Mosinak 1

Eddie MosinakENC 3502RoozenTask 311/20/17

An Analysis of Effect of Modern Society on Comic Books

A BIT OF BACKGROUND ON COMICS:

A comic book is a magazine that contains a serialized story in the form of a sequence of

drawings in boxes usually accompanied with text boxes or bubbles that represent speech,

thought, or a form of stage direction. Comics usually take a team of writers, artists, and editors

assigned to that comic book series. The main writer comes up with the story arc and direction for

the comic. The writing could then be passed onto the team of writers or the main writer could

continue the story their self. The comics are written in a script style and then the comic script is

passed to the artists that draw out the panels, usually in pencil and then passed onto inkers, and

colorists. Lastly the comic goes through final editing and is polished up and printed for sale.

Comic strips and single comic panels, such as political comics, had been around for hundreds of

years, but the first comic book was believed to be a collection of comic strips of the series

Yellow Kid, published in 1897. However, further research has found that” the earliest known

comic book is called The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck. Originally published in several

languages in Europe in 1837, among them an English version designed for Britain in 1941.”1

Barton had said “It is true that every form of writing, every sort of text, developed and has a

social history.”2 Comic books are no exception to this as there have been changes in how they are

written, as the concept of super heroes and what can be done or said in comics has changed over

1 thecomicbooks.com "The History of Comic Books"2 Ch8, page 129, First full paragraph of the chapter.

Mosinak 2

time. The different periods in which comic books were published are split into eras with the first

being the Platinum era which is defined by many of the different comic books spoken of before

and ended in 1938 when comic books moved onto the Golden Age. The Golden Age of comic

books began in 1938 when Superman came out and changed the comic book game, leading to the

creation of many heroes we know today such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Captain America.

Now, the idea of heroes having alternate identities, astounding skills or abilities, and battling

colorful villains became the norm. The Golden Age of comics died in 1950 with the general

public losing interest in the stories until 1956, when we entered the Silver Age of Comic Books,

and presented the idea of humanizing superheroes, such as giving Spiderman the alter ego of a

nerdy and often picked on Teenager. Then, in the 70’s comic books took a darker shift, seeing

popularity in characters like Ghost Rider and the Punisher. This is the area where we saw

characters that didn’t always follow the clear moral and just road as well as those that did

struggle with those decisions. Hot button issues started finding their way into comic books as

drug use in addiction seen in the Spiderman comics as well as the Green Lantern/ Green Arrow

comic; where unlike Spiderman it wasn’t just a supporting character that was dealing with

addiction, but Green Arrow’s own sidekick, Speedy. These steps taken throughout the eras of

comics have been what shaped them into the ones we read today and into what I came to adore

and strive to be a part of.

MY CONNECTION TO COMIC BOOKS

My dad was a bit of a comic book nerd, he even wore a batman shirt to school almost

every day growing up and before I could even speak the character was plastered all over my

room, so I grew up in the world he loved and came to accept it as my own. I wore a superman

cape to the hospital when my little brother was born and just about every childhood Halloween

Mosinak 3

photo you could find of me involved me in some sort of costume based off some hero. Things

really took a turn in my admiration towards comics in my preteens though, around the time of

my parents’ separation and eventual divorce. Now, my family had just moved to Florida and we

were staying with my aunt and uncle. Lucky for me my cousin was one to frequent the local

comic book stores and kept a huge stockpile of the latest comics. There were two comic book

series I had found a real connection to and that was the Robin series and the Teen Titans series.

Both books featured the third Robin, Tim Drake, who was undergoing some family issues of his

own in the comics and at 15 to 16 in the book only a few years older than me as well, so this

character was someone I could relate to. I had spent hours locked in my cousin’s room reading

all of the latest comics and awaited the newest issues, so that I could see how my heroes had

dealt with their personal problems as well as how they escaped from near death while trying to

stop which ever villain they were facing at that time. They became my crutch and my support as

I tried to wade through my own personal problems and try to escape my own rapidly changing

life. I felt torn between the two halves of my family, just as the character Superboy (Conner

Kent) was torn between his as he discovered he was not only cloned from the DNA of the noble

Superman, but his greatest villain, Lex Luthor. However, instead of growing with these

characters I sadly out grew them. My life was day to day and moved faster than the monthly

adventures of my costumed heroes, I had become too old to be Robin or Superboy. I settled into

high school and then early adult life seeking a purpose and hopefully an idea for a career path. I

went from drafting, to law, to business, and probably few others in between, but all throughout

that none of it stuck with me or peeked my interest. I always enjoyed writing throughout school,

but I never considered it for a career, but when I was 20 I started reading comics again and

became a bit more critical than before. I judged writers’ decisions and found myself saying

Mosinak 4

things like “I would have done that differently”, finally after giving up on the business major that

I hated I decided I would do just that. Comic books shaped me as a person and helped me

through tough times and I want to create characters or stories that do for others what they did for

me.

Though I’ve been reading comic books for years and wishing to continue on the

adventures I’ve read for years, I have only just started writing comic books this past year. With

the help from such books as Scott McCloud’s Making Comic: Storytelling Secrets of Comics,

Manga, and Graphic Novels and Alan Moore’s Writing For Comics Vol. 1 I have begun to

understand the processes of writing plots and scripts to write a successful book. Last Summer I

had started writing a script for an on-going comic book series. To write this script I have been

using a story board of sorts where I lay out each page panel by panel to give me how I want the

layout from each panel, the basics of how I want the art in each panel and what texts will be in

each panel. I use this as my layout for the actual script where I go into further detail of what will

be included in each page and panel, providing a summery and character descriptions beforehand.

Aside from this project, that I have honestly put aside too many times, I have also started to

conceptualize a set of comic strips that will each tell shortened versions of events that I and those

close to me have gone through in a comedic fashion, instead of using an artist for this project I

intend to have the scenes reenacted for photographs to create a photocomic of sorts.

THE PROBLEM/ OBJECTIVE:

Mosinak 5

As society has developed we have seen a change in the way comic books are written.

Larger risks are presented, and more adult material is developed. Captain America went from the

distinct symbol of freedom, justice, and punching Nazi leaders in their glass jaws that he was in

the forties to a radical, manipulative, and fascist leader of the

evil organization Hydra, that is regularly associated with the

real life Nazi party. Comic books are no longer the cookie

cutter stories they once were, so the question is “Is society

effecting

comic books

and how?”

The benefit to

learning more

about how

society

effects comic

books is that

Mosinak 6

we can use it to predict trends in comic books making it easier for new writers to know what

kind of comic books would be more popular with readers and for reviewers and readers to get

into the heads of comic book writers a bit better. Maybe they'd think the story was better if they

found out Captain America was turned into a fascist leader as a symbolism to what is taking

place in modern politics. The effect that society has on comic books could be a two-way street in

that current issues today could influence comic books, just as the opinions portrayed in comic

books could affect the opinions of its readers.

Review of Relevant Material:

During my research I focus on comic books that made big leaps and changes in dynamic as

well as those that did things that seemed to reflect what was happening at the times. These

comics were not even close to being rarities as you could imagine, as it would be just bad

business to have Superman leaping tall buildings in a single bound for 70 to 80 years, however I

kept my focus small to dissect certain comics more in depth to better prove my point.

My focus has been Captain America comics especially the early World War 2 era Captain

America and the current two Captain America runs focusing on the new Captain America, Sam

Wilson, and the one focusing on the returning original Captain America, Steve Rogers. I also put

a focus on the Amazing Spiderman and Spectacular Spiderman series during the US War of

Mosinak 7

Drugs era, as well as the comic book Green Lantern/ Green Arrow that came out around the

same time. These are my focuses as the drug crisis issues are more obvious points to prove that

very clearly show the connection, but the Captain America example is on the other end of the

spectrum and will take more research and explanation to prove my point. Especially with the two

more current Captain America comics I had mentioned for this paper.

These comic books all came out during big changes in US history and their stories show that

as they reflect the patriotic attitude of World War II America, the fear of drugs and their grip on

young Americans during Nixon's Presidency, and the social unrest we experience now following

the election of President Trump this past year.

The Potential Benefits of Learning More:

The benefit of the scholarly community researching the changes of society and the

changes in how comic books are written could lead to a greater discussion in how literature fits

into the world. Books such as Uncle Tom’s cabin have led to a change in how we see certain

issues in society, such as slavery, but it took those issues already being prevalent in American

society for it to be addressed in a book. Though novels are nowhere near a dead form of writing,

they are no longer the only prevalent form of writing available today as we have numerous forms

of literature available today, including comic books. So, logically it can be considered that comic

books may just be a popular enough for of literature to have an influence and be influenced by

society.

Comic books are also becoming more popular in pop culture and in the world as we see

more and more of an increase of popular comic book characters entering different forms of

media, such as television and movies. Many people today can probably name more members of

Mosinak 8

the Avengers of Justice League than members of Congress or past presidents. So, with something

that is so prevalent in our society it would be important for researchers to test for a connection

between the two.

Research Questions:

With my main focus being to discover the connection between society and comic book

writing, but I also need to discover the extent to which one effects the other as well as what

percentage of comic books are actually following trends in society and which are just following

trends that have worked in other comic books, like did Captain America become an evil dictator

to reflect modern society or because the year before DC released a popular comic book series

where Superman was an evil dictator. So, my main questions are:

-What percentage of comics just make changes based off previous popular comic books?

-How can you tell when comic books are making parallels to the real world?

-Are comic books even effected by changes in society or is it all a coincidence?

Data Collection:

For this research it is best to collection information on three points for each comic book

that will be analyzed: what is the story arc about for each comic book series that is studied, what

is happening nationally and internationally at that period of time, and what is going on in life of

the author in that point of time. To start the researcher should take two major comic book story

arcs from each decade compare the stories and study the themes, plots, and actions taken by each

character. Afterwards it would be best to study each of the decades and take note of any major

events such as wars, political events, large social events, pop culture, and so on. Then lastly,

Mosinak 9

check the background and what the writers were doing at that time in their lives. This last one is

to have another factor that may affect the content of the comic books. The kinds of texts to

collect for this are collections of the specific comic books, articles on the comics, works on

historical events of the time, works on the politics of the time, works on pop culture of the time,

biographies and articles of the writers of the comic books in question.

Analytical Approach:

Because our main focus for this research is to see the correlation between comic books

and the real world it would be effective to use that analysis of the real world to write for the

research. This analysis is the entire basis of the research and would be the single most effective

method. Another useful method to check into would be to determine if comic books can be

defined. What I mean more or less by this is whether or not to determine if comic books fit into

one single pocket of literature, do they spread out into a completely different subgenre, or are

they just a part of different genres? Is an adventure comic book an adventurous book written in

comic format or a comic book with an adventure basis? Also, does a graphic novel fit into the

definition of a comic book and thus able to be included in the research such as the graphic novel,

Watchmen, which was written in the 80’s when we were still in the Cold War. Combining the

two methods will make it easier to narrow down the comics to research and make sure that the

ones selected are properly researched and dissected.

Schedule:

The most effective process to go about this research is to take it in a step by step and split

it up by individual comic. So, first choose two comics for each decade starting in the 1930’s and

go all the way to now. That is about eighteen comics to study. Go through each comic one by

Mosinak 10

one and analyze the story determining the basis for the plot as well as any other important side

plots. Next for each comic research the author and others working on the comic book’s story to

determine any connections between their lives and the writings. The next step is to take not of

any major historical events of the time, any major pop culture events, and other large social

events. Then, compare the comics and events and see if either had an apparent affect on the

comic books’ stories. Repeat these steps one by one for each comic and then compare the results

seeing if there is an apparent correlation between the two.

Work Cited

Scholarly Sources:

McCloud, S. (2007). Making comics: storytelling secrets of comics, manga and graphic

novels. New York: Harper.

Scott McCloud through a book layed out like a comic explains the best way to write a

comic book. From the importance of body language in the drawings, to the determination

of how much writing is needed to tell the story in each panel, as well as the proper pacing

and as on. One topic it touches on is the importance of art style to set the tone in comics.

If the story is meant to be taken seriously, like one that represents social issues would,

you may want the colors to be darker or the art may be more realistic.

Betancourt, D. (2016, May 25). Captain America hailing Hydra isn’t the end of an icon,

it’s just the next great chapter. Retrieved October 19, 2017, from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/05/25/captain-america-hailing-

hydra-isnt-the-end-of-an-icon-its-just-the-next-great-chapter/?utm_term=.40c952a3d8fe

This article discusses the recent shock that the classic Captain America, Steve Rogers,

Mosinak 11

announced himself as a member of the fictional evil organization, Hydra. In the

comics Hydra has a heavy connection to the Nazis from World War II. The article

focuses on how this bold change of character is not a negative aspect, but a bold

choice that reflects the state that the Country is currently in. This article also discusses

the current Second Captain America, and Steve Rogers former partner Falcon, Sam

Wilson. Sam Wilson is an African American character and before Steve Rogers

returned and announced, "Hail Hydra" Sam became the new Captain America, taking

a bold move in racial diversity as an iconic character that had been around since the

40's has become an African American man. As discussed in this article "The Sam

Wilson: Captain America" focuses on the racial discrimination and issues that are true

to real life, just as many events in the "Steve Rogers: Captain America" series have a

lot of moments that seem to mirror real life global events, such as the Red Skulls

takeover of an Eastern European nation and the "promise" to make it a safe and

independent country with rights within the U.N. The article further discusses how the

divide in the comics mirrors much of the divide that we have seen in the country

currently and how Captain America being a secret Hydra agent is representative of the

current riots, racial tensions, and xenophobic actions that have been happening

recently in the U.S the past few years.

Cavna, M. (2017, August 17). Captain America was punching Nazis in 1941. Here’s why

that was so daring. Retrieved October 19, 2017, from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2017/08/17/captain-america-was-

punching-nazis-in-1941-heres-why-that-was-so-daring/?utm_term=.f71ec3211fcf

Mosinak 12

This article discusses how it was a daring move for the first Captain America comic

book cover to have the titular character punching Adolf Hitler, a still living and

powerful dictator at the time, since many Americans were still isolationists, meaning

they did not support being involved in the war. Also, the article states that aside from

being a bold move it was a dangerous move, because even though now the long-

deceased Hitler is now known as an ultimate evil, at the time he was a powerful world

leader with a distinct sway throughout the world that could have caused serious

trouble for Timely Comics and the comic book creators. Despite the danger though the

comic sold well, generated positive reviews, and is still celebrated today. This article

also discusses a bit of how the recent change to make Captain America a hidden Hydra

agent has taken such a huge 180 from the original ideologies and public view the

character has originally had throughout the years, especially since in the comics Hydra

is an organization with a strong connection to Nazis.

Gustines, G. G. (2007, July 13). “The Superhero as Society’s Mirror, From World War II

to Iraq”. Retrieved October 20, 2017, from

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/arts/design/14comi.html

This article starts out by talking about superhero movie film producer, Michael E. Uslan,

and his involvement in comic books. It then talks about the comic book exhibit at the

Monclair Art Museum. Though, this article mainly focuses on the how society has

affected the development of comic books over time. Such as how comics that came out in

the forties focused on patriotism and victory in World War II and how comics in the late

60's and early 70's saw an incline of characters of different ethnicities, such as the hero

Mosinak 13

Black Panther, an African King. It is helpful in clearly pointing out the development of

comic books over time and how major events in society reflect those changes in comic

books, such as the fear of nuclear war in the 1950's led to an increase in comic books

with characters whose powers are based off nuclear and radioactive accidents.

Lee, S. (2011). Stan Lees How to write comics! New York: Watson-Guptill

Publications.

This is Stan Lee's informational book to assist potential comic book writers to

successfully write comic books in the modern world. The book doesn't only cover

comic book script writing, but as well as collaborating with artists, plus marketing

strategies. He also discusses the importance of colorists and letterers. The most

important part for this paper in this book is Stan Lee's mention of how a writer is

best to write about what they know, which is important to the point that society

effects comic books. If a writer is best when they write about something they

know that would help explain why in the 50's and 60’s, the comics had a focus on

nuclear fear and why in the 40's there was a focus on patriotism.

Russel, C. (n.d.). Heroic Moments: A Study of Comic Book Superheroes in Real-World

Society (Master's thesis, Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro College) (pp. 1-11) (P. Leslie,

Ed.). Greensboro. doi:http://uncw.edu/csurf/Explorations/documents/russell.pdf

This thesis is a different focus than my own point and the rest of my sources. Instead of a

focus on how society has affected comic books it is about how some comic book heroes

(mainly Captain America and Batman) remain popular, because they are relatable to us as

Mosinak 14

people, but in different ways. Captain America is the traditional good guy with "golden

values", as the author calls it, that always does the right thing and must stick with his

values in the corrupt world around him. Meanwhile Batman is this loner with a tragic

backstory that follows his own set of values. The point of the focus of these characters is

that they are popular and recognizable enough that they are prime examples in providing

the comic book "Heroic Moments." The "Heroic Moment" is the moment that a reader

can take away a life lesson from the comic. So, not only does society change comics, but

comics change people.

McCloud, S. (2010). Understanding comics:. New York: Harper Perennial.Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is more for the reader than the writer as it explains

how comic book authors tell a story through the use of text, images, and panels. It gives

the basics behind being able to comprehend a comic book, like the different types of

panel transitions. It also pinpoints deeper meanings used in comics, like the use of simple

cartoony character designs with realistic and detailed backgrounds is to make it easier for

the reader to assume the role of the character. More importantly to this paper though the

book points out numerous times the different styles that are used more in different

cultures' comics and they vary quite a bit between American, European, and Japanese

comics. These variations in comic book style come from an effect by both culture and

society on these comics.

Primary Sources:

Mosinak 15

Kirby, J., & Simon, J. (1941). Captain America Comics #1 [Cartoon]. New York City,

New York: Timely Publications.

The original Captain America series that contained multiple mini stories based around the

titular character throughout the 45-page comic. The most famous aspect of the comic and

the part that I focus on in this paper and what many focus on when discussing this comic

book is the iconic, and at the time controversial, cover of Captain America punching the

Nazi regime leader, Adolf Hitler, in the face.

Spencer, N., & Saiz, J. (2016). Captain America: Steve Rogers #1[Cartoon] (T. Brevoort,

Ed.). New York City, NY: Marvel.

The much controversial first issue of Steve Roger's return to the role of Captain America

starts off as what seems like it'll be a standard, but exciting Captain America comic as we

see Captain America and two associates try to save a scientist that worked on the

mystical cosmic cube, but the important twist we see in the end that really sees a change

to Captain America that raised an uproar in the comic book community as he tosses one

of his partners out of a jet and claims 'Hail Hydra."

O'neil, D., Adams, N., & Giodana, D. (1971). Green Lantern/ Green Arrow #85

[Cartoon]. New York City, NY: DC Comics.

This is a first issue in a two issue story arc involving the Green Lantern and Green Arrow

taking down a heroin ring where many of the runners are using Green Arrow's arrows.

During the chase it turns out that Green Arrow's own sidekick, Speedy/ Roy Harper, is

one of the group of kids running with the heroin dealers and is addicted, plus trading

Mosinak 16

arrows for drugs. This story was written as a direct response to the growing problem at

the time of the increased use of illegal drugs by American teens.

Lee, S., Kane, G., Romita, J., & Simek, A. (1971). The Amazing Spider-Man #96-98 (S.

Lee, Ed.) [Cartoon]. In (Vol. 1). New York City, NY: Marvel.

This story arc features the return of the Green Goblin as Spider-Man finds out that the

evil Norman Osborn does not amnesia, but actually remembers being and still operates as

the Green Goblin. The story also features Spider-Man saves a drug addict from falling off

of a building and then must help his friend, and Norman's son, Harry Osborn with his

own addiction to drug. This was the first comic allowed to remove the comic book code

to involve drug use in the story.