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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2022 7:46:06 GMT -5
Subjective though it’ll always be, there are superheroes that appear to be a product of their time. For instance, while the ideals of the United States of America are timeless, Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters seem very tied into WWII; I know they have been used in the modern era, but they feel like they are a product of their era, especially given Uncle Sam’s origin.
I believe any superhero closely tied to WWII might not resonate today, despite the sacrifices made by those who defeated evil during that period.
Again, it’ll always be subjective. And it needn’t necessarily be tied to conflicts. Depression-centric heroes might struggle to resonate today. Of course, some writers can make a character relevant.
What of supervillains, though? I can’t think of one, but is there any supervillain that you feel is a product of his/her time? Maybe the mad scientist trope is a little old hat in 2022, who knows?
Over to you.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2022 7:55:00 GMT -5
A whole bunch of the Red Scare villains of early 60s Marvel. Most of them were disposable plot devices who only faced the given hero once before falling into obscurity, but were common in the pages of early Iron Man stories in TOS, early Thor stories in JiM, etc. They were a product of the Cold War climate and sensibilities of the 60s and there is a reason none of them became lasting rogues for the characters. Of those Cold War villains who have persisted, most have been give a makeover to make them relevant in different times (Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo, Mandarin, etc.)
Along the same lines, a lot of the Yellow Peril villains (embodied by Fu Manchu but also the aforementioned Mandarin) were of their time and have had to be replaced or reconceptualized to survive beyond their era.
-M
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2022 8:34:55 GMT -5
Venom and Carnage. Comic books were getting a lot more violent, and the time was just really right for them. It was happening everywhere in society, TV, movies, video games, etc.
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Post by foxley on Jun 22, 2022 9:02:05 GMT -5
The various 'fad' villains who represented some particular craze of the time (there are hero equivalents as well). Hypno-Hustler came out of the disco era (predating even Dazzler) Rocket Racer from the mid-70s skateboarding craze Calculator was born amid the hype surrounding the early pocket calculators Teen Titans gave us a couple from 60s crazes: The Mad Mod (the Mod movement) and ding-Dong Daddy (hot-rods)
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Post by badwolf on Jun 22, 2022 10:20:21 GMT -5
The Yellow Claw and Egg Fu (both have been revised for the modern era)
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Post by Bronze age andy on Jun 22, 2022 11:29:41 GMT -5
Jack Kirby, Machine Man and the CB radio craze of the late 70's gave us Ten-For.
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 22, 2022 12:26:04 GMT -5
Runner, the one from the elders of the universe, doesn't make much sense outside of the amateur marathon world. I mean, a golden dude who runs across the universe? He's basically a Silver Surfer who comes from Boston instead of California.
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Post by tarkintino on Jun 22, 2022 12:33:42 GMT -5
I would say the evolved animal antagonists of Kamandi were of the time of their debut (early 1970s), when the influential Planet of the Apes franchise was a pop culture phenomenon.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2022 13:57:18 GMT -5
I would say the evolved animal antagonists of Kamandi were of the time of their debut (early 1970s), when the influential Planet of the Apes franchise was a pop culture phenomenon. I always considered them a nod to Kirby's love of sci-fi and things like Wells' Island of Dr. Moreau. Marvel already has the Ani-Men appear as villains (in Daredevil initially) long before POTA was a cultural phenomenon and always saw Kamandi as stemming from that lineage and not a reaction to something new at the time it was published. -M |
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Post by Duragizer on Jun 22, 2022 15:55:39 GMT -5
I wish Hate-Monger was of his time. Alas....
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Post by commond on Jun 22, 2022 18:21:37 GMT -5
I would say the evolved animal antagonists of Kamandi were of the time of their debut (early 1970s), when the influential Planet of the Apes franchise was a pop culture phenomenon. I always considered them a nod to Kirby's love of sci-fi and things like Wells' Island of Dr. Moreau. Marvel already has the Ani-Men appear as villains (in Daredevil initially) long before POTA was a cultural phenomenon and always saw Kamandi as stemming from that lineage and not a reaction to something new at the time it was published. -M I'm pretty sure there's no Kamandi without Planet of the Apes. Wasn't the entire premise of the series based on the fact Infantino couldn't get the license for Planet of the Apes and wanted Kirby to create something similar? |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2022 19:56:29 GMT -5
I always considered them a nod to Kirby's love of sci-fi and things like Wells' Island of Dr. Moreau. Marvel already has the Ani-Men appear as villains (in Daredevil initially) long before POTA was a cultural phenomenon and always saw Kamandi as stemming from that lineage and not a reaction to something new at the time it was published. -M I'm pretty sure there's no Kamandi without Planet of the Apes. Wasn't the entire premise of the series based on the fact Infantino couldn't get the license for Planet of the Apes and wanted Kirby to create something similar? Perhaps, but animal men in particular as villains is not POTA specific, and has a long tradition that predates POTA. In fact except for the apes themselves, there is no connection between POTA and animal men, especially those of non-simian species. So the series may be of that time and POTA related, but animal men as villains is not. -M |
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Post by berkley on Jun 22, 2022 20:50:48 GMT -5
Yeah, I think both influences are there: the immediate inspiration for Kamandi was Planet of the Apes but by the time Kirby developed his ideas for the series there were a lot of other factors too, likely including The Island of Dr. Moreau, which was at one time much more prominent in the pop culture consciousness than it is today, not only from Wells's book but from the 1932 Hollywood movie.
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Post by Dizzy D on Jun 23, 2022 2:40:57 GMT -5
Most of the mobsters/gangsters-type villains as portrayed in comics have very little in common with what remains of the Mob these days, more inspired by the various characters in movies like the Godfather or film noire.
Similar with bank robbers (though it may be different in the US, but most banks over here have no cash money on premise).
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Post by foxley on Jun 23, 2022 2:59:10 GMT -5
Angar the Screamer is another villain who feels like an anachronism. A hippie and a radical social activist who gained superpowers that allowed him to cause people to experience LSD-style hallucinations, he feels like an exaggeration of conservative fears regarding hippies in 1973.
When I checked Angar's details before writing this, I was surprised to learn he was created by Steve Gerber, who I've always thought of as a writer who was largely sympathetic to the counterculture.
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