Super Stuff

It’s difficult to describe just how important superheroes and their comic book adventures were to me while growing up. I was completely immersed in those stories; swinging high above the streets of New York City, flying off to defeat super villains intent on destroying the world, traveling back and forward in time or to the edge of the galaxy. At first I read comics published by both Marvel and DC Comics, but it was the Marvel Comics heroes and their amazing universe which soon captivated me. I devoured those comics and was completely sucked into the superhero world for several years from the mid-sixties until the late seventies and continued to read comic books occasionally well into the 1980’s.

Here are some interesting links on comics and the superhero genre in general

This site contains a fabulous cover index from Marvel’s Silver Age in the 1960's until 1971. Many of the comics depicted here are ones that I read while growing up.

http://www.samcci.comics.org/index.html

Cover images of comics featuring my personal favourite heroes can be found at these links. Where a link takes you to the main index, you can simply click on 'Titles', then on the superhero name to access the cover gallery.

Avengers http://www.samcci.comics.org

Captain America http://www.samcci.comics.org/ca100-119.htm

Daredevil http://www.samcci.comics.org/DD-01-25.htm

Fantastic Four http://www.samcci.comics.org/FF-01-25.htm

Iron Man http://www.samcci.comics.org/IM-01-35.htm

Spider-Man http://www.samcci.comics.org/SM-01-25.htm

The Hulk http://www.samcci.comics.org/HULK-102-135.htm

The Mighty Thor http://www.samcci.comics.org

X Men http://www.samcci.comics.org/index.html

The main Marvel Comics site can be accessed here http://www.marvel.com/

The main DC Comics site can be accessed here http://www.dccomics.com/

This site contains a comprehensive index of comic covers for DC Comics. While less of an influence than Marvel, I still followed the adventures of the DC heroes such as Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, the Justice League and many others.

http://www.dcindexes.com

The History of Superhero Comics is detailed on this site:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8580/Hist1.html

Books

There are many books available on the subject of comic book heroes, which you can find by searching online or at your local bookstores. Two of my own favourites are:

Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels, a fantastic guide to everything in the Marvel universe. This book is a must read for any comic book fan and is packed with full colour illustrations.

Over 50 years of American Comic Books by Ron Goulart

A history encompassing both the Marvel and DC heroes, as well as those from other comic book publishers, from the very beginning, through the Golden and Silver Age until the present day.