American Dreams of Mutants.docx

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AmericanDreamsofMutants

AmericanDreamsofMutants:

TheX-Men—“Pulp”Fiction,ScienceFiction,andSuperheroes

1.JohnM.Trushell

Articlefirstpublishedonline:

5JUL2004

DOI:

 10.1111/j.0022-3840.2004.00104.x

Issue

TheJournalofPopularCulture

Volume38, Issue1, pages149–168,August2004

Reviewing Americancontributionstopopularcultureofthe twentiethcentury,thecriticMartin Williams identifies“motionpicturedrama,jazz,aspecialkindofmusicaltheateranditsassociatedmusicanddance,themoderndetectivestory,thecomicstrip,tonameonlythemostobvious”（3）.Nolessobvious,andaglaringomissionfromtheseclaims,issciencefiction,for“twogenresacquiredtheirrecognizableformin[American“pulp”fictionmagazines]:

thedetectivenoirandsciencefiction”（A.Boyer 92）.DespitetheEuropean/OldWorldantecedentsofH.G.Wells,whowrotescientificromances,andJulesVerne,whowrote merveilleuxscientifique,theterm“sciencefiction”wascoinedbyHugoGernsback,editoroftheAmericanmagazine AmazingStories inthe1920s.Fromthesepulporigins,sciencefictionmoved“inexorablytowardsthecenterofAmericanculture”（Franklin 3）,amovementmarkedbythedetonationofanatomicbombatHiroshimain1945,when“thoughtfulmenandwomenrecognizedthat[they]werelivinginasciencefictionworld”（Gunn 174）.And,as Bukatman remarks,therecanbe“nooverstatingtheimportanceofsciencefictionto…amomentthatseesitselfassciencefiction”（TerminalIdentity 3）.Reviewingthoseopinionsexpressedbycriticsandcommentatorsinthe1950s,EdwardJames foundacceptancethatsciencefictionwasaseriousliterature—althoughprivilegingideasoverliteraryexpression—concernedwithmankind'spresentplightandproblematicfuture（“BeforetheNovum”27）.

Thepulpfictionoriginsofsciencefictionanddetectivenoir, James observes,weresharedbyAmericancomicbooks:

“Thepulpsindeedspawnedthecomic-stripheroesofthe1930s…thesuper-hero,infact,wasoneofthemostprominentcreationsofthepulpera”（ScienceFiction 48）.

Thepulpsofthe1930sfeaturedsuch“menofmystery”asDocSavage,“TheManofBronze,”andhisFabulousFive（DocSavageMagazine#1:

March1933）,and“TheSpider,”acapedvigilante（TheSpider#1:

October1933）,1 whilethecomicsintroducedSuperman,“TheManofSteel”（ActionComics#1:

June1938）,andBatman,“TheCapedCrusader”（DetectiveComics#27:

May1939）.ThedebutsofSupermanandBatman,themoresuccessfulandenduringsuperheroes,werefollowedbythoseofTheHumanTorchandNamortheSub-mariner（MarvelComics#1:

October/November1939）toestablisha“goldenage”ofcomics.Thesesuperherostories—produced, Bukatman alleges,“largelybyyoungmalesforsomewhatyoungermales”（“X-bodies”95）—havebeenconsideredtobesciencefictionalbeit,as Jamescontends,“shornofallsophistication”（ScienceFiction 83）.Butthesestoriesaremoreproperlyfantasies;thesuperheroesretainedthemysticismoftheirpulppredecessors（LangandTrimble 165）and,althoughsetinplausibleworldswhereeven“theirrationalorthestrangeisstillexplicableinquasi-scientificoreverydayterms”（Abercrombie,Lash,andLonghurst 123）,superherostoriesusedscienceas“analibiformagic”（Reynolds 53）.Bothsciencefictionandfantasyare estrangedgenres—possessingan“imaginativeframeworkalternativetotheauthor'sempiricalframework”（Suvin 60–61）—asopposedtonaturalisticgenres（Parrinder 37）,butseparatedbythenotionof cognition inherentin“theGernsbackianideaoffictionwithascientificexplanation”（Parrinder 37）.

The1920sand1930switnessedtheriseoftheAmericansciencefictionshortstory,butthe1940ssawthesciencefictionstoryhonedbywriterschosenbyeditorJohnW.Campbellforpublicationin AstoundingScienceFiction.Sciencefictionbeganappearingin“mass-circulationmagazineslike Collier's andthe SaturdayEveningPost”（P.Boyer 257）,butmanygeneralreaderscontinuedtoconsidersciencefictionasescapistorunrealistic,whichcontributedtoa“ghetto”mentalityamongfans.This“ghettoizing”ofsciencefictionwasnotentirelyimposedfromwithout;manysciencefictionwritersandreadersregarded“thebulkoftheirownsocietyasmistaken,ill-informed,andprobablyineducable”（Shippey 101）.Nevertheless,the1950ssaw“theemergenceofsciencefictionfromitsparaliteraryghetto”（A.Boyer 96）withthepublicationofsociallyconsciousandcriticalstoriesandnovels.Yet,thisseriousandsophisticatedliteraturecoexistedwithunsophisticatedparaliterature,suchasarticlesandstoriesthatencourageda“cultofirrationalityandUFOism”（Seed 9）.ThesestorieswerepublishedaftertheSecondWorldWarbyRayPalmer,whosucceededGernsbackastheeditorof AmazingStories.Serioussciencefictionsurvivedthecrashofsciencefictionmagazines（whichdwindledfromfortytoameresixorseveninthelate1950s[Sadoul 217],dueinparttothefailureofthemajormagazinedistributorAmericanNewsCompany）,thedeclineofmass-circulationmagazinessuchas Collier's,andtheriseoftelevision.

Unsophisticatedsuperherocomics,bycontrast,flourishedforthegoldenagebeforeandduringtheSecondWorldWar.TheAxisthreatwascounteredbyarosterofpatrioticsuperheroes—includingCaptainAmerica,theEagle,theShield,theStar-SpangledKidandStripesy,andUncleSam—whoprovided“fantasiesofsuperhumanpower[overcoming]thedevastatinglydehumanizingforcesassociatedwithFascism”（Schmitt 155）.Butthisgoldenageendedin1954withthepublicationofFredericWertham's SeductionoftheInnocent,“397impassionedpagesdetailingtheperniciouseffects”ofcomics（Ross 110）.Americancomicbooksweresubjectedtoascarecampaign,oneofthose“moralcrusadesoftheMcCarthyera”（Brown 18）thattapped“thegeneralculturalparanoiaoftheperiodthroughthecontinualandeffectiveuseofthepopularpress”（Parsons 71）.Althoughthis“comicscare”undoubtedlydamagedthecomictrade,televisionhadcontributedtothedeclineofcomicsalesby“siphoningoffthecomicbookaudience”（Parsons 72）withprogramssuchas CaptainVideo （1949–53）, TomCorbett,SpaceCadet（1950–54）,and SpacePatrol （1950–56）.Comicbookpublishers,“toescapethewitchhuntswithwhatlittleaudiencetheyhadleft”（Brown 21）,submittedto“abusybodyreviewboardandaninsufferablecodethatamountedtotheemasculationofcomicbooks”（Richler 306）.

However,SupermanandBatmansurvivedthe1950s,reconcilingthemselvestotherequirementsofthepost-WerthamComicsCode.Supermanwaseventranslatedsuccessfullyfortelevisionin TheAdventuresofSuperman （1953–57）.Furthergoldenagesuperheroeswererehabilitatedorreoriginated.ThefirstwastheFlash（Showcase#4:

October1956）,fromwhoseappearancethe“silverage”ofcomicsisdated（McCue 35–38; Reynolds 9）.ButtherevitalizationofAmericancomicbookshasbeenattributedtothedebuts,intheearly1960s,ofnewheroessuchastheFantasticFour（FantasticFour#1:

November1961）,Spider-Man（AmazingFantasy#15:

August1962）andtheX-Men（TheX-Men#1:

September1963）.ThesewereproductsoftheMarvelComicsGrouphelmedby StanLee.2

MarveloftheSilverAge

MordecaiRichlerobservesthatthegoldenagesuperheroeshadconstituted“invulnerable,all-conquering”championsforchildren,providing“revengefiguresagainstwhatseemedagratuitouslycrueladultworld”（306,300）.TherelevanceofthesesuperheroesforchildrenwasepitomizedbyayoungBillyBatsonwho,uponutteringthemagicword“SHAZAM”（anacronymofSolomon,Hercules,Atlas,Zeus,Achilles,andMercury）,wastransformedintotheworld'smightiestmaturemortal,CaptainMarvel（WhizComics#2:

February1940）,“anallegoryofpubescentmetamorphosis,”alleges Bukatman （“X-bodies”100）.Suchgoldenagesuperheroes“werealwaysadults,exceptwhenfollowedbyaxeroxedsidekick”（McCue 41）;BatmanwasfollowedbyRobin（DetectiveComics#38:

April1940）andTheHumanTorchbyToro（TheHumanTorchComic#2:

Fall1940）.Thesesidekickshadserved“asasourceofidentificationforyoungadolescents”（Brody 176）.MarvelComics'innovationwasto“pioneercomicsfortheadolescent”（JacobsandJones 129）thatdealtwith“titanicbattlesbetween[teenagedsuperheroes]andmiddle-agedsupervillains”（Mondello 233）.

NumberedamongtheFantasticFour,whowereexposedtocosmicraysinanear-earthorbitingspacecraftandtransformedintosuperheroes,wasanewHumanTorchwhocouldburstintoflameswithoutbeingconsumedbyfire.TheTorchwasanimpulsive,literallyhot-headedhighschoolstudentwithapenchantforhot-rods.Thewise-crackingSpider-Man,whosesuperhumanpowerswereacquiredbythebiteofaradioactivespiderwhilevisitingascienceexhibition,wasahighschoolbookwormwho, Bukatman observes,hadacertain“nerdycharm”（“X-bodies”95）andlivedwithhiswidowedaunt.TherewasamutualantagonismbetweenthesilverageHumanTorchandSpider-Man,begunwhenSpider-MancrashedapartyheldbytheHumanTorch'sgirlfriend（TheAmazingSpider-Man#8:

January1964）.Thiscontributedtothecrossoversalesofbothcomicbooktitles.

Thesemid-1960ssuperheroesweretornbetweenapreferenceforself-gratification—theTorchwasagirl-chaserandSpider-Manwas“neuroticallyobsessedwithstatusandworldlysuccess”（LangandTrimble 165）—andpublicservice（Mondello 235; SkidmoreandSkidmore 89）.Oftenperceivedasamenacetosociety,theseteenagedsuperheroesconsequentlyfelt“ambivalencetowardsocietyandtheirplaceinit”（LangandTrimble 167）,anallegoryofadolescentanomie.

TheX-Men,however,wereadifferentproposition.Theseteenagerswere,asthecomicbookcoverproclaimed,“TheStrangestSuper-HeroesofAll.”Cri