100 Greatest Comic Books

[adamstrange]

I quess it comes down to our individual definitions of what a Superhero is.

 

Feel free to post yours because I'm not seeing a strong argument for your case. Superman was definitely the right package for the concept and found the right medium (comics) to kick start the crime-fighting costumed superhero with a secret identity.

[action1kid]

quote; Feel free to post yours because I'm not seeing a strong argument for your case

 

Thats because I havnt made a case. I simply posted a statement.

[Robert Beerbohm]

all i am saying is there were "super" heroes before one took that very name

[action1kid]

I just dont think that Zorro or Hercules had Superhuman strength. Very very strong, sure.Im not counting Lou Ferrignos Hercules throwing a chariot into outer space here.

 

I enjoyed your photos at the Geppi museum Bob. Very entertaining and funny too !

[Robert Beerbohm]

Hugo Hercules from 1902 - check it out in my Platinum article in the small Overstreet - super human strength, super speed - a straight super hero - Chicago Tribune Sunday comics section

 

Geppi's Museum is fascinating fun for any comics collector to check out - highly reccomended

[action1kid]

Ok. I will check out Hugo Hercules. Fair enough.

Thanks

 

Peter

[EastEnd]

Superman then Donald Duck and then Batman

Nobody's a bigger Duck fan than me, but Donald Duck isn't a world icon because of a comic book. He's a core Disney character, star of the stage, screen, amusement parks, etc.. Comics helped to supplement his popularity, but they didn't make or break him. Uncle Scrooge is a much better example of a Disney character that was really made by the comics rather than cartoons/movies.

 

I agree with this. Superman may have been far and away outsold by Disney funny animals and Mad, but costumed superheros were born from comic books (unlike funny animals and cartoon satire). Superheros are comic books' unique contribution to pop culture and so to me the most important comic is Action #1.

 

If Batman is a "super" hero, then the concept of the "super" hero goes back many many decades prior to what is being bandied about here

 

Zorro

 

Scarlet Pimpernal

 

Robin Hood

 

etc

 

etc

 

etc

 

so, the theory does not hold water under analysis

 

If you ask the average person on the street to name a superhero, none of them will name Zorro, Robin Hood, the Scarlet Pimpernal or Etc. (nor would contemporary readers of these characters have described them as "superheros"). Many folks will name Superman or Batman, however. The term "superhero" and the modern perception of superheros derives uniquely from comic books (although I agree there were heroic influences that preceded Action #1 -- as there are precursors for just about everything -- nothing is created in a vacuum).

[adamstrange]

I just dont think that Zorro or Hercules had Superhuman strength. Very very strong, sure.Im not counting Lou Ferrignos Hercules throwing a chariot into outer space here.

 

I enjoyed your photos at the Geppi museum Bob. Very entertaining and funny too !

 

Need to re-read your Greek myths. Herc was most definitely super-human. Achilles was invulnerable (except for that pesky ankle problem).

 

Here's the Wiki on Heracles 12 Labors. There was also a thirteenth involving 50 daughters and a one night stand. If that ain't super, I don't what is.

 

web page

[EastEnd]

Then Batman - Not Superhero

 

there are so many "pre-hero" heroes one would be hard pressed to shake a stick at all of them

 

jeff mentions Doc Savage, then there was Shadow, and so many others in the pulps predating the advent of The Men of Mystery in 1938, gaining some traction in 1939, then a whole lot of steam by 1940.

 

Sure, Superman was a publishing phenomena for a period there, his fortunes waxed and waned over the decades.

 

But i was centering on Batman as a super hero of some import. Like Capt America was basicly a man who drank some chemical potion, enhancing his abilities, Bruce Wayne honed in the Far East

 

And Superman is not a core world cultural icon becuase of a comic book either: TV and movies si what spread his fame as well - every bit as much as Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse

 

A combo of all available media outlets its what drives any property to icon status

 

that is what i think

 

I see. So Elvis and The Beatles are not the most important rock-n-roll artists because they sang and played electric guitars (which many had done before them) and really only had their shining moment for a few years.

[action1kid]

quote//

I see. So Elvis and The Beatles are not the most important rock-n-roll artists because they sang and played electric guitars (which many had done before them) and really only had their shining moment for a few years.

 

Basically yeah .

[Theagenes]

Here's the Wiki on Heracles 12 Labors. There was also a thirteenth involving 50 daughters and a one night stand. If that ain't super, I don't what is.

 

web page

 

When I used to teach mythology at FSU, the story of Heracles and the 50 daughters of King Thespius was one that could always keep even a bunch of hungover undergrads awake.

[Robert Beerbohm]

 

This very rare comic book magazine which ran 9 issues in 1934 is what directly inspired Major Wheeler-Nicholson to accept the offer from S-M News as well as Greater Buffalo Printing to convert this title & format to some thing retitled New Fun Comics.

 

New Fun in that Comic Cuts from S-M had been all British comics reprints, New Fun was all "new" American homegrown newspaper-reject wannabees compiled by the Major

 

Once the conversation happened to shrink New Fun down to its normal More Fun size which later spawned The Spectre, Harry Donenfeld began printing the Major's comic book magazines. As the Major fell behind in payments, Donenfeld kept fronting more money until he owned the titles.

 

Lloyd Jacquet was there, the Major's very first employee, then came Ellsworth and Sullivan

 

jacquet was emphatic in a 1958 article i uncovered that New Fun comes directly from Comic Cuts

 

Not FofP Famous Funnies from Eastern

 

When one compares the non comics features, they are pretty identical

 

the change was from Brit reprints to USA original stories

 

I nominate Comic Cuts which was as much a part of the foundation as FofP or Famous Funnies

 

much more about this in my Overstreet Origin of Modern Comic Book article in each of the last Overstreets for a decade now.

 

About 6-7 years ago (I think) I added in the Comic Cuts aspect leading directly to New Fun, what people call the First DC even though the corporate stamp i saw which Irwin Donenfeld showed me stated December 1936 as the date of Incorporation for Detective Comics Inc

[Sal]

Then Batman - Not Superhero

 

there are so many "pre-hero" heroes one would be hard pressed to shake a stick at all of them

 

jeff mentions Doc Savage, then there was Shadow, and so many others in the pulps predating the advent of The Men of Mystery in 1938, gaining some traction in 1939, then a whole lot of steam by 1940.

 

Sure, Superman was a publishing phenomena for a period there, his fortunes waxed and waned over the decades.

 

But i was centering on Batman as a super hero of some import. Like Capt America was basicly a man who drank some chemical potion, enhancing his abilities, Bruce Wayne honed in the Far East

 

And Superman is not a core world cultural icon becuase of a comic book either: TV and movies si what spread his fame as well - every bit as much as Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse

 

A combo of all available media outlets its what drives any property to icon status

 

that is what i think

 

I see. So Elvis and The Beatles are not the most important rock-n-roll artists because they sang and played electric guitars (which many had done before them) and really only had their shining moment for a few years.

 

Interesting leap of logic there. Not that i am in 100% agreement with Mr. Beerbohm, but I'm having trouble figuring out how you got there from there