Comic Books Helped to Fight World War II
How Superheroes Led the Battle Against the Axis Threat
Sep 29, 2009
Shortly after the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, the FBI simply assumed control of all civilian mass media traffic which either entered the United States from abroad or left the US to be consumed by foreign nationals. Congress passed the War Powers Act on December 18, which created a federal Office of Censorship. Surprisingly, the press was not up in arms over this development. The Office of Censorship, headed by the Associated Press' Executive News Director Byron Price, actually oversaw voluntary censoring of press stories which might reveal strategic information to the enemy.
Buy War Bonds!
The news media was not the only entertainment front to volunteer for service during World War II, entertainers of all stripes jumped to the forefront on the home front when the US went to war. Professional and collegiate athletes either joined the armed services or championed War Bond drives. Movie stars either joined up, peddled War Bonds, or starred in patriotic war-themed films. Great writers went to the front to cover the war and to report for radio. However, the most surprising, and potent, of all the propaganda warriors for Uncle Sam, may have worn spandex tights and a cape.
With the advent of Action Comics #1 in 1938, the comic book industry had found its goldmine in the superhero genre. Even though paper pulp would become identified as a wartime commodity which meant that most of the newly created wood pulp as well as the recycled paper pulp was set aside for military uses, the nation's affection for the melodramatic tales of superheroes meant that the industry found ways of supplying the presses with cheap pulp paper.
The industry quickly discovered that, as early as 1940, that it was publishing for two markets: the traditional market of juveniles and young adults at home made up the first marketing cohort. The industry was a bit surprised to discover that superheroes were also a hit among GIs who had time to kill while waiting for their marching orders. Between 1940 and 1945, circulation numbers would triple and at military post exchanges, comic books outsold standard fare such as Life and Reader's Digest by as much as ten to one.
Super Heroes go to War!
Long before the United States was officially involved in the struggle against the Axis powers, the American superhero strapped on the spandex and took a stand. As the country cranked up for war in 1940, superheroes began waging iconic war as the comic book industry took it as a self-directed task to use its newfound market penetration to shape public opinion as well as create cultural icons.
As Ron Goulart writes in Over 50 Years of American Comic Books, the superhero of the day stood as an icon for the country's values and core beliefs. The prime example: Superman, who in a very early issue, can be seen punching Adolph Hitler in the face. Superman reinforced those American concepts of "truth, justice, and the American Way," ideas which the comic book readership of the day needed to hear considering what lay ahead in the next few years.
Superman was only one of the, at least 25, "super-patriots" who would appear before the end of World War II.
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