I feel as though comics were at the forefront of the social reform in the 1960s. With that being said, I will say that comics were not the media outlet to turn in the case of social commotion, but that’s what the TV was for. Marvel Comics were consistent with keeping with the times. They were able to use their creative geniuses to broaden their demographic, some may say it was alleged copying of other comic companies but it was just that—alleged. Or inspiration, perhaps? Nonetheless, comic books, like the Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spiderman dealt with real world problems added with the suspension of readers’ imaginations. An escape, if you will, from any stressors in the real world just as being Spiderman is Peter Parker’s escape from the torment of being, well, Peter Parker. While it was clear that writer’s were creating storylines that weren’t dissimilar to events that were going on in the society of the 60s. The question was raised, can readers separate reality from fiction? I’m quite sure this wasn’t an actual problem—I don’t think we had a villain named Kingpin running around cities. Comic storylines, based off of “real” events, were evolved enough to satisfy the readers and writers but were also left narrowed so interpretation can be measured independently.
A blog for and about the intersection of comic books and American history.