Action and adventure
Action and adventure |
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Page 35 of 42  Cover, Our Army at War (BC Comics, 1962), featuring Sgt Rock. Art: Joe Kubert. The success of Marvel had the effect of kick-starting the entire industry back into life. DC Comics competed by reviving their two biggest characters, Superman and Batman. Superman had extra elements added to his mythology (such as different types of kryptonite, the concept of a 'phantom zone' and new sidekicks, including Krypto, the super dog), and benefited from some imaginative artwork by Curt Swan. Batman, by contrast, was given a lift by the ratings-busting TV show, with Adam West in the lead role, which debuted in 1966. The new Batman comics featured elements like the Batmobile and Batcave, and in general followed the campy, tongue-in-cheek style of the show, and so picked up a new generation of readers. Superheroes continued to be successful until the end of the 1960s, and for a time even became 'hip'. This was partly the influence of Pop Art, which frequently referenced and quoted from comics, and partly because the new generation of hippie college students declared themselves fans. As ever, it was Marvel and Stan Lee who made the most of this: Marvel comics ran with the label 'A Pop Art Production!', while Lee went on college tours and proudly reproduced missives from students and college professors in the letters pages. It should be noted that this kind of cooption of comics by adults could only have occurred as a result of the more cosmopolitan sensibility of the American titles: it was unthinkable that the same could happen with their British counterparts.  Pages from Tower of Shadows (Marvel Comics, 1969): double-page spread (left) scripted by Stan Lee, art by John Buscema; |