In the late 1940s, the popularity of superhero comics began to wane. To keep readers engaged, comic book publishers diversified their offerings into other genres such as war, western, science fiction, romance, crime and terror. Many superhero titles were either canceled or converted to other genres. This epic series, the first modern “events” comic, is a bustling and expansive superhero adventure that also features the shocking deaths of beloved Silver Age characters Flash and Supergirl.
It also provided a clear continuity of DC's entire line of comics that laid the groundwork for revisionist comics by Moore, Miller and others. Superhero movies are certainly thriving, but they are based on comics that used to cost a penny. Comic book culture has become an amalgam of passionate fans with varying degrees of fanaticism. At a time when most Americans were not interested in another war in Europe, comic book characters were. For years, the self-mockery of West, Burt Ward and several guest stars of the 1960s Batman show defined superheroes in the popular imagination, much to the chagrin of comic book readers. The Batman of the '60s came during the pop art movement that placed comics at the center of their reevaluations of commercial culture.
Wonder Woman fit the stereotypes of the time, although she worked as a nurse in World War II, unlike some of the comic book covers seen today. Comics also became popular during the 1930s due to other virtues during the Great Depression. The grim and stark turn of the mid-1980s can be seen as a rejection of the overwhelming influence that series had on general perception of comics and superheroes at that time. Only one company, Diamond, founded in 1982, distributed almost all comics from publishers large and small to retail stores across the country in what became known as the “direct market system”. Swamp Thing, a hybrid of horror and superhero genres, was the first monthly comic by a major publisher to forgo approval from Comics Code.
Planet Krypton's tacky decor includes displays of costumes and artifacts from old comics as well as posters that reproduce classic comic book covers from Golden and Silver Age painted by Alex Ross in cartoon style. If you're looking for something more direct than giant top-of-the-line stocks, an investment platform called Otis Funds has a fund that invests in collectibles such as art, video games, trading cards, sneakers and comics.
