A comic book—or comic for short—is a magazine or book containing sequential art. Although the term implies otherwise, the subject matter in comic books is not necessarily humorous; in fact, it is often serious and action-oriented.
Most comics combine words with images, often indicating speech in the form of word balloons.

Comics are categorised as follows:

The Golden Age: Generally thought as lasting from the introduction of the character Superman in 1938 until the early 1950s.

The Silver Age: Considered to date from the first successful revival of the dormant superhero form, the debut of Flash, and last through the early 1970s, during which time Marvel Comics had introduced us to superheroes such as the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man.

The Bronze Age: Picking a starting point for the bronze age has been difficult.
Starting points that have been suggested are:  October 1970 (Conan), April 1970 (Green Lantern/Green Arrow)  or possibly May 1971 (Amazing Spider-Man)
 
The Modern Age: This has even more potential starting points, but is generally agreed to be the publication of Alan Moore's Watchmen by DC Comics in 1986.


The rarest comic books in existence include copies of the unreleased Motion Picture Funnies Weekly  from 1939.
Eight copies, plus one without a cover, were discovered in the estate of the deceased publisher in 1974.


For a comic book database filled with information and downloads go to: GCD

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