superhero history: using comic books to teach u.s. history

Katherine C. Aiken

Superhero History: Using ComicBooks to Teach U.S. History

Captain America recently vis-ited my home state of Idaho.To be more precise, in early

February 2010, readers of issue #602of Captain America learned that thesuperhero's evil double, also call-ing himself Captain America, wasin Boise, plotting with a right-wingmihtia-type organization called theWatchdogs. Meanwhile, the goodCaptain America, joined by AfricanAmerican superhero Falcon, arrivedin town to infiltrate the group and foiltheir plans. Hiding atop a building onthe main street, the good guys saw acrowd of angry protesters, presum-ably Watchdog sympathizers whobore a striking resemblance to theconservative Tea Party activists whoappeared on the scene this past year.In the sea of white faces, one couldspot placards with slogans including"No New Taxes." "Stop the Social-ists." and "Tea Bag the Libs BeforeThey Tea Bag You." Falcon joked thatit would be a challenge to slip unde-tected into the crowd of "angry whitefolks." Conservative activists, howev-er, did not find the joke funny. Soon,Fox News aired the story and MarvelComics apologized, promising to puDthe explicit reference to Tea from sub-sequent reprints {:).

The Captain America Tea Partyflap is a potent reminder that, ashistorian Bradford Wright has writ-ten. "Comic books are history." Asprimary sources of popular culture.they have emerged from a specific context, reflecting the politics,prejudices' and concerns of a particular historical moment. Comicshave also shaped the outlook of America's young people. As Wrightnotes, they "have helped to frame a worldview and define a sense ofself for the generations who have grown up with them" {2). Among

Created by jack Kirby and )oe Simon in 1941, Captain America has diedand come back from the dead at least twice. Most recently, as shownhere. Cap returned in July 2009 to fight a panoply of villains, includingRed Skull and Doctor Doom. Captain America plotlines have evolvedover the past seventy years to reflect changing historical times. (Courtesyof Marvel Entertainment. LLC)

the comic books that have fulfilledthat function, superhero comics haveoccupied a special place ever sinceSuperman first came on the scenein 1938. For teachers seeking to usenew types of approaches to engagestudents, superhero comics offer asuprisingly valuable window intotwentieth century U.S. history. Inaddition, as uniquely American in-ventions' they are particularly appro-priate for American history courses(3). In my classes, I like to focus onthree of the most popular superhe-roes of all time in order to suggestways in which they provide insightsinto shifting historical contexts andongoing themes: Captain America,Wonder Woman, and Spider-Man.Captain America and Wonder Wom-an both first appeared during WorldWar II and have continued to mirrordevelopments in the wider Americansociety. Despite their gender differ-ences, the two represent a similartradition of patriotic crime fighting.Spider-Man's genesis during theCold War and his more conflictedpsyche align him more closely withlie baby boom generation.

Captain AmericaNine months before Japan at-

tacked the U.S. naval Beet at PearlHarbor. Captain America was al-ready at war with the Nazis. Thefirst issue's cover, in March 1941,showed Captain America punching

Adolf Hitler in the face (see illustration on page 42). Not coinciden-tally, co-creators Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzburg) and Joe Simonwere young Jewish Americans, anxious for the U.S. to join the waragainst Hitler. (Jewish artists and writers played a pivotal role in thedevelopment of superhero comics. They included Joe Schuster and

OAH Magazine of History • April 2010 41

AMERICAFACE Ta

FACE WITH

Nine months before Japan attacked the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, Captain America was already at war with the Nazis. Not coinci-dentally, co-creators Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzburg) and Joe Simon were young Jewish Americans, anxious for the U.S. to Join the waragainst Hitler. When this comic appeared in March 1941, many Americans opposed entry into the European war and some sent "threat-ening letters and hate mail" to Captain America's creators, according to )oe Simon, (Courtesy of Marvel Entertainment, LLC)

42 OAH Magazine of History • April 2010

Raised by a band ofAmazon warriors on the all-female Paradise Island, Princess Diana—known as Wonder Woman inthe world of men^dis-plays her superhuman powers in this |anuary 1945 Sensation series published by DC Comics. The children are orphans who secretly stowedon board Wonder Woman's plane when it returned to the island. She safeguards both the children and their animal friends as they preparefor the Nazi invasion. (DC Entertainment, Inc.)


In 1963, Stan Lee and Steve DJtko gave theJr readers an adolescent superhero. Teenager Peter Parker is bitten by a spider on aschool field trip and transformed into the amazing Spider-man. In this issue, published in February 1966, Spider-Man is trappedin the underwater lair of Doctor Octopus (masquerading as the Master Planner), while back home his ailing Aunt May faces cer-tain death unless he can break free, against all odds, and get her the ISO-36 serum she so desperately needs. {Courtesy of MarvelEntertainment, LLC)


Jerry Siegel, the creators of Superman.} Indeed, Captain America'sorigin story has strong and only thinly disguised autobiographicalelements. Steve Rogers grows up in an immigrant family (Irish in-stead of Jewish) on the lower east side of Manhattan. As an aspiringart illustration student, Rogers is caught up in the widespread zeal todefeat the Axis but unable to qualify for the regular military. Instead,he volunteers to participate in a Professor Josef Reinstein-conductedscientific experiment. An injection of Reinstein's super-soldier serumtransforms Rogers from the proverbial ninety-pound weakling to anexemplary specimen of American manhood. The Gestapo murdersProfessor Reinstein before he can create an army of super soldiers, butSteve Rogers refuses to surrender. Armed with a stars and stripes-decorated shield made of vibranium-admantium (ostensibly one ofthehardest known substances) and attired in red, white, and blue. CaptainAmerica embarks on his career defending the United States. He is theultimate patriot. As his co-creator Jack Kirby noted, "We weren't at waryet, but everyone knew it was coming, that's why Captain America wasborn; America needed a superpatriot. He symbolized the AmericanDream" (4).

One strategy I have found useful in incorporating Captain Amer-ica into a wider discussion of World War II is to discuss the comic inconjunction with other efforts to exhort Americans to support the wareffort. These include government propaganda posters, feature films,and news reel footage. 1 have had success comparing Captain Americato contemporary depictions of Japanese and Germans. This providesan opportunity to introduce issues of race and ethnicity, as well as todiscuss the concept ofthe "enemy."

Once victory against Germany and Japan was secured. CaptainAmerica's career continued. In 1946, Captain America was a memberofthe All-Winners Squad that included Human Torch, Sub-Mariner,the Whizzer, and Miss America. Then, during the 1950s, Commu-nists replaced the Nazis as the epitome of evil for many Americans.In keeping with this Cold War mentality, the superhero became Cap-tain America...Commie Smasher! He confronted the villain Elector, anelectricity-charged monster, attired in green with a red hammer andsickle on his chest. In one story line. Captain America foiled Elector'splot to blow up the United Nations. The authors reminded readers that"Americans play not to win, but for the sake of sportsmanship andfair play...which Nazis and Reds know nothing about at all!" It seems,however, that this anti-communist line did not resonate with readerssince it lasted for only three issues (5). Still, Captain America's anti-communism illustrates for students the stridency of Americans' at-titudes toward the Soviet Union and "Reds." I use him in conjunctionwith the film Invasion ofthe Body Snatchers in an attempt to convey theanxiety and fear that Joseph McCarthy and others exploited.

After having been frozen in an Atlantic iceberg for twenty years,or so readers were told. Captain America returned in 1964. Negotiat-ing the 1960s was as problematic for Captain America as it was forthe rest ofthe United States. His African American superhero part-ner, Falcon, helped him work against poverty, racism, pollution, andpolitical corruption. Captain America, however, was uncharacteris-tically silent about the Viet Cong—a reflection, perhaps, of overallAmerican ambivalence regarding the Vietnam War. At the height ofthe Watergate scandal. Captain America shared Americans' disen-chantment and disillusionment—he even stopped calling himselfCaptain America, choosing instead the moniker "Nomad, the manwithout a country" (6).

The divisive nature of American politics, as the so-called red state/blue state delineation symbolizes, made it impossible for CaptainAmerica to meet everyone's definition of patriotism. That may accountfor why Steve Rogers was assassinated in Captain America vol. 5, #25(March 2007). Series writer Ed Brubaker explained, "What I found isthat all the really hard-core left-wing fans want Cap,..giving speecheson the street corner against the George W. Bush administration, andall the really right-wing fans al! want him to be over in the streetsof Baghdad, punching out Saddam Hussein." On the other hand, co-creator Joe Simon opined, "It's a hell of a time for him to go. We reallyneed him now" (7).

During the summer of 2009, the five-part series Captain AmericaReborn appeared. It was not the first time Cap had come back fromthe dead. This time around, it seems that he had been suspended be-tween life and death and lost in time, until he had found his way backto the present. The economic crisis, the worst since the 1930s, made2009 ripe for the patriotic icon's return. Marvel executive editor TomBrevoort explained, "It feels hke there's a desire for hopefulness, a de-sire for heroes and for somebody to show us that we can be our betterselves and to help pull us all up by our bootstraps and get out of thesituations that we find ourselves in" (8). Since Marvel Comics makesit clear that they support classroom use of its comic books, I providedstudents with a copy of Captain America Reborn and asked them tomake a list of ways that the superhero might help Americans copewith the lower expectations that seem to be a product of the currenteconomic crisis. I then asked them to make a similar hst for President

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Obama, and then compare the two. In my discussions with students,I have noticed that just as white students can identify with AfricanAmerican celebrities—including their new president—students ofcolor are able to identify with white superheroes.

Wonder WomanWhether Americans were ready for a female superhero was an-

other matter. The year 1941 gave birth not only to Captain Americabut Wonder Woman as well. Her creator, William Moulton Marston(1893-1947), was a member ofthe Massachusetts bar, held a doctoratein psychology from Harvard, and invented the lie detector. In 1937,he and comic impresario Max Gaines began discussing superherocomics and their impact (or lack thereof) on girls. Despite ridiculefrom much ofthe comic book industry, Marston (writing under thepseudonym Charles Moulton and in association with his wife, Eliza-beth Holloway Marston, and son Peter), debuted Wonder Woman in1941. The Wonder Woman saga is steeped in classical mythology.Princess Diana, a member ofthe Amazon tribe of female warriors,came into being when her mother Hippolyta, following the goddessAphrodite's directions, molded a shape from clay and then breathedlife into it. Princess Diana boasts considerable strength, great speed,and possesses a magic lasso made from Aphrodite's girdle that com-pels people to tell the truth. When American pilot Steve Trevor'splane crashed on Paradise Island, Diana rescued him and nursedhim back to health. Eventually, Diana—disguised as a nurse—accom-panied Trevor back to the United States. Later, as Lt. Diana Prince.she continues to fight injustice in the man's world as Wonder Wom-an. Marston described Wonder Woman as "beautiful as Aphrodite,wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules and swifter than Mercury."

Writing in the Phi Beta Kappa journal. The American Scholar. Mar-ston explained, "It seemed to me. from a psychological angle, thatthe comics' worst offense was their blood-curdling masculinity" (9).While many ridiculed Marston's idea. Wonder Woman received imme-diate acclaim and at her peak sold 2,5 million copies a month. WonderWoman even included a continuing feature. Wonder Women of History.credited to associate editor and tennis champion Alice Marble. Thissegment provided biographical information on famous women includingAnnie Oakley, Florence Nightingale, and Amelia Earhart.

The main premise of Wonder Woman is that girls do not needsuper power, but, with proper training, they can exceed traditionalexpectations. Olive Norton is a great example. Olive wanted to playbaseball with her brothers, and, of course, they responded negatively.Wonder Woman proclaimed. "You can be as strong as any boy ifyou'll work hard and train yourself in athletics, the way boys do."So Olive accompanied Wonder Woman to Paradise Island for someAmazon training. When she returned. Olive jumped off WonderWoman's invisible airplane into the baseball diamond, hit a homerun, rescued her brother from quicksand, and helped Wonder Wom-an capture a spy (10).

Certainly the changing role of women during World War II is afocus of inquiry for historians of women. I give students the singlepanel with the above quotation and ask them to discuss among them-selves its meaning. I also ask students to compare images of WonderWoman to images of Rosie the Riveter. This provides the opportunityto examine traditional families, the impact of World War II on thoserelationships, and ways in which the end ofthe war created tensions aswomen and men sought to return to their previous situations.

Writers were never really comfortable with a woman superhero,and Wonder Woman's career demonstrates that clearly. In the 1950s,the DC Comics in-house editorial policy specifically discouraged in-cluding women in the stories (11). During the high tide ofthe wom-en's movement, when Wonder Woman should have been in the spot-light, she lost her super powers and opened a fashion boutique. Inthe 1970s, however. Wonder Woman experienced a renaissance viatelevision, albeit in a highly sexualized portrayal. Wonder Womanenjoyed a comic book rebirth in 1986, and by 1989 her iconic statuswas reconfirmed—she is certainly the greatest female crime buster incomic book history (12). My experience has been that students alwaysenjoy tracing Wonder Woman's evolution through an analysis of herchanging appearance. This exercise usually results in discussions ofwomen's sexuality, the relationship of gender to power, and changingattitudes toward women in general.

Recurring ThemesWonder Woman and Captain America clearly demonstrate the

emphasis on mascuUnity and femininity that define American com-ics in genera] and superhero comics even more specifically. While thepopular Japanese Anime features gender ambivalence as many char-acters have both male and female personas, American comics tendto reinforce stereotypical gender archetypes. Captain America was aman who could not meet the standards for military service: indeed hewas only a skinny eighteen-year-old from New York City. The secretserum, however, transformed him into the epitome of 1940s mascu-Unity. He was brave, honorable, and muscle-bound—"always first intobattle, always leading the way, always the victor." Comparing Won-der Woman and Captain America to the androgynous Ranma I/2 (apopular Anime character) is an easy way to initiate this conversation.Images ofthe characters (with Ranma I/2 in both the male and femalepersona) illustrate this point.

An overarching motif in Wonder Woman comics is her attempt tounderstand the masculine perspective, since only women inhabitedParadise Island. In Wonder Woman comics, the strongest characters.even the villains, are women. She values women for their essential fe-maleness and has to learn to appreciate men's parallel qualities. At thesame time. Wonder Woman illustrates the notion that women neverreally received the attention they deserve in comic books, and WonderWoman herself has been subjected to intense criticism and scrutinythat her male counterparts have avoided.

American exceptionalism and ideas of patriotism are recurringthemes in United States history, and Captain America and WonderWoman serve to illustrate both. Captain America's premiere as a re-sponse to United States enemies during World War II. It coincidedwith the efforts of American citizens to confront a tremendous chal-lenge and counteract what was (in the view of many United States citi-zens) propaganda from the Axis Powers—"the ruthless war-mongersof Europe" as opposed to "peace-loving America," As the "ultimatepatriot," Captain America proclaimed that "today I take my place as1 always have: a soldier among his comrades, each dedicated to theeternal battle for freedom, justice and honor" (13}.

Once Princess Diana/Wonder Woman comes to the United Statesin the guise of her alter ego, U.S. Army nurse Diana Prince, she isin position to combat Nazis, particularly her greatest nemesis, NaziAgent Baroness Paula Von Günther. Wonder Woman foils each of VonGunther's nefarious plots, including one to monopolize America's


milk supply, Surely no beverage is as closely identified with Americanwholesomeness as milk. Even their attire aligns Wonder Woman andCaptain America with the United States. Wonder Woman wears redboot.s, blue star-studded shorts, and a red corset with a golden eagie onthe front. Captain America's blue uniform with red and white stripesat mid-body, a huge white star on his chest and a red, white, and blueshield, also with a white star, is American flag-inspired as well. Suchblatant reminders of the characters' patriotism are ubiquitous in bothsets of comics. For my students, the physical representations of villainsin both of these comics are useful illustrations for this conversation. Thistopic is, of course, particularly relevant today as students grapple withvarious popular culture responses to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Spider-ManFor young people today, however, neither Captain America nor

Wonder Woman is likely to be as familiar a face as Spider-Man. Hefirst appeared in March 1963. when Marvel Comics published TheAmazing Spider-Man #j . The superhero's creators were Stan Lee (bornStanley Lieber to Jewish immigrant parents in New York) and SteveDitko, the son ofa Czech-born Johnstown, Pennsylvania steelworker.unlike Captain America and Wonder Woman. Spider-Man was a prod-uct of the Cold War and emphasized greater attention to adolescentsand their place in American society. Like Steve Rogers, Peter Parkerwas nerdish but brilliant—this time a high school science student liv-ing with his Aunt Mary and Uncle Ben. On a school field trip, Petersuffered a bite from a radioactive spider. The atomic power resultingfrom the bite gave Parker a series of super powers: spider strength, spi-der speed, spider agility, spider grip, and of course, his "spider sense."Peter Parker's transformation demonstrated the American love/haterelationship with atomic science as Spider-Man frequently expressedambivalence regarding his new situation.

A defining moment for Spider-Man followed shortly after his ac-quisition of his powers. Peter Parker made the Spider-Man costumein an attempt to use his powers to launch a show business career.On the way to an appearance, he encountered a crook hut chose notto confront him in order to avoid missing his show. That same crookkilled Peter Parker's Uncle Ben and a devastated Parker learned that"with great power comes great responsibility." This theme of powerand its burdens reflected the situation in the Cold War United States.

Spider-Man gave teenagers a hero they could identify with as theteenaged Peter Parker is not a sidekick (as Robin is to Batman or Su-perboy to Superman) but rather the main character. Peter Parker suf-fered the teenage angst that is a hallmark of the 1960s, and in manyrespects. Spider-Man's life was not that different from the lives of hisreaders—he sometimes had difficulty holding a job, his love life wasoften problematic, and self-doubt plagued him. By 1965. however. Es-quire Magasine readers ranked Spider-Man, along with Bob Dylan andChe Guevara, as a revolutionary icon (14). Despite the changing na-ture of American youth culture, Spider-Man continues to be one of themost popular superheroes, perhaps in part due to the fact that he oftenmakes mistakes. Spider-Man/Peter Parker learns from those mistakesand goes forward. The 2002 Spider-Man film is one of the highestgrossing films ever, and the two sequels demonstrate that Spider-Mancontinues to make connections with filmgoers. Peter Parker's foiblesmake him very accessible for students.

ConclusionCarrying comic books into the classroom might seem an inadvis-

able move for a history instructor today. After all, the profusion ofgames, music, and movies on laptop computers, iPods, and cellphonesin classrooms can be a serious distraction from the learning process.At the same time, however, establishing common ground with stu-dents is often the first step to effective teaching. You should know thatthe first Saturday in May is National Comic Book Day. Contact a localcomic book store to obtain free comics for classroom use. Using su-perhero comics that emerged from the genre's "golden age" can be aneffective way to explore U.S. history. For many reasons, superheroesresonate with students. A closer look at Captain America, WonderWoman, and Spider-Man can enable teachers and students to examineconcepts of gender, race, patriotism, and historical change through afresh new lens. 3

Endnotes1. "Tea Party Jab to Be Zapped From Captain America Comic, Writer Says."

<http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2oro/o2/o9/tea-party-reference-capta!n-america-removed/> (accessed February 11, 2010).

2. Bradford W. Wright, Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culturein America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins university Press, 2001). xiii.

3. See William W. Savage Jr., Comic Books and America, i945-:ig54 fNorman.Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press. 1990}.

4. Ron Goulart, Great American Comic Books (Lincolnwood, III.: PublicationsInternational, Ltd.. 2001), ¡17. On the Jewish origins of superhero comics.see Arie Kaplan, From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books(Philadelphia: The ¡ewish Publication Society. 2008). For a brilliantfictional version of the story, see Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winningnovel. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (New York; RandomHouse, 2000).

5. Ron Goulart. Comic Book Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to Characters,Graphic Novels, Writers, and Artists in the Comic Book Universe (New York:Harper Entertainment, 2004). 72.

6. Wright, Comic Book Nation. 245.7. Ethan Sacks, "Captain America Killed," New York Daily News, March 7,

2007.8. Erin Carison, "Captain America Emerges from Death: Comic Superhero

Reborn for Special Five-Part Series," Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA),June 25, 2009.

9. William Moulton Marston, "Why 100,000,000 Americans Read Comics,"American Scholar i} (Winter 1943-44): 35-44.

10. Trina Robbins, The Great Women Super Heroes (Northampton, Mass.:Kitchen Sink Press. 1966), 10-11.

11. Bob Kane and Michael Uslain, Batman in the Fifties (New York: DC Comics.2002), 5.

12. Elana Levine, Wallowing in Sex: The New Sexual Culture ofigyos AmericanTelevision fDiirham: Duke University Press. 2007), 135.

13. Alex Ross and Paul Dini, Marvel Comics. Captain America #600 2002;Goulart. Great America« Comic Boofcs, 116,

14. Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg, The Science of Superheroes f Hoboken.New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2002).

Katherine G. Aiken is professor of history and Dean of the College of Let-ters, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Idaho. She has servedas a scholar for Teaching American History projects in Washington andIdaho. She is the fluihoro/Harnessing the Power of Motherhood: TheNational Florence Crittenton Mission. 1883-1925 (1998J and Idaho'sBunker Hill: The Rise and Fall ofa Great Mining Company, 1885-1991 (2005).


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