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I looked at the superhero comic and film boom that occurred post WWI and has been happening ever since. I studied three comic-based superhero films and drew elements of things that represented pieces from the war the film took from, also including time stamps under the objects chosen. The first film was Captain America: The First Avenger, which exists because of WWII. The second film was Iron Man, which exists because of the comic made from the Vietnam War, however the film used Afghanistan to modernize the film’s storyline from the comic. The middle piece is a painting of the first superhero created ever, Superman. I wanted the original war-born hero and the comic-style drawing to be included, not as a homage, but more of a point that further proves superheroes wouldn’t exist without wars. Superman was created in 1938, post-WWI, and one year before WWII began. I named this “Hero Boomers” as a play on to the term “baby boomers,” which is a term that exists, once again, because of the war. 

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To further my understanding of the origins of these characters and stories I read:

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"Bending Steel: Modernity and the American Superhero" by Aldo Regalado

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"Secret Identity Crisis: Comic Books and the Unmasking of Cold War America" by Matthew Costello

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Fountain Pen and Ink on Paper

18 in x 24 in

2020