Behold! The Chromium Age!
As a kid in the fifth grade, I was dumbfounded when Keith, my fellow classmate, asked me who was my favorite X-Man. At the time, I had never seen an X book let alone read one, but I had seen the cartoon on Fox the previous weekend. My answer was, "The guy in the trench coat who throws cards." I didn't even know the characters name. My friend replies, "Oh, that's Gambit." and proceeded to educate me an all things X-Men. This was my first exposure to comic books.
Soon after this incident, I became a regular viewer who anxiously anticipated every Saturday morning's episode of X-Men. I also watched Spider-man since it was animated in a similar style. Before too long, begging my mother to take me to the comic book store became a frequent habit. The comic book store was amazing, and oddly enough it was literally named "The Comic Book Store". They had so many comics, trading cards, and toys that I knew at an instant that I was in nerdvana. Comics with chromium and holo-folios particularly caught my eyes. In fact, the "Fatal Attractions" storyline by Marvel was one of my favorite chase items from the time. I suppose as kid I was enamored by the shininess. This simpleton attitude was exacerbated by the Marvel Metals trading cards. I didn't know it at the time, but I was a Chromium Age comic book collector.
Most of the people reading this are probably scratching their heads and wondering what the hell "Chromium Age" means. What you may not know is that comic books are often times categorized as being from a particular "Age". The three most prominent Age categories are Golden Age (books from 1938 until after World War II), Silver Age (comics from the 1950s until the late 1960s), and the Bronze Age (1970s until the mid 1980s). Each age has different characteristics that separate it. These characteristics vary from actual size of the comic, story content, character changes, etc. Everything after the Bronze Age is simply referred to as "Modern Age.” I believe that this is flawed because during the mid to late 1980s until the mid to late 1990s there was a distinct period in comics worthy of an Age label. The problem is the next Age label in the Greek mythological chart is Iron Age, but that is the last metallic indicator. To the end of preserving the Greek mythological naming system and accurately labeling this decade in comics, I am officially naming this time period the "Chromium Age of Comic Books.”
Like all the ages before it, it's important to find the origin of a particular movement in comic books. With the publication of books like "Watchmen" and "the Dark Knight Returns,” comics began seeing a rise in sales and distribution in the mid 80s. More specifically, there was a switch in the primary distribution from newsstands to specialty stores (now known as the comic book store). A boom in sales really begins after the 1989 release of Tim Burton's "Batman" film. With more people of varying ages getting into comic books, older readers began noticing the extraordinary value of comics from the Gold and Silver Age. Before too long, newspapers began running articles claiming that comic books were a better investment than most stocks and bonds. The logic behind these claims were that a book bought in the 60s for ten cents was now worth thousands of dollars, earning a huge return on investment.
The signature of this Age came courtesy of "Bloodshot" issue 1 in 1994 which offered the first ever chromium cover to increase collectability. Other companies soon followed suit and released comics with similar chromium, holographic, holo-foil, and other various special printing techniques to make their books appeal to the collectors/investors. Variant art covers and polybagged issues were another prevalent gimmick during this time period, with "Gen13" issue 1 offering thirteen different covers being the most well know. The idea was that the collector/investor had to buy multiple copies of each to make it a worthwhile investment.
The high water mark of the Chromium Age is the DC storyline known as "The Death of Superman" in 1993. When DC comics announced this major event, the news media was quick to report the death of such an iconic American figure. This media frenzy sent sales through. Sumer mega-crossover events started becoming common place during the high-water years. Some notable examples are "Crisis on Infinite Earths," "Fatal Attractions," "Secret War," and "Age of Apocalypse." Also during the high water years, independent publishers like Valiant, Image, and Dark Horse were able to break through the virtual monopoly that Marvel and DC had on the market.
All good things had to come to an end though. With so many collector/investors wanting a return on investment the market became quickly flooded with once-thought-to-be chase books. Then the realization set in that what made a comic return dividends wasn’t the amount of chromium on the cover but its age and scarcity. I put the official end of the Chromium Age in 1997 when Marvel filed for bankruptcy. Other comic pundits also label this as the end of the comic boom, as Marvel filing for Chapter 13 was a direct result of the market collapse.
The Chromium Age has had a profound effect on the comics industry today. For example, both Marvel and DC print to order with very few copies over printed. Joe Quesada is typically noted for instituting this policy after he took over as Editor-in-Chief at Marvel. This particular policy is great for Marvel but has the added benefit of increasing secondary market values of back issues because the print runs are as large. Also, these days’ comic companies typically reserve special variant printings styles to important events such as anniversary issues, major crossovers, or real world events (i.e. election of Barack Obama). In addition, typically these variants are scarcer because one variant is printed for every X amount of regular covers printed.
For all of its faults, I still love the Chromium Age, and admittedly I'm still a Chromium Age collector. To me, it's more important to own a cool issue than it is to actually read it. However, I read a lot more of my comics than I used to. A side benefit is that all of those books I loved as a kid actually cost less than their original cover. I feel sorry for all the guys who bought Silver Age books brand new for a dime, threw them out, and now have to reacquire them.
Adamantium Explained
Adamantium is the most famous metal alloy in the Marvel Comics . It first appeared in Avengers #66 (July 1969). In the Marvel universe Adamantium is one of the most durable substances ever to be created by Earth science. The metallurgical process needed to create it are incredibly difficult to achieve, exceedingly expensive, and its creation process is known to only a very few organizations, individuals, and governments in the Marvel Universe. Adamantium is, most famously, the metal bonded to Wolverine's entire skeleton.
Adamantium is first created by metallurgist Dr. Myron McClain during the late 1960s in an attempt to recreate the unique Vibranium-steel alloy of Captain America's shield.
McClain was unable to duplicate the process or discover the unknown element that created the alloy, but he does create a material that is very similar on a molecular level and is almost as durable.
Adamantium is created by mixing several chemical resins together; the exact formula is a secret. After the resins are mixed together, the Adamantium can be molded into different shapes for approximately eight minutes as long as the mixture is kept at a temperature of 1,500 Fahrenheit. Adamantium is extremely stable on the molecular level and this prevents it from being further molded after this eight-minute time period even if the temperature is high enough to keep it in its liquefied form.
Captain America’s Shield was also created by Myron McClain when he fused Vibranium and Steel together. Vibranium is a fictional metal that has the properties of absorbing all vibrations in the vicinity as well as kinetic energy directed at it. It first appeared in Daredevil #13 (1966)The energy absorbed is stored within the bonds between the molecules that make up the substance. As a result, the more energy Vibranium absorbs the tougher it becomes.
McClain had tried in vain to fuse Vibranium and Steel. During one of his experiments to fuse Vibranium with an experimental iron alloy, McClain falls asleep and awakens to find the experiment a success. However, this is due to an unknown catalyst entering the process during his slumber, and he is unable to duplicate the result. The Vibranium-iron alloy mix is then poured into a mold for a tank’s upper hatch to create the disc shape and painted to become Captain America's symbol.
It’s been mistakenly referenced in the old Marvel Universe Handbook entry that Cap’s shield is an alloy of Vibranium and Adamantium but this was later contradicted in the Vibranium entry of the Marvel Handbook a few months later and official word has been “No Adamantium” in the Shield ever since.
As to the Debate between Wolverines claws and Captain America’s shield they faced off in Captain America Annual #8 and Wolverine was never able to pierce his shield ( seems pretty cut and dry to me).
For the record the shield has been Destroyed only 3 times.
The Molecule Man disintegrated it during Secret Wars by taking it apart on a subatomic level.
Dr Doom wielding the godlike power of the Beyonder was also able to destroy the shield, again during Secret Wars.
The Third and final time it was destroyed was by Thanos when he had the power of the Infinity Gauntlet which also had raised his powers to god like levels.
In all these instance Cap got his shield back when these god like beings re-assembled his shield. No Mortal has ever shown evidence of being able to harm it. I think the Wolverines Claws vs. Cap’s Shield argument should be settled once and for all.
Until next time Make Mine Marvel!
Mylar F. Snugg