A term describing the comic books of the 1930s and 1940s. The highest-priced and most sought-after comics come from this time period, because they are the earliest examples of comic book art -- and because of their rarity, as many comic books were donated to paper drives during World War II. According to most comics historians, the Golden Age covered the period beginning with the publication of Action Comics #1 in June 1938 and ended in the early 1950s, when concerns about the morality of comic books lead to a steep drop in their popularity.

Many of the most popular comic book characters have their roots in the Golden Age, including Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Captain America, and Captain Marvel.

In the Netherlands, the 17th century is considered the Golden Age. This era of success and prosperity is marked by people like Rembrandt and the Dutch East India Company.

If one looks upon the political situation in the Netherlands at the time, calling the 17th century the Golden Age might seem a tad bit strange. The country was at war almost constantly, the French and the Spanish invaded the Netherlands. But cultural and colonial expansion was heavy, marking the Dutch spot on the world map for ever.

Also the Golden Age of Roman literature under Augustus.

During this time, Rome became a mecca for writers and artists from all of Italy. They came to Rome seeking generous patronage, and many acheived extraordinary things. The 'Pax Romana' brought about by Augustus and the prosperity it created brought about a revival of patriotic poetry and literature.

Livy, born in 59BC, created his histories, which were unlike Tacitus' in that Livy was more of an artist. This meant that his histories read like a collection of stories and have been inspirational for years, even though three quarters of his work were lost.

The poet Horace wrote his Odes, which like Virgil's Georgics, were inspired by a simple love of nature. He also expressed the concept of the Roman people and his work being eternal in the quotation: "I will not entirely die, since my poetry will be a monument more lasting than bronze."

The most famous of the Golden Age poets was Virgil, whose Aeneid was based on the two epics of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. It tells the story of a Trojan prince who escapes his homeland and founds the Roman race. Such a sentiment was fondly received by both the Emperor and the public.

Another distinguished Roman Golden Age poet was Ovid, whose Metamorphoses present various tales from ancient mythology in a witty way which still finds favour with readers today. He was, however, involved in some mysterious scandal later in life, and exiled to an outpost in the Black Sea where he was to die.

The Golden Age of science fiction is considered the birth of the modern era. It is the Campbell Years, the era when John W. Campbell took young writers like Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov under his wing, the years seeing the publication of Who Goes There?, All You Zombies, He Who Shrank, the creation of The Three Laws Of Robotics, the Foundation, the birth of the Future History as a framework for an entire body of work, the birth of Space Operas like the Skylark of Space, the Lensman series, everything, in fact, that makes SF SF.

Campbell insisted that the stories he published be scientifically accurate. His writers blossomed under this restriction. Like haiku, what appear at first to be limits are actually the very things that nurture creativity. Good science fiction was born then, in the 1930's and 1940's.

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