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A Need for Heroes

The need for heroes in society is constant, but it is particularly acute in times of war. As the war in Europe grew and threatened to engulf the U. S. True Comics was born, to explore the men and women who had built and protected democracy.

According to an editorial published in the innaugural issue, most of the comics of the day, "...consist largely of exciting picture stories which everyone recognizes as not only untrue but utterly impossible.1" In reaction to these comics of the impossible, publisher George Hecht started True Comics, a very unique comic book that he would continue to publish for over 10 years. Hecht paraphrased the words of poet Lord Byron to create the motto of the comic, "Truth is stranger and 1000 times more thrilling than fiction."

Other heroes in this time of trouble came from the timeless imagination of men. Reaching back to the myths and the common image of the Roman God, Mercury, D.C. Comics produced one of its most enduring heroes. The Golden-age Flash is the grandfather of all iterations of speedsters in the D.C. line. Ironically, Mercury is not only the God of Speed, he is also the God of Commerce. D.C.'s comic incarnation of Mercury, renamed the Flash, has certainly proven to be a highly successful commercial franchise.

The need for heroes doesn't dissappear in times of peace and prosperity. America's heroes in 1950 no longer defended us against the axis powers. Now our heroes conquored science, and the unknown demons we were confronting as technology expanded at a breakneck pace.

Airboy performed acts of heroism through the war, starting in Air Fighters #2, which was later renamed into Airboy's own book. He was the perfect character to transition into the 1950's. He had battled the best that Germany and Japan had to offer, yet had no superpowers, only a keen wit and superior American technology to aid him. In the world of prosperity and progress that followed the war, Airboy's fluency with thechnology may have been as appealing as superpowers to young readers.

1. A View of History: True Comics, 1941-1945, Dr. William E. Blake, April 1980, from a paper presented to the Popular Culture Association in Detroit, Michigan