History of the Superhero
The superhero, the idea that a person could have superhuman abilities.
Well, ordinary people like superheroes so much, that many young people signed up for World War II! Superheroes were a unique form of entertainment in a time of desperation. Even though superheroes became popular in the 1930’s, they are still popular today. You might want to start with learning about the superhero origin. The first comic book was, “The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck” in 1837. However the first SUPERHERO was Lee Falk’s, Mandrake the Magician debuting in 1934.
At first superheroes were a flop, even Superman was a failure being rejected by every newspaper in the area because he was “unrealistic”. Popularity started rising for superheroes around 1938. In the Great Depression superheroes inspired and entertained many people. Inspiration, something that was lacking in the 1930’s. That’s where superheroes come in.
When World War II started, there was a cover of a comic book with Captain America punching Hitler, and that caused many people to sign up for the military. Unfortunately, after World War II superheroes began to lose popularity, there being no more villains to fight in the real world. Since superheroes became popular off of desperation, now there’s no more. This was a dead end for superheroes. Not everyone went crazy for superheroes though. Dr.
Fredric Werthham wrote “The Seduction of the Innocent” because he and other angry parents thought comic books corrupted child youth. “The Seduction of the Innocent” almost destroyed the comic book industry. A result of “The Seduction of the Innocent” was that the Comics Code Authority was created. The Comics Code made it that comic books had to be approved before they were published. Because of the Comics Code, Batman and Robin began working with more women and Superman worked closer with the law. The downside to the Comics Code was that more than 50% sales of comic books went down.
From angry parents to World War II, superheroes have an interesting backstory to say the least. With the declined popularity of superheroes, it’s amazing to see how popular they are today. In the end, superheroes inspired and entertained many in dark times. “Superheroes were born in the minds of people desperate to be rescued.”- Jodi Picoult.
