Right now you are in the best time period ever if you are a comic book fan. Marvel and DC (mostly Marvel) are the biggest draws in the box office than Disney cartoons were in the 90's.
In fact, comic properties from every publisher are being mined by studios more than techies after Bitcoins!
If you are like me, you've been reading comics since before puberty! And though you appreciate the the "Hollywood gold rush," you understand these characters a lot deeper than most "Johnny come latelies" who think the orgin stories told in the films are the "real" origin stories.
But I want to go deeper than origin stories.
I want to look at where our love and fascination with "Superheroes" spawned from. What is that we relate to when it comes to a Superman or an Ironman?
But I also want to look at where are we now in terms of what we view as "heroic." How the "superhero" has changed over the years, and how that relates to our current world views.
THE GOLDEN AGE
Since the days of Moses, people have written about a "hero" or "savior" Every civilization has their version.
The Greeks and Hercules. The Nords and Beawulf. The Hebrews and Sampson.
People throughout time have always conjured in their minds some person, greater than themselves, to rescue us from impending doom. To do what the average man could never do.
So stories written about extraordinary people isn't anything new. Now we just call them "superheroes!"
Contrary to popular belief, Superman, when first introduced in "Action Comics #1" back in 1938, wasn't the first superhero to be written about.
That honor goes to "Mandrake The Magician" who made his debut in back in 1934. But, though Mandrake fought criminals and evil aliens, he wasn't considered a "superhero."
Even The Phantom, who came along right after Mandrake, costume and all, wasn't labeled a superhero.
Superman was the first to actually get that title. And even though he didn't come from earth, much like mythology, he was a champion for his nation. Donning the red and blue (minus the white), he was a symbol for, America! It's even in his tagline:
"Truth. Justice. And the American way!"
After the success of Superman, lead way to Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, The Fantastic Four, and so on.
And these heroes stood up for good by showing they were not like the criminals they fought. Meaning, they had a moral code: .
"No killing or purposeful maiming."
They didn't swear. They were polite. They said words like "shucks" instead of shit! And when evil reared it's ugly head, they jumped into battle without hesitation.
They were honorable, and a reflection of the time period they were created in.
If you look at the movies or television at that time, it was all good, "wholesome" shows. No vulgarity. No graphic sex or violence. Just stuff the whole family could watch.
And if superheroes were to reflect the best in us, than they needed to be even more "above board!"
All this pretty much remained the same until about 1985, when comic legends Frank Miller and Alan Moore changed everything.
THE DARK AGES
The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen were unleashed on comic fans back in 1985 (I believe '86 for Watchmen actually). And this was the beginning of the end for the Golden Age!
These two books opened a door that could never be closed again, by asking:
"What if superheroes had a dark side?"
And once DC (and Marvel) saw the success of these masterpieces, there was no going back to "BAM," "POW", or "BIFF!" It was time for comics to grow the fuck up!
Things were no longer "black and white" or "right and wrong!" Now heroes were cursing, having sex, torturing suspects, and killing criminals!
This gave birth to a new kind of hero: The Anti-Hero!
Characters like The Punisher, Wolverine, Azreal, Elektra, Ghost Rider, Cable, Constatine, and a shit-ton more were in high demand!
Capes were traded in for trenchcoats. Masks became metallic head-gear. Conservative skirts were now "battle thongs" and sexy unitards. Non-leathal weapons were replaced with guns, blades, and explosives. And BIG ASS shoulder pads were everywhere!
And if you look at what was going during that time in the real world:
Cold war threats. Gang violence had erupted. Drug war was it's height. Violent movies ruled the box office. And "sex on screen" was becoming a lot more mainstream.
It was a direct reflection in our heroes.
Naturally comics wanted to "stay with times." By the time the 90's arrived, and with books like Gen13 and Vamperella (who were known to have something provocative on the covers) on the shelves, any book that didn't come with a "Warning" label wasn't going to last long.
This is where new comic company, "IMAGE" came on to the scene and shook and Marvel and DC to their core. They gave us the all the violence and "cheesecake" (girls in skimpy outfits) that we wanted!
Which is why, DC made so many embarrassing decisions when it came to how they handled Golden Age characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and many of the others. Trying to make Superman a "Punisher-like" anti-hero went against everything the Man of Steel stood for.
And the more DC tried to change these old school heroes, the more books sales dropped. Books like Aquaman, The Flash, and Green Lantern had been cancelled because they couldn't make the transition.
Other characters, from both companies, were being replaced by more "extreme" versions of themselves:
Bruce Wayne was replaced by Azreal. Hal Jordan replaced by Guy Gardner. Steve Rogers replaced by U.S Agent! Peter Parker replaced by Scarlet Spider!
We wanted the new heroes cause they were just like us... Flawed and broken!
At some point in the early 2000s, there was another shift. Comic fans of the 80's and 90s had gotten older, and with that our taste had matured. We were no longer entertained by characters who just "looked cool." We wanted some substance. More story and complex characters.
And slowly we did start to see most of the anti-heroes either grow, or fade into obscurity.
Which brings us to:
CURRENT DAY: THE AGE OF DIVERSITY
The "Age of the Superhero" is back!" But now there is a new issue we have to deal with.
We are living in a very divided time. Racial tension is at a boiling point and everybody is standing their ground on their beliefs (right or wrong).
And the concerns of the modern heroes are lot more focused racial difference than ever before (Not that this is a bad thing!).
One of the biggest topics when it comes to race, at least in media, is... REPRESENTATION!
Comics is no different. But we have to understand why this issue has made it's way to comics.
Back Then
Since the inception of comics, and media period, racial representation has always been a problem. Even back to the old Westerns when White people would wear brown make-up, and dress like Native Americans.
(I'm just sayin!)
So back when comics were created, there were rarely any Black people, Latinos, Asians, or any other ethnicity represented without them being racial stereotypes and caricatures that were offensive as fuck!
Flash forward to 2017
Now, there is a lot better representation, but there is another problem. Old characters, originals like Tony Stark, Thor, Captain America, are being replaced by new "diverse" characters. Not just racial changes, but gender changes as well.
And this is an issue for me because I would rather see new "icons" created than just a "diverse costume swap!"
Even though I do like characters like Miles Morales (The New Spiderman), I'd rather see more like America Chavez (Miss America) and Kamala Kahn (Miss Marvel).
(Some might argue that Miss Marvel was racially swapped, but that's not true. Carol Danvers is Captain Marvel now is doing just fine! Kamala just took up the mantel... but I digress...)
I understand the need for diversity since it has been a problem for a long time. But I also believe there are better ways to handle it, especially in the comics medium.
But, I can say that, at least from a "story" perspective, comics have matured, and have found the balance between good writing and snazzy artwork.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Anyway "true believers," hope this was as fun for you as it was for me! I love this stuff. I've been reading comics since the early 80s and still find myself every Wednesday at the comic shop waiting for the latest issues to come in!
If you dug this piece, you might like some of my other comic work!