Comic Books, A History

Comic books started with Superman. True, comics were serialized in book form, and there were a great deal of fantasy stories, but the comic book as we know it today, featuring superhumans with an intense passion for Lycra, started with Superman in 1938. This ushered in the Golden Age of Comics, where Superman spawned several heroes of mythic perfection.

Since then, comics have been a case-study of Art imitating Life. When America went off to war to face the Nazi menace, so did heroes like Captain America, who fought Hitler in his first issue. Propaganda? Certainly, but what better way to solidify an enemy than to have Batman spitting in his general direction?

With the war over, America needed someone new to blame. The 1950s created mass paranoia in the U.S., and not even comics were safe from the post-war witch hunt. Senatory McCarthy and his ilk quickly accused comics of causing corruption and violence among America's youth, just as they accused Rock and Roll, movies, and everything else in the whole of creation. The industry was forced to commit to an extremely strict Comics Code Authority label, to safely water down or remove all traces of joy or merriment.¹

The 1960s ushered in a new era for comics, just as it did for civil rights, art, music, and fashionably wanton sex. Marvel Comics gave birth a new breed of heroes, and a hard birth it was. Silver Age heroes, like the dweeby git Spider-man and the blind Daredevil, were noted for their flaws that made them more realistic, more human. Unlike Golden Age heroes like the 1938 Superman, this new group doubted itself and feared the consequences of its actions. In fact, the X-men were demonized as mutant freaks for their abilities, forced to hide them not for anonymnity, but for survival. ²
A comics underground began to flourish in the sixites, as well. Safely beneath the radar of the Comics Code Authority, the Underground could explore more adult topics, like civil rights, art, music, and fashionably wanton sex.

Comics in the 1970s were basically runoff from the '60s, as was everything else in the seventies. For more interesting tidbits, reread the sixties paragraph.

The eighties proved that comics' ultimate goal was money making, and several comic-based franchises blossomed at this time. Comic characters jumped from the page to the toy store shelf, and the arcades. Comic books themselves, once shoddily printed on tissue-thin pulp, were actually given a budget, and proper paper stock. Superhero teams, like the Justice League and X-men, were featured more prominently than in the past, mostly because superhero teams were highly marketable.³ Superman had finished a run of highly succesful movies, and Batman had begun his own.

Comics in the 1990s were basically backlash from the '80s, as was everything else in the nineties. Superman died, Batman had his back broken, and Marvel comics began a series of earth shattering events, each of which ended as soon as they became unprofitable. A group of disgruntled writers and artists from Marvel and DC started a company called Image, with a flagship character called Spawn.⁴

The advent of Image Comics also heralded in a new level of technology for comics, as magazine level glossy paper was used, and numerous CGI art effects attempted to throw the reader into the story like never before. Any cover that was not Chromium or holographic was a limited edition collectible variant of a Chromium or holographic cover. However, this quality came at a price, and some readers were turned off by skyrocketing costs. Comic companies may have shot themselves in the foot, in retrospect.

How To Spot a Comic Book Fan

• Are male (though females have been recently begun to show the signs)
• In their late teens or older
• Have an intense hatred of the Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks and/or George Lucas himself

There are two basic types of comic book fans: the Closet Reader, and the Fanboy.

The Closet Reader would like you to think he is not comic reader, afraid to lose something in the way of an image or, more precisely, sex. Closet Readers will often profess that they "haven't bought a comic book in ages," yet have kept every one they've ever read.⁵

The Fanboy is the anti-thesis of the Closet Reader. Thoroughly comfortable with his geeky persuasion, the Fanboy will proudly wear his favorite superhero's T-shirt in public. ⁶ Fanboys will not only be familiar with classic American comics, but underground and international imports, such as the Japanese Manga style. They are easiest to spot in comic book conventions, dressed in heavy makeup after their heroes.⁷ An interesting sidebar about fanboys - they are extremely critical, pointing out the flaws of comics, government, other fanboys, or the tiny prizes in cereal boxes, depending on their mood. But when they favor something, it is worshipped wholeheartedly.

Another easy spot to tell a Closet Reader or Fanboy is at your local comic shop. The Closet Reader will pretend to good-naturedly glance through the shelves, as if he were looking for this month's Car and Driver, but can't seem to find it. The Fanboy, however, will be having an in-depth chat with the owner over which mainstream DC characters are worthy of possessing the Mighty Mjoliner.
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If you find out you have a significant other who is a comic book fan, by no means try to coax him/her out of it. A Closet Reader will go into withdrawal symptoms⁹, and a Fanboy may directly assault you where you stand. The best choice is to leave things as they are, and hope you are never asked to wear anything peculiar on their birthday.