History of comics and superheroes, means of political communication
The comic, like any other means of communication, served as a political propaganda diffuser either from one side or other. It was presented in daily series in the newspaper or in weekly volumes. It is only enough to look at some of the time and observe the features of the villain who wants to end the world and see who is the superhero who will face him with the victory of the battle.
The comic as a means of communication on the war appears in North America in 1940 before the USA. UU. Included as an ally in the conflict. It should be noted that today no comic has been found yet where the superhero supports the Nazi side.
At first some superheroes had nothing to do with war conflicts until this medium begins to be used as an expression to the facts that began to emerge in Europe. The reader will always be attracted to that hero and his way of defeating the ‘bad’ and getting the ‘freedom’ that he will bring for citizens. This will cause the text receiver and illustrations to immediately change their political ideology.
The publishers were very clear, evil should always have Nazi’s face, he has to wear his ideology and dominate the world with the Aryan race. That is what will make the supervillano more credible and feared.
During World War II these characters played a propaganda role by transmitting to the receiver a feeling of empathy towards himself. The intrigue was such that the editors took advantage of even after the war was terminated for the elaboration of this type of comics. The villains in the stories would be the American communist people and the Nazi people.
Marvel was one of the companies that took advantage of this time. The famous Captain America in his early years was dedicated to shaking Nazis hordes and were members of the Schutzstaffel or mutant monsters who tried to destroy the allied troops.
Another of the best works of the company at this time was the superhero Namor, The Submariner who defended the world of Aryan terror attacking Nazis underwater and diverting the torpedoes of them.
Apart from Marvel, other publishing companies with their works in this period also highlighted;Dark Horse who used one of his characters, Hellboy, to fight with Kroenen, one of the most frivolous and enigmatic villains of the decade due to his lack of feelings and his appearance;A faceless man covered with leather.
Another of these famous villains was Baron Blitzkrieg who looked like a gentleman of the Middle Ages and superhero that gave him a mysterious air.
The comic, author and superhero of the company DC that stands out in this period for the stir that originated was Superman, created by Siegel and Joe Shuster;
We go back to the plenary period of war 1940, specifically on February 27 when the magazine ‘Look’ publishes a special chapter of the superhero with the title of ‘How would Superman the War end’.
This story tells how Superman penetrates the German lines destroying everything in his path until he reaches Hitler’s bunker who takes his neck and takes him flying to Moscow. There he reaches a Stalin who observes the scene before his confused eyes ‘Joe, I present to Adolf’ says Superman before taking it as the previous. Superman enters the headquarters and says ‘Gentlemen, here I bring you the two gutters responsible for the evils of Europe. What is your verdict?’, Those present are glad and excite before such an image and condemn for their crimes against humanity to the dictators of both sides.
This cartoon does not feel very good to the SS who on April 25 of the same year of the publication of the superhero chapter, publishes an article in his magazine ‘Schwarze Korps’ that was titled ‘Siegel attacks’ in which they denounced the superhero writerAs an intellectually circumcised Jew ‘,’ Pesetero ‘and’ Saduceo ‘. Nor were they falling behind with the criticism of his character defining him as an inexpressive appearance ” musculitos in red swimsuit ‘with’ quite rareThose of the Society of Nations, since they doubted that a person was granted to enter the same swimsuit.
Finally, they criticized Siegel, highlighting their incomprehensible attitude towards ‘yearning and noble generations of American children’ that instead of teaching them healthy virtues, instills hatred and evil in their hearts ’. The article ended with the phrase: “Poor young Americans, who must live in an poisoned environment without even being aware of the poison that they offer each day!".
Other comics that stand out were:
Joe Palooka: It was one of the most famous press strips created in 1921 by Ham Fisher. The comic dealt with a heavyweight boxing champion that stood out for his honesty, his virtues and his values. He was a very famous character in the US. UU. since other media such as cinema or radio gave him life. In the comic, during World War II, the character is recruited by the Army.
Another that gave for several media such as the novel, the movies and even a radio program was Smilin created by Zack Mosley. It was an aviation comic (this style was well known in comics). Your main character joins the Army Air Corps.
But if you have to highlight a comic at this time the prize would undoubtedly be for the first issue of Captain America, taken in March 1941, where one of the most significant images in the world of comics. Superhero himself will tip Hitler a punch. Its Jewish creators: Joe Simon (screenwriter), Jack Kirby (cartoonist) and Martín Goodman (editor) wanted to demonstrate with this a symbol of freedom of the American people wearing the character with the colors of the flag. The number had a large group of followers who supported him, but some people punch Hitler did not make them much funny. This caused the creators to fear for their lives. Later they created a companion to Captain America, Bucky Barnes, who accompanied him in his adventures. In some more chapters both superheroes put Hitler in a garbage cube.
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