All-Ages Comics
People throw these terms Golden Age, Silver Age Dark Age, etc, around when talking about comics books. Here's a handy guide:
Golden Age: The first major age of comic books, starting in 1938 with Action Comics #1, the debut of Superman. Ended in 1954 with the creation of the Comics Code Authority. Comics of this age are sometimes very violent, and celebratory, but also oddly naive, especially in matters of romance and politics. Some heroes of this age so because they're simply the protagonist. Super hero comics are very much a bastard children of pulp heroes.
Silver Age: Although super hero comics were on a decline after the end of WWII, there were a few attempts at resurgence before the Comics Code reigned comics' content in farther than the movie's G-Rating. The Silver Age was when Super Hero Comics became prominent again, generally agreed to be started with the reimagining of the Flash in 1956. The end of the Silver Age isn't as agreed upon, with people citing "The Night Gwen Stacy Died," in 1973, as an end to comic book innocence, with others pointing to a general increase of "social conscience" in comics in the late 60s/early 70s, others might point to the increasing ineffectiveness of the CCA, high-lighted with the 1971 publication of the non-Code-approved Spider-Man anti-drug story, or even the end of Mort Weisinger's tenure as long-time Superman editor in 1970. I personally go with the CCA thing: the CCA's creation ended the Golden Age, it's exposure as useless should capstone the Silver. Generally, stories of this time are neutered in content (due to the CCA), an almost complete focus on bizarre science-fiction concepts and threats--most of which would land on the shallow end of the science fiction pool--(again due to the CCA, since a number of supernatural concepts and threats were disallowed) and a softer version previously dangerous criminals, most notably the Joker stopped being a dangerous murderer and became a light-hearted prankster (once famously proclaiming his joy at evoking tears from a kid whose report card he stole.
Bronze Age: Whenever the Silver Age ended, what came next was an interesting "middle age" of comics. Some people lump this age in with the Silver Age, but that does it a disservice. The Bronze Age was still somewhat restricted by the Comics Code, but they stretched those restrictions as far as possible. Genuine consequence began to be introduced (Superman famously reflecting on whether or not "Must There Be A Superman" and if he might be doing too good a job protecting the people of Earth; Green Lantern and Green Arrow teaming up to discover America and learn that "Snowbirds Don't Fly," and that GA's sidekick, Speedy, was addicted to heroin, the "graduation" of Dick Grayson from Robin and sidekick to Nightwing and independent hero, etc.) Began when the Silver Age ended--whenever that was--and ended with the publication of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Dark Age/Iron Age/Image Age: This age has a number of names, generally because its name wasn't born out of nostalgia, but simply an attempt to descriptively categorize the age. Began after the publication of Crisis on Infinite Earths which retconned the entire DC line, as well as the publication of Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, the two flagship titles for comic book grim & grittiness. It's because of the sheer number of imitators of those last two titles, as well as a general attempt to "age up" comic books, that the "Dark Age" name is most used. However, because a number of comic book artists went off to form their own company, Image, and almost uniformly published flashy, superficially "cool" books, interested more in exaggerated visuals, and met with success that DC and Marvel wanted to capitalize on and began to imitate, that "Image Age" is pretty common, too. To keep things in a metal theme, the "Iron Age"--iron being not as valuable or shiny as gold, silver, or even bronze--is used occasionally. Almost completely categorized by it's "style over substance" story-telling, and usually referred to disparagingly, but not all comics during this time were bad, for example: the entirety of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, as well as James Robinson's Starman. Mike Mignola's Hellboy--the first independent title I've mentioned here, for a reason--also debuted during this time. In short, while there was a lot of bad, there almost always is. There were plenty of diamonds in the rough there for those willing to do some digging.
New Age/Platinum Age/Event Age/Reconstruction Age: Many, perhaps even most, believe that the Iron Age isn't over, but I disagree. In the late, late-late, 90s, there was a renewed attempt to revitalize comic books, especially after the proliferation of the "90s Anti-Hero"--generally over-muscled sociopaths who went so far into the "grim'n'gritty" end of the pool, they almost drowned the industry. Titles like Kurt Busiek's Astro City--an admitted attempt at comic book "reconstruction"--Grant Morrison's JLA pretty much started it, but other creators, like Robert Kirkman's Invincible, Geoff Johns' and Justice Society of America, as well as his return of Hal Jordan in Green Lantern follow the pattern of trying to recreate the fun and wonderment of comics from the Silver Age--or earlier--show that there's been a change in the underlying philosophy of comic creators. Perhaps its not as comprehensive as the previous ages, and is merely a blip on the radar, but perhaps with a little nurturing, this will be a trend that could take us into a new Golden Age. Notably, careful analysis of comic book sales could seem to indicate that they're currently on the rise, despite the current economic climate. It's not much of an increase, but again, maybe it just needs nurturing.
I'll get into even more detail on the various ages later.
I'll get into even more detail on the various ages later.