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Similarities Between Comic Books And The Korean War

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Within the comic book industry, there was a stark contrast between the ways in which publishers treated World War II compared to how they treated the Korean War. To start, during the 1930’s and 1940’s the United States longed for an escape from their current reality which was filled with remnants of the Great Depression (3). Savage highlights that this desire for an escape is why much of what comic books concentrated on during the 1930’s was either in “the past or present” (3). Though, this approach to comic books did not last due to the United States’ involvement in World War II (9). At the start of World War II, comic books had the ability to make an immense impact on not only its readers, but on society as a whole. As Savage points out in his book, “comic books became an integral …show more content…

Savage holds the opinion in his book that, “death was the thing that separated comic books of the Korean era from those of World War II” (53). Continually, unlike in World War II comics, the deaths experienced in Korean era comics were often times brutal and endured without cause or purpose. In many cases, the enemies in Korean era comics were even known to outwit their protagonist counterpart by acquiring their weaknesses and exploiting them (55). This made it especially difficult for many readers to find hope and led the majority to become even more disheartened by the war effort. Savage writes that this “dampened readers enthusiasms for that kind of conflict” (53). One story by the name of “Ambush” which was published in the Warfront Comics particularly highlighted the dejected spirit of comics at the time. In this comic, it presents a group of soldiers who walk into a trap and end up dying. The cartoon concludes with the quote, “no, not a happy story…but it happens just that way sometimes…no wonder Gen. Sherman said ‘War is Hell!’” (Warfront

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