The Bronze Age and the Rise of Diversity in the American Comic Book

[bronze johnny]

Hello Fellow Bronze Age Forumites! (Sounds like something Stan Lee would say...Did he say it?)

 

As a Bronze Age collector I could not help notice the lack of discussion concerning what I believe to be one of the most important historical developments to ever occur during the Bronze Age. This development is one of the great trends to ever flow through the history of the American Comic Book. It is the introduction and rise of comic book characters who are of a different racial and/or ethnic background.. America had become a more diverse society during the 1970's. And so did that great American art form, the comic book.

 

While the Siver Age re-introduced the superhero as a comic book genre, it was the Bronze Age that diversified her/him.

 

But the Silver Age deserves credit for introducing the Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52 (1967) T'Challa is the first Black Superhero (I do recognize that T'Challa was initially a nemisis for the Fantastic Four). It is also noteworthy that the Falcon, Marvel's second Black Superhero, later appears with one of the great symbols of our nation, in Captain America 117 in 1969, and later teams up with Cap during the early years of the Bronze Age.

 

DC joins the trend in 1971 by introducing the comic book company's first Black Superhero, John Stewart, in Green Lantern #87.

 

It is not until 1972 that the diversity trend really starts to take shape when Marvel introduces Luke Cage, the first Black Superhero to star in his own comic book in 1972. Red Wolf, the first Native American comic book character, is given his own book by Marvel, albeit for a short run. The trend continues when the Black Panther stars in Jungle Action #5. And we must not forget Shang Chi, the Master of Kung Fu, who begins a long run after first appearing in Marvel's Special Marvel Edition #15. The mid-seventies sees the introduction of a number of other diverse characters that include Black Goliath and Omega the Unknown. And in 1977, Black Lightning, DC's first Black superhero, is given his own book.

 

In order to see the significance of the Bronze Age Trend of Diversity and what it has meant to the American comic book, it is enough to just look around today and see the diversity trend continuing. The same above mentioned characters that first appeared during the Bronze Age may not still be around all the time and are not considered major characters by most comic book collecters. Nevertheless, the diversity trend that began during the Bronze Age still shines through the many diverse characters that continue to appear and re-appear throughout the "American Comic Book Universe" today. And no time prior to the Bronze Age did this trend exist. As previously mentioned, America was becoming a much more diversified nation during the 1970's and the Bronze Age of Comics became the first era in "comicbookdom" to reflect this trend.

 

(Kudos to the Bronze Age!)

 

Thanks.

[deathlok]

[Sal]

hell, the LOSH tried to incorporate just about every possible race in the mid 70s. of course they completely dropped poor Tyroc right off the map there. hell, even Dawnstar - hey she was quite the looker, wings notwithstanding - got more time on the page than him, and all she could do is follow somebody through space!

 

 

wait a minute...Omega the Unknown? wasn't he some sort of plastic thingy?

[PovertyRow]

Well BronzeJ,

 

This is a pretty interesting post. My own take on the BA was Conan 1 and such characters as Ghost Rider and Werewolf By Night.

 

Conan and Ghost Rider and Werewolf By Night et al basically broke the "good guy" ideal of a super-hero. And, in doing so such anti-heroes did "break the mold" of what comic book reders expected from their "heroes". Yes, these very early new ones were Caucasian. But their main - how to put it - backbeat? Well, it was NOT all peaches and cream. Such opened the door for characters that differentiaded themselves from the norm.

 

The door thus opened (yah yah) had no servant-class (so to speak) non-white characters or just non-white supporting characters but full blown superheroes.

 

It took the anti-hero (at least in the Marvel world) to shake up conventions. The pre-'72 white guys did their job - they basically helped re-define how we look at a comic book hero. Such being done, it was much easier to follow the trends of "the day" and start to re-define the ethnicity of the comic book hero.

 

Dang you have hit on an interesting observation.

[Zonker]

Well, I think it's a combination of good intentions by the bronze age creators, plus a whole lot of bandwagon-jumping-on. Remember at the time you had the movies and to a lesser extent TV also attempting to cash in on the counter-culture trends.

 

The sign-post for this is GL/GA #76, April 1970. What's been described as the most reprinted comics panels since Action #1 have GL accused of spending all his time helping the 'orange skins', the 'purple skins' but challenged to name anything he ever did for...

 

[Zonker]

Here's another example, Teen Titans 26 Mar/Apr 1970 the intro of "Mal." Not since Star Trek had Kirk "forced" to kiss Lt. Uhuru was there so awkward an inter-racial embrace.

 

I wonder if they intentionally colored this page in silhouette to de-emphasize the contrast between African American Mal and red-haired Caucasian Lilith to make it less shocking?

 

 

 

Nice art by Nick Cardy though... TT 25-29 have some of his very best work.

[ComicBookGuy]

Very cool post and welcome to the boards!

I think we can look to Sgt Fury's Howling Commandos for an even earlier black hero in the Marvel Universe.

But you are right: It is the Bronze Age where we saw non-white heroes appear on a regular basis: Luke Cage, Falcon, Black Goliath, Black Lightning, Black Panther, Red Wolf, Thunderbird, etc.

Joe

[ComicBookGuy]

One further point I'd like to add to this excellent thread is the amazing story in Silver Surfer #5. The black man SS befriends and who ultimately saves the entire planet is one of the most memorable characters in one of the most memorable comic stories I have ever read. I read in an old Marvel Bullpen Bulletin years ago that it had won best story of the year in Comicdom's very own "academy awards." To this day I think it is the best of the SS issues, although you still can't beat that great cover on #4!

Joe

[bronze johnny]

Hello and thanks for adding your excellent insight. I think your contributions to this thread are extremely significant. I wholeheartedly agree with you that Conan, Ghost Rider, and Werewolf By Night bring that "anti-hero" quality to the Comic Book World. Definitely another tremendous contribution brought to us by the Bronze Age. The underlying forces (the introduction of the Anti-Hero that you correctly bring to this thread's attention is a clear definition of one of these forces coming into "ComicBookDom" ) contributing to the evolutionary development of the American Comic Book during the Bronze Age is what I believe to be one of the high points in the history of our medium and is one of the many reasons why the age we continue to study and learn about can hold its own with the other two great ages.

 

Thanks again,

 

BronzeJohnny (what I go by on Ebay)

[ComicBookGuy]

Hello Fellow Bronze Age Forumites! (Sounds like something Stan Lee would say...Did he say it?)

 

As a Bronze Age collector I could not help notice the lack of discussion concerning what I believe to be one of the most important historical developments to ever occur during the Bronze Age.

But the Silver Age deserves credit for introducing the Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52 (1967) T'Challa is the first Black Superhero (I do recognize that T'Challa was initially a nemisis for the Fantastic Four). It is also noteworthy that the Falcon, Marvel's second Black Superhero, later appears with one of the great symbols of our nation, in Captain America 117 in 1969, and later teams up with Cap during the early years of the Bronze Age.

 

DC joins the trend in 1971 by introducing the comic book company's first Black Superhero, John Stewart, in Green Lantern #87.

 

It is not until 1972 that the diversity trend really starts to take shape when Marvel introduces Luke Cage, the first Black Superhero to star in his own comic book in 1972.

 

Bronze Johnny, you have started several interesting threads here, but they fade out quickly, which is a shame. I put forth the question that we actually saw the first Marvel black heroes in the pages of Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandoes. Yes, this wasn't superhero stuff, but we do have here the first continuous African-American in the Marvel Universe, I believe, and for the life of me I can't remember his name. Anybody remember, cause I don't collect this title? Also, what do others think: Was he the first, or doesn't he count since he isn't a "super" hero???

Joe

[bronze johnny]

Hello, I am sorry my threads don't generate the level of interest you think they should. Seems like many comic book lovers seem to be more interested in grading.

 

-I don't know the name of that character.

 

I like your observation about the first black continuous character. I was thinking only in terms of the first black superhero, the Black Panther. But you are onto something.

and I hope this generates more interest in this thread. I am sure that there are many collectors out there who can contribute something positive here and further enlighten us.

 

I agree with you that the black character in Sgt. Fury is probably the first continuous Black hero in the Marvel Universe.

 

I find it interesting that the Silver Age was the first era where a Black character was finally given hero status by a major comic book company. Why do you think it took so long?

 

Thanks,

BronzeJohnny

[shadroch]

The Howling Commando's name was Gabe Jones.

While he certainly was a recurring(though minor) character,there is no way I'd call him a super-hero. One who would come closer to super-hero status would be The Ancient One,an obvious Asian who appeared in many,many Doc Strange adventures,long before Shang-Chi.

FBI Agent Jimmy Woo is the hero of The Yellow Claw series from the early 50s.So I'd guess he was the first asian hero in the Marvel Universe.

Although I've never read them,wasn't there a negro(term they used at the time) member of Simon and Kirbys Newsboy Legion?

[Zonker]

No, not originally. In keeping with the Bronze Age = racial diversity theme of the thread, when Kirby reintroduced the Newsboy Legion in Jimmy Olsen, he added the black character Flip (or the more embarrassing version of his name "Flippa Dippa") to the all-Anglo cast of Tommy, Scrapper, Gabby, Big Words. And Jimmy joined too.

[bronze johnny]

The rise of the first racially integrated teams in Comic Book History? As you point out here with the reintroduction of the Newsboy Legion in Supermans' Pal Jimmy Olsen #133. Here are some morethat come out of the Bronze Age: Captain America and the Falcon; Power Man & Iron Fist; and of course, the X-men (Storm). Also, the Avengers (Avengers Annual #16- Captain Marvel.

 

The Bronze Age Diversity Trend continues!

[Zonker]

Don't forget "Mal" from the Teen Titans, for example in the scanned page I posted near the top of this thread. Odd that he was non-powered and non-costumed, though. Granted he joined the team during the period when they were all out of costume.

 

There was quite the write-up in an early Comic Book Artist about the rejected story by Wein & Wolfman for Teen Titans 20, which would have been published in 1969 and featured a black super-hero name Joshua. I do not remember the details- anyone want to post them? (If not, I'll dig out my issue and post a summary).

 

Edit: Here is a brief on-line reference to the CBA article I just found through Google

[Zonker]

A little further down in the Google search is the complete article on line

 

An excerpt:

Marv Wolfman and Len Wein were looking to do stories with impact that went beyond "funny books" and they decided to deal with a perennial American crisis-the shame of bigotry and racism-in the pages of Teen Titans. "Len and I, being young liberals," Wolfman explained, "didn't understand why there were no Black super-heroes-though neither of us were Black-but we lived in the real world and there were certainly Blacks all around New York. So we proposed a story featuring a Black super-hero. Giordano, the editor, loved it. At that time, the company was still being run by the original owners and gave this story to Irwin Donenfeld, Vice President of the company, who also loved it."

 

 

Donenfeld has no recollection of the incident and Giordano recalls little about the pitch, though he did give the go-ahead on the -script. Wolfman and Wein delivered a story that Giordano remembers "was a little preachy, if memory serves." Wolfman described the tale: "The story was about the Mob taking advantage of Black anger by using and manipulating a teen gang. Somebody goes against the gang and tries to stop them. He preaches the Martin Luther King line that people can't resort to guns and violence. At the end it turned out the masked super-hero is the brother of one of the gang kids."

 

 

Neal Adams remembers the story had a heavy-handed agenda. "It was full of racist remarks, reverse racism, with a tremendous amount of lashing out by young, White liberals- 'I'll fix those three hundred years of racism, you White honkies!' type stuff. It was simply too much!" Wolfman sees the tale differently. "At the time it was a very controversial story, though when I read it now I can only think, 'Gee, our writing wasn't very good."'

 

 

But, according to Wolfman, Donenfeld saw potential and said, "'Make this a two-parter and make it even more hard-hitting. Go all the way.' He understood that the market and the world was changing." And production went ahead:

 

 

Nick Cardy penciled 23 pages and began to spot ink the story entitled "The Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho." Carmine Infantino describes the work as "Gorgeous!" and Wein concurs, saying, "It was one of the best art jobs that Nick Cardy had ever done." Wolfman says Cardy "really worked hard on it because he thought that it was an important story." Cardy said, "After all these years I really don't remember [events surrounding the incidents]." But a problem arose not because of the art, but the choice of controversial subject matter.

 

 

"The problem was that after we did the -script," Wolfman said, "after it was accepted, after it was penciled, inked, lettered and colored, Donenfeld left and there was a new publisher." "I remember looking at it and I rejected it totally," Infantino explains. "Giordano had okayed the job, I believe, but after it was done, I thought it was so terrible that I wouldn't print it. It was simple as that. I don't remember any specifics about it now, but I know that I just didn't like it so I had to use my best judgement."

 

 

Giordano also forgets some aspects: "I really don't remember what irritated Carmine, but Neal was right across the hall from me and, with the offices not that big, Carmine would come to the doorway-without coming in-and say something like, 'Richie, I looked at that book, I don't like it and we're not going to publish it. Get a new story.' And he walked away.

 

 

Wein recalls, "At the last minute Carmine got gun-shy and was afraid that we wouldn't be able to sell the book in the South and that all these terrible things would happen. So he just pulled the issue and said, 'Nope, we're not going to do it.' This was less than a week before the book was supposed to ship to the printer." And, Giordano said, "The cover was already done and printed so it had to have 'Jericho' in the title and something to do with the action on the cover."

 

...

...

 

There was lasting damage to the writers' reputations at DC. "From this point, Len and I were both blacklisted at DC for about two years," Wolfman says, adding, "Later on, I used the name Jericho as a Titan in the New Teen Titans. While it had nothing to do with the original Jericho story, I was determined to use the name." But occasional jobs made it into their hands from sympathetic editors. "I was able to write the origin of Wonder Girl [and some Mystery tales], for instance," Wolfman said, "because and Joe Orlando would give us short stories under the table."

 

 

Neal saw a more positive repercussion: "I think this incident later sparked the decision editorially to accept the Black Green Lantern, and maybe we should have dedicated that story to Len, Marv and Joshua."

 

 

 

 

[bronze johnny]

Could this be the first interacial kiss in a comic book?

[Tango 'n Cash]

Could this be the first interacial kiss in a comic book?

 

Maybe, but it was not a kiss.

[shadroch]

I believe Skywolf had a black girlfriend long before this.

[Ijiwaru Sensei]

Another integrated team was the Kid Commandos seen in Invaders 28 and 39. This was the team formed by Bucky and Toro when they left the Invaders. The other two members of the team, Golden Girl and the Human Top, were Japanese and African American, respectively. If I'm remembering correctly, the Human Top was based on a Golden Age character who was originally written as little more than a racist caricature. Roy Thomas wanted to recast the character as more believable and realistic. Maybe someone on these boards can fill in the gaps and give more specifics.

 

Ijiwaru Sensei

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WTB Invaders 3 9.6 or better--raw or slabbed