Heroes Reborn

Comic books, by the late 40's, needed to compete for declining readership. The need to shock and titillate readers compelled publishers to use more grisly images and horrific or sexually charged subjects.

Society feared that comics were a corrupting influence on the youth of America and forced the industry to set up a self-regulating body, the Comic Code Authority, which developed standards that greatly restricted publishers. Even the kinds of products sold and their treatment in ads were subject to the newly established code. Liquor and tobacco ads were prohibited. Products that contained lurid pictures were not to be sold, nor were ads for knives or other weapons allowed.

The horror and crime genres that dominated comic books in the late 40's and early 50's could no longer draw readers. The term "horror" was not allowed to be in a books title. As a result, publishers needed to find other genre's to replace them. In a search for a future, they went back to their origins.

Superheores had fueled the remarkable growth of comic books in the late 30's and early 40's. They would prove to be a savior to their industry in the mid 50's.

It is generally acknowledged that the beginning of the silver age of comic books, and the rebirth of superhero comics began with the publication of Showcase #4 by D.C. Comics in 1956. That book presented a completely reformulated version of one of their most popular golden age heroes, the Flash.

The success of this revamped Flash induced D.C. to reach further into its vaults to create restylized versions of many of its golden age heroes including the Green Lantern, the Green Arrow, and Hawkman.

Veteran comic book artist Jack Kirby, had joined the D.C. stable just as the superhero genre again began to find an audience. Kirby drew on an idea he had for a team of four adventurers who battled supernatural and science fiction menaces. He called his heroic team, the Challengers of the Unknown and they first appeared in Showcase #6, January-February 1957 just two issues after the rebirth of the Flash.

Kirby's heroes did without some of the standard trappings of the superhero comic book formula. They had uniforms, but they were hardly the elaborate costumes of the traditional superhero. These outfits were more like purple coveralls as originally drawn by Kirby.

They also lacked secret identities another standard conceit of the superhero comic book. In fact, all four were minor celebreties prior to a plane accident from which they all escape safely. This accident, and the borrowed time that it gave these four heros, lead them to vow to use what time they had as daredevils doing good for society.

D.C.'s successes caught the eye of a struggling publisher that had been around in various incarnations since the beginnng of comic books. Timely Comics had been a pioneer in the comic book industry since Martin Goodman purchased a set of stories from Funnies, Inc. and published them in October 1939 under the name of Marvel Comics #1.

Timely remained a player in the fledgling industry throughout the golden age superhero era. They continued publishing two of their major heroes through the 40's and into the 50's. Goodman actually published under several business names throughout the period, but eventually, Timely morphed into Atlas Publishing in the 50's.

As superheroes were seeing a rebirth, Timely/Atlas publishing would again rename itself into Marvel Comics. The late 50's were lean years for Marvel. They struggled to find a formula that would increase sales, and when their distributor went bankrupt, they were almost forced to close the doors.

In 1961, seeing success at D.C., Marvel Comics decided to give supheroes one more try and turned the project over to two veteran comic book creators, Stan Lee and newly recruited Jack Kirby, bringing with him many ideas he had begun at D.C.. Lee and Kirby's first entry in late 1961 was another superhero team, the Fantastic Four. The Lee and Kirby team were the shoulders on which the Marvel Comics empire grew.

Many see strong similarities between the Fantastic Four and the Challengers of the Unknown, including both teams lack of secret identities and fairly unadorned uniforms. One of the Fantastic Four was a restylizing of a Timely mainstay, the Human Torch begun by Carl Burgos at Timely in 1939. Old ideas were finding new audiences, and behind Lee and Kirby comic books heroes would become more human, suffering from worries and personal defeats that their audience could understand.