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The overall consensus appeared to be that Americans had “lost faith in their ability to have a positive impact on the government.” Previous years had proven again and again that the Americans appeared to be losing their post WWII sense of invincibility. The Bronze age in comics can be summarized in what author Matthew Pustz describes as a mood of malaise which stemmed from the overall feeling of stagnation and uncertainty that arose in the 1970’s, a ‘crises of confidence’ as termed by President Carter. The realignment of gender and gender roles that America had undergone during the war proved severely unsettling for Americans, allowing for the exploration of the changing roles of men in comics – from classic young strongmen to husbands, womanizers, and berserkers. Fantastic, playboy Tony Stark, and of course, the out of control rage of the Hulk. It was also a period where masculinity was examined much more closely in comic format, featuring paternal figures like Mr. Fantastic, the patriarchal figure from the Fantastic Four who was also a scientist, but was made much more accessible to the American public, possibly in response to the instinctive aversion Americans took against scientists, an attitude that could not be afforded in the nuclear age. From another view, the readers are also presented with Mr. The beast carries further dimensions however, also representing the emergence of the science age in which scientists were powerful and to be feared, and oftentimes beyond simple understanding. The Fantastic Four reflected the American fears about the decline of the nuclear family, while the Hulk became a symbol of the dangerous consequences of scientific developments.The character of the Hulk is highly indicative of Cold War fears, a monstrous unpredictable and unstoppable beast being a fairly unsubtle symbol of nuclear attack. More energy was put into building characterization, often in such a way that they would reflect some facet of Cold War uncertainty. As such, an emphasis was put on creating characters that were not the invincible super people of the Golden age, but ordinary people thrust into an extraordinary situation and writing not only of their exploits, but the way they were able to cope with these newfound abilities. Comic book creators sought to inject characters with the same uncertainties and fears that the Cold War brought to Americans. With suddenly cool relations with former alley Russia and the panicked communist witch hunts, America’s enemies were no longer so clear, so obvious. The post war world brought with it the quiet upheaval of the Cold War which was coupled with the inevitable political and societal shift brought about by the end of the war. The Silver age of comics saw a scrambling to realign American values with American interests, turning from such simple villains as robbers to more intangible enemies. These storylines quickly became outdated, and contrast sharply with current comic storylines in which a great deal more attention is placed on more complex story and characters, a stronger recognition that superheroes are unable to always solve every problem cleanly – and nor would we want them to. Once again a need was met – the feeling of helplessness the American public felt in the face of the war was remedied with superhero stand-ins, fighting and winning the war for them. As America entered a period of war, the enemy remained clear, switching from bank robbers to Nazis, which the superheroes duly fought.
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The villains were bank robbers, corrupt bureaucrats, and others who preyed on the everyman to whom Superman was champion.
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This blueprint soon came to encompass all superheroes who followed – men who were powerful dealers of justice, standing for the American way. With the Depression as a backdrop, the villain was clear, the Superman was champion, and the need for a hero was met. Superman served as a simple solution for a simple fear. This simplistic approach to crime fighting (and indeed, storytelling) is perhaps more indicative of the pre war peace in America, where for the average person, the concept of abstract fear was, while not alien, remote. The threat did not exist, and Superman was solely concerned with capturing bank robbers and saving people from disaster. Superman, the harbinger of the golden age of comics did not fight kryptonite wielding aliens for good reason – there was no need to. Superheroes fluctuated between being a form of wish fulfillment to representations of the confused American psyche, reflecting the ever more confusing post war world. The progression of thought running through the Gold, Silver and Bronze age of comics can be easily traced as American problems shifted from simple to more complex.