In the 1960s, superheroes received a makeover. Due to a recession in the comics industry, many artists and creators went back to the drawing board to reinvent the wheel. With the end of the Golden Age, the previously anticipated heroes seemed to fall flat. Probably because of their lack of dimensionality as proper people; they were perceived more as untouchable god(esse)s.
But, if people were growing tired of these characters, those that were icons of a time past, then what should comics do?
In fact, this was what happened and precisely why. Time marched on and forwards, but these heroes seemed to be men and women frozen in a past time.
But what solution could they use to figure this out and boost sales back up?
Make them human. Finally. To accomplish this, heroes were no longer unshakeable alien-like gods, like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Now, they were reluctant, flawed, and vulnerable. These fallibilities of these heroes gave a new dimension and a resurgence of intrigue and delight for comics.
A good example of this can be found within the Silver Age’s Flash comics. In the comics below, we see scientist Barry Allen reading the original Flash comics in a meta moment of the comic’s plot. He ponders what it would be like, as an ordinary man, to be this extraordinary hero.
Next, he enters his lab and is bolted by lightning and doused in chemicals. Dazed, he goes home but finds that he is somehow faster than a speeding taxi and falling food, managing to catch the falling items and place them back in a moment’s notice.
As the Golden Age heroes were born and raised with these innate powers, they never had to doubt or experience the sudden, impulsive gain of these abilities. Being nothing more than a regular scientist, Barry Allen now must come to terms the reality that he is able to do these things.
At first, he chalks it up to being dazed, overworked, and tired. He is in dire need of some sleep.
Getting sleep, he believes he is fine the next day. However, this proves useless when a stray bullet almost hits Iris, his female companion, something seems to dawn in Barry. He feels drawn to now be like that hero in the comics that he read about: to use his powers for the greater good.
A reluctant hero birthed from an ordinary man, he can’t be said to be cut from the same cloth as Superman and Wonder Woman, two heroes born into their roles since their beginnings as babies. Even Batman, a man with only his wealth and brains differs greatly from this new breed of hero. After a life-changing moment as a kid, he trains himself to become the vigilante of Batman, fully prepared and unshaken in this extraordinary role.
Characters like the Flash, Spider-Man, and the Hulk are all heroes who never got their say in choice of becoming the next wave of heroes and only did so because they learned that “with great power there must be great responsibility.”
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