Timely Truth: World War II, American Isolationism and superhero comic books · 2019-02-08 ·...
Transcript of Timely Truth: World War II, American Isolationism and superhero comic books · 2019-02-08 ·...
Timely Truth: World War II, American Isolationism and superhero
comic books
By
Joshua Barton
May 2017
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Master of Arts in History
Dual-Degree Program in History and Archives Management
Simmons College
Boston, Massachusetts
The author grants Simmons College permission to include this thesis in its Library and to make it
available to the academic community for scholarly purposes.
Submitted by
Joshua Barton
Approved by:
Zhigang Liu Stephen Ortega
Associate Professor Associate Professor
Director of the Graduate Program in History/Archives Management
Barton 2
1-Introduction
Comic book superheroes have long been a part of American popular culture. The popular
characters are seen on toys, in video games, on school supplies and feature in movies. Seeing
Batman, Superman or Captain America is a part of daily life in the United States and many other
countries. But there was a time when they were part of a newly created medium, products of
experimentation with different genres that then exploded in popularity in the late 1930s and that
have continued through to the present day. Their popularity has risen and fallen throughout the
twentieth and early twenty first century but they have largely carried on, finding new ways to be
reinvented and reinterpreted by their audience and creators.
The reinvention of superhero comic books throughout their history has not only been
part of increasing the profitability of the characters, but it has also allowed for different
interpretations of these figures as culture, technology, and politics have changed as time has
passed. The average age of most of the popular superheroes is around 57 years old, coming from
the superhero comic book renaissance of the 1960s. But a group of the heroes that continue to
make millions, and even billions, of dollars in revenue every year have an average age of 75
years. This group of superheroes includes: Superman, Batman, Captain America, and Wonder
Woman. They represent a small fraction of the hundreds of characters being published in the
early years of superhero comic book publishing.
They were created at the beginning of the genre and helped form the way that
superheroes and comic books would be read, written, and drawn for decades. They were also
created during a time of international crisis and conflict as totalitarian governments made
aggressive moves against their neighbors and rivals across the globe. After the German invasion
of Poland in September 1939 discussion of the foreign policy of the United States became an
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important political issue, even while the country continued to recover from the economic
depression. Since the early 1920s the general sentiment about foreign policy had been focused on
isolationism and there was resistance to increased international support and involvement.
American superhero comic books reflected the growing public sentiment away from
isolationism, growing support for the Allies, and expressed these changes to a large and diverse
readership.
This paper will examine how many of the creators of superhero comic books pushed
against the isolationist perspective and how they reflected many of the political events of the
time in their comic books. In the traditional narrative of comic books World War II is often
mentioned as part of the rapid growth of the industry and the drive behind the success of several
superheroes like Captain America, but the early years of the conflict before the United States
entered the war are rarely mentioned. The majority of the literature focuses on the post-Pearl
Harbor propaganda use of comic book characters, but before the entrance of the United States
into the war there was still considerable treatment of the war in comic books.
2-HISTORIOGRAPHY
The traditional history of the comic book begins with political cartoons in France and
England in the 1700s.1 Other influences on the comic book also came from Europe, especially
from the Swiss illustrator Rodolphe Töpffer and his work in 1830s and 1840s. Töpffer’s books
combined pictures and text and are often viewed as the forerunner of both comic books and
picture books in the Western world.2 Töpffer would say about his work that: “The drawings,
without this text, would have only an obscure meaning; the text, without the drawings, would
1 Mark Evanier. Kirby: King of Comics (New York: Abrams, 2008), 2.
2 Jean-Paul Gabilliet. Of Comics and Men: A Cultural History of American Comic Books. Trans. Bart
Beaty and Nick Nguyen. (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2010), 3.
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mean nothing. The whole forms a kind of novel, all the more peculiar in that it no more
resembles a novel than anything else.”3 Töpffer’s work would be reprinted and imitated all
across Europe during the 19th century as part of larger growth in the European market of
producing consumer based literature that was accessible to a larger audience.
The primary use of cartoons was for political commentary in the United States until the
late 1800s when comics began to move into the entertainment and leisure literature. Early comics
were printed in the newspapers. As the years passed and reprints of newspaper comics became
popular, they would be collected into book forms. Comic series like The Yellow Kid would be
reprinted and rebound in formats similar to the current comic book dimensions.4
The cultural roots of the superhero comic books received significant influence from the
pulp fiction and science fiction stories of the 1920s and 1930s. The pulp stories were full of
crime adventures, focusing on detectives and their battles against crime bosses and gangs that
were being lifted from the Prohibition period violence and lawlessness.5 While the average pulp
was often a single self contained adventure there was also the emergence of authors like H.P
Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard whose writings would focus on larger world building whose
stories would exist in a shared mythos.6 Science fiction was an emerging genre and the stories of
technological progress mixed with the adventure of the unknown would be an important
influence on writers and readers of the early comics.7 The combination of both larger and
connected world building and the mix of crime and technology would become central to both the
3 Ibid., xvi.
4 Ibid., 5.
5 Ibid., 13-14.
6 For example Lovecraft’s Elder Things horror stories and Howard’s Conan the Barbarian worlds
7 Gerard Jones, Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the birth of the comic book (New York: Basic
Books, 2004), 29-32.
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personalities of superheroes, as well as the growing connectedness of publisher’s characters in
their literary worlds.
The publishing industry that would produce the comic book came from the confluence of
immigrant industry and capitalist opportunity. Eastern European Jews were one of many groups
that immigrated en masse to the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Settling into enclaves inside large urban cities, like New York City, many of these immigrants
would find niches in the growing urban industries. One area that the Jewish community became
deeply involved in was publishing. There were a wide range of printing subjects, from leftist
labor publications to novels. The vast majority of these early publishers focused on less
expensive publications that could be quickly prepared and printed.8
During the 1920s there were consolidations of the publishers involved in the dime novels,
pulp fiction and magazine world. Among the publishers who emerged in 1932 were Harry
Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz. Their distribution of newspapers would lead to their involvement
in comic book distribution in 1935 and the creation of Detective Comics in 1937.9 While not the
only publishers in comic books, Donenfeld and Liebowitz would hit gold in the first major
success in the superhero genre.
The year 1938 would be the turning point for comic books success and superheroes were
at the center of it. Comic books that were considered successful were selling an average of
100,000 copies a month at the time.10 The medium was new and growing the readership and
profits were vital to keep the fledgling industry alive. Publishers were trying new genres in an
attempt to attract a larger audience and so hundreds of new comic books were being printed
8 Ibid., 19-20.
9 Gabilliet, 138-139.
10 Jones, 140.
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monthly. Many only saw one or two months of printing before they were discontinued, but it
allowed different styles of art and writing to be experimented with.
Among the series being tested was a comic book submitted by two men from Cleveland,
Ohio. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s ‘Superman’ exploded onto newsstands in Action Comics #1
in June 1938. The now iconic cover portrayed Superman holding a car above his head and almost
overnight Superman gave passionate life to both comic books and superheroes. Less than a year
after Superman was published in Action Comics his comics were selling 900,000 comic books a
month.11 Superman quickly jumped from comics into other mediums such as radio productions
and animated cartoons and would become a national and international best seller.12
Other comics quickly profited from the success of Superman as comic books and
superheroes became permanently welded together. Sales continued to climb as publishers
searched for the next superhero hit. From 1939 to 1942 many of the most popular superheroes of
all time were created. Batman was introduced in Detective Comics #27 in March 1939, Captain
America in Captain America #1 by March 1941, and Wonder Woman in All Star Comics #8 in
December 1941. It was a time of explosive growth and opportunity for writers and illustrators as
the demand for comics outstripped the production ability. In New York City this made hiring
more writers and illustrators necessary. Many of the publishers hired young artists, some as
young as seventeen years old.13 The top selling comics, like Superman and Batman, would break
into multiple teams in order to keep the deadlines for monthly and even weekly releases.This
would soon create a large number of young writers and illustrators trying to earn profits from the
older publishers who controlled the industry.14
11 Ibid., 155.
12 Ibid., 158.
13 Ibid., 152.
14 Gabilliet, 117-118.
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Working conditions in the early comic book industry were cramped, low paying, and
competitive. Teams of writers and illustrators would often work in the same room, passing down
sheets of comics in a factory style production line to be illustrated, texted, and inked for color.
The market was competitive and poaching writers and illustrators from other companies was
common.15 For many of the editors and publishers the profit margins were razor thin and any
cost that could be cut was. This ruthless market made it difficult for successful illustrators and
writers to keep up with the demand for monthly, and then weekly comics of successful
characters. The financial success of specific characters meant in some cases that additional teams
were created to produce and this allowed for an influx of new talent. One example of this was the
Batman series. While Bob Kane may have have been involved in the first few years of
production, there were quickly multiple writers using the Bob Kane name when writing Batman
stories and multiple teams working on different issues.16
The average reader of the comic book in this era is an elusive figure. While the traditional
reader is depicted as an eight to ten year old boy, several readership studies portray a more
diverse readership. An analysis of one readership study that focused on fourth and fifth graders
found that 90% of them described themselves as regular readers and that for each copy
purchased an average of four to five readers read it.17 Another study in 1945 found that at least
half of the population had recently read a comic book, with 95 percent of boys and 91 percent of
girls, ages six to eleven, reading comic books regularly. Adult readers also read comics, with 41
percent of men and 28 percent of women ages eighteen to thirty having read a comic book within
15 Ibid., 111.
16 Ibid., 116.
17 Jason Dittmer, "America is safe while its boys and girls believe in its creeds!": Captain America and American identity prior to World War 2." Environment And Planning D-Society & Space 25, no. 3 (n.d.): 407. Social Sciences Citation Index, EBSCOhost(accessed October 21, 2016). http://epd.sagepub.com/content/25/3/401.short
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the past month.18 A major source of growth of comic books from 1942 to 1945 was the United
States Armed Forces with almost forty percent of items shipped to military bases being in the
form of comic books.19 While the primary audience that the comic books were written for may
have been younger readers, they were a medium that appealed to a larger audience. There were
also many different types of comic books, even while the superhero genre continued to grow.
Common comic books genres included adaptations of classic novels, Bible stories, romance
stories, detective stories, and horror stories.
With such a wide array of genre options and hundreds of thousands of issues being sold,
it is difficult, if not impossible to quantify the effect of political superhero comic books on the
public. To say that millions went to the polls to vote or contact their elected representatives
because of an issue would be a stretch. But millions of Americans found their recreational
reading and interests being closely tied to the political events that were being discussed at the
highest levels of government from 1939 to 1945.
The historical focus on comic books is a relatively new field of study. Comic books
themselves are a newer medium, emerging during the late 1930s. As a cultural and literary
medium, comic books have been on the periphery of both popular culture and literature for the
majority of their history. Comic books have not been considered high culture and because of
their early ties to pulp fiction novels and pornography, crime, and horror magazines there was
considerable opposition to comic books throughout the 1940s and 1950s, culminating in U.S
Senate hearings in 1954. Partly because of this there has been little formal academic writing on
comic books. The creation of historical writing on comic books has been a more recent
development over the past twenty years.
18 Sanderson Vanderbilt, “The Comics,” Yank: The Army Weekly, 23 November 1945.
19 Julian C. Chambliss and Michael J. Lecker, Ages of Heroes, Eras of Men: Superheroes and the American Experience (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014), 34.
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Many of the ways that comic book history is written and discussed is with terminology
and dates that were created by comic book collectors in the early 1980s. Collectors divided
comic books into “Ages” by creation dates. The traditional chronological description that is used
usually is divided by the following: Golden Age (1937-1950s), Silver Age (late 1950s-1973),
Modern or Bronze Age (1973-early 1990s), and Late Modern Age (early 1990s-present). These
dates are are hotly debated among comic book collectors and enthusiasts to the present. The story
of the superhero comic book traditionally begins in 1938 with the publishing and success of
Superman. This begins the Golden Age that sees the creation of many of the most popular
superheroes including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Captain America. The end of
the Golden Age usually coincides with the 1954 Senate hearings and the creation of the Comic
Code Authority.
One of the first academic works on comic books and their cultural influence was actually
created in opposition to their growth. In 1954 psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published The
Seduction of the Innocent, where he attacked popular media for its depiction of violence and sex,
and its focus on horror and illicit activities.20 Movies and other mediums would also be part of
his criticism, but the comic book would bring the greatest criticism. In the popular memory of
comic books Wertham is often portrayed as the archvillain of comic books, but recent work now
questions how much influence Wertham had. While his work may not have been as impactful as
previously attributed, there was significant opposition to comic books dating back to the 1940s.21
The Silver Age is currently the most contested era of comic books. Different authors,
collectors and now academics differ on the importance of specific comic books, authors and
illustrators, and the end of the Silver Age. The largest changes during this period were the
20 Fredric Wertham, Seduction of the Innocent (Laurel, NY.: Main Road Books, Inc, 2004).
21 Julian C. Chambliss, Ages of Heroes, Eras of Men: Superheroes and the American Experience
(Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014), 32.
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emergence of the Marvel Comics (Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Avengers) and the Batman
television show starring Adam West.22 The Silver Age would stabilize the foundations of both
Marvel and DC Comics and regrow the superhero comic book industry from the stagnation of
the 1950s. The end of the Silver Age has been attributed to several events in 1973, the traditional
event being the death of the character Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man.23 More recent writings have
focused on the political and cultural events of 1973, including the beginning of the Watergate
Scandal, and the withdrawal of the majority of the US troops in Vietnam.24 The shift in culture
and politics in the United States that are associated with this period would leave the comic book
stories both progressive and opportunistic about the future, but also plagued with doubt about
their powers and responsibilities in the midst of change.
The Bronze Age or Modern Age ushered in a new era of more political and darker comic
books. Changes focused on the reimagining of classic characters like Frank Miller’s Batman in
The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore’s Watchmen. At the same new movies like Superman
(1978) and Batman (1989) would bring new vigor to comic book superheroes as many of them
approached their fortieth and fiftieth anniversaries.
Whether comics continue to be in the Bronze Age or if they have moved into a Late
Modern Age is another ongoing debate.25 Comic book characters would find new mediums in
television shows, movies, and video games in the 1990s. Animated television shows such as X-
Men (1992), Batman: The Animated Series (1992), as well the continued portrayal of
superheroes in films like Spider-Man (2002), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Avengers (2012)
would not only bring box office success, but would create a renewed interest in superheroes.
22 Gabilliet, 59.
23 Les Daniels, Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comic (New York: Marvel
Entertainment Group, Inc., 1991), 112.
24 Chambliss, 112-113.
25 Ibid., 225.
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Individual papers and books have been written starting in the 1960s, but there is still a lot
of debate over dates and events that occur between academics and comic enthusiasts. Many of
the histories of comic books come from authors whose backgrounds come from the more artistic
and literary aspect of comic books. Much has also been written about the individuals who made
the superheroes that have come to dominate the industry, men like: Stan Lee, Bill Kane, Jack
Kirby, Joe Simon, Jerry Siegel, and Joe Schuster. The traditional history of the comic book has
become linked to the heroes created by these men from the 1930s through the 1970s. These
biographies have allowed a greater insight into the economic and cultural workings of the
creation of comic books and the world their writers lived in. There has also been a growing
emphasis on the collectors and fans of the comic books who have created a unique sub-culture in
the world of literature, film, and other mediums that comic books inhabit.26
There is still no singular work or method for looking at superhero comic books. Each
method varies with the researcher and their background. The past few years have seen increased
focus by traditional historians through biographies of comic book writers27 and individual essays
have begun to be more common in academic articles. One interesting point in looking at more
recent writing is that more student essays and dissertations have recently begun to address the
comic book. Mark Kelly of Marquette University has written about the way that comic books
became a mainstay of American culture during and after World War II by examining the
villainization of Nazism and then Communism in the comic books.28 Ella Donnelly’s work at the
26 Bradford Wright, Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America (Baltimore,
Maryland: John Hopkins Press, 2001).
27 Three of the best examples include: Jill Lepore, The Secret History of Wonder Woman (New York: Vintage, 2015), Mark Evanier, Kirby: King of Comics (New York: Abrams, 2008), and, Brad Ricca, Super Boys: The amazing adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster-the creators of Superman (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2013).
28 Mark Kelley, “The Golden Age of Comic Books: Representations of American Culture from the Great
Depression to the Cold War.” Student paper for the Maria Dittman Library Research Competition: Student
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University of Puget Sound explores a similar vein as myself using the comic books as primary
sources on race, nationalism, and gender.29 As this continues to expand, comics will begin to
have a larger analysis by traditional historical methods employed in the profession.
One aspect of the current change in the study of comic books is a difference between
European and American scholarship. Traditional American studies focuses on specific dates and
comics that come out in the United States; for example the ‘The Yellow Kid’ being published in
1897 and ‘Superman’ published in 1938.30 European scholars like Jean Gabilliet have focused on
a much longer history dating back to the Swiss Rodolphe Töppfer in 1842 and have a more
international view of the development of comic books. In dealing with an industry that has been
dominated by the United States, international authors also bring perspectives on what comic
books say about nationalism and the enduring struggle over representation in comic books.31
Their discussions about the negative aspects of the impact of American power in the post-war
world and the portrayal of American military, political and economic power allows characters to
be better understood.
Perhaps one of the greatest perspectives that international historians bring is the ability to
bring a different chronology of the twentieth century history of comic books. Rather than being
constrained by the traditional “Ages” narrative of comic book collectors, they have been able to
identify other patterns and emerging trends that shifts focus to the comic book community as a
whole, rather than than just on the two largest publishers, Marvel Comics and DC Comics.32
Award Winners. Marquette University, 2009. http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=dittman
29 Ella Donnelly,. ”A Hero for a Good War: Captain America and the Mythologization of World War
Two.”History Theses: University of Puget Sound, 2015.http://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=history_theses
30 Brian Walker, The Comics Before 1945 (New York: Abram’s Books, 2004), 23.
31 Jason Dittmer, Captain America and the Nationalist Superhero: Metaphors, Narratives, and
Geopolitics. (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2013).
32 Gabilliet, xiv.
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As more historians join the discussion about comic books, and especially superheroes,
there are many topics that have only been briefly touched on. Issues of gender, race, religion, and
political commentary have only begun to be explored. The continued focus on comic books as
primary sources allow for a greater exploration of popular culture of the twentieth and now
twenty-first centuries, similar to the work being done in film, television, and music histories.
Comic books have always felt like the odd man out in both popular culture and academic
literature. A sense of marginalization has become central to the comic book identity and culture
and has made many comic book authors very defensive when discussing their work in the larger
cultural and artistic community. One academic has described “The marginalization of comic
books and superheroes is an integral part of the medium.”33 Because of this, comic books have
not been viewed as primary sources in the way that other popular culture materials like film,
literature, and art have been used and analyzed. Comics are a mix between literature and art and
this can make them difficult to synthesize when analyzing them. Trying to decide which one to
focus one can divide authors, the majority placing the emphasis on the visual style, rather than on
the text. While I concede that comic book text rarely reaches the heights of high literature, with
such little space, there is a lot of information packed into the text. With the comic book having a
visual heavy focus, there is less space devoted to text compared to the art. What text is chosen
has to convey information that the image can’t and has to be succinct.
My focus in this paper will be on the relationship of the growth of the early comic book
industry and the process of the United States entering World War II. The comic book history
often makes mention of the war and how it affects the comic book industry, but few articles and
books written take time to explore the relationship between the two in any detail. The war period
is described as an opportunity for growth and rapid expansion, but the politics of the war period
33 Chambliss, 246.
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and their effect on the comics are rarely discussed. The political history of World War II is one
of the most written about subjects in both academic and popular writing. Bridging the gaps
between the history of World War II and the beginning of the comic book industry allows
historians of comic books and World War II to better understand the close links between popular
media and the preparation of the United States for entrance into the war.
This paper is an attempt to bridge the gap between the political and economic history of
the mid-20th century and the literary history on comic books. Both histories rely on each other
but their relationship has only begun to be explored in the past few years. While popular memory
in the United States of World War II often begins on December 7, 1941 with the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor, the public had been exposed to news and debate about the role the United States
should take in the rapidly escalating conflicts for years.
In looking at comic books as primary sources for the period from September 1939 to
January 1942 I compiled a list of 48 comic books that were published during those two and a half
years that portray or reference the war and political events. The majority of these comics were
published after December 1940, but the spread of the comics line up with the major political
events that spur increased American support for the Allies and participation in the war. One
aspect that has made comic book research difficult for previous authors is that comic books are
now a collector’s item and the costs of acquiring prints can be staggering. Mass produced
anthologies are often reprinted in black and white and are cropped, which takes away their ability
to be used for research. While the Library of Congress has an impressive collection of comic
books and cartoons, many other academic institutions have little or no comic book holdings. One
breakthrough has been the use of apps like Marvel Unlimited where publishers have uploaded
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high resolution scans of the original prints. These apps are largely designed for a commercial
audience, but I have used them for my study.
In my analysis of these comics I looked for patterns of representation in both text and
image. Individual events and representation are interesting and can be powerful points of
conversation, but I tried to focus on longer patterns of symbols, representation and examples
across multiple series, authors, illustrators and publishing companies. These long term patterns
of anti-isolationism, pro-intervention, and pro-Allied across the first two years of the war are
more informative about the way that both the public and the comic book creators saw their
world.
It may be that comic books will always exist on the fringe of both popular culture and
academia, but the growing work on analyzing the lives of the common men and women of
history will continue to focus on how they spend their time. In studying American life in
twentieth century, it would be a shame if proper study wasn’t devoted to a medium, creative
community and characters that have become commonplace in the everyday life of millions of
people.
3-Comic books and the War
Comic books have been and continue to be a team enterprise where writers and
illustrators collaborate to create the finished product. In mainstream comic book publishing the
creation of a comic book by a single individual is extremely rare, the vast majority being created
by teams with each member having a very specific role, such as writer, illustrator, inker, and
producer.34 This reliance on others has created an industry where talent is important, but ability
34 Gabillet, 111.
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to work with others and communicate the vision for the characters and stories is just as vital to
long term success.
Comic books rely on the combination of visual image and text. While the visual image is
the more compelling of the two, the text is just as important in conveying the full experience and
intent of the authors. Because of the visual nature of comic books there is a restriction of how
much text can be used and there is a strong aversion to large text blocks. Text has to be chosen
that best frames the narrative and moves the story from visual image to visual image in as few
words as possible.
In looking at comic books as primary sources, I argue that text and image have to be
weighed equally. The image alone can portray a powerful message, such as the cover of Captain
America #1 where Hitler is being punched in the face by the superhero Captain America.35 The
cover of Action Comics #1 shows Superman lifting a car over his head while normal people flee
around him. Comparing the stance of Superman to the other people reveals his strength while
also highlighting the other people's weakness; just as the contrast of Captain America’s punching
of Hitler highlights Captain America’s uniform of red, white, and blue with Hitler’s swastika
armband . At the same time, the text has important descriptions about what is happening and
conveying information that can give the reader a deeper understanding of the political and
cultural commentary that the writers and illustrators are weaving into their stories.
Comic books would come of age during World War II. Their readership would be living
in a world where war and conflict were part of everyday news and where the contrast between
these sides was described by national politicians and leaders as a binary conflict of good versus
evil. As melodramatic as superhero comic books can be, perhaps considering their setting for the
35 See Figure 1.
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first seven years of their existence it can be understood that at best comic books were an escape
from a world at war but in many ways the war was still present in their pages.
At the same time comic book creators were also trying to undermine the legitimacy of the
isolationist sentiment that prevented the United States Government from taking steps to stopping
the Axis expansion. While presenting the threat that the Axis posed to the United States the
comic book creators would explore issues of patriotism, language, race, and gender in their
representation of the world.
As the war continued to spread in Europe and as Allied chances of victory became more
bleak as Western Europe fell to Nazi Germany in 1940, comic books began to reflect the
changing geopolitical reality. In this early stage of political commentary the comic books would
be divided into those who showed their characters fighting the Axis literally and those who
represented it allegorically. Those who chose to represent their characters literally fighting the
Axis would often cast their characters as American adventurers who choose to fight abroad for
the nations of Great Britain or France, such as Red, White and Blue, three friends who came from
three of the branches of the United States military, the army, marines, and navy.36 Similar to the
Americans who had fought in World War I and conflicts like the Spanish Civil War, these early
comics represented Americans who felt that Axis threats to freedom in Europe would ultimately
threaten the United States.
Another example of Americans fighting for foreign governments was John Steele, the
“Soldier of Fortune” who appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #1 in January 1940. Steele is
introduced as he saves a nurse from being shot by an enemy soldier. The nurse turns out to be a
secret agent who has vital information for the Allies. Steele then escorts her to Allied lines while
36 Sheldon Mayer, All-American Comics #1 (New York: Detective Comics, April 1,1939), 3-12.
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fighting enemy tanks, airplanes and soldiers.37 Throughout the adventure there are references to
the Allies but the Germans are only referred to as “the enemy”. The major giveaway about who
the enemy is appears on page 18 as one of the enemy planes bears a red swastika on the wing.38
While being ambiguous about who the enemy was in words, the imagery of the swastika was left
for readers to understand without being overly anti-German. This was John Steele’s only
adventure during this era.
A month later another American appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #2 fighting for the
Allies. ‘K-4 and His Sky Devils’ were a group of pilots who were flying for the Allies in
American made Grumman fighter planes. K-4 was an American who had flown in the Spanish
Civil War for the Republicans and for the Chinese against the Japanese in China. His wingmates
were an English aristocrat and a French ace and master swordsman.39 Together they fought
against the Germans in the sky and on land as secret agents behind enemy lines. K-4 and His Sky
Devils would appear in several more adventures through 1940 and 1941, especially while the
Battle for France (May-June 1940) and the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940) were being
fought, both of which were heavily influenced by air warfare. While K-4 starts out as being a
World War I ace story, it quickly changes to grapple with the technological realities of the new
war as the air war comes to determine the fate of the war. The era of the romance inspired
“Knights of the Sky” of World War I was over, both in the real world and the comic books.
Many of these comics also represented the Axis in a more abstract form. With a lot of
political and popular sentiment still divided about the role that the United States should take,
37 Ray Gil and Ben Thompson, Daring Mystery Comics #1 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics],
January 10, 1940), 12-20. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on April 25, 2017.
38 Ibid., 18.
See Figure 6.
39 Ray Gil and Ben Thompson, Daring Mystery Comics #2 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], February 10, 1940), 39-48. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on April 25, 2017.
Barton 19
some of the comic book writing teams took a more allegorical approach to commenting on what
was happening in Europe and Asia. Inventing countries and aggressors allowed comic book
writers the opportunity of exploring the issues of totalitarian governments attacks on other
countries without engaging in the sensitive nature of public opinion. One example is ‘American
Ace’, an adventuring American fighter pilot who becomes involved in flying for a small country
being invaded by their larger neighbour.40 His initial reluctance to intervene changes when he we
witnessed the bombing of a city and as civilians are put in danger by the enemy airpower. While
cities had been attacked by zeppelin and airplane in World War I, World War II would see the
bombing of cities by aircraft as a common tactic by both sides. Early on in the war though the
Axis aerial attacks on Warsaw, which had happened before ‘American Ace’ was written,
Rotterdam, and Nanjing had outraged many neutral nations. Even though ‘American Ace’ was
not fighting the Axis, the enemy he was fighting mirrored their tactics.
At the same time that many new writers were working on incorporating the real world
into their comic books, other writers and publishers were trying to keep it out from their own
works. By 1939 Superman had become the top selling comic book superhero. He not only sold in
the United States, but he also sold in the growing international comic book market as well. This
continued success was threatened by the war and Superman was banned in Nazi Germany and
many of the Axis countries in 1939 because of the Jewish author and illustrator, Jerry Siegel and
Joe Shuster, and the supposed connections of Jewish Americans and President Roosevelt.41 The
precarious situation of continued Axis military success kept the publishers of Superman and
other titles in a grey zone where they chose to make characters and stories apolitical. They didn’t
40 Bill Everett and Carl Burgos, Marvel Mystery Comics #2 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], December 1, 1939), 47-52. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on January 14, 2017. Se Figure 7.
41 Jones, 162.
Barton 20
want to risk the loss of international and domestic isolationist customers due to a pro-Allied and
pro-American interventionist angle.42 After the United States entered the war in December 1941
many of these characters, including Superman, would eventually be used from 1942 to 1945 in
supporting the war effort through comic books, animated cartoons and use on bond posters.43
Late 1940 and early 1941 would see an explosion of political superheroes. As the war
continued poorly for the Allies, which was rapidly becoming only Great Britain and a collection
of Western European governments in exile, the chance of American involvement in the war
became more real. As American sympathies continued to favor the British and as politicians
began to emphasize the importance of stopping the further expansion of the Axis nations it
allowed greater expression of comic book writers in how they would depict the United States and
how they would depict the Axis. The first American political comic book superhero is often
described as The Shield who appeared in Pep Comics #1 in January 1940.44 While setting a
precedent for being dressed in the colors of the flag of the United States and fighting spies and
saboteurs, The Shield would ultimately have a short print run, competing with heroes who
weren’t as political. For already existing characters the changing political support for the Allies
would allow them to move toward the more political references and for many of the newly
created characters, it would allow them to come out swinging, especially in the case of the
superhero that would come to define this era, Captain America.
While Captain America was not the first political superhero, he was the first to be a
commercial success. Jack Kirby and Joe Simon’s creation has come to be not only a
representation of the political superhero comic book, but also of the American experience of
42 Ibid., 165.
43 Julian C. Chambliss and Michael J. Lecker, Ages of Heroes, Eras of Men: Superheroes and the
American Experience (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014), 230.
44 Evanier, 50.
Barton 21
World War II. While Captain America #1 has a cover date of March 1941, copies reached
newsstands as early as December 1940.45 In a world where cover art is vital to selling, Captain
America #1 did not disappoint. The superhero was shown punching Adolf Hitler in the face.
Behind them a large map of the United States is shown, while on a desk a memo reads “Sabotage
Plans”. In a time when the average comic book was selling 250,000-500,000 copies a month,
Captain America broke the one million mark in the second run.Captain America was second only
to Superman and Batman in number of sales for the next year.46
The reasons for Captain America’s sales have been attributed to several reasons. One is
the political nature of the superhero. The juxtaposition of American democracy with its focus on
personal liberties and the militaristic scheming of Nazi Germany is a main point of the
adventures of Captain America. Just as comic books had been growing for the past three years,
popular opinion in the United States had also changed from stiff neutrality to growing support
for the Allies and for viewing the threat that the Axis, especially Germany, represented to the
United States.
Another reason is the narration and art that Kirby and Simon brought to the medium. In a
1991 interview about his comic book career Kirby described this process as vital to connecting to
the audience. He said: “
I don’t want to be some high-falutin’ intellectual. I like to inject the kind of thought the
average guy has, I like to communicate with him. And I like to give him the kind of story
that is believable. He’s my target, the average guy is my target…[T]here’s got to be a
45 Julian C. Chambliss and Antonio S. Thompson, Ages of Heroes, Eras of Men: Superheroes and the
American Experience (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014), 108.
46 Jones, 200.
Barton 22
human element in that story that the reader recognizes and says, “Yes, he’s got so-and-so
kind of powers but he’s still a human being, there something human about him.”.47
This approach to connecting to the reader would allow Kirby to be involved in creating some of
the most successful comic books characters across decades of comic books. In a medium that
was less than five years old the innovation that Kirby and Simon brought would be something
that both of them would bring again in future comic books, especially in the 1960s with
establishing many of the superheroes that still form the foundation of Marvel Comics.48
Captain America was not the first political commentary that Jack Kirby had drawn. In
1938, after the Munich conference that had given the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to
Germany, he had drawn a political cartoon portraying British Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain patting a python with a Hitler mustache.49 Joe Simon would later describe their
choice to use Hitler as a villain: “...we were always looking for that great villain. It was
becoming hard to think of a better villain than Adolf Hitler.”.50 While this easily fits into the
narrative of Adolf Hitler as a villain that was well established after World War II, it was a much
more political decision when Captain America was created in 1940. Hitler may have been
disliked and seen as bully, but he was also the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the
world, and one with an increasing global presence.
The success of Captain America brought the anti-semitism in the United States to the
surface for the comic book creators. Both Kirby and Simon received threats through letters and
phone calls for their work. One anonymous phone caller told them that “We want to see the guy
who does this disgusting comic book and show him what real Nazis would do to his Captain
47 Gabilliet, 164.
48 This includes The Incredible Hulk, The X-Men, Thor, The Black Panther, and The Fantastic Four.
49 Evanier, 37.
50 Ibid., 49.
Barton 23
America”.51 Kirby would say in an interview years later that “I once got a letter from a Nazi who
told me to pick out any lampost I wanted on Times Square, because when Hitler arrived, they’d
hang me from it”.52 Despite this opposition, Captain America sold extremely well and the
authors also received thousands of letter of support from readers.
Perhaps the aspect of Captain America that brought the war home was the call to action
for its readers. A major part of the stories and advertising was the use of the “Sentinels of
Liberty”. The Sentinels of Liberty in the stories were a gang of teenage boys lead by Captain
America’s sidekick Bucky who helped him observe and investigate the activities of the anti-
American groups that he fought against. In the stories they tail suspicious figures53, stakeout
hideouts and secret bases54, and run messages.55 In many of the stories they become the deus ex
machina by bringing help when Captain America and Bucky are being overwhelmed and close to
defeat. They are identified in the stories by badges that they use to mark clues and leave trails.
They also become the main heroes of the text short stories that were included in early comics
where they also hunt down the spies and saboteurs.56
Along with their presence in the stories the Sentinels of Liberty were also a part of the
marketing of the Captain America comics. From the first edition readers were encouraged to join
the Sentinels of Liberty by sending in money and receiving their own Sentinels of Liberty badge
and membership card.57 Readers were encouraged to help Captain America and Bucky and their
51 Ibid., 54.
52 Ibid., 56.
53 Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Captain America #3 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], May 1, 1941), 44.. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on November 18, 2016..
54 Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Captain America #6 (New York:Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], September 1, 1941), 9. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on December 3, 2016.
55 Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Captain America #5 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], August 1, 1941), 36. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on December 12, 2016..
56 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #6, 50-51.
57 Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Captain America #1 (New York:Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], March 1, 1941), 9. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on November 3, 2016.
Barton 24
“Army of Spy Smashers” in helping look out for foreign agents and their allies who are trying to
sabotage and spy in the United States.58 Historian Jason Dittmer wrote that the Sentinels of
Liberty marketing campaign was successful by “blurring the relationship between vigilance in
the comic book and the vigilance to be exercised by readers [were] connected to a state through
name, costume, and values”.59 The Sentinels of Liberty advertisement was part of every single
issue of Captain America through its first ten issues and was also put into other comic books that
Timely published.
The Sentinels of Liberty allowed readers, especially younger readers, to participate in the
adventures of Captain America and be like Bucky by being on alert for fifth column elements in
their own cities and neighborhoods. The blurring of real world events and comic book threats is a
central element to the success of the political superheroes during this era and The Sentinels of
Liberty do the most by allowing the reader to be involved by learning to decode messages60 or
practice identifying and tracking airplane patterns.61 This blurring between what was happening
in the reality and what was appearing in the comic books would create two worlds; one of the
real world and one of the comic book. Immersion in reading the comic books blurred the lines
between the two and would make the stories and characters of both worlds bleed together for the
reader.
The threat of spies and saboteurs had been central to many comic books before Captain
America. They had become fairly common by 1940 and representations of both government
See Figure 2.
58 Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Captain America #2 (New York:Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], April 1, 1941), 18. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on November 5, 2016.
59 Jason Dittmer, Captain America and the Nationalist Superhero: Metaphors, Narratives, and Geopolitics
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2013), 10.
60 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #6, 58.
61 Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Captain America #9 (New York:Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], December 1, 1941), 57. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on December 21, 2016.
Barton 25
agents like G-Man Dan Gorman62 and citizens like wunderkind Little Hercules being under
threat from them and their allies were common.63 Captain America would take these themes and
expound on them by expanding the threat. Throughout the first ten issues of Captain America
assassination and sabotage would be taken to a new level. In my analysis I found that there were
seven military leaders, including two generals and an admiral, six political leaders including
three US Senators and two foreign diplomats, six civil defense officials and two industrial
leaders assassinated throughout these copies. The level of disruption made the emphasis that
even without a declaration of war, the United States was already at war in the comic book world
and the real world could quickly mirror it.
Another superhero who brought the war into the reader's lives was the Sub-Mariner or
Prince Namor of the Antarctic Amphibious people. The Sub-Mariner first appeared in Marvel
Mystery Comics #2 in December 1939. His initial story focused on the differences between the
land dwellers of New York City and Namor’s people. Conflict between Namor and the superhero
The Human Torch was common in early issues. When Namor received his own series, Sub-
Mariner Comics in April 1941, there was a significant change in tone. The new series changed
the focus from the battle between the land and ocean peoples and focused on the dangers that the
war brought to nations all over the world.
The main way that the war was treated in the Sub-Mariner comics was the presence of
Nazi submarines in the oceans. In the real world the Nazi submarines, or U-boats, posed a threat
that was almost greater than the thousands of men, tanks and airplanes that were preparing to
invade Great Britain. Thousands of tons of military material and food supplies were being lost in
62 Dan Gorman: Ray Gil and Ben Thompson, Daring Mystery Comics #4 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], May 10, 1940), 42-49. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on April 24, 2017.
63 Ray Gil and Ben Thompson, Daring Mystery Comics #5 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], June 10, 1940), 54-57. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on April 21, 2017.
Barton 26
the Atlantic as ‘wolfpacks’ of U-boats attacked the convoys from the United States and Canada
that kept Great Britain in the war. At the same time German surface ships like the Bismarck
threatened the supremacy of the British Navy. The violence and threat in the Atlantic increased
the debate in the United States about the increased role of the United States Navy and Coast
Guard in the Atlantic as American ships entered a war zone.
Namor explored the increased violence and threats to commerce and open sea trade. U-
boat attacks and German naval operations were a central part of these adventures and focus on
the threat that German naval operations posed, especially in the way that lack of control of the
Atlantic would lead to the loss of American ships and allowed for the delivery of Nazi saboteurs
and agents onto American soil.64 They foreshadowed a real life attempt by Nazi agents in 1942
to detonate explosives inside American factories. They were delivered by U-boats off the coasts
of New York and Florida but were caught after several of the team defected to the FBI.65
After the release and success of Captain America in early 1941 there was a rush to
capitalize on the financial opportunity of the growing nationalist patriotic superhero comic book.
Some of these heroes would have their own comics books, while others would be included in the
shorter comics that accompanied many of the headline comics. At the time the average comic
book was around sixty pages compared to the forty pages in the 1960s and the average run of 24
pages today. It was common to have two smaller stories at the end after the headline character.
They would often be of a completely different genre than the headline title. The main comic may
be a crime fighter but the stories at the end could be a Tarzan-like jungle tale and a Flash
64 Bill Everett and Alex Schomburg, Sub-Mariner Comics #1 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], April, 1 1941), 36. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on January 14, 2017. See Figure 5.
65 David M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929- 1945
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 568.
Barton 27
Gordon-like futuristic adventure. For example the Nazi spy hunter and journalist Headhunter
would appear at the end of Captain America comic books starting with Captain America #5.66
The change towards nationalist and patriotic superheroes operating against real world-
inspired threats would change two of the story arcs of two already existing superheroes, The
Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner. Both of them would see a change starting in the April 1941
publications. As discussed previously the Sub-Mariner would change focus to the threat of Nazi
naval aggression in his own comic book.67 One of the smaller comic book stories in The Human
Torch would be about a star-spangled imitator of Captain America, The Patriot. The Patriot is the
superhero alias of Jeff Mace, a newspaperman who fights against the threat of the Yellowshirts
and he is described as the “Defender of the sacred Bill of Rights”.68 The leader of the
Yellowshirts began their attack on the United States by telling his followers that “Destroy all
those things that Americans hold so sacred! Of what use is freedom of the press? Destroy it! Of
what value is freedom of speech, religion, and assembly? Destroy them!!”.69 The Yellowshirts
then begin attacking New York City, burning and looting as they go.70 The attack is ultimately
defeated by The Patriot on the streets of New York City. After their defeat The Patriot tells the
gathered populace that “These Yellow-livered gangsters could not win, of course--but we must
forever be on our guard against anyone who would steal our liberty! Long live liberty!”.71 The
Yellowshirts were a thinly veiled reference to the Brownshirts of Nazi Germany and Blackshirts
of Fascist Italy that had been central to the early years of control by both fascist leaders,
66 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #5, 51.
67 Bill Everett, Sub-Mariner Comics Vol. 1, #2 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], June, 1941),
PAGE. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on January 22, 2017.
68 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Human Torch #4 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], April 10, 1942), 57. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on January 3, 2017.
69 Ibid., 58.
70 Ibid., 60
71 Ibid., 66.
Barton 28
especially in the street fighting that existed in both countries during the global economic
depression and democratic crises.
In August 1941 Timely Comics would release a new series, USA Comics.72 All of the
characters in this new series were involved in fighting threats that originated from Axis
countries. Each would enter the fight with their own take on what it meant to be an American.
‘The Defender’ wore a red, white and blue outfit that has USA written on the chest. Similar to
Captain America’s background of being a solider in the Army, The Defender is a US Marine
who fights crime with his teenage sidekick Rusty.73 Another superhero was The Young Avenger
who was a teenager who fought against his nemesis the Nazi spy Eric Von Himmel. Von
Himmel’s targets were the American industrial centers and was defeated by The Young
Avenger’s strength and speed.74
One of the more original heroes was Major Liberty, who fought fifth columnists with the
ghosts of America’s past. In his introduction two panels contrast the destroyed cities of Europe
with the Statue of Liberty being overshadowed by a swastika. The panels explain the situation
saying “As vanquished Europe lies bleeding in the wake of the Blitzkreig..the long arm of
dictatorship reaches toward America!”75 By day he was John Liberty, a history teacher. But
when danger presented itself he turned into Major Liberty, dressed in a colonial American
costume. He fought the spies and saboteurs with the help of the ghosts of Paul Revere and Ethan
Allen and the Green Mountain Boys.76
72 Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, USA Comics #1 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], August 1,
1941). Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on January 15, 2017.
73 Ibid., 3.
74 Ibid., 50.
75 Ibid., 29.
76 Ibid., 34.
See Figure 4.
Barton 29
At the same time that Timely was changing course to publish more patriot superheroes,
Detective Comics was also taking advantage of the new market niche. Star-Spangled Kid would
premiere in Action Comics #40 in September 1941. Created by Superman creator Jerry Siegel the
Star-Spangled Kid was another patriotic superhero who allowed creators to express themselves
without endangering the sales of their characters who had an international following, such as
Superman.77
4-interaction between comic books and real events
As Woodrow Wilson left for Europe to negotiate the end of the Great War in 1918 it unleashed a
debate about the international role the United States would play in the future. It was a time of
revolution and change as many of the oldest governments in Europe: the Austrian Habsburg
Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Romanov Dynasty in Tsarist Russia, came to an end. The
power of the German Empire had been shattered and the war weary allies, France and England,
were not only bloodied after four years of conflict, but also had depleted their treasuries and had
been relying on American loans. This left the United States in a place of international power that
it hadn’t yet found itself in before.
While Wilson saw an opportunity to recreate a new international status quo through his
Fourteen Points and the League of Nations; other American politicians felt differently. Some,
like Henry Cabot Lodge, saw the chance for American power and influence to be used to further
American interests without being shackled by the alliances and treaties that he felt caused the
war. Others felt that it was a chance to withdraw from the international stage and keep American
77 Jerry Siegel and John Sikela, Action Comics #40 (New York: Detective Comics, September 1, 1941),
15.
Barton 30
wealth and lives out of the international market and political scene and consolidate a domestic
first approach.78
After Wilson returned to the United States with the Treaty of Versailles the United States
Senate would become a full scale battle zone over the treaty. Complicated coalitions of idealists,
isolationists, nationalists, and moderates would debate the central themes of the treaty and for
many of them it came down to the threat of the reduction of American power and of American
foreign policy being under the consideration of the League of Nations. Lodge himself should not
be described as an isolationist due to his belief in importance of the United States being able to
act in favor of its interests in foreign countries, especially in the American hemisphere.79 When
the Treaty of Versailles was not passed many in the nation saw it as a showdown between Lodge
and the President and Lodge had won. But the victory against the treaty was the work of a
growing group of isolationists who matched a public sentiment of weariness with the
international involvement and responsibility.
The period of isolationism in the United States from the 1920s until the entrance of the
United States into World War II has become in the popular memory a case of those who
understood the real danger of fascism and totalitarian governments and those who were either too
afraid or too naive to act.80 It has become a case study in why intervention is often more
successful than mediation or inaction and was especially used in the Cold War era to champion
American intervention and aid to countries all over the world. Isolationists have become a
caricature of ineffective leadership and selfish promotion.
78 Joshua Barton, “Henry Cabot Lodge: A legacy of isolationism,” Research paper for Simmons College,
(December, 2016):11-14.
79 Thomas N. Guinsburg, The Pursuit of Isolationism in the United States Senate from Versailles to Pearl
Harbor (New York: Garland Pub., 1982), 42-44.
80 Kennedy, 385-388.
Barton 31
In looking at the isolationists and taking their view seriously though, a different picture
emerges. While individuals may have been naive, selfish or afraid, isolationism as a whole
reveals a picture of how Americans viewed themselves and their world. Isolationists had a
delicate coalition of Americans from all parts of the country and from all economic, racial, and
political backgrounds. The destruction that the Great War brought had turned many of the
technological innovations into cogs of a giant war machine that devoured millions of men on the
battlefields of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Coupled with the shock of the 1929 Wall
Street Crash and the plunge into economic depression, isolationism was a way to focus on
immediate and local concerns among massive change.
The high water mark of American neutrality was the 1935 Neutrality Act that prohibited
exports to belligerent nations. Designed to cut the involvement of both the American government
and businesses in international conflicts, it would be quickly tested by the growing number of
conflicts. It would be revised in 1937 and 1939, eventually largely being overturned by the Lend-
Lease Program in 1941. As the United States struggled through the 1930s to stabilize and grow
its economy many isolationists felt that one of the threats to the American economy would be to
become involved in an international conflict that would take capital away from rebuilding the
financial structure that had been devastated in the early years of the Depression.
Traditional narratives of the American experience of World War II will often divide into
two camps with when World War II begins to affect the United States. One camp focuses on the
September 1939 invasion of Poland and the aggression expansion of Germany into Austria and
Czechoslovakia in 1938. The other camp focuses on Japanese expansion into Manchuria in 1933
and the invasion of China in 1937. While the conflict in Spain is often mentioned briefly as a
Barton 32
training ground for Fascist countries and testing new technologies, the divisive effect on the
American public is often glanced over.
Thousands of Americans, many of whom were from leftist political backgrounds would
fight for the Spanish Republican Army and would write home about their experiences. At the
same time British and American journalists like George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway were
writing dispatches that were being circulated in large American newspapers and making their
way into the popular discussion.81 As France and England ended their supplies to the Spanish
Republicans, many socialist and communist groups in the United States moved to raise money to
support the Spanish Republican Army.82
The sympathy of many Americans would lead to the passing in 1937 of a change to the
Neutrality Act. The 1937 Neutrality Act would allow a “cash and carry” system where
belligerents could purchase supplies, but not arms, from the United States in exchange for cash
or gold and would transport them themselves. It still prohibited American ships from carrying
the arms directly to nations at war.83
The 1939 Neutrality Act would expand the ability of belligerents to purchase arms under
the cash and carry system, allowing Allied countries like England and France to buy arms that
were needed to fight Germany and Italy’s advances. Even as it expanded American military
production and financial involvement, it still prohibited American ships from carrying the
supplies themselves.84 It was a slow march to preparation and involvement and no person would
be more responsible for continuing that march than the American president.
81 Adam Hochschild, Spain in our hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 (New York:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), 216-218.
82 Ibid., 171-174.
83 Kennedy, 400-401.
84 Ibid., 433-434.
Barton 33
Franklin Delano Roosevelt would play a vital role in the preparation of the United States for
World War II both in terms of physical preparation of arms and the intellectual understanding of
why the United States opposed the Axis. The physical preparation would be greatly accelerated
by the Axis victories of 1939-1941 and the general population would understand that some
military preparations would be necessary as the war continued to expand. But the jump from
preparation to involvement would require almost three years of moving the tone of speeches ever
closer to the Allies, increasing the moral support for the Allies.
Even if many Americans sympathized with the Allies, entering the war was not a popular
view. In the 1940 presidential election Roosevelt would be forced to promise that there would be
no deployment of American soldiers to fight in Europe if he was reelected. After tying his own
hands by not being able to declare war, Roosevelt still found ways to help the Allies though. As
German submarines began to inflict mounting losses on British shipping the British Royal Navy
desperately needed more destroyers to escort the convoys leaving from the United States and
Canada.85 In September 1940 President Roosevelt traded 50 outdated destroyers to the Royal
Navy in exchange for the use of bases in the American hemisphere. This came when there was
still fierce debate going on about whether England would survive the Nazi onslaught and
whether American resources would be better kept in the United States.86
At the same time Roosevelt asked Congress to implement the first peacetime draft in the
history of the United States to increase the United States Army by one million men for a short
term one year enlistment. Of the first million men called up nearly 40% were physically or
mentally unfit for service. Of those rejected nearly a third of them were because of poor
85 A destroyer is a light warship that is designed to locate and hunt down enemy submarines.
86 James MacGregor Burns, Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom: 1940-1945 (New York: History Book
Club (Harcourt), 2006), 12-13.
Barton 34
nutrition.87 Not only had the Depression made industrial production and raw material preparation
difficult to coordinate and begin, but it had also made gathering manpower difficult as well. The
story of a small, sickly soldier who would have been unable to serve being given a second
chance as depicted in Captain America wasn’t a stretch of the imagination as the rush to rearm
and prepare the United States suffered from lack of materials and manpower.
Roosevelt had created a special bond with much of the American public through the use
of ‘Fireside Chats’ where he would talk to the American public through radio broadcasts. In the
leadership gap left by former President Hoover amid the panic of the Great Depression it was a
calming presence to have a president who would take time to explain to the American people
what the policies and legislation his administration were putting forward were designed to
accomplish. The controversial policies of the New Deal that would lead to several Supreme
Court cases would split the country about Roosevelt’s administration and the Fireside Chats
would allow Roosevelt to continue his popularity with voters across three presidential elections
after his election in 1932.88
Roosevelt would present many of his choices to the American people about continued
involvement in the war and support of England as “not about war, but about national security”
and that as the United States became the “Arsenal of Democracy”, than the American people
would be better protected as a result.89 He would walk a fine line between honesty and deception
with how close the United States was with the Allies and the growing chance that the United
States would enter the war.
87 Burns, 54.
88 Doris Kearns Goodwin, No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 57-58.
89 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lend-Lease Fireside chat, December 29, 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Master
Speech File, 1898-1945, Box 58, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.
Barton 35
The largest aid that Roosevelt would be able to give the Allies before the United States
entered the war was the Lend-Lease program. Roosevelt first explained the Lend-Lease program
to the American public through a fireside chat on December 29, 1940. With English gold and
financial reserves running low there was little chance that they could pay for the supplies needed,
as dictated by the Neutrality Acts. Roosevelt’s system would “lend” the supplies to the Allies
and they would either return them or pay for them after the war. In his Fireside Chat Roosevelt
would use the example of allowing your neighbor to use your hose when his house was on fire to
illustrate his belief that continued support to the Allies would not only save them, but would save
the United States from the threat of continued Axis aggression.90
Between that December and when the legislation for Lend-Lease was passed on March
11, 1941 there was a significant debate among interventionists and isolationists as Lend-Lease
overturned many of the aspects of the Neutrality Acts. Not only was there a strong chance that
the $7 billion dollars that were being allocated for Lend-Lease would not come back soon, if at
all, but it increased the chance of American and German conflict in the Atlantic as a result of
shipments to England.91
The isolationists were a broad coalition across party, economic, and religious lines. While
isolationist organizations like the America First Committee92 represented a diverse community of
interests, there was no organized leadership to coordinate efforts. Isolationism would come down
to individual personalities. Some of the figureheads of the movement were famous, like Charles
Lindbergh and Hiram Johnson.93 Others like Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy were government
officials who represented the complicated relationship between business and government in the
90 Ibid.
91 Kennedy, 469-474
92 David Nasaw, The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy. (New
York: The Penguin Press, 2012), 506.
93 Burns, 46-47
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still recovering American economy. While some of those who supported isolationism did so
because of sympathy for Germany, others were focused on threat that increased American
involvement could pose to economic interests and to the loss of manpower.
Ambassador Kennedy would become the figurehead for many isolationists. Appointed as
Ambassador to Great Britain in January 1938 for his political and financial support for President
Roosevelt during the 1936 election, Ambassador Kennedy came from an American-Irish family
that was deeply involved in politics and he had made himself a large fortune through
management of banking, stock trading, and film.94 He had strongly supported Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain’s attempts at appeasement in Munich in 1938 and saw the war as a disaster
for the United States economic recovery.95 From his position as ambassador he would make
things difficult for President Roosevelt as he would issue letters and newspaper editorials
backing British supporters of appeasement.96 As Roosevelt continued to push for increased
defense spending and increased supplies to Great Britain and Allies, Kennedy would become a
voice of authority for isolationists as he warned that “American soldiers follow American
dollars”.97 The infighting among Roosevelt’s administration would make it difficult to portray a
united front until early 1941 as Kennedy and others fought the President on the increasing
American involvement.
The isolationists saw the war in Europe as unfortunate and few of them could be
described as pro-Nazi, but the threat to the United States in terms of financial loss of
infrastructure and loss of American lives in a conflict that had little to do with the United States
94 Ambassador Kennedy’s father in law, John Fitzgerald was mayor of Boston and a member of the
United States House of Representatives and his sons would become politicians, including John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States.
95 Nasaw, 295-296.
96 Ibid., 303.
97 Ibid., 478.
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was greater than any sympathy for England and France. At the same time that isolationism
represented a wide range of political, economic, and cultural views, it has always been difficult
to identify a concrete definition of what isolationism means. In one analysis of American
isolationism the differences of what they called themselves alone represents the vast opinions
and goals: nationalist, continentalist, non-interventionist.98 Even with their deep internal
differences, the isolationists brought a passion to the debate about what the United States should
do that would continue the discussion until December 7, 1941.
Into this conflict of words and ideas about the role of the United States that raged in the
newspaper, on the radio and in speeches across America entered a new participant, the comic
book. This newly emerging medium would allow authors and illustrators to express their own
opinion and invite millions of Americans to participate in the debate by mixing politics and
storytelling.
Isolationism had made expressing public support for the Allies difficult at the beginning
of the conflict. Even with the growing sympathy towards Britain for its stalwart defense in the
face of the bombing of London during the Blitz and the threat of invasion in 1940 there was still
considerable animosity towards those who advocated continued support or intervention.
Speeches, newspaper columns and radio broadcasts went back and forth between advocates of
intervention and isolation. Comic books came into the conversation by simplifying the complex
issues of international relations and national security. They did this by not addressing the view
of isolationists; comic book writers were able to simplify the threat of conflict into two views:
intervention or collusion. This was done in several ways. One way was the character's portrayal
of their political views. There are only extremes. There are the characters like Captain America,
98 Justus D. Doenecke, “The Strange Career of American Isolationism, 1944-1954”, Peace & Change, III,
nos. 2&3 (Summer Fall 1975), 79.
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Major Liberty, and The Defender, or there are the Nazi agents, the Bund, and their allies. In an
era where isolationism was a strong ideological belief about foreign policy one of the easiest
ways to undermine it was to ignore it entirely. Rather than have their characters engage in a
complicated policy discussion, creators decided to polarize the political issues into either being
for or against America. Similar to the portrayal of the conflict as a moral conflict by political
leaders like Roosevelt and Churchill, comic books sought to simplify the decision that readers
made about the way that they viewed the ongoing conflicts.
Central to this experience was the way that characters were written and drawn.
Differentiating characters is vital to the comic book medium. Without the text space to describe
characters, the reader needs to be able to visually identify the role of characters, whether they
were friend or foe to the heroes. Nazi characters were difficult to portray differently in image
from main characters due to the shared whiteness of race. In order to portray these differences
German characters and their allies were portrayed with military and aristocratic trappings, like
monocles.99 Rather than focusing on racial differences, the appearance of militarism and class
differences were focused on. This was largely accomplished through the use of uniforms,
especially traditional military or Nazi paramilitary uniforms with the distinctive cap and brown
shirt with a swastika armband.
Race is one way that comic book writers were able to quickly convey information about
their characters. How characters of different races were written, illustrated and inked revealed
popular concepts of race and identity during the time they were created. There was a significant
changes in racial portrayal in comic books, especially after the Civil Rights movement in the late
1950s and 1960s. By 1968 there would begin a dramatic reversal in many of the negative racial
portrayals. But in the 1930s and 1940s the comic book market was very focused on whiteness,
99 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #2, 22.
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both in characters and audience. Portrayal of non-white races would be tokenistic at best and
would often be based on racist stereotypes in the mainstream comics.
Complicating this was that the majority of the writers and illustrators of these comic
books were second generation Jewish-American immigrants. Many of them had grown up in the
Lower East Side and had become part of comic industry to use their talents in writing and
drawing. Those not from New York City, like Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, still often came from
Jewish communities in large cities, like Cleveland. In memoirs and later interviews many of
them would focus on experiences in their youth where their ethnicity had made it difficult for
them to find employment, had made them targets in the street gangs of New York and other large
cities. At the same time, it had given them a sense of community in spite of these difficulties.100
While few of them would describe themselves as religious, many would express pride in their
Judaism and the role that it would play in the creation of their stories.
At the same time that it is important to acknowledge the vital role that Jewish-Americans
played in the popularization of comic books and their publication; it is also important to note that
the comic book is not a Jewish creation and that many Americans of different backgrounds were
involved in the creation of the comic book industry.101 What Jewish-Americans were able to do
in this time period was to create characters and stories that were universal enough to allow
mainstream Protestant Americans to identify with characters that were outsiders in a way that
Jewish-Americans and other minorities understood all too well. In particular the animosity of
Jewish-Americans toward Nazi Germany allowed them to represent the threat of increased Axis
expansion and victories as detrimental to all Americans. After the passing of the German Civil
Service Act in 1934 and the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 that greatly restricted Jews civil liberties,
100 Jones, 134-135.
101 Gabilliet, 160-163.
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economic, and career opportunities in Germany, the majority of the Jewish community in the
United States firmly stood against the success of Hitler’s Germany and saw the threat that
European Jews were in as Germany conquered more territory.102
While their parents and grandparents were still adjusting to life in America, the comic
book creators had been born in the United States and thought of themselves as Americans. In this
sense they were a bridge between the Jewish communities and the larger American populace in
their comic book work. Especially with the comic books that appealed to intervention through
nationalism, they had to be able to write in a way that would appeal to millions of readers who
didn’t share their experience but would be able to identify with their characters. In describing
their situation, author Gerard Jones described them as : “[they were] two or three steps removed
from the American mainstream but were more poignantly in touch with the desires and agonies
of that mainstream than those in the middle of it”.103 Their removal from the mainstream and
their ‘otherness’ allowed them to create characters and stories that would be relatable to large
parts of the population.
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster came from the Jewish community of Cleveland and had both
become interested in the growing science fiction literature and art in high school.104 Both came
from second generation immigrant families who had established comfortable lives for their
children, and who now looked for their own versions of the American dream with their
interests.105 Siegel and Shuster’s generation had increased opportunities of schooling and
professional advancement than their parents had but these ambitions still came up against anti-
semitism in their prospective fields.
102 Kennedy, 385, 410-412.
103 Jones, xiv-xv.
104 Ibid., 29-32.
105 Ibid., 28.
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Anti-semitism was a hurdle to many Jewish artists, even in large cities like New York
City. The prejudice meant that many artists had to take jobs that were less competitive or had to
hide their background. Some authors changed their names in order to sound more common.
Robert Kahn would change his name to Bob Kane and Jack Kirby was born Jacob Kurtzberg, but
Kirby was resentful whenever he was asked about why he changed his name in later years.106
The aspect of a hidden identity for the superheroes has been part of the storytelling trope since
novels like The Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro pulp novels, but it took on a new meaning with
Jewish writers who were able to reflect their own experience in characters like the mild
mannered Clark Kent becoming Superman, the socialite Bruce Wayne changing into Batman or
the sickly Steve Rogers transforming into Captain America.107
The experience of Jewish Americans in how they navigated the complicated world of
race and religion that dominated the American workplace gave the creators of many comic books
the opportunity to create characters that resonated with readers who didn’t come from their
world, but understood the desire to be acknowledged and to break free of normal existence.
The portrayal of race was accomplished using the way characters were drawn, colored,
and spoke. The most dramatic of the those three was the way characters were colored during the
inking process. In early comic book publishing color options were based on four colors: blue,
red, yellow, and black.108 This meant that there were only 16 color options available for
publishing and this is one of the reasons that Asians and blacks are so polarized in color
depiction.109 In using this process for skin color of human characters this meant that while white
characters had a mixed color that looks like a peach or cream color, characters of other races,
106 Evanier, 45.
107 Jones, 173.
108 Gabilliet, 131-132.
109 Dittmer, 48.
See Figure 8.
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such as blacks and Asians had a much more powerful skin tone color being used in the
publishing process. The results of this are characters that come across as caricatures.
The majority of superhero comic books in this period would focus on the threat of the
European Axis countries, but a few did highlight the growing threat that Imperial Japan posed in
the Pacific and Asia. This meant that comic book creators would represent people, languages and
cultures that were not familiar to many American readers. The portrayal of Asian races and
cultures was divided into two camps depending on whether those portrayed were allies or
members of the Axis.
The Japanese characters were drawn with over exaggerated features, such as large fang
like teeth and large glasses with shrunken eyes. The dehumanization of the Japanese was further
accomplished by making them difficult to understand in the text with an accent shown by a lack
of conjugation of verbs. This style of drawing and characterizations wasn’t restricted to the
comic books. Many of the popular political and newspaper cartoonists like Dr. Seuss, Carl Rose
and Saul Steinberg also employed similar images to represent Japanese and Japanese Americans,
helping create a national culture that fostered fear and mistrust of the Japanese.110
One comic book that set a tone about Japanese representation that would be followed by
many other writers and illustrators during the war was Captain America #5 that was published in
August 1941.111 The story revolves around a Japanese plot to start a volcanic eruption on a
Pacific island that will destroy the United States Navy that uses the island as its port, similar to
the real life use of Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. The reliance on straight yellow in the
story to ink the Japanese characters has a sharp juxtaposition whenever a Japanese character and
a white American share the same panel. Coupled with the way that they are drawn, either large
110 Andre Schiffrin, Dr. Seuss & Co. go to war: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of America’s Leading
Comic Artists (New York: The New Press, 2009), 17, 114, 121,136, 140.
111 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #5, 15-29.
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and brutish henchmen or small and wiry commanders, and the broken English dialect used in
their dialogue it fosters a sense of ‘otherness’ about the Japanese.112
While torture, threat of torture and its implied sexual violence against women is common
in the early comic books, the portrayal of the Japanese as torturers takes a very different turn in
Captain America #5. Torture was common in many of the pulp and horror novels that had been
part of comic book’s heritage and would remain a central part of many plots of comic books and
pulps until the 1950s backlash against the violence and sexuality of comic books. Previous
Captain America adventures had either shown victims after torture, and usually dead, or being
threatened with torture. Captain America #5 showed the victim being tortured for information,
although off panel and also the repeated torture of multiple characters.113
Torture is a tool in these stories about the portrayal of power where those who are doing
the torturing do so from a perceived position of power over their victim. When a Nazi agent
threatens to torture Betty Ross or Bucky in a Captain America comic, the relationship is about
the perceived power difference between the United States and Nazi Germany. When a Japanese
officer is threatening to torture an American commander and his daughter, the relationship
between the United States and Imperial Japan is also being contested, but there is also an element
of racial conflict being portrayed that doesn’t exist as strongly with the German characters.
Differences between the treatment of races is compounded by the way that German-
Americans are treated. One of the greatest threats in the Captain America adventures is the
German American Bund. There was a real life German American Bund that existed during this
period that was pro-Nazi but it was largely ineffective due to infighting and corruption inside the
112 Ibid., 19.
113 Ibid., 19-20, 24.
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organization.114 While the real life Bund was made up of many German Americans who had
been in the United States for generations, the Bund in Captain America comics function as more
of a mercenary group than a cultural group, with most of those portrayed using the broken
English and German dialect that the comic books used.115 The Bund and its members are
mentioned in several adventures, all helping the Nazis.116
The Bund makes its biggest impact in Captain America #5, the same issue with the
Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy. The Bund has been attacking German-Americans who refuse
to join the Bund, including the father of one of Bucky’s Sentinels of Liberty.117 The man who
was attacked, Heinrich Schmidt, tells the Bund aggressors before he is beaten that “I am of
German descent, yes!--But I’m also a good American citizen! I’ll having nothing to do with an
organization that aims to destroy the country that protects me and mine from creeds like
yours!!!” The response by the Bund members is call him a “swine”, one of the insults regularly
used by German characters in the comic books.118
Bucky tells Steve Rogers about the attacks and that “Bob Schmidt and his father are two
swell guys”. In response Rogers tells Bucky that “I’ve found German-American people to be
very nice”.119 Ultimately Captain America and Bucky investigate the local Bund camp, “Camp
Reichland”, where they find a swastika flag flying over it where they begin to fight the Bund
who attacks them with automatic weapons.120 At the end of the adventure Captain America and
Bucky are being overwhelmed when local Americans, including Heinrich Schmidt attack the
114 Kennedy, 471.
115 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #5, 36-37.
116 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #3, 36.
117 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #5, 31-32.
118 Ibid., 31.
119 Ibid., 32.
120 Ibid., 34-35.
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Bund and carry the day and raise an American flag over the camp.121 German-Americans are
shown to be dependable allies who shouldn’t be judged for a shared heritage. In contrast, nothing
is said about Japanese-Americans. Part of this may come from the larger population of German-
Americans in the United States and the background of the writers of living on the East Coast,
away from the larger populations of Japanese-Americans on the West Coast.
In contrast to the Japanese, the Chinese are portrayed in a very different way. While the
ink color used is similar, the facial features are less exaggerated and drawn similarly to main
characters. Where cultural differences with the Japanese are focused on to create otherness,
Chinese characters are made more relatable by their language and their shared enemy. In Captain
America #6 a delegation of Chinese officials are attacked by “Fang-Arch Fiend of the Orient”
while on their way to negotiate a loan to continue fighting the Japanese.122 In the real world
China had been at war with Japan since 1937 and was in desperate need of supplies as the
Japanese took many of the large industrial centers on the coast. By the late summer of 1941 the
need for supplies and weapons had reached the point where in the White House the discussion of
sending aid to China was similar to early Lend-Lease discussion for of England.123 Rather than
focusing on the racial differences as they do with the Japanese, Kirby and Simon focus on the
threat of the Japanese to China, similar to the way they treat the Nazi threat to England.
Symbols are important to comic books. Because of the weight of image in comic books
the use of symbols is important in conveying information with the limited space. In looking at
symbols, flags are some of the best symbols. Flags are created to convey information as quickly
as possible and their role in portraying national narratives. In an era when nationalism was being
121 Ibid., 40.
122 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #6, 20-21.
123 Burns, 153.
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represented in newspapers, films, and posters by the use of flags, it is no surprise to find that the
comic books are full of flags, representing the many countries involved.
One of the most potent symbols during the period, and continues to have significant
power, is the Nazi swastika. While the swastika is an ancient symbol used by multiple cultures,
its use by Nazi Germany as a national symbol meant that it would be represented by both Allies
and Axis for propaganda purposes. In comic books the placement of swastikas identifies
characters allegiances and morality.
The appearance of swastikas in comic books was rare before 1941. While some early
attempts to portray the war included swastikas, the majority of images stayed away from the use.
After December 1940 it became much more common to have the swastika and other national
images be used more often. In Captain America alone the swastika was used an average of 3
times per page in the first nine issues.
The swastika is also juxtaposed with the American flag to highlight the differences
between characters. In Captain America #1 the villain Red Skull is introduced. Red Skull would
go on to become Captain America’s nemesis and throughout the 75 years of publication his
background would be solidified as Johann Schmidt, a Nazi scientist and member of HYDRA.
But in the original run the Red Skull character would be George Maxon, an American airplane
manufacturer who was a Nazi sympathizer and who had been promised control of American
industry once the United States was part of the “Greater Reich”.124 But even when the Red Skull
was still an American, his costume was still focused around the swastika. Throughout the
original run of Captain America the Red Skull would wear a burgundy jumpsuit with a large
124 Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Captain America #1 (New York:Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], March 1, 1941), 48. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on October 28, 2016.
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white swastika on the chest.125 Tying the swastika to American Nazi sympathizers and fifth
columnists portrayed Americans who were reluctant to condemn Nazi aggression as being un-
American and more loyal to a foreign power. The branding of characters with Nazi allegiances
and their personal selfish interests to Nazi expansion was a way to undermine many of the
supporters of isolationism like Kennedy and Lindbergh who were perceived to be putting their
personal fortunes ahead of national defense.126
The swastika would also be used to contest control of space in the United States.
Throughout superhero adventures against Nazi sympathizers and fifth columnists the action
would usually lead to a secret base or lair. The setting of the finale was a common trope in the
crime pulps that became popular during Prohibition. These lairs would often be decorated with
swastika banners and Hitler busts. Maps were a central aspect to these lairs, showing the United
States and the American hemisphere as a target and part of the expanding Axis empires.127 This
created a sense of territorial differentiation where land takes on a political connection to the
ongoing conflicts as a threat to the land of the United States implies a threat to the political and
cultural traditions of the that land.128
A continuation of the territorial differentiation is the portrayal of locales outside the
United States in the comic books. The representation of countries that are free from Axis control
are contrasted to Axis occupied lands. In Captain America #2 the adventure takes place in both
England, France and Germany while looking for kidnapped American financier Henry Baldwin
who wants to support England financially.129 Each of the countries is represented in a very
different light. In one panel that depicts occupied Paris, the colors are muted, with shades of dark
125 Ibid., 36.
126 Goodwin, 211-212.
127 For example the covers of Captain America #1 and #2.
128 Dittmer, 107.
129 See Figure 3.
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gray and sickly yellow, with the Eiffel Tower and downcast Parisians watching German tanks
and soldiers march by. Two swastikas and a Hitler’s head are in the background while the text
describes “Once gay Paris is not a pretty sight under the heel of the Nazi conqueror..” while
Captain America and Bucky, who are in disguise, comment that “We could stay and straighten
France out--but we’ve got to go on to Germany!”.130
In contrast to the loss of Paris to the Nazis, England is portrayed as enthusiastic and still
vibrant. When Captain America reveals himself to stop a Nazi plot, he is met by Englishmen
who shout “Three cheers for the Captain!” and while Captain America and Bucky
metaphorically ride off into the sunset the crowd yells “Don’t leave Captain America! England
needs you! Where’s the real Henry Baldwin?”131 Kirby and Simon choose to use their fictional
English crowds to represent a real sentiment that was found in England, particularly by Prime
Minister Winston Churchill who as early as mid-1940 advocated for the intervention of the
United States into the war in public speeches. In closing his speech at the House of Commons on
June 4, 1940 on the state of the war after the disasters in France he expressed that:
“...we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in
the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender... until, in God's
good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the
liberation of the old.”132 The success of the war was tied to many at the time to the United States
support of England as a bulwark while the Americans finished rearming and Captain America
advocated heavily in supplying England through financial aid, arms, and supplies. Central to this
was the continuation and growth of the Lend-Lease program. In contrasting the fates of both free
130 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #2, 24.
131 Ibid., 27-28.
132 Winston Churchill. We shall fight on the beaches. Speech given June 4, 1940 at the House of
Commons. International Churchill Society. Accessed March 22, 2017.
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England and Occupied France, the continued use of a binary option exists for the readers: you
can be expect the continued advance and occupation of the Axis or you can continue to support
those who fight.
One aspect of the representation of the events of World War II in the comic books was
the inclusion of national leaders in the stories. By blending the real world and the comic world it
allowed comic book creators to weave narratives that allowed them to explore the ongoing
conflict in Europe and Asia and the American response. Part of this representation is the use of
national leaders of both Allied and Axis nations. The treatment of leaders varies from respected
cameos to derision.
President Roosevelt was not only the mover of American sentiment toward intervention
on the behalf of the Allies in the real world, but he also became a prominent character in the
comic book world. The character of President Roosevelt authorizes the the research program that
would turn Steve Rogers into Captain America in Captain America #1 after the sabotage of
American war production and threat of spies inside the army in the comic book world.133
Roosevelt would appear again in Captain America #4 after the defeat of a group of Nazi agents
called the Unholy Legion, listening to the report of their defeat by radio along with “millions of
eager Americans” where Roosevelt comments “Whoever and wherever that rascal is, America
thanks him. His deeds will live forever!”.134 Roosevelt’s initial appearance portrays the president
as a commander and executive, but his second appearance portrays the sympathetic persona that
Roosevelt had created with his fireside chats.
Adolf Hitler would also be used as a character in the comic book world, reflecting the
real life Hitler in appearance and perceived temperament. The portrayal of Hitler in Captain
133 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #1, 2-3.
134 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #4, 16.
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America and the threat of Nazis were treated very differently than Roosevelt. Roosevelt’s
character was meant to be a reflection of the real person while the character Hitler was shown as
a bumbling fool who was inept at both planning and combat. While Hitler was portrayed being
punched on the cover of Captain America #1, it wasn’t until Captain America #2 that Hitler
would appear inside the story. In the finale of the story Captain America and Bucky find
themselves in Germany while rescuing American businessman Henry Baldwin who was
kidnapped by Nazi agents in the United States.135 While assaulting a military instillation they run
into Hitler and Hermann Göering. Göering was a large and overweight man and this is
caricatured in the comics for comedic effect in the issue.
During the fight Hitler and Göering hide while directing tanks and airplanes to attack
Captain America and Bucky. Both tanks and airplanes, which are modeled after their iconic real
life Panzer III tanks and Junkers-87 Stuka dive bombers and both have swastikas painted on
them.136 In September 1939 the German military had overrun Poland using ‘Blitzkrieg’ tactics
that were based on the cooperation of armored units such as tanks being closely supported by air
support, which the Stuka provided. Captain America and Bucky are not only fighting the German
military, they are fighting the instruments that Germany had used in their victories against
Poland and France that had been shown in newsreels across the United States.
In the end only Hitler and Göering stand against Captain America and Bucky and they
are forced to fight. Both of them charge at Bucky yelling that they will “get the little guy.”137
They are overpowered by Bucky, free Baldwin and are rescued by the Royal Air Force. A panel
shows the newspaper titles from the next day, one of which read “Germans find Hitler and
135 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #2, 30.
136 Ibid., 31.
137 Ibid., 32.
See Figure 10.
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Göering in aschan”.138 Hitler is portrayed as a coward and inept, relying on others to fight for
him and that Nazi power is focused on attacking those who are the “little guy” as shown by both
Göering and Hitler’s desire to fight Bucky, a boy, rather than Captain America. Hitler and his
inner circle are shown as clowns and buffoons, and this portrayal undermines the authority of
their positions.
In contrast fifth columnists and Nazi agents were portrayed very differently. From the
beginning of the Captain America comics and in the portrayal of Nazis and their allies in other
comics the threat of sabotage and spying is treated as a serious threat. Many of the comics in this
time walk a line between comic humor and action with stories that draw from the violence and
horror of pulp novels. In Captain America #4 this is represented by the threat of the Unholy
Legion.139 The Unholy Legion is a Nazi fifth columnist group that is attacking American military
production. In the beginning of the story members of the Unholy Legion assassinate Howard
Baxter, an owner of a munitions factory and John Green, a labor leader.140 After the fierce
clashes between labor and industry during the 1920s and throughout the Depression it would
have been easy to favor one over the other but Kirby and Simon present a united front in the the
rearmament and preparation of the United States.141
Shortly after the assassination of Baxter and Green, two officials involved in aircraft
manufacturing are also killed by poisoned apples.142 This spate of assassinations lead to Captain
America and Bucky patrolling the city trying to find a lead in the case. They ultimately follow a
group of beggars to a hideout where it is revealed that the beggars are sending their panhandling
138 Ibid., 33.
139 Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Captain America #4 (New York:Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], June 1, 1941), 1-16. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on December 28, 2016.
140 Ibid., 3
141 Kennedy, 169-170.
142 Ibid., 4.
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money to Germany.143 The Unholy Legion has also been capturing G-Men,144 branding them
with a swastika and then dumping their bodies in the river. Bucky is captured and threatened
with being branded before being rescued by Captain America. They dismantle the Unholy
Legion, while also disabling and capturing a U-boat.145
The Unholy Legion takes on a very different feel than the man they are supposed to
serve. While Hitler is an inept clown in the comics, his allies in the United States are much more
threatening. Part of this portrayal is the representation of physical beauty. In his work on comic
books during World War II, historian Jason Dittmer writes about the role that physical beauty
plays in the characterization of good and evil. Good characters are handsome and beautiful with
equal proportions to their bodies, while evil characters are “uniformly hideous or deformed”.146
The Unholy Legion is a more sinister threat because it is closer to home than Hitler and because
of the proximity of the threat, it is not only more dangerous, but the danger is represented by the
extremes of physical repugnance as well as torture.
Gender is a vital part of the superhero comic book formula and continues to be a major
point of discussion within the comic book community. In looking at the way that gender is
portrayed in the early comics it is easy to fall into the trap that gender is a simple construct that
falls within the popular narrative about gender in the mid-twentieth century. While strong men
and fainting women are part of the comic stories, in other ways they challenge the popular
narrative role of gender, especially for women. Complicating the relationship between early
143 Ibid., 5-6.
144 Popular slang at the time for Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents. The ‘G’ stood for government
and had become popular during Prohibition. See Figure 9.
145 Ibid., 13.
146 Jason Dittmer. "America is safe while its boys and girls believe in its creeds!": Captain America and American identity prior to World War 2." Environment And Planning D-Society & Space 25, no. 3 (n.d.): 401-423. Social Sciences Citation Index, EBSCOhost(accessed October 21, 2016). http://epd.sagepub.com/content/25/3/401.short
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comic books and gender representation is that during World War II there were often labor
shortages as the need for increased military growth lead to a wider draft. The comic book and
publishing industry were among those affected and women would be hired to help in the inking
and coloring processes.147
In trying to unravel the relationship between the writers of comic books and the way that
women are treated in them, some writers have looked at the personal relationships of the creators
and have argued that in some cases the lack of romantic relationships opportunities while
adolescents led to the role of women being secondary characters.148 While sexual frustration
could certainly lead to the fantasizing of strong men rescuing helpless women, another important
aspect is the relationship between the comic book and its predecessors. Many of the storytelling
techniques used in pulp fiction and scientific fiction magazines were carried over to the comics
and among them was the portrayal of women as plot devices to highlight danger, terror or the
threat of sexual violence. At the same time the printing industry that comic books would be
published under also had a strong tie to pornographic magazines and while comic books may not
have been looking to overlap the audiences of those two markets, the stigma would be attached
for many years as publishers who made fortunes on both comics and pornography would have to
defend both of their publications to the public.149
Female characters in this period were largely supporting characters. Main characters who
are women were rare in this period, Wonder Woman being the exception, and they are left to
romantic and supporting roles. Many of them would operate as the agent of legitimacy compared
147 Gabilliet, 164.
148 Jones, 34.
149 Jones, 62.
Barton 54
to the vigilante superhero. For example Betty Ross of Captain America operated as an agent for
the armed forces and Betty Dean of Sub-Mariner is part of the New York Police Department.150
An important aspect to all these characters is not just that they are women, but that they
are white women. White womanhood being threatened by men of another race is not a new
concept, but has been central to race relations in literature in the United States. While this aspect
is a subtle undertone in many of the comics, especially those dealing with the Japanese, it comes
across the strongest in the story of “Trojack: The Tiger Man” in Daring Mystery Comics #3 in
April 1940. Trojak is a Tarzan-esque figure which was a common trope, having a white man who
through accident or misfortune been raised in the jungles of Africa and had become master of
both black man and colored beast but who was out of place of European culture. In one
adventure Trojak helps Edith Alton escape from being captured by the Germans and then helps
destroy the German military base that threatens the Congo. Edith had been taken captive when a
U-boat had stopped the freighter she was on and had threaten to sink it if the ship didn’t
surrender.151 Edith’s capture comes to Trojak’s attention through the use of a system of ‘tom
tom’ drums that describe “...the white girl is a prisoner of a Nazi War Machine, whose relentless
system has interred her ship before it had long been out to sea”.152 Trojak “...hears and is
angry...angry at the thought of the white girl prisoner and angry because his jungle home is being
transformed in a white man’s arsenal.”153 Trojak then summons his faithful tiger and begins the
adventure that will see Edith rescued and the Nazis driven out. While the character of Trojak and
similar archetypes already suffer from the complications of ethnocentric imperialism of white
150 David C. Cooke and Alex Schomburg, Marvel Mystery Comics #3 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], January 1, 1940), 65-66. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on January 22, 2017.
151 Ray Gil and Ben Thompson, Daring Mystery Comics #3 (New York: Timely Comics [Marvel Comics], April 10, 1940), 42-48. Accessed through Marvel Unlimited on March 24, 2017.
152 Ibid., 42.
153 Ibid., 43.
Barton 55
characters in Africa, but the focus on “white girl” and the “white man” keeps the story focused
on Western political and racial aspects, even while the story takes place in Africa.
The portrayal of these women as enthusiastic, but vulnerable can be read as an
appropriation of women as a symbol for the United States or the American people. Using gender
representation for a national body has been common throughout modern history, for example the
use of Columbia for the United States and Liberte for France in political cartoons. The
assignment of gender, whether male or female, can be a strong distinction of the feeling of how
the author understands the situation, with a figure like Columbia being used for vulnerability or
moral suasion, while the masculine Uncle Sam or John Bull being more combative and more
forceful.
In analyzing the danger that threatens women in the comic books as being representative
of the American people it can represent the national spirit of wanting to do something and be
involved but unable to make a difference because of the lack of industrial and military
preparation. The stopgap between full involvement and military preparation becomes the
vigilante superheroes who represent a power that isn’t weighed down by government infighting
and bureaucracy. Before the United States enters the war the power of superheroes becomes a
symbol of the potential that they could bring into the war, while after the power becomes
representative of the manpower, war material, and technology that the United States brings to
bear against the Axis as the entire American economy is retooled for the war.
In writing comic books writers and artists had many different ways to express
information to their readers. Deciding what to convey was a conscious choice in an era of
experimentation in the comic book medium. With the race to find the next hit it allowed creators
to express political opinions that previously hadn’t been financially viable before. Comic books
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were a part of a growing popular culture that existed across the United States and allowed for a
shared experience in the growing move against isolationism. Through depictions of race,
nationality, gender, and patriotism comic book creators tried to highlight the differences and
similarities that they felt would best help their audience support rearmament, support of the
Allies, and ultimately enter the war against the Axis.
5-Conclusion
Comic books have come a long way from their early years in the late 1930s. They have
been a part of every major political, cultural, economic, and social event since the Great
Depression. Their pages have become full of references to the changes the United States
underwent during the 20th century and continues to go through today. Their readers have formed
a tight knit community that has analyzed, discussed, and hotly debated many aspects of their
form and stories. Historians trying to enter into this debates and discussions must understand that
comic book collectors, enthusiasts, cultural and literary writers have been creating a narrative for
almost fifty years, and while these discussions have little consensus they also offer opportunity
to look at the artistic, literary and cultural changes represented in comic books across these
created narratives and touch points. While there is a lot of preexisting literature and theories, it
also is an opportunity to participate in cross disciplinary work. Many of those currently writing
on comic books come from literary and entertainment backgrounds and they bring different
perspectives on both the industry and on what comic books are discussing. Fitting these
perspectives into the work done by historians on the political, economic and social histories of
the same time period will allow for a better understanding between these events. The work done
by myself was only a dusting of the surface of the many themes, patterns, and examples that
Barton 57
comic books give about their world and their audience. A further analysis of the comic book
audience will be central to future research, especially trying to move past myths about who are
reading comic books and what comic books are part of this discussion.
Superhero comic books from 1939 to 1942 allowed readers to participate in the ongoing
national discussion about what the United States should do as conflict and threats continued to
spread. The political debate between President Roosevelt, his advisors and allies and those who
opposed intervention of any kind was conducted by radio, speeches, and newspaper which
allowed millions of Americans to participate. Comic books allowed a demographic, both
younger and less literate to be involved. In a war of propaganda, the comic books were free of
government involvement until after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the mobilization of the United
States in December 1941.
The grind against popular isolationism took time, beginning with sympathy for
Republican Spain and then to European countries in the late 1930s. Interventionism began to
accelerate with the increased victories of Axis countries against countries like England and
France that Americans had a larger connection cultural with. This allowed for the financial
viability of superhero comics that had a strong political message and for the expansion of the
popular debate to a larger audience.
In many ways the use of comic books for political commentary was bringing the use of
comics full circle in the United States. Originally used for expression in political commentary in
newspaper, cartoons had been compiled in comic books and had continued to evolve. Superhero
comic books were only one part of the comic books being created, but they have continued to be
a part of popular culture in the United States.
Barton 58
Modern comic books were created and came of age in a time of conflict and war.
Nationalism and ideology were an important issues of the era and the identity that comic book
characters would take would be heavily influenced by these identities. After the attack on Pearl
Harbor on December 7, 1941 almost all of the debate over isolationism and intervention ended.
Movies, radio, music and comic books would all fall in behind the war effort and lend their
support to war bond drives and public service announcements. But there was a time from 1939
until 1942 when comic book creators and publishers made a conscious choice to push against
isolationism and encourage their readers to prepare the United States for the coming conflict.
They may not have changed the course of the war, but they invited thousands of Americans to
see how they viewed the political events of World War II. Reflecting their experience in Captain
America #3 Jack Kirby and Joe Simon voiced this through the character of a film director who
was being discouraged of making a movie that was commenting on the Axis military victories by
arguing the United States should prepare itself for war : “I aim to go ahead with this..It’s timely!
It’s truth!...Freemen against a tyrant---democracy against dictatorship! This...will awaken the
public to the real value of the fight to think for themselves!”.154
154 Kirby and Simon, Captain America #3, 22.
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Appendix
All images are the property of Marvel Comics and are used under the principles of Fair Use.
Figure 1-Cover of Captain America #1, March 1,1941
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Figure 2-Ad for the Sentinels of Liberty in Captain America #1, March 1, 1941.
Figure 3- Depiction of American financier Henry Baldwin in Captain America #2, April 1, 1941.
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Figure 4-Introduction of Major Liberty in USA Comics #1, August 1, 1941
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Figure 5-The Sub-Mariner fights a Nazi U-Boat in Marvel Mystery Comics #4, February 1, 1940.
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Figure 6-Early use of a swastika in John Steele, “Soldier of Fortune” in Daring Mystery Comics #1,
January 1, 1940
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Figure 7-Depiction of the bombing of a city in ‘American Ace’ in Marvel Mystery Comics #1 in
September 1, 1940.
Figure 8- Example of the coloring differences among characters of different races from Captain America
#5 in August 1, 1941.
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Figure 9-Example of Nazi agents using torture and branding of an FBI agent in Captain America #4 in
June 1, 1941
Figure 10-Portrayal of Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goëring as comical bumbling figures in Captain
America #2 in April 1, 1941.
Barton 66
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