The 'golden age' introduced most of the established comic book heroes of today. In May 1939 Detective Comics #27 revealed the first of 'The Amazing and Unique Adventures of The Bat-Man!' (note hyphen) who was joined by Robin the Boy Wonder a year later. 1940 saw the first stories of The Flash, Hawkman, Green Lantern, Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman and in 1941 Captain America debuted as the quintessential costumed hero, fighting for the American way dressed in a skin-tight American flag.
Before it ended in the early 1950s, the 'golden age' gave the world its most lasting comic book genre: the band or team of heroes. The Justice Society of America sat for the first time in 1941 and featured every major hero from the DC Comics stable. The JSA's origins are obvious: the gods of Mount Olympus and the Knights of the Round Table. An ideology of camaraderie and teamwork - and of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts - was promoted and refined, particularly during the War years. Such teams have remained with us ever since with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles being only one of every kind of team you can imagine.
In the mid-1950s, the 'golden age' gave way to the 'silver age', with earlier characters such as The Flash and Green Lantern brought up to date for a new generation of comic book readers. This period was particularly dominated by such Marvel Comics heroes as The Fantastic Four (1961), Spider-Man and The Hulk (both 1962) and The Mighty Thor (1963) with The X-Men and Daredevil following on. The 'silver age' culminated in 1968 with what many believe to be Marvel Comics' supremo Stan Lee's finest achievement: the first issue of The Silver Surfer.
