Chapter 2

Hi Y'all!
I know that it has been a substantial amount of time since i have written anything creative or other here. The reason being, that most of my energies are tied up in writing my thesis. So, I have decided that in order to get a better feel for what I have to say, i would post the chapters from my work-in-progress thesis here. I got the idea from a great author by the name of Brandon Sanderson. on his website (brandonsanderson.com) he has taken to posting the rough chapters of his next book Warbreaker. I immediately thought, well if it is good enough for a published author, it is good enough for me, a complete novice. So here are rough sketches of chapter two and three form my thesis.
Remember, this is a very rough draft and desperately in need of revision (which i am currently working on). Some of the ideas are still fuzzy, and the connections are in need of strengthening, but at least the thoughts are on paper.
Cheers,
Price

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 should show a: Brief history of comic book genre and the background of creators, their stories, and the influences behind the characters. Introduce discussion of the connections between comic books and folk traditions.

In order to begin a discussion on comic books as a genre, it is important to first begin with a definition of the term “comics”. The term “book” can be left off because it serves merely as the vessel which carries the substance. The most common definition used is “sequential art,” a term coined by Will Eisner, referring to the use of images to suggest movement in a story/action from one frame to the next. Scott McCloud, in his book Understanding Comics, defines the term thus, “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (9). Either of these two definitions will work for this discussion, though the more detailed definition will come into play later.

In discussing the origins of the comic book genre, one could trace the history all the way back to a pre-Columbian picture manuscript discovered by Cortez in the early sixteenth century. The Manuscript depicts, through images, the story of Eight-Deer Tiger Claw, a great political and military hero. Similarly, according to our definition, the French Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Battle of Hastings in 1066, is another example of pictures being used to tell or suggest a story and elicit a response. In more contemporary times, one could look at the work of wood cut artists such as Lynd Ward and Frans Masereel. Their works provide an interesting look at the complexities of using merely pictures to tell stories. The same could be said for Max Ernst’s collage novel A Week of Kindness. Though it might be a stretch to get a “serious” art critic to agree these books are examples of “comics” there is no denying that Ernst, Ward, and Masereel each intended for the images to be read (viewed) sequentially, not randomly. With these examples in mind, it is easy to see that the idea to use pictures to tell a story is not a new concept. Images have long been relied on as a means of telling stories and even recording historical events. Today, this form of story telling has become commonly referred to as comics. This term is generally used to refer to one of two formats—comic strips and comic books.

Comic strips first found their way into the American home during the newspaper war between Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hurst as a means of attracting a larger audience for their papers. [small discussion on comic strips] Because of the growing popularity of many “daily” strips, some of the more influential publishers started to play with the idea of compiling some of the more popular “dailies” into a book format to be sold in their stands along with the other magazines, pulps, and newspapers. Since the majority of these comics were humorous in nature the name carried over, hence the name “comic book.” The pulps, inexpensive fiction magazines published throughout the 1920 to 1950s, became an initial storehouse for many of these early comics. It is commonly assumed that the pulps of the 1940s were limited to adventure fiction, a very popular genre, but the truth is that these magazines told a wide variety of stories, from detective/mystery to science fiction, old westerns to romance. The comics presented in these pulps needed to keep with the theme of the magazine, so strips such as The Shadow and Flash Gordon each found a home in their respective pulps, detective/mystery and science fiction.

Eventually the popularity of the comics outgrew the pulp magazine and they were given their own separate publication. In February 1935 National Periodical Publication published the first comic book with original characters and stories, New Fun Comics. These original books were published on tabloid size pages (10inX15in), and contained a variety of stories from humorous to dramatic. National followed this publication up in 1937 with Detective Stories—which would eventually house the Batman franchise. Both New Fun Comics and Detective Stories were highly influenced by the pulps of the time and even have several of the pulp writers shadow writing for their comics.

The history of comics is broken up into five different “ages”. Speaking of these divisions, Peter Coogan, in his book The Secret Origins of the Superhero: The Origins and Evolution of the Superhero genre in America, states:

Ever since the revival of the Flash in 1956, comic book fans have use the concept of “ages” to distinguish periods of comic book history that share a nexus of concerns, storytelling techniques, marketing strategies, styles of art and writing, and approaches to genre conventions. A general consensus regarding the names and starting and ending points of the ages has emerged in the fan community, but any specific starting or ending point for a given age is argumentative and somewhat arbitrary.

(436)

Though they are somewhat arbitrary as Coogan suggests, these “ages” provide a convenient frame of reference when discussing the various shifts in the comic book industry. Fans have labeled these “ages”: platinum, gold, silver, bronze, and modern. Though it is difficult to draw a finite line between when one “age” begins and another ends, there are several major shifts and events in the telling of production of comic books that serve as flag posts for these transitions.

The platinum age of comics, oddly enough, is not defined by its beginning but by its end. Comics which were published prior to 1938 are classified as platinum age comics. They were the forerunners mentioned earlier; the eight page tabloid spread reprints of various comics seen in pulps and newspapers throughout the 20s and early 30s. These books, unlike their progeny did not have a consistent story line, characters, or theme; they were collections of whatever was popular at the time and ranged from humorous to dramatic. These early collections would house the strips of such iconic characters as Mickey Mouse and Popeye, and paved the way for the introduction of comics as they are recognized today.

The end of the platinum era came with perhaps the most significant event in the history of the comic book; in 1938 National Periodical Publications released Action Comics #1, which introduced Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s Superman, the first comic book superhero (Daniels 35), to the world. The impact that Superman had on the world of comics cannot be overstated. Within two years of his introduction, most of the other publishing houses were also producing large numbers of superhero stories. National’s release of Actions Comics #1 ushered in the beginning of the Golden Era of comic books, a period that lasted from 1938 until the mid 1950s; it signaled a surge in the popularity of comics, established and defined the archetypal superhero; it also brought the introduction of many of today’s continuing heroes such as Captain America, The Green Lantern, Batman, The Flash, and Wonder Woman.

Because of the large number of Superman spin-offs, National Periodical Publications began to file copyright infringement lawsuits against the other publishing houses in order to eliminate competition and create a better market for their own cash cow: Superman. One of the most heated lawsuits filed was between National and their rival Fawcett Publications.

In 1939, Fawcett purchased the rights to C.C. Beck and Bill Parkers character Captain Marvel, a superhero who, like Superman, was super strong, super fast, invincible, wore a spandex costume and cape, and was a reporter for his alter ego. According to National, this was a direct copy of their Superman character despite the fact that Marvel’s powers came from magic, not genetics, and his alter geo was a child, not an adult. In the end, after a six year time span, the judge sided with National and Fawcett ended up canceling all of its superhero stories and selling their publication rights to other houses (Jones 165-66). Captain Marvel wasn’t seen again until the 70s when DC Comics revived him in his own series called Shazam. Ironically, the first issue was published with a picture of Captain Marvel being introduced by none other than Superman.

The height of the Golden age came in the early to mid 40s as the United States began to observe the Nazi’s progression across much of Western Europe. The comics became a political venue where many of the artists and writers, many of whom happened to be Jewish, could illustrate their contempt for Hitler’s treatment of Jews. At this time comics were an inexpensive form of entertainment and many of their stories dealt with good triumphing over evil. The cover art for many of the comic books at this time depict various heroes in the throws of a battle with the Axis, punching out Hitler, or battling mobs of bucktoothed Japanese.

Comic books maintained their popularity until the early to mid 50s when several changes and other publications began to impact their success. The biggest event to impact the comic industry at this time was the publication of Dr. Fredrick Wertham’s book The Seduction of the Innocent, in which Dr. Wertham suggests that many of the industries leading heroes were a major contributing factor to the delinquency of the youth. Wertham’s main claims stated that many of these costumed heroes suggested an alternative lifestyle, promoted senseless violence, and encouraged sexuality through the use of titillating images (i.e. scantily clad women and tight clothing which leave little to the imagination). Wertham’s book led to a series of court hearings held by the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in which the publishers as well as the men and women who wrote and illustrated comic books were questioned about their creations and their underlying themes.

The end result of this inquiry was the adoption of a “Comic Code” that the remaining publishers each agreed to uphold.

Under this code, any comic book published had to meet a set of standards to ensure its reader friendly nature, a process very similar to the rating system applied to movies today. The code covered all aspects of the comic book from the cover, “No comic magazine shall use the word "horror" or "terror" in its title”, (Daniels ?) to the advertising, “The sale of picture postcards, "pin-ups," "art studies," or any other reproduction of nude or semi-nude figures is prohibited”; (Daniels ?) and most importantly costume and content regulations were explicitly laid out: “All characters shall be depicted in dress reasonably acceptable to society. Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities” and “Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals” (Daniels ?). The adoption of the Comic Code signaled the end of the Golden Age of comics and the transition into the Silver Age.

Like the Golden Age, and each subsequent age, the actual beginning of the Sliver Age is arbitrarily argued about. Most scholars and fans agree that the Sliver Age was ushered in with the introduction of the modern version of The Flash in DC Comics Showcase #4 published in 1956. The Silver Age runs from roughly the late 50s/ early 60s through the early 70s. It was during this time that Marvel Comics, an off-shoot of EC Comics, was founded and writers such as Stan Lee (whose real name is Stanly Martin Lieber) and Jack Kirby (Jacob Kurtzberg) began to introduce characters with human flaws and relatable trials; gone were the perfect problems resolved by a speedy trip around the world to capture a crime lord. The story arcs of the Silver Age revolved around more realistic problems mingled with the fantastic. Characters like Spider-Man, a teenager named Peter Parker struggling to be accepted by his peers while dealing with personal guilt over the death of his Uncle, brought a new life to the comic book genre; it was at this time that Marvel introduced some of their most popular titles such as The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, and The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. On the DC end, characters like The Flash, The Green Lantern, and The Justice League of America were given a rebirth with revamped back stories which highlighted their more humanistic qualities and appealed to a more broad audience.

In the mid to late 60s the Silver Age saw its peak; Batman the TV series was in full production and acquiring a large fan base; the shows popularity brought a new group of readers and critics to the field of comics. Their attention was both beneficial and detrimental. For many, the Batman TV series so spoofed the actual comic book genre that people saw it as hurting the quality of the writing and the art. Instead of being seen as a viable form of literature, comics became seen as humorous stories with shallow plots and sub-par writing. On the other hand, the increased readership allowed for more money to be pumped into the creative think-tanks at both DC and Marvel and into improving the comic craft.

At this time comic books began to address more serious social issues such as drug addiction and the darker side of humanity. In 1971 Stan Lee was approached by the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to write a three-issue story arc where Spider-Man, Marvel’s most popular title, has to deal with the issues of drug addiction. Lee jumped at the chance to tackle such a controversial topic and began working on what would eventually be Amazing Spider-Man #96-98. After submitting the script for the issues, the Comic Code Authority refused to place their stamp of approval because of the drug references; under the direction of Martin Goodman—the editor in chief at Marvel—Lee published the issues without the CCA’s approval; prompting a reexamination of the original CC and a subsequent revision which allowed references to drugs so long as they stories only showed the negative side and in no way condoned the use of any illegal drug. Taking Marvel’s groundbreaking approach to writing comics, and in an attempt to ride the wave of success that it produced, DC also began to write stories that dealt with more contemporary issues.

In 1973 one of the most shocking and debated stories in comic history was published, Amazing Spider-Man #121, “The Night Gwen Stacy Died”, hit the stands. Throughout the 60s writers at Marvel had been playing with the “superheroes in the real world” idea, placing their characters in actual locations such as Westchester County, New York and Hell’s Kitchen instead of fictional locations such as Gotham or Metropolis. Marvel characters were given “real world” problems like relationships and families to deal with on top of maintaining their identities (both public and secret), and battling villains set on destruction, and world domination. Amazing Spider-Man #121 took this plot development to a new level by killing one of the primary characters and subsequently showing the darker side of one of their most popular titles. The death of Gwen Stacy shocked readers and ushered in an era of grittier, darker comics as well as the Bronze Age.

Along with the darker story arcs being written in the beginning of the Bronze Age, the minority issue became much more prevalent. Prior to the 1970s the majority of the heroes depicted in comic books were Caucasian, and the few exceptions such as the Black Panther and Falcon were notable. Following the social revolution of the 50s and 60s, many comic book publishers tried to create more variety in their character pool by introducing several character of varying ethnicity. Some of the more popular characters such as Aurora Monroe (aka Storm) and Luke Cage were so successful their characters were given leading roles in various titles; Luke Cage became the first African American superhero with his own title. Among the other characters of minority were the Native American Thunderbird and Warpath, as well as the Asian Shang-Chi and Xi’an Coy Mahn (aka Karma). Though these latter characters never got as strong a foothold as Story and Cage, their presence is worth noting.

The end of the Bronze Age and beginning of the Modern Age is up for debate. Many scholars and fans refer to DC’s completion of Crisis on Infinite Earths, a major cross-over even where nearly every title in the DC universe was influences by something going on in another title, as one milestone. The release of Alan Moore’s Watchmen, an progressive attempt at making comics a more serious form of literature than the juvenile tripe often served. At the same time DC released Frank Millers Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, a retelling of the Batman origins story with a grimmer, grittier noir spin that later becomes Millers trademark style. Each of these stories, published between the years of 1985 and 1986, helped push DC, which had been suffering from a limited readership, back into competition with the Marvel powerhouse.

The Bronze Age gave way to the Modern Age in the mid 80s with the rise of underground comics and a resurgence of interest in crowd favorites such as Superman and the X-Men. The 80s also saw the introduction of graphic novels as a more serious form of comics and literature. Inspired by the work of Moor’s Watchmen, many underground comic artist began to experiment with the graphic novel as a venue for publication. Instead of simply turning to the spandex avengers, artist/authors like Art Spieglman began to use the comic form as a legitimate storytelling medium. Spieglman’s biographical book Maus, published in 1987, tells the story of his father’s experiences as a Holocaust survivor and is seen as one of the seminal Holocaust books because of its graphic treatment of Nazi Germany during the 40s.

Along with a rise in the graphic novel, Hollywood jumped on the comic bandwagon with its release of several hero-based films: the Superman series starring Christopher Reeves, Tim Burton’s Batman Movies starring Michael Keaton, though this trend faded some until the beginning of the 21^st century when the first X-Men movie began a renaissance of sorts in the comic movie industry. In the decades following the induction of the Modern Age, comics have undergone several controversial changes from the death of Superman in 1992 to the unmaking of Spiderman in 2006. With the advances in technology an printing and the advent of the internet it is difficult to predict where the future of comics will go. It is easy to see that it will continue to grow in popularity.

[This will introduce the connections between comics and folklore. I’m assuming that it should be fairly short, just enough to wet the whistle and leave the reader interested in what else I have to say in the subsequent chapters. This is really rough still!!!]

Despite all these changes, one thing has maintained it level of importance in the field of comics—the personal connection. One of the goals of the main comics publishing houses is to create a shared understanding in their stories. To accomplish this feat many of the stories and characters are drawn from a common story pool shared by many cultures and employ a series of storytelling techniques that have been employed since before the introduction of printed text; the stories are highly interactive and, through various crossovers, rely on a shared understanding similar to the shared understanding relied on in the folklore of many cultures and shared across cultural lines.