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
Edward Cerna
This was a really interesting article. I had no idea how these super hero’s originated and it so amazing to find out. I really enjoy reading comics myself and they really are a good escape from reality you can say. I do not blame the students for not paying attention and creating their own comic in class because is sometimes what I do. You put together a really good article and good job.
Mario Sosa
I was surprised at how much controversy the comic industry had in the 1940’s. I could see how teachers would find comic books problematic for their students but it puzzles me as to why the federal government would have quarrels with it. For the people in the 1940’s who believed that comic books made kids more violent, I wonder how they would have reacted to the video games and movies played and watched by kids in today’s world. Excellent article, good work!
Rebekah Esquivel
I would have never known the controversy that comic books caused without reading this article. I never knew that they created so much problems for society. I think it’s crazy how teachers made that connection between poor grades and being interested in comics. However, I think it is pretty cool to learn why comics were invented in the first place. I always knew it was an escape from reality but the time the first comics were created really helps the reader understand why they were originally made. I also never knew that Superman was a radio show so that was pretty cool to learn. Great article!
Michelle Falcon
Superman has to be one of the most well known and favored superheroes of all time, as well as Wonder Woman and many more. I, myself, am not a huge fan of comic books however they have a huge influence on many peoples lives, back during the Great Depression and even in modern day times. The article said it article said if gave people a since of comfort an even an escape from reality and I couldn’t agree more.
Clarissa Bustamante
I had no idea that the first comic was Superman, that is interesting. Especially when the DC comics and Marvel are such a big hit at the moment. It was a pretty great idea for Malcolm to create a character that could change to the focus of the war. Also it is very cool how Wonder Woman was created to represent the importance of women in the war effort.
Cameron Ramirez
I am a big fan of the Marvel and DC Universe. I haven’t actually read many of their comics, but I do appreciate the story telling, and art used to depict the superheroes doing their job by saving the world. I did not know that the comics started out during The Great Depression. It is sad to know that many people believed that the comics were a waste of time. I enjoyed reading your article and the pictures you used were good as well.
Alondra Aviles
The era of comic books has many similarities to the era of cell phones and social media. The distraction it created for students frustrated teachers and made fiction into reality. Harmless to children and teens, comics created a virtual world of fun and fantasy, a world in which those who were engaged in the comics forgot about daily struggles for a short while. The business it created helped society realize the importance of having entertainment as a media platform. The article can be easily relatable to today, with the current presidency (in my opinion) causing ridiculous controversy, it is hard not to want to find a distraction from the horrors seen on every screen. Overall the article was informative and interesting, great for creating an excuse to not “unplug ourselves from our phones”.
Richard Navarro
I was never really a big comic person; however, I do find it very interesting how all the characters tie together. I didn’t know that comics were made during wartime to relieve stress, and just to be made for an escape from the real world. Superman was the first superhero? I guess I could’ve put two and two together being that so many people love him still. Well, this article contained a lot of interesting fun facts, I’m glad that I read this. Great article!
Alexandria Martinez
Such an informative article, there were many facts that I didn’t know before reading this. I never knew or realized that Wonder Woman was created to have support for women helping in the war effort. Those comic book creators were very imaginative and very good at relating their content to what was going on in the world but at the same time taking everyone out of their reality. It is funny to see that they were being attacked the same way that video game developers are being attacked now by saying that the product makes their children violent.
Ezequiel De La Fuente
Didn’t know that the comic books and icons of who we know today had such a dark past. Glad to see that they were truly effective in keeping people from the harsh realities that they lived in. I do agree with the idea that comic books influenced and inspired people but I don’t exactly think that they caused negative issues. If anything I think it swayed people to become more ambitious! Thank you for the informative article!