Because of readership, comics have typically been at the forefront of social transformation since their inception in the golden age. This did not change in the 60's with the silver age. Spider-man was witness to a protest on a college campus for better housing. Other comics were portraying the Vietnam War in a patriotic way, but with hindsight, we can say that those comics were actually quite critical of the war.
However, I also think comics were lagging a bit. Unlike WWII where superheroes from the DC universe went ahead and attacked Nazis and Hitler, the new superheroes and other comics were not doing this. They were in fact doing it at the same time as the events were undertaken. Having said that, the comics dealing with the Vietnam War were at the forefront. They highlighted what many Americans were to protest later, in the 70's: unwanted war and unnecessary death and destruction.
Comics thus were attempting to appear at the forefront of social transformation, but ultimately, they were either lagging or at the same time as the events unfolded.
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