How Did Marvel Characters Dodge The Draft?

[SecretWarrior]

A lot of Marvel’s most famous titles debuted in the early ‘60s. How did characters like Johnny Storm, Peter Parker, Rick Jones, and various male X-men avoid the draft? I know characters like the Punisher and Nuke served in their backstories, but I’m wondering how stories published in the ‘60s explained the legality of the young male heroes not going over.

[Digifiend]

Johnny doesn't have a secret identity, so him being a superhero probably got him out of it. Peter was at college, being in education lets you delay it. Rick I think was of no fixed abode, so they wouldn't have been able to track him down.

[Alan2099]

A lot of Marvel’s most famous titles debuted in the early ‘60s. How did characters like Johnny Storm, Peter Parker, Rick Jones, and various male X-men avoid the draft? I know characters like the Punisher and Nuke served in their backstories, but I’m wondering how stories published in the ‘60s explained the legality of the young male heroes not going over.

If any of the X-men came up drafted, Xavier would just put a mind wammy on people and make their draft mysteriously disappear.

[Jabare]

sliding time scale

[Grapeweasel]

The same way as Ted Nugent.

[SecretWarrior]

sliding time scale

I’m talking issues actually published in the 1960s real time. I would assume it’s something that was addressed in at least one book or letters page for the readership at the time.

[Digifiend]

If any of the X-men came up drafted, Xavier would just put a mind wammy on people and make their draft mysteriously disappear.

Wasn't it actually discussed in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which was set in the 70s? The school was doing well, until Xavier lost a bunch of students to draft call-ups.

[Panic]

A lot of Marvel’s most famous titles debuted in the early ‘60s. How did characters like Johnny Storm, Peter Parker, Rick Jones, and various male X-men avoid the draft? I know characters like the Punisher and Nuke served in their backstories, but I’m wondering how stories published in the ‘60s explained the legality of the young male heroes not going over.

I don't think they 'avoided' the draft, they simply didn't get called up. As I understand it, only 2.2 million were drafted out of an eligible 27 million, so it didn't really have to be explained. In Spider-Man, Flash Thompson joined up voluntarily and went to serve in Vietnam, but that's the only one I can think of.

[ChrisIII]

It's not 616 but Spider-Man Life story made a big deal of this.

[CaptCleghorn]

A lot of Marvel’s most famous titles debuted in the early ‘60s. How did characters like Johnny Storm, Peter Parker, Rick Jones, and various male X-men avoid the draft? I know characters like the Punisher and Nuke served in their backstories, but I’m wondering how stories published in the ‘60s explained the legality of the young male heroes not going over.

Xavier's school possibly could have gotten students an educational reason. Peter was in college. That really leaves Rick and Johnny, both of whom could have a lot of reasons. I don't know of any in=book mention of this. I am disappointed that Johnny's draft status wasn't mentioned in FF Life Story, though.

[SecretWarrior]

Thank you all for the insightful replies!

[williamtheday]

Super-villain 'The Draft' uses his windy powers for crime!

[krazijoe]

Bone Spurs...Their Dad, They were not picked...

[Zero Hunter]

I am real fuzzy on this but weren't some character like Reed Richards and Ben Grimm vets who fought in the Korean War when they were young? Most heroes were in their early to mid 30's or older around the Vietnam war I think. This was before the slideing timescale started being a thing I think. I could be wrong on this, but I swear I remember Reed and Ben being vets.

[Digifiend]

It was World War II originally (remember, the war had only been over for 16 years when FF debuted). Might have been changed to Korea or Vietnam later. Nowadays it's the fictional Sian-Cong.