Comic Book Superheroes and War in Twentieth Century America
“ Mutt and Jeff ” comic strips promoted buying liberty bonds to support the war effort and had the dynamic duo serve in various Allied armies while poking fun at themselves . 7 Butler , who served in the American First Infantry Division , had his comics contain content “ far more meaningful than the simple sight gags might suggest .” 8 Butler chronicled his experiences of life in the trenches , foreign food , language barriers , and new cultural customs . While his comics were suitable for younger readers to get an idea of what life as a G . I . was like , his collection also featured underlying moral and political complexities of war . 9
Charles Schulz ’ “ Peanuts ” comics and later animated features memorialized World War I nearly fifty years after it ended . Snoopy , the loveable beagle of the “ Peanuts ” gang , had his first appearance in 1965 and was drawn pretending his doghouse was a Sopwith Camel biplane . Snoopy became the First World War Flying Ace and “ imagined that he flew in hot pursuit of the Red Baron ,” a title given to German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen . 10 Though the “ Peanuts ” characters and stories didn ’ t appear until decades after the first world war , Carrie Allen Tipton ’ s “ Snoopy Remembers the Great War ” argues Snoopy ’ s Flying Ace persona and “ The Great Pumpkin ” animated television special “ helped enshrine the memory of the First World War in American popular culture .” 11 In the animation , Snoopy dons his pilot outfit and goggles while the children are occupied with their Halloween costumes and plans . Situating himself atop his doghouse , the scene turns into Snoopy imagining himself in a “ fierce aerial combat , ending with a crash behind enemy lines , punctuated by staccato artillery .” 12 Escaping the crash site , Snoopy then climbs through trenches and passes signs for Châlons-sur-Marne , Pont-à-Mousson , and the River Moselle all while facing the sounds of sirens and machine guns . Schulz and his colleagues later said they did not deliberately aim to commemorate World War I with Snoopy ’ s persona , but the First World War Flying Ace has since become synonymous with Great War and early aviation culture . Four years after his debut , Snoopy as the First World War Flying Ace even accompanied astronauts on the Apollo 10 mission , two months before the first humans landed on the moon . 13
In the first several decades of the twentieth century , comics acted as illustrated short stories that could be used as propaganda to depict a foreign or domestic enemy to the United States . Before World War II , domestic crime was the main perceived threat to American society depicted in comics . Villainous characters could symbolize corporate greed , labor disputes , or controversial political policies . 14 Though the Great Depression had slowly abated in the late 1930s , the horrors of nationwide economic collapse were still fresh in the American people . Some of the earliest stories of Superman , Batman , and the Green Lantern were of these superheroes taking on corrupt businesses and businessmen who mistreated poor , struggling workers in the 1930s . 15 In his first issues , Superman stopped gangsters from fixing boxing machines , took on smugglers , prevented assassinations ,
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