Superman always has a way of exploding onto the scene. Especially in 1938!
Crude Beginnings
The
Historians cite earlier works from different cultures as giving birth to our modern day comics. These historians are citing works that, as long as there is a narrative being told while using sequential images, it is considered a type of comic strip.
One such example is Trajan’s Column in Rome, Italy. The column is approximately 100 ft. tall not including the base. It was completed around 113 AD as a symbol of the Roman victory over the Dacians. A relief that told the story of the war through sequential images and some text started at the bottom of the column and spiraled to the top continuously telling the story. Another major example would be the works of William Hogarth. Hogarth was an English printer, painter and satirist in the early to mid 1700′s who could be called one of the first cartoonists as his works in sequential art often made fun of customs and politics locally and abroad. The late 1800′ and early 1900′ saw the availability of small books that contained collections of comic strips from the newspapers in them. These historical examples of sequential art were apparently the crude beginnings of the modern day comic.
Almost 100 feet tall, Trajan's Column tells the story of the Roman victory over the Dacians and does so in the same format as the modern day comic strip.
A close up of the artistry on Trajan's Column. It's amazing how much detail went into telling the story.
The Golden Age:
It is commonly agreed among many that the Golden Age of the comics universe began when Superman exploded on the scene with his first appearance in 1938′s Action Comics issue #1. After that the comic book universe, small as it was at the time, was starting to see a swift growth in the superhero archetype in the comics. Shortly after Superman came others such as Aquaman, Batman and Robin, The Human Torch, Wonder Woman and a short list of others.
This growth was largely due to the social environment of our country at the time. The United States was coming out of the depression and World War II was looming large on the horizon. Everyone could have used a superhero! These comics were quick reads and in the end, always presented the theme of the good guys coming out on top.
During World War II, the comics often depicted our favorite superheros slapping around the Nazis and other enemy axis powers of the day. The good will triumph over evil! These stories helped the moral of society as a whole back then.
The comics industry also helped society from an economic standpoint as well. Comics were booming then so were the artists, the printers and everyone that had a part in getting that comic book into your hand. That meant jobs and demand for comic books was high. One instance of particular mention would be the introduction of Captain Marvel. At one point he became more popular than Superman and Fawcett Comics was putting out two issues per week to capitalize on the demand. Captain Marvel was selling almost one and a half million copies per issue at the time and that made it the most circulated comic book in America.
Some of the different genres of comics were developed during these times as well. It wasn’t always about some suped up character running around whoopin’ on all of the bad guys. Along side of the most popular superheros of the day were others types of stories such as mystery comics, horror comics, detective stories and just plane weird tales.
It was during these beginnings that writers and artists developed the styles and techniques of production that are still the foundation of what brings your favorite superheros to life today.
Check out these clips. Over the years there have been some pretty good live-action attempts at bringing classic comic book heros to life. For as cheesy as these were (and some were sooooooooooo cheesy) they were good for their time and still have many fans today. My personal favorite of the TV shows was the Incredible Hulk with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.
