If we really want to start at the beginning, then we will start with Martin Goodman. “The precursor to Marvel Comics was founded in 1939 by pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman. In order to capitalize on the growing popularity of comic books—especially those starring superheroes—Goodman created Timely Comics. Timely’s first comic book was Marvel Comics no. 1 (cover dated October 1939), which featured several superhero characters, most notably the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner. Timely Comics introduced many superhero characters during comics’ “Golden Age” in the 1940s, most importantly Captain America, who first appeared in Captain America Comics no. 1 (March 1941).” (Musgrove, M.) The comic division of Timely Comics was founded back in 1939, (Musgrove, M.) and Mr. Goodman was …show more content…
(Batchelor, B. (2017)) Originally, it was just Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in an office, scrambling to get a specific comic done and ready for printing. (Batchelor, B. (2017)) Martin Goodman, being the founder of Timely Comics had to keep it in business. Unfortunately, due to dealing with the mob in the pulp magazines it sold, Timely got a bad record. (Batchelor, B.) So, he changed the name to Atlas and later it became Marvel. Seeing what Marvel has become, not many could expect the dark past of Martin Goodman’s involvement with many other industries under the name of his corporation. Goodman founded Timely Comics initially in 1933 in order to sell ‘tawdy’ men’s magazines. (Batchelor, B.) He was somewhat of a money hound, looking for good “fads” that he could make money off of, then throw his entire company to publishing the new craze (Batchelor, B.). His little, one office department for children’s comics was having great success with their first superheroes: Sub-Mariner and The Human Torch; so successful in fact, that they couldn’t keep up with the demands. Stan Lee, known back then as Stanley Lieber, was
The comics must have come from a Marvel distributor rather than DC, because Batman and Superman were rarities; Spiderman was ubiquitous. Cracker Jack was advertised as America's favorite snack. There were some drawbacks that were well-known to 10-year olds back then. First, the pour spout was a fraud. "Push here to open" was a lie.
Somewhere around 1939 and 1941 Detective Comics and its sister organization, All-American Publications, presented well known superheroes, for example, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, the Flash,
One way he influenced the comic book world was by revolutionizing the way characters behaved in his stories. Many of the characters in the older comic books were given makeovers to make the audiences like them more because they were flat and lacked emotion. This was called the Silver Age of Comics. The older characters lacked a personality. Stan Lee was an office assistant at Timely Comics in 1939 and soon after that he became an interim editor in the 1940s (Stan). When Martin Goodman, the publisher of Marvel Comics, Timely Comic’s new name, since 1939, asked Stan Lee to create a team of superheroes better than the Justice League of America, their rival in comic books, Stan Lee had his doubts. Mr. Goodman thought that comic books should be dumbed down because they were for “stupid children.” Stan Lee did not agree with Martin Goodman’s idea. Stan Lee already wanted to quit, so his wife advised him to go ahead and write the story the way he wanted to write it. If Goodman fired him it would be okay since he already was contemplating quitting. Lee decided to write a story about four people who got superpowers after an accident in space. They were completely different from other superheroes because they did not wear costumes. The story was also based in New York City instead of Metropolises or Gotham City like Superman and Batman. These characters also had a real personality along with a real job, no secret identity, or alter egos. This story was known as the Fantastic Four. It was extremely different than many other comic books. (Garcia)
In Superhero Worship by Virginia Postrel published in The Atlantic explores the glamour of comic heroes coming to live, and what that glamour really is. From paper to screen superheroes have caught the wonder of the American people. The most wellknown superheroes were introduced in the 1930s through the late 1950s, during the time of warfare and national pride. Superman was welcomed in America in 1937 to keep spirits alive during the breakout of WWII, fighting Nazis or the Japanese Imperial Army. These heroes that were created used propaganda
Let’s discuss a little bit of comic book history for starters. The most iconic superhero in all of American comic book history has got to be Superman. He was created near the beginning of superhero comic books and debuted in Action Comics #1 in 1938[1]. He would remain as the blueprint for many superheroes for years to come as the atypical white American male. But as the years go by there were comic book heroes that came out that go against this archetype such as Wonder
Why comic becomes famous? Comic is sequential art or text. According to the Wikipedia, The Pride of Bahgdad is the graphic novel written by Brian Vaughan. This story considered as anthropmorphic story (using animals/ rocks/ flowers as symbol) books since Animal Farm. The four main characters in the story are Zill, Noor, Safa, and Ali. The Lady and The Tramp is the love story between Cocker Speniel Dog and Streetwise downtown Mutt that launched in 1995.
In the early 1980s Spiegelman and his wife, Françoise Mouly, produced the first issue of Raw, an underground comics (or as Spiegelman and Mouly refer to them, "comix") anthology that grew into a highly respected alternative press by the middle of the decade.
Superheroes have been around for at least 90 years. The first superhero comic book came out in 1933 about Superman. Since then, there have been tons of superheroes created and two of the most popular superhero “universes” have been made. These two “universes” are called Marvel and DC. Many people have different opinions on these two universes and it even begins in arguments and debates; however, Marvel is the better “universe” because they really took superheros to the next level. Marvel came out with more and more creative superheroes as the years went by. Marvels best superhero is the Incredible Hulk because of his changing ability, physical abilities, and work efficiency.
Gains was so impressed by the article, he hired Marston into a new position at DC Comics. Within a year, at the urging of his wife, Marston set out to create a female superhero. By February 1941, Marston handed in his first script for ‘Suprema: The Wonder Woman.’ (We owe a debt of thanks to whoever dropped the Suprema.) Marston created a unique heroine, based loosely on Greek mythology.
In 1941, Stan Lee, the creator of the Marvel universe, released his firs comic book about the patriotic hero Captain America. This comic was released during World War 2 to give the Americans a sense of hope and to let people know that we’re not alone. Marvel does a good job with its comics because they want to show you that even when times get tough, as long as you have hope things will get better. A good example of this would be Spiderman. When his Uncle Ben died, his last words to Peter were, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Spiderman goes on to
Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden 1948, and he quickly immigrated with his parents to Rego Park, NY. His first step as becoming in artist began in 1966 at Topps Gum Company, where he drew "Bazooka Joe" comics and helped create "Garbage Pail Kids". While working with Topps, Spiegelman also began publishing his own artwork in underground magazines such as Real Pulp and Bizarre Sex. Furthermore, in 1980 he founded his own unconventional magazine with Francoise Mouly, his wife, named RAW (Real Art Works). He would begin to publish the first volume of Maus in serial form within the pages of RAW and in 1986 it was published as a book and received huge popular and critical success. The second volume of Maus was published in 1992, where Spiegelman was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize for his
“The precise era of the Golden Age is disputed, though most agree that it was born with the launch of Superman in 1938.” (PBS) The tremendous success that Superman had created many spinoff superheroes such as Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash, who had superpowers and secret identities. One of these spinoffs was Captain America. Part of Timely Comics and created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Captain America ended up being arguably the most popular superhero during the Golden Age.
However, this popularity has fluctuated throughout history. In the past few decades, demand for comics in the print media had been falling, in part due to the successes of other children 's media, such as cartoons. “Our biggest fear was that that audience was going to get to a point where we weren 't able to build it up again,” says Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC Comics, “and a lot of what we do would be branded lost because there was nobody out there reading it" (Martin 14). Luckily, comic creators realized that the stories were perfect for screen adaptations: "they 're full of spectacle [and] adventure with an emotional arc for the hero. That 's what movies have always been about” (Humphries). The promise of lucrative merchandise sales and cross-promotion undoubtedly encouraged production, as well. Comic books were first adapted for television in the 40s and 50s, and met with huge success. Thus, superhero television programs set the stage for the inevitable point when comics took to the big screen with the first Superman movie in 1978 (Humphries). This cinematic moment ushered in a tricking of other superhero feature films, which eventually became the flood of superhero films that is taking place in the 21st
Wright, Bradford W.. "Origins of The Comic Book Industry." In Comic Book Nation: the transformation of youth culture in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. 4.
Captain America was called "Captain America, Commie Smasher!" Captain America featured during the next year in Young Men #24-28 and Men's Adventures #27-28, as well as in comic issues #76-78. Atlas' struggled superhero revival proved no use and the character's title was canceled with Captain America issue #78 in September 1954. Works Cited Daniels, Les (b. 1991). Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics!