Winner of the Fall 2016 StMU History Media Award for
Best Featured Image
Best Article in the Category of “United States History”
During the Great Depression and World War II, most Americans wanted to find happiness in anything. Throughout this era, there were not many places people could find happiness; so they began looking for entertainment in books. However, these were not just any ordinary types of books; they were indeed comic books.
Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson was the founder of the first comic magazine, which was called New Fun. Although his comic did poorly, Malcolm was able to create a company called Detective Comics. The company was able to create a new magazine called Action Comics, founded in 1937.1 But before Malcolm was able to publish the new magazine, he fell into bankruptcy. Disregarding his personal setback, the company carried on without his involvement. The first issue in Action Comic was published in 1938. The comic consisted of an abnormal man who had incredible strength and wore a skintight suit, commonly known as Superman. In the span of a year, Superman had received his own book title and sold over 1.2 million copies per issue. It later became a radio show in 1940, opening with the phrase “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s…Superman!”2 Eventually other publishers began developing their own superheroes as well. The second comic, which was produced in 1939, is the now popularly known comic series Marvel Comics. By 1940’s Superman was joined by other heroes such as: the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, Batman, the Flash, and Wonder Woman.3 In fact, Wonder Woman was meant to represent the importance of women in the war effort. During the boom of new superheroes being created, Superman was still the most popular of them all.
Unfortunately the comic industry was attacked by educators, psychiatrists, journalist, and even the federal government. They believed comics had no beneficial outcomes for society; instead of bringing entertainment, they were promoting ideas of violence and crime. They also believed that not only did the comics bring harmful thoughts to young minds, but the thin paper was supposedly destroying their eyesight.4 Despite the numerous complaints, Congress took no legal action against the publishers of the books. With this incident, it helped create a trade system, known as the Comic Codes, to help prevent indecency in the industry.5
No one could have guessed that comic books would have created some issues for years to come. For example, various art teachers discovered that the students who disliked and were performing poorly in art class, were the same students who had an interest in comic books; they were often getting into trouble for sketching comics instead of paying attention.6 The students wanted to get away from reality and what better way to do so than by creating your own story-line in a comic book?
That is the whole reason comic books were created, to help distract people from the tough times they were experiencing in life. That is why most people enjoyed them, because they wanted to escape reality by reading about situations that could never happen in real life, by flooding the minds of people of all ages with imagination. It is not hard to see why Americans would be very entertained by the concept of superheroes; they were created to help prevent disasters and to comfort those who were frightened by real-world events. For that reason this era was the perfect time for comic books to emerge. Some people were opposed to them, but in general they helped society in several ways. Although comics may not be as popular as they once were, it gave Americans a new world to discover, even if it was just imaginary.
- Alan Brinkley, American History: Connecting with the Past Volume 2, 15 edition (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education, 2014), 676. ↵
- Brinkley, American History: Connecting with the Past Volume 2, 676. ↵
- Brinkley, American History: Connecting with the Past Volume 2, 676. ↵
- Robert L. Coard, “The Comic Book in Perspective,” Peabody Journal of Education 33, no. 1 (1955): 18. ↵
- Brinkley, American History: Connecting with the Past Volume 2, 677. ↵
- Jay Berkowitz and Todd Packer, “Heroes in the Classroom: Comic Books in Art Education,” Art Education 54, no. 6 (2001): 12. ↵
118 comments
Mariana Sandoval
I always find it interesting to read about the types of entertainment used during the Great Depression. It was such a hard time and it’s amazing what people enjoyed to get away from their reality. I’m not a fan of comic books or even superhero movies, but I do appreciate their origins and the happiness they brought to people during such an unhappy time.
Soki Salazar
I did not know that Superman was the first comic ever created! I found it interesting as to why they were created in the first place: to distract people from the harsh reality that they were living. Comics were a great source of entertainment then and they are still widely enjoyed today! Great article!
Andres Palacios
Wow, I didn’t know the first comic was Superman neither that it was created in the 30’s. Even though the company went through some hardships their creation gave people a new way to escape from reality for a moment, with the great depression going on comics were away to help people escape from their struggles and have a new way of entertainment.
Rafael Ortiz Salas
I’m a real big fan of superheroes. I did know first comic book ever was Superman. Also, I didn’t know that people used the comics as a form of distraction and entertainment after World War II and the great depression. I’m glad that Malcolm started the fantasy of superheroes, without him we wouldn’t have the amazing movies of superheroes that we have now.
Kassandra Guillen
I really enjoyed reading this article! It was easy to read and held my attention all the way through! I was unaware that comic books were introduced to society as a result of the Great Depression and World War II. It is amazing how something great arose from such a time of hardship and despair. Thank you for sharing this with us! Well done!
Diana Moreno-Gutierrez
Sometimes great things happen in the wake of despair or in this case the Great Depression. I personally love watching television shows based on DC Comics making me very grateful for the creating of such a series. I don’t understand why the government would think that this would bring misfortune and higher crime rates, on the other hand I believe that people would work harder to fight crime and bring justice to society. At least that’s how I feel after watching Arrow. Very interesting article!
Celina Resendez
Amanda I loved this article! I find it interesting how throughout the years, people always find a way to escape reality through entertainment outlets. While I personally don’t see comic books as such a distractions as educators did in the 1930s and 1940s, I do see how they might have seen them as a problem. Today, educators are looking for any and every way to get students involved in reading and I think comic books are a great way to do that!
Jezel Luna
I am a fan of superheroes, and was ashamed that i was not familiar that Malcolm Wheeler Nicholson. Finding out that he was the founder of the first comic magazine definitely interested me. I really enjoyed reading that Wonder Woman was symbolic towards women who contributed to the war effort. I was not mindful that these comics caused so many issues with kids in school. However, I do agree with you people needed something to distract them and entertainment was just the cherry on top. Great job keeping the readers attention!
Yesenia Cardenas
Such an Amazing and interesting article. I just wanted to read more. This past weekend I actually went to the same book fair as Angelica, and she’s right the comics section was insane! People of all ages were searching through the boxes of comics as if they were handing them out for free. I never knew how big of an impact superheroes made in the society throughout history. I found it interesting how the soldiers would read the comics while at war. Its amazing to see how a simple comic can brighten someones day. Great job!!!
Jorge Manzanares
Amazing article! Good job! The 1930’s through 1950’s, and even after, were a hectic period of American history. The Great Depression brought about an economic downfall that the nation had never seen before. Furthermore, the global community would later be impacted by the World Wars. It is amazing to learn how those events led to the success of comic books. Soldiers, often times, would read the comic books to keep themselves entertained during the World Wars. It helped motivate them! Again, well done!