EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
The Rise of Superheroes and Their Impact On Pop Culture
Michael Uslan, Smithsonian Institute
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E The Bronze Age of Comics and the Genre of Relevancy Notes taken on April 17, 2018 by Edward Tanguay |
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late 60s, early 70s
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a time of social change
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a youth movement, spawned the hippy generation
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demonstrations against war in Vietnam
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issues of civil rights
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issues of womens' liberation
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led to strive between a younger generation and a generation of authority
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comic sales on the down swing
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comic book companies asked themselves how they could stay relevant to this generation
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Captain America
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torn in the early 70s
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wasn't sure what he should be or symbolize anymore
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he was created in an era of WWII and super patriotism
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during a very popular war against a very evil threat, the Nazis, in particular
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now he is in a Vietnam era, and sent onto a college campus
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who is he to side with, the National Guard or the students
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minorities were beginning to be represented
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Luke Cage
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Hero for Hire
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the first African American superhero
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Master of Kung Fu
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an Asian superhero
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Green Lantern / Green Arrow
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Green Lantern was portrayed as the conservative superhero
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Green Arrow was the liberal superhero
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attempted to enlighten Green Lantern as to the ills that were plaguing America
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racism
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pollution
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overpopulation
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political corruption
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an elderly black man tells Green Lantern, that he has heard he has saved the purple skins on some planet, and the orange skins on some other planet, and wants to know what he is going to do for the black skin people of America
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Green Lantern answers that he can't answer that, not yet, he needs to go on his own personal journey, accompanied by Green Arrow
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they enter the world of drugs
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not as users but became aware of the problem of drugs
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Green Arrows own son Speedy was discovered to have become a heroin addict
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this was a transgression against the comic code authority
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Stan Lee at Marvel also had Spider-Man showing the down-side of using drugs
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that was the beginning of the end of the censorship
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Justice League America
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Man, they name is brother
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other issue dealt with pollution
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Wonder Woman
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gave up her pretty little red, white and blue outfit
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adapted a secret agent look
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Vietnam War was over
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the Age of Relevancy gave way to a new era in 1978 with the first appearance of the graphic novel
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A Contract with God
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the first being from Will Eisner
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no super heroes
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about a pious Jewish man
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when child dies, he feels God has failed him
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The Watchman
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the ultimate deconstruction of the super hero
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Frank Miller, the Black Knight Returns
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makes the character accessible to worldwide adult audiences
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dealt with levels of violence we had not seen before
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characterization
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comics became more and more popular
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people who would normally write a novel would write a graphic novel
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industry was getting good writers