remember when comic books were for nerds
yeah seems like a long time ago now
but for decades this was how people saw
comic book fans
someone has mixed an amazing spider-man
in with the peter parker the spectacular
spider-man series
which will not stand we've come a long
way avengers
assemble welcome to watch mojo's series
how geek culture became pop culture
once niche and ridiculed geek culture
has exploded into the mainstream
how did so much change
[Applause]
[Music]
join us as we look at how pulp fiction
comics
video games anime and nerd heroes became
pop culture staples
[Music]
for dc versus marvel part one we'll be
covering the origin story of comics
from the 1930s right through to the 90s
in a chamber hewn from the living rock
of the mountain
is a strange dimly lighted mysteriously
secret
that's cave for the longest time comics
were perceived as a lower form of media
reserved for kids and adults who never
grew up today
comics have not only inspired multiple
billion dollar franchises
but also superhero mythologies have
taken over pop culture
how did we get from panel a to panel z
you could
argue that comics are as old as egyptian
hieroglyphs and other ancient texts
the art form wouldn't truly start to
materialize though until printed media
entered the equation
you read these in your spare time while
comics have been printed in magazines
and newspapers since the 19th century
the first true modern comic book wasn't
published until 1934.
famous funnies provided a stepping stone
between the original newspaper funnies
and comic books
that same year two highly influential
names emerged
pulp magazine writer malcolm wheeler
nicholson founded national allied
publications
which would eventually evolve into dc
comics
meanwhile king feature syndicate
introduced readers to a space hero named
flash gordon
who was created to compete with the buck
roger stripe
broker disown them flash gordon is often
credited for influencing
some space movie we think it was called
adventures of luke starkiller
anyway gordon also inspired several
game-changing comic creators
including two kids from ohio named jerry
siegel and joe shuster
in 1938 dc comics wrote siegel and
shuster a 130 dollar check
that's 65 each for the exclusive rights
to a character they created
named superman on my world it means hope
well here it's an s making his debut in
action comics number one
superman wasn't the first superhero per
se
in addition to flash gordon the
character shared similar traits to robin
hood
zorro and the phantom who had made his
debut two years earlier
chiefs leaders men of wisdom and
knowledge
i have called you together because i
fear there are forces that will manage
your peace and happiness
yet superman perfected the superhero
archetype with his design
powers and backstory the success of
superman motivated dc to publish more
superhero stories
in 1939 bob kane came up with the idea
for a new hero named the batman
bob kane is the original cartoonist of
batman
and the man who has been credited on
batman for most of batman's history it
was writer bill finger however who gave
batman his cape
cowell and other defining features bill
reconstructed batman into the batman
that we all know today
since kane negotiated the contract with
dc only he received an acknowledgement
bill has been an anonymous collaborator
with artists for many many years
a true unsung hero finger tragically
wouldn't be credited as batman's
co-creator until
2015 41 years after his death
few could have fathomed how iconic
batman would become after making his
first
appearance in detective comics number 27
the series whose initials give dc
its name perhaps even more popular than
batman himself was his rogues gallery
showing that a hero is only as great as
his nemeses
with the rise of other dc heroes like
wonder woman green lantern and the flash
it was truly a golden age for comic
books dc expanded their audience through
animated shorts and film
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physical serials superman fights a
never-ending battle for truth and
justice
the fleischer superman cartoons reflect
the hero's role as a symbol of american
patriotism during world war ii
one even had hitler making an appearance
affording the troop ships a safe
crossing other dc series also invoked
the war
in the 1943 batman serial the antagonist
wasn't the joker or two-face
but a japanese agent named dr dhaka i am
dr dhaka
humble servant of his majesty hirohito
heavenly ruler and prince of the rising
sun
definitely a product of its time after
the war
superheroes saw a decline in popularity
with comics shifting focus to sci-fi
horror and other genres that's not to
say superheroes didn't still have a fan
base
1951 saw the release of superman and the
mole men
the first theatrical feature based on a
dc property put the gun down benson
being independently financed though
superheroes clearly were not seen as big
business
what was that shiny thing they pointed
at you a weapon of some kind probably a
very dangerous one
comics even suffered a backlash in 1954
with the best-selling book
seduction of the innocent which
associated the medium with juvenile
delinquency
right and video games are corrupting our
youth we get it despite criticism
the comics code authority was introduced
to provide censorship
although publications were not required
to abide by it
are you bleeping yourself you bet your
voice a little
i am 1956 marked the beginning of the
silver age of comic books
dc revived many of its superheroes even
forming the justice league of america in
1960
while dc was by far the biggest name in
comics
their most formidable rival was taking
flight in 1939
martin goodman founded timely comics
renamed atlas comics in 1951
by 1961 the brand evolved into marvel
comics
which gave dc a run for its money with a
superhero team known as the fantastic
four
these were the first superheroes that
writer stan lee
created with artist jack kirby the two
went on to create other marvel heroes
such as the incredible hulk iron man and
the x-men
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lee also collaborated with steve ditko
on characters like doctor strange
and spider-man i'm peter by the way
doctor strange oh you're using their
made-up names um
i'm spider-man then in 1963 marvel
brought together earth's mightiest
heroes in the avengers number one
proving that dc wasn't the only
publisher with a sizeable hero roster
anymore
just as the avengers were assembling a
couple of comic book enthusiasts
named bernie bubnis and ron fradken
decided to bring their fellow fans
together in 1964.
up until now fans had connected through
fanzines
starting with sci-fi fanzines in the 30s
and soon expanding to cover comics
are you going to buy that no sci-fi was
also responsible for the first fan
conventions
by the 60s a comic book convention was
long overdue
seems like a publicity stunt fortunately
bubnus and fratkin were on the case
taking place over a single day new york
comic-con was the first official comic
book convention
and it would not be the last conventions
had grown exponentially by 1970
when golden state comic-con was launched
later renamed
san diego comic-con this convention
attracted 300 guests
it was a significant number for the time
but miniscule compared to the crowd's
comic-con attracts today
the fan base for comics remained
relatively small compared to the
audiences for film or television
a true fan could tell you the difference
between a comic book and a graphic novel
a term coined by richard kyle in 1964
meanwhile mainstream audiences mainly
associated superheroes with the adam
west batman tv series
while modern opinions of this show vary
its campy comical tone pretty much
summed up how the public saw costumed
heroes
we hate to sound a sour note joker but
it's time for us to make our own
collection
regardless the industry continued to
evolve their craft in the bronze age of
comic books
during this era comics began tackling
more social issues
with the x-men touching on
discrimination they also explore
darker storylines such as the death of
gwen stacy
stay with me stay with me stay with me
stay with me comic book stores began
sprouting up
while underground comics drew in the
geek hipster crowd
by the 70s dc had had some success on
both the small
and silver screens however it was 1978
that
really changed everything
this was the year that saw the release
of the first ever big
budget superhero movie richard donner's
superman
i'm here to fight for truth and justice
in the american way while still
light-hearted
the film had a sense of gravitas and
importance that hadn't been present in
previous adaptations
this was reflected through the talent
involved which included
oscar-winning actors like marlon brando
and gene hackman
oscar-winning writers like mario puzo
and oscar-winning composers like john
williams
with a price tag of 55 million dollars
superman was the most expensive movie
ever produced at the time
the investment paid off with a total
gross of 300.5 million dollars
setting the standard for every superhero
film that followed
as superman sword on the big screen
superheroes entered the modern age of
comic books
with reboots redesigns and a
reevaluation of the comics code
this paved the way for grittier imagery
as well as the rise of anti-heroes in
titles like watchmen
batman in particular was taken to bold
new territory
in titles like the dark knight returns
and the killing joke
both of which influenced director tim
burton when he brought the caped
crusader to the silver screen
where are you i'm batman
revisiting batman's darker roots burton
proved that a more adult tone would not
alienate a mass audience
the summer of 1989 would go down as the
summer of batman
amounting to 411.6 million dollars
box office revenue aside you couldn't go
anywhere without seeing the batman logo
suggesting that superheroes and comics
had finally hit the mainstream
who's afraid of the big black pack
whereas batman inspired a four film
franchise
marvel was struggling to find its groove
on the screen
while the incredible hulk tv series had
a respectable following
howard the duck bombed captain america
was sent straight to video
and roger corman's fantastic four movie
wasn't even released
oh and did we mention the live-action
spider-man show the doctor strange tv
movie
or the unproduced thor tv series oh what
if superman and batman proved anything
it was that in terms of popularity
feature films could take superheroes to
unprecedented heights that comics
couldn't
on that level dc had emerged the clear
winner
beating out their rival marvel at least
for the time being
mr stark you become part of a bigger
universe make sure to check out our next
episode
where we'll be looking at dc and marvel
from the 90s to today
you