#Golden Age of Comic Books

[freddyfreeman]

Wow Comics #12

[readingtoinfinity]

All-American Comics #41

When writing stories about minorities (racial or sexual) the difference between bigoted and representative is a lot thinner than is comfortable. Certain kinds of jokes cause you to raise an eyebrow but withhold judgement until you know who's telling them, and who is telling them is very important.

I say this because there is an interesting conversation happening between Lone Hawk (by the way, let me know how accurate the names are, I get the feeling they're not but I'm not exactly an expert source) and the (fictional) Tsichah tribe, about the strain between tradition and modernization. The evil lawyer Jay Wycker are manipulating the tribe to steel their Cinnabar rocks to extract the mercury within, which touches on the theme of the US exploiting Native Americans for their land, resources and culture. And the ultimate resolution is for Chief Blue Claw and the tribe to retain ownership of the mercury production factory to sell to defense contractors, something which, while working within our terrible system, would bring funding into the tribe for necessities and expansion. That final compromise would've been the best part of the better version of this story.

But it's not great, or even good. The two sides are represented by the white-friendly "civilized" side, and the uncivilized, superstitious side that hates civilization. Indeed, only the bad Native Americans are drawn with stereotypical features; the good Native Americans have white features and are only distinguished from Alan and Irene by their very red skin and black hair. Wycker manages to avoid the law by quoting the constitution and saying the US can't prosecute people based on their religious beliefs, which is treated as a villainous trick to prevent the government(!) from taking proper actions(!!). I won't open the can of worms when it comes to cults and prosecution thereof, but I will say writers often have a bad conception of how anti-technology cults work, because even if you don't like modern civilization, some modern tech is just better for the rugged lifestyle. There's a worship of the practical that goes beyond aesthetics, so I find it strange and a little ridiculous that the Tsichah tribe wouldn't have boots, or guns.

Talking about any other feature of this issue is difficult because the majority of what you see is the portrayal of Native Americans. Your enjoyment of it will depend heavily on how much you can avoid looking directly at it.

[kevinpsb00]

What Lies Beneath - A Dream

My latest blog, and the last in the #Toastmasters series on #ComicBooks has just been posted.

This is about a dream I had while writing this blog. This artwork is based on that dream, come and read my blog.

[oldtvandcomics]

(Spirit Section 1941-01-12)

Brenda, honey..... It is 1941.

It is just so funny, because without knowing it, Brenda is currently living the Golden Age of superheroes. Also the time period Hollywood will to this day set their heroic-soldiers-doing-heroic-soldier-things movies in. Like, I'm not saying that people long to be back in 1941 (I'm European, we at least certainly do not), but I can absolutely imagine that there are some who do. Good old days with clear-cut heroes and villains and whatever.

[danzigmcfly]

[megafrozenghostlove-blog]

Challenging myself to redraw a full page of a classic Siegel and Shuster Superman comic! I LOVE old comic art!!!

[chernobog13]

Me walking into anyplace that has comics.

[comic-covers]

(1943)

[magnetothemagnificent]

Which is gayer?

Gay sex? Or whatever the fuck superheroes had going on with their sidekicks in the Golden Age of Comics?

[mydarlingbat]

Batman #37

[smbhax]

Batman #3, Fall 1940. Cover: Bob Kane pencils, Jerry Robinson inks.

Info from Grand Comics Database

[freddyfreeman]

Wow Comics #12

[comicartarchive]

Torchy 3 Cover by Gill Fox

[kekwcomics]

WEB OF EVIL #16 (Quality Comics, 1954)

Art: Charles Nicholas

[artist-named-chris]

I miss when Batman and Superman weren't just superheroes, they were super friends.

[ghostriderslade]

Iconic Artists and Incredible Heroes #34.

A celebration of the amazing comic book artists who brought us indelible images that best capture the spirit and essence of the superhero or superheroine.

Issue #34 - Wayne Boring / Golden Age Superman.