10 Major Milestones In Comic Book History

Nothing was ever the same again.

Frank Miller Batman
DC Comics

There are few mediums out there that have commanded as big an influence as comic books have. The cultural landscape is littered with superhero paraphernalia at the mo', and with that comes a massive history to boast. They have, after all, been chugging along for the better part of a century, and, like other mediums, they've come along way in doing so.

Indeed, while comic book history is still very much a burgeoning aspect of scholarly study, there are a certain events out there that historians have marked as being instrumental in the medium's development, and indeed, in its wider influence on history too.

Certainly, the 'big two' (Marvel and DC) have much to say on this issue. As the two, well, biggest companies in the industry, it's obvious that they'd be responsible for the greater part of its history, but they've been both heroes and villains over the years; vilified during the fifties comic boom and revered during its eighties resurgence; reviled for their lack of diversity and applauded for their strident social commentary. It's an amazing journey to dissect, and one that will, imaginably, be getting the biopic treatment in a few years time.

But what were the milestones that really changed the face of the medium? It's hard enough having to narrow down just ten, what with so many having left their own indelible impact on the industry, but still, with comics continuing to dominate the cultural landscape, it's important to highlight just how far they've come.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.