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The Golden Age of comics begins in June 1938. This is the first appearance of Superman in Action Comics #1, published by DC Comics. There had been adventure comic books published before this point (Detective Comics predates Action by over a year, but Batman would not appear until 1939). However, these heroes had much more in common with their pulp magazine counterparts than they did to the super-heroes who would follow. For example, Doc Savage was described as being at the peak of human perfection, but still conceivably within the realm of human possibility, while Superman’s abilities were clearly super-human.
Superman’s (and subsequently Batman’s) immediate popularity caused publishers to launch a wave of super-heroes, or “mystery men” as they were called in the 30s and 40s, at their readers. They were introduced to the Atom, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Captain Marvel, Captain America the Human Torch. But possibly the most popular character of all wasn’t a hero. He wasn’t even human. He was Scrooge McDuck.
Super-hero and adventure comics of the time featured simplistic characterization and power fantasies, with the heroes often battling Nazi threats. By the 1950s, the Nazi threat had been replaced by the Communist “Red menace.”
They also displayed some extraordinarily racist images and characterizations, much like many other forms of media at the time, as the cover to Detective Comics #1 illustrates.
But by the early 50s, comic books had begun to evolve thematically. Super-heroes were on the way out, to be replaced with horror and crime comics popularized by EC Comics. Only Superman, Batman and a handful of others were still being published by the mid-50s. Frederick Wertham’s book, Seduction of the Innocent, a scathing indictment of comic books in general and EC Comics in particular of their corruption of children, ultimately led to the creation of the Comics Code Authority, which prohibited EC Comics from publishing anything they had.
Western and War comics continued to be popular through this time, but it wasn’t until October 1956, when the all-new Flash appeared in Showcase #4 that the Golden Age of comics ended and the Silver Age began.
For more articles on comic books and the comic book industry, go to Examiner.com, keyword: “Wesley Smith.”
Legion of Superzeroes by Ted Rall
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Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling $8.43 Richard Pryor’s acclaimed semi-autobiographical drama about a comedian unable to handle success and who, after a life-threatening accident, reexamines… |
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Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life $3.50 New school. New mean girl. New crush. New diary so Nikki can spill about all of it…… |
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The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang $8.08 Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang are best friends with one goal: to crack the code of popularity. Lydiaâs the bold one: aspiring theater star, stick-fighting enthusiast, human guinea pig. Julieâs the shy one: observer and artist, accidental field hockey star, faithful recorder. In this notebook they write down their observations and carry out experiments to try to determine what ma… |
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Babymouse #1: Queen of the World! $2.00 Babymouse comic created exclusively for Amazon.com Meet Babymouse, a sassy young mouse who dreams of glamour, excitement, adventure, straight whiskers, being queen of the world, and of course, being invited to Felicia Furrypaws’s oh-so-exclusive party. Readers will love Babymouse’s vivid imagination–an empty locker becomes a black hole that sucks her into space, boring party … |
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Peanuts – Celebrate 60 Years Evolution Stripe Boxers for men $12.99 These boxers for men feature time line images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Linus as they evolved in the comic strip since they were introduced in 1950, on a bright yellow background. Machine washable with button fly and covered elastic waistband. |
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Family Guy – Stewie Immortal Classics Boxer for men $12.99 These boxer shorts for men feature a collection of Stewie’s classic images and immortal quotes on a distressed comic book style background. Machine washable with open edge fly and exposed elastic waistband. |
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Comics Collage Boxer Shorts for men $11.99 These boxers for men feature a colorful collage of popular comic book superheros of old, including Blue Bolt, The American Crusader and The Avengers. Machine washable with button fly and exposed elastic waistband. |
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