts, this book begins with a mixture of academic discussion and personal narratives about the Golden Age of comics. The narrator, as someone who was exposed to comics as a child, explores the sociopolitical elements of the rise of comic books into the public eye and their own journey towards a career in the comic industry. There is valuable information about the appearance of lesser known comic books as well, given the narrators personal connection to the medium. The second half of the book is a compendium of full color pages depicting the origin stories for a variety of Golden Age superheroes.
This volume traces the history of illustration, following both style and form. It establishes a descriptive and visual canon for large number of different illustrative styles ranging from art nouveau to neo surrealism. Complete with a significant number of drawings and examples, the form section has a chapter on comic books. Although it does specifically reference superhero comics, it also works to help place them into a larger context. Not only does it address international uses of omics, but it also expands the comparative canon within the American comic world as well. In order to understand the larger story of American superhero comics, it is important to consider the larger contextualization of illustration history.
Detailing the rise of comic books to prominence in America, this text follows that same trajectory of many others present on this list. However, by tracing the lineage of this type of publication through the lens of the industrialization of America, it provides unique insights into the manufacturing, production and materiality of comic books, especially during the Golden Age. Chapter 1 demonstrates the social and material similarities between pulp novels, newspapers, and comic books during the 1930s. It also invokes the history of the comic strip as the progenitor to the longer form comic books under discussion and the literal proximity of these items within newsstands in mid-century New York City.
This remains one of the seminal works in the field of comic studies. McCloud establishes a canon of terminology still widely in use in the graphic narrative field. Many of the terms in the glossary are drawn from his work. The volume, which is done entirely in the style of a comic itself, provides an honest assessment of the field at large, focusing largely on artistic styles unique to sequential art, a term he brings into the foreground of the study of graphic narratives. As a foundational understanding for the structure of comics and graphic novels, this is an invaluable work.
Sourcing information from the United States, Europe, Japan and Britain, this volume provides one of the most specific and in-depth analysis of the development and role of comics of the texts currently in print. While it does an excellent job of tracing the complex sociopolitical underpinnings of mainstream comics, this volume also addresses the many types of comic publications that were published outside of the mainstream. Thickly illustrated in full color this book provides a visual and textual resource that serves as a complete retrospective on the field. While there is little discussion of materiality, the larger narratives at play help draw the reader through the trajectory of comic printing, allowing for a deeper understanding of the social innovations that lead to the proliferation of comics.
This article details the 2014 sale of an Action Comics #1, the introduction of Superman on eBay for $3.2 million dollars. It details the grading of the comic at a 9.0 by the CGC. It also describes the condition of the item, comparable earlier sales, and the cost appraisal. Throughout the information about the sale, the author weaves in information about Golden Age comic books and the history of the Superman franchise.
Full Citation: Tobar, Hector. “First Superman comic book sells for record-breaking $3.2 million.” Los Angeles Times, August 25, 2014, https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-first-superman-comic-book-record-price-3-point-2-million-20140825-story.html#null.
I hesitate to include this resource as it is largely intended to be a satirical work, inventing terms for the unique drawing and stylistic elements in comics. However, many of the terms have since passed into actual lexical use popularized, through this text. While it is best to not take this book as a patent guide to comic research, it can prove to be a useful community lexical index.
