Why did superhero’s become “dark” in the 1980’s? The reason comic book superheroes became darker in the 1980’s was due to the fact that the United States as a whole was becoming a more dangerous place. Throughout the 1980’s drug abuse and crime were at an all time high. City’s were hit especially hard with this new level of crime and this was reflected in the comic book superheroes of the 1980’s. These newer darker characters appealed to readers more then the slap stick heroes of old. These new characters faced real time issues such as drug abuse and extreme violence. These characters were reborn in the 1980’s and were a reflection of the time period. One of the best examples of a superhero being reborn was in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. In this series batman is displayed as a much darker character both literally and figuratively. He is drawn more muscular and sharp with a darker costume then in previous Batman series. He is darker figuratively because he is not only fighting crime now, but also trying to avoid public attention because the government is convinced that they are better off without him around. This portrayal of the darker superhero was evident in the 1980’s due to the darker times in the United States.
To begin with, I really do like the idea of reading a comic about comics. I think it's a great idea and it's very well executed. As I was reading the first two chapters, I was surprised at how many examples there were of art in recent (and ancient, in some cases) history that are variations of "sequential visual art" and thus the foundations of modern comics. I'd never even thought about it before and it was hard to believe how many different kinds there were. I also love all the discussion about how our human brains automatically interpret certain images in a specific way, how we see others constantly but we identify ourselves when we look at cartoons, and how inanimate objects automatically becomes extensions of our bodies. The pyramid of styles was very interesting too as a way to conceptualize and almost graph or "place" a specific art style in comics. In Comic Book Nation , I enjoyed reading about the evolution of early comics from "funnies...
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