Comic Books, Superheroes in

Early Superheroes

Although traces of modern-day superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and Wonder Woman can be found in ancient Greek and Roman myths, 18th-century gothic romance novels, late 19th- and early 20th-century science fiction, pulp and dime-store Westerns, and detective stories, the superhero figure itself did not emerge until 1938, when DC Comics featured Superman on the cover of Action Comics #1. The immediate success of this title quickly overtook the nascent comic-book industry, and the superhero became a mainstay.

Because superheroes first appeared in comic books, it has been assumed that these figures primarily appealed to young children. This assumption has also led to explanations of their appeal in terms of fantasies of adulthood bestowed upon their young readers. One of the most popular superheroes of the 1940s was Captain Marvel, whose secret identity was cub reporter Billy Batson. By saying the word shazam, Billy could become the all-powerful, adult Captain Marvel. Another related explanation has suggested that superheroes fulfill the family romance fantasy for children, providing self-reassuring answers to questions of where they came from and why they are different from their parents. This reinterpretation of Freud has worked particularly well when applied to Superman, an alien from another planet who is adopted by the Kents and therefore not doomed to suffer their frailties. In other words, superheroes constitute ego ideals for young children. Peter Middleton has argued that superheroes actually provide a road map of sorts for children seeking to learn about the adult world and that, for their adult creators, they serve as fantasies that are purposely all-powerful because they compensate for the failures of adult manhood to live up to its promise.

Although superheroes such as Superman may be attractive as sources of narcissistic identification, they also problematize this identification by marking their hero as explicitly “other.” Superman, particularly in his latter-day incarnation, is often situated as an outsider and an illegal alien—what is more, one who feels guilty having wrought danger and destruction by his arrival on Earth (on Smallville, he blames all the kryptonite-related disasters on his arrival). It is often their guilty consciences that motivate superheroes to take action. Also, although victory is all but assured, it is never complete; there will always be a new challenge or a new villain, marking their control as partial at best. Superman could easily take over the world but purposely chooses to remain a loyal American citizen. Thus, narcissistic identification with such a figure may involve fantasies of self-control and, more accurately, self-denial more than fantasies of power, omnipotence, mastery, and control.

Beyond such criticisms of the family romance myth, claims that superheroes appeal only to children are ahistorical and inaccurate. There is much evidence to support the claim that comic books were never truly intended to be consumed only by younger readers. A large market for Superman during World War II were soldiers overseas. One in every four magazines shipped to soldiers was a comic book, including 35,000 copies of Superman each month. Although the comic-book industry clearly courted the juvenile market, business watchers in the postwar years also recognized comic books' appeal to young adults and the role of the war in creating a “captive market” of soldiers. The Market Research Company of America reported that, in 1945, 95% of boys and 91% of girls aged 6–11 read comic books, but so did 87% of boys and 81% of girls aged 12–17 and 41% [Page 190]of men and 28% of women aged 18–30, suggesting that the market appeal crossed both gender and generational lines.

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