During the late 1960's, the main event or social issue that was taking place and was the topic of everyday life in America was the war in Vietnam. Because the war was so heavily opposed, people rioting and protesting were common in city streets and collge campuses. This sparked a whole new era in America, and like with everything else, the comic book industry followed. Because peace was so closely related with drugs and the "hippy" movement in this era, comics started incorporating this into their stories, however vague or underlying the message was. Because of this new drug wave that swept the country, comic book stories like the Amazing Spider Man series started incorporating drug messages in their plots. For example, we see Peter Parker experience his friends being exposed to drugs because of a girl conflict. it was suddle messages like these, among other cultural trends, that were so relevant to American culuture in the late 1960's that the comic book industry started to incorporate into their stories.
Throughout the 60’s, comics were at the forefront of social transformation. Possibly the best example of this is through comics reflection of the public’s view of the Vietnam War. At the beginning of the war a majority of Americans fully supported the cause. The idea that communism, the most evil idea conceived, could spread first through South-East Asia and eventually to the US lead Americans to accept the need to occupy Vietnam. However as the war progressed it became more obvious that it was less to defend democracy and actually just a proxy war against Russia. As support for the war diminished, comics greatly altered their position on the war to question the causes of the war, and whether the US should actually be there. The comic Iron Man accurately represented this shift in support as he stopped dealing arms, and took a moral stand against their use. As well as Vietnam War culture, comics also accurately portrayed youth culture in the US throughout the 60’s. Comics suc...
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