Comic Book Superhero History

1
Comic Book Superhero History
2
Early Precursor to Superheroes

• The Scarlet Pimpernel
• a play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska
  Orczy, written in 1903
• Story a British nobleman adventurer known only
  as The Scarlet Pimpernel, after the small flower
  with which he signs his secret notes, leads a
  secret society which rescues French noblemen from
  the guillotine during the French Revolution.
  Turns out hes the clownish Sir Percy Blakeney,
  who pretends to be a drunken fop to hide his
  adventurous identity. His wife is, Lois
  Lane-style, anamoured of the adventurer, not
  knowing he is actually her husband, for whom she
  has little respect.
• Notable actors Anthony Andrews, Richard E. Grant

3
A Precursor To Superheroes

• Zorro
• Created by New York-based pulp writer Johnston
  McCulley in 1919.
• Appeared in novels, short stories and films
  before appearing in comics
• Secret identity Don Diego de la Vega, a Spanish
  nobleman troubled by Spains colonial rule of
  California, adopts the identity of masked
  trickster anarchist vigilante Zorro (Spanish for
  fox). Boring rich man by day, masked terrorist
  at night. His horse was called Toronado. His
  sidekick was deaf-mute servant Bernardo (a
  precursor to Bruce Waynes Alfred). He rode out
  of a secret cave under his mansion as well.
• The novel was helped by stuntman-actor Douglas
  Fairbanks and Canadian-born wife Mary Pickford
  making a movie adaptation a year later for their
  new studio United Artists, which they started
  with Charlie Chaplin.
• Actors Douglas Fairbanks, Guy Williams (for
  Disney) and Antonio Banderas (first Hispanic
  actor ever to play Zorro)

4
Another Precursor To Superheroes

• The Phantom
• created by Lee Falk, (also creator of comics
  character Mandrake the Magician)
• Was a daily newspaper comic starting in 1936
• Story Kit Walker is the 21st in a line of
  legendary Phantoms, each called The Ghost Who
  Walks, having no supernatural abilities, but
  being so ninja-like as to appear to have ghost
  powers. On his left hand is a ring with crossed
  sabres, which he gives to people he will protect.
  On his right, a ring with a skull, made from the
  nails in Jesus cross, which leaves a
  skull-shaped mark on enemies faces when he
  punches them. Rides a horse named Hero. Leads a
  huge army of Africans called the Jungle Patrol.
• Actor who played him in 1996 movie Billy Zane

5
Mystery Men Big Influences On Superheroes

• Will Eisners The Spirit
• Appeared in newspapers right when Superman and
  Batman were taking off, starting in 1940
• Denny Colt is a masked vigilante who solves
  mystery and stops criminals in a huge city, with
  the blessing of the police commissioner. Had a
  lair under his own tombstone, being thought dead.
• Other characters black sidekick Ebony White,
  villains The Octopus, Dr. Cobra and Mister
  Carrion a witch named (witch) Hazel P. Macbeth,
  femme fatales P'Gell, Sand Saref, Silk Satin,
  Silken Floss and Lorlei Rox.
• Actors Gabriel Macht (with Samuel Jackson as The
  Octopus) in 2008

6
Another Mystery Man

• The Shadow
• Created by Walter B. Gibson as a radio drama,
  then series of short stories for magazines, then
  a comic
• First aired on Detective Story Hour on radio in
  1931
• Story rich guy Lamont Cranston learns the
  ancient Eastern art of clouding mens minds
  when he is near, making them unable to see him.
  By night he drives around fighting crime with his
  two pistols and maniacal laugh. A precursor to
  Batman and the Joker
• Catchphrases "Who knows what evil lurks in the
  hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" (maniacal
  laugh) and Crime does not pay!
• Had the attributes and stylized look of a
  criminal or robber, but was a (dark) hero. Had a
  Jewish chauffeur and a black sidekick.
• Crime often took place in Chinatown with Asian
  villains
• Girlfriend Margo Lane
• Actors Frank Readick, Jr., Orson Wells, Alec
  Baldwin

7
Yet Another Mystery Man

• The Green Hornet
• created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker for
  radio in 1936, and then adapted for comics and
  short stories, film serials and television
• Story Britt Reid is a wealthy newspaper
  publisher who goes out with his Asian sidekick
  Kato to fight crime in his car Black Beauty with
  various gadgets, including a sleep gun.
• Concurrent with the Adam West Batman and aired on
  the same channel, The Green Hornet TV show aired
  in 1966, starring an Asian actor named Bruce
  Lee(!) as Kato. Fans were more into Bruce Lee
  than the Green Hornet.
• Notable actors Van Williams, Seth Rogan

8
The Golden Age 1930s-1950s
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First comic book superhero?

• D.C. Comics Superman
• Appeared in Action Comics in 1938
• Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and
  Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932
  
• Secret identity Clark Kent (named after actors
  Clark Gable and Kent Taylor). Reporter at The
  Daily Planet newspaper in Metropolis. Lair the
  Fortress of Solitude
• Born Kal-El on doomed planet Krypton to parents
  Jor-El and Lara. Weakness kryptonite (shards of
  his exploded birth planet)
• At first, only able to leap tall buildings in a
  single bound, his powers kept getting increased
  until he could fly in space.
• Superman characters Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, Lois
  Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White (boss)
• Superman actors George Reeves, Christopher
  Reeve, Dean Cain, Tom Welling, Brandon Routh

10
A dark opposite to Superman?

• D.C. Comics Batman
• First appeared in Detective Comics in May 1939
• created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill
  Finger, based on a The Shadow story.
• Secret identity millionaire Bruce Wayne. Lair
  the Batcave under Wayne Manor in Gotham City.
• Parents Thomas and Martha Wayne were shot in
  front of him as a small boy.
• Other characters Alfred Pennyworth the butler,
  Dick Grayson (Robin), Police Commissioner Gordon
• Huge assortment of gadgets, huge rogues
  gallery of whacky, themed supervillains
  including The Joker, The Penguin, Poison Ivy, Mr.
  Freeze, Bane, Killer Croc
• Batman actors Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val
  Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale

11
Female Superhero?

• D.C. Comics Wonder Woman
• Created by William Moulton Marston (the
  psychologist who invented the lie detector before
  inventing the character with the lasso which made
  criminals tell the truth) and H. G. Peter
• First appeared in All Star Comics in 1941
• Secret identity Diana Prince (sometime army
  intelligence officer)
• From Themyscira, an all-female island of Amazons,
  created from clay by mother Hippolyta (queen of
  the Amazons, making Diana a princess)
• Originally fought nazis with boyfriend Steve
  Trevor. Before they decided she could fly, they
  gave her an invisible jet. Weakness helpless if
  tied up by a man.
• Wonder Woman actresses Lynda Carter (70s),
  Adrianne Palicki (2011)

12
Magical Superman Ripoff?

• Captain The Big Red Cheese Marvel (never owned
  by Marvel Comics) Owned by Fawcett Comics (then
  bought by D.C. Comics)
• Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer
  Bill Parker
• First appears in Whiz Comics in 1940
• 12 year old homeless newsboy Billy Batson calls
  out the name of the wizard Shazam and magically
  transforms into an adult superhero called Captain
  Marvel
• Lacks Supermans vision powers, but has Wisdom
  of Solomon
• Other characters Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel
  Junior, Uncle Marvel
• Villains Black Adam, Dr. Sivana

13
American WWII Supersoldier?

• Marvel Comics Captain America
• created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.
• first appeared in Captain America Comics 1
  (March 1941) by Timely Comics, who would kinda
  become Marvel Comics later
• Secret identity weakling Steve Rogers is given
  an experimental Supersoldier Formula and an
  indestructible shield (adamantium and vibranium).
  Likes to ride a motorcycle.
• Frozen in ice at end of WWII so they could bring
  him back in comics later
• Member (leader) of Marvels The Avengers
• Sidekick Bucky Barnes
• Villains Nazis, Hitler, The Red Skull, Baron
  Zemo
• (notable) Captain America actors Chris Evans

This actors dad wrote The Catcher In The Rye (!)
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Runs fast guy?

• D.C. Comics The Flash
• Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry
  Lampert
• first appeared in Flash Comics 1 (January 1940)
• Secret identity Jay Garrick, who fell asleep in
  a science lab and inhaled heavy water vapour.
• Wore red football shirt and his fathers WWI
  helmet, with wings on it, like Greek god Mercury
• Part of one of the earliest superhero teams, The
  Justice Society (later League) of America

15
Ring Dude

• D.C. Comics Green Lantern
• was created by writer Bill Finger and artist
  Martin Nodell (who was ripping off Aladdin)
• First appeared in All-American Comics 16 (July
  1940)
• Secret identity railroad engineer Alan Scott
• Story inherited a green lantern made from the
  metal in a meteor which fell to earth, and told
  him how to make a magic ring which could do
  almost anything.
• (make him invisible, walk through walls, paralyse
  or blind people temporarily, cut stuff like a
  welding torch)
• Weakness the ring doesnt work on anything made
  of wood. Scott learned this when hit with a
  wooden club.
• Part of the Justice Society of America

...and I shall shed my light over dark evil. For
the dark things cannot stand the light, The light
of the Green Lantern!
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The Silver Age mid 50s-1970
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A New(s) Flash

• Secret identity Barry Allen, police scientist
  (from talkshow hosts Steve Allen and Barry Gray
• created by writers Robert Kanigher and John
  Broome and penciler Carmine Infantino
• First appeared in Showcase 4 (Oct. 1956)
• Story a lightning bolt hits chemicals in his
  lab, drenching him in them.
• Other characters girlfriend Iris West, Wally
  West (Kid Flash)
• Villains Mirror Master, Captain Cold, Weather
  Wizard, Pied Piper, The Trickster, Captain
  Boomerang
• Actor Michael Rosenbaun is remarkable for playing
  Lex Luthor on Smallville while voicing the
  animated Flash on Justice League.

18
New Green Lantern

• Secret identity fearless test pilot Hal Jordan
• Revamped by writer John Broome and Batman artist
  Gil Kane,
• First appearence in Showcase 22 in 1959
• Story on the planet Oa, little blue creatures
  called the Guardians of the Universe dole out
  power rings to space police called the Green
  Lantern Corps. Abin Sur is ours, and when he
  dies, the ring finds Jordan. It can form solid
  objects out of imagination/will
• Weakness doesnt work on anything yellow
• Other characters girlfriend Carol Ferris, Inuit
  best friend Tom Pieface Kalmaku
• Villains Sinestro, Parallax (evil Hal Jordan)
• Played in the 2010 movie by Canadian actor Ryan
  Renolds (who was in X-Men Origins Wolverine as
  Deadpool)
• Guardians on Oa were based on Israels Prime
  Minister David Ben Gurion

In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil
shall escape my sight Let those who worship
evil's might, Beware my power... Green Lantern's
light!
19
Marvels teen hero

• (The Amazing) Spider-Man
• created by writer-editor Stan Lee and
  writer-artist Steve Ditko (who just drew himself
  for Peter Parker)
• first appeared in Amazing Fantasy 15 (August
  1962)
• Secret identity Peter Parker
• High school science nerd is bitten by a
  radioactive spider and gains its powers. Works
  at Daily Bugle, not Daily Planet. Photographer,
  not reporter. Hyphen in name.
• Other characters Aunt May, J.Jonah Jameson
  (boss), Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, Flash
  Thompson, Harry Osbourne
• Villains The Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, The
  Lizard, Electro, The Kingpin, Mysterio, The
  Rhino, Kraven the Hunter.
• (notable) actors Tobey McGuire, Andrew Garfield

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Marvels Monster

• (The Incredible) Hulk
• Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (who made
  Captain America)
• First appeared in The Incredible Hulk 1 (May
  1962)
• Secret identity scientist Bruce Banner
  (sometimes David)
• Based on Robert Louis Stephensons Doctor Jekyll
  and Mr. Hyde and Mary Shelleys Frankenstein.
• Story a gamma radiation accident makes Banner
  uncontrollably transform whenever he loses his
  temper.
• Originally grey, but a printing error made him
  green, which they liked.
• Other characters Rick Jones, girlfriend Betsy
  Ross, General Thunderbolt Ross, cousin Jennifer
  She Hulk Walters, Dr. Leonard Doc Sampson
• Villains Abomination, The Leader
• Notable actors Lou Ferrigno/Bill Bixby, Eric
  Bana, Ed Norton, Mark Rufalo

21
Marvels Blind Character

• Daredevil The Man Without Fear
• created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill
  Everett (help from Jack Kirby)
• first appeared in Daredevil 1 (April 1964)
• Secret identity Matt Murdock
• Story blind(ed by radiation) New York street kid
  becomes a lawyer, while fighting crime like
  Batman/Spider-man using his other, greatly
  enhanced senses
• Other characters Jack Murdock, Foggy Nelson,
  Karen Page
• Villains The Kingpin, The Fixer, Bullseye,
  Electra
• Notable actors Ben Affleck

22
Marvels Tech Hero

• (The Invincible) Iron Man
• created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by
  scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists
  Don Heck and Jack Kirby
• first appeared in Tales of Suspense 39 (March
  1963)
• (not) secret identity millionaire Tony Stark
  (flying Batman with armour and energy weapons)
• Story Howard Hughes-style millionaire inventor
  turns a pacemaker needed to keep his damaged
  heart going into a flying suit of armour. A cold
  war, anti-communist, anti-asian one.
• Other characters Jarvis (Batman-style butler),
  assistant Penny Potts, chauffeur Happy Hogan,
  Rhodey Rhodes
• Villains alcohol, the Mandarin, Justin Hammer,
  Crimson Dynamo, Backlash
• Notable actors Robert Downey Jr.

23
Marvels First Superhero Team

• The Fantastic Four
• First appeared in The Fantastic Four 1 (Nov.
  1961)
• created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and
  co-plotter Jack Kirby
• Story scientist Reed Richards, with girlfriend
  Sue Storm, her brother Johnny and pilot Ben
  Grimm, fly an experimental spacecraft and get
  exposed to space radiation, giving them powers.
  No secret identities.
• They become Mr. Fantastic, The Human Torch (II),
  The Thing and Invisible Girl/Woman
• Villains Galactus (eater of worlds), Dr. Doom,
  the Skrull Empire
• Actors Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Captain America
  Evans, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba

24
Marvels Mutant Team

• The (Uncanny) X-Men
• first appeared in The X-Men 1 (September 1963)
• created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby
• Story a mutant professor starts a school to
  train mutant children to be superheroes. The
  ideological difference between Martin Luther King
  (understanding) and Malcolm X (equality through
  violence if necessary) inspired the Professor
  X/Magneto divide. About tolerance.
• Original members Professor X, Angel, Beast,
  Cyclops, Iceman and Marvel Girl
• Villains Magneto, Sentinels, Brotherhood of Evil
  Mutants, The Hellfire Club, Apocalypse, Mister
  Sinister
• Notable actors Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan,
  Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, James
  Marsden and Canadian actors Shawn Ashmore and
  Anna Paquin

25
Marvels Superheroes We Already Made Team-Up
Team

• The Avengers
• First appeared in The Avengers 1 (Sept. 1963)
• created by writer-editor Stan Lee and
  artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, after the success
  of D.C.s The Justice League of America superhero
  team
• A teaming of Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man
  and the Wasp, soon joined by Captain America
• Battle cry Avengers Assemble!
• Could fight the villains of any of the team
  members, so first faced Thors evil brother Loki
  of Asgard

26
The Bronze Age 1970-1985
27
Refining Comic Style

• In the 70s and 80s, comparatively few successful
  new characters were created. Mostly the old ones
  were made more real-world.
• Art styles got more realistic
• Every superhero had a girl version.
• Themes got gritty
• Racial themes and social problems were no longer
  censored out
• Horror and supernatural ideas were no longer
  censored either.

28
Hero who kills with a gun?

• The Punisher
• Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John
  Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru
• first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 129
  (February 1974)
• Secret identity Frank Castle
• Story his family were killed by criminals (like
  Bruce Wayne) so unlike Batman, he drives around
  in a van and shoots criminals
• Other characters Microchip (his gear guy)
• Villains the Mafia, drug cartels, organized
  crime of every nationality or origin
• Actors Dolph Lungren, Thomas Jane, Ray Stevenson

29
British Future HeroWho Kills With A Gun?

• 2000 ADs Judge Dredd
• Created by John Wagner (writer), Carlos Ezquerra
  (artist), Pat Mills (editor)
• First appeared in 2000 AD 2 in 1977
• Story in the post-apocalyptic future, Judges
  with cybernetic upgrades and smartguns go around
  being judge, jury and executioners. Judge Joseph
  Dredd is one of these.
• Actors Sylvester Stallone

30
A Canadian Superhero(who kills nearly everyone
nearby)

• Wolverine
• created by writer Len Wein and Marvel art
  director John Romita, Sr.
• first appeared in the final "teaser" panel of The
  Incredible Hulk 180 (October 1974)
• No secret identity. Unknown identity until 2001,
  when they ended the mystery (one of the most
  interesting things about the character) by saying
  hed been born James Howlett in Alberta in the
  1880s.
• Catchphrase Im the best there is at what I do,
  and what I do isnt very nice.
• Other characters Alpha Flights Heather Hudson,
  Yuriko, The X-Men (particularly Jean Grey),
  Sabretooth, Magneto
• Actors Hugh Jackman

31
Unsuccessful Canadian Superhero Team

• Alpha Flight
• Created by Chris Claremont and (Canadian) John
  Byrne as Canadas answer to The Avengers
• first appeared in Uncanny X-Men 120 (April 1979)
• originally just part of Wolverines backstory.
• Sasquatch (in back), then l-r Northstar,
  Snowbird, Shaman, Guardian, Aurora, (front) Puck
  and Marina
• They have always tried to make this team work,
  and revamped it and changed things, but it never
  sells outside of Canada.
• Pierre Trudeau appeared in an X-Men comic,
  demanding Canadian government funded Wolverines
  return to Alpha Flight

32
Hero From Hell?

• Marvel Comics Ghost Rider
• created by Gary Friedrich, writer-editor Roy
  Thomas, and artist Mike Ploog.
• First appeared in Marvel Spotlight 5 (Aug. 1972)
  
• Story stunt rider Johnny Blaze sells his soul to
  an evil force named Mephisto to cure his mentors
  cancer. As a ghost rider, Blaze transforms into
  a blazing skeleton and punishes evil whenever in
  the presence of an evil-doer.
• Actor Nicholas Cage

33
Grit

• Green Arrows sidekick Speedy got addicted to
  heroin
• Iron Man struggled with alcoholism
• Batmans sidekick (Jason Todd, the second) Robin
  got killed
• Aquamans infant son was killed
• Spider-Mans girlfriend Gwen Stacy and her father
  were killed

34
First Black Superhero?

• Marvel Comics Black Panther
• Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and
  penciller-co-plotter Jack Kirby
• first appeared in Fantastic Four 52 (July 1966),
  later in Jungle Action.
• Secret identity T'Challa, King of African nation
  of Wakanda
• In The Avengers

35
First Black Superhero with his own comic?

• Marvel Comics Luke Cage
• Created by writer Archie Goodwin and artist John
  Romita, Sr.
• first appeared in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire 1
  (June 1972)
• Story A street youth in jail, underwent a
  procedure which gave him impervious skin and
  enhanced strength. Works for the chedda

36
Black Vampire (Hunter)?

• Marvel Comics Blade
• Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene
  Colan
• First appeared in The Tomb of Dracula 10 (July
  1973)
• Story Eric Brooks is born in a whorehouse to a
  prostitute who was killed by a vampire while
  giving birth, which gave the child quasi-vampiric
  powers
• Actors Wesley Snipes and Kirk Jones

37
Black X-Man?

• Marvel Comics Storm
• created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave
  Cockrum
• first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men 1 (May 1975)
• Secret identity Ororo Monroe (Ororo TChalla
  once she married The Black Panther)
• Story a child street thief in Africa, Storm was
  found by Professor X and trained to be an X-man.
• Actors Halle Berry

38
Tongue-In Cheek Attempt to Include All Things
Teens Like In A Single Title

• Teenage
• Mutant
• Ninja
• Turtles
• Created by Kevin Eastmanand Peter Laird
• First appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1
  in 1984. It was the toy line which sold the
  story.
• Story four teenaged, anthropomorphic turtles,
  raised by a rat sensei to be trained ninja
  warriors, fight aliens, robots, other mutants,
  street criminals and the evil samauri Shredder
• Named after renaissance artists Leonardo,
  Raphael, Michaelangelo and Donatello.
• Other characters April ONeil, Casey Jones,
  (Master) Splinter, Krang, Beebop, Rocksteady,
  Shredder

39
The Modern Age 1985-present

• In this period, comic book characters generally
  became darker and more psychologically complex
  Wikipedia

40
British Writer Attempts To Take Gritty Superhero
Realism As Far As It Can Go

• Watchmen
• Created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave
  Gibbons
• Watchmen came out monthly in 1986
• Intended to take gritty and problematic to the
  limit, and be a tombstone for superhero comics
  so this gritty thing could be put to bed once
  and for all.
• Features new characters based on established
  kinds of superheroes
• spawned a huge following of ripoff comics with
  more nasty characters who killed, with demons,
  violence, sex and drugs.

41
Canadian-Created, Black, Gritty, Demonic 90s Hero?

• Image Comics Spawn
• Created by writer/ Spider-man artist Todd
  McFarlane of Calgary, Alberta
• First appeared in Spawn 1 (May 1992)
• Story black U.S. Marine Al Simmons becomes a CIA
  assassin, and is then assassinated by the CIA and
  sent to Hell for assassinating. Simmons sells his
  soul to an evil force named Malebolgia to see his
  wife one last time. As a hellspawn, Spawn
  punishes evil whenever in the presence of an
  evil-doer. (So, Ghost Rider with some Batman
  tossed in.)
• Other characters Malebolgia, Clown, Angela
• Todd McFarlane created the incredibly flexible,
  twisted up looking Spider-Man poses, and sells
  toys of characters from horror movies. Neil
  Gaiman successfully sued McFarlane for not giving
  him a cent for toys based on characters Gaiman
  created while writing an issue of Spawn.
• Actor Michael Jai White

42
Silver Age Makeovers

• Characters got reboots to try to fix the fact
  that people had been writing stories about them
  for many decades.
• Rebooting meant you could add anything you liked,
  remove anything that seemed kinda silly, and
  change whatever you felt like.
• The most famous was Canadian John Byrne starting
  the Superman mythos over.

43
Crisis on Infinite Earths

• D.C. had decided that there were infinite earths
  with different Batmen, Supermen and the like.
  This meant they could have stories that
  contradicted each other (or planets with ape
  versions of heroes, or with an Earth where the
  villains were the heroes) and not worry.
• In 1985 they decided to undo that, blow up all
  the extra Earths and characters and start over.
• They killed the Barry Allen Flash. Kid Flash
  (Wally West) took over. Also Supergirl. All the
  embarassing superdogs and supercats and batdogs
  and superhorses all got erased.
• Things got (a bit) less childish and more modern.

44
Superman Reboot

• Canadian writer John Byrne was given Superman to
  reboot in 1985. Gone were Superman being able to
  move planets, survive without oxygen in space,
  travel through time and the like. Stopping a 747
  jet in flight became challenging for him again.
• Superman was once again the only survivor from
  Krypton. All the characters whod shown up over
  the years, somehow having survived the
  destruction of Krypton (including Supergirl, and
  Krypto the Superdog) were erased.
• Supermans adoptive earth parents were alive
  again.
• Clark Kent got a personality and was the real
  guy, where before he was just a disguise for
  Superman.

45
Batman Year One

• In 1987, Frank Miller (famed for BatmanThe Dark
  Knight Returns, Daredevil The Man Without Fear
  and the Wolverine four-issue book, rebooted the
  fifty year old character
• Now Batman could start out in the 70s rather than
  the 30s, and Robin wasnt taking thirty years to
  finish high school.
• Grittier. Street Crime. No yellow oval around
  the bat symbol on his chest, and no one smiling.
  Catwoman as a prostitute/dominatrix with a whip.

46
Wonder Woman Gods and Mortals

• In 1987, George Perez, Greg Potter and Len Wein
  rewrote the whole Wonder Woman story to give her
  a solid, detailed, mythological backstory.
• No invisible jet. No Wonder Girl, Wonder Dog or
  stuff like that.

47
Meanwhile at Marvel

• Spider-Man got a black suit for a while.
• Marvel had been writing these characters for only
  twenty, not fifty years, and there werent so
  many silly/complicated things to fix. (there
  never was a Spider-Horse or Hulk-Cat.

48
And Someone Got Smart

• And decided they could take the suit (a temporary
  Spider-man sales gimmick) and make a modern
  anti-hero called Venom.
• He debuted in 1987.

49
And Someone Got Greedy

• Heres a picture of five alien symbiotes at once.
• They have had fourteen different symbiotes in
  total in Spider-Man related comics.
• Audiences can smell greedy and can start
  resenting parting with their money.

50
Messing With Batman

• To cause massive sales, in1992 D.C. has Bane
  break Bruce Waynes back, paralysing him.
• This allows a ruthless vigilante-hero named
  Azrael to take over as a new Iron Man style
  Batman with a mechanized, armoured, bat-shuriken
  shooting suit.
• Azrael-Batman gets pretty insane and is willing
  to kill criminals, so Bruce Wayne, whos been
  supernaturally healed and has been doing physio
  like a mofo, returns, beats him at his own game
  through being saner and smarter, and becomes
  Batman again.
• Huge sales throughout this storyline.

51
D.C. Kills Death In Comics

• To grab massive sales, D.C. advertised in 1992
  that they would kill Superman.
• Sales rocketed to see this happen and to buy the
  last few issues with Superman alive in them.
• Supermans death was mentioned on the news.

52
The Reign of the Supermen

• Instead of the Superman story ending, it
  continued (in about four different
  interlocked-story titles each month) with an army
  of Is one of these the real Superman, returned
  from the dead? characters.
• Sales continued to benefit from reader interest
  in what the heck D.C. was up to.

53
Superman Wasnt Dead!

• Superman shows up, not dead, and with a 90s
  mullet.
• Readers felt cheated. Sales plummeted despite
  pretty much every single comic book character
  ever created then getting killed off and brought
  back in a vain attempt to recreate the sales of
  the Death of Superman storyline/trick
• No one believed comic book death anymore. If a
  character was in danger, you knew they could
  actually die and theyd be fine anyway.

54
Comic Sales Boom and then Decline

• The glut of titles (Spider-Man and Superman would
  have four titles a month each) started to hurt
  the market.
• Marvel (with the popular 90s X-Men cartoon and
  toys) got greedy with a ridiculous number of
  X-Men/mutant-related books, pumped out
  thoughtlessly like sausages.
• Every X-title referred to events in every other
  X-title that month, so you were supposed to buy
  them all.
• Comic book sales were in crisis by the mid 90s,
  and by the late 90s, Marvel had declared
  bankruptcy.
• Marvel survived bankruptcy, but had to scale back
  comic books heavily, and focus on toys, TV and
  movies.

55
Animation and Film

• People dont read many Western comics anymore.
  They collect the old ones. They buy graphic
  novels. Kids read Japanese stuff.
• If you like these old characters, there are
  quality cartoons made of them every year, and
  movies as well.

56
The Spinner Racks Have Left The Convenience
Stores

• And the last man standing?

• Archie Andrews, created in 1941 by Vic Bloom and
  Bob Montana
• A deal with the devil?

57
90s NonSuperhero Books

• These books were marketed at adults, with
  extremely graphic, horror-based imagery, but were
  not so much about macho fighting as
  psychological, political, mythological or
  theological stuff.
• They didnt just have boobs and drugs and people
  getting shot, but were terribly intelligent also.
  And cleverly vulgar.