An historical and visual rhetorical analysis of Superman comic books, 1938-1945 .

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Prior and during World War II comic books were among America's largest mass media. One of the most popular, if not the most popular, character to emerge from this time period was Superman, The Man of Tomorrow. Almost immediately after the character's first appearance in 1938, the country's newsstands were filled with brightly colored imitations. At the same time that the country's comic book industry came into being, the nation was undergoing a host of changes and controversy. The Great Depression had wrecked the country and President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal attempted to right the economic downturn. But as the country dealt with the lack of economic growth, it also came to question its role in foreign affairs. The outbreak of conflict in Europe led to a fight at home between isolationists and interventionists and whether the country should broach supporting the Allied Forces. After Pearl Harbor, the nation entered the European conflict with zeal, as did the comic book industry. This thesis is an historical and visual rhetorical analysis of Superman comic books from 1938 to 1945. Its goal is to examine how one of the nation's most recognizable fictional characters both reflected and reinforced popular public opinion from the time period. I use Cara Finnegan's concept of visual rhetoric, specifically composition, and David Zarefsky's four senses of rhetorical history to analysis the Man of Tomorrow's early adventures. I make three separate arguments. First, I argue that Superman comic books had New Deal sympathies by examining three issues and contextualizing these around popular public thought such as the need for improved workers rights, moral decay caused by slums, and admonishment of stockbrokers. Second, I detail how Superman comics presented isolationist messages and then interventionist messages. In showing this rhetorical trajectory I discuss the Nye Committee's investigation of the munitions industry and the Roosevelt administration's use of guilt-by-association to discredit aviator Charles Lindbergh. Finally, I argue that Superman during the war years came to represent the American people. This is done through the character's support of war bonds.

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