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Comics #1 marked the beginning of the Golden Age of Comics, the release of Showcase #4 signaled the beginning of the Silver Age when editor Julius Schwartz decided it was time to reinvigorate the superhero characters who had been so popular during the War years. Rather than simply resurrect the old characters, Schwartz directed his writers and artists to come up with new takes on the characters, reinventions more in keeping with the modern, post-Atomic age. The result was a goldmine as first the Flash, then Green Lantern, the Atom, Hawkman, and more received contemporary makeovers and found an eager audience. Although it's possible that comics would have survived into the 1960s without Schwartz's foresight, it's highly unlikely.

5. Fantastic Four #1 (1961) and Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962): For years, eve since the demise of superhero comics in 1948, small publisher Timely/Atlas had limped along turning out solid, but unspectacular, Western, romance titles, and monster/science fiction books. About to give up his comic book writing career forever, head writer Stan Lee was tasked with creating a team of superheroes to compete with DCs current blockbuster, the Justice League of America. Feeling that he had nothing to lose, Lee, along with artist Jack Kirby, created the Fantastic Four, a quartet of superpowered characters who eschewed secret identities and didn't always get along with each other. It was, to DCs gentler, more traditional fare, what the edgy atics of the Warner Brothers cartoons were to their Disney counterparts. The results were electrifying, and soon after, Lee brought Spider-Man to life in the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15, this time utilizing the artistic talents of Steve Ditko. These two seminal creations, along with the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men, and others, rocketed the company - now renamed Marvel - to the peak of success in the 1960s, easily outstripping DC in popularity. Much of comics longevity can be traced directly to these two groundbreaking books.

6. The Galactus Trilogy (Fantastic Four #48, 49, and 50)(1966): In the opinion of many, the single greatest comic story ever told. Introducing both Galactus and the Silver Surfer, this was the high point of the storied Lee/Kirby collaboration, and still stands as the high watermark against which all other comic stories are measured.

7. Conan #1 (1970): Many comic scholars see this book as the beginning of the Bronze Age, as it was the introduction of the genre that would come to be known

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