Editing Golden Age of Comic Books (section)

===Post-war and shift from superheroes===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:StrangeTales114 detail.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Comic-book cover, with red-white-and-blue Captain America defeating the red Human Torch|1940s comics were called "Golden Age" by 1963, as on the cover of ''[[Strange Tales]]'' #114 (November 1963).]] -->
The term [[Atomic Age of Comic Books]] is sometimes used to describe a brief time period, starting with either the end of World War II in 1945 or in 1948 with the first outcry of Fredric Wertham,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sanderson |first1=Peter |title=Marvel Year By Year |date=April 4, 2017 |publisher=DK |isbn=978-1-4654-5550-5 |page=40 |edition=Updated, Expanded}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wertham |first1=Fredrick |title=The Comics, Very Funny |date=May 29, 1948 |publisher=Saturday Review of Literature |page=6}}</ref> and lasting until the mid-1950s. Some authors consider this an [[interregnum]] period or an era in its own right,<ref name=Rhoades>{{cite book |last=Rhoades |first=Shirrel |title=A Complete History of American Comic Books |year=2008|publisher=Peter Lang |location=New York |isbn=978-1433101076 |pages=5 |oclc=175290005 }}</ref><ref name=Savage>William W. Savage, ''Commies, Cowboys, and Jungle Queens: Comic Books and America, 1945–1954'', Wesleyan University Press, 1998, p. 111.</ref> but most regard it as still part of the Golden Age. During this time, the popularity of superhero comics waned. To retain reader interest, comic publishers diversified into other genres, such as [[war comics|war]], [[Western comics|Westerns]], [[science fiction comics|science fiction]], [[romance comics|romance]], [[crime comics|crime]] and [[horror comics|horror]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kovacs|first1=George|last2=Marshall|first2=C. W.|title=Classics and Comics |date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780199734191|page=109}}</ref> Many superhero titles were canceled or converted to other genres.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}

In 1946, [[DC Comics]]' [[Superboy (Kal-El)|Superboy]], [[Aquaman]] and [[Green Arrow]] were switched from ''[[More Fun Comics]]'' into ''[[Adventure Comics]]'' so ''More Fun'' could focus on humor.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Daniel|first1=Wallace|last2=Gilbert|first2=Laura|title=DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|date=September 20, 2010|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley|DK Publishing]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0756667429|page=51|quote=Following ''More Fun Comics'' change in focus the previous month, the displaced super-heroes Superboy, Green Arrow, Johnny Quick, Aquaman, and the Shining Knight were welcomed by ''Adventure Comics''.}}</ref> In 1948 ''[[All-American Comics]]'', featuring [[Alan Scott|Green Lantern]], [[Johnny Thunder]] and [[Charles McNider|Dr. Mid-Nite]], was replaced with ''[[All-American Western]]''.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}} The following year, ''[[Flash Comics]]'' and ''[[Green Lantern (comic book)|Green Lantern]]'' were canceled.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}} In 1951 ''[[All Star Comics]]'', featuring the [[Justice Society of America]], became ''[[All-Star Western]]''. The next year ''[[Star Spangled Comics]]'', featuring Robin, was retitled ''[[Star Spangled War Stories]]''.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}} ''[[Sensation Comics]]'', featuring [[Wonder Woman]], was canceled in 1953.{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}} The only superhero comics published continuously through the entire 1950s were ''[[Action Comics]]'', ''[[Adventure Comics]]'', ''[[Batman (comic book)|Batman]]'', ''[[Detective Comics]]'', ''[[Superboy (comic book)|Superboy]]'', ''[[Superman (comic book)|Superman]]'', ''[[Wonder Woman (comic book)|Wonder Woman]]'' and ''[[World's Finest Comics]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schelly |first1=William |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950s |date=2013 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=9781605490540}}</ref>

[[Plastic Man]] appeared in [[Quality Comics]]' ''[[Police Comics]]'' until 1950, when its focus switched to detective stories; his solo title continued bimonthly until issue 52, cover-dated February 1955. [[Timely Comics]]' ''The Human Torch'' was canceled with issue #35 (March 1949)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comics.org/series/178/|title=The Human Torch|publisher=[[Grand Comics Database]]|access-date=February 3, 2015}}</ref> and ''[[Marvel Mystery Comics]]'', featuring the Human Torch, with issue #93 (Aug. 1949) became the [[horror comic]] ''[[Marvel Tales (1949–1957)|Marvel Tales]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comics.org/series/137/|title=Marvel Mystery Comics|publisher=[[Grand Comics Database]]|access-date=February 3, 2015}}</ref> ''Sub-Mariner Comics'' was canceled with issue #42 (June 1949) and ''Captain America Comics'', by then ''Captain America's Weird Tales'', with #75 (Feb. 1950). [[Harvey Comics]]' ''[[Black Cat (Harvey Comics)|Black Cat]]'' was canceled in 1951 and rebooted as a horror comic later that year—the title would change to ''Black Cat Mystery'', ''Black Cat Mystic'', and eventually ''Black Cat Western'' for the final two issues, which included Black Cat stories.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schoell|first1=William|title=The Horror Comics: Fiends, Freaks and Fantastic Creatures, 1940–1980s|date=June 26, 2014|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-0786470273|page=82}}</ref> [[Lev Gleason Publications]]' ''[[Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications)|Daredevil]]'' was edged out of his title by the [[Little Wise Guys]] in 1950.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Plowright|first1=Frank|title=The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide|date=September 22, 2003|publisher=[[Top Shelf Productions]]|location=Marietta, Georgia|isbn=0954458907|page=159}}</ref> [[Fawcett Comics]]' ''[[Whiz Comics]]'', ''[[Master Comics]]'' and ''[[Captain Marvel Adventures]]'' were canceled in 1953, and ''[[The Marvel Family]]'' was canceled the following year.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Conroy|first1=Mike|title=500 Great Comic Book Action Heroes|date=August 1, 2003|publisher=[[Barron's Educational Series]]|location=Hauppauge, New York|isbn=0764125818|page=[https://archive.org/details/500greatcomicboo00conr/page/208 208]|url=https://archive.org/details/500greatcomicboo00conr/page/208}}</ref>

Also during this period, the mass media with the advent of television were forcing media companies to put out comics that reflected the popular culture of the time period. Comic books focused on space, mystery, and suspense that television and other forms of media were turning to in the march toward scientific progress.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Ferenc|last=Szasz|url=https://unpress.nevada.edu/9780874179187/atomic-comics/|title=Atomic Comics Cartoonists Confront the Nuclear World|publisher=University of Nevada Press|date=September 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823224553/https://unpress.nevada.edu/9780874179187/atomic-comics/#:~:text=The%20advent%20of%20the%20Atomic,early%201920s%20to%20the%20present.|archive-date=August 23, 2023|access-date=August 23, 2023|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>
According to historian Michael A. Amundson, appealing comic-book characters helped ease young readers' fear of [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] and neutralize anxiety about the questions posed by atomic power.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Zeman|first1=Scott C.|last2=Amundson|first2=Michael A.|title=Atomic Culture: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb|url=https://archive.org/details/automiccultureho00scot|url-access=registration|date=2004|publisher=University Press of Colorado|location=Boulder, Colorado|isbn=9780870817632|page=[https://archive.org/details/automiccultureho00scot/page/11 11]}}</ref> It was during this period that long-running humor comics debuted, including [[EC Comics]]' series ''[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]'' and Dell's series ''[[Uncle Scrooge]]'' (both in 1952).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gertler|first1=Nat|last2=Lieber|first2=Steve|title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel|date=6 July 2004|publisher=[[Alpha Books]]|location=New York|isbn=1592572332|page=178}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Farrell|first1=Ken|title=Warman's Disney Collectibles Field Guide: Values and Identification|date=1 May 2006|publisher=[[Krause Publications]]|location=Iola, Wisconsin|isbn=0896893227|page=327}}</ref>