In terms of race, comic books certainly offer stereotypes. In the comic book timeline, we have seen a prevalant source of stereotypes. During the 1910's and 1920's, when the comic book industry was essentially started, racial stereotypes were excepted as the social norm, which is why they were often seen in comics during this time. As with most other issues in America, the comic book industry followed the culture and changes. As time progressed, the stereotypes changed, giving African Americans, in particular, a continuously changing image. At first, the comic writers were very blatant with their stereotypes. But as the times changed, they tried to be more liberal with their projections of racial stereotypes. Although the writers started to make a conscious effort to rid the comics of these stereotypes, they found it quite difficult. So although the comic industry has tried to rid itself of the negative image of racial stereotypes and has done a decent job in doing so, stereotypes have been and essentially always will be a little piece of the comic book industry.
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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