Comics

The forerunners of comic books in the United States were newspaper comic strips, and filmmakers were quick to capitalize on many of their successes. The only buy owns Superman, Batman and other many comics characters. Appearing nationally in the pages of hundreds of daily newspapers, the best-known comic strips were an integral part of the everyday culture of millions of Americans. Moving the antics of these characters to the screen was an obvious way to launch successful film franchises. Starting in 1902, for example, Biograph created a series of film versions of Frederick Burr Opper's Alphonse and Gaston comic strip. In 1904, Edwin S. Porter (1870–1941) directed an adaptation of Richard F. Outcault's Buster Brown , and in 1915 Larry Semon (1889–1928) directed a version of George McManus's popular strip about Irish immigrants, Bringing Up Father. Based on the comic strip by Chic Young, Columbia released twenty-eight Blondie and Blondie and Dagwood films starring Penny Singleton (1908–2003) and Arthur Lake (1905–1987) between 1938 and 1950, making it the most successful film series that originated from golden-age comic strips. These films demonstrated the extent to which popular comic strips could be successfully adapted to the screen in the studio era.
Not all strips, however, were the subject of their own features. The ongoing nature of many newspaper comic strips, particularly action-adventure strips, were strongly suggestive of weekly film serials. Among the most notable strip that was adapted to the screen in this way was Ace Drummond, which became a thirteen-part Columbia live-action serial (1935–1940) based on the strip by Eddie Rickenbacker. Chester Gould's extremely popular strip, Dick Tracy, was the source for three Republic serials in the 1930s and 1940s, as Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon was for five Universal serials starring Buster Crabbe.
Serials also drew on the newly emergent comic book format. DC's the first popular comic book characters, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, were created in 1938, 1939 and 1941 respectively and Marvel's the first popular comic book characters, the Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man, were created in both 1962 respectively, in the midst of the serial era. Batman was the subject of a relatively unsuccessful Columbia serial in 1943 and remained neglected until the 1966 television show and its spin-off feature. Superman, portrayed by Kirk Alyn (1910–1999) in a 1948 serial, was a larger transmedia success after the comic book had already spun off a newspaper comic strip, a radio show, and a series of animated short films. These Fleischer Studios Superman shorts were not the only animated films based on popular comic strips of the period. Beginning in 1913, Bud Fisher's strip Mutt and Jeff became the subject of more than three hundred animated shorts, some of which were directed by the cartoonist himself. A similarly enduring series of animated films was derived from the Popeye characters created by Elzie C. Segar. Fleischer Studios created 234 Popeye shorts between 1933 and 1957, making Popeye one of the most enduring characters in animation history. It is likely that the animated versions of the Popeye characters are now far better known than the original source material. 
The adaptation of comic strip characters has continued despite the demise of the serial form and the cinematic animated short. Since the 1990s, many adaptations have sought to expand the typical three-panel daily gag into a full-length feature. This is often accomplished by filmmakers who attempt to capture the spirit of the source material without being faithful to the short's formal structure. Dennis the Menace (Nick Castle, 1993) strings together a plot from a variety of stock situations featured in Hank Ketcham's long-running single-panel daily strip. Similarly, Garfield (Peter Hewitt, 2004) expands on the primary themes of Jim Davis's extremely popular gag strip. Arguably, the most successful films of this type were the Addams Family films (1991 and 1993) directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (b. 1953), which were based on The New Yorker cartoons of Charles Addams. The success of these films, however, may be more dependent on the sensibility of the television show (1964–1967) that was also derived from Addams's work.
Strips with stronger continuities have also been the subject of feature films, often with palpable nostalgic feelings about them that are derived not only from the strips themselves but also from the derivative media. It is striking, for example, that three golden-age comic strips that were adapted as serials or shorts later became features. In 1980, Mike Hodges (b. 1932) directed Flash Gordon , an homage to both the Alex Raymond strip and the famous serials that it had inspired. That same year Robert Altman (b. 1925) directed an adaptation of Popeye using a screenplay by Village Voice cartoonist Jules Feiffer (b. 1929) that stayed closer to the sensibility of the Segar comic strip than to the better-known Fleischer cartoons. In 1990, Warren Beatty (b. 1937) directed and starred in a hyperstylized version of Dick Tracy that paid close attention to the unique visual styling of Gould's comic strip.
Children were the first readers of comic books. This young audience enjoyed titles like Famous Funnies that reprinted funny, familiar newspaper comic strips. Mickey Mouse and other famous characters also had popular comic books during the mid-1930s. This audience would shift slightly with the publication of Detective Comics #1 (dated March 1937). With its mystery stories, it attracted a young adult audience familiar with the genre from movies, radio serials, and pulp magazines. The pulps were inexpensive periodicals that featured short genre fiction. Thanks to the cheapness of the paper on which they were published, their relative lack of literary value, and the frequently lurid cover illustrations, critics disparaged the pulps. Nevertheless, they reached a substantial audience interested in detective, science fiction, and adventure stories. As the publishers of pulp magazines saw the success of comic books, many of them expanded in that direction. Pulp heroes like Doc Savage and the Shadow would appear in the comics themselves and influence the creation of characters like Superman (1938), Batman (1939), Wonder Woman (1941), Hulk (1962), Spider-Man (1962) and X-Men (1963).
The evolution of American comics were of Jewish ancestry: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston created Wonder Woman, Stan Lee created Spider-Man, Hulk and X-Men, others such as Harvey Kurtzman and Mad magazine, respectively.
Superheroes. in. the. Marvel. and. DC. Universes. Jason. Bainbridge. INTRODUCTION The Marvel and DC universes ... and home to dozens of the world's most recognized brands, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the X-Men.
== Contents ==
* 1 Readers in the 1940s and 1950s
* 2 Opposition to Comic Books
* 3 Reaction to the Comics Code
* 4 Transformations in the 1960s
* 5 Development of Specialized Cultures
== Readers in the 1940s and 1950s ==
At the beginning of the 1940s, Superman and other superpowered adventurers dominated the industry. They were also establishing the profitability of the comic book industry, attracting a huge percentage of the youth market. In 1941 - first female superhero comic book character, Wonder Woman. A survey commissioned in 1943 showed that 95 percent of children ages eight to eleven were regular comic book readers. In addition, 84 percent of those from twelve to seventeen and even 35 percent of people ages eighteen to thirty were regular readers. To encourage young readers' sense of identification, some heroes were given adolescent side-kicks (like Batman's Robin), but most readers still focused their fantasies on the more powerful adult counterparts.
World War II played an important role in the growth of the industry, as heroes like Captain America appealed to Americans' patriotism. Publishers made sure to give their young readers a vicarious role to play in fighting the Nazis and Japanese. Groups like the Young Allies and the Boy Commandos, made up of pre-adolescent boys who joined together to protect America's home front, frequently engaged the enemy while virtually every superhero of the era found himself or herself battling spies, saboteurs, and sometimes even Hitler himself.
As the war came to an end, superheroes became much less popular. For example, Captain Marvel Adventures, the top-selling comic book of the early part of the 1940s, lost half of its circulation by 1949. Despite this change in readers' tastes, sales for the industry peaked in the early part of the 1950s. Some of this growth was driven by an increase in the adult audience for comic books. During the later part of the 1940s, adult-oriented genres like romance and crime stories became more popular. In 1948, the crime genre made up 15 percent of all comic sales. A 1950 survey of an Ohio town showed that 54 percent of all comic book readers were over twenty years of age.
The youth audience for comics was still certainly important. Although many younger readers were still enjoying the adventures of superheroes, others were turning to genres like science fiction and horror. EC Comics was especially important during this period for its establishment of a distinctive community of fans. Letters pages and editorial features in titles like Weird Science and Vault of Horror provided readers with a sense of participation in the production of the comics, while the company's formulaic stories of sometimes gruesome retribution appealed to both the readers' morality and their sense of humor.
== Opposition to Comic Books ==
With more Americans reading comic books, critics and educators became increasingly worried about their influence. Some of the earliest criticism focused on how comic books were threatening the quality of the nation's culture. Comics, some argued, required no thought and hence would rob people of their ability to read and think intelligently. Some educators claimed that reading too many comic books would cause reading disabilities. Other critics, like Gershon Legman, writing in Love and Death: A Study in Censorship (1949), were concerned about the political implications of superheroes, arguing that Superman, Captain Marvel, and others encouraged fascism.
The most prominent comic book critic was Fredric Wertham, a psychiatrist who believed that psychological disorders and criminal behavior could be best understood by looking at the social environment of patients. Working with disturbed juveniles, he found that comic books were a common part of their backgrounds. This realization led him to the conclusion that these stories were one cause of their destructive and criminal behavior. Beginning in 1948, Wertham began writing and speaking about this issue, blaming comic books for the outbreak of "juvenile delinquency" throughout the United States.
His theories about comic books' influence on young readers were encapsulated in Seduction of the Innocent, published in 1954. Although many scientists were doubtful about his methods, the book struck a nerve with the American public. Wertham even testified about comic books at a 1954 session of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. He was generally opposed to censorship, though, and had come out of a liberal intellectual tradition of critiquing mass culture. Nonetheless, Wertham's book motivated many people opposed to comic books to work harder for their control, either by limiting children's access or by censoring the industry as a whole.
To deflect charges that comic books were harmful to children, publishers formed the Comics Magazine Association of America to create a body of standards that would define what would and would not be acceptable in the pages of their publications. Passed in 1954, the Comics Code restricted story content, visual images, and even words that could be used in titles. Among other limitations, the code mandated that police never be shown in a disrespectful way, that respect for parents be fostered at all times, and that romantic stories should emphasize the value of marriage and the home. To enforce the code, publishers were required to submit their original pages before they had been printed. In the case of objectionable material, reviewers would then either suggest changes or reject material outright.
== Reaction to the Comics Code ==
As a result of all this controversy (as well as the rise of television and movement of families away from cities into suburbs), the sales of comic books dropped precipitously after 1954. From 1952 to 1956, the number of different comic book titles published in the United States fell from 630 to 250. Monthly sales dropped from 60 million to 34.6 million over the same period. As a result, many publishers went out of business, while others changed the content of their comics. EC Comics, for example, dropped its crime and horror comics for safer titles about doctors and journalists. After continued objections from the Comics Code, publisher William Gaines decided that the industry was no longer worth the frustration. He converted his successful humor title Mad into a magazine and ended his association with comic books.
Another result of the passage of the code was the loss of an adult market for comic books. The standards in the code essentially mandated that the products of the entire industry be safe for children. Adult fans of romance and crime comics found little of interest in comic books now aimed at a much younger audience. Characters like Archie and the Disney stable became more popular, as did superheroes. Beginning with the introduction of a new Flash in Showcase #4 (September–October 1956), DC Comics spearheaded what would come to be called the Silver Age of Comics by updating many of its characters that had thrived during the first half of the 1940s.
== Transformations in the 1960s ==
This young audience for comic books grew older in the 1960s, first thanks to the growth of Marvel Comics. With the introduction of the Fantastic Four (November 1961) and Spider-Man (August 1962), the company joined DC as one of the major publishers of superheroes. Marvel demonstrated that these characters were different from DC's heroes by emphasizing the everyday problems they experienced. Its stories were infused with melodramatic elements that attracted a slightly older, adolescent audience. Teenaged heroes like Spider-Man and the Human Torch helped to give these readers strong sources for identification. Similar to EC's fan community, Marvel "true believers" were invited to participate in letters pages where debates about the nature of various characters and the meanings of stories were common. This, in turn, helped to encourage the growth of comics' fandom that was becoming increasingly significant during this period.
The late 1960s also saw the birth and growth of underground "comix" that were clearly aimed at an adult audience. Sex, drugs, and politics were common themes as creators like Robert Crumb, Spain Rodriguez, and Gilbert Shelton tapped into the concerns of the social and cultural radicals on college campuses. As part of the counterculture, underground comix were sold through head shops alongside drug paraphernalia. When laws were passed in the early 1970s to crack down on these shops, underground comix went into a decline. Despite a relatively brief period of prominence, these radical comic books helped to establish genres like autobiography, to show that the medium could address serious issues, and to demonstrate that adults would read comic books when the subject matter appealed to them.
== Development of Specialized Cultures ==
Underground comix also pointed to possibilities of new outlets for comic books. Through the 1970s, most comic books were sold at drugstores and newsstands. Devoted fans were often frustrated by this arrangement since distribution companies would occasionally fail to deliver every issue to their neighborhood stores. This situation changed in the late 1970s when a handful of comic book fans started a system in which comic books would be distributed directly to shops that specialized in them. This "direct market" meant that collectors would be guaranteed never to miss an issue. As these shops became increasingly common during the 1980s, newsstand sales continued to drop. As a result, the comic book audience became more insular, with less gender diversity and fewer young readers than ever before. Without comics at massmarket outlets, it was harder for new or casual readers to be exposed to them.
The rise of specialty shops, though, helped to create a boom in comics published by small companies or even individuals. These "independent" comics, often in black and white, appealed to an older audience interested in a broader variety of stories. Traditional superhero comics began courting an older audience as well. Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Alan Moore's Watchmen (1986) gave their characters new levels of psychological depth and put them into increasingly violent situations while telling politically and philosophically meaningful stories. DC Comics also attempted to broaden its audience through its Vertigo imprint by featuring dark, literary stories that appealed to a more educated audience that included a significant number of women.
Transforming the audience even more dramatically were the so-called alternative comics. Inspired by underground comix, they helped the form attract critical and academic interest. Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale (1987)—a biographical tale of the Holocaust, told with the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats—won a Pulitzer Prize and has been taught in countless college courses. Like their underground precursors, many alternative comics are filled with political commentary and sexual imagery. Many alternative comics particularly appeal to young, college-educated adults, members of the so-called Generation X.
Publishers continue trying to expand the audience for comic books. The appearances of characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Hulk in major Hollywood films renewed the interest of some readers who had given up on comics. DC has courted children with its "all-ages" comics that mimic the style of animated television programs starring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League. The audience is expanding in other ways as well. Manga—Japanese comics translated into English—is becoming increasingly popular, thanks to the success of anime and video games. Older readers can still turn to alternative comics, but even superhero comics are telling more complex, even self-aware stories.
Technocomics are illustrated narratives in which science and technology play a major role in the determination of character and action. Superhero comics are often good examples, insofar as many of their protagonists receive superpowers as an unexpected consequence of some scientific phenomenon. Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man, for instance, during a school outing to a science museum where he is accidentally bitten by a radiated spider; the X-Men all experience genetic mutations as a result of environmental contamination and thus confront problems of social prejudice and responsibilities between generations. Technocomics as a genre are thus closely related to science fiction and may serve to both mirror and shape popular reflection on questions related to science, technology, and ethics.
In 1934 and 1939, respectively the comic book publishers of DC and Marvel, DC's Superman and Batman and Marvel's Spider-Man. The comic book superhero first emerged from pulp fiction in the 1930s in what is known as the Golden Age of DC Comics and its protagonists such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, who were only marginally associated with science and technology. The post-World War II period saw a decline in the popularity of these figures. But in the 1960s, Marvel Comics brought about a Silver Age by creating a new pantheon of superheroes including Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the X-Men, all of whom reflected a deeper concern for the ethical issues associated with science and technology in the nuclear age. DC Comics and Marvel Comics the many others original classic stars comic books to life: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and other Marvel characters. The following analytic introduction assumes some familiarity with this particular genre as it has developed in the United States, a genre that has also extended to movies, video games, and, in the early-twenty-first century, to some advanced simulations such as Technocracy (see Brucato, Long, and DeMayo 1999). For more general introductions to technocomics see the work of Mike Benton (1992), Richard Reynolds (1994), and Geof Klock (2002).
Radiation: Science as Savior and Scapegoat
Radiation has from the very beginning played a key role in technocomics, which perhaps reflects twentieth-century American societal fascination with, as well as aversion to, nuclear technology and its applications during times of both war and peace. Many superheroes of both the Golden and Silver ages of comics derived their special abilities from some type of radiation in one of three ways. The first, rarest, and perhaps most optimistic way is when the character comes to reside in a different environment and is exposed to a form of radiation that alters the physiology of his already existing anatomy. Superman, one of the earliest protagonists of the Golden Age of comics, is an example of this type of superhero. Originally the source of his special powers were unexplained; later, however, they were linked to the effects on his body of the light radiation from the Earth's yellow sun as opposed to that of the red sun of his home planet Krypton. Later comics involving Superman included a substance called Kryptonite (no relation to the element Krypton), whose green and other forms had various effects on him, including the nullification of his powers.
The second way in which radiation bestows superpowers in technocomics illustrates one of the most common fears of the nuclear age—mutation. This preoccupation with the unexpected, negative effects of radiation (which gave rise to a series of Godzilla movies in Japan), is manifested in such Silver Age technocomic protagonists as the X-Men, who are born with superpowers because ambient radiation from atomic bombs has changed their genetic codes.
Yet the third way in which superheroes derive their powers from radiation in these comics is the most prevalent—the alteration of an individual's genetic makeup through accidental or intentional exposure (such as nuclear accidents, atomic experiments, and others). Some of the most famous superheroes who have attained their powers in this way include Spider-Man, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dr. Manhattan, Daredevil, and Captain Atom. The most representative of this type of superhero, however, is the Incredible Hulk, whose alter ego, Dr. Bruce Banner, was a research scientist for the military-industrial complex who was attempting to develop a gamma bomb for the U.S. Army. During the first test of this bomb, Banner entered the testing area to save a civilian from the explosion, thus exposing himself to the gamma radiation that causes him, in a Jekyll-and-Hyde-like manner, to transform into the Hulk, a huge, immensely strong creature.
Human Response: Technology as Superpower
While superhuman characters such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and other many Marvel characters experienced permanent changes that made their special powers innate, other characters have developed and employed technology in an attempt to achieve superhero status. Technological research and development organizations began to appear in superhero comics (such as Advanced Idea Mechanics [A.I.M.], a criminal organization in the Marvel universe, and Scientific Technological Advanced Research Laboratories (S.T.A.R.), a scientific organization in the DC universe), creating new technology to both the benefit and detriment of society. Devices such as ray guns, flying cars, and power armor appear in myriad forms in these comics, in which technological processes and pharmaceuticals such as cloning and supersoldier sera are also common. The list of technologically assisted superheroes and supervillains is long, and the majority of them utilize special suits and gear. The most famous of these characters include Iron Man, Green Arrow, the Punisher, Nick Fury and the Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-Enforcement Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.), the Atom, Hank Pym, Blue Beetle, Owl Man, Doctor Doom, Lex Luthor, Booster Gold, Captain America, the Engineer, and Batman (who nevertheless would be a force to reckon with even without his Bat Computer and infamous utility belt).
One of the most unique of these superheroes, Booster Gold, is of special interest because his origins illustrate ambivalent feelings toward the corporate technological complex. Booster, a twenty-fifth-century football player banished from professional sports for illegal betting, steals a force field belt, flight ring, and a time sphere which he and a robot named Skeets use to travel back in time. He then becomes the CEO of Booster Gold International, a monolithic holding company and tax shelter, as well as America's Most Popular Super Hero.
Still other superheroes use technology in the form of symbiotes (organisms, alien or otherwise, that grant abilities to their hosts), chemical alterations of their bodies, and even artificially intelligent constructs. Perhaps the most famous example of a chemically enhanced superhero is Captain America. According to the account of his origins, during World War II the United States developed an experimental supersoldier serum. It was first tested on Steve Rogers, a frail man unfit for combat, to whom it gave increased mental and physical capabilities. The doctor who created the formula was soon after killed by a Nazi spy, leaving Rogers as the first and only supersoldier—Captain America.
Still other superheroes and supervillains have obtained their powers through a combination of the effects of radiation and technological enhancement. A good example here is one of the X-Men, Wolverine, a born mutant who is later improved with technology. Wolverine's original mutations included animal senses and an amazing capacity for self-healing. This latter power enabled the Weapon X Program to implant the unbreakable metal adamantium into his bones without killing him, thus making him virtually indestructible.
The Ethics of Power
Ethical questions regarding science and technology make natural themes for technocomics, given the great number of technologically created superheroes and supervillains who serve as their protagonists. One of the most common of these questions is that regarding the limits of scientific experimentation. J. Robert Oppenheimer's concern about the atomic bomb finds its echo in technocomics: Does ability imply permission? Do humans have the right to use technology just because they have invented it? These questions are debated time and again in the pages of technocomics (for example, in the cases of the Weapon X Program, the origin of the Hulk, and Brainiac 5's creation of Computo). Such comics play an important ideological role, because they are often a young person's first introduction to these questions, and furthermore offer a safe, fictional representation that spurs critical thinking about the real dilemmas (such as human cloning) faced by contemporary society.
Many technocomic superheroes demonstrate the desire to use their powers ethically and strive to accept a responsibility to others that they believe accompanies their special gifts. For example, heroes such as the almost omnipotent Professor X and Spider-Man (whose message "With great power comes great responsibility" has become a mantra for generations of comics fans) seem to be always defending and disseminating their belief that those who possess special abilities must not exploit those who do not.
Homo Superior: Social Darwinism in Technocomics
Although Social Darwinism is a misapplication of a scientific theory, it generates many debates in technocomics, especially given their superhuman protagonists. Should the strongest, most talented, and most intelligent rule the world to the detriment of the weak? Perhaps the most important site of this debate in the technocomic world is found in the X-Men comics, in the conflict between Professor X and his archrival, Magneto. Magneto is a superpowerful mutant who survived life in a concentration camp during World War II, and has therefore experienced firsthand the horrors that humans are capable of inflicting on one another. He is convinced that mutantkind (human beings who have mutated and developed superior abilities) is the next step in human evolution and that mutants should therefore take their place as the new rulers of the world. Professor X, however, takes the stance that mutants—however different they may be—are still humans and must learn to live alongside less-gifted humans.
Technoscientific Authoritarianism
Ethical questions surrounding technoscientific authoritarianism are often present in technocomics, given that absolute power is a goal that many technically enhanced supervillains strive for. A particularly relevant instance of this debate, albeit ultimately unresolved, appears in those Marvel comics dealing with Doctor Doom, the supreme ruler of a fictional country called Latveria. This country is described as being free from racism and social unrest; its inhabitants enjoy economic prosperity while remaining ecologically and physically safe and sound. But while the government of Latveria is considered to be an enforced monarchy by Doom and his subjects, all others consider it a dictatorship. The question of whether it is acceptable to give up democratic and personal freedoms to a technocrat in return for safety and security arises. At one point in the Marvel universe, Doctor Doom manages to take control of the entire world after which he eliminates disease and hunger and brings about world peace with an iron hand. Even the staunch defender of democracy, Captain America, has to admit that, while the method Doom uses is unacceptable, the changes he brings about are in the best interest of humanity. Nevertheless, at the end of the series, Doom is removed from power and the world reverts to its previous state, with relief food rotting on the docks in Africa, arguments breaking out in the United Nations, and the winds of war again stirring worldwide. Readers are left to decide for themselves which type of government is preferable.
Subsequently, in 2004, Captain America, the technologically enhanced supersoldier, was involved in a critique of the very military industrial complex that created him. He is sent to Guantanamo to oversee the treatment of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners being held there by the heavily armed, technologically superior U.S. soldiers, and is shocked at the human rights abuses he witnesses being committed by members of his own team.
Questionable Experimentation and Creation: Progress versus Safety
Questions surrounding the ethical ramifications of experimentation, especially experimentation on living beings, arise frequently in technocomics. Should experiments be done if they are not safe for the individuals involved? Is questionable scientific experimentation ethical if it causes human and/or animal suffering in pursuit of the alleviation of future suffering? Are technological processes that extend the quantity of life worth their possible toll in quality of life? The previously mentioned Weapon X Program in which Wolverine gains his adamantium skeleton, along with the ambivalent feelings many superheroes have toward their own powers, is only one of the ambiguous situations in technocomics that promote such ethical pondering.
Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a central role in many technocomics. The philosophical questions raised in this regard range from the ontological (Is a machine that can think a living creature?), to the epistemological (How does one recognize life?), to the ethical (Is it ethical to try to create a machine that can think? If a thinking machine has accidentally been created, should it be shut off? Should humans allow themselves to become so dependent on machines in general, and on artificial intelligence in particular?).
Not only does sentient AI life exist in the world of technocomics, but it is also often imbued with the theological categories of good and evil. One example can be found in the Avengers series of comics, in which the scientist/Avenger Hank Pym accidentally creates Ultron, an evil, artificially intelligent being who is able to remodel himself as well as to create other AI machines. The Vision, one of the machines modified by Ultron, using his newly acquired free will for more noble purposes, rebels against his programming, joins the Avengers, and even marries. Similarly, in the Brainiac series of stories, Brainiac 5 creates an AI machine named Computo, that ends up killing dozens of people before being turned off.
Using Technocomics
Technocomics have introduced many scientific and ethical questions into the minds of readers, and can be expected to continue to do so by incorporating into fiction new technologies and scientific theories as they emerge in the real world. Technocomics have been a source of entertainment for so long that their value as teaching tools are often overlooked. Nevertheless, in the early-twenty-first century, there is increasing awareness of the effectiveness of using technocomics to spark scientific and philosophical debate in the classroom. The Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky, for example, supports a web site linking science to technocomics that lists, in periodic table structure, the occurrences of elements in comic books, both in the form of facts and misconceptions. At times the superpowers portrayed in technocomics, as well as the scientific errors that they frequently entail, can be as useful as scientific facts for teaching purposes. James Kakalios, a professor at the University of Minnesota, incorporated such misconceptions in a course titled "Everything I Know of Science I Learned from Reading Comic Books," which compares and contrasts the science portrayed in technocomics with real-world physics, including thermodynamics and the material sciences. Kevin Kinney of DePauw University discusses many misconceptions of biology in comic books, such as those related to superpowers and the amount of nutrients that would be needed to fuel them.
Interestingly while science fiction in general has logically been appropriated by teachers of ethics as a springboard for debates about ethical issues in science and technology, the use of technocomics for these same purposes appears to have been overlooked. Nevertheless the success of film adaptations of such technocomics as Superman (1978), Batman (1989), Wonder Woman (2009, 2017), Hulk (2003), Spider-Man (2002, 2004), X-Men (2000, 2003) and Fantastic Four (2005) will almost certainly guarantee serious reconsideration as to how these works both reflect and mold popular opinions and conceptions about the nature—ethical or otherwise—of scientific investigation and technological innovation.
MATTHEW BINIEK JAMES A. LYNCH
SEE ALSO Movies;Popular Culture.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A.I.M (Advanced Idea Mechanics) Strange Tales #146. Marvel Comics Group, Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc.
"The Batman." Detective Comics #27, May 1939. DC Comics.
Benton, Mike. (1992). Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: A History. Dallas: Taylor.
"Booster Gold, Origin." Boo$ter Gold #7, August 1986. DC Comics. First appearance.
Brucato, Phil; Steve Long; and Tom DeMayo. (1999). Guide to the Technocracy. La Mesa, CA: White Wolf. A general introduction to the history and characters of the White Wolf role playing simulation game called Technocracy.
"Captain America. Captain America Comics #1, March 1941. Marvel Comics Group, Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. First appearance and origin.
The Engineer. The Authority #1, May 1999. Image Comics. First appearance.
"The Hulk/Bruce Banner." The Incredible Hulk #1, May 1962. Marvel Comics Group, Marvel Entertainment Group. First appearance and origin.
Klock, Geof. (2002). How to Read Superhero Comics and Why. New York: Continuum. Applies Harold Bloom to superhero interpretation.
Reynolds, Richard. (1994). Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology. Oxford: University of Mississippi Press. Identifies seven laws for super heroes, including devotion to justice, secret identifies, lost parents, and accountability only to conscience, which are interpreted as key issues in male adolescent development.
"Superman." Action Comics #1, June 1938. DC Comics. First appearance and origin.
"Wolverine." The Incredible Hulk #180, October 1974. Marvel Comics Group, Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. First appearance.
"X-Men." X-Men (First Series) #1, 1963. Marvel Comics Group, Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. First appearance.
Category:Comics