In his new book, Rise of the Superheroes – Greatest Silver Age Comics Books and Characters, author David W. Tosh explores the changes, growth, trends, and key moments within comic books during the pivotal time period. A lifelong fan of comics and cartoons, Tosh currently works at Heritage Auctions as a cataloger of comic books, original comic and animation art, and concert posters. In addition to reviewing his book, Scoop chatted with Tosh about why and how he wrote the book, the significance of the Silver Age, and discussed topics in the book to get a taste of its content.

Scoop: What made you want to write this book?
David W. Tosh (DWT): A great love of 1960s comic books was my motivation. Comics have been a huge part of my life for so many years now. Among the first books I read as a youngster featured superheroes like Batman and Superman, and although I wound up collecting many different genres (including a healthy dose of funny animal and humor comics), I still love going back and reading those heroic exploits. I am a Silver Age “baby,” so to speak, so picking this era was a natural choice for me.

I’ve actually put together two books on comics: Henry Speaks For Himself, 2014, and Walt Kelly’s Fables and Funnies in 2016 – this last one was nominated for an Eisner Award. I also wrote the Picker’s Pocket Guide – Comics Books for Krause. I jumped at the chance to write this book on Silver Age superheroes; it was a lot of fun putting it together.

Scoop: What kind of research did you do before writing?
DWT: My 15 years of writing about comics and comic art as a cataloger for Heritage Auctions was the main foundation for this book. There’s not much I haven’t seen or written about when it comes to those four-color wonders! I also spent years reading every book on the subject I could find, so you might say my research has been ongoing the better part of my 64 years.

Scoop: Did anything surprise you along the way as you were researching and writing?
DWT: Every day brings a new surprise, a new bit of knowledge about comics. If anything has truly surprised me, it’s the knowledge that interest in this subject is greater than ever now. Also, the prices some of these comic books and artwork bring today is nothing short of astounding!

Scoop: Do you consider the Silver Age to have had the most significant impact on the comics industry?
DWT: Of course! It certainly made a significant impact on me, obviously. I personally think the current interest in comic book heroes would not be possible without the Silver Age innovations by Marvel, DC, and others. These were the very best years for the medium, the era where comic books began to be considered more than just throwaway entertainment for children.

Scoop: How did you decide what specific content to cover in this book?
DWT: I wanted to cover as much ground as possible, not just focus on the biggest and best-known characters. With so much to choose from, it wasn’t easy to narrow it down, as I have so many personal favorites. I tried to cover all the bases, and talk about the characters and titles that have made the biggest impact on pop culture, and also to explore some of the lesser-known characters that today’s fans may not be aware of.

Scoop: Throughout the book there are “Where Was I?” and “In My Neighborhood” inserts chronicling your activities and interests during the period. Obviously, this timeframe in comics had a significant impact on you. Why was it important to share these anecdotes with readers?
DWT: I wanted this book to be as much a personal remembrance as a history of the era. The 1960s was such a great time to be a kid. It was really a “Pop Culture Heaven” of sorts! I wanted to approach the project from that perspective – give it the “human touch,” so to speak. I managed to connect once again with my 12-year-old self, and it was a lot of fun thinking about those times past, when all of this was still so new and exciting to me. All those spinner racks filled with colorful 12¢ treasures that I remember searching through came flooding back to me as I wrote these passages.

Scoop: Given your appreciation for the time period, what methods did you use to keep the book objective?
DWT: I wanted to include the best of that era’s superhero output. Obviously, there are some characters I skipped, but I think I covered the ones most people would be interested in today. While I was guided by my own personal tastes, I tried to keep my focus on the bigger picture. It’s my desire that someone new to all this, who loves the current superhero movies and television shows, will be able to get a better idea of where these characters came from, and how they came about.

Scoop: For DC, the Silver Age began with new versions of characters like the Flash and Green Lantern as well as developing the Justice League and revising other characters. Was this a major risk on DC’s part or necessary to keep their superhero books thriving?
DWT: A bit of both, I think. The syndicated Superman TV series kept interest in superheroes from fading completely during the 1950s, but it was a leap of faith to revive 1940s characters, even in updated form. Marvel had unsuccessfully tried to revive Captain America and other Golden Age superheroes in 1954, so DC must have felt there was a risk involved. Fortunately, for fans like me, there were people behind the scenes at DC Comics who really cared about what they were doing – this wasn’t just a job, but a passion. DC had many writers and editors back then who worked hard to push the medium forward, not just hack it out. The art was fantastic, for the most part, so that combination of solid writing, expert artistry, and thoughtful, constructive editing made for some wonderful reading for kids like me. Can you believe that work done for children some 50-plus years ago is considered to be important enough to write books on today? Mind-blowing!

Scoop: Marvel introduced a truckload of their most significant characters and teams in the early ’60s. What do you think had the larger impact on their popularity – the inventive characters and their superpowers or the creativity of their appearances and visual action on the page?
DWT: I think a good deal of Marvel’s appeal was the fact that older kids could relate to teenage Peter Parker as Spider-Man, and to Fantastic Four members bickering with each other. Even while dealing with colorful heroes and villains, Marvel kept their books down to earth – these were stories about people with real, everyday problems. Also, Stan Lee’s hip dialog was more fun to read, especially with those older readers. Of course, having powerhouse artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko on the payroll didn’t hurt Marvel’s chances for success! Like at DC, the Marvel staff really cared about what they were doing, and strived to be the best. Having Marvel and DC one-upping each other week after week was a bit like John Lennon and Paul McCartney inspiring each other to make every new Beatles album better than the last.

Scoop: How much did current events and pop culture influence the pop art years and the more serious, even darker phase, that followed?
DWT: Quite a bit, I would say – that’s why I felt it was important to note these events in the book. Both Marvel and DC wanted to keep up with the changing times (and boy, they were a’changing back then). In fact, the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 and the war in Vietnam played a big part. America needed heroes more than ever then, even if only fictional ones. Art, music, movies, television, even magazines like Look and Life in the 1960s were important inspirations for the comics. The late ’60s “darker” tone was more of a reaction to the gaudiness of the Pop Art era, as “camp” quickly fell out of favor with readers during these turbulent years.

Scoop: Along with the juggernauts of DC and Marvel, you also featured superhero characters at Archie, Gold Key, and other publishers. Which of those characters/titles do you consider to be the most important to the history of Silver Age comics?
DWT: The Tower line of comics was perhaps the best of the other publishers during this time period. The art and storylines were great. NoMan was a particularly interesting character. But the great thing about that time was the fact that comic books had a little something for everyone – little kids could read about Goofy as a superhero, and the “tween age” youngsters had Archie and the gang in tights and capes. Even some of those books had good stories and nice artwork.

Scoop: The comic books industry is a very visual medium, which is well represented in this book. How did you decide which covers and art pages to include?
DWT: It was tough! Working at Heritage Auctions made it easy to find great examples. The best of the best in comic books and original art are well represented in our auction archives. I wanted great, eye-catching graphics using the best possible condition books and rare artwork, and I had no trouble finding them in the archives – I just had to decide what to pick! My experience as a graphic designer for many years has given me a pretty good eye for color and composition, so that helped me narrow it down a bit.

I believe a big part of the appeal of my book comes from the expert design work from Krause. They really knocked it out of the park on this one! I couldn’t have done a better job making the pages jump out with such eye-popping graphics!

Scoop: You wrote about the success of big screen and TV adaptations of comic characters from the Batman TV show in ’66 to the Black Panther movie that just hit theaters. How much do the films and TV shows owe to the Silver Age?
DWT: That’s hard to say, but I feel there must have been a strong connection somewhere – directors and screenwriters who grew up as fans during the ’60s, or those who came to love these comics from seeing them later on, at conventions. Comic collecting really began to heat up in the early 1970s, and big conventions started springing up in major cities like New York and Los Angeles. I have no doubt that some of today’s hottest producers, directors, and screenwriters were there, inspired by the older comic books on display at those events.

Scoop: Are you considering writing books on the Golden or Bronze Age of comics? Are you working on other writing projects?
DWT: My next book will be a compilation of art, interviews, and essays from my personal ‘zine, Mumbo, which I self-published from 2000 to 2015; it will be out later this year with art by Robert Crumb and many others. However, I have mentioned to my editors a desire to write about comic books from the Golden and Bronze Ages. Time will tell, but I would certainly love to do more books like this!