SUPERHEROES 609
Batman and Wonder Man, both direct responses to Superman, appeared in May of
1939, as did the Sub-Mariner. In the fi rst three years, from 1938 to 1941, the primary
superhero archetypes were created. Superman and Batman provide the two primary
superhero paradigms: the superpowered superhero and the non-super superhero.
Wo n d e r Wo m a n provides the next central paradigm, the superheroine, as well as the
mythical or mythology-based hero. Th e Flash is the preeminent example of the single-
powered hero. Parody comes with the Red Tornado. Captain America is the patriotic
superhero par excellence. Batman’s partner Robin stands as the fi rst sidekick and can
also be considered the fi rst kid superhero. Th e Golden Age Sub-Mariner’s status as
the fi rst anti-hero superhero places him within the troubled-hero category, thereby
rounding out the superhero archetypes.
Fans use the concept of ages of comics to periodize the history of superhero comics.
While not a scholarly term, the concept of ages has become so embedded in the
discussion and analysis of the superhero genre that it is germane to any discussion of
the genre. In addition, the established ages roughly parallel the evolution of genre put
forward by fi lm scholars Christian Metz and Th omas Schatz. Th e names and dates for
the ages have achieved a rough consensus in the fan and scholarly communities.
Th e Golden Age began with the appearance of Superman in Action Comics #1.
During the Golden Age, the superhero genre narratively animated and ritualistically
resolved social confl icts of the period in ways that expressed the prevailing social
ideology of the times. During this period the various conventions of superhero stories
were isolated from the adventure literature out of which the superhero emerged and
formalized so as to make the superhero genre distinct from other related genres. At
this stage the narratives worked to transmit and reinforce the genre’s social message—
particularly New Deal-style social reform and the patriotism of World War II—as
directly as possible. Th e conventions were not seen as problematic or needing to be
questioned. Th e stories tended to be straightforward confrontations between good
and evil in which the superhero, society, and the audience were all presumed to be on
the same side and working for the same goals.
Th e primary marker of the Silver Age is the revival of superheroes, who had largely
fallen out of favor with the public in the early 1950s. Th ere is a fi rm consensus that the
Silver Age began with the debut of the new Flash in Showcase #4 (cover date October
1956). Although some superheroes—such as Marvel’s Captain America, the Human
Torch, and the Sub-Mariner—were revived prior to the Flash, these revivals failed, un-
like the revivals of these three characters a decade later. Th e success of the Flash revival
led to similar revivals of Green Lantern, the Atom, Hawkman, and the Justice Society
(as the Justice League). Th e success of the Justice League led directly to the creation
of the Fantastic Four, which prompted the other major innovations of the Silver Age:
continuity and melodrama.
In the Silver Age, creators elaborated on all the conventions developed in the Golden
Age. Th e secret identity was broadened to include characters who maintain both
their superidentities and their alter egos in a public way (Fantastic Four, the Hulk).
