Learning to Fly

In the midst of the Great Depression and facing World War II, the legend of the superhero was born. Jewish creators, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, introduced Superman in 1938, defining a genre that initially focused on moral justice, idealism and patriotism. Other heros were soon to follow, including Batman (1939), The Flash (1940), Captain America (1941), and Wonder Woman (1942). These early heroes were known for fighting crime, punching Nazis and upholding the American way of life. This was the Golden Age of Comics (1938-1956).

As American youth counterculture and social unrest increased, the focus of superhero comics shifted during the Silver Age of Comics (1956-1970). Characters were more human, flawed and self-doubting. Superhero mythology became steeped in scientific discovery and explanation.

While early superheroes embraced justice, fairness and made attempts at inclusivity, it was not until the Bronze Age of Comics (1970-1985) that the American social climate truly began to change and superheroes along with it. In 1971, the Comics Code Authority, a self-regulatory comics censorship system that was formed in 1954, was revised. This revision allowed mainstream comics to better embrace social issues that had been largely relegated to the underground comix scene for well over a decade. The representation of minority characters was on the rise, as were comics that tackled subjects of racism, poverty, drug abuse, environmental issues, female empowerment and political corruption.

On display in this case and the case to your left is a sampling of comics, predominantly from the late Bronze era to today, that exemplify attempts at diversity, inclusivity and representation - successful and not - primarily in the mainstream American superhero genre.

A notable team-up in tackling themes of justice and social issues is DC Comics’ Green Lantern and Green Arrow. The two heroes join forces in the 1970s and explore a variety of social justice issues, including racism, poverty, oppression, and drug abuse. In 1970’s issue number 76, "No Evil Shall Escape My Sight," the heroes get schooled on civil rights and social justice when a poor black man questions why they haven’t fought for the “black skins.” The American Academy of Comic Book Arts voted the story arc the best story of the year.

According to scholars, repeatedly encountering negative images of a particular race or gender can have a lasting and detrimental psychological impact on the reader. Although more diverse than previous eras, Bronze Age (1970-1985) comics still suffered from stereotypical depictions of minorities and an overall lack of diverse creators.

During this era, the comics industry began to introduce characters that better reflected the diversity of the U.S. population, but many popular titles also embraced the cinematic popularity of Blaxploitation films and the Kung Fu craze. Both DC’s Black Lightning and Marvel’s Luke Cage have, at times, been vehemently criticized for their stereotypical depiction of black masculinity and use of offensive jargon. At the same time, these titles have also been praised for tackling important issues of social justice. Luke Cage was the first African-American superhero to star in his own comic book in 1972. A socially conscious crime fighter, the character of Luke Cage is marred by his hyper-masculine desire to punch things and frequent exclamations of Blaxploitative catchphrases like, “Sweet Sister!” or “Sweet Christmas!” Black Lightning was the first black DC superhero to get his own title. While he also exemplifies some of the negative stereotypes of the 1970s, his character deals with serious racial and social issues that some scholars say critique upward mobility during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Rather than abandoning his neighborhood, Black Lightning gives back to society by fighting crime and taking care of his community.

More positive imagery can be seen in Marvel’s character, Black Panther, also known as T’Challa from the fictional African nation of Wakanda. The first black superhero to appear in mainstream American comics in the Fantastic Four #52 in 1966, Black Panther is experiencing a modern age renaissance with Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Panther series (2016-present) and Black Panther: World Of Wakanda, a prequel to Coates' Black Panther series that describes the backstory of women in Wakanda.

The Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu comics magazine was published from 1974 to 1977 and featured such characters as Shang Chi, Iron Fist and White Tiger, often credited as the first Latino superhero. Given his own title, Marvel Comics published Shang Chi: Master of Kung Fu from 1974 to 1983 (on display here is issue number 15 from 1973).

In 1993, a collaborative of African-American artists and writers founded Milestone Media to increase positive representation of minorities in American comics.

Published between 1993 and 1997 as an imprint of DC Comics, the first batch of Milestone Comics included Hardware, Icon, Blood Syndicate and Static. Unlike some of the mainstream black characters published at the time, Milestone’s characters were given more realistic physical features and presented readers with strong and positive black superheroes.

It is important to see oneself represented as the “good guy” in comics. Unfortunately, there were very few positive representations of Latinx and Native American superheroes in earlier comics, especially those published by mainstream publishers. Early Latinx characters tended to either be minor characters, villains or expendable heroes who died an untimely death. For example, in the mid-to-late 1970s, characters such as Tarantula (1974), El Jaguar (1975) and Cheetah (1977) were villains or criminals, all of whom died.

While not without stereotypes, more positive representations of Latinx heroes have been introduced or reimagined in Modern Age (1985-present) comics.