History of Comics Overview

Superheros first appeared in pulp magazines or dime novels. The first widely popularized hero was
The Shadow First created in 1931.

What defined him as a super hero?

He had the ability to cloud men's mindsm confusing them and making them see things that were not
really there. What is more interesting is he himself was a criminal of sorts. His real name was Kent
Allard, he made a ton of money by finding a gold city in south america and used that money to return
to the united states and assume the identity of Lamont Cranston, a rich american in his own right. So
he stole Lamont's identity because lamont was always traveling, and when lamont figured it out he
basically blackmailed him into going away and letting Kent allart continue as lamont cranston.

Powers of the Shadow:

Ventriloquist
Can mimic anyone's voice
Master of Disguise
Sleight of Hand
Photographic Memory
Girasol Gem in his ring that allows him to cloud mens minds and hypnotize them
Most importantly

The first costumed superhero would be the phantom:

created in 1936 by Lee Falk who was also responsible for creating Mandrake the Magician earlier a
very similar hypnotist character to the shadow
It was the most widely distributed comic series of its time published in over 500 newspapers in over 40
countries
He started over 400 years ago as a sailor throw upon the coast of bengalla after his ship is attacked and
sunk by pirates.

The natives mistaking him for a sea god, nursed him back to health and told him their legends of the
ghost who walks. After losing everything to the pirates he swore an oath

I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty and injustice! he cried as he formally
took The Oath of the Skull by firelight. And my sons and their sons shall follow me!

He donned the guise of the phantom and began slowly thinning their numbers. Every phantom was the
son of the previous phantom, thus giving rise to the legend that he could never die.

Used guns, swashbuckling and two fisted justice

has a great white horse hero, a faithful wolf named devil and of course his american sweetheart

Superman came on to the scene in 1938 but was not the superman we all know today: at that time he
could only "leap 1/8th of a mile; hurdle a twenty-story building... raise tremendous weights... run faster
than an express train... and that nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin!"
He was frequently seen to be in pain from bullets, regular men could stun him with things like
crowbars and in many panels they would forget his cape!

He did not fly until 1943, in 1946 he was given super speed, which he used to vibrate so fast he was
invisible to the naked eye and to contain bomb blasts but spinning so fast the blast got sucked up and
disappated.

His strength has gotten more over the top over the years starting with lifting a car over his head in
1938, to 1940 where he was swimming against the current of a raging river with one hand while
holding a mansion in his other hand above the water. In 1943 he literally kept a undersea cavern from
collapsing by holding the whole weight of the ocean over his head. By the 1970's superman was strong
enough to move entire planets out of orbit.

With superman came many notable heros, such as the original Captain Marvel, who was an ordinary
boy that when he said the words shazam was transformed into the worlds mightiest mortal. He too had
super strength, could fly, could run fast, was a great thinker, had boundless endurance, and could
summon magical lightning like Zeus. At one point is popularity soared past superman's mainly because
he was a hero kids could identify with, being a kid himself.

World War Two gave rise to many masked avengers, most of them patriotic in nature, Such as Captain
America, The Shield, The Super American and the fighting yank to name a few. Most of these comics
often mirrored events occuring during the war but always having the evil nazi's plots halted by the
efforts of the hero of the comic.

World War Two also created problems for comics as well. As we left the war, paper costs were at all
time high, causing many periodical companies to shut their doors. Many of the superheros we loved
became ignored or forgotten as America tried to move on and forget the War. In 1948 a parent
movement spread like wildfire that suggested that comic books and pulp novels lead to violent urges in
young men, and some of the horrific imagery present in comic companies was deemed inappropriate.
This would lead to two things that forever changed the landscape of comics, coupled with declining
sales. The first was the burning and destruction of many comics as they were pulped for materials.
The second was the creation of the comic codes authority, a group that censored or told comic artists
what they could write or draw. There was only loose criteria given but the ultra conservative group
forbid any mention of magic, demons or devils and the supernatural of any kind.

Many comics such as Batman, Captain America and other's had to introduce child characters or make
their adventures more lighthearted and less serious in order to survive. Other comic companies like
Fawcett, Timely Comics (which would later become Marvel Comics) EC comics and others were
forced to shut their doors between 1946 and 1953.

Thus ended the Golden Age.

Comics persisted until the late 50's early 60's as mostly western comics, military comics etc with only
a few superhero titles. However the revised National Comics (now known as DC comics) began
reintroducing golden age heros in a more updated fashion. Soon we had the new green lantern, a hero
who traveled space and had a science fiction theme as a space cop (the original green lanterns powers
were from a magical lantern and his weakness was wood) We had a new flash, who didnt receive his
powers from hermes, but instead had them created by a freak lab accident of lightning striking
chemical vials in his science lab. Thus ushered in the Silver Age of comics.
The big company to hit the scene in the silver Age was Marvel Comics. While DC comics had survived
for the most part largely untouched due to heros like batman and superman, Marvel Comics had up to
this point cut its teeth on more science fiction/horror titles. With those being frowned upon, they
turned their attention back to superheros under the writing skills of Stan Lee. Soon hero's like the
Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and Daredevil hit the scene.

The biggest difference between golden age heros and silver age heros was the line between good and
evil started getting a little blurrier. Silver age heros, specifically marvel's had relationships, their alter
egos were often front and center in the story, and often times story arcs might spawn more then 1 or 2
issues. Also Super groups formed made of multiple favorite heros, such as the Justice League (the
golden age did have the justice society) The Avengers, Fantastic Four etc. Now kids could see multiple
stories of their favorite heros both solo and in groups. The silver age ushered many of the heros we
love today including the X-Men.

Once we hit the 1970's though comic sales began dropping again. Trying to find a way to keep readers
interested the late 60's and 70's started up getting more poltiical and socially concious. Characters now
confronted street gangs, drug use even drug abuse by heros themselves. Many of the campy story lines
from the 50's and 60's were removed for more serious darker toned stories. Batman became the Dark
Knight under the pencils of Neal Adams, African American heros such as The Falcon, Luke Cage,
Black Panther started appearing in comics. Comics began diversifying and with them so did their
reader base.

Also introduced into the bronze age was something stolen from the pulp era. The gun wielding
unapologetic vigilante. Enter the Punisher, The return of the Shadow and the phantom and many other
heros that had no issue with solving a crime problem permanently. Even characters such as Wolverine
armed with 6 claws of unbreakable admantium showed a darker side rising in comics.

Which brings us to the modern era. Comics are most decidingly no longer aimed at children alone. We
have comic books in every flavor, with content that would have made 1940's comic writers eyebrows
curl. No topic is off limits and many comics today don't have a single super hero gracing their pages.
Comic books such as the Walking Dead have spun off into whole franchises, and the superheros of
today definitely walk in gray areas. Good and evil are no longer black and white. You can still find
light hearted comics but even Archie has spun off into Riverdale which is definitely not for young kids
like the original archie comics were.

We see superhero's in movies and their powers and abilities are brought to life in ways their original
creators could hardly imagine. Even stalwart images like Captain America have taken a darker side as
time has gone on and many comic collectors often struggle to accept the changing of their icons from
youth into their current state today.

(comic collecting notes)

Discuss condition ratings

Discuss ways to collect for reading or value
Discuss Variant covers
Discuss appreciation in value
Discuss storing and handling of comics (bags and boards, comic boxes etc)

Talk about local stores and Free Comic Book Day

 Local Comic book Stores

I Want More Comics

1020 W 104th Ave.
Northglenn, Co 80234
Phone 303-460-7226
Website: https://www.iwantmorecomics.com
Store Hours:
10 AM to 10PM Monday Friday
10 AM to 8 PM Saturday and Sundays

Time Warp Comics

3105 28th St.
Boulder, Colorado 80301
Phone 303-443-4500
Website: www.time-warp.com
Store Hours:
10 AM 6 PM Monday
10 AM 7 PM Tuesday-Friday
10 AM 6 PM Saturday
11 AM 6 PM Sunday

Mile high comics

Website: www.milehighcomics.com
Various locations across colorado

Hero Headquarters
8757 Sheridan Blvd
Westminster, CO 80003
Phone 303-426-0768 (huge action figure selection)