DC Comics and the Rise of the Superhero

The DC Vault

Running Press 2008

Bookwise Australia

In 1935, popular culture was forever changed when DC Comics published the first book of “all new, all original” comic material. To the delight of millions of readers everywhere, the modern comic book was born, and from its pages came leaping a bewildering array of characters. The Superhero was born from the crucible of the World War and from that time has continued to tap into our deepest dreams and desires to become a major motif with literature and cinema. World War II cemented the significance of the Superhero as the collective reservoir of courage against all odds, however during the post war Hero the motif hit hard time, leading to the evolution of more genre based comics focused on crime and horror.

At the same time the onset of extreme censorship and moral crusades against comic book violence in the Forties and Fifties (sadly far longer in Australia), reduced many of the Superhero tales to no more than trivialities and many consider that the Golden Era of comic existed prior to this period. In the 1950s Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman made a surprise comeback but in a form which somewhat lack flair due to the effect of the censorship of the period.

The Superhero, however, is not just a product of the experience of War. It could be equally said that the earliest religious document, The Epic of Gilgamesh is focused on a Superhero and indeed his description as someone who is outside cultural forms and has superhuman strength has many comic book resonances. Of course Robin Hood and the Scarlet Pimpernel in Victorian literature also could fall into this category, as does Zorro etc, all were “Masked Heroes”. It was also during this period that many classic texts were written on the “Hero ethic” as a development from the early Chivalric codes and hence the Hero became the embodiment of what a young man should aspire to. During this period there was, however, a dearth of female Superheroes since the goal of womanhood in the Victorian period was defined by the prevailing male Heroic model and hence seen as housewife and child bearer.

In the early 20^th century as pulp fiction developed as well as comic book art, the Superhero united the Heroic vision of early literature with strange superman powers which could be seen as have a vaguely religious flair. In many ways they are like the ancient Greek gods in masked form.

There has been much debate about the psychology of the Superhero with criticism levelled against it for sexism, classism and the glorification of violence. It is interesting to note that another less documented debate has been about the religious motifs within the Superhero model. One of the artists involved in the development of Spiderman Steve Ditko was an avowed atheist and believed that the continued use of too many supernatural elements in the comic was destroying its integrity. This sadly led to a major split with Stan Lee and Ditko continues to continue to work but only with the domain of his own independent work.

The debates about the Superhero become especially heated during the Nineties with the development of the Anti-hero and the rise of extreme and graphically violent comic book content. Coming into the 21st first many of these criticisms are largely considered mute since diversity is slowing moving into the Superhero genre and there is more than enough room for many differing interpretations and adaptations.

Each decade adapted and tailored the Superhero legend, his or her form changed according to current events and was expressed in a different form. This also saw the rise of the female Superhero, first as a partner to the male Superhero (but at times still very ambiguous such in the case of Catwoman) and later as an independent Superhero (Wonder Woman). In recent time we have even seen the development of Gay Superheros, admittedly these are still primarily in non mainstream publications, but the comic book hero Rage made an appearance in the very popular “Queer as Folk” and a sub theme throughout the series was the comic book store of Ben and his partner was a lecturer on the cultural motifs in comic book art.

As times have changed, so has the medium, and the Superhero ideal has been expressed in comics, books, graphic novels, collectables, serials, movies, TV series and then, of course, after the Superhero Blockbusters of the Superman, Spiderman and Batman Franchises, there has been a revival of interest. With the recent record breaking success of the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight", starring Heath Ledger and Christian Bale the Superhero is now going from strength to strength, if not in a rather darker form.

With this revival comes a great interest in the heyday of Superhero comics and while this is a welcome return to style, it means getting hold of such publications is difficult and costly. The market of second hand comics is having great success with many earlier publications achieving frighteningly high prices. While this can be seen as a reward for artists and companies who have worked for many years to achieve this level of success, it makes it very difficult for the collector.

Some time ago a unique product was developed to resolve this quandary. "The Marvel Vault" (also distributed in Australia by Bookwise), offered a full colour history of the company and its comics and heroes with reproductions of rare art, drawings and even included removable reproductions in plastic sleeves.

This has been followed with "The DC Vault" , this time focused on DC Comics and since it was the home to such amazing Superheros as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Sandman, it is a truly attention grabbing product.

From its superb presentation in a full colour oversized hardback folder to its history of DC Comics illustrated with rare photos, drawings, doodles and images this is a unique publication. It includes literally hundreds of rarely seen images and allows the reader to actually see the evolution of some of the most significant Superhero characters of all time. In addition, and this is what really stands out, is an interactive scrapbook which includes removable reproductions of rare comics, memorabilia and significant items which are all stored in plastic sleeves. These have been painstaking reproduced to archival quality and get you the closest you are likely to get to the real thing. Many of these items have never been seen outside the archives of DC Comics or the libraries of collectors. Just some examples include a working reproduction of a 1942 Junior Justice Society of America decoder and a series of Public Service Announcements starring Superman and Batman.

This is a superior quality publication and offers something which really is both book and collectable. It is beautifully made with an eye for detail. It is clear that the designers of the package spent a lot of time in research, since it includes everything a DC Comics fanatic would want, both in terms of content and reproductions. It is a one off item and really quite something !