Readers couldn’t take their eyes off of him. But Superman was the first super-powered musclehead to don a cape and skin-tight spandex to fight crime. Newspaper comic strips (where the term ‘comic’ book comes from, incidentally) already existed along with radio shows featuring masked vigilantes like the Shadow. (via Marvel) via Marvelĭropping literally out of the sky to kick off the Golden Age, Superman represents the comic book origin story. Characteristic of the Golden Age’s idealism, superheroes were often used as a platform for instilling national pride and patriotism in the face of WWII. They fulfilled every kid’s dream of gaining larger-than-life powers, effortlessly overcoming their bullies and leaping out of their colorless neighborhoods into adventure. And that’s exactly why the comics of this age caught like wildfire. There was a clear stylistic distinction between good and evil, and superheroes were nothing more than happy-go-lucky do-gooders that battled and always defeated villains motivated by money or world domination. The Golden Age was truly an idyllic time. While there might not be any mutants or doomsday weapons in the actual history of comics, its panels are every bit as unpredictable. The history of comic book styles is one as dynamic as the stories they contain, shaped not only by the hands of countless writers and artists but by millions of readers across nearly a century. Comic books began as a dime-store novelty, and since then, they have gone through countless transformations, artistic explorations, public excises, declines and revivals. In a time when audiences were racing in droves to catch the latest talkie and hand-drawn animation was just finding its legs, a new medium brought kids (and adults, let’s be honest) back to reading.
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