Atomic Romance has a nice ring to it doesn’t it! But where did I, Swinebread, get such a luscious name, a name that drips with such sweetness it burns. Well, it all goes back to comic books as it often does. I was posting to Captain Comics and came across a discussion of the Golden Age, the Golden Age of Comic Books that is. This period dates from the 1930s to the mid-1950s, and is characterized by the creation of the comic format, and the rise and decline of the superheroes. Of course a Sliver Age of Comics followed, but nowadays most comic geeks, including me, believe that there was an age in-between Silver and Gold. Many names have been bandied about, the Atomic Age, the Genre Age, etcetera, but I came across one name in an old Overstreet Price Guide that stuck out, the Atomic-Romance Age. It was a time of nuclear horror and teen love, which comics reflected with titles like: Young Romance, Weird Science, and Tales from the Crypt, so heck, why not call this period the Atomic-Romance Age?
When I mentioned this ‘age’ on the thread, I realized that Atomic Romance would make a great title of a faux comic magazine, a cross between romance and Sci-Fi comic books. So, I created a new thread and made mock covers using parts of real Golden Age comic books. Needless to say, folks loved the idea and I had whale of time making them. I hope to do more eventually.
So, that is where Atomic Romance comes from. I think it is a good title for my blog as I hope to be all over the map with outré observations, especially in regards to digging into our pop culture for layered meanings, real or imagined. Also, I kinda’ like things that have a dialectic nature to them which Atomic Romance has. It’s both funny and scary. Plus, I may want to do something else with it at some point. (…a restaurant chain?). The possibilities are endless.
-Swinebread
11 comments:
As a sophist, I am forced to threaten dialectic thinkers with violence, but I find I cannot in this instance.
However, the real question is whether you support pre-emptive romance to interdict burgeoning nuclear threats.
Well, now this sounds like the beginnings of an awesome blog!
To don sanbulus
Of course as long as it's a priori...
To ladybug
Thanks!
They just don't make comic books like they used to, do they...for better or worse.
I remember there was a time back in the mid to late 80s (probably the last time I had a chance to look at American comics...since I've been in Japan since 1990) when both DC and Marvel went retro and started putting out pulp-style versions of their more classic superheros. However, the content was geared toward a more adult audience (maybe since the people that liked the old pulps were gray-haired?).
What's the state of American comics now?
Wow, that’s a big question, but a great one. By leaving the states in 1990 you missed out on the what was called the speculation boom, where gimmick covers, ‘hot’ no-talent artists, and collecting as an investment ruled the day. This fake investors market collapsed, taking many comic companies, and comic shops with it, Marvel even filed for bankruptcy. I actually quit comics from 1990 to 1999 myself, as I just couldn’t stand what was being produced.
There is currently an argument going in mainstream comics, whether comics are post-modern versions of the Silver Age (1958-1969) or the Bronze Age (1970-1985) superheroes. Regardless comics are more ‘adult’ now.
Japanese Manga has exploded in the U.S. with major bookstores devoting whole sections to them now. Most of these bookstore offerings are shojo-manga, which makes sense, as there was nothing for girls to read for a long time. They are now publishing adult manga too, most of it would strike Japanese folks as being old like Lone Wolf and Cub, Satsuma Gishiden and Lady Snowblood. Check out Dark House Comics for examples. There has been a seismic shift in the U.S. and many have woken up to that fact that comics aren’t just for kids. The manga backlog of decades past is now filling this growing market in the states. Libraries now stock comic trade paperbacks.
There is a flourishing non-mainstream market as well, with folks using comics as a venue for journals and diaries. There is an attempt to deliver more genres, which has met with some success and finally outside of New York, Portland Oregon has the one of the most active and vibrant comic scenes in the country for a city its size, three major comic companies are there and many underground and mainstream creators live there as well.
Mmmm, a restaurant named Atomic Romance? "I'll have the swinebread, if you please."
Welcome to the blogosphere...
Most toasty! You visit mine, I visit yours! Let's touch each other gently over some brisk iced tea. The corn's a poppin!
Oh crap, Dewkid, you beat me to the punch! (talk about coincidence!)
Hey dewkid and corn cob bob,
thanks for swinging by! :D
The name is perfect.
Mostly because romance, especially failed romance, often leaves one choosing the "Cherynobl option" of pouring tons of cement around a heart in meltdown.
This is where I perform sacrifices to alien gods. (uncomfortable nod towards body lying on slab).
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