Early 1940s comics observation

[StoneRyno]

So after reading a number of these early comics I find it a bit, I'm not sure odd is the right word, that comic heroes that start out as one thing end up just fighting nazis. I know WWII was a big deal and all but I would have thought that writers would stick to their setting. For example Ka-zar, a tarzan like setting, boy raised by the jungle who cares nothing for things outside of the jungle ends up fighting nazis for "his country" like somehow he suddenly cared about where he was born even though he knew nothing of the civilized world. This has me wondering did they change direction because their audience wanted it? Coming from today reading these old comics it sort of jars me to find the shift in story telling direction.

[CrazyOldHermit]

Germany and Japan were the embodiment of evil and there was a massive push for propaganda to keep public support going. Bugs Bunny fought in WWII. Superman fought in WWII. Tarzan fought in WWII. Why mess around with fake villains when there are two evil empires in real life that need killing?

[Dayle88]

I think it's hard to imagine the effect the war had on the world, looking at it now as intellectually as I am capable. It is condensed into images, articles, books, films and documentaries now. It was a reality of life for a lot of people for a long time.

It would be unimaginable that planes could drop bombs on London today. I'm writing about it now and I can't really comprehend the idea of it. Talk about terrorism and the buzz words the media use, all the things we're told to be afraid of. Ninety five percent of us are untouched by that stuff. The world wars were a very different thing.

I think it's easy to see how it filtered into all media, fictional and otherwise for lots of reasons.

[StoneRyno]

I suppose that is probably what they were thinking. But I would have thought that people after a time would have gotten sick of hearing and reading about the war and not want it in fiction too.

[Dayle88]

Maybe it was different in America? I guess there wasn't the same level of threat directly to people in America in the same way as European countries? Maybe that got some more mileage out of those stories? It could of been started by the fact that the war started two years before America got involved so there was more demand to include a real threat in this stuff, like CrazyOldHermit said, because they weren't as exposed in those two years?

[CrazyOldHermit]

I suppose that is probably what they were thinking. But I would have thought that people after a time would have gotten sick of hearing and reading about the war and not want it in fiction too.

It was a means of escapism. You hear about brutal dictators and you open up a comic book and there they are getting punched in the head. But people did get sick of it: The post-war lull in the superhero market happened because people were tired of violent comics.

[kodave]

Germany and Japan were the embodiment of evil and there was a massive push for propaganda to keep public support going. Bugs Bunny fought in WWII. Superman fought in WWII. Tarzan fought in WWII. Why mess around with fake villains when there are two evil empires in real life that need killing?

Didn't Superman just defend the home front during WWII, as to not risk trivializing what the soldiers were doing over there?

[Surf]

I know WWII was a big deal and all…

1. In the 40's comic books were strictly for adolescent boys. The medium was in its infancy.

2. Pearl Harbor changed everything for America. Nearly every household in the country were genually concerned about contributing to the war effort. WW2 encapsulated every single form of media there was and that begat propaganda in many forms. The Nazi party was a big deal then easily identified. Like the poster said previously, Bugs Bunny fought the Nazis in cartoons that will never see the light of day again. Fast forward its infathomable to think Spongebob would tackle the Islamic State in a movie. It was a reflection of the times.

[StoneRyno]

I just had a humorous image of hitler getting knocked out in a boxing ring. I always wondered what happened post war with super heroes. I always thought it was censure that caused the decline. Not knowing a lot of details regarding this time period. It's interesting to find out more about it.

[kodave]

I just had a humorous image of hitler getting knocked out in a boxing ring. I always wondered what happened post war with super heroes. I always thought it was censure that caused the decline. Not knowing a lot of details regarding this time period. It's interesting to find out more about it.

People got tired of superheroes after the war, especially since many of them had just spent years fighting a war everyone now wanted to forget. Romance, western, crime, and horror comics became big. Then Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent and the establishment of the Comics Code Authority changed all of that. Horror and crime comics disappeared nearly overnight. Despite DC bringing forth the Silver Age of comics in the mid-50s, superheroes were often goofy at times. It wasn't until Marvel hit with Fantastic Four in late 1961 that superheroes heated up again.

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story and Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero give some insight to the post-war years in the context of those particular subjects.

[CrazyOldHermit]

Didn't Superman just defend the home front during WWII, as to not risk trivializing what the soldiers were doing over there?

I believe there were a few occasions where he went overseas and he also battled the Axis a few times in his cartoons.

I just had a humorous image of hitler getting knocked out in a boxing ring. I always wondered what happened post war with super heroes. I always thought it was censure that caused the decline. Not knowing a lot of details regarding this time period. It's interesting to find out more about it.

Censorship is what saved superheroes. The market was dominated by crime, romance, western, fantasy, etc. with horror proving to be the most popular genre. EC's output in the early 50s was brilliant. But when Congress came up against comic books and the CCA was formed all of those successful books were neutered. What was left that could be published? Superheroes and Archie. In fact, National Comics and Archie were supporters of the CCA because it was good for their business. Thats what led to the reinvention of the Flash, Green Lantern, etc and of course a few years later Marvel became a serious force as well.