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The Cold War was a period in history characterized by great mistrust and a battle ensued
between the two superpowers , the United States and the Soviet Union
It was also period of technological advancement especially in space and weaponry.
This also led to much fear from the public. Many citizens worried about a potential nuclear war
that would destroy the entire world. Citizens participated in air raid drills and other safety
measures.
In the 1940s and 50s, when comic books surged in popularity, a great number of superheroes had
origin stories rooted in the fear of nuclear power gone wrong. Whether via spider bite, cosmic storm,
or experiment gone wrong, these characters were transformed.
Using your knowledge of the Cold War (Characteristics and events) as well as the role Canada
played during the Cold War (characteristics such as middle power, participation in UN,
peacekeeping and events they participated in), your task is to create a Canadian Cold War
Superhero. Yes, your job is to draw one and capitalize on your knowledge of both the content
and symbolism to include the “necessary characteristics, powers of this superhero” during the
Cold War.
You will use “Marvel comics 4 characteristics of superheroes” to develop your hero and do the
assignment. You decide if your hero is a villain or not.
You will then identify your superheroes powers, characteristics by explaining your symbolic in a
paragraph.
1. Drawing of superhero
- Full page required; coloured
2. Paragraph explaining the symbolism of your superhero and relating this info to your knowledge
of the Cold War and Canada’s involvement in the Cold War
The introduction of Superman in 1938 by the company which would become DC Comics
marked the first model superhero. Indeed, the name superhero stems from the character’s name,
Superman.
As mentioned, there have always been stories and folk tales about people with special abilities and
characteristics. In the time before comic books and before the introduction of superheroes, crime fighters
and detective pulp magazine stories and characters were popular.
But what makes a character into a superhero? Here are some of the most common qualities of
superheroes. While you don’t need to have all of them, these are the basis of what the term really means.
No superhero is ever complete without his villains and adversaries, which are repeated and common
characters in their own right.
Superman and the popularity he instantly gathered would change the world of comic books and so much
of our entertainment of today. After his introduction, DC Comics introduced Batman and a host of other
superheroes to great acclaim.
Marvel Comics had characters such as the Human Torch. Superheroes would remain popular through
World War II, where characters such as Captain America battled the Nazis and other American enemies.
However, after this time, social tastes and interests began changing and superheroes suffered a decline
in popularity and importance.
In our opinion there is no age more important to the success of superheroes than the Silver Age as that
time period (approximately 1956 to 1969) largely signifies the re-emergence and the extreme rise in
popularity and abundance of superheroes. During the beginning of the Cold War, many things and people
were attacked as being un-American or unworthy for Americans.
Among the attacked were comic books, for being too gory, violent, un-educational or sexual. Following
this, the Comics Code Authority was instituted to provide a core set of rules and regulations to make
comics popular and acceptable once again in mainstream American society.
DC Comics, the innovators of superheroes and their genre decided to revamp one of their old favorites,
the Flash. In 1956 they reintroduced the Flash with more eye catching, dramatic illustrations and colors;
improved, sleeker and stylish costume designs; and more detailed and compelling background stories
and personalities. This marked the beginning of the Silver Age, and the Flash was a hit in his updated
form.
Following this, they reintroduced many of their old superhero characters who had been languishing in
their outdated models. They also created the first superhero team, which was the Justice Society. Marvel
Comics, led by the direction and creativity of Stan Lee would then get back into the superhero field.
They created their own superhero team, the Fantastic Four. Following the popularity of this, they created
many of the iconic superheroes that are still well known and popular today. Included in this mix are the
Hulk, the X-Men, Iron Man and Spider-Man.