During World War II and the Great Depression, society faced huge turbulence from economic chaos as the Axis Powers threatened human rights and ethics. In this chaotic atmosphere, society needed someone to look to for hope and inspiration, and this situation gave birth to the bravest consciousnesses and beings who fought for justice. Cue DC and Marvel! DC Comics created some of the most iconic personalities such as Superman (1938), Batman (1939), etc.
Superman was meant to give hope in a time of severe economic crisis. He represented the kindness within human beings and spread truth and justice, someone who could stop the Nazi’s reign of terror. Batman’s creation soon followed to capitalize on Superman’s success. Bruce Wayne witnessed his parents’ murder and was severely traumatized by the experience; this led him to develop an alter-personality known as “Batman”. Now, he fights crime at night and brings justice to Gotham City. Superman was the last Kryptonian (before Supergirl was created) whose planet imploded and his parents sent him off into space before he landed on Earth. Superman was adopted by humans who inspired him to do good for the world; his parents were kind and loving who taught Superman that very same kindness which led him to become the incredible superhero he is. Wonder Woman who was written in 1942 to improve the diversity of superheros was the daughter of Hera, a greek goddess who ruled over the Amazonians who were female warriors. She inspired women with her immense power and courage which was the goal of her creator.
In the 1980s, writers began to add large amounts of depth to their characters.
“You had things like Watchman and Frank Miller’s ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ and maybe some of the X-Men storylines,” English teacher Mr. Schmidt said, who’s been reading comics since he was a kid. “There are other comics, I’m sure, but they really made the characters more human and fleshed out…The story seemed like they were actually about things that were going on in society, and were critiquing society in some way.”
Superheroes and comics became more meaningful than over-the-top action. And then in the 1990s, vigilanties made their first appearance. Vigilanties or Anti-Heros are characters who fight for the greater good by using controversial methods, for example Robin Hood stole money (a crime) so he could give money to poor people (a good deed).
Recently Marvel relaunched some old superheroes. For example, Rek-Rap is a giant, muscular and symbiote version of Spiderman. Spider Boy is Spiderman but he’s a child. There’s also Samurai Venom (Venom but he’s a Samurai).
With the new superhero movies coming out in the summer of 2025, it’s likely that the superhero genre has another shot at relevance. It’s led by James Gunn, who wrote and directed three “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies for Marvel.
“The new Superman movie is starting a whole new connected universe for DC, ignoring everything that came before it,” Mr. Schmidt said.I’m hoping that [James Gunn’s] take [will] be fun and fresh and relevant, and given what I’ve seen in his work, I do have hopes that those movies will be really, really good.”.
With their increasing relevance to society, they have a stronger impact on their readers. They also look and feel like real people which makes people feel empathy for them. Superheroes are a gem in our culture and it is likely they will be around for a long time, because now we can look up to them just like Americans looked up to Superman in 1938.
