History of Superheroes Part 2: The Golden and Silver Ages of Comics

1940 saw Batman become the senior partner of the dynamic duo when Robin was introduced in issue 38 of Detective Comics. The Boy Wonder attracted a younger audience that until now had been largely untapped, and sales of the publication doubled. The Green Lantern and The Flash also made their debuts in 1940, and the following year saw Wonder Woman and Aquaman introduced.

While all of the superheroes mentioned were published by National Allied (which would eventually become DC Comics), other publishers also recognised the publics’ fascination with superheroes.

Timely Comics, which would later become Marvel, introduced The Human Torch (no relation to Fantastic Four version), Namor the sub-mariner, and Captain America. Although out of the three only Captain America is well known today, during this ‘golden age of comics’, sales of each issue consistently passed the one million mark.

However, by far the most popular comic book superhero of the time was Captain Marvel, who first appeared in Whiz Comics issue two in 1940, and was published by Fawcett Comics. Captain Marvel was to comics in the forties, as the Monkees were to music in the sixties. He was created solely to sell comic books.

Fawcett Comics circulation director Roscoe Kent Fawcett came up with an ingenious marketing ploy. At the time, Superman was the most popular comic book, but Fawcett (or someone working for him) recognised that the younger market – except for Robin – had no hero they could relate to. So he called in his staff, and demanded of them, “Give me a Superman, only have his other identity be a 10- or 12-year-old boy rather than a man”.

They came up with Captain Marvel. Or at least the third incarnation of the character created by Bill Parker in 1939, who began life as Captain Thunder, before becoming Captain Marvellous, and finally Captain Marvel.

Like Superman, Captain Marvel could fly, had super strength, and speed, and had an alter ego who worked for a newspaper. Unlike Clark Kent though, his secret identity was a 12 year old homeless boy named Billy Batson, who sold newspapers.

Captain Marvel was an instant success, and was soon the highest selling comic book in the United States. He was even outselling Superman, and at the peak of his popularity, approximately 1.4 million copies of each issue of Captain Marvel were sold.

Captain Marvel was the first ‘real’ superhero to appear on screen in 1941

Such was the public’s fascination in Captain Marvel, in 1941, a 12 part film serial was produced. Making him the first ‘real’ Superhero to appear on screen.

Hoping to take full advantage of the massive popularity of superheroes, publishers wanted more of them. Two of the more enduring characters created during this time were the Green Lantern, who made his debut in 1940, and the Green Arrow, who made his first appearance in More Fun Comics in 1941.

Towards the end of the 1940s, sales and interest in superhero comic books began to decline. However three superheroes did make their debuts on the big screen in that decade. Batman (1943), Captain America (1944), and Superman (1949), were all featured in film serials.

Then in 1952, Superman made his television debut in ‘The Adventures of Superman’, starring George Reeves as the Man of Steel. The television series ran for six seasons, the last three of which were filmed in colour.

The success of the series slowly rekindled the public’s interest in superhero comic books. In a bid to capitalise on this, DC’s Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino reimagined the Flash. Although perhaps a risk, it paid off. Sales of superhero comics increased quite dramatically, and this surge was the beginning of the ‘silver age of comics’, which would last throughout the 1960s, and into the early 1970s.

The 1960s began with the formation of the Justice League, who appeared for the first time in ‘The Brave and the Bold’ issue 28, in 1960. The ‘League’ brought together DC’s Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, to battle the evil alien, ‘Starro’.

Although DC had previously introduced the Justice Society in 1944,  it was predominately a permanent band of minor heroes, which occasionally featured major superheroes such as the Flash and Green Lantern. The name was changed to the Justice League, and the minor heroes were replaced with DC’s major heroes. The concept was a resounding success.

In 1961, Atlas Comics, along with its subsidiaries merged, and formed Marvel Comics. Although Marvel’s first offering was a science fiction comic, the success of the Justice League prompted editor in chief Stan Lee to create the Fantastic Four in 1941. This began a hugely successful era for Marvel when the majority of their most iconic superheroes were created.

The team at Marvel, which included Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko introduced Spiderman and The Hulk in 1961. The following year saw the debuts of both Ironman and the X-men, as well as The Avengers (Marvels version of DC’s Justice League). The Avengers originally included Iron Man, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Thor, and the Hulk, with Captain America joining soon after. This was followed by the introduction of Daredevil in 1964, and the Silver Surfer in 1965.

With such a prolific output of iconic superheroes during this short period of time, it is no surprise the sixties are sometimes referred to as the ‘Marvel Age’, by comic historians.

Then in 1965 Lorenzo Semple Jr was approached by then ABC producer William Dozier, to help bring Batman to the small screen. Although television executives expected a gritty drama, Dozier and Semple Jr. gave them an outrageously camped up and comedic adaptation of the caped crusader.

The series premiered in 1966, and ran for three seasons, made up of 120 episodes. Such was its popularity, it aired twice weekly during the first two seasons.

Starring Adam West as Batman, and Burt Ward as Robin, the series also boasted a talented array of guest actors, who lined up to play the various villains on the show. Caesar Romero, Eartha Kitt, Burgess Merideth, Julie Newmar, Frank Gorshin and Vincent Price all starred as adversaries of the dynamic duo at different times.

The popularity of the television show was transferred to comic book sales, and by the end of the sixties, the superhero comic book industry was the healthiest it had been since the late 1930’s and early 1940s.

Who is the world’s biggest superhero?

Who is the biggest superhero in the world? Finding the answer on the internet is not as easy a task as one might think. The results are as numerous as they are varied. Most, are based on the writer’s opinion, while others, although based upon evidence, only concentrate on one aspect of media that superheroes appear in. Very few, if any, actually take into consideration, all forms of media through which fans can access their favourite superhero.

For example, a child may spend their pocket money on Superman comic books. However the same child will most likely have seen ‘The Man of Steel’ at cinemas at least once. Owns the DVD or bluray of that film – which is probably stored on the same shelf as their Superman and Justice League animated feature films. They also more likely than not, watch Superman cartoons on television, play Superman video games, and have all manner of Superman paraphernalia scattered about their bedroom.

Therefore to truly answer the question of who the biggest superhero in the world is, four forms of media must be looked at – comics, television, film and merchandising.

Superheroes were of course, introduced to us originally through comic books. During the ‘golden age’ of comics in the 1940’s, individual issues featuring Superman, Batman and Captain Marvel, regularly sold over a million copies each in the United States alone.

Although global figures are hard to pin down, over a billion comic books were sold in the US in 2013, up five percent from the previous year. This created over 3.7 billion dollars in revenue for publishers. The two most successful of course being Marvel, with 36.97 percent, and DC with 33.35 percent.

The three biggest selling individual issues sold were Justice League of America #1 (326,000), Superman Unchained #1 (259,100), and Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (221,200). Superior Spider-Man #1 sold 216,700 copies to come in a close fourth.

However the individual superhero that sold the most comic books by far in 2013 was Batman. Batman comics (excluding Justice League and Superman/Batman), had 17 entries in the top 100, selling 1.96 million copies.

Spiderman came in second, having nine entries in the top 100, registering sales around 900,000 copies, while Superman came in third with five entries, and 740,000 copies sold.

Of all the mediums that superheroes are now presented through, the closest relation to the original comic book is the animated cartoon. Becoming popular in the late sixties, superhero cartoons have become an institution on children’s television.

Although there are no real figures to use as evidence, an internet search of the most popular cartoon featuring a superhero, will show that nine times out of ten, Batman: The Animated Series is rated number one on any given list. The majority also have Batman Beyond in their top ten, so given the overwhelming anecdotal evidence in his favour, Batman comes out on top again.

Using that same evidence, Superman is the next most popular, followed closely by Spiderman and Wolverine. Ensemble cartoons featuring The Justice League, X-Men and the Avengers also feature prominently.

Ever since DC’s Justice League first made their debut in 1960, publishers have recognised the enormous popularity in uniting individual superheroes into teams. That popularity has translated to film. Marvel’s The Avengers, released in 2012, is the highest grossing superhero film to date, having taken in more than 600 million dollars at the box office.

Coming in second, and the first of the individual superhero films is The Dark Knight (2008), having grossed 535 million, followed at three by the Dark Knight Rises (2012) with 448 million.

However when assessing who is the biggest superhero, box office figures alone cannot tell the complete story. Since Superman premiered in 1978 the world’s population has grown by a third, and there are so many more cinemas from which to watch movies. Also Batman has been in far more films than any other superhero, so he would naturally come out on top.

Buzzfeed.com have come up with a formula that does not just rely on box office receipts. Considering many different factors, they have given each superhero ‘a weighted film rating’, and come up with a top twenty.

The top five on that list are Batman (3.4), Spiderman (3.26), Ironman (2.98), Superman (2.93), and Wolverine (2.13).

In all, the top 20 superhero films have grossed an astounding six billion dollars at the box office worldwide, however that same figure is generated every year through superhero merchandising. DC and Marvel each made three billion dollars from merchandising last financial year, placing them both in the top five merchandisers globally.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Batman sells the most merchandise. In 2012 when the competition for superhero merchandise was at its fiercest following the release of The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spiderman, Batman merchandise outsold the other two comfortably. DC produced more than 1000 different licenced products for the Dark Knight Rises alone.

From the evidence presented here, there is no doubt who the biggest superhero in the world is. While Spiderman and Superman have tried hard, Batman has come out on top of every category, and when he celebrates his 75th birthday next month, he will do so as the biggest superhero in the world.

Comic sales figures supplied by Diamond Comic Distributors. Movie box office figures supplied by Box Office Mojo.

Studios play chicken over release dates

Marvel studios surprised many in the film industry this week when they announced that a previously unidentified film scheduled for release on 6th May 2016, would in fact be the third instalment of the Captain America franchise.

The same date Warner Bros. plans to open the highly anticipated, but as yet unnamed ‘Superman versus Batman’ project.

Although at this stage neither studio is willing to budge, that will surely change. To open both films on the same day would be an appalling business decision by both studios, as each movie would eat heavily into the profits of the other.

Of course the studios are blatantly aware of this. Warner Bros president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman, admitted as much after Marvel’s announcement. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense for two huge superhero movies to open on the same date.” Although he added that, ”at this time, we are not considering a change of date for Batman vs. Superman.”

Joe Russo, who co-directed Captain America – The Winter Soldier, and will again be sitting in the director’s chair for the third instalment was more pragmatic. “Everybody likes to imagine a flame war that’ll start over this but it’s not,” he said. “It’s two big movies on a date – neither studio is crazy enough to eat up each other’s profits. At some point, somebody’s going to move off the date.”

New York investment analyst Alan Gould agrees. “I don’t think the studios or the theatres would be happy to see this,” he said. “I would be surprised if they didn’t end up changing these dates.”

What is making the situation even more interesting is the perhaps surprising position of strength that Marvel finds itself in at the moment. Had Christian Bale been willing to reprise his role as the Dark Knight for the Superman vs. Batman film, there is little doubt that Marvel would back down. However with Ban Affleck set to debut as Batman in the new film, the landscape has changed.

Affleck is drawing the same criticisms from the public that Michael Keaton (1989), and Bale (2005) himself received when they were given the roles of the Caped Crusader. Of course now the debate is ongoing about who out of the two was actually the best Batman, and Affleck may end up being better than both of them. For now though, there is no fan loyalty to the actor playing the part.

That is not the case with Captain America. By the time the third instalment comes along, it will be the fifth time that Chris Evans appears as Captain America (Avengers: Age of Ultron is due for release in 2015), and his fan base is assured. The recently released Captain America: The Winter Soldier, has earned more than 200 million dollars worldwide in less than two weeks, and is the number one movie not only in the States, but in China and Russia as well.

It will be interesting to see who blinks first.