Of superheroes, fantasies and comics

By Syed Tashfin Chowdhury

As an eleven-year-old, I was extremely skinny and wore thick glasses, the combination of which somehow always attracted the local bullies at school and at the playground near our then-residence.

Pretty soon, I got bored with the daily beatings, arm wrenches and head locks and was rather satisfied with TV where cartoons featuring Spiderman, Superman, The Thing and Fantastic Four cartoons were aired.

In about another year or two, my uncle introduced me to my first ever comic books, which were a 'Little Archie' digest and two Spiderman magazines.

I was hooked instantaneously and my love and passion for comics has not diminished in the past 12 years, ever since my first exposure to these literary artwork complete with entertainment, adventure and simple fun.

Even though, I still do read Archies, I am more inclined toward DC and Marvel comics unlike most other comic-book readers who would prefer Archies, Asterix and Tintin over these any day of the week.

There are possibly two reasons for this. The primary reason could be the scarcity of DC and Marvel comics unlike the aforementioned groups.

On the other hand, unlike Archies, Asterix or Tintin, most DC and Marvel comic books have stories, which are to be concluded in the next issue of the same title.

Hence, as ransacking the bookstores of New Market & Nilkhet will be rather tedious, comic book readers swiftly switch to the more generic comic-book titles.

Most people even feel that such Superhero comics are more or less the same with a super hero tackling a super-villain, who is about to conquer the world, with the help of some heinous and almost impossible(!) plan.

But to tell you the truth, there is more to be learnt about comic-books than can be actually comprehended by these laymen.

History :
Marvel and DC (Detective Comics), the two major comic-book companies, both began their journey from the 1930's, which is still remarkably termed as the Golden Age of comics.

Even though, DC was named as such in 1945 and was a merger of three major comic companies namely, National Allied Publications, Detective Comics, and All-American Publications, it was the first company to publish original stories in comic book form in 1937. The major breakthrough for the company was in 1938 through Action Comics, featuring Superman and later, Detective Comics, which soon featured regular stories of the Batman. The two titles are still being published and are rightfully termed as the longest running titles in comic-book publication.

Marvel comics, renamed from Timely comics and Atlas comics, made their presence felt in 1939 with Marvel Comics # 1, which featured the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner.

As an answer to DC's impressive line of Superheroes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, Marvel soon had the already mentioned Torch and Captain America.

Marvel, soon had the edge over DC during late 1950's and early 1960's with the publication of titles like 'the Fantastic Four' and 'the Amazing Spiderman'. DC, on the other hand, competed against this onslaught with improvised characters like The Flash, The Hawkman, The Atom and the Green Lantern. DC even revised the superhero team concept and published the 'Justice League of America'. This period is thus claimed to be 'the Silver age' of comics.

By 1970, Marvel soon had a head start with unique and personalized characters in the storylines, which featured characters and teams like 'the Avengers', 'Silver Surfer', 'X-Men', 'Nick Fury', 'Thor', 'Conan' and many more. DC still fumbled with its traditional story telling procedure and soon lost a huge number of fans to Marvel.

The 80's and 90's were the greatest times for comic readers, when the two companies were out to overdo each other efforts and soon came up with some pretty revolutionary story lines.

DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, Death of Superman, Batman Knightfall and Batman: the Dark Knight Returns and Marvel's Spawn, the new and revived X-men, and Spiderman: Maximum Clonage, along with a crossover venture by the two called, DC VS. MARVEL.

The current period is seeing the two companies reaching for newer markets with improved TV shows, movies, and collectibles while paying less attention to the circulation of their comic-book titles.

Evolution:
Primarily most people regard these comic book titles as 'the last resort for retards or geeks'. (I used to have some friends with the same notion back in school, whose love for Hip-hop music and baggy pants whose belts reached the ground always eluded my sense of reasoning.)

The thought got established into the minds of such 'boors' through simple story-telling back during the initiation of comic publication in the early 1930's. The stories basically had the Superhero saving the day and the Whole world by defeating another impossible-to-defeat villain's master plan.

But in the late 1930's and early 1940's comics were a major inspiration during World War II when characters like Marvel's Captain America, Submariner and some other characters and DC's Justice Society of America battling Nazi Super Villains in their own separate publications.

Comics now, are as entertaining as any drama serial, movie, or sports shows provided the reader has the imagination to believe and visualize whatever he or she is reading.

This trend began in late 1960's , when readers could finally relate to the problems being faced by Marvel's Peter Parker, an average teenager who, despite having a secret identity like Spiderman, had girl problems, tardiness issues & financial hardships.

Owing to the boom in circulation of this particular comic book, Marvel soon introduced this personal story procedure in most of its other titles as well.

Following suit, DC focused on the problems in the lives of Clark Kent (Super Man), Bruce Wayne (BatMan), Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Barry Allen (Flash), Diana (Wonder Woman) and many others.

From 70's onward, the same comic-book titles were being used a major theme for addressing social issues like pollution, drug abuse, racism and even AIDS awareness.

Comics were the major source of inspiration for most kids during the Vietnam war and especially during the post- 9/11 situation in the US.

I remember reading a Spiderman issue, where amidst a post 9/11 New-York city (mind-lowing artwork), Spiderman comes to the rescue of a US Muslim who was about to be a casualty of hate- crime incidents, just because he shared the same religion as the terrorists.

Audio-Visual Entertainment :
Besides sporting Superheroes, these companies also published an impressive line-up of other characters as well some of which happen to be blockbuster movie hits, TV shows and cartoons like DC's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Constantine, Swamp Thing, and Marvel's Buck Rogers, Transformers, Conan, and a lot more.

Unknown to most people, the two companies also published comic versions of hit movies and TV serials like Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, The A- team and also the 1980's revolutionary sci-fi mini series, 'V'.

The two companies also produced titles like DC's House of Mystery and Marvel's Weird Wonder Tales (1958) which were soon introduced as TV series during the 1970's.

Currently, with the aid of highly improved special effects and other movie-making techniques, movies like Marvel's Spiderman 1 & 2, X-men 1 and 2, and the much anticipated Batman Begins, superheroes are finally conquering the silver screen.

Despite the failure of Marvel's Hulk, Punisher, Elektra and the moderate Daredevil, and DC's Catwoman, comic book readers and movie-goers alike should await major movies like Marvel's Ghost Rider, Submariner, Fantastic Four, X-men 3, and DC's Superman Returns by the end of this year.

Value:
The cost of a comic book, increases over time, depending on the condition and the significance of the issue due to the high demand of comic-book collectors and the scarcity of the issue.

For example, the 1987 price of Marvel's first comic book title published in 1939, Marvel Comics # 1 was $ 82,000.

To most collectors like me(with a collection of over 1000 comics), comics have a place nearer to the heart for being a friend who whisked me to another world, away from the sorrows and pain of reality till I got done with it.

Hey, its also better than drugs since you would never need to be rehabilitated or die from an overdose!

Note: There are tons of other comic-book companies with revolutionary characters whom I have not discussed. I have only focused on DC and Marvel comics as they are the major players in the comic-book industry.