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ADAMS: Comic books are the dreams
and aspirations of human beings.
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There is no better medium
than comic books.
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It's the medium.
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00:00:44,217 --> 00:00:47,516
You may not like comic books,
you may not respect comic books...
5
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...but they're something that people buy
for themselves that they want to read.
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There's a reason for that.
It's because they love them.
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GAIMAN: I remember being given a box
of comics when I was about 7.
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And I loved it.
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Still to this day,
I have no idea where it came from.
10
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My father, just before he died,
I mentioned it to him.
11
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He said, "I remember that box of comics.
I'll tell you where it came from."
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And I thought, "Great." And then he died.
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LEE: A lot of these characters,
they were special and different and unique.
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And I definitely remember connecting
to a lot of the superheroes in that sense.
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This is a comic book from 1975.
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I used masking tape, ha, ha,
to actually hold it together.
17
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I read it so much,
it would literally fall apart.
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WAID: I think you could have put any
DC comic in my hands...
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...and I still would have fallen in love.
20
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My mom, when I was 8,
made me sell all mine for 2 cents apiece...
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...to Mr. West, the junkman,
in the back of the Tupelo Hotel.
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[SIGHS]
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NARRATOR: Once, there was a world
without comic books.
24
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Like jazz and like baseball,
like so much that is distinctly American...
25
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...the comic book was born
in the country's margins.
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Cheap, slight, juvenile.
27
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An orphan child
that would transform over time...
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...into something vital and strong...
29
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...but not by magic word...
30
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...or accident of science...
31
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...or ancient incantation...
32
00:02:13,005 --> 00:02:16,304
...but by the efforts of writers and artists
and entrepreneurs...
33
00:02:16,475 --> 00:02:18,875
...whose ambition was simply
to entertain...
34
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...to challenge...
35
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...to captivate...
36
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...to enlighten.
37
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These men and women of DC Comics...
38
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...let their own lives and the world
around them inspire their creations.
39
00:02:30,856 --> 00:02:33,757
This is the story of the birth
of the comic book.
40
00:02:34,393 --> 00:02:37,851
This is the origin story of DC Comics.
41
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I know I sound crazy to say it,
but, ha, ha, guess what.
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If you put the best artist in the world
and the best writer in the world...
43
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...they'll make the greatest piece of art
in the world.
44
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And do you know what you'll call it?
You'll call it a comic book.
45
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LEVITZ: New York is fundamentally
an immigrant and entrepreneurial city.
46
00:03:05,391 --> 00:03:11,192
There's an enormous pressure that boils
from the bottom of the hungry people...
47
00:03:11,362 --> 00:03:14,388
...who come here
looking for a thing they can do.
48
00:03:14,565 --> 00:03:19,059
And that inevitably goes to either
things that are new...
49
00:03:19,237 --> 00:03:22,900
...or the things that the elite aren't
interested in doing.
50
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NARRATOR:
It's the early 1930s.
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Two immigrant entrepreneurs,
Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz...
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...run a small but profitable
publishing concern.
53
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Harry was the backslapper, the glad-hander,
the salesman, the con man.
54
00:03:38,156 --> 00:03:42,593
Making people happy, telling dirty jokes,
drinking, going out to girly shows...
55
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...you know, that was Harry.
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He had mob connections,
or so went the rumors at the time.
57
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It didn't help that he bragged about
knowing Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello.
58
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He didn't have someone who knew how
to balance books and run a company.
59
00:03:55,973 --> 00:03:58,806
And so that's where Jack Liebowitz
entered.
60
00:03:58,976 --> 00:04:02,468
NARRATOR: Harry and Jack make
their fortune putting out pulp magazines.
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WAID: Not just pulps,
but what we call the spicy pulps.
62
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Lascivious pictures of half-naked women
on the cover...
63
00:04:09,454 --> 00:04:13,515
...and these sort of racy stories inside,
or at least racy for 1935.
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JONES:
About as naked as the law would allow...
65
00:04:16,260 --> 00:04:18,091
...and sometimes
sort of pushing over that line.
66
00:04:18,262 --> 00:04:20,696
People did jail time for these magazines
in the '30s.
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They were pornography by the standards
of the '30s. Donenfeld almost went to jail.
68
00:04:24,836 --> 00:04:28,067
He had to talk one of his employees
into taking the rap for him...
69
00:04:28,239 --> 00:04:30,173
...in exchange for a job for life.
70
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The handwriting came on the wall
about '37, '38.
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He thought, "Maybe spicy pulps is not
where I wanna be...
72
00:04:35,513 --> 00:04:37,811
...if the law's gonna be breathing
down my neck."
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NARRATOR: For a country in the midst
of the Great Depression...
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...newspaper comic strips were a popular
and cheap amusement.
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Collections of these, the very first comic
books, begin to appear on newsstands.
76
00:04:49,293 --> 00:04:51,386
And Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson...
77
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...a prolific pulp-fiction writer
and former cavalry officer...
78
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...is inspired to put out his own.
79
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January 11, 1935.
You go to the newsstands in New York.
80
00:05:01,038 --> 00:05:05,270
You find Fun Comics Number One,
the very first DC comic.
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00:05:05,443 --> 00:05:09,106
JONES: Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson
had a sense not just that this is filler...
82
00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:11,805
...but that new material might
find its own audience.
83
00:05:12,517 --> 00:05:14,485
NARRATOR:
The major needs business partners...
84
00:05:14,652 --> 00:05:17,712
...and Harry and Jack
need less racy material to publish.
85
00:05:18,221 --> 00:05:22,214
And in 1937, their very first collaboration,
Detective Comics...
86
00:05:23,093 --> 00:05:27,086
...the comic that would give DC its name,
hits the stands.
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WAID: Why Detective Comics?
Because it's an outgrowth...
88
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...of this whole urban culture
that is fairly new to us as Americans.
89
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And the idea of urban crime was something
that, 50 years ago, didn't even exist.
90
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Suddenly, you know,
we have to worry about...
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00:05:39,943 --> 00:05:42,002
...muggers and pickpockets
and street crime.
92
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Detective Comics was clearly
a response to that.
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NARRATOR:
After buying out Wheeler-Nicholson...
94
00:05:47,751 --> 00:05:50,151
...Harry and Jack set out
to grow their new venture.
95
00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:52,254
And with comic-book pioneer
Max Gaines...
96
00:05:52,422 --> 00:05:55,186
...they launch National Allied
and All-American...
97
00:05:55,358 --> 00:05:58,259
...the companies that will eventually
become DC Comics.
98
00:05:59,162 --> 00:06:00,891
At the same time in Cleveland...
99
00:06:01,064 --> 00:06:03,828
...two teenagers,
sons of Jewish immigrants...
100
00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,026
...are escaping the pain and struggle
of their everyday lives...
101
00:06:07,204 --> 00:06:09,934
...into a fantasy world
of their own making.
102
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Together, they would create
something revolutionary.
103
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JONES:
Jerry was the nerdy science-fiction fan.
104
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Jerry was the one who read any kind
of crappy, pulp, fantastic story out there...
105
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...and was constantly making up
his own stories.
106
00:06:27,123 --> 00:06:29,683
And Joe was the artist.
Joe was very poor.
107
00:06:29,859 --> 00:06:32,521
It was very hard for him to get paper,
to get art lessons.
108
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He found things to draw on.
He was just always scribbling.
109
00:06:35,932 --> 00:06:39,390
And they were both rejects.
They were both outcasts.
110
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LEVITZ: The kids who are coming of age
in the 1930s...
111
00:06:43,006 --> 00:06:45,941
...that first generation of creative talent
for comics...
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00:06:46,109 --> 00:06:49,806
...have lived through an astounding
moment of transition in society.
113
00:06:49,980 --> 00:06:54,508
The world is changing very, very rapidly.
Amazing things are happening.
114
00:06:55,051 --> 00:06:58,111
It's a marvelous world
in a very literal sense.
115
00:06:58,288 --> 00:07:01,553
And the comics seize
on a very visual dimension of it...
116
00:07:01,725 --> 00:07:06,025
...which is, if you can take
a human being to the next level...
117
00:07:06,196 --> 00:07:08,130
...what will that next level be?
118
00:07:08,298 --> 00:07:09,925
NARRATOR:
Jerry and Joe imagine a man...
119
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...with powers and abilities
far beyond those of mortal men.
120
00:07:14,638 --> 00:07:19,769
Superman, I believe, was the most personal
of Jerry and Joe's creations.
121
00:07:19,943 --> 00:07:23,242
In large part because Jerry
had lost his father...
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00:07:23,413 --> 00:07:26,279
...when he was 17 years old in a robbery.
123
00:07:26,448 --> 00:07:28,973
It clearly left a mark on Siegel.
124
00:07:29,151 --> 00:07:34,145
You can see how that would make you long
for a father figure who was bulletproof.
125
00:07:34,323 --> 00:07:36,450
Shuster gave the vision of the character.
126
00:07:36,625 --> 00:07:40,288
Shuster's the one who designed the
costumes, the one who gave it the visuals.
127
00:07:40,462 --> 00:07:42,953
But Siegel was completely the heart
of that character.
128
00:07:43,132 --> 00:07:45,692
You know, the passion of it
really came from Siegel.
129
00:07:46,769 --> 00:07:50,728
NARRATOR: Jerry and Joe submit
their creation to editors across the country.
130
00:07:50,906 --> 00:07:55,900
And in turn, every one of them
promptly rejects it.
131
00:07:56,078 --> 00:07:57,841
Some more than once.
132
00:07:58,013 --> 00:08:00,982
Nobody liked it. This was an anomaly.
133
00:08:01,150 --> 00:08:04,483
Nobody else was doing it.
Everybody was doing cowboys, detective...
134
00:08:04,653 --> 00:08:06,484
...science-fiction-type things.
135
00:08:06,655 --> 00:08:12,651
These two 17-year-old Jewish kids in
Cleveland, Ohio, created a genre.
136
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NARRATOR:
It's not until four years later...
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00:08:15,297 --> 00:08:19,233
...that DC finally brings Superman
to Earth's newsstands.
138
00:08:19,768 --> 00:08:23,727
That spring,
Action Comics Number One is born.
139
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And there he is, Superman,
in his red cape and blue tights...
140
00:08:28,811 --> 00:08:31,712
...signature S emblazoned on his chest.
141
00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:36,010
A modern-day Hercules,
sending hoodlums on the run.
142
00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:39,745
A refugee from a distant planet.
143
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A newly minted American who becomes
an unapologetic social crusader.
144
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Leaping through the night sky.
145
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A murderess under his arms in a race
to the governor's house...
146
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...to save an innocent woman
from death row.
147
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KUBERT: Superman, even as he was drawn
originally in his raw form...
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...was one that I felt was alive.
149
00:09:01,844 --> 00:09:06,645
Understanding or feeling at that time
that this was possible...
150
00:09:06,815 --> 00:09:10,444
...that really had a tremendous effect
on me.
151
00:09:10,619 --> 00:09:13,554
WAID: He's throwing guys right and left,
he bursts in through walls...
152
00:09:13,722 --> 00:09:16,657
...and smashes the doors,
and that's how you meet Superman.
153
00:09:16,825 --> 00:09:20,659
He's two-fisted. He's knocking stuff around.
He takes no prisoners.
154
00:09:20,829 --> 00:09:26,563
He's a giant ball of energy and force
just bulldozing his way through the story.
155
00:09:26,735 --> 00:09:28,930
Clark is there and is instantly
recognizable...
156
00:09:29,104 --> 00:09:32,470
...as the meek, mild,
bespectacled alter ego.
157
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"If you saw inside me,
you'd see that there's something big...
158
00:09:35,610 --> 00:09:38,477
...exciting and dynamic
if you'd just look behind the glasses."
159
00:09:39,046 --> 00:09:41,776
I was quite meek and I was quite mild.
160
00:09:41,949 --> 00:09:45,612
And I thought, "Gee, wouldn't it be great
if I was a mighty person?
161
00:09:45,787 --> 00:09:50,156
And these girls didn't know that
this clod here is really somebody special."
162
00:09:50,792 --> 00:09:55,661
I was very small and I was always
pushed around by bullies and so forth.
163
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So that was one of my dreams.
164
00:09:58,032 --> 00:10:01,433
I took courses in bodybuilding
and weightlifting.
165
00:10:01,602 --> 00:10:04,264
I don't know if it helped,
but I made an effort.
166
00:10:04,639 --> 00:10:09,872
NARRATOR: Action Comics introduces
another iconic character, Lois Lane.
167
00:10:10,044 --> 00:10:14,071
She was smart, capable.
She was a bulldog, passionate.
168
00:10:14,248 --> 00:10:16,011
When she saw a story, she went for it.
169
00:10:16,184 --> 00:10:18,516
She didn't think,
"Gosh, it's gonna get me killed."
170
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She would just do it.
171
00:10:19,987 --> 00:10:25,857
I loved that.
I loved her tenacity and her intelligence.
172
00:10:26,260 --> 00:10:29,161
NARRATOR:
And in Superman, Lois met her match.
173
00:10:29,330 --> 00:10:32,959
In that very first issue,
he takes on government corruption...
174
00:10:33,134 --> 00:10:36,501
...domestic violence and urban crime.
175
00:10:36,671 --> 00:10:41,370
WAID: Really, Superman was the first
crusader for social justice in comics.
176
00:10:41,542 --> 00:10:46,536
He was sprung from, you know, two Jewish
kids from Cleveland who were picked on...
177
00:10:46,714 --> 00:10:49,410
...and this was their idea
of empowerment.
178
00:10:49,584 --> 00:10:52,781
LEVITZ: There's an assumption
that there is an absolute standard...
179
00:10:52,954 --> 00:10:54,251
...of justice in the world.
180
00:10:54,422 --> 00:10:57,550
It's also very true to the immigrant
experience at that point...
181
00:10:57,725 --> 00:10:59,056
...in their hope for justice.
182
00:10:59,227 --> 00:11:02,060
We have come here,
we've come to this land.
183
00:11:02,230 --> 00:11:05,222
It will be okay here. It will be just here.
184
00:11:05,399 --> 00:11:08,129
These are families
that have come over from Europe.
185
00:11:08,302 --> 00:11:14,263
And they're watching whoever they left
behind disappear in a very scary fashion.
186
00:11:14,442 --> 00:11:17,172
So the characters live for them.
187
00:11:17,345 --> 00:11:23,113
Nazism was rising up and a lot
of innocent people were being killed.
188
00:11:23,284 --> 00:11:26,981
Countries were invaded,
innocents slaughtered.
189
00:11:27,154 --> 00:11:32,524
And I felt that the world desperately
needed a crusader, if only a fictional one.
190
00:11:32,693 --> 00:11:37,892
Superman was about the immigrant
experience in a very, very powerful way.
191
00:11:38,065 --> 00:11:43,434
It's the kid from the old country who brings
the best values from the old country...
192
00:11:43,603 --> 00:11:46,436
In this case, the old planet.
- To America...
193
00:11:46,606 --> 00:11:49,837
...adds it to the pot,
and accepts the best part of America.
194
00:11:50,010 --> 00:11:52,274
It's a really powerful set of ideas...
195
00:11:52,445 --> 00:11:55,243
...that was really important to people
in the '30s and '40s.
196
00:11:55,415 --> 00:11:57,906
ADAMS: The newsstand dealers
couldn't get enough.
197
00:11:58,084 --> 00:12:01,952
Within three issues, they were up to
a million copies. It was a phenomenon.
198
00:12:02,122 --> 00:12:04,989
WAID: There was never anything like it.
There was that Supermania...
199
00:12:05,158 --> 00:12:07,023
...that hit in 1939 and in 1940.
200
00:12:07,193 --> 00:12:09,787
We've not seen anything like it
in American pop culture since.
201
00:12:09,963 --> 00:12:11,260
Beatlemania was not that big.
202
00:12:11,431 --> 00:12:13,729
ANNOUNCER:
Over 100,000 boys and girls...
203
00:12:13,900 --> 00:12:15,333
...in the U.S. And Canada...
204
00:12:15,502 --> 00:12:18,699
...are members of the Supermen of America.
One mother says:
205
00:12:18,872 --> 00:12:22,706
WOMAN: I should like to thank
the publishers of Action Comics magazine...
206
00:12:22,876 --> 00:12:25,003
...for including a health page
in every issue.
207
00:12:25,512 --> 00:12:28,709
Billy has been eating his cereal
and drinking his milk regularly...
208
00:12:28,882 --> 00:12:30,747
...since Superman told him to do so.
209
00:12:30,917 --> 00:12:32,976
MAN:
Say, he can do about anything, can't he?
210
00:12:33,153 --> 00:12:34,450
WAID:
Everywhere you go, Superman.
211
00:12:34,621 --> 00:12:37,021
He's in your newspaper strip.
He's on your radio.
212
00:12:37,190 --> 00:12:40,353
There's short cartoons in your theater.
He's on clothing.
213
00:12:40,927 --> 00:12:43,987
You know, he's in the Macy's Day Parade
as a balloon.
214
00:12:44,164 --> 00:12:47,099
He's at the world's fair in costume.
215
00:12:47,267 --> 00:12:50,100
It's Superman Day at the world's fair.
It's a big deal.
216
00:12:50,270 --> 00:12:51,965
Everybody would've known Superman...
217
00:12:52,138 --> 00:12:56,040
...from your grandmother down to the
immigrant who just got off of Ellis Island.
218
00:12:56,209 --> 00:12:57,972
Everybody would've known him.
219
00:13:03,483 --> 00:13:06,043
NARRATOR:
After Superman's unprecedented success...
220
00:13:06,219 --> 00:13:08,449
...editors at DC send out a call:
221
00:13:08,622 --> 00:13:10,886
"Bring me another Superman."
222
00:13:11,925 --> 00:13:16,726
And for an 18-year old kid from the Bronx,
that call does not go unheeded.
223
00:13:16,896 --> 00:13:20,525
KANE: And at DC Comics at that time,
the editor came over to me and he said:
224
00:13:20,700 --> 00:13:26,297
"Would you like to create another
superhero in the genre of Superman?"
225
00:13:26,473 --> 00:13:29,033
And let's see,
I was making about $25 a week.
226
00:13:29,209 --> 00:13:32,701
And I said, "How much does Siegel and
Shuster, who created Superman, make?"
227
00:13:32,879 --> 00:13:35,245
"Well, they make $800 a week apiece."
228
00:13:35,415 --> 00:13:38,179
I said, "For that money,
you'll have a superhero on Monday."
229
00:13:38,585 --> 00:13:39,984
NARRATOR:
Kane enlists his friend...
230
00:13:40,153 --> 00:13:43,919
...a shoe salesman
who wants to be a writer, Bill Finger.
231
00:13:44,090 --> 00:13:46,024
WAID:
Bob Kane sat down with him and said:
232
00:13:46,192 --> 00:13:49,058
"You know, I've got this idea.
It's a character named Batman.
233
00:13:49,228 --> 00:13:51,628
And he's basically Superman,
but without powers."
234
00:13:51,797 --> 00:13:55,563
And the two of them sit down and
they start knocking the idea back and forth.
235
00:13:55,734 --> 00:13:57,065
NARRATOR:
And with Finger's help...
236
00:13:57,236 --> 00:14:01,900
...Kane spends the weekend refining
the character into something remarkable.
237
00:14:02,675 --> 00:14:06,839
By Monday morning, you know, Kane
comes back to his editor, Vince Sullivan.
238
00:14:07,012 --> 00:14:08,604
Says, "Here's what I got."
239
00:14:08,781 --> 00:14:11,773
And Vince Sullivan knew something good
when he saw it.
240
00:14:11,950 --> 00:14:14,043
And he said,
"I love it. What do you call it?"
241
00:14:14,219 --> 00:14:16,346
I said, "That's a good question, ha, ha.
242
00:14:16,522 --> 00:14:19,218
Maybe we'll call it
The Bat-hyphenated-Man."
243
00:14:19,725 --> 00:14:21,818
NARRATOR:
Less than a year after Superman's debut...
244
00:14:21,994 --> 00:14:26,124
...Detective Comics introduces
The Batman, hyphen optional.
245
00:14:26,298 --> 00:14:28,960
WAID: Here comes this mysterious
bat-shrouded character...
246
00:14:29,134 --> 00:14:31,728
...carrying a gangster under one arm
and swinging in.
247
00:14:31,904 --> 00:14:35,135
The first cover was unlike anything
we'd seen in comics before.
248
00:14:35,307 --> 00:14:37,104
This was new.
249
00:14:37,276 --> 00:14:41,337
NARRATOR: A superhero detective
in the urban-crime tradition.
250
00:14:42,514 --> 00:14:44,778
He takes on the case of
the Chemical Syndicate...
251
00:14:44,950 --> 00:14:47,475
...and solves it with his brain
and his fists...
252
00:14:47,653 --> 00:14:50,520
...dispensing vigilante justice.
253
00:14:51,523 --> 00:14:55,926
And it's not until the final panel
that the Batman's alter ego is revealed:
254
00:14:56,729 --> 00:15:00,563
Young playboy millionaire Bruce Wayne.
255
00:15:02,735 --> 00:15:05,067
KANE:
I wanted to be Bruce Wayne in my reverie.
256
00:15:05,237 --> 00:15:10,937
Instead of a poor kid, I imagined I'd like to
be a rich playboy and fight crime at night.
257
00:15:11,110 --> 00:15:17,174
He made himself up in the same way
that Bruce Wayne makes up this Batman.
258
00:15:17,349 --> 00:15:21,615
He was born Bob Kahn,
went for the Bob Kane name very early.
259
00:15:21,887 --> 00:15:25,482
Everyone who knew him said he got
a nose job as soon as he had the money.
260
00:15:25,657 --> 00:15:28,251
He was very dapper,
very concerned with his appearance.
261
00:15:28,427 --> 00:15:30,918
He really wanted to be,
I think, a movie star.
262
00:15:31,096 --> 00:15:36,261
And he also wanted to be a successful,
non-ethnic New York socialite.
263
00:15:36,769 --> 00:15:39,067
WAID: I can probably count on the fingers
of one hand...
264
00:15:39,238 --> 00:15:42,332
...the comic-book characters
that have ever been created by affluent...
265
00:15:42,508 --> 00:15:43,600
...successful people.
266
00:15:43,776 --> 00:15:47,177
The characters of longevity
always come from a place of oppression.
267
00:15:47,346 --> 00:15:53,342
Always come from a place of wanting
to break out of the world that you're in.
268
00:15:53,785 --> 00:15:56,686
HASEN:
We all were kids from the Bronx.
269
00:15:56,854 --> 00:16:01,848
We were all a bunch of schmucks,
talking Jewish. Schmucks.
270
00:16:02,026 --> 00:16:08,192
We were innocent, talented guys
who were schmucks.
271
00:16:08,833 --> 00:16:10,562
We never drew ourselves.
272
00:16:10,735 --> 00:16:11,861
Why?
273
00:16:12,336 --> 00:16:15,499
Why should we draw poor little guys?
274
00:16:16,407 --> 00:16:20,503
What would inspire us
to draw poor little guys?
275
00:16:20,945 --> 00:16:25,041
McDUFFIE: Comic books is an industry
made up of people who aren't accepted...
276
00:16:25,216 --> 00:16:27,116
...who desperately want to be accepted.
277
00:16:27,285 --> 00:16:31,346
So they desperately want
to be like mainstream America.
278
00:16:31,522 --> 00:16:35,720
It's why Batman's a millionaire
and Superman is a farmer.
279
00:16:35,893 --> 00:16:39,056
Real mainstream, real, real, real America.
280
00:16:39,230 --> 00:16:42,893
So they imprint themselves
on heroic images...
281
00:16:43,067 --> 00:16:45,399
...that embody all the stuff
they wish they were.
282
00:16:45,570 --> 00:16:47,561
Rich and handsome and muscular...
283
00:16:47,738 --> 00:16:52,937
...and able to handle any situation
and not tongue-tied.
284
00:16:54,078 --> 00:16:57,377
WAID: The public loved Batman.
The public embraced Batman very quickly.
285
00:16:57,548 --> 00:17:00,346
Especially when you get into the fourth
or fifth adventure...
286
00:17:00,518 --> 00:17:02,383
...and you start to outline his origins.
287
00:17:02,553 --> 00:17:07,889
The classic scene of young Bruce Wayne
with his parents out behind a theater.
288
00:17:08,059 --> 00:17:10,050
His parents are gunned down
before his eyes.
289
00:17:10,228 --> 00:17:13,061
And that's the moment that made him
want to turn into Batman.
290
00:17:13,231 --> 00:17:15,756
DIDIO:
That's why Batman works so well.
291
00:17:15,933 --> 00:17:18,697
Whatever he does,
you understand why he does it.
292
00:17:18,870 --> 00:17:22,431
He's lost his parents at a random crime
in the city...
293
00:17:22,607 --> 00:17:25,940
...and he wants to make sure that
no one else suffers the same horror...
294
00:17:26,110 --> 00:17:27,475
...that he had to go through.
295
00:17:27,645 --> 00:17:31,308
NARRATOR: Batman's popularity
soon rivals Superman's.
296
00:17:31,649 --> 00:17:35,642
And now with two signature characters,
business is booming.
297
00:17:35,820 --> 00:17:38,653
But with success comes scrutiny.
298
00:17:38,823 --> 00:17:42,759
And wouldn't you know it, before long,
the comics have their first critics.
299
00:17:42,927 --> 00:17:46,954
Comic books were still targeted
very much toward adolescent boys...
300
00:17:47,131 --> 00:17:49,258
...with the things that made boys excited.
301
00:17:49,433 --> 00:17:51,333
You know, violence and no time for girls.
302
00:17:51,936 --> 00:17:53,597
Girls are for sissies.
303
00:17:53,771 --> 00:17:57,901
NARRATOR: Pop psychologist and celebrity
Dr. William Moulton Marston...
304
00:17:58,075 --> 00:18:01,635
...pens an article criticizing comics
for not reaching their full potential.
305
00:18:01,811 --> 00:18:04,712
DC's response: Hire him.
306
00:18:04,881 --> 00:18:07,679
WAID: They hired Marston
to be an editorial advisor.
307
00:18:07,851 --> 00:18:10,445
He was very much
one of the world's first feminists.
308
00:18:10,620 --> 00:18:12,520
He also helped create the lie detector.
309
00:18:12,689 --> 00:18:15,157
Marston would reportedly
give lie-detector tests...
310
00:18:15,325 --> 00:18:18,089
...to anybody who visited his home,
just to break the ice.
311
00:18:18,261 --> 00:18:22,061
ANNOUNCER: Dr. William Marston
tests his latest invention, the love meter.
312
00:18:22,232 --> 00:18:25,963
He's going to find out whether blonds
or brunettes react more to love.
313
00:18:26,136 --> 00:18:28,627
Dr. Marston declares
gentlemen may prefer blonds...
314
00:18:28,805 --> 00:18:30,830
...but brunettes prefer love scenes.
315
00:18:31,007 --> 00:18:36,775
He had a very interesting home life.
316
00:18:36,947 --> 00:18:38,414
He had a wife...
317
00:18:38,581 --> 00:18:43,041
...and he had a graduate student
who lived with him and his wife.
318
00:18:43,219 --> 00:18:44,982
Sort of became her co-wife.
319
00:18:45,155 --> 00:18:50,092
It sounds like a very amicable
arrangement that he had.
320
00:18:50,260 --> 00:18:53,627
And somehow he talked his wife into
working to support the family.
321
00:18:53,797 --> 00:18:57,358
The family being him and his mistress
and the kids by each.
322
00:18:57,534 --> 00:19:01,402
He may have believed in female domination,
but he had some manipulative brilliance.
323
00:19:01,871 --> 00:19:04,135
NARRATOR: Marston writes
that the comics' worst offense...
324
00:19:04,307 --> 00:19:06,969
...is their bloodcurdling masculinity.
325
00:19:07,143 --> 00:19:10,738
He insists something important is missing.
That something?
326
00:19:10,914 --> 00:19:12,541
Wonder Woman.
327
00:19:14,084 --> 00:19:15,984
Wonder Woman
makes her first appearance...
328
00:19:16,152 --> 00:19:19,315
...buried in the back of an issue
of All Star Comics.
329
00:19:19,689 --> 00:19:24,217
A child of the gods, called by the rumblings
of war to bring peace to man's world.
330
00:19:24,394 --> 00:19:25,418
[CROWD GASPS]
331
00:19:25,595 --> 00:19:28,359
WAID: She was a vehicle with which
you could introduce pacifism...
332
00:19:28,531 --> 00:19:31,193
...give comics a mother figure
where they didn't have one.
333
00:19:31,368 --> 00:19:34,599
They were just full of father figures,
or angry uncles.
334
00:19:34,771 --> 00:19:39,037
NARRATOR: Princess Diana is a native
of Paradise Island, untouched by men...
335
00:19:39,209 --> 00:19:43,009
...until Captain Steve Trevor
crash-lands into her world.
336
00:19:43,513 --> 00:19:47,449
Against her mother's wishes, Diana
competes for the right to take him back.
337
00:19:47,617 --> 00:19:51,849
Driven by love,
she bests her sisters at every challenge.
338
00:19:52,255 --> 00:19:55,952
And with her mother's blessing,
Wonder Woman is born.
339
00:19:56,426 --> 00:20:01,830
A statuesque Amazon wrapped
in the American flag.
340
00:20:01,998 --> 00:20:04,398
She's not an unreasonable icon
to have been created.
341
00:20:04,567 --> 00:20:09,401
During World War II,
women took over a lot of male roles.
342
00:20:09,571 --> 00:20:12,631
She's a Rosie the Riveter,
only a goddess.
343
00:20:15,644 --> 00:20:18,704
NARRATOR: Defending her adopted nation
with a lasso of truth...
344
00:20:18,881 --> 00:20:20,246
...an invisible plane...
345
00:20:20,416 --> 00:20:21,440
[GUNFIRE]
346
00:20:21,617 --> 00:20:23,551
...and bulletproof bracelets...
347
00:20:23,719 --> 00:20:25,778
...thugs cower before her.
348
00:20:25,954 --> 00:20:29,117
And Wonder Woman soon pushes her way
out of the back pages.
349
00:20:29,291 --> 00:20:31,725
NARRATOR: Marston wanted
to portray Wonder Woman...
350
00:20:31,894 --> 00:20:35,921
...as a character of strength, but his
definition of strength was very interesting.
351
00:20:36,098 --> 00:20:43,061
It was all about the willingness of women
to submit themselves.
352
00:20:43,238 --> 00:20:48,505
That was a symbol of power
and a symbol of defiance.
353
00:20:48,677 --> 00:20:50,941
What that translates to
on the comic-book page...
354
00:20:51,113 --> 00:20:53,343
...more often than not,
is Wonder Woman tied up.
355
00:20:53,515 --> 00:20:56,712
There is a lot of bondage
in those comics.
356
00:20:56,985 --> 00:21:00,148
It's hard to convey how often.
I mean, I say that and people think:
357
00:21:00,322 --> 00:21:02,552
"Well, like maybe once an issue,"
somebody said.
358
00:21:02,724 --> 00:21:07,320
But it was like every page, ha, ha,
Marston found a way...
359
00:21:07,496 --> 00:21:12,058
...to have his artists draw somebody tied
up, manacled to walls, spread-eagled.
360
00:21:12,234 --> 00:21:13,758
You could see where he was going.
361
00:21:13,936 --> 00:21:17,599
Wonder Woman was one of the comics
most troubling to DC's editorial advisors...
362
00:21:17,773 --> 00:21:21,709
...because on the surface, it seemed
to be saying all the right things...
363
00:21:21,877 --> 00:21:26,576
...but then there were all these scantily clad
women getting tied up or tying men up.
364
00:21:26,748 --> 00:21:28,010
WAID:
The question then becomes:
365
00:21:28,183 --> 00:21:30,674
"Is that one of the reasons
Wonder Woman was popular?"
366
00:21:30,853 --> 00:21:34,152
I'm not entirely sure.
I wouldn't rule it out.
367
00:21:34,556 --> 00:21:37,650
NARRATOR:
Wonder Woman is instantly embraced.
368
00:21:37,826 --> 00:21:42,058
Mostly by little boys and servicemen.
369
00:21:42,331 --> 00:21:45,095
And America has its first superheroine.
370
00:21:45,267 --> 00:21:49,829
And she takes her place in the pantheon
alongside Superman and Batman.
371
00:21:50,506 --> 00:21:56,843
And now with three iconic characters,
the Golden Age of DC Comics is underway.
372
00:22:00,949 --> 00:22:05,648
Justice-seeking superheroes hit a nerve
in an America on the verge of war.
373
00:22:06,288 --> 00:22:11,692
And by 1945, comics triple their circulation,
selling millions each month.
374
00:22:12,394 --> 00:22:17,660
And so they would jam these creative
young guys in these little rooms...
375
00:22:17,832 --> 00:22:21,359
...just drawing side by side,
hour after hour.
376
00:22:21,536 --> 00:22:24,767
Gil Kane, one of the artists of that time,
walked into one of these...
377
00:22:24,939 --> 00:22:28,375
...said it looked like an internment camp.
It was sweaty, foul-smelling.
378
00:22:28,543 --> 00:22:32,843
Maybe one reason many women weren't
in the business was it looked unappealing.
379
00:22:33,014 --> 00:22:36,450
It was a scene of desks. That's all.
380
00:22:36,617 --> 00:22:39,017
And of secretaries, one.
381
00:22:39,187 --> 00:22:42,520
That was the way it was.
It could have been a hell of a lot worse.
382
00:22:42,690 --> 00:22:44,123
It was an escape.
383
00:22:44,292 --> 00:22:46,590
We wanted to be with each other,
the brotherhood.
384
00:22:46,994 --> 00:22:50,020
WAID: Publishers all over New York
were inspired by DC's success...
385
00:22:50,198 --> 00:22:51,961
...to home-grow their own superheroes.
386
00:22:52,133 --> 00:22:54,931
And before you knew it,
the newsstand was just flooded.
387
00:22:55,102 --> 00:22:57,798
There wasn't enough of it
to sate the public.
388
00:22:57,972 --> 00:23:02,136
There was the appetite for more.
By the time you get to 1940, 1941...
389
00:23:02,310 --> 00:23:06,269
...literally hundreds of comics and dozens
and dozens of costumed characters...
390
00:23:06,447 --> 00:23:08,574
...not just from DC, but from all over.
391
00:23:08,749 --> 00:23:11,650
NARRATOR: Here comes The Flash,
the fastest man alive.
392
00:23:11,819 --> 00:23:15,619
The Spectre, Sandman,
Hawkman, Green Arrow...
393
00:23:15,790 --> 00:23:19,055
...The Spirit, Star-Spangled Kid,
Aquaman...
394
00:23:19,227 --> 00:23:23,425
...Mr. Terrific, Phantom Lady,
Plastic Man, and Green Lantern.
395
00:23:23,598 --> 00:23:25,964
He had a mask, blond hair...
396
00:23:26,133 --> 00:23:29,466
...an emblem on his chest
and a ring on his finger.
397
00:23:29,637 --> 00:23:32,765
I never forget...
I never remember which finger.
398
00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:34,337
[LAUGHS]
399
00:23:34,508 --> 00:23:38,137
Sheldon Mayer used to go,
"Hasen, ring is on the left hand."
400
00:23:38,312 --> 00:23:39,904
I was never a finger man.
401
00:23:40,081 --> 00:23:42,345
NARRATOR: As hero after hero arrives
on the newsstands...
402
00:23:42,516 --> 00:23:44,780
...one grabs young fans more
than the others:
403
00:23:44,952 --> 00:23:46,886
Fawcett Publications' Captain Marvel.
404
00:23:47,054 --> 00:23:49,579
KIDD:
There was this sense of whimsy.
405
00:23:49,757 --> 00:23:54,592
The genius stroke of Captain Marvel
is that he's a child.
406
00:23:54,762 --> 00:23:59,790
And then he says this magic word
and becomes this big, all-powerful adult.
407
00:23:59,967 --> 00:24:03,994
Well, hello.
I mean, that's what every kid wanted.
408
00:24:04,372 --> 00:24:08,331
NARRATOR: In his heyday, the
Big Red Cheese outsells even Superman.
409
00:24:08,609 --> 00:24:12,238
And with new superheroes
come super-villains.
410
00:24:12,413 --> 00:24:16,213
Batman takes on the Joker,
Penguin and Catwoman.
411
00:24:16,384 --> 00:24:18,375
Wonder Woman battles the Cheetah.
412
00:24:18,552 --> 00:24:19,678
And for Superman?
413
00:24:19,854 --> 00:24:25,348
Luthor, a criminal mastermind
with a full head of red hair, briefly.
414
00:24:25,525 --> 00:24:27,618
And to help fight these super-villains?
415
00:24:27,794 --> 00:24:28,886
Sidekicks.
416
00:24:29,062 --> 00:24:31,860
Robin, the Boy Wonder, is first.
417
00:24:32,032 --> 00:24:33,795
WAID:
Costumed sidekicks just didn't exist.
418
00:24:33,967 --> 00:24:39,735
Robin is this young, youthful acrobat.
He's cracking jokes, he's making puns.
419
00:24:39,906 --> 00:24:41,874
It radically changes the tone of the book.
420
00:24:42,042 --> 00:24:45,239
NARRATOR: Robin gives young readers
a chance to see themselves in the comics.
421
00:24:45,412 --> 00:24:47,778
He strikes a chord
and kid sidekicks...
422
00:24:47,947 --> 00:24:50,848
...become
almost obligatory for new superheroes.
423
00:24:51,017 --> 00:24:53,611
And superheroes are everywhere.
424
00:24:53,787 --> 00:24:56,221
MAN 1:
Up in the sky, look. It's a bird.
425
00:24:56,389 --> 00:24:58,482
WOMAN: It's a plane.
MAN 2: It's Superman.
426
00:24:58,658 --> 00:25:00,626
NARRATOR:
The Adventures of Superman radio show...
427
00:25:00,794 --> 00:25:03,490
...is broadcast into living rooms
across America.
428
00:25:03,663 --> 00:25:06,097
Every week
promises a new thrilling adventure.
429
00:25:06,266 --> 00:25:10,259
But Superman also finds time
to fight against religious intolerance...
430
00:25:10,437 --> 00:25:13,770
...juvenile delinquency and even the KKK.
431
00:25:14,407 --> 00:25:18,434
O'NEIL: Superman was the first figure
outside of my family...
432
00:25:18,611 --> 00:25:24,447
...that influenced me
toward an unbigoted view of the world.
433
00:25:25,018 --> 00:25:27,543
ANNOUNCER [ON RADIO]:
Certain that Jimmy Olsen and Perry White...
434
00:25:27,721 --> 00:25:29,154
were in the hands of hate-mongers...
435
00:25:29,322 --> 00:25:31,620
...and terrorists
known as The Clan of the Fiery Cross...
436
00:25:31,791 --> 00:25:33,452
...Clark Kent tracked down a boy...
437
00:25:33,626 --> 00:25:36,254
...he believed knew the identity
of the hooded bigots.
438
00:25:36,429 --> 00:25:40,331
DONENFELD: The Anti-Defamation League
had an operative in the KKK.
439
00:25:40,500 --> 00:25:45,096
And every day, he would call us
and give us the code word for the KKK.
440
00:25:45,271 --> 00:25:50,265
And we would reveal it on Superman.
And we drove the KKK crazy.
441
00:25:51,144 --> 00:25:54,170
NARRATOR:
In all, more than 2000 episodes air.
442
00:25:54,347 --> 00:25:55,507
[CROWD CHATTERING]
443
00:25:55,682 --> 00:25:57,809
MAN 1: Up in the sky, look.
GIRL: It's a bird.
444
00:25:57,984 --> 00:26:01,044
MAN 2: It's a plane.
MAN 3: It's Superman.
445
00:26:01,221 --> 00:26:02,848
NARRATOR:
Soon after his radio premiere...
446
00:26:03,022 --> 00:26:07,322
...DC gives audiences their first glimpse
of Superman in action.
447
00:26:09,462 --> 00:26:13,626
Max Fleischer Studios, famous
for their Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons...
448
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:15,893
...adapts the hero's adventures.
449
00:26:21,841 --> 00:26:24,139
KIDD:
The Fleischers didn't wanna do it.
450
00:26:24,310 --> 00:26:28,872
They made up this insane figure
for Paramount...
451
00:26:29,047 --> 00:26:31,515
...so they would just have an excuse
to not do it.
452
00:26:31,683 --> 00:26:34,174
And Paramount said, "Okay."
453
00:26:36,054 --> 00:26:38,579
But you see every penny.
454
00:26:39,191 --> 00:26:43,093
ANNOUNCER: The infant of Krypton is now
the Man of Steel, Superman.
455
00:26:44,530 --> 00:26:46,122
WAID:
They were ambitious beyond belief.
456
00:26:46,298 --> 00:26:48,766
They got what they paid for.
It looked phenomenal.
457
00:26:48,934 --> 00:26:51,232
The Superman of that era,
he doesn't say much.
458
00:26:51,403 --> 00:26:54,065
Just rolls up his sleeve
when there's a problem and says:
459
00:26:54,239 --> 00:26:57,208
CLARK:
This looks like a job for Superman.
460
00:26:57,543 --> 00:26:59,875
WAID:
And then goes out there and kicks ass.
461
00:27:00,579 --> 00:27:03,013
KIDD:
I think the Fleischer Superman cartoons...
462
00:27:03,182 --> 00:27:07,278
...are like a pinnacle of cinematic
achievement in the 20th century.
463
00:27:07,453 --> 00:27:09,785
I'm sure people would laugh at me
for saying that.
464
00:27:09,955 --> 00:27:14,824
But they're like beautiful little poems
that I never get tired of hearing.
465
00:27:27,206 --> 00:27:32,234
NEWSCASTER:
December 7th, 1941...
466
00:27:32,811 --> 00:27:37,475
...a date which will live in infamy.
467
00:27:37,649 --> 00:27:39,708
NARRATOR:
When America enters World War II...
468
00:27:39,885 --> 00:27:42,046
...DC writers, artists and editors...
469
00:27:42,454 --> 00:27:46,049
...immigrants and sons of immigrants,
answer the call.
470
00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:49,793
The comics brim with their patriotism.
471
00:27:49,962 --> 00:27:52,829
JONES: Suddenly, they were in there,
helping us fight the war.
472
00:27:52,998 --> 00:27:54,192
Really, characters like...
473
00:27:54,366 --> 00:27:58,234
Well, especially Wonder Woman,
with her star-spangled bloomers...
474
00:27:58,403 --> 00:28:00,462
...were perfect for that kind of context.
475
00:28:00,639 --> 00:28:02,539
NARRATOR:
The Justice Society of America...
476
00:28:03,075 --> 00:28:06,272
...the first superhero team
and the club every kid wants to join...
477
00:28:06,445 --> 00:28:09,209
...dives into World War II headlong.
478
00:28:09,381 --> 00:28:12,782
Batman and Robin deliver guns
to soldiers on the front line.
479
00:28:12,951 --> 00:28:17,911
Wonder Woman uses the heads of Hitler,
Hirohito and Mussolini as bowling pins.
480
00:28:18,590 --> 00:28:22,048
KUBERT: We were in a war.
The Army and the Navy were involved.
481
00:28:22,227 --> 00:28:27,255
Boys and sons and daughters
and fathers were all involved in this.
482
00:28:27,432 --> 00:28:29,923
And so putting the superhero
into these stories...
483
00:28:30,102 --> 00:28:33,037
...meant we would be saving,
not the world, but saving our own.
484
00:28:33,438 --> 00:28:35,633
NARRATOR: Superman supports
the war effort back home...
485
00:28:35,807 --> 00:28:38,036
...rousing Americans
to grow victory gardens...
486
00:28:38,943 --> 00:28:42,606
...buy war bonds and recycle scrap,
including comics.
487
00:28:42,780 --> 00:28:46,079
The moment you put him in Nazi Germany,
you know, war is over.
488
00:28:46,250 --> 00:28:50,016
In fact, Look magazine did a piece
with Siegel and Shuster early on.
489
00:28:50,187 --> 00:28:52,815
The question was,
"How would Superman end the war?"
490
00:28:52,990 --> 00:28:57,654
And the answer was, he flies over,
he grabs Hitler by the scruff of the neck.
491
00:28:57,828 --> 00:29:00,991
He flies to Russia, grabs Stalin,
takes them before the World Court.
492
00:29:01,165 --> 00:29:02,928
And that's two pages, by the way.
493
00:29:03,100 --> 00:29:07,127
So, Superman could have ended the war
in apparently 14 panels of comics.
494
00:29:07,872 --> 00:29:10,636
CARLIN:
You can't have Superman stop the war.
495
00:29:11,008 --> 00:29:14,603
Because there is no Superman
to stop the war in reality.
496
00:29:15,079 --> 00:29:17,479
NARRATOR: And Superman's creators
don't wish to disrespect...
497
00:29:17,648 --> 00:29:20,674
...the struggles of real-life fighting
men and women.
498
00:29:21,752 --> 00:29:26,155
Many of the brightest talents in comics
join their superheroes in the fight...
499
00:29:26,324 --> 00:29:28,690
...like The Spirit creator, Will Eisner...
500
00:29:28,859 --> 00:29:30,656
...publishers like Irwin Donenfeld...
501
00:29:30,828 --> 00:29:34,320
...artists like Sheldon Moldoff
and Irwin Hasen...
502
00:29:34,498 --> 00:29:36,989
...and writers like Jerry Siegel.
503
00:29:37,735 --> 00:29:41,603
Many enlist. Not all of them come back.
504
00:29:42,873 --> 00:29:44,898
WAID: Bert Christman
was a young illustrator who...
505
00:29:45,076 --> 00:29:46,600
...with Gardner Fox, created Sandman.
506
00:29:46,777 --> 00:29:49,575
But his real love was flying.
His real love was adventure.
507
00:29:49,747 --> 00:29:52,716
So he joined the Flying Tigers
in World War II...
508
00:29:52,883 --> 00:29:56,182
...and tragically was shot down over Burma
in the line of service.
509
00:30:00,224 --> 00:30:03,557
NARRATOR: Comic books are wildly
popular among fighting men and women.
510
00:30:03,728 --> 00:30:06,595
Millions are shipped overseas
to boost morale.
511
00:30:06,764 --> 00:30:11,895
Over 30 percent of all printed material
shipped to military bases are comic books.
512
00:30:12,069 --> 00:30:17,006
LOUISE: I'm sure it took them places
that they just needed to go.
513
00:30:17,375 --> 00:30:19,240
After they came back from the war...
514
00:30:19,410 --> 00:30:24,245
...they associated comics
with the war experience.
515
00:30:24,415 --> 00:30:26,679
And the sales in comics dropped.
516
00:30:26,851 --> 00:30:28,682
WAID:
You know, the war's over and suddenly...
517
00:30:28,853 --> 00:30:32,084
...with the Nazi scourge out of our hair,
there's this giant void.
518
00:30:32,256 --> 00:30:35,851
You can't just go back to fighting
bank robbers at that point.
519
00:30:36,027 --> 00:30:39,292
The DC characters had all this might
and all this energy...
520
00:30:39,463 --> 00:30:41,556
...and they didn't quite know
where to put it.
521
00:30:41,732 --> 00:30:42,790
In the early '50s...
522
00:30:42,967 --> 00:30:46,333
...the only characters to survive were
Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
523
00:30:46,503 --> 00:30:50,269
A couple third-string characters survived
by being in the backs of these books.
524
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,432
That's it. That's your whole list
of ongoing characters...
525
00:30:53,610 --> 00:30:57,011
...that survived from the Golden Age
into the 1950s.
526
00:30:57,180 --> 00:31:02,277
LOUISE: Women were forced out of careers
that they had had back into the home...
527
00:31:02,452 --> 00:31:05,546
...because the soldiers were coming back
and wanted their jobs back.
528
00:31:05,722 --> 00:31:07,519
Again, a whole societal shift.
529
00:31:07,691 --> 00:31:13,027
And at that point,
Wonder Woman's role shifted as well.
530
00:31:13,196 --> 00:31:19,135
She went from being the fighter
to worrying more about her boyfriend.
531
00:31:19,302 --> 00:31:21,031
Wonder Woman's progress, in a way...
532
00:31:21,204 --> 00:31:25,607
...reflects the place that society wants
women to be at that point.
533
00:31:26,176 --> 00:31:30,613
NARRATOR: In the late 1940s, superheroes
all but disappear from the comic pages.
534
00:31:31,014 --> 00:31:34,780
And Westerns, romance, crime fiction...
535
00:31:34,951 --> 00:31:38,148
...and child-friendly titles emerge
in their place.
536
00:31:38,688 --> 00:31:44,217
The only new superhero comic of the era,
Superboy, reflects the demographic shift.
537
00:31:44,394 --> 00:31:46,658
With comic-book superheroes
on the decline...
538
00:31:46,830 --> 00:31:51,233
...DC follows their audience
to a new medium, television.
539
00:31:52,702 --> 00:31:59,232
Ladies and gentlemen, as you know,
I've made Metropolis my headquarters.
540
00:31:59,409 --> 00:32:02,845
And I've done my best
to give you a clean, healthy city.
541
00:32:04,647 --> 00:32:05,671
[GUNFIRE]
542
00:32:07,150 --> 00:32:08,447
[AIR WHOOSHES]
543
00:32:12,255 --> 00:32:16,692
WOLFMAN: Back then, there wasn't
anything like it. And it's just fascinating.
544
00:32:16,860 --> 00:32:21,354
This great heroic character also pretends
to be an ordinary person.
545
00:32:21,531 --> 00:32:24,466
My God, that's wish fulfillment.
That's pure wish fulfillment.
546
00:32:24,634 --> 00:32:28,001
If you can take off your glasses,
you can become Superman.
547
00:32:28,171 --> 00:32:30,298
If you wear that cape,
you can become Superman.
548
00:32:31,574 --> 00:32:33,735
NARRATOR: But Superman,
as played by George Reeves...
549
00:32:33,910 --> 00:32:36,538
...is more than just wish fulfillment.
550
00:32:36,713 --> 00:32:39,113
He offers TV audiences
a model of themselves...
551
00:32:39,282 --> 00:32:42,513
...as useful contributors
to a polite and peaceful society.
552
00:32:42,685 --> 00:32:45,813
Men like you make it difficult for people
to understand one another.
553
00:32:45,989 --> 00:32:48,685
You were warned nothing would
come of this but trouble.
554
00:32:48,925 --> 00:32:52,360
NARRATOR: But not everybody
shares that interest in the status quo.
555
00:32:55,063 --> 00:32:57,691
Our young people are getting
out of hand everywhere.
556
00:32:57,866 --> 00:32:59,197
Well, I know, Mrs. Robinson.
557
00:32:59,368 --> 00:33:04,135
Every report I get from the field tells me
how enormous the problem is.
558
00:33:04,306 --> 00:33:06,399
NARRATOR: And while DC's comics
are becoming safer...
559
00:33:06,575 --> 00:33:09,510
...other publishers are emerging
at the edges...
560
00:33:09,678 --> 00:33:12,078
...with titles like Dark Mysteries...
561
00:33:12,247 --> 00:33:13,737
...Out of the Shadows...
562
00:33:13,916 --> 00:33:16,009
...Crime, Horror and Terror.
563
00:33:16,185 --> 00:33:18,483
WAID:
Just dripping with horror and irony...
564
00:33:18,654 --> 00:33:21,487
...and they did not go over well
with America's parents.
565
00:33:21,657 --> 00:33:24,387
NARRATOR: The public becomes galvanized
around the publication...
566
00:33:24,593 --> 00:33:27,858
...of Seduction of the Innocent
by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham...
567
00:33:28,030 --> 00:33:30,760
...where Wertham asserts
that children who read comics...
568
00:33:30,933 --> 00:33:33,060
...grow up to be juvenile delinquents.
569
00:33:33,435 --> 00:33:35,699
And DC is not exempt from his brush.
570
00:33:35,871 --> 00:33:39,170
To Wertham,
Superman is a fascist un-American...
571
00:33:39,341 --> 00:33:41,775
...and Wonder Woman
is a poor role model for girls...
572
00:33:41,944 --> 00:33:45,436
...because she emphasizes power
and independence over nurturance.
573
00:33:45,614 --> 00:33:47,605
WAID: Of course, most damning,
he's decided that...
574
00:33:47,783 --> 00:33:49,648
...because Bruce Wayne
and Dick Grayson...
575
00:33:49,818 --> 00:33:52,616
...are two men unchaperoned
who share a house together...
576
00:33:52,788 --> 00:33:56,690
...that they must be homosexuals,
because it's right there on paper.
577
00:33:56,859 --> 00:33:59,191
This, of course, is absurd...
578
00:33:59,361 --> 00:34:02,387
...but all across the nation,
parents are up in arms.
579
00:34:02,564 --> 00:34:05,624
They're having bonfires,
burning comics publicly.
580
00:34:05,801 --> 00:34:07,826
They're telling children
to give them away.
581
00:34:08,003 --> 00:34:10,733
ADAMS:
Parents, when I grew up, said to their kids:
582
00:34:10,906 --> 00:34:14,034
"Don't bring a comic book
into this house."
583
00:34:14,209 --> 00:34:18,612
The same houses that kids
brought comic books into all the time.
584
00:34:19,781 --> 00:34:21,772
It was a cultural revolution.
585
00:34:21,950 --> 00:34:23,713
A very bad cultural revolution...
586
00:34:23,886 --> 00:34:26,446
...but it was nonetheless
a cultural revolution.
587
00:34:26,622 --> 00:34:31,491
So they actually had hearings
on comic books.
588
00:34:31,660 --> 00:34:36,290
Comic books are an important
contributing factor...
589
00:34:36,465 --> 00:34:39,491
...in many cases of juvenile delinquency.
590
00:34:39,668 --> 00:34:41,568
My name is William Gaines.
591
00:34:41,737 --> 00:34:45,366
I was the first publisher in these
United States to publish horror comics.
592
00:34:45,540 --> 00:34:48,168
I'm responsible. I started them.
593
00:34:49,344 --> 00:34:52,507
NARRATOR: Bill Gaines,
son of DC Comics pioneer Max Gaines...
594
00:34:52,681 --> 00:34:56,947
...is the only person who testifies on behalf
of the comic-book industry.
595
00:34:57,585 --> 00:34:59,678
A horror-book publisher at EC Comics...
596
00:34:59,854 --> 00:35:03,950
...Gaines would go on
to publish the widely imitated MAD...
597
00:35:04,125 --> 00:35:08,289
...which later went on to become DC
and the nation's most popular humor title.
598
00:35:09,196 --> 00:35:14,793
It became successful with issue four
when we lampooned Superman.
599
00:35:14,969 --> 00:35:17,267
We ran a feature called "Superduperman."
600
00:35:17,438 --> 00:35:18,632
That's hilarious.
601
00:35:18,806 --> 00:35:22,503
Uh, it was then. Ha-ha-ha.
You had to be there.
602
00:35:22,677 --> 00:35:24,076
He was a very courageous man.
603
00:35:24,245 --> 00:35:26,975
Unfortunately,
his courage sort of exceeded his...
604
00:35:27,148 --> 00:35:31,209
You know, his eloquence.
Not intending to, but he came off as glib...
605
00:35:31,385 --> 00:35:34,479
...and sort of weaselly and nervous,
which was not fair.
606
00:35:34,655 --> 00:35:36,919
But he came off like Nixon
during the debates.
607
00:35:37,091 --> 00:35:40,527
Attorney presents him with a cover
showing a severed head held in a hand.
608
00:35:40,695 --> 00:35:43,687
- Do you think that's in good taste?
GAINES: Yes, sir, I do.
609
00:35:43,864 --> 00:35:46,389
For the cover of a horror comic.
610
00:35:46,734 --> 00:35:49,635
WAID: Almost single-handedly
sank the whole ship, God bless him.
611
00:35:50,671 --> 00:35:54,198
NARRATOR: The hearings are a major blow
for the comic-book industry.
612
00:35:54,375 --> 00:35:58,368
And many smaller companies,
including Bill Gaines', fold.
613
00:35:58,546 --> 00:36:00,411
This is the way the public wants it.
614
00:36:00,581 --> 00:36:02,913
The way it'll have to be,
as far as I'm concerned.
615
00:36:03,217 --> 00:36:04,616
NARRATOR:
In an effort to survive...
616
00:36:04,785 --> 00:36:06,844
...DC comes together
with the remaining publishers...
617
00:36:07,021 --> 00:36:10,855
...to form a self-censoring body,
the Comics Code Authority.
618
00:36:12,159 --> 00:36:16,493
At that time, comic books were so attacked
for the material that they were doing.
619
00:36:16,664 --> 00:36:19,724
If that Comic Code emblem
was not on the book...
620
00:36:19,900 --> 00:36:22,095
...the book did not get distributed.
621
00:36:22,269 --> 00:36:26,296
These guys were decent family men.
622
00:36:26,474 --> 00:36:30,774
And suddenly, somebody had told them,
"You're pernicious. You're evil."
623
00:36:30,945 --> 00:36:35,848
Then they had to stunt whatever artistic
growth might have happened.
624
00:36:36,017 --> 00:36:41,455
The worst censorship is self-censorship.
They erred on the side of caution.
625
00:36:41,622 --> 00:36:44,557
ADAMS: They had comic books
like My Greatest Adventure.
626
00:36:44,725 --> 00:36:47,694
My favorite, Pat Boone Comics.
627
00:36:47,862 --> 00:36:51,093
Pat Boone and his family. Isn't that nice?
628
00:36:51,265 --> 00:36:54,860
Oh, I was just, um,
reading through this comic book.
629
00:36:55,036 --> 00:36:58,904
- Were you reading a good story?
- No.
630
00:36:59,073 --> 00:37:03,942
WAID: The characters that began as
rebellious agents against the status quo...
631
00:37:04,111 --> 00:37:08,672
...now in the 1950s, fall into that envelope
of conservative America...
632
00:37:08,848 --> 00:37:11,214
...as policemen for the status quo.
633
00:37:11,384 --> 00:37:16,048
Batman would walk down Gotham's
equivalent of Fifth Avenue...
634
00:37:16,222 --> 00:37:18,554
...and there would be contests
that he would judge.
635
00:37:18,725 --> 00:37:22,456
Or there was one, spend the day
in the Batcave with the Batman.
636
00:37:22,629 --> 00:37:26,622
NARRATOR: As Batman transforms from
vigilante to Gotham City's leading citizen...
637
00:37:27,100 --> 00:37:29,295
...Superman gets his own makeover...
638
00:37:29,469 --> 00:37:34,202
...from a rough-and-tumble social crusader
to an establishment figure.
639
00:37:34,541 --> 00:37:36,941
And things aren't much better
for Lois Lane.
640
00:37:37,110 --> 00:37:41,774
This tenacious reporter
gets to the '50s...
641
00:37:41,948 --> 00:37:45,679
...and suddenly,
she's not the tenacious reporter anymore.
642
00:37:45,852 --> 00:37:48,150
Her real focus is:
643
00:37:48,321 --> 00:37:52,257
"Is Clark Kent really Superman,
whom I love dearly?"
644
00:37:52,692 --> 00:37:57,561
Even as a child, I was annoyed
by how Lois was portrayed.
645
00:37:57,730 --> 00:38:00,255
I was annoyed by what she was doing.
It aggravated me.
646
00:38:00,433 --> 00:38:02,958
I wasn't so happy with Superman
at that point either.
647
00:38:03,136 --> 00:38:07,470
There's a suburban psychedelia
that suddenly emerges at that time.
648
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:11,201
In the '50s, Superman could represent
the men who were home from the war...
649
00:38:11,377 --> 00:38:14,141
...who suddenly had to make
suburban lives for themselves...
650
00:38:14,314 --> 00:38:16,043
...in strange circumstances.
651
00:38:16,216 --> 00:38:19,777
If you look at the Superman comics
at those times, he's no longer a reformer.
652
00:38:19,953 --> 00:38:21,147
He's no longer a patriot.
653
00:38:21,321 --> 00:38:26,418
What he is is a dad with woman troubles
and relatives from the 31st century...
654
00:38:26,593 --> 00:38:28,686
...and old friends who come back
to pester him.
655
00:38:28,862 --> 00:38:30,887
NARRATOR:
With comic books floundering creatively...
656
00:38:31,064 --> 00:38:33,828
...the whole industry finds itself
on the verge of collapse.
657
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,993
An editor said to me,
"Kid, I saw your samples."
658
00:38:38,171 --> 00:38:39,502
Said, "They're really good.
659
00:38:39,672 --> 00:38:43,073
I'm gonna do you the biggest favor
in the world. I'm gonna turn you down.
660
00:38:43,243 --> 00:38:46,542
There are probably not gonna be
comic books in the next year or two."
661
00:38:46,713 --> 00:38:51,844
NARRATOR: Just one year after the Code's
implementation, sales plunge by 75 percent.
662
00:38:53,286 --> 00:38:56,585
DC needs a new strategy
for the new times.
663
00:38:56,756 --> 00:39:01,250
It looks to reinvent itself
in the Silver Age.
664
00:39:02,595 --> 00:39:06,497
Superheroes had been in an eclipse
for almost a decade.
665
00:39:06,666 --> 00:39:08,429
SCHWARTZ:
We had to come up with new ideas.
666
00:39:08,601 --> 00:39:11,001
Someone at the editorial meeting
suggested:
667
00:39:11,171 --> 00:39:13,263
"Say, why don't we put out
The Flash again?"
668
00:39:13,438 --> 00:39:17,306
They said, "Good idea.
Who's gonna edit The Flash?"
669
00:39:17,476 --> 00:39:18,704
Everyone looked at me.
670
00:39:19,444 --> 00:39:23,210
NARRATOR: Julius Schwartz
has been with DC since 1944.
671
00:39:23,382 --> 00:39:28,410
There would not be a comic-book business
today if it weren't for Julie Schwartz.
672
00:39:28,820 --> 00:39:32,017
He and his childhood best friend,
Mort Weisinger...
673
00:39:32,191 --> 00:39:36,150
...who for many years edited Superman,
were also early science-fiction fans.
674
00:39:36,328 --> 00:39:39,195
They were among the people
who founded science-fiction fandom.
675
00:39:39,364 --> 00:39:43,300
They produced the first fanzine for
science fiction, called The Time Traveler.
676
00:39:43,468 --> 00:39:44,935
Julie was a curmudgeon.
677
00:39:45,270 --> 00:39:47,135
I started writing for him by accident.
678
00:39:47,306 --> 00:39:49,740
Julie came storming into the office
and looked at me.
679
00:39:49,908 --> 00:39:51,637
"What the hell are you doing here?"
680
00:39:51,810 --> 00:39:54,973
I said, "Uh, I'm waiting to sell Mr. Bridwell
a Lois Lane story."
681
00:39:55,147 --> 00:39:57,877
And he literally grabbed me by
the scruff of my collar...
682
00:39:58,050 --> 00:40:01,884
...dragged me out of the guest chair,
slammed me down in his own and said:
683
00:40:02,054 --> 00:40:03,646
"No, you're writing The Flash.
684
00:40:03,822 --> 00:40:06,757
You couldn't do a worse job
than the son of a bitch I fired."
685
00:40:06,925 --> 00:40:11,692
Julie was just one of those people without
whom an industry would not have existed.
686
00:40:11,863 --> 00:40:15,299
SCHWARTZ: I could have continued Flash
as it had appeared in the '40s.
687
00:40:15,467 --> 00:40:19,233
Or I could have done a variation,
something different.
688
00:40:19,404 --> 00:40:23,033
I had to put out a magazine with
a costumed character who was speedy.
689
00:40:23,208 --> 00:40:25,904
And that's all I kept.
Everything else, I changed.
690
00:40:26,078 --> 00:40:27,909
Well, the original Flash was stupid.
691
00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:32,312
The old Flash was a guy in a doughboy's
helmet with two little wings on it.
692
00:40:32,985 --> 00:40:36,580
And I think he had wings on his boots too.
Very strange.
693
00:40:36,755 --> 00:40:40,247
No offense to whoever designed it,
it looked silly.
694
00:40:40,425 --> 00:40:44,589
MAN: Observers without goggles
must face away from the blast.
695
00:40:44,763 --> 00:40:46,355
WAID:
We are in the atomic age now.
696
00:40:46,531 --> 00:40:49,591
You can't get away with saying
guys got their powers through magic.
697
00:40:49,768 --> 00:40:51,929
The original Golden Age Flash
got his powers...
698
00:40:52,104 --> 00:40:55,073
...by inhaling the fumes of hard water.
699
00:40:55,274 --> 00:40:56,969
Hard water is ice.
700
00:40:57,142 --> 00:40:58,769
It's not...
701
00:40:59,111 --> 00:41:01,477
You know, kids were hipper than that
in the 1950s.
702
00:41:01,647 --> 00:41:04,946
We're in an era where science
is gonna solve all our problems.
703
00:41:05,117 --> 00:41:08,678
So this new Flash was Barry Allen,
a police scientist...
704
00:41:08,854 --> 00:41:12,153
...a forensic specialist
who was working late in his lab one night...
705
00:41:12,324 --> 00:41:14,724
...in front of a big bank of chemicals
and suddenly, bam...
706
00:41:14,893 --> 00:41:16,588
...lightning strikes the chemicals...
707
00:41:16,762 --> 00:41:19,389
...and splashes him
with these electrified substances.
708
00:41:19,563 --> 00:41:23,192
And poor Barry gets up and he's dazed
and he doesn't know what to do.
709
00:41:23,367 --> 00:41:27,235
He realizes he's late for a date, so he starts
running down the street after a cab.
710
00:41:27,405 --> 00:41:29,737
And before he knows it,
he overtakes the cab.
711
00:41:30,141 --> 00:41:32,234
This is very strange. He goes to a diner.
712
00:41:32,410 --> 00:41:36,005
And he orders some food and the waitress
accidentally spills some stuff.
713
00:41:36,180 --> 00:41:38,273
And he sees it falling in slow motion...
714
00:41:38,449 --> 00:41:41,009
...to the point where he can grab
the plates and food...
715
00:41:41,185 --> 00:41:43,585
...and put everything back
where it's meant to be.
716
00:41:43,754 --> 00:41:48,817
So inspired by the comic-book adventures
of the Golden Age Flash...
717
00:41:48,993 --> 00:41:51,962
...he's inspired to don, really,
a superhero suit...
718
00:41:52,129 --> 00:41:54,256
...unlike anything we'd seen
in comics before.
719
00:41:54,432 --> 00:41:58,698
It's sleek, it's one piece,
red and yellow with a lightning motif.
720
00:41:59,036 --> 00:42:03,598
The response to Flash was gangbusters.
They did one issue and it sold out.
721
00:42:03,774 --> 00:42:07,335
The Flash is successful. We revived
one of our Golden Age characters.
722
00:42:07,511 --> 00:42:09,536
Hey, Julie. What else you got?
723
00:42:09,714 --> 00:42:12,274
And the Silver Age of comics was on.
724
00:42:12,550 --> 00:42:14,017
SCHWARTZ:
I liked the Green Lantern...
725
00:42:14,185 --> 00:42:17,120
...but once again,
I said I'm making a complete change.
726
00:42:17,288 --> 00:42:19,415
To show how things are gonna
be different...
727
00:42:19,590 --> 00:42:23,788
...while the Golden Age Green Lantern
wore his power ring on the left hand...
728
00:42:23,961 --> 00:42:25,553
...I'm gonna put it on the right.
729
00:42:26,831 --> 00:42:31,200
NARRATOR: Green Lantern is reborn
as Hal Jordan, ace test pilot.
730
00:42:31,369 --> 00:42:35,203
A comic-book Chuck Yeager
rocketing into the jet age.
731
00:42:35,373 --> 00:42:38,171
With the ring of power conferred to him
by a dying alien...
732
00:42:38,342 --> 00:42:41,038
...he becomes a model space patrolman.
733
00:42:41,212 --> 00:42:42,941
SCHWARTZ:
The only thing I kept was the oath:
734
00:42:43,114 --> 00:42:47,949
"In brightest day, in blackest night,
no evil shall escape my sight.
735
00:42:48,319 --> 00:42:53,279
Let those who worship evil's might
beware my power, Green Lantern's light."
736
00:42:53,457 --> 00:42:57,154
I remember that so well,
I still love to say it.
737
00:42:58,329 --> 00:43:01,230
NARRATOR: Under Julie Schwartz,
dozens of characters are reborn...
738
00:43:01,399 --> 00:43:03,128
...and given science-fiction origins.
739
00:43:04,101 --> 00:43:06,467
And even more new heroes are created.
740
00:43:06,637 --> 00:43:09,128
Here comes Metal Men, Adam Strange...
741
00:43:09,306 --> 00:43:11,934
...Metamorpho, Teen Titans...
742
00:43:12,109 --> 00:43:14,270
...and the Challengers of the Unknown.
743
00:43:14,445 --> 00:43:17,710
And once again,
the heroes band together to fight...
744
00:43:17,882 --> 00:43:20,009
...but not as the Justice Society.
745
00:43:20,184 --> 00:43:24,746
I hate the word "society."
It sounds like a social club.
746
00:43:24,922 --> 00:43:26,912
I'm gonna use a better word, "league."
747
00:43:27,090 --> 00:43:30,116
There's baseball leagues,
football leagues.
748
00:43:30,293 --> 00:43:34,627
Youngsters identify with leagues.
Societies, they know from nothing.
749
00:43:34,798 --> 00:43:37,631
And when that came out,
boom, boom, boom...
750
00:43:37,801 --> 00:43:39,860
...it rocketed into space.
751
00:43:40,036 --> 00:43:44,769
Julie revived the characters,
created the Silver Age of comics.
752
00:43:44,941 --> 00:43:47,341
His revival of the Justice League...
753
00:43:47,510 --> 00:43:50,445
...very directly led
to the formation of Marvel Comics.
754
00:43:51,147 --> 00:43:53,138
NARRATOR:
Marvel Comics publisher Martin Goodman...
755
00:43:53,316 --> 00:43:56,251
...and DC's Jack Liebowitz
play golf together.
756
00:43:56,419 --> 00:43:59,320
So Jack Liebowitz kept boasting
to Martin Goodman:
757
00:43:59,489 --> 00:44:01,514
"Hey, we have a big hit on our hands."
758
00:44:01,691 --> 00:44:05,320
Martin came back from the golf game,
talked to Stan Lee, his editor, and said:
759
00:44:05,495 --> 00:44:09,363
"DC's got this really good-selling book
called, uh, Justice something.
760
00:44:09,532 --> 00:44:11,159
You gotta do something like that."
761
00:44:11,601 --> 00:44:14,536
SCHWARTZ: And Stan Lee, the nerve
of that guy, puts out a magazine...
762
00:44:14,704 --> 00:44:18,333
...called The Fantastic Four.
It proved to be a big hit.
763
00:44:18,508 --> 00:44:23,571
So in a sense, I not only saved DC Comics,
I saved Marvel Comics too.
764
00:44:24,781 --> 00:44:28,148
NARRATOR: While Julie set about
reinventing forgotten superheroes...
765
00:44:28,318 --> 00:44:32,516
...his childhood friend
takes editorial control of Superman.
766
00:44:32,822 --> 00:44:35,416
Mort Weisinger has
the reputation of being...
767
00:44:35,592 --> 00:44:38,493
...perhaps the grumpiest
editor in comic books.
768
00:44:38,661 --> 00:44:41,858
One day, I said,
"Look, you're really mean to people."
769
00:44:42,031 --> 00:44:44,261
And he said, "Imagine you're me.
770
00:44:44,434 --> 00:44:47,335
You get up in the morning,
and you look at this face.
771
00:44:47,504 --> 00:44:49,369
How would you feel?"
772
00:44:53,943 --> 00:44:55,274
Mort was kind of a toad.
773
00:44:55,445 --> 00:44:57,709
And I say this
in the friendliest possible way...
774
00:44:57,881 --> 00:45:00,748
...but he just wasn't attractive.
775
00:45:01,217 --> 00:45:02,912
On the other hand, he was smart.
776
00:45:03,086 --> 00:45:05,850
JONES: When he really took command
of Superman in the late '50s...
777
00:45:06,022 --> 00:45:09,753
...he created this strange world
of cats and dogs and horses...
778
00:45:09,926 --> 00:45:12,793
...that were actually humans
that had been transformed.
779
00:45:12,962 --> 00:45:15,294
He made it kind of like a big playground.
780
00:45:15,665 --> 00:45:19,226
NARRATOR: Weisinger also oversees
the expansion of the Superman family.
781
00:45:19,736 --> 00:45:21,897
And the introduction of Supergirl.
782
00:45:22,071 --> 00:45:24,403
WALTER:
I actually had a copy of the first Supergirl.
783
00:45:24,574 --> 00:45:28,601
I remember thinking,
"Gotta be some trick in this story.
784
00:45:28,778 --> 00:45:32,179
There won't really be a Supergirl.
It'd be like an alien or..."
785
00:45:32,348 --> 00:45:35,475
And then I read the comic.
"Oh, my goodness. It's really Supergirl.
786
00:45:35,651 --> 00:45:37,118
It's really, like, his cousin."
787
00:45:37,486 --> 00:45:40,944
NARRATOR: DC wants to bring
the Superman magic to Batman.
788
00:45:41,123 --> 00:45:45,526
These real crazy flights of fancy
created all these amazing villains...
789
00:45:45,694 --> 00:45:49,721
...which are now super creepy
because they're so weird.
790
00:45:52,634 --> 00:45:55,068
WAID:
Bat-Hounds and Batwoman and Batgirl...
791
00:45:55,237 --> 00:45:59,333
...and all these sort of spin-off things that
worked well in the Superman universe...
792
00:45:59,508 --> 00:46:02,136
...in the Batman universe,
very quickly drove them down.
793
00:46:02,311 --> 00:46:04,609
The books were about to be canceled
in the 1960s.
794
00:46:04,780 --> 00:46:07,908
At that point, sales were so anemic...
795
00:46:08,083 --> 00:46:10,847
...that they were just gonna stop it.
796
00:46:12,588 --> 00:46:16,854
Luckily, a TV producer was looking
for something big and splashy...
797
00:46:17,025 --> 00:46:19,858
...to put on TV screens,
and Batman fit the bill.
798
00:46:20,662 --> 00:46:23,392
NARRATOR: The camp and self-aware take
on the caped crusader...
799
00:46:23,565 --> 00:46:26,864
...makes stars out of Adam West
and Burt Ward.
800
00:46:28,503 --> 00:46:30,095
LEE:
I took it seriously as a kid.
801
00:46:30,272 --> 00:46:32,968
I didn't know that that stuff was supposed
to be satirical.
802
00:46:33,141 --> 00:46:35,837
I mean, it seemed riveting
and dramatic to me.
803
00:46:36,211 --> 00:46:38,702
WAID:
It was an overnight sensation.
804
00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:41,815
Batmania swept the nation.
It was enormous.
805
00:46:41,984 --> 00:46:43,713
Batman was everywhere.
806
00:46:44,386 --> 00:46:46,149
KIDD:
They started making all this stuff.
807
00:46:46,722 --> 00:46:50,954
The licensing for the Batman TV show
was unprecedented.
808
00:46:51,493 --> 00:46:53,552
NARRATOR:
As the '60s draws to a close...
809
00:46:53,729 --> 00:46:57,790
...both the quaintness of DC's heroes
and the high camp of Batman...
810
00:46:57,966 --> 00:47:03,404
...begin to feel out of touch in the midst
of race riots and draft-card burnings.
811
00:47:06,375 --> 00:47:10,402
McDUFFIE: DC Comics
was still sort of stuck in the '50s.
812
00:47:10,579 --> 00:47:14,037
Nobody really had personalities
or opinions.
813
00:47:14,216 --> 00:47:17,674
Everybody kind of liked each other.
They were all hail-fellow-well-met.
814
00:47:17,853 --> 00:47:20,048
Justice League was kind of
the Kiwanis Club.
815
00:47:20,222 --> 00:47:22,156
And Wonder Woman was their secretary.
816
00:47:22,658 --> 00:47:24,717
JONES: Teenagers had pretty much
abandoned comics...
817
00:47:24,893 --> 00:47:27,259
...after the censorship battles
of the mid '50s.
818
00:47:27,429 --> 00:47:28,896
Marvel is bringing them back...
819
00:47:29,064 --> 00:47:35,401
...with these much more sort of relevant,
restive, challenging superheroes.
820
00:47:35,570 --> 00:47:39,233
WOLFMAN: One company was doing things
that the readers actually did want to see...
821
00:47:39,408 --> 00:47:43,036
...and the other company
was floundering.
822
00:47:44,578 --> 00:47:47,843
NARRATOR: It falls to a new generation
to make DC Comics...
823
00:47:48,015 --> 00:47:53,112
...in the slang of the time,
hip in the Bronze Age.
824
00:47:53,287 --> 00:47:57,917
LEVITZ: The first generation of editors
are largely fading out of the business.
825
00:47:58,092 --> 00:48:03,120
Companies aren't sure what to do next.
There's no Donenfeld on the floor anymore.
826
00:48:03,297 --> 00:48:05,390
That creates a moment of opportunity.
827
00:48:05,733 --> 00:48:07,826
NARRATOR:
In the late '60s, DC and Warner Bros...
828
00:48:08,002 --> 00:48:10,232
...become a part of the same corporation.
829
00:48:10,404 --> 00:48:13,840
Ironically, that newly corporate DC
brings in a whole new wave...
830
00:48:14,008 --> 00:48:19,878
...of anti-establishment writers and artists,
like Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil.
831
00:48:20,047 --> 00:48:24,381
Denny started as a reporter
and I was, um, an asshole.
832
00:48:24,852 --> 00:48:27,252
We both grew up
at the time that we grew up...
833
00:48:27,421 --> 00:48:30,185
...and we were very angry at society...
834
00:48:30,357 --> 00:48:34,589
...but not angry in a way like we're
picking irrational things to be angry at.
835
00:48:34,762 --> 00:48:36,593
There's a lot of bad stuff going on.
836
00:48:37,832 --> 00:48:40,596
O'NEIL: This was a shirt-and-tie
business back then.
837
00:48:40,801 --> 00:48:46,171
My hair was all over the place and I wasn't
wearing a suit or tie anymore, Lord knows.
838
00:48:46,340 --> 00:48:49,776
I was not an authority-loving kind of guy.
839
00:48:49,944 --> 00:48:53,345
Ha, ha, the ruination of the business
was my generation.
840
00:48:53,514 --> 00:48:56,210
We were happy if we were wearing socks
that particular day.
841
00:48:56,383 --> 00:49:00,820
Hippies. Guys whose hair was
longer than their careers.
842
00:49:00,988 --> 00:49:03,752
We'd work Friday night at the office
till 1 in the morning.
843
00:49:03,924 --> 00:49:07,860
Until one Friday, where we decided
to play hide and seek.
844
00:49:08,028 --> 00:49:10,360
Tackle hide and seek,
because we were idiots.
845
00:49:10,531 --> 00:49:14,194
At one point, Neal saw me and tackled me
and we went through one of the cubicles.
846
00:49:14,368 --> 00:49:15,858
Put a me-and-Neal-shaped hole
in the wall.
847
00:49:16,036 --> 00:49:17,867
- Now, we see we have radar.
- Yeah.
848
00:49:18,038 --> 00:49:20,165
What happens if the rockets
start appearing?
849
00:49:20,341 --> 00:49:24,038
WAID: The real clash of counterculture
started not in the books, but in the offices.
850
00:49:24,211 --> 00:49:27,009
I don't know what weird hippies were doing
in the hallways...
851
00:49:27,181 --> 00:49:29,843
...but they're doing something right.
Long-haired freaks.
852
00:49:30,017 --> 00:49:34,886
We're also the first generation that got into
comics who wanted to be in comic books.
853
00:49:35,589 --> 00:49:38,456
We're the first generation
who grew up with the comics...
854
00:49:38,626 --> 00:49:41,151
...who said,
"This is what we want to do."
855
00:49:42,196 --> 00:49:44,687
KIDD:
There was an artist named Neal Adams...
856
00:49:44,865 --> 00:49:46,492
...and you had the writer, Denny O'Neil.
857
00:49:46,667 --> 00:49:52,696
And what they started to do were stories
that were much more naturalistic...
858
00:49:52,872 --> 00:49:55,670
...and not "funny."
859
00:49:55,842 --> 00:49:57,673
NARRATOR:
Denny and Neal seek out a platform...
860
00:49:57,844 --> 00:49:59,471
...where they can express themselves.
861
00:49:59,646 --> 00:50:02,911
Not only artistically, but politically.
862
00:50:03,483 --> 00:50:08,250
Throughout the Silver Age, Green Lantern
had been off fighting crime in outer space.
863
00:50:08,855 --> 00:50:12,052
I thought of him as a cop,
but the best cop who ever lived.
864
00:50:12,225 --> 00:50:14,819
A really competent, decent man.
865
00:50:15,295 --> 00:50:20,494
But one who thought his job
was to carry out orders.
866
00:50:21,301 --> 00:50:26,830
NARRATOR: And in one issue, Denny
and Neal bring him crashing down to earth.
867
00:50:27,006 --> 00:50:32,444
O'NEIL: And we needed somebody to
articulate the non-establishment viewpoint.
868
00:50:32,612 --> 00:50:34,705
And we had this rebel, Green Arrow...
869
00:50:34,881 --> 00:50:38,647
...this arrow-slinging guy
who didn't trust anybody over 30.
870
00:50:38,818 --> 00:50:42,117
In fact, didn't probably trust anybody
wearing a necktie.
871
00:50:42,288 --> 00:50:46,691
Not all these characters were invented
when there was thought going into...
872
00:50:46,860 --> 00:50:48,953
...who they are behind
the mask and powers.
873
00:50:49,128 --> 00:50:50,891
Green Arrow was
one of those characters.
874
00:50:51,064 --> 00:50:53,658
As soon as they took him
and pushed him in this direction...
875
00:50:53,833 --> 00:50:56,165
...not only did it make sense,
it was very unique.
876
00:50:56,336 --> 00:50:59,863
It was something that was, I think,
desperately needed in the DC Universe...
877
00:51:00,039 --> 00:51:01,199
...and comics in general.
878
00:51:01,741 --> 00:51:06,371
ADAMS: First six pages of that story are
significantly important in comic books...
879
00:51:06,546 --> 00:51:08,480
...in that they broke so many rules.
880
00:51:08,648 --> 00:51:12,243
It got into black versus white.
It got into integration.
881
00:51:12,418 --> 00:51:14,386
It got into rich versus poor.
882
00:51:14,554 --> 00:51:19,048
This man was emptying tenements of
people who couldn't pay their rent.
883
00:51:19,225 --> 00:51:22,092
And a young man was attacking him
on the street.
884
00:51:22,262 --> 00:51:24,423
Not really doing much to him,
just shoving him.
885
00:51:24,597 --> 00:51:28,294
Why? Didn't matter why
to Green Lantern.
886
00:51:28,468 --> 00:51:31,494
Green Lantern beat him up
and sent him off to jail.
887
00:51:31,671 --> 00:51:33,969
And then Green Arrow
watched the neighborhood...
888
00:51:34,140 --> 00:51:37,940
...throw garbage on Green Lantern
and then explained to him why.
889
00:51:38,111 --> 00:51:39,510
"See that old lady over there?
890
00:51:39,679 --> 00:51:43,445
That young man that you just put in jail
is her only source of income.
891
00:51:43,616 --> 00:51:46,983
And when that fat pig downstairs
throws everybody out of this building...
892
00:51:47,153 --> 00:51:48,882
...they won't have a place to live...
893
00:51:49,055 --> 00:51:52,183
...and he's gonna level it
and turn it into a supermarket.
894
00:51:52,358 --> 00:51:53,916
And that's what you did today."
895
00:51:54,092 --> 00:51:58,085
Page six, an old black man turns
to Green Lantern and he says:
896
00:51:58,263 --> 00:52:03,200
"You've done lots of things for people on
another planet out there with purple skins.
897
00:52:03,368 --> 00:52:06,826
Have you ever done anything for people
with black skins?"
898
00:52:07,005 --> 00:52:10,338
"You're doing all that stuff
for the extraterrestrials.
899
00:52:10,509 --> 00:52:13,478
You're not dealing with problems
right under your feet."
900
00:52:13,845 --> 00:52:15,073
ADAMS:
Not only Green Lantern...
901
00:52:15,247 --> 00:52:20,708
...but every American you could scratch
had not done anything for their brothers.
902
00:52:21,119 --> 00:52:23,587
That was a time of change.
Remember the '60s.
903
00:52:23,755 --> 00:52:25,450
Big changes in America.
904
00:52:25,624 --> 00:52:29,116
And that was right there
in that comic book, bam, right in your face.
905
00:52:30,062 --> 00:52:33,395
NARRATOR: Green Lantern and Green
Arrow embark on a quest across America...
906
00:52:33,565 --> 00:52:35,556
...confronting real-world problems.
907
00:52:35,734 --> 00:52:40,637
They discover racism,
government corruption, labor strife...
908
00:52:40,806 --> 00:52:42,933
...overpopulation and poverty.
909
00:52:43,108 --> 00:52:46,407
It forced Green Lantern and,
through him, the readers...
910
00:52:46,578 --> 00:52:49,012
...to look at America as it really was
at that time.
911
00:52:50,048 --> 00:52:52,278
NARRATOR: Denny and Neal
grow the Green Lantern family...
912
00:52:52,451 --> 00:52:54,146
...to include John Stewart...
913
00:52:54,319 --> 00:52:59,416
...DC's first African American superhero
without the word "black" in his name.
914
00:52:59,591 --> 00:53:01,752
ADAMS:
We practically destroyed the Comics Code.
915
00:53:01,927 --> 00:53:04,987
We attacked Nixon and Agnew
in our comic-book pages.
916
00:53:05,297 --> 00:53:07,765
Governor of Florida wrote a letter
to DC Comics.
917
00:53:07,933 --> 00:53:10,595
Said they weren't gonna distribute
DC Comics in Florida...
918
00:53:10,769 --> 00:53:12,669
...if we do one more thing like that.
919
00:53:13,071 --> 00:53:14,800
NARRATOR:
Under the Comics Code Authority...
920
00:53:14,973 --> 00:53:18,636
...one of the biggest taboos
is depiction of drug use.
921
00:53:18,810 --> 00:53:20,141
ADAMS:
I drew a cover.
922
00:53:20,312 --> 00:53:24,248
Speedy, Green Arrow's ward,
was in the foreground...
923
00:53:24,416 --> 00:53:29,183
...with bags under his eyes
and the fixings for a heroine injection.
924
00:53:29,354 --> 00:53:33,552
And in the background is Green Arrow
looking on in shock...
925
00:53:33,725 --> 00:53:36,023
...and Green Lantern turning to him
and saying:
926
00:53:36,194 --> 00:53:42,133
"So you're such a big deal.
How come your ward is a drug addict?"
927
00:53:44,536 --> 00:53:45,833
Cover.
928
00:53:46,004 --> 00:53:47,062
[LAUGHS]
929
00:53:48,840 --> 00:53:53,038
Took it in to DC, gave it to Julie Schwartz
and I said, "This should be our next issue."
930
00:53:53,211 --> 00:53:55,406
And Julie said, "Gah!"
931
00:53:55,914 --> 00:53:59,873
We undid 15, 20 years of lousy
Comics Code.
932
00:54:00,052 --> 00:54:03,487
DC became the company
that brought new artists in.
933
00:54:03,654 --> 00:54:06,623
So you got a tremendous amount
of experimenting.
934
00:54:06,791 --> 00:54:09,453
You got a new generation
of comic-book artists.
935
00:54:09,627 --> 00:54:11,891
WAID:
These are all guys who saw...
936
00:54:12,063 --> 00:54:15,294
...that comics didn't have to made
by stodgy, old white guys.
937
00:54:15,466 --> 00:54:19,232
You know, they should be a reflection
of the times.
938
00:54:20,104 --> 00:54:24,040
I read everything,
but had this special place in my heart...
939
00:54:24,208 --> 00:54:26,233
...for the DC horror comic line.
940
00:54:26,410 --> 00:54:30,847
The first time I remember falling in love
with a writer, it was Len Wein.
941
00:54:31,015 --> 00:54:33,381
I just thought Swamp Thing
was beautifully written.
942
00:54:33,551 --> 00:54:36,281
It was special and weird
and magical and odd.
943
00:54:36,454 --> 00:54:39,753
And I was in love.
And these were my comics.
944
00:54:41,725 --> 00:54:45,786
NARRATOR: As DC's characters change,
Wonder Woman, too, sits for a makeover.
945
00:54:45,963 --> 00:54:48,932
Denny O'Neil spearheads her reinvention.
946
00:54:49,100 --> 00:54:52,558
She loses her star-spangled costume
and her powers...
947
00:54:52,736 --> 00:54:57,935
...and trains as a martial artist
under the tutelage of her mentor, I-Ching.
948
00:54:58,109 --> 00:55:03,274
An ordinary woman, but possessed
of extraordinary combative powers.
949
00:55:03,447 --> 00:55:06,848
And we put her in ordinary adventures
and give her boyfriends.
950
00:55:07,017 --> 00:55:09,042
Boy, did I screw that up.
951
00:55:09,487 --> 00:55:11,853
My thinking, such as it was, was this:
952
00:55:12,022 --> 00:55:15,924
She is a superbeing
beholden to a male god.
953
00:55:16,093 --> 00:55:19,654
Let us make her somebody
who achieves on her own.
954
00:55:19,830 --> 00:55:25,826
What I did, in effect, was take the feminist
icon and depower her, dial her way down.
955
00:55:26,003 --> 00:55:29,666
And then to compound the sin,
give her a mentor who is a male.
956
00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:31,740
And then to compound that sin...
957
00:55:31,909 --> 00:55:35,811
...name the male after one of the classics
of Chinese literature.
958
00:55:36,547 --> 00:55:37,639
Whew.
959
00:55:38,449 --> 00:55:41,646
NARRATOR: Leading feminist Gloria
Steinem decries this new Wonder Woman...
960
00:55:41,819 --> 00:55:44,549
...as a mere mortal
who walks around in boutique clothes...
961
00:55:44,722 --> 00:55:46,952
...and takes the advice
of a male mastermind.
962
00:55:47,124 --> 00:55:51,493
James Bond made boring
and without the sexual liberties.
963
00:55:52,463 --> 00:55:56,399
Thank you, Gloria Steinem,
for not mentioning my name in that article.
964
00:55:56,567 --> 00:56:01,504
I really dropped that one.
I thought I was on the side of feminism.
965
00:56:01,672 --> 00:56:03,196
Sorry.
966
00:56:03,874 --> 00:56:05,364
NARRATOR:
Steinem leads the campaign...
967
00:56:05,543 --> 00:56:09,603
...to bring back the strong female
role model she grew up idolizing...
968
00:56:10,046 --> 00:56:12,810
...and in 1972,
puts a costumed Wonder Woman...
969
00:56:12,982 --> 00:56:16,383
...on the very first cover
of Ms. Magazine.
970
00:56:17,654 --> 00:56:20,646
Now a symbol of a burgeoning
women's lib movement...
971
00:56:20,823 --> 00:56:23,417
...Wonder Woman, the superhero,
returns.
972
00:56:47,917 --> 00:56:49,316
[GUNFIRE]
973
00:56:50,853 --> 00:56:54,220
And then Lynda Carter comes along.
They found their perfect Wonder Woman.
974
00:56:54,390 --> 00:56:56,984
I don't know that I've ever seen
a better translation...
975
00:56:57,160 --> 00:56:58,991
...from comic-book page to real life...
976
00:56:59,162 --> 00:57:01,255
...as seen in Wonder Woman
to Lynda Carter.
977
00:57:01,431 --> 00:57:06,266
It fit perfectly for the time period
and was a role model for teenage girls.
978
00:57:06,436 --> 00:57:08,063
WONDER WOMAN:
Excuse me, that's very rude.
979
00:57:08,238 --> 00:57:10,570
- Get out of here, broad.
- It's also dangerous.
980
00:57:10,740 --> 00:57:13,538
WOLFMAN: A girl can be a powerful
character that throws guys around.
981
00:57:13,710 --> 00:57:16,577
They're not gonna stop her.
You can take charge of yourself.
982
00:57:16,746 --> 00:57:19,977
And Super Friends was the same thing
for little kids.
983
00:57:24,687 --> 00:57:27,986
ANNOUNCER: Gathered together
from the cosmic reaches of the universe...
984
00:57:28,157 --> 00:57:30,455
...here in this great Hall of Justice...
985
00:57:30,627 --> 00:57:35,155
...are the most powerful forces of good
ever assembled.
986
00:57:37,367 --> 00:57:39,631
Super Friends cartoons are
notable because they made...
987
00:57:39,802 --> 00:57:40,996
...Aquaman a household name.
988
00:57:41,170 --> 00:57:42,831
ANNOUNCER:
Aquaman!
989
00:57:43,006 --> 00:57:44,701
WAID:
That's the stuff I was growing up on.
990
00:57:44,874 --> 00:57:47,604
I couldn't wait to get to my TV
every Saturday morning.
991
00:57:47,777 --> 00:57:49,642
It wasn't quite
the Justice League I knew.
992
00:57:49,812 --> 00:57:52,679
ZAN & JAYNA [IN UNISON]:
Wonder Twin powers, activate!
993
00:57:52,849 --> 00:57:56,182
Form of a seagull.
994
00:57:56,653 --> 00:57:59,520
Shape of an ice gondola.
995
00:57:59,689 --> 00:58:01,680
JAYNA:
Come on, Gleek. Let's go.
996
00:58:01,858 --> 00:58:02,882
[GLEEK GIBBERING]
997
00:58:03,059 --> 00:58:05,926
WAID: But it was still cool to see them
on my TV screen.
998
00:58:06,095 --> 00:58:07,585
JOHNS:
It did last a long, long time...
999
00:58:07,764 --> 00:58:11,427
...because those guys, even though they're
fictional characters, become your heroes.
1000
00:58:11,601 --> 00:58:13,330
It hits everybody when they're young.
1001
00:58:13,503 --> 00:58:16,300
You get older, you wanna understand
why they do what they do.
1002
00:58:16,471 --> 00:58:19,599
And you wanna know more
about the depth of their mythology.
1003
00:58:20,275 --> 00:58:23,642
NARRATOR: While the television shows
awoke the interest of a new generation...
1004
00:58:23,812 --> 00:58:27,304
...DC's defining adaptation of the '70s
would appeal as much to adults...
1005
00:58:27,482 --> 00:58:29,143
...as to their children.
1006
00:58:30,719 --> 00:58:34,280
Nobody had thought of a superhero movie
as a potential blockbuster...
1007
00:58:34,456 --> 00:58:39,359
...but producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind
decided to take a chance.
1008
00:58:39,528 --> 00:58:43,692
I believed it could be very good
as a major film...
1009
00:58:44,166 --> 00:58:45,599
...if it would be done right.
1010
00:58:45,967 --> 00:58:48,197
NARRATOR:
With Richard Donner directing...
1011
00:58:48,370 --> 00:58:51,999
...the only hole left
is the Man of Steel himself.
1012
00:58:52,174 --> 00:58:56,304
I thought it should be an unknown
at the beginning.
1013
00:58:56,478 --> 00:58:58,503
Now, they all started working on me...
1014
00:58:58,680 --> 00:59:01,080
...and the commercial side
said we need a star.
1015
00:59:01,249 --> 00:59:03,740
There's a moment where you weaken
and I said, "Right."
1016
00:59:03,919 --> 00:59:06,149
So we started looking for stars.
1017
00:59:06,321 --> 00:59:10,587
And thank God, Redford turned it down.
1018
00:59:11,159 --> 00:59:13,286
NARRATOR:
Dozens of hopefuls were screen-tested.
1019
00:59:13,462 --> 00:59:15,862
Even Salkind's first wife's dentist.
1020
00:59:16,098 --> 00:59:19,693
I won't have to fly anywhere
after you tell me where the controls are.
1021
00:59:21,536 --> 00:59:23,834
Wouldn't you know it? Story of my life.
1022
00:59:24,005 --> 00:59:26,064
The single most important interview
since...
1023
00:59:26,241 --> 00:59:29,972
NARRATOR: But the role goes
to a 25-year-old Juilliard graduate...
1024
00:59:30,145 --> 00:59:31,442
...Christopher Reeve.
1025
00:59:31,613 --> 00:59:33,444
Good evening, Miss Lane.
1026
00:59:33,782 --> 00:59:35,545
LOIS:
Careful, you'll...
1027
00:59:35,717 --> 00:59:37,708
Heh. Okay, so you won't.
1028
00:59:37,886 --> 00:59:40,252
Thank you for finding the time
for this interview.
1029
00:59:40,422 --> 00:59:44,222
There must be many questions about me
the world would like the answers to.
1030
00:59:44,393 --> 00:59:48,295
What sets Superman apart is that he has
the wisdom to use his power for good.
1031
00:59:48,463 --> 00:59:50,954
He's got the kind of maturity,
or innocence, really...
1032
00:59:51,133 --> 00:59:53,101
...to look at the world very, very simply.
1033
00:59:53,268 --> 00:59:55,429
That's what makes him different.
When he says:
1034
00:59:55,637 --> 00:59:58,902
I'm here to fight for truth,
justice and the American way.
1035
00:59:59,074 --> 01:00:01,941
Everybody goes, "Heh, ahem," you know?
But he's not kidding.
1036
01:00:02,110 --> 01:00:06,638
WAID: It was just so perfectly cast,
Christopher Reeve as Superman.
1037
01:00:06,815 --> 01:00:09,716
Nobody else can touch the hem
of that cape.
1038
01:00:10,619 --> 01:00:14,851
January 26th, 1979,
was the most important day in my life.
1039
01:00:15,023 --> 01:00:16,615
I went to see Superman: The Movie.
1040
01:00:16,792 --> 01:00:19,522
And I saw it twice in that one day,
and I walked out...
1041
01:00:19,694 --> 01:00:23,026
...and I knew that no matter what the rest
of my life was gonna be...
1042
01:00:23,197 --> 01:00:24,960
...it had to involve Superman.
1043
01:00:26,634 --> 01:00:30,195
I remember literally running out
in the parking lot afterwards...
1044
01:00:30,371 --> 01:00:32,999
...with my hands in front of me,
pretending I was flying.
1045
01:00:33,174 --> 01:00:34,368
[SCREAMS]
1046
01:00:34,542 --> 01:00:36,942
WAID: My favorite scene in the movie
was the helicopter save.
1047
01:00:37,111 --> 01:00:39,511
Superman full-blown for the first time
on your screen.
1048
01:00:39,680 --> 01:00:41,170
What the hell is that?
1049
01:00:42,750 --> 01:00:44,684
- Aah!
- Easy, miss. I've got you.
1050
01:00:44,852 --> 01:00:46,581
You...? You've got me?
1051
01:00:46,754 --> 01:00:48,745
- Who's got you?
- Heh.
1052
01:00:48,989 --> 01:00:52,049
He's just sort of like, "Oh, good one."
It just looked so understated.
1053
01:00:52,226 --> 01:00:54,160
You're focused on her.
You don't see that.
1054
01:00:54,328 --> 01:00:57,957
That, to me, is Superman.
That's that sort of, "He's just one of us."
1055
01:00:58,132 --> 01:01:01,329
Everyone, stand back. Stand back.
Nothing to get worried about.
1056
01:01:01,502 --> 01:01:05,461
WAID: Here is a character in a world where
I didn't feel I was being paid attention to...
1057
01:01:05,639 --> 01:01:07,607
...where I didn't feel like I mattered...
1058
01:01:07,775 --> 01:01:09,834
...here's somebody who cares
about everybody.
1059
01:01:10,010 --> 01:01:13,878
Whether you're rich or poor or black
or white, Superman cares about everybody.
1060
01:01:14,448 --> 01:01:18,179
NARRATOR: A new wave of Supermania hits
in the wake of the film's success.
1061
01:01:18,352 --> 01:01:20,877
A wave that rolls into three sequels...
1062
01:01:21,822 --> 01:01:24,086
SUPERMAN: Unh!
WOMEN: Aah!
1063
01:01:24,258 --> 01:01:25,919
- Now watch the trees.
- Whoa!
1064
01:01:26,093 --> 01:01:28,653
NARRATOR:
- A challenge from Muhammad Ali...
1065
01:01:28,829 --> 01:01:30,558
...and a merchandizing bonanza.
1066
01:01:31,999 --> 01:01:36,527
And it really cemented this idea
that these characters are timeless.
1067
01:01:36,704 --> 01:01:39,571
That this is not your father's Superman.
1068
01:01:39,740 --> 01:01:41,765
This is a Superman for a modern era.
1069
01:01:43,010 --> 01:01:46,070
NARRATOR: Two years before
the Superman film swept across America...
1070
01:01:46,247 --> 01:01:50,581
...behind the scenes,
DC had hired its very own Wonder Woman.
1071
01:01:50,751 --> 01:01:53,811
Jenette Kahn became the company's
first female publisher.
1072
01:01:53,988 --> 01:01:56,980
At 28 years old,
the youngest one as well.
1073
01:01:57,157 --> 01:01:59,990
ADAMS: Jenette wasn't plucked
from the ranks of comic books.
1074
01:02:00,160 --> 01:02:04,358
She was an erudite,
experienced person in the world...
1075
01:02:04,532 --> 01:02:06,898
...and not a neighborhood guy.
1076
01:02:07,067 --> 01:02:09,558
She wasn't married to any concepts
in comics...
1077
01:02:09,737 --> 01:02:11,466
...because she came from the outside.
1078
01:02:11,639 --> 01:02:15,507
She was very much responsible for
royalties, which changed all of our lives.
1079
01:02:15,676 --> 01:02:19,806
And really came into the business
intending to make changes.
1080
01:02:19,980 --> 01:02:22,471
Jenette let DC be DC.
1081
01:02:22,650 --> 01:02:25,847
One of the first things she did
was change the name of the company...
1082
01:02:26,020 --> 01:02:29,785
...from National Periodical Publications
to DC Comics.
1083
01:02:30,623 --> 01:02:36,528
One of the first times I met her, she talked
about the literary potential of comics.
1084
01:02:36,696 --> 01:02:40,996
How you could tell any kind of story
and she'd love to be able to do that.
1085
01:02:41,167 --> 01:02:44,898
There was this revolution really happening,
and at DC in particular...
1086
01:02:45,071 --> 01:02:51,442
...they wanted to foster that new thinking
and that modern sensibility.
1087
01:02:52,645 --> 01:02:56,809
NARRATOR: DC seeks out new audiences
and again rebuilds their iconic characters...
1088
01:02:56,983 --> 01:03:00,749
...as reflections of the time
in the Modern Age.
1089
01:03:00,920 --> 01:03:03,480
I, Ronald Reagan, do solemnly swear...
1090
01:03:03,656 --> 01:03:07,422
...that I will faithfully execute the office
of president of the United States.
1091
01:03:07,594 --> 01:03:10,961
WAID: In the '80s, there was a whole new
conservative grip to the nation.
1092
01:03:11,130 --> 01:03:14,463
Some of the younger comic-book creators
were not as keen on that.
1093
01:03:14,934 --> 01:03:17,129
Chief among them, Frank Miller.
1094
01:03:17,303 --> 01:03:19,897
NARRATOR: One of seven children
from a blue-collar family...
1095
01:03:20,073 --> 01:03:23,133
...Miller moved to New York City's
Hell's Kitchen as a teenager...
1096
01:03:23,309 --> 01:03:26,870
...and established himself as a striking
new voice in comics.
1097
01:03:27,046 --> 01:03:28,274
He's not afraid.
1098
01:03:28,448 --> 01:03:30,712
And you gotta kind of be punk.
1099
01:03:30,883 --> 01:03:33,010
You just gotta be punk once in a while.
1100
01:03:33,453 --> 01:03:37,514
NARRATOR: Miller sets out to re-envision
Batman in the age of new conservatism...
1101
01:03:37,690 --> 01:03:39,555
...in The Dark Knight Returns.
1102
01:03:39,726 --> 01:03:42,160
There's something very antiquated
about the notion.
1103
01:03:42,328 --> 01:03:47,163
The effort of Dark Knight was to revive it.
It wasn't to bury the idea.
1104
01:03:47,333 --> 01:03:52,464
It wasn't to kick it around the block
a few times or do an autopsy.
1105
01:03:52,639 --> 01:03:58,043
It was to make the idea work
in a modern context.
1106
01:03:58,211 --> 01:04:01,044
NARRATOR: In The Dark Knight Returns,
after Batman's retirement...
1107
01:04:01,214 --> 01:04:03,944
...the world crumbles into a police state.
1108
01:04:04,117 --> 01:04:06,017
And now, as a man in his 50s...
1109
01:04:06,185 --> 01:04:09,643
...Bruce Wayne is moved
to don the cape and cowl once again.
1110
01:04:11,124 --> 01:04:15,356
He's rolling over Gotham like a tank.
And if you're in his way, God help you.
1111
01:04:15,528 --> 01:04:19,828
MILLER: Most of the basic assumptions
of comics, up until the past few years...
1112
01:04:19,999 --> 01:04:22,058
...everything happened
in a benevolent world.
1113
01:04:22,235 --> 01:04:25,170
You can always trust the cops,
can always trust elected officials...
1114
01:04:25,338 --> 01:04:26,828
...can always trust your parents.
1115
01:04:27,006 --> 01:04:28,997
It's unfortunate that for so many years...
1116
01:04:29,175 --> 01:04:34,044
...the basic idea of superheroes
was made impossible...
1117
01:04:35,014 --> 01:04:38,505
...by putting it in a world
that didn't need any.
1118
01:04:39,251 --> 01:04:42,448
NARRATOR: Superman is painted
as Ronald Reagan's right-hand man...
1119
01:04:42,621 --> 01:04:46,580
...the force of law and order
that must contain the vigilante Batman.
1120
01:04:46,758 --> 01:04:48,817
The whole climax of the book
ends up being...
1121
01:04:48,994 --> 01:04:50,825
...Superman and Batman trading blows...
1122
01:04:50,996 --> 01:04:53,362
...as Batman rains upon him
with kryptonite gloves.
1123
01:04:53,532 --> 01:04:56,763
And really, in that moment,
you're seeing the fire of liberalism...
1124
01:04:56,935 --> 01:05:01,895
...pound the crap out of the staid,
conservative era of the 1980s.
1125
01:05:02,074 --> 01:05:04,372
NARRATOR: The first press run of
The Dark Knight Returns...
1126
01:05:04,543 --> 01:05:06,101
...sells out each and every copy.
1127
01:05:06,278 --> 01:05:11,306
We haven't done a second printing
of a comic book for possibly 50 years.
1128
01:05:11,483 --> 01:05:13,474
Book ultimately went through
four printings.
1129
01:05:13,652 --> 01:05:15,916
Really was something everyone
was looking at.
1130
01:05:16,088 --> 01:05:17,749
Wow, wow, wow.
1131
01:05:17,923 --> 01:05:22,519
And I remember getting to the end
of the third installment.
1132
01:05:22,694 --> 01:05:25,390
Like, "Oh, my God, this is just brilliant."
1133
01:05:25,564 --> 01:05:29,466
When it came out, it was a very startling
new approach to Batman.
1134
01:05:29,634 --> 01:05:32,125
It was getting written up
in the music-industry press.
1135
01:05:32,304 --> 01:05:34,295
But it also found a whole new audience.
1136
01:05:34,473 --> 01:05:38,967
So I did a Plastic Man book years ago,
and it was for kids.
1137
01:05:39,144 --> 01:05:43,046
And this was when I found out that
the superhero audience is no longer kids.
1138
01:05:43,215 --> 01:05:45,649
[LAUGHING]
1139
01:05:45,817 --> 01:05:48,615
- I want you to tell all your friends about me.
- What are you?
1140
01:05:50,188 --> 01:05:51,951
I'm Batman.
1141
01:05:52,124 --> 01:05:53,421
[NIC YELLS]
1142
01:05:54,526 --> 01:05:56,460
NARRATOR:
The success of The Dark Knight Returns...
1143
01:05:56,628 --> 01:05:58,289
...gives rise three years later...
1144
01:05:58,463 --> 01:06:00,260
...to Batman, directed by Tim Burton.
1145
01:06:03,602 --> 01:06:08,301
Tim Burton's first Batman movie
explodes the audience for comics.
1146
01:06:08,473 --> 01:06:12,637
The size of the business about doubles
in that one year.
1147
01:06:12,811 --> 01:06:15,871
REPORTER: And to many, it's irrelevant
what this movie is about.
1148
01:06:16,047 --> 01:06:18,982
They will tell you this movie
is a happening unto itself.
1149
01:06:19,718 --> 01:06:21,652
NARRATOR:
The film spawns three sequels.
1150
01:06:21,820 --> 01:06:23,481
Meow.
1151
01:06:24,456 --> 01:06:26,890
NARRATOR:
And a Fleischer-inspired animated series.
1152
01:06:27,526 --> 01:06:31,053
BERGER: The industry was really starting
to see the first sort of quake.
1153
01:06:31,229 --> 01:06:35,029
You know, the first trembles of,
"Hey, this can be something else."
1154
01:06:37,135 --> 01:06:40,730
My name's Alan Moore. I write comics.
1155
01:06:41,206 --> 01:06:44,504
NARRATOR: Alan Moore grew up
in poor working-class Northampton.
1156
01:06:44,675 --> 01:06:47,974
An underground comic-book artist,
Moore was also a vegetarian...
1157
01:06:48,145 --> 01:06:51,672
...practicing magician
and self-proclaimed anarchist.
1158
01:06:51,849 --> 01:06:55,250
The most important thing that you have
to understand about Alan Moore...
1159
01:06:55,419 --> 01:06:57,182
...is that he's a genius.
1160
01:06:57,354 --> 01:07:00,653
I do like to try and put my finger upon
the exact nerve, if possible...
1161
01:07:00,825 --> 01:07:02,292
...of what really scares people.
1162
01:07:02,459 --> 01:07:04,950
Sort of, it's sadism.
I'm getting paid for it.
1163
01:07:05,129 --> 01:07:08,121
GAIMAN: Wherever he had taken
his talents, in whatever medium...
1164
01:07:08,299 --> 01:07:10,199
...he would have changed the game.
1165
01:07:10,367 --> 01:07:12,835
I needed a writer for Swamp Thing,
I thought of Alan.
1166
01:07:13,003 --> 01:07:14,868
I liked Alan's work and I called him up.
1167
01:07:15,039 --> 01:07:17,269
"Len Wein. I'd like to talk to you
about working for me."
1168
01:07:17,441 --> 01:07:19,033
[IN BRITISH ACCENT]
"Who is this really?"
1169
01:07:19,210 --> 01:07:20,541
[IN NORMAL VOICE]
"It's Len Wein."
1170
01:07:20,711 --> 01:07:21,939
[IN BRITISH ACCENT]
"Who is it?"
1171
01:07:22,112 --> 01:07:23,136
[IN NORMAL VOICE]
"Len Wein."
1172
01:07:23,314 --> 01:07:24,338
[IN BRITISH ACCENT]
"Goodbye."
1173
01:07:24,515 --> 01:07:25,539
He hung up on me.
1174
01:07:25,716 --> 01:07:28,651
I thought one of my friends was
playing a joke...
1175
01:07:28,819 --> 01:07:30,650
...putting on a funny American accent.
1176
01:07:30,821 --> 01:07:32,880
But, no, it was the real Len Wein.
1177
01:07:33,057 --> 01:07:35,491
And he said,
"Would you like to write Swamp Thing?"
1178
01:07:35,659 --> 01:07:39,060
And, you know, when I'd picked myself up
off the floor, I said yes.
1179
01:07:39,230 --> 01:07:43,894
"I'd love to, but do I have to do exactly
what you did?" I said, "I hope not."
1180
01:07:44,468 --> 01:07:48,427
NARRATOR: The Swamp Thing had always
been a man transformed into a monster.
1181
01:07:48,739 --> 01:07:50,263
Moore reverses it.
1182
01:07:50,441 --> 01:07:54,343
Creates, in his words,
"a plant with delusions of grandeur...
1183
01:07:54,511 --> 01:07:56,945
...a monster who thinks it's a man."
1184
01:07:57,114 --> 01:08:01,949
I'd given up on comics
and I picked up a Swamp Thing.
1185
01:08:02,119 --> 01:08:06,112
I loved the intelligence.
I loved the passion.
1186
01:08:06,290 --> 01:08:08,952
And Alan had brought me back.
1187
01:08:09,126 --> 01:08:13,153
The next big project of Alan's,
of course, after that was Watchmen...
1188
01:08:13,330 --> 01:08:16,891
...which was just this absolute
and utter game-changer.
1189
01:08:17,735 --> 01:08:22,172
MOORE: Watchmen actually examined
the implications of the superhero.
1190
01:08:22,339 --> 01:08:26,298
If these absurd characters were real,
just what they'd do to the world.
1191
01:08:26,477 --> 01:08:31,938
If there had been a Superman ever,
the world would be unrecognizable.
1192
01:08:32,116 --> 01:08:35,142
I don't want everybody to agree with me.
I want people to think.
1193
01:08:35,319 --> 01:08:38,777
Seems anything these days which is
slightly to the left of Genghis Khan...
1194
01:08:38,956 --> 01:08:40,685
...is immediately labeled subversive.
1195
01:08:40,858 --> 01:08:43,019
If in this current time...
1196
01:08:43,193 --> 01:08:47,687
...tolerance and sensitivity of any kind
are labeled "loony left" or "subversive"...
1197
01:08:47,865 --> 01:08:50,663
...then I would be quite proud
to be considered a subversive.
1198
01:08:51,935 --> 01:08:53,493
WAID: The whole concept
of Watchmen is...
1199
01:08:53,670 --> 01:08:55,501
...very much a reaction
to Thatcher's England.
1200
01:08:55,672 --> 01:09:00,302
That very Orwellian sense
of government power...
1201
01:09:00,476 --> 01:09:05,175
...and sense of censorship and sense of
personal freedoms being curtailed.
1202
01:09:05,748 --> 01:09:07,375
MOORE:
What frightens people these days...
1203
01:09:07,550 --> 01:09:09,745
...is not the idea of a werewolf
jumping out at them.
1204
01:09:09,919 --> 01:09:13,821
It's the idea of a nuclear war coursing
through our society at the moment.
1205
01:09:13,990 --> 01:09:16,390
And I think that
to really frighten people...
1206
01:09:16,559 --> 01:09:20,325
...you have to somehow ground the horror
in their own experience...
1207
01:09:20,496 --> 01:09:22,225
...things that they're frightened of.
1208
01:09:22,398 --> 01:09:26,858
Watchmen just sort of stretched the limits
of what we thought a comic book was...
1209
01:09:27,036 --> 01:09:31,063
...and found a way to use superheroes
or genre conventions...
1210
01:09:31,240 --> 01:09:33,800
...as a metaphor for talking about
the Cold War.
1211
01:09:33,977 --> 01:09:36,673
It was like, wow,
these things can be about something.
1212
01:09:36,846 --> 01:09:39,406
Superhero stories can actually be
about something.
1213
01:09:39,582 --> 01:09:42,073
POPE: I remember being a teenager
reading those at the time.
1214
01:09:42,251 --> 01:09:47,188
There was something you could show your
college professor or your doubting uncle.
1215
01:09:47,357 --> 01:09:50,417
And he'd say, "Wow, you know,
this is a literary work."
1216
01:09:51,127 --> 01:09:53,118
JONES: Watchmen was the culmination
of something...
1217
01:09:53,296 --> 01:09:56,993
...that had been happening for years which
people were calling the British Invasion.
1218
01:09:57,166 --> 01:09:59,498
It was a bunch of
English writers and artists...
1219
01:09:59,669 --> 01:10:01,899
...suddenly being brought in, mainly by DC.
1220
01:10:02,305 --> 01:10:03,932
NARRATOR:
Editor Karen Berger is tasked...
1221
01:10:04,107 --> 01:10:07,508
...with finding more
up-and-coming U.K. Artists and writers.
1222
01:10:07,677 --> 01:10:10,510
BERGER: For me, being a woman
coming from outside of comics...
1223
01:10:10,680 --> 01:10:13,308
...what they were doing was the stuff
that interested me.
1224
01:10:13,483 --> 01:10:15,348
What they wanted to do,
to change things.
1225
01:10:15,518 --> 01:10:19,454
They wanted to mature comics.
They wanted to be provocative.
1226
01:10:19,622 --> 01:10:23,114
We had a whole generation of people
who'd grown up reading this...
1227
01:10:23,292 --> 01:10:26,227
...had been obsessed by it,
always imagined doing it.
1228
01:10:26,396 --> 01:10:29,797
And to finally get this chance
was just unbelievable.
1229
01:10:29,966 --> 01:10:32,935
People lived up to the sense
that we've got something to prove.
1230
01:10:33,269 --> 01:10:36,136
GAIMAN: I'd really wanted to write comics.
That's what I wanted to do.
1231
01:10:36,305 --> 01:10:37,932
An ambition I gave up...
1232
01:10:38,107 --> 01:10:41,804
...after an unsatisfactory
meeting with a careers counselor.
1233
01:10:41,978 --> 01:10:44,947
I explained that I wanted to write
American comics.
1234
01:10:45,114 --> 01:10:47,241
He sat there and stared at me.
After a while, he said:
1235
01:10:47,417 --> 01:10:49,408
"Ever thought about accountancy?"
1236
01:10:50,620 --> 01:10:56,422
For years, I had to explain to people
that comics was a medium and not a genre.
1237
01:10:57,193 --> 01:10:58,284
It is an empty bottle...
1238
01:10:58,460 --> 01:11:01,224
...and you can put anything you like
in that bottle.
1239
01:11:01,396 --> 01:11:03,728
NARRATOR: In Neil Gaiman's reinvention
of The Sandman...
1240
01:11:03,899 --> 01:11:08,836
...an amateur sorcerer seeking
everlasting life sets out to trap Death.
1241
01:11:09,204 --> 01:11:14,699
And mistakenly snares her brother, Dream,
the Sandman, instead.
1242
01:11:15,644 --> 01:11:20,946
After seven decades of captivity,
Dream is released and takes his revenge.
1243
01:11:21,116 --> 01:11:24,677
No one cared about the concept
of the Sandman...
1244
01:11:24,853 --> 01:11:27,413
...until Neil Gaiman reinvented it.
1245
01:11:27,956 --> 01:11:31,915
GAIMAN: Sandman really was a comic
that I was writing to please myself.
1246
01:11:32,094 --> 01:11:36,497
I think there are lots of other people
who like the same kind of stuff that I like.
1247
01:11:36,731 --> 01:11:39,029
NARRATOR: The mythos
Neil Gaiman creates in Sandman...
1248
01:11:39,201 --> 01:11:43,638
...soon outstrips sales of DC's
flagship character, Superman.
1249
01:11:44,005 --> 01:11:46,872
And Sandman brings with it
a whole new audience.
1250
01:11:47,042 --> 01:11:52,344
Every 14-year-old goth girl in the world
is reading Sandman.
1251
01:11:52,514 --> 01:11:58,851
And the giant influx of new readers
we have is unbelievable.
1252
01:11:59,020 --> 01:12:03,218
That comic became one of the most literate,
most well-drawn...
1253
01:12:03,391 --> 01:12:05,791
...most well-written comics
that we've ever done.
1254
01:12:05,961 --> 01:12:08,691
DC's realized it needs to create
an imprint for that stuff.
1255
01:12:08,864 --> 01:12:11,162
It has a unique and distinct voice
of its own.
1256
01:12:11,333 --> 01:12:14,268
BERGER: There was that fire.
There was that creative sensibility.
1257
01:12:14,436 --> 01:12:20,966
We were doing this whole bunch of cool,
edgy, irreverent, literate comics.
1258
01:12:21,143 --> 01:12:24,772
It was V for Vendetta. It was Sandman.
It was Animal Man. It was Hellblazer.
1259
01:12:24,946 --> 01:12:26,538
It was Shade the Changing Man.
1260
01:12:26,715 --> 01:12:29,707
It was Swamp Thing,
Doom Patrol, Books of Magic.
1261
01:12:29,885 --> 01:12:31,648
They said, "What would you like to do?
1262
01:12:31,820 --> 01:12:34,448
Would you like an imprint
or to do something on your own?
1263
01:12:34,623 --> 01:12:38,889
You know, separate it from the rest of,
you know, the superhero stuff."
1264
01:12:39,060 --> 01:12:41,722
I'm like, "Are you crazy?
Of course I'd love that."
1265
01:12:42,297 --> 01:12:44,857
That's pretty much how Vertigo started.
1266
01:12:45,433 --> 01:12:47,162
NARRATOR:
Under editor Karen Berger...
1267
01:12:47,335 --> 01:12:50,600
...Vertigo becomes the imprint
for mature audiences...
1268
01:12:50,772 --> 01:12:53,434
...grabbing the attention
of the mainstream press...
1269
01:12:53,608 --> 01:12:55,701
...inventing and reinventing genres...
1270
01:12:55,877 --> 01:12:59,677
...and consistently pushing the boundaries
of what constitutes a comic.
1271
01:12:59,848 --> 01:13:01,873
BERGER: If we're talking
about making comics relevant...
1272
01:13:02,050 --> 01:13:04,280
...and treating this as a real literary form...
1273
01:13:04,452 --> 01:13:09,388
...you gotta let people, you know, create
their own work and have a stake in it.
1274
01:13:10,291 --> 01:13:14,250
NARRATOR: In 1993, minority creators
come together to form Milestone...
1275
01:13:14,428 --> 01:13:17,591
...with Dwayne McDuffie
as editor-in-chief.
1276
01:13:17,765 --> 01:13:22,395
Blacks in comics for many, many,
many years were drawn as subhuman.
1277
01:13:22,570 --> 01:13:26,028
The Spirit, which is a relatively
realistically drawn comic.
1278
01:13:26,207 --> 01:13:27,970
Ebony White could have been a gremlin.
1279
01:13:28,142 --> 01:13:32,078
I'm not sure a modern reader would
understand that he was human.
1280
01:13:32,246 --> 01:13:36,615
You just got into the habit of looking
past that so you could have entertainment.
1281
01:13:36,784 --> 01:13:39,116
The few black characters who had
their own books...
1282
01:13:39,286 --> 01:13:42,221
...were mostly the children
of blaxploitation movie fad.
1283
01:13:42,389 --> 01:13:44,755
As much like Shaft
as they could get away with.
1284
01:13:44,925 --> 01:13:47,894
I just never had met anyone...
1285
01:13:48,062 --> 01:13:51,623
...who was anything like
the black characters who existed in comics.
1286
01:13:51,799 --> 01:13:56,964
DC was very experimental,
very open to new voices and new ideas...
1287
01:13:57,137 --> 01:14:00,265
...which was really the biggest part
of Milestone.
1288
01:14:00,874 --> 01:14:02,933
NARRATOR:
Milestone initially launches four titles...
1289
01:14:03,110 --> 01:14:06,238
...that far outsell founders' expectations.
1290
01:14:06,413 --> 01:14:09,177
And Static is adapted
into a popular animated series.
1291
01:14:10,751 --> 01:14:11,979
The industry changed.
1292
01:14:12,152 --> 01:14:16,714
It used to be dominated by white men.
That's changed. That's good.
1293
01:14:16,890 --> 01:14:20,986
We're attracting a broader audience
and I think the stories are more interesting.
1294
01:14:21,528 --> 01:14:22,893
NARRATOR:
A South Korean immigrant...
1295
01:14:23,063 --> 01:14:24,860
...Jim Lee turned away
from pre-med studies...
1296
01:14:25,032 --> 01:14:26,693
...to pursue his love of comics.
1297
01:14:27,368 --> 01:14:32,169
He became a massively popular artist
and in 1992, founds WildStorm.
1298
01:14:33,540 --> 01:14:36,202
We really did it because we wanted
to change things...
1299
01:14:36,377 --> 01:14:38,777
...and control the stuff that
we were doing.
1300
01:14:38,946 --> 01:14:41,176
NARRATOR:
WildStorm goes on to merge with DC...
1301
01:14:41,348 --> 01:14:45,876
...and the partnership continues
to produce popular and enduring titles.
1302
01:14:46,053 --> 01:14:50,888
While Vertigo, Milestone and WildStorm
are all reaching new audiences...
1303
01:14:51,058 --> 01:14:53,993
...Superman has again
fallen out of touch with his.
1304
01:14:54,161 --> 01:14:58,495
A decade past the success of the films,
sales are lagging.
1305
01:14:58,666 --> 01:15:00,691
CARLIN: Started having
what we called Super Summits.
1306
01:15:00,868 --> 01:15:05,202
Everybody would get together,
plan a year's worth of stories.
1307
01:15:05,372 --> 01:15:11,004
We had plotted out a continuity
that involved Superman getting married.
1308
01:15:11,178 --> 01:15:13,737
CARLIN: Jenette Kahn
managed to interest Hollywood...
1309
01:15:13,913 --> 01:15:16,473
...in doing a Lois & Clark television show.
1310
01:15:16,649 --> 01:15:21,143
And we said, "Ooh, gee, maybe
we shouldn't get them married just yet.
1311
01:15:21,321 --> 01:15:24,688
Maybe they get married on the show
and we do the comic at the same time."
1312
01:15:24,857 --> 01:15:26,825
Went to the room of writers and artists...
1313
01:15:26,993 --> 01:15:29,655
...told them we weren't gonna do the story
they'd planned.
1314
01:15:29,829 --> 01:15:33,731
A whole year's worth of continuity that
we just plotted is, whoosh, out the window.
1315
01:15:33,900 --> 01:15:37,893
Jerry said, as he always did,
"Let's just kill him."
1316
01:15:38,071 --> 01:15:39,095
[ORDWAY LAUGHS]
1317
01:15:39,272 --> 01:15:42,400
LOUISE: Up to this point, we'd say,
"Ha-ha-ha, yeah, Jerry, that's right."
1318
01:15:42,575 --> 01:15:45,009
This time, we said, "You know..."
1319
01:15:45,178 --> 01:15:48,705
We thought that the world wasn't really
as appreciative of Superman...
1320
01:15:48,881 --> 01:15:50,576
...as they ought to be.
1321
01:15:50,750 --> 01:15:54,880
And we thought, well, let them see what
a world without Superman might be like.
1322
01:15:55,988 --> 01:16:00,584
LEVITZ: A comic fan who works for
the Miami Herald decides to write about it...
1323
01:16:00,760 --> 01:16:04,196
...and the whole world stops and says,
"This is important."
1324
01:16:04,364 --> 01:16:07,800
Of course he's coming back. Does anyone
believe they're killing Superman?
1325
01:16:07,967 --> 01:16:09,628
You know? And people did.
1326
01:16:11,771 --> 01:16:14,035
NARRATOR:
Superman meets his match in Doomsday...
1327
01:16:14,207 --> 01:16:17,040
...an indestructible monster
from the depths of the earth.
1328
01:16:17,210 --> 01:16:20,873
With every issue, the art grows
with Superman's peril.
1329
01:16:21,047 --> 01:16:26,451
From four panels to three
to two until the death issue itself...
1330
01:16:26,619 --> 01:16:32,251
...all full-page panels of the slugfest
that kills the Man of Steel.
1331
01:16:33,426 --> 01:16:36,327
LOUISE: And then we get to do the world
without Superman.
1332
01:16:36,496 --> 01:16:42,332
How his death affects all of his friends
and all the city and the world.
1333
01:16:42,502 --> 01:16:46,461
Superman's funeral cortege
moves through Metropolis...
1334
01:16:46,639 --> 01:16:48,903
...and affects people as it passes.
1335
01:16:49,642 --> 01:16:53,601
People try to become...
1336
01:16:53,780 --> 01:16:57,614
In a way, embody Superman
as they see him.
1337
01:16:57,784 --> 01:17:00,412
Every time I talk about it,
I burst into tears.
1338
01:17:01,254 --> 01:17:04,121
And then his parents...
I actually love the scene...
1339
01:17:04,290 --> 01:17:08,488
...where his parents are burying
his little kid stuff in the grave...
1340
01:17:08,661 --> 01:17:12,222
...because that's all they've got to bury.
Superman belongs to the world.
1341
01:17:12,398 --> 01:17:14,298
And they only have little things to bury.
1342
01:17:14,500 --> 01:17:17,230
And they create a grave for him.
1343
01:17:17,403 --> 01:17:20,633
They bury these little things
kind of symbolically.
1344
01:17:21,039 --> 01:17:24,031
I think that people need an ideal...
1345
01:17:24,709 --> 01:17:28,110
...to look at and to try to become.
1346
01:17:28,280 --> 01:17:32,011
And I think that for me, maybe Superman
is partly that kind of ideal.
1347
01:17:33,585 --> 01:17:37,282
NARRATOR: Across the country,
fans stage memorials for the Man of Steel.
1348
01:17:38,290 --> 01:17:43,023
And the "Death of Superman" issue
becomes the bestselling comic in history.
1349
01:17:43,195 --> 01:17:46,824
REPORTER:
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a '79 Ford.
1350
01:17:46,998 --> 01:17:49,296
But it's carrying some pretty
important cargo.
1351
01:17:49,468 --> 01:17:54,201
Superman Issue 75, the issue in which
the Man of Steel meets his maker.
1352
01:17:55,073 --> 01:17:59,305
We packaged it with arm bands and we
ran out of silk to make the arm bands.
1353
01:17:59,478 --> 01:18:03,209
There were so many comics ordered
that it was ridiculous.
1354
01:18:04,015 --> 01:18:06,006
NARRATOR:
The Superman team enjoys their success...
1355
01:18:06,184 --> 01:18:08,846
...and keeps Superman out of the books
for months...
1356
01:18:09,020 --> 01:18:13,013
...until his inevitable resurrection,
another bestseller.
1357
01:18:13,191 --> 01:18:17,491
But Superman is a heartfelt exception
to the cynical comics of the time.
1358
01:18:17,662 --> 01:18:24,158
There is always an unfortunate backwash
from the big success.
1359
01:18:24,336 --> 01:18:25,860
A tremendous amount of imitation.
1360
01:18:26,037 --> 01:18:29,165
Almost every superhero seemed to have
to have some of that gritty...
1361
01:18:29,341 --> 01:18:33,004
...psychological darkness
of Watchmen and Dark Knight.
1362
01:18:33,178 --> 01:18:35,476
They got darker and darker
and forgot the core...
1363
01:18:35,647 --> 01:18:37,979
...of what most
of these superhero comics are...
1364
01:18:38,149 --> 01:18:42,518
...which is about triumphing
over adversity.
1365
01:18:42,687 --> 01:18:46,350
You could tell the villains from the heroes
by whose logo was on the cover.
1366
01:18:46,525 --> 01:18:51,326
I mean, their behavior was evil,
not morally ambiguous.
1367
01:18:51,496 --> 01:18:56,524
These guys were just flat-out,
"Oh, I'm gonna kill this guy. He's a guard."
1368
01:18:57,736 --> 01:19:00,034
NARRATOR: Dismayed by what they saw
as a lack of meaning...
1369
01:19:00,205 --> 01:19:01,536
...in contemporary comic books...
1370
01:19:01,706 --> 01:19:04,766
...writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross
come together...
1371
01:19:04,943 --> 01:19:09,073
...to challenge the decade's murky tone
in Kingdom Come.
1372
01:19:09,614 --> 01:19:12,913
WAID: Alex and I both had
this unbridled love for these characters.
1373
01:19:13,084 --> 01:19:17,748
And we both were coming off of a reaction
to comics of the late '80s and early '90s...
1374
01:19:17,923 --> 01:19:19,151
...which was a dark era.
1375
01:19:19,658 --> 01:19:21,558
Our audience is looking at a world...
1376
01:19:21,726 --> 01:19:25,218
...where white picket fences
sometimes hide some really creepy secrets.
1377
01:19:25,397 --> 01:19:30,459
That sort of wholesome America
of the 1950s I associate with Superman.
1378
01:19:30,634 --> 01:19:35,503
I wanted to see if we couldn't pull him
into the America of the 21st century.
1379
01:19:35,673 --> 01:19:39,336
It was a rebuke to '90s superheroes.
1380
01:19:39,510 --> 01:19:41,671
The old superheroes had gotten
off the job...
1381
01:19:41,845 --> 01:19:45,178
...and let these new young guys
who didn't have any morals take over...
1382
01:19:45,349 --> 01:19:48,682
...and everything went to hell.
Superman has to come back and say:
1383
01:19:48,852 --> 01:19:51,184
"Hey, whoa, wait.
This isn't how we do things."
1384
01:19:51,355 --> 01:19:54,688
Kingdom Come was very much a reaction
to a world in which superheroes...
1385
01:19:54,858 --> 01:19:58,624
...had just become things that fight
other things. They don't fight for anything.
1386
01:19:59,396 --> 01:20:02,456
NARRATOR: Kingdom Come is the first
expression of a new dissatisfaction...
1387
01:20:02,633 --> 01:20:05,625
...with meaningless, cynical storytelling.
1388
01:20:07,004 --> 01:20:13,239
A call to action that grows more profound
with the events of September 11th, 2001.
1389
01:20:15,312 --> 01:20:17,246
DIDIO: You cannot live
or work in New York...
1390
01:20:17,414 --> 01:20:19,473
...without being affected
by the turn of events.
1391
01:20:19,650 --> 01:20:21,777
Even more so than most places
in the country.
1392
01:20:22,252 --> 01:20:24,812
You saw people so much more guarded...
1393
01:20:24,989 --> 01:20:27,719
...so much more afraid
than they ever were before.
1394
01:20:27,891 --> 01:20:30,155
That same moment,
they were never more inspired...
1395
01:20:30,327 --> 01:20:32,454
...by the people who risked their lives.
1396
01:20:32,630 --> 01:20:36,794
These were normal average people,
and there's story after story, tale after tale.
1397
01:20:36,967 --> 01:20:39,561
People continued to persevere
and do their job...
1398
01:20:39,737 --> 01:20:41,830
...even though they knew death
was upon them.
1399
01:20:42,006 --> 01:20:44,270
It makes it very hard
to tell fictional stories...
1400
01:20:44,441 --> 01:20:46,807
...when you have real heroes
out there doing that.
1401
01:20:47,077 --> 01:20:49,068
POPE:
New York and Gotham City are the same.
1402
01:20:49,246 --> 01:20:52,682
And I do subscribe to this notion
that the heroes, they're ciphers for us.
1403
01:20:52,850 --> 01:20:55,648
And they're ways for us
to be able to speak about the world.
1404
01:20:55,819 --> 01:21:00,756
I think people do tend to see heroic
projections of good as nostalgic or corny.
1405
01:21:00,924 --> 01:21:04,189
And I think there are some people,
maybe people who have children...
1406
01:21:04,361 --> 01:21:06,761
...who wanna be able to provide stories.
1407
01:21:06,930 --> 01:21:10,457
Or if you think of it in a deeper sense,
like ideas of good.
1408
01:21:10,634 --> 01:21:15,094
Post 9/11, people wanted heroes
to look up to instead of heroes that were...
1409
01:21:15,272 --> 01:21:18,708
You know, that were not really
heroes at all.
1410
01:21:18,876 --> 01:21:22,676
For me, I think that's probably
why superheroes continue to climb up.
1411
01:21:22,846 --> 01:21:26,111
Because we do need heroes.
We need aspirational, inspirational heroes.
1412
01:21:27,017 --> 01:21:30,418
ADAMS: That's why we like comic books.
That's why we love comic books.
1413
01:21:30,587 --> 01:21:34,955
Because we think maybe
if the conditions present themselves...
1414
01:21:35,124 --> 01:21:37,592
...we will be the hero of the moment.
1415
01:21:44,467 --> 01:21:46,992
NARRATOR: Could the men
that started DC Comics have guessed...
1416
01:21:47,170 --> 01:21:51,539
...what the company they began
75 years ago would one day become?
1417
01:21:51,708 --> 01:21:53,437
My favorite character is Superman.
1418
01:21:53,609 --> 01:21:55,702
He's someone that you aspire to be...
1419
01:21:56,079 --> 01:21:58,707
...becoming better
than what you are right now.
1420
01:21:58,881 --> 01:22:00,906
NARRATOR:
Would it be unrecognizable to them?
1421
01:22:01,084 --> 01:22:02,949
Did they have a notion from the start...
1422
01:22:03,119 --> 01:22:06,850
...that the voices and visions of
each generation of new writers and artists...
1423
01:22:07,023 --> 01:22:08,923
...might forever
invent the company anew?
1424
01:22:09,092 --> 01:22:11,583
One of the wonderful things
about working in comics...
1425
01:22:11,761 --> 01:22:14,423
...is you get to build on people
and people build on you.
1426
01:22:14,597 --> 01:22:19,159
Have all that under you and then add to it
and say, "I'm gonna make my mark here.
1427
01:22:19,335 --> 01:22:23,829
I'm going to tell the story that hasn't
been told about this character."
1428
01:22:24,006 --> 01:22:27,806
Yeah, sometimes they just need
the right take or they need the love...
1429
01:22:27,977 --> 01:22:31,105
Like somebody who really understands it
or sees something new in it.
1430
01:22:31,280 --> 01:22:33,612
And it's not just entertaining people.
1431
01:22:33,783 --> 01:22:36,547
It's giving them something to think about
and some values...
1432
01:22:36,719 --> 01:22:38,778
...and maybe something to live towards.
1433
01:22:38,955 --> 01:22:42,015
I don't really even wanna think about
a world without DC.
1434
01:22:42,191 --> 01:22:46,525
I love superheroes because they're just
like everything you wanna do in your life.
1435
01:22:46,696 --> 01:22:49,665
You like to help people, they help people.
Live it through them.
1436
01:22:49,932 --> 01:22:54,665
Being 75 years is a good thing.
Shows you longevity and staying power.
1437
01:22:54,837 --> 01:22:58,329
Seventy-five years, you don't wanna be
your grandfather's superhero either.
1438
01:22:59,709 --> 01:23:02,769
NARRATOR: The spirit of innovation
that was there at the company's creation...
1439
01:23:02,945 --> 01:23:04,970
...is still its guiding force.
1440
01:23:05,448 --> 01:23:11,250
Shows like Smallville, the longest-running
live-action superhero series in TV history...
1441
01:23:11,420 --> 01:23:14,947
With everything I've learned,
apparently I'm just getting started.
1442
01:23:15,525 --> 01:23:19,723
NARRATOR: Games like "Arkham Asylum"
and the "DC Universe Online"...
1443
01:23:19,896 --> 01:23:22,865
...box-office smashes like
Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins...
1444
01:23:23,032 --> 01:23:24,192
...and The Dark Knight...
1445
01:23:24,367 --> 01:23:27,894
...have given today's audiences
distinctly modern interpretations...
1446
01:23:28,070 --> 01:23:30,595
...of classic DC characters.
1447
01:23:30,973 --> 01:23:34,136
A little fight in you. I like that.
1448
01:23:34,310 --> 01:23:35,641
Then you're gonna love me.
1449
01:23:37,146 --> 01:23:39,546
NARRATOR: What began in two dimensions
on pulp paper...
1450
01:23:39,715 --> 01:23:43,309
...has now become the basis for storytelling
across genres and media...
1451
01:23:44,686 --> 01:23:49,919
...animated features and series,
live-action television, and film.
1452
01:23:50,091 --> 01:23:52,685
MAN: You're the hero.
- Really don't like talking about it.
1453
01:23:54,696 --> 01:23:57,256
INTERROGATOR:
Are you ready to cooperate?
1454
01:23:57,432 --> 01:23:58,490
No.
1455
01:24:01,036 --> 01:24:05,871
Comics are a storytelling form
that you can tell any kind of story in.
1456
01:24:06,041 --> 01:24:07,565
We provided this great space...
1457
01:24:07,742 --> 01:24:13,009
...for creative talent to really have a place
to tell their stories.
1458
01:24:13,181 --> 01:24:15,741
It doesn't take a genius
to see the world has problems.
1459
01:24:15,917 --> 01:24:17,407
We can save this world.
1460
01:24:17,953 --> 01:24:21,946
LEE: You have a lot of people that
are very respected in the world of film...
1461
01:24:22,123 --> 01:24:23,954
...coming and writing comics,
and vice versa.
1462
01:24:24,125 --> 01:24:26,025
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
1463
01:24:26,194 --> 01:24:28,856
LEE: They've made it a more sophisticated
form of telling stories...
1464
01:24:29,030 --> 01:24:31,760
...and they've made it a more respected
form of telling stories.
1465
01:24:32,601 --> 01:24:33,829
JIMMY: In the sky.
- It's a bird.
1466
01:24:34,002 --> 01:24:35,026
- A plane.
- No, look, it's...
1467
01:24:35,203 --> 01:24:36,465
[DOOR OPENS]
1468
01:24:36,638 --> 01:24:37,662
You wanted to see me?
1469
01:24:37,839 --> 01:24:41,297
KIDD: You gotta make these characters
into real people that you care about.
1470
01:24:41,476 --> 01:24:46,072
And if you can do that, then somebody's
dangling off the side of a building...
1471
01:24:46,248 --> 01:24:48,113
...it really does upset you.
1472
01:24:48,283 --> 01:24:50,911
FAN: I really feel like I grew up
with these people around me.
1473
01:24:51,086 --> 01:24:53,714
So when I talk about them,
I say, "I really like Clark."
1474
01:24:53,889 --> 01:24:57,325
Or, "I really like when Bruce did this,"
or, "when Tim did this."
1475
01:24:57,492 --> 01:25:01,588
The average person eavesdropping could
think I'm talking about friends or family.
1476
01:25:02,797 --> 01:25:05,994
The characters are so flexible,
you can't break them.
1477
01:25:06,167 --> 01:25:10,126
They worked in every era because creators
have always found a way...
1478
01:25:10,305 --> 01:25:13,001
...to talk about what's interesting
to them now...
1479
01:25:13,174 --> 01:25:15,734
...what's happening in the culture now.
1480
01:25:16,278 --> 01:25:20,180
Superheroes are these archetypes
that live within us.
1481
01:25:20,348 --> 01:25:23,613
And then somebody figures out a way
to present them to us...
1482
01:25:23,785 --> 01:25:28,415
...in a way that is compatible
with the realities that we live in.
1483
01:25:28,590 --> 01:25:32,754
They're still around after all these decades
because they've been allowed to evolve.
1484
01:25:32,928 --> 01:25:35,488
WAID:
Superman has become a household name.
1485
01:25:36,031 --> 01:25:38,431
Batman is recognized around the world.
1486
01:25:38,600 --> 01:25:41,262
In the '30s and '40s, you know,
newsstands were choked...
1487
01:25:41,436 --> 01:25:44,530
...with comic publishers and characters
that are forgotten today.
1488
01:25:44,706 --> 01:25:48,869
DC managed to guide those characters
into the future.
1489
01:25:49,043 --> 01:25:52,206
What's exciting to me is that five,
10 years ago...
1490
01:25:52,379 --> 01:25:56,713
...there were kids reading comics I wrote
that are about to break into the business.
1491
01:25:56,984 --> 01:26:00,317
And I can't wait to see
what they wanna bring to the table...
1492
01:26:00,487 --> 01:26:02,751
...that is something
that I could never envision.
1493
01:26:02,923 --> 01:26:05,483
That's what I wanna see.
That's the future of DC Comics.
1494
01:26:05,926 --> 01:26:07,894
NARRATOR:
The size and scope of DC today...
1495
01:26:08,062 --> 01:26:09,996
...might well be far beyond
the wildest dreams...
1496
01:26:10,164 --> 01:26:12,189
...of the ambitious men who began it.
1497
01:26:12,366 --> 01:26:15,426
But the characters continue to be built
as they always have...
1498
01:26:15,602 --> 01:26:18,503
...by drawing on history and culture
and personal experience...
1499
01:26:18,672 --> 01:26:21,539
...to convey the deepest hopes
of the new generation...
1500
01:26:21,709 --> 01:26:24,473
...in whatever form the comics may take.
1501
01:26:24,645 --> 01:26:27,341
I have no idea how much longer
books have for this world.
1502
01:26:27,514 --> 01:26:30,915
But I do know people like
Siegel and Shuster...
1503
01:26:31,085 --> 01:26:33,212
...people like Bob Kane and Bill Finger...
1504
01:26:33,387 --> 01:26:36,550
...Julie Schwartz, bless his soul,
then Alan Moore...
1505
01:26:36,724 --> 01:26:42,321
...these people came up
with characters and stories...
1506
01:26:42,496 --> 01:26:44,589
...that are gonna be around forever.
1507
01:26:44,765 --> 01:26:49,031
Whether you're reading it
on a small thing...
1508
01:26:49,203 --> 01:26:52,001
...that looks like a diamond
that you tap with your finger...
1509
01:26:52,172 --> 01:26:55,630
...and it beams the entire content
straight into your retina...
1510
01:26:55,809 --> 01:26:58,710
...or whether you're reading it
on something you can fold up...
1511
01:26:58,879 --> 01:27:01,473
...and put in your pocket afterwards...
1512
01:27:02,182 --> 01:27:06,175
...and you wanna pile up
out in your tree house, I don't know.
1513
01:27:06,353 --> 01:27:09,618
But I can tell you
that a hundred years from now...
1514
01:27:09,857 --> 01:27:13,293
...there will be kids who wanna find out
what's happening with Superman.
1515
01:30:23,048 --> 01:30:25,039
carrot was here
141719
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