By 1968 DC Comics lost the leadership of the comics book industry as well as some of the key people of the silver age: Gardner Fox, John Broome and Otto Binder, who were there since the golden age. In their place came people like Len Wein, Denny O'Neil, who grew reading comics and started to write for adults (the Comics Code Authority started to lose control).
1968 - 1973 is the transition between the Silver Age and the Bronze age of comics. There were still a great amount of important charcters created every year, but they were not as conventional as the ones from the classic years of the Silver Age. The new characters of this era embraced completely the Marvel tendencies. They were diverse, tragic, unconventional and freaky.
The early 70s saw the return of the horror and western genre, as well as that of Jack Kirby, who created a great number of legendary characters in worlds of their own.
Adam Strange and the Martian Manhunter are notoriusly absent from most of these years.
1968March:
- Creeper (Showcase #63),
- Guy Gardner (Green Lantern #59).
May:
- Anthro (Showcase #74),
- Secret Six (Secret Six #1).
June:
- Hawk and Dove (Showcase #75),
- Copperhead (The Brave and the Bold #78).
August:
- Bat Lash (Showcase #76),
- Red Tornado (Justice League of America #64),
- Cain (House of Mystery #175).
October:
- Angel and the Ape (Showcase #77).
- General Zahl. The Doom Patrol sacrifices their lives (Doom Patrol #121).
November:
- Sensei (Strange Adventures #215),
- Hellgrammite (The Brave and the Bold #80),
- Johnny Double (Showcase #78).
December:
- Dolphin (Showcase #79).
1969
May: Nightmaster (Showcase #82).
June: The Gentleman Ghost of Earth-1(Atom and Hawkman #43).September: Abel (House of Secrets #81).
November: Black Canary joins JLA (Justice League of America #75).
1970
February:
- J.L.A. Satellite, Vigilante a.k.a Greg Saunders of Earth-One appears (Justice League of America #78).
June:
- Manbat (Detective Comics #400),
- Manhunter 2070 (Showcase #91).
- Intergang, Morgan Edge (Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133),
- Thorn of Earth-1 (Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #105),
- El Diablo (All-Star Western #2).
November:
- Darkseid (Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #134),
- the Ten-Eyed Man (Batman #226).
1971
February:
- Orion, Highfather, Kalibak, Lightray (New Gods #1),
- Forever People (Forever People #1),
- the Phantom Stranger returns (Showcase #80).
May:
- Talia (Detective Comics #411),
- Desaad, Mantis (Forever People #2).
April:
- Mr. Miracle, Oberon (Mister Miracle #1),
- Ruby Ryder (The Brave and the Bold #95).
May:
- Granny Goodness,
- Dr. Bedlam (Mister Miracle #2).
June:
- Ra's Al Ghul (Batman #232),
- Glorious Godfrey (Forever People #3).
July:
- Swamp Thing (House of Secrets #92),
- Black Racer (New Gods #3),
- Bruno Manheim (Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #139).
September: Don Rickles (Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #141).
October:
- Big Barda (Mister Miracle #4),
- Dabney Donovan (Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #142).
December: Virman Vundabar (Mister Miracle #5).
1972
January:
- Bernadeth, Lashina, Mad Harriet, Stompa, and Funky Flashman (Mister Miracle #6),
- John Stewart (Green Lanten #87).
February:
- Jonah Hex (All-Star Western #10),
- Steppenwolf (New Gods #7).
March: Kanto (Mister Miracle #7).
April: Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (Tarzan #1).
August:
- Etrigan the Demon (The Demon #1),
- Forager (New Gods #9),
October:
- Kamandi (Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth #1),
- Manhunter a.k.a. Paul Kirk (Detective Comics #437).
November: Swamp Thing, the Un-men (Swamp Thing #1).
December: The Human Target II (Action Comics #419).
December: The Human Target II (Action Comics #419).
Notes: I used cover dates for this list (wich means you have to substract a couple of months).
Font types are modified according to the character.
Font types are modified according to the character.
- Important character,
- Character with an equivalent on Earth-2,
- Character with an Earth-2 double,
- Might have Earth-2 double, but their debut date makes it abiguous,
- Crossed-over descendant of an Earth-2 character,
- Created in other media first.
- Not tied to the DCU yet,
- Related to the Elongated Man.
Continue to:
- The Elongated Man and the Bronze Age Timeline! (1973 - 1985).
Go back to:
- The Elongated Man and the Silver Age Timeline!, Part I: Pre-Classic (1947 - 1956).
- The Elongated Man and the Silver Age Timeline!, Part II: Classic (1956 - 1969).
Related articles:
- Survivors of the Golden Age! - This article will help you identify character counterparts between Earth-One and Earth-Two.
