User blog:Nausiated/Just about complete 1952

I am down to the last few issues for my 1952 updates and so it's that time again to summarize what was to be found in the year 1952. 1951 saw a brief (very brief) revival of super-heroes, with a short lived run of Marvel Boy stories and the on going Venus being the standing super-hero book. 1952 saw less of this as the Venus series stopping at issue #19. The title at this point became less super-hero in nature, much like the various super-hero books at the end of the 40s. But whereas Captain America, the Human Torch, and Sub-Mariner devolved to the heroes hanging out and telling crime tales, Venus went in a different direction -- horror. Which was a complete departure from the romance/mythology plot lines to Venus solving murder mysteries and ghost busting. Venus also went from being a love goddess to just a normal gal who happened to run into ghost and goblins all the time, with the exception of one story where she fought the daughter of Neptune, all mention of her godly origins and powers were completely removed from the series. The current Marvel Handbooks have gone to explain this (and Venus' waxing and waning powers in earlier issues) to the Olympians departing influence on the Earthly plain and Zeus' decree that the Olympians should not get involved in the doings of man.

1952 also saw another shift in the various western heroes who were mainstays in Marvel's various titles. Kid Colt remained popular, while the other characters who popped up in 1952 -- The original Gunhawk, Apache Kid, and the Arizona Kid, took a back seat. Their own titles were cut and the remaining stories were told in the pages of Wild Western and Two-Gun Western. Even the popular Black Rider took a backseat this year, with his own title also being cut. Eventually the Gunhawk and the Arizona Kid were phased out by the end of the year (I'm assuming once all the remaining stories were used up) What filled these gaps were the increase in horror and science fiction tales (such as Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish, Journey into Mystery and the like) were becoming quite popular. The Black Rider would see a return in 1953, and the Apache Kid ends up on a hiatus until 1954.

Another kind of story was also becoming popular: The war story. By this point the United States was deeply involved in the Korean War, and to reflect this, a lot of books were focusing on war stories. Kent Blake of the Secret Service, while maintaining it's original title saw Kent Blake shift over from being a Secret Service agent fighting communist spies, to re-enlisting into the military and participating in the war. This year also saw the introduction of three recurring Korean War era heroes: Combat Kelly, Combat Casey, and Battle Brady. These character are more-or-less obscure, but as I said in look at 1951, according to the Marvel Atlas these characters did exist in the Earth-616 universe and are part of mainstream Marvel continuity (all be it an obscure and rarely traveled one.)

Not a whole lot else to say other wise. None of the stories that came out of this year were really all that remarkable. The western tales were all pretty much the same, and repeated a lot of the same old themes. The war stories also took on a similar pattern. A lot of plots that were used in Combat Kelly were recycled in other war books to a certain degree. What you'll see in 1953 is the advent of a female antagonist that proves to be a pest for most of the aforementioned wartime heroes.

The only noteworthy thing to say about this era is the depiction of Chinese and Koreans in the war books. Much like the Japanese during World War II, both these nationalities are presented as crude racial sterotypes that by today's standards would be considered racist. I would say that in reading these stories that is likely not the intent. I would say that a lot of the writing was motivated by the sentiments toward communism during the Cold War era, and that us versus them mentality that is prevalent in American society during periods of wartime. Certainly there is a fair amount of ignorance, by way of the "Chinese language" that is used in these stories. Either with crude symbols that are supposed to be traditional Chinese text or phrases spelled in phonetic English, but are nothing more than gibberish. Clearly nobody bothered to do any sort of authentic research in the language, and frankly given the era these were written it is hardly a surprise.

Of course, when looking at the Native Americans depicted in the western tales, again there is a great deal of material that, by today's standards would be considered racist. However, looking at them for the time that they were written, it is mostly ignorance and the starched and bleached depiction of the Old West that was common in entertainment at the time. Many of the story lines involved white characters keeping the peace, not because they necessarily saw Natives as equals, but to avoid unnecessarily bloodshed and allow the continued expansion of the west by white settlers. It watered down the entire history, in that most Native Americans were willing to be ushered off into reservations while the settlers continued to expand. Lots of story about Natives being sold alcohol (or "fire water" as they like to call it) and going on rampages. Even the Apache Kid, who was the only Native American hero of the era (well sorta... He was a white guy who was raised by Apaches after all) was mostly a heel to white settlers. Even characters like Kid Colt and the Black Rider, who were apparently friends with Native American tribes, didn't do much to help them out other than prevent war from breaking out from time to time in order to maintain the status quo. Interestingly enough, from what I've read of the Texas Kid, I found that the character was the most ignorant to Native Americans and their trials and tribulations of the era... Which is somewhat ironic since one of his buddies, Red Hawk, is a Cheyenne.

Another very interesting thing to point out, as far as race is concerned, is the utter lack of African-American characters in any of these stories. Not a single black person. Which is also poignant of the time. Keep in mind, this is prior to the civil rights movement of the late 50s and early 60s. Prior depictions of African-American characters in the 40s (as I've pointed out in prior blog entries) were incredibly racist, they were minstrel show characters used mostly for comic relief, always working menial jobs, and never contributing much to any given story. However, I have to say that the lack of African-American characters at all, in any stories, is somewhat eerie. Especially in the stories from the Old West.

In fact, it's even more eerie and bothersome given the fact that most of these western tales took place after the Civil War, and the end of slavery in the United States. It is yet another white washing of history and downplaying what the realities of the era the stories took place in (the American Frontier) to the era in which they were written (Pre-Civil Rights America).

Next I'm moving on to 1953... Which is going to be a lot more westerns and more war stories. Not a whole lot else, it's going to be a tough one, even with the return of characters like the Black Rider and the Two-Gun Kid (who went on a hiatus in 1949). The only real change of pace will be the introduction of jungle adventurers like Luara Queen of the Jungle. We won't see another super-hero until 1954 during the very short lived super-hero revival of that era that saw the return of Captain America, the Torch, and Sub-Mariner plus the blink-and-you'll-miss-'em appearances of Gorilla Man, Yellow Claw and M-11 the Human Robot. I think 1953 is going to be a looooong drudge through a lot of boring stuff.