The political nature of comics

Here is my two cents on comics and their political content!

Have comics always been political? The short answer? yes. The long answer? Yes, and here's why: there are many reasons why comics are political, and the impact that they have on society.  Comics were created to take the World events happening, and create an escape that also explains what is happening in a digestible way to all ages. But it is important to understand how they have been political, if they have always been political, and the impact that comics have on society. 

The main argument of whether or not comics have been political is how they have been political. I believe that the main point of superheroes is to fight for the little guy. Heroes, both in comics and in real life, have been fighting for people who can’t fight for themselves since the creation of the term. Superheroes also teach about real-life problems in an easy, non-direct way that everyone can digest. As the world changes, so do comics. They are meant to reflect what is around us.

The other argument of whether or not comics have been political is whether the political side of comics is anything new. Since the late 30s, when Superman came out, comics have been political. In the late 30s and early 40s, Superman and Captain America came out. The two superheroes have many things in common, including that they were both created by Jewish comic creators and that they were immigrants, while Superman came from Krypton, an alien planet, and Captain America came from Ireland. The thing that made them similar was that they fought for those who couldn't fight for themselves. Later, about 22 years after Captain America, Spider-Man was created. While Spider-Man was not extremely political, he would touch on poverty and even talk about drugs and drug abuse in the 1970s run, #96-98. A year after Spider-Man came out The X-Men were created by the same man, Stan Lee. The X-Men were a team of mutants that fought crime in a world that did not want their help. This team was, and still is, an allegory for the discrimination of minorities, including people of color, the LGBTQIA+, and the neurodivergent community. The reason that the X-Men was a good representation of these communities was that they showed the two sides of extremes. This was shown with Magneto and Senator Kelly; Magneto, who wanted to wipe out the non-mutant side of humanity, and Senator Kelly wanted the opposite, to wipe out the mutant side of humanity. Five years after the X-Men were released, the Black Panther came out, a king of a thriving kingdom in Africa, only 4 years after the Civil Rights Act was passed. 

The final argument is the impact that comics have. This is shown in the influence that comics have on the younger generation. The creators of comics made them so that younger generations could understand what was happening in the world and could grow up, understanding what is happening around them. It was so successful that comics stayed with people as they grew up, and companies made movies and TV shows using the characters, making them more digestible for the generations to come and updating them for the politics of now. 

In conclusion comics have been political and this is nothing that will change. While people try to counter argue this by saying they do not remember comics being political that does not mean they weren’t it just wasn’t something they noticed. So next time you read a comic or watch a superhero movie, look a little closer and realize that there is more they are trying to say and not take them at face value.