Originally published at
The Codex Continual. You can comment here or
there.
Bulwark Comics: The Silver Age
In August 1964, Bulwark Publications relaunched Bulwark Comics for its second life. Having absorbed Guardian Comics and its catalog into the fold, Bulwark wanted a new incarnation of all its pulp comic book properties (especially since most of the fiction magazines had folded by this time).
The editorial directive for Bulwark Comics was to build a new universe for stories and new versions of characters without worry of piecing it all together (just how the pulps and comics previously). While the books began unhampered by continuity, things changed with the retirement of the “Five Old Men” (Bulwark’s editors who ran the comics during the Golden Age): E.C. Buckner, Peter Edgars, Charles Knight, Sam Torwitz, and Terry Zuller.
While the relaunch happened under Sam Torwitz, he retired soon after and very quickly named his son-in-law Carl Snow (later called “the Father of Bulwark’s Silver Age”) the line’s editor-in-chief. Starting in March 1965, Snow wanted to see every book try something new with any old property before creating a new trademark and character (while Sam’s relaunch dictated books with at least two new and one revived character in each). Thus, many books began using a large array of older character names from the pulps as background and supporting characters. One shtick retained from the Golden Age (started by Charles Knight) was using acronyms for many group or character names, resulting in new versions of G.U.A.R.D.™, T.H.R.E.A.T.™, M.E.N.A.C.E.™, and numerous others.
Many assistant editors who now took over were fans of the old characters but wanted to try new things like utilizing science fiction ideas with the characters instead of the omnipresent magic from their previous incarnations. Judah Buxton and Samuel Carris were most responsible for changes of these veins, using Bulwark Debut and Bulwark Showcase to try out new concepts before launching the characters into their own books.
While most of the characters retained some links to their past incarnations (often replacing the character with his or her own child of the same name), some made major shifts (especially WIDOW & VEIL™, GASLIGHT™, and REDRESSOR™) under Judah Buxton’s editorial hand. The VEIL was now an android designed by the WIDOW as an assistant and walking computer; the REDRESSOR™ was no longer a singular hero but a member of a massive NEMESISTONE™-wielding legion; and the GASLIGHT™ became the inheritor of the BLUE WYCHFYRE™ and a mystical superhero instead of a detective with a magic ring.
The bigger stars of the Bulwark Silver Age were the collective heroes of the G.U.A.R.D. (especially BRICK BRADLEY™, BLAZE BERET™, GOLIATH GIRL™, and HARMARKHIS™), the BROOKLYON™, WIDOW & VEIL™, CORPS COSMICA™, and new versions again of ACE BARRIGAN™, DOCTOR ENIGMA™, JOHN UNKNOWN™, and SOLOMON LAZARUS™. New characters appeared as well, like GLACIA™, the ARACHNAUT™, the SIGNALIER™, the CONSTELLAGENT™ , and the KNIGHTS OF THE ATOMICHASM™ , though they didn’t always get their own books (at least not for long).
The many books of Bulwark’s Silver Age are a long list, though these are the primary books from 1964 until the 1980’s: Adventures Amazing, Adventures Astounding, Adventures Celestial, Adventures in Combat, Adventures Occult, Adventures Supernatural, Bulwark Allies, Bulwark Blasts, Bulwark Classics, Bulwark Debut , Bulwark Double Feature, Bulwark Duos , Bulwark Horizons, Bulwark Mega-Action, Bulwark Showcase, Bulwark Triple Feature, Bulwark’s Best Comics, Bulwark’s Fantasticomics, Fairgeth Blue, Justice Tales (starring the G.U.A.R.D.), Kharndam Tales, New Electri-Comics, T.H.R.E.A.T. , Tales Fulminant, Thrilling Adventures, and Uncanny Exploits.
Though collections of comic books were rare until the mid-1970’s, Bulwark Comics maintained one or two series at any given time that reprinted many old Golden Age comics (both from Bulwark’s first foray or from Guardian Comics). Often, these reprints did not follow any regular series or characters and cherry-picked the best or most notable stories when they began. As the Silver Age wore on, the books (Bulwark Blasts, Bulwark Classics, Bulwark’s Best Comics, Bulwark’s Fantasticomics) reprinted older stories that had ties to current ongoing series. By the early 1980’s, many writers who had grown up on Bulwark’s Silver Age books relied on those reprints to show readers the previous incarnations of characters as they used them in alternate universe cross-over stories.
By the end of the Silver Age in 1991 when Bulwark Comics cancelled all of its books with the universe-ending mini-series CROSSROADS™: Ragnarok, every character who had ever appeared in the Golden Age of two companies and most notable characters from the pulps had become co-opted and used in Bulwark Comics (thanks to editor Gerry Wald, who made sure no Bulwark trademarked or copyrighted characters ever fell into the public domain during his tenure).
In the years after Bulwark Comics closed its doors, the main publishing arm began collecting and producing trade paperback collections of many Golden and Silver Age comics to much acclaim. That kept the properties earning money for Bulwark and allowed fans access to more than 50 years’ worth of stories. These reprints also served as added publishing support for the role-playing game 4-COLOR THRILLS™ (published by Bulwark Publications’ subsidiary Guardian Games), which featured many of the same superheroes. The game underwent two editions (the original in 1987 and an Expanded Edition in 1993) and kept interest alive in Bulwark Comics during the hiatus leading to the Modern Age of Bulwark Comics in 1998.
© 2009 by Steven E. Schend. All rights reserved.