It cannot be denied at this current point in time that comic books are incredibly popular. One needs to look no further than the current box office rankings to see that this is an irrefutable fact. Why is this the case? As a comic book nerd myself I intend to shed a little light on the subject. Comic books and their characters have a long and prestigious history that have created the environment which made it possible for the people like me to emerge into significance. Without further ado let us begin our journey into the world of comic book fandom.
To understand the fanaticism behind comic book lovers is to know more about the medium. Comic books first came into the spotlight of American culture around the early 1900s and at the time they told simple stories that were humorous and inventive, with the exception of some of the more popular horror comics. The first superhero to emerge was Superman in the 1920s followed by other famous characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman and with the foundation of Marvel Comics Captain America. This is very important, nothing will aggravate a fanatic more than falsely assuming that a character was created by a different publisher than it was.
The comic book was launched into success as early as the Great Depression and as the United States entered World War II they were used as propaganda to help support the war effort. It was not uncommon to see Batman doing battle with Japanese gangs or Captain America singlehandedly beating up Adolf Hitler. After the war, moving into the 50’s we reach the Golden Age of comics where the art form was arguably at its peak. They remained uninhibited by the government and free to tell their stories. As with the Olympics there was also a Silver and a Bronze age of comics which takes us to the 1990’s.
It is at this point that the characters began to take the shapes that we are so familiar with today. When we got such comics as The Killing Joke, Watchmen, and entering into the early 2000’s the Civil War crossover event which was recently brought to life, somewhat effectively, on the big screen this year. Between DC and Marvel thousands of characters have been created so that hundreds upon hundreds of stories could be told.
Today comic books are not written so much for children as they are for free speech and public expression. Civil War was a direct commentary on the Patriot Act after 9/11. The X-Men comics have always been written to metaphorically discuss the issues of racism in this country. When they are not topical they are artistic. There are panels from comic books that have shaped popular culture in more ways that can be effectively explained at this time. It all started in the 1920’s and they have never looked back From Superman to the Suicide Squad comic books are here to stay and that’s MARVELous.
