In the last 70 years, many things about America have changed. Yet every week since the 1940s, Americans still run to their nearest comic book shop to buy stories about the characters that they love and look up to. Many superheroes have barely changed since mid-19th century, but the industry as a whole has changed us as Americans and as citizens across the globe. Comic book characters have provided a sense of comfort to us, giving us someone to root for and as an escape into a fantasyland of powers and abilities. They have been used as propaganda and also to advance movements amongst the people such as the Civil Rights and Feminist movements. Also, the shift in our real world has changed the tone of comics, such as terrorism becoming a main idea of many comics following 9/11. Now, the movie industry has brought comics to life and has made some of the highest grossing film franchises which pull in billions upon billions of dollars. But this industry has had its ups and downs. Many have subjected it to harsh criticisms about the unrealism they show and the way they depict certain groups. Regardless, comics have changed the course of American history and shaped our culture. The early 1940s brought us amongst others the rise of Superman, Batman, and Captain America, which some consider the beginning of all comics. While World War II was raging overseas, the kids of America raced to read the latest story of Superman defeating an evil villain from outer space or Batman putting a criminal back in jail. However as the war went on, a change started to occur. Writers wanted real-life stories of World War II that would interest kids in current events. Captain America comics showed him leading his team of war-heroes into Nazi bases and dest... ... middle of paper ... ...error “prompted comic books to take a more global view of the world.” Following 9/11, New York-native Spider-Man was shown searching through the rubble to help find the bodies of those who had fallen. In the past few decades, comics have made leaps and bounds to drop stereotypes. However, they have been criticized since the beginning. Comics, which were originally geared more toward boys and young men, have always objectified women and unnaturally sexualized their bodies. They are shown in skin-tight, inappropriate outfits that just seem unpractical for fighting for the greater-good. In the 1960s, African-Americans were marginalized, by putting “Black” in front of their name like Black Panther (Marvel) and Black Adam (DC). Although the African-American superheroes were a huge step for Civil Rights, did they really need to reinforce the fact that they were black?
Inspired by the way comics were able to illustrate the events of WWII I decided to investigate to what extent did comic books influence American perceptions during World War II. Comics turned into an apparatus to exploit racial and social contrasts and outlet for wartime purposeful publicity. The Golden Age of Comic Books portrays a period of American comic books from the late 1930s to the mid 1950s. During this time, present day comic books were initially distributed and quickly expanded in notoriety. The superhero model was made and some surely understood characters were presented, for example, Superman, Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel.
Imagine a Batman birthed in 1939 aging with his readership, so come 1986 he is retired. Who would his villains be? Not the Joker, or the Cat Woman, but Nuclear War, Reaganomics, a Bipartisan government, and the fear of nuclear attack. And so once again, Superman and his friends helped us solve our problems, the enemies of the common
In addition to, revolutionizing characters, Stan Lee made many of his comic books intricate and interesting compared to simple boring comic books in the past. His intricate comics had to do with his...
There have been major changes to the superhero archetype in comics in these recent years as compared to the past. Along with that arises controversy on the subjects like the new female Thor or a black kid as Spiderman. Many are zealously against such changes for reasons like sexism or racism. While many others are fervently behind such changes because they use it to empower their own political views on today’s topics. These topics are important to today’s society however they should not be so important in comic books because comic books should be value-neutral and gender, ethnicity, sexuality and things of this nature should not matter.
In the 40s, comic books had a large audience. There would have been at least a dozen people in your class who read comics, claims Chabon. A few years later in the 70s, there would have been less than a dozen but more than one or two people who read comics. Now, it is hard to find more than a few people that you know who actually read comics. If you read comics today, you are considered unique. Children are loosing interest in everything that stimulates the mind in a positive way. Chabon claims that the obvious decline in interest in comic books should make authors want to take initiative and fix the
When I found this out I was surprised by this, it makes sense now. If the comics were made today and the movies were made later I would predict the movies and the comics would be much more diverse than they are today. The comics were so dominant with white people that the movies have even incorporated or added in some black characters here and there to make the movies not all white. Here is an example of this from the article titled “Fear of a Black Superhero: Michael B. Jordan and the Importance of Colorblind Casting” the article stated this: “The character of Nick Fury, the mysterious agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who has a hand in virtually every Marvel movie storyline, was portrayed as a white man for decades in the comic books; but a generation of movie fans know the character as portrayed by African American actor Samuel L. Jackson.” There have been more than this one case.
The insurrection of the Sub-Committee and subsequent Comic Codes gave many comic book producers the opportunity to reinvent their previously successful wartime superhero comics. Even with the Comic Codes they had the opportunity to reinvent the classic hero vs villain fight, as long as there was no blood. This is clearly evident with these comics, which shows that even though Codes were not in full effect, the superhero genre could still followed the Codes rhetoric before their implication. Rodger Sabin comments ‘it was a genre which stayed within the codes’. They did this to somewhat appease the Sub-Committee and the American public; since they feared what they could and could not put in the storylines. The Human Torch in his insert in Captain America #78 show him dominating communism, not only with his whit, but his strength, with him wiping out an army of communist, whilst also comically bending the Tanks cannon the reverse way. Comic writers used these superhero comics to show the American public, the industry was socially responsible, and concerned about American values. Not only this, they
In 1941, Stan Lee, the creator of the Marvel universe, released his firs comic book about the patriotic hero Captain America. This comic was released during World War 2 to give the Americans a sense of hope and to let people know that we’re not alone. Marvel does a good job with its comics because they want to show you that even when times get tough, as long as you have hope things will get better. A good example of this would be Spiderman. When his Uncle Ben died, his last words to Peter were, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Spiderman goes on to
Popular Culture has changed drastically over the decades with the biggest question being whether or not popular culture is a positive or negative expression of our ideas and reflections. American Pop Culture has an extremely important role that influences the United States and around the world. There are countless topics that make up pop culture and it is nearly impossible to name all of them. Some of the topics are Television, Music, Religion, Politics, Arts, Economy, Education, Family roles and structures. Three of the cultures that I believe has changed the most and seems to cause the most controversy are television, music and religion.
The only superhero movie featuring a black man, “Black Panther” has the ultimate black representation, having a cast that is almost all of African heritage. David Betancourt supports his claim by using logos, saying that “dark-skinned black actresses” have not been appreciated enough because they do not fit the “one-dimensional template” of starring actresses, according to Hollywood. Betancourt proposes that proper representation of these actresses brings “black girl magic” to the movie. He continues by stating the importance of representation for the black community. After all, doesn't seeing someone from a certain culture or race, prove to that group that they are appreciated and heard?
Every child in the United States has heard or read the Marvel and DC comics books. If you have not then you have probably have heard of their characters like the famous star spangled hero, Captain America, or the Dark Knight himself, Batman. Both Marvel and DC has influenced the children and adults of American in its darkest times. The great wars affected many by its poisonous grasps, and its victims sought comfort with the antidote provided by the marvelous illustrators and writers of comic books. Now their cinematic counterparts are here to inspire the 21st century. The Marvel and DC cinematic universes have similar content, they both have unique characteristics that set them apart.
This gave Black Panther a myth of what an ideal black superhero should
Comic books usually include subjects such as horror, science fiction, fantasy and real life . The subject they are most known for is superheroes. One good example is “ The amazing spiderman “ volume 2 #36. “ . Spiderman is a superhero who attempts to save New York City from the villains by risking his own life . “Dexter’s Laboratory “ is a science fiction comic book about a genius boy who has a secret laboratory in his room which his parents are ...
The Golden Age of Comics was perhaps the greatest era in comic book history. Many people loved the comics during this time period because they were all stories about good triumphing over evil. Many of these stories reflected over historical events over the time period. “Pro-American characters were popular due to the time period occuring mostly during World War II.” (PBS)
Most people believe that graphic novels are just an art book with minimal text. They believe it is just for entertainment for kids or young adults. They think that graphic novels are just like comics. But to get to the point, graphic novels are just like all the other novels. They are a piece of literature that tells a story and pulls out the reader’s imagination, so that they feel that they are a part of the story or can even relate to the story. Graphic novels have changed and developed into such remarkable pieces of literature and should be accepted by all scholars to be placed in that category. According to John Ridley, “There are still some people out there who believe comic books are nothing more than, well, comic books. But the true cognoscenti know graphic novels are-at their best-an amazing blend of art, literature and the theater of the mind”.