My sense of those older comics is that it was. In an entire sector of space, there'd certainly be some, but they were still one in a trillion. But that was a time when being elite didn't have the negative connotations that it does now. (not that they even used that particular word -- well, maybe Ollie used it
)
(and there's been a clear shift in culture - the whole, "first place trophy people" v. the "participation trophy people" and as you say, valuing one's innate quality and disregarding accomplishments)