Peggy's office does seem to be more interested in inforcement rather the scientific research though, clearly the start of SHIELD. And with their use of torture it's easy to see how Hydra would later take over SHIELD.
"Agent Carter" season one discussion and spoilers
- Thread starter Turtletrekker
- Start date
Peggy's office does seem to be more interested in inforcement rather the scientific research though, clearly the start of SHIELD. And with their use of torture it's easy to see how Hydra would later take over SHIELD.
From Zola's picture in TWS it would appear as though he was surrounded by scientists. And given how advanced SHIELD is in the movies there has to be other scientists working for them.
Which wouldn't explain why superheroes didn't intervene in the fighting in Africa and the Pacific.
I think the radio series (or the comics?) explained Superman's absence from the fighting by saying that no single person, no matter how powerful, could be as effective as the whole US Army, so Superman could do more good by protecting the home front and mobilizing people to buy bonds and so forth. There was a lot of propaganda about how the folks back home had an invaluable role to play in the war effort through their support activities, and I think Superman was used as a symbol for that. They also didn't want to disrespect the troops by implying that they couldn't handle things themselves.
Then again, there were a number of radio stories later in the war where Superman did actively fight and destroy Nazi or Japanese groups involved in large sci-fi weapons programs -- not unlike how Captain America: The First Avenger had Cap take on HYDRA rather than the Nazis as a whole. So on radio, at least, Superman was actively involved in the fighting -- just the fighting against imaginary superscience foes rather than in the regular battles.
And lemme tell ya, radio Superman could be quite callously lethal, killing hundreds or thousands of enemy troops in his climactic battles both during and after the war. He didn't routinely kill the bad guys (although the stories generally ended with the villains dying through misfortune or their own foolishness or at the hands of their victims or fellow hoodlums), but when it came to combat with whole armies, his rules of engagement became pretty warlike. Which I suppose is what you'd expect of a radio series made during wartime.
From what I remember (and double checked on Wikipedia) Hitler's Spear of destiny kept superheroes out of the territory held by any of the AXIS powers, so that includes the Pacific, Africa, Europe, etc.
I think it was more simple than that - because they were never quite sure where it was at any given time, they didn't want the heroes to be lured into a trap where they could be taken over *
* Because how I remember it - the Spear of Destiny didn't project a magic barrier but rather any Superhero who came within range of it became evil.
* Because how I remember it - the Spear of Destiny didn't project a magic barrier but rather any Superhero who came within range of it became evil.
It was later explained (somewhere) that Hitler was using the Spear of Destiny (aks the Lance of Longinus) to make some kind of barrier in Europe that kept superbeings out of there.
That's the DC explanation (because DC had a LOT more heroes around in the WWII era).
Marvel doesn't have this problem because they didn't have many WWII era characters aside from Cap and the Invaders.
That's the DC explanation (because DC had a LOT more heroes around in the WWII era).
Marvel doesn't have this problem because they didn't have many WWII era characters aside from Cap and the Invaders.
Well, you're right about them becoming evil around the spear, but Wikipedia did back up that it did cover all AXIS territory. I don't remember anything about them being unsure of its location as a reason to stay home
Maybe not in the stories published in that era, but I remember reading the Invaders in the seventies/eighties and they were certainly involved in the war in Europe.
One can argue that Marvel (aka "Timely") had it easier because they didn't really have any characters powerful enough to end the War singlehandedly--unlike Superman, Green Lantern, the Spectre, etc.
Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and the Human Torch were Marvel's big marquee characters back then, and, while powerful, none of them were really in Superman's weight class, so you could see Cap or the Torch fighting on the front lines without wondering why they didn't just defeat the entire Nazi war machine overnight.
Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and the Human Torch were Marvel's big marquee characters back then, and, while powerful, none of them were really in Superman's weight class, so you could see Cap or the Torch fighting on the front lines without wondering why they didn't just defeat the entire Nazi war machine overnight.
Isn't that more a problem in retrospect, though? The Superman of the '40s wasn't nearly as powerful as he'd become by the '50s and '60s. Granted, though, the Spectre was one of those '40s comics characters who were given arbitrary and unlimited powers without a lot of thought given to the logic or consequences of it (the prime example being Stardust the Super Wizard). As for GL, I don't know how powerful Alan Scott was compared to Hal Jordan and his successors.
What Christopher says is correct. Superman of the 1930's and 1940's isn't nearly as powerful as he is now or during the Silver and Bronze Age (1958-1985) when his powers were infinite.
Supes of the 40's had super strength, durability, great jumping ability and flight sometimes. The vision powers, super breath, super speed etc would come during the 50's-60's.
Just watch the old Fleicsher Cartoons from the 1940's to get an idea. These two are Superman fighting in WWII.
"The Eleventh Hour"
Superman sabotages a Japanese Base
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI82SrAXYPA[/yt]
"Jungle Beats"
Superman fights Nazis in Africa. Hitler makes a cameo at the end of the episodes after his plans are thwarted.
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUlXkHrdBr8[/yt]
There are a few more WWII centered episodes in the old cartoons too.
Supes and Capt are both symbols of American Patriotism. They both had a number of comics fighting Nazi and the Japanese Imperial Army.
Supes of the 40's had super strength, durability, great jumping ability and flight sometimes. The vision powers, super breath, super speed etc would come during the 50's-60's.
Just watch the old Fleicsher Cartoons from the 1940's to get an idea. These two are Superman fighting in WWII.
"The Eleventh Hour"
Superman sabotages a Japanese Base
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI82SrAXYPA[/yt]
"Jungle Beats"
Superman fights Nazis in Africa. Hitler makes a cameo at the end of the episodes after his plans are thwarted.
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUlXkHrdBr8[/yt]
There are a few more WWII centered episodes in the old cartoons too.
Supes and Capt are both symbols of American Patriotism. They both had a number of comics fighting Nazi and the Japanese Imperial Army.
Namor, and millions of Atlantean Commandos, could have sunk the German Navy over night.
That would have crippled their supply lines.
Bendis said that Bucky killed Hitler.
There is a conflict.
However Hitler survived or sidestepped both those successful assassinations and was still knocking around in the 1970s (modern day marvel time) as the Hate Mongorer thanks to Arnim Zola's conciousness transfer technology. By the end of that book of Super villain Team Up, the Red Skull realized that even though Adolf Hitler was a great man who he loved like a brother, his backward thinking was a liability to the cause, which had to be dealt with.
Hitler was lead to believe that the Skull was rebuilding a new cosmic cube, and the only way not to cock it up, like everyone else with a Cube before this point in time had cocked it up, was to beam his conciousness into the Cosmic Cube which would make him one with all that cosmic power and the master of the world finally.
When Hitler's mind reconciled inside the cube he found it to be empty, sans any cosmic power whatsofuckingever, and he was stuck, and no one wanted to let him out. The cube was a perfect inescapable prison which the Red Skull had conned the fuhrer into admitting himself forever willingly.
Supervillain Team Up #17.
That would have crippled their supply lines.
Bendis said that Bucky killed Hitler.
There is a conflict.
However Hitler survived or sidestepped both those successful assassinations and was still knocking around in the 1970s (modern day marvel time) as the Hate Mongorer thanks to Arnim Zola's conciousness transfer technology. By the end of that book of Super villain Team Up, the Red Skull realized that even though Adolf Hitler was a great man who he loved like a brother, his backward thinking was a liability to the cause, which had to be dealt with.
Hitler was lead to believe that the Skull was rebuilding a new cosmic cube, and the only way not to cock it up, like everyone else with a Cube before this point in time had cocked it up, was to beam his conciousness into the Cosmic Cube which would make him one with all that cosmic power and the master of the world finally.
When Hitler's mind reconciled inside the cube he found it to be empty, sans any cosmic power whatsofuckingever, and he was stuck, and no one wanted to let him out. The cube was a perfect inescapable prison which the Red Skull had conned the fuhrer into admitting himself forever willingly.
Supervillain Team Up #17.
When the Human Torch first met and fought Namor whole cities were destroyed. But then traditionally comic book characters weren't used to solve real world problems, this was explained to Christopher Reeve but he went ahead with the screenplay for Supeman IV none the less.
Still, being bulletproof is pretty useful.
Not true. He was running at super speed in his first appearance, and vision powers started coming in by the very early 40s. You must have seen this one:
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo7Bw-iSW6Q[/yt]
I haven't seen the premiere yet but it's on the DVR. Maybe tonight.
If the protests are any indication, I'll probably love it.
If the protests are any indication, I'll probably love it.
On the general topic at hand, I'm reminded of something that I read in an early-70s Spider-Man letter column. In a prior issue, somebody had written that Peter Parker should be drafted and sent to Vietnam. A serviceman wrote in reply to the effect of "Please don't send Spidey to Vietnam...we read your comics to escape from what's happening over here!"
Superman definitely had x-ray vision in the '40s radio series. In fact, it was written as though his x-ray vision was constantly engaged, rather than something he could turn on and off as his screen appearances suggested. There were countless scenes where Clark would be approaching a door with some other character, react to something on the other side of the closed door, and then try to brush off his companion's questions about how he knew what was on the other side. (They never addressed the question of what he sees when he looks at Lois Lane, though...)
However, heat vision specifically didn't come along until the '50s -- and it was initially presented as his x-ray vision being focused intensely enough to generate heat, only later developing into a separate power.
Super-breath and cold-breath were late arrivals, though. Radio Superman never used any breath powers that I recall. However, by 1954, we saw George Reeves's Superman blowing out fires on TV.
However, heat vision specifically didn't come along until the '50s -- and it was initially presented as his x-ray vision being focused intensely enough to generate heat, only later developing into a separate power.
Super-breath and cold-breath were late arrivals, though. Radio Superman never used any breath powers that I recall. However, by 1954, we saw George Reeves's Superman blowing out fires on TV.
Similar threads
