Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books Tip! In comic books, from time to time, the bad person is just as intelligent as the good one. A nemesis that can thwart the hero of the story has alluring appeal. It may take several issues of the comic book for the hero to take the bad people into custody. If a hero becomes to strong then the reader loses interest. A balance should be struck where the hero screws up every occasionally to make them appear more human. By and large, the accepted time frame for the golden age of comic books ran from a period from the 1930's through the mid-1950's. It was a prosperous time for the American comic book realm. Many of today's super heroes were inaugurated during this stage. Super heroes flourished in the golden age of comic books. Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Batman, Robin and Hawkman were some of the heroes that a new company called Detective Comics or DC comics, launched. During the 1940's a precursor to Marvel Comics, called Timely Comics, introduced their version of the super hero genre. They included Captain America, The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner. Ironically, the Captain Marvel comic books from Fawcett Comics outsold Superman and his associates during the golden age. There were literally hundreds of super powered and non super powered heroes that came and went. The advent of world war two helped propel the comic book industries popularity. It was an inexpensive means to relax, read and imagine the good guys prevail over the bad guys. In those days, Superman regularly helped the allies thwart Hitler and the axis powers. What better way to defeat the enemy than to watch the heroes in action? Defeating Hitler was on everyone's mind, and the stress relief comic books provided was helpful to a young man in a foreign land engaged in daily battles. Superman, Batman and Robin helped the war effort by advertising war bonds. Uncle Sam may have wanted you, but the super heroes lending themselves to the war propaganda helped the cause. Which one was more influential in the golden age of comic books: a sickly looking old man who wanted you to fight, or young powerful super heroes that could do incredible damage to the enemy? The answer is evident. The war was significant and powerful in the development of the super heroes during the golden age. However, there were other factors too. There were comic books during that period that were not based on super heroes. The genre started to change during the latter part of the golden age, especially after World War Two. Westerns were taking firm root in society as the readership declined for the super heroes. Horror, romance, satire and science fiction all filled the vacuum that was left during the decline. The downward trend was precipitated by, in my opinion, the ambiance of the times with McCarthyism and books being published that suggested comic books and their ilk were detrimental to the society's young people minds. Tip! The comic book industry realizes the customer is the real hero. They can decide whether a character lives or dies. By giving the characters depth and exposing them to real life dangers, the comic book industry can be assured on continual readership. The introduction of the funny comics during the golden age were well-liked too. Bugs bunny and Donald duck premiered. The funny comics instilled laughter in the audience and that was important. The importance of laughter during stressful times cannot be overstated. The atmosphere was rife with the arrival of the cold war and the atomic age. Bomb shelters littered the country. With that being said, the funny comic books helped people express amusement in their daily routine. Whatever genre people chose to read, the Golden Age of comic books influenced the shaping the comic book market. The author, Ainuddin Mohamad, is the Webmaster of http://MyInfoHQ.net (General Information Resources) and many other websites, including http://OnlineReadingCenter.com (Online Reading Resources), http://HealthyPages.info (Health Resources), http://DigitalProductsCenter.com (Affordable Digital Products) and http://AdsenseForDummies.com (Adsense Secrets and Tips).