When America Went to War, So Did the Comics!

1. When America Went to War,So Did the Comics! A Project About Character Development 5thGrade AKA: “The Super Hero Project”!

2. A brief history of comics in the United States… The comics have been a popular part of newspapers since Hogan’s Alley was first published in The New York World on May 5, 1895. With the very first success of newspaper strips, publishers began to putting collections of “Mutt and Jeff”, “Buster Brown” and others comic strips in hard and soft cover ‘books’.

3. Funnies on Parade, published in 1933, was the first comic made in a format similar to modern comics. The book was not originally intended to be sold at a newsstand as a separate ‘magazine’, but to be given away as a promotional tool. What was new about this was Funnies on Parade was actually a quarter-folded full newspaper page which made it the size of a magazine. Sponsored by Proctor and Gamble, the book went through ten thousand copies in a matter of weeks. The follow-up, Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics, went through ten times as many copies.

4. Critics voiced their complaints at this new type of entertainment. The Chicago Daily News claimed that such reading material was “Badly written, badly drawn and badly printed-a strain on young eyes and young nervous systems.” But the comics had caught on, however, it wasn’t until 1937, that comic books were devoted to a single theme or to one main character. That happened when Detective Comics came on the scene. Next, Superman was flying through the pages of Action Comics.

5. The first issue of Marvel Comics was originally priced at ten cents. The cover showed the Human Torch melting his way through a front door to confront a crook. This fiery super hero was created by Carl Burgos. Joined with Bill Everett’s aquatic avenger The Sub-Mariner, the twin stars were immediately successful and especially appreciated by depression-era kids looking for thrills and excitement at a bargain price. This particular comic issue has become perhaps the most valuable comic book ever published. In 1987, a rare mint copy was sold for $82,000! May 1940 saw the publication of the first war comic, appropriately called War Comics No. 1 from Dell. With war raging in Europe and coming soon for America, the Nazi theme ran wild through comics. In March 1941 came one of the most patriotic heroes of them all…

7. Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. The comic book was unusual in that the character was given his own issue without an earlier appearances in other issues to gauge reader interest. The Character… Steve Rogers, a frail and thin young man deemed unfit for service in the army yet still wishing to do his patriotic duty, volunteers for a secret government program with the objective of creating super-soldiers. Steve takes the super-soldier serum, building his muscle and brain tissue to perfection and transforms into the ultimate soldier. He becomes the only successful super-soldier, he goes undercover as a private on the front lines wreaking havoc on the enemy. The cover to No. 1 showed Hitler being knocked out by Captain America.

8. Simon and Kirby's young assistant, 17 year old Stanley Leiber, known as Stan Lee, received his first published work in Captain America No. 3, a two part text story. His first published comic story was in No. 5. Young Stan Lee would later go on to become the most famous writer and editor in the history of comics.

9. The Shield ….. Of course Cap has always been wrapped in the American flag, yet he is best symbolized by the shield he carries. Creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby originally designed it to be triangular, but soon after made it round instead. It represents both defense and a target, and when thrown like a discus, it also functions as a surprisingly effective weapon. A safeguard that draws fire and then fights back, the shield is the perfect emblem for Captain America. His Motivation…. Captain America's appeal was novel; he was not born with great power, but rather had it bestowed upon him as a gift. The secret formula and its inventor were destroyed which made Captain America the only one of his kind, assigned by the government to disguise himself as a private in the army. The fact that many readers would soon find themselves in that very same army helped insure "Cap's" popularity; the new soldiers remained comic book fans, and they, too, hoped to be heroes in disguise.

10. Always in his red, white and blue there was more to Captain Americathan the simple patriotic ideal, Cap was a very special hero destined to appeal to readers for a very long time.

11. Wonder Woman began her existence the way many other comic characters did, she was included as a special nine page insert in the January, 1941, issue of All Star Comics. Luckily many readers enjoyed the story and wanted to know more so in January 1942, Session Comics told the full version of where she came from and her first adventure in Wonder Woman #1. She is the only female character that has been published without fail for over 60 years.

12. The Character… …the story goes that Wonder Woman was the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and considered an Amazon Princess. She was beautiful, intelligent, strong but still possesses to soft side. For a while her powers came from ‘Amazon Concentration’ but later they were a gift from the gods. Special Tools….. She was armed with bulletproof bracelets, and a magic lasso which was unbreakable, infinitely stretchable and could make all who are encircled in it tell the truth. In later stories her earrings gave her the ability to breath in outer space, her tiara was an unbreakable boomerang and she was given an invisible plane (way before jets!)

13. Of course, we can still find comic books today at our local book stores. Many of the art work is created on computers, but the idea is the same. A story about someone who is at the same time real, yet not. A story about someone who is like you, but at the same time has a side that we can only dream about.

14. We will be developing our own Super Heroes. • You will create: • Your Super Hero’s name • Your Super Hero’s Description (what he/she looks like) • Your Super Hero’s secret identity • Where the story of your Super Hero takes place (the setting) • Your SuperHero’s motivation • You will create a “real person” with “real problems” • You will begin to create your character today by making decisions about different qualities of your Super Hero using the • Super Hero Brainstormin’ Page.