Week 4 - Jack Kirby (3 points)

 

    I chose to read some of New Gods, the Fantastic Four Animation Storyboards, and Challengers of the unknown.  I imagine the audience for these works are young white men, possible around the ages of 10-15. The plots are very simple, devoid of deep emotions and always feature the same buff white man beating up a bad guy. Perhaps that is not fair as sometimes the hero uses his brain to vaporize evil, like Prof in Challengers, but for the most part every challenge in the comics is a test of strength. The protagonist always overcomes evil with a weapon or his physical will. I imagine this would appeal to many young men who are eager to grow up and prove their own strength or “manhood” while women or older men would find these plots unrelatable or silly.

    It surprises me that there were no young protagonists in these stories. It seems based off this selection of comics that they focus solely on grown male characters of a certain age, perhaps between 25-35. Maybe it was thought at the time that children could not face such evil before they were grown. Many of these comics focus on a fantastical ideal of being a buff, handsome man in tights who always saves the girl. Perhaps for the adult writers, being a kid superhero wasn’t exactly ideal. I can also imagine that the Comics Code Authority may not have approved of young men getting in to trouble in comics, as it might have had young imitators in real life.