Following WWII and the return of millions of soldiers, the U.S. saw a massive spike in birth rates which became known as the baby boomer generation. This period peaked in the late 1940s and lasted for nearly two decades. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the child population in the U.S. grew by over 17 million in the 1950s compared to by only 5 million the following decade. That being said, the early to mid-1960s saw a massively growing demographic of teens and adolescents.
This fact makes the introduction of Peter Parker, better known as Spider-Man, even more necessary. Arguably one of the most popular superheroes to this day, Spider-Man is unique character in a way that many do not realize. Unlike his other comic book counterparts who are either brilliant scientists or corporate industrialists, Peter Parker was a fifteen-year-old high school student who got his powers after being bitten by a spider on a school field trip. This simple background he has makes him someone that teenage readers could more easily identify with.
While other superheroes had to battle powerful super villains trying to take over the world, Spider-Man more often dealt with petty criminals robbing convenience stores. He also had to struggle with balancing this crime-fighting life with an even bigger challenge—school—which is another way he was so relatable. While not directly reflecting any historical development that took place at this time, Spider-Man reflected the new generation of readers that were beginning to pick up their first comic books in the 1960s. His baby boomer readers understood his troubles and problems better than any other comic book hero by how much they grounded in reality—their reality.
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By far, the most intricate reflection exhibited in comic books has been through the X-Men. Within the X-Men universe, a special type of people exists–people who are born with superpowers. Unlike typical superhumans that acquired their abilities from an accident or experiment at a certain point in their life, this group of people were born with a mutated gene that gave them powers. These mutants, as they are referred to in this world, were highly discriminated against in society. Whether through violence committed against them or government-authorized mutant registration laws, they always had their humanity questioned despite still being human.
Having the first X-Men comics being released in 1962 leaves little question that it was a response to the racism and subsequent Civil Rights Movement that shaped American society in the 1950s and 1960s. According to a mutant in Uncanny X-Men #1, “normal people feared me, distrusted me! I realized the human race is not ready to accept those with extra powers” (Lee 10). Images of protests calling mutants inhuman on one side and calling for equal rights for mutants on the other mirrored the same conflict over the rights of African Americans.
While there are visible parallels between the struggles of mutants and African Americans, the comparisons go even further when examining specific characters involved in these stories. The X-Men’s leader, also its namesake, Charles Xavier, is a telepath who is an outspoken activist for mutant rights. His ideal vision of society was to have humans and mutants living together peacefully. Xavier’s former mutant ally and now rival, Erik Lehnsherr, while also a mutant rights advocate, took on a complete opposite approach. He founded the Brotherhood of Mutants which saw no way that mutants would ever be accepted in society and instead commits violence against humans.
According to Xavier referring to Lehnsherr, “not all [mutants] want to help mankind! … Some hate the human race, and wish to destroy it! Some feel that the mutants should be the real rulers of the Earth” (Lee, Uncanny 11). These rivaling ideologies that were for the same cause resembled the dichotomy between civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Dr. King wanted harmony among people of all races while Malcolm X was a prominent leader in the black supremacy movement which was in favor of a much more militant approach to gain rights and felt that blacks and whites should be separated. X-Men comics provided a near-perfect reflection of America in the 1960s by dealing with such loaded stories that were able to place superhero characters in a world similar to our own.
The character of Black Panther also provides commentary for racism not just in the U.S., but also in places abroad like South Africa where the system of Apartheid was in place. Rather than commenting the racism that took place in the 1960s, as was done in X-Men stories, Black Panther represented a world which makes minorities just as powerful, and just as equal, as everyone else. During this time, African Americans in comics were most often represented by silly, unintelligent sidekicks and were depicted by extreme caricatures that were steeped in obvious negative stereotypes. Black Panther’s co-creator Stan Lee realized this problem in 1966. He felt the character “was very necessary.” He “wanted to do a black hero … that wasn’t typical” (“Color of Comics”).
Lee achieved this objective without a doubt since Black Panther yet again challenged the typical archetype of the superhero by having him be of a minority race. Even more than this, T’Challa, his true identity, is an African King that leads the fictional nation of Wakanda which is described as being the most technologically advanced country in the world. This message conveyed by Black Panther and Wakanda continues today shown by the 2018 film adaptation which still serves as inspiration for African Americans regarding greater representation. In the 1960s, however, when racial tensions were much worse, by having Black Panther lead a country that even surpasses all of the rest, it reinforced the idea of equality and at the same time gave African-American and other minority readers comfort in seeing themselves depicted as a hero.
Comics took a unique turn in the 1970s at the dawn of the Bronze Age of Comics as well as the following decades that gave way to the Modern Age. Darker plot elements began to be more utilized by writers which coincided with darker times that were present in reality. No other character represented this better than Frank Castle, also known as the Punisher, who was introduced in 1974. Castle was a Vietnam War veteran who, after returning home to New York City, loses his wife and two children after they are killed in gang violence. This drives him to near-insanity and leads him to carry out a one-man mission to kill criminals. This character trait exhibited in Frank Castle in many ways was a response to the significant spike in crime that came in the U.S. during the 1970s. Whether it was because of the slowing of the economy brought on by stagflation and the oil crisis, or the rise in drug use, especially cocaine, crime reached an unnatural high at this time.
According to a New York Times article from 1971, there were 5,568,200 major crimes reported in the United States in 1970 compared to 4,466,500 reported in 1968. Crime rate rose as well in 1970 to 2,740.5 reported per 100,000 people from 2,234.8 per 100,000 people in 1968. This drastic escalation in crime was evident and Castle, although committing crimes himself by murdering criminals, criticizes this fact by suggesting that law enforcement was not doing enough to address this problem which led to people like him taking the law into their own hands. While this intense desire he had to take on crime by himself came as a result of the murder of his family, the fact that Frank Castle was a former soldier also brought to light the impact that post-traumatic stress disorder common among veterans can have on their mental stability.
No other event in modern history was as momentous and earth-shattering as the day of September 11, 2001. While it affected some much more than others, it is undeniable that life for the entire world would never be the same. Given how catastrophic the 9/11 attacks were, the entire comics industry paused all current storylines to address this event. Many of them created benefit books compiled of several individual comics whose proceeds were given towards various relief funds (Diekmann). These comics dealt with 9/11 head-on as if they had occurred within their own fictional universes. In one such issue, The Amazing Spider-Man #36, also known as the “Black Issue” for its completely black cover uncharacteristic for comic books, shows these characters, who have saved so many people in the past, facing the reality that they could not have prevented this tragedy. Moving visuals of Spider-Man looking down at Ground Zero with pure horror, or Captain America working with fireman to look for survivors showed how such a serious event like this did not, and should not, have any vague connections or nuanced commentary. The reality of 9/11 was made just as real in the comics.
This event, while bringing much destruction, also brought unity among society in a certain way. This development is shown in Spider-Man #36 as even supervillains are shown reacting to the destruction that came from this day. “Even those we thought our enemies are here. Because some things surpass rivalries and borders … Because even the worst of us, however scarred, are still human. Still feel. Still mourn the random death of innocents” (Straczynski 7). Any and all problems in the world, even rivalry between hero and villain, were pushed aside to deal with the aftermath of these attacks. Comics further addressed 9/11 by, in many of issues, commemorating the firefighters, police officers, and other first-responders while placing superheroes in the background. One such issue, Heroes, was released in December 2001 and was described as having “the world’s greatest superhero creators honor the world’s greatest heroes.’ The real heroes of 9/11 were shined a light on with typical superheroes looking up to them. Much of this treatment done addressing 9/11 was less to parallel it in the comics but rather to honor those that lost their lives and venerate those that saved others.
The 9/11 attacks, a significant event on their own, also led to significant changes within society, especially in ways that dealt with issues of freedom and security as well as prejudice towards certain groups of people. A good representation of these changes is displayed in Civil War, a Marvel Comics storyline released in 2006. In these issues, the U.S. government passes a Superhero Registration Act that requires that all superheroes be regulated in their actions. The bill was in response to an incident in Stamford, Connecticut that occurred in which an explosion caused by a supervillain kills 600 people, including 60 children at a nearby school. This new law results in a clash among superpowered individuals with some, led by Captain America, opposing it and viewing it as a violation of their freedom and others, led by Iron Man, supporting it as necessary for the current circumstances.
The series of events that take place in this comic story draws several comparisons to the impact of the Patriot Act, a law passed shortly after 9/11 which gave the government more power regarding surveillance and other areas to combat terrorism. Like the Superhero Registration Act, which caused a split between those against and those in favor of it, the Patriot Act was also highly controversial. According to the Pew Research Center, “In 2006, the public divided evenly over the Patriot Act, with 39% saying it is a necessary tool and 38% saying it goes too far” (Rosentiel). In addition to this increased action taken by the government, 9/11 also led to changes among the public as prejudice grew against Muslims in the years following 2001.
Even though the 9/11 attacks were committed by a select group of people, discrimination and often times violence towards a much larger group resulted. Civil War addresses this societal change as well by depicting the violence carried out against superheroes as a response to the explosion in Stamford. A news report in Civil War #1 refers to such an instance as “the latest in a series of attacks on New York’s super-community” (Millar 16). Post-9/11 society is arguably the most transformative era in modern history and, as always, comics continue to keep up with these changes and provide their own take on these issues.
The ability that comics had to stay relevant for such a long period of time is, without a doubt, impressive and commendable. Combined with the growing superhero culture in other forms of media, comic books are arguably more popular today than ever before just by the sheer amount of how many different stories and characters there are. Unlike other fads in the past that have all showed up and died out routinely, comic books have stood the test of time because of their ability to adapt to it. The ways that they have been able to consistently reflect and often times give commentary on how the world was, or should be, at any given time has always made them relevant in some way.
While these connections were often times hidden and not easily seen at first glance, the subconscious response to this additional meaning behind these fun and engaging stories could be the reason why people kept and continue to keep reading them. At no point did they directly preach or promote any ideas to their readers and always tried to remain subtle in their messages. This veiled resemblance that comics had on society was necessary for them to preserve that feeling of fantasy and escapism that made them so appealing back in 1938. These stories have been a large part of my life and it is amazing to see how these simple words and colorful drawings continue to uncover new things about them.
