Propaganda During World War II: Comics During The Vietnam War
Ziyi Chen
AHIS 255g Section 11888
Dr. Catherine. E. Anderson
TA: Rika Hiro
Comics propaganda during WWII
During wartime, especially World War II, comics are frequently used to propagate certain ideology, either patriotism or anti-war movement. For countries preparing to fight, propaganda could boost morale, arouse hatred for enemy and encourage people to support the government and contribute to the army. For countries devastated by war, however, propaganda could remind people of the honorable aftermath of the war, blame militarism and promote truce and peace. But why is comics such an efficient tool to disseminate propaganda? Is it because comics have an almost magical way of catching and keeping the reader’s attention? Or is it because …show more content…
The stereotype of this kind of comics is to show the supremacy of one’s army or to show the evilness of the enemy. Such bias is almost inevitable in every comic art related to war since the cartoonists who create comics about wars are usually belonging to either party in the war and mostly tell stories from their subjective viewpoint. In America, soon after the invention of comics book format in the late 1930s, artists began to create comics based solely on stories about war and, during World War II, influenced by overwhelming patriotism, most comics were based on themes of war. Most of those comics depicted American soldiers as heroic, superior and victorious while the enemy as despicable cowards, almost sub-human (Strömberg 38). This bias might seem natural during wartime but are highly propagandistic when viewed today. At that time, the newborn superhero culture definitely provided the government a perfect tool to propagate patriotism. In the comics, these red-and-blue American superhero figures boost readers’ confidence by doing exactly what their readers wished they could do: flying through the enemy lines, destroying the cannons, tearing down the covers of the concrete fortresses, and even putting Nazi leader Hitler into justice once and for all, etc. (Strömberg 38). One of the most notable figures is the most iconic American hero---Captain American. It is pretty accurate to say that Captain American was created to fight Axis powers of World War II since almost all of his comics’ covers during WWII propagate anti-Nazism. Among them, the most typical one is the cover of his first issue (Figure 1). In the picture, indications of flag of the United States appear more than once to enhance readers’ patriotism. We can also see Captain American literally punch Hitler right on the face with bullets bouncing off his suit and shield. The bravery and invincibility not only fulfill many American readers’ wishes but also
AHIS 255g Section 11888
Dr. Catherine. E. Anderson
TA: Rika Hiro
Comics propaganda during WWII
During wartime, especially World War II, comics are frequently used to propagate certain ideology, either patriotism or anti-war movement. For countries preparing to fight, propaganda could boost morale, arouse hatred for enemy and encourage people to support the government and contribute to the army. For countries devastated by war, however, propaganda could remind people of the honorable aftermath of the war, blame militarism and promote truce and peace. But why is comics such an efficient tool to disseminate propaganda? Is it because comics have an almost magical way of catching and keeping the reader’s attention? Or is it because …show more content…
The stereotype of this kind of comics is to show the supremacy of one’s army or to show the evilness of the enemy. Such bias is almost inevitable in every comic art related to war since the cartoonists who create comics about wars are usually belonging to either party in the war and mostly tell stories from their subjective viewpoint. In America, soon after the invention of comics book format in the late 1930s, artists began to create comics based solely on stories about war and, during World War II, influenced by overwhelming patriotism, most comics were based on themes of war. Most of those comics depicted American soldiers as heroic, superior and victorious while the enemy as despicable cowards, almost sub-human (Strömberg 38). This bias might seem natural during wartime but are highly propagandistic when viewed today. At that time, the newborn superhero culture definitely provided the government a perfect tool to propagate patriotism. In the comics, these red-and-blue American superhero figures boost readers’ confidence by doing exactly what their readers wished they could do: flying through the enemy lines, destroying the cannons, tearing down the covers of the concrete fortresses, and even putting Nazi leader Hitler into justice once and for all, etc. (Strömberg 38). One of the most notable figures is the most iconic American hero---Captain American. It is pretty accurate to say that Captain American was created to fight Axis powers of World War II since almost all of his comics’ covers during WWII propagate anti-Nazism. Among them, the most typical one is the cover of his first issue (Figure 1). In the picture, indications of flag of the United States appear more than once to enhance readers’ patriotism. We can also see Captain American literally punch Hitler right on the face with bullets bouncing off his suit and shield. The bravery and invincibility not only fulfill many American readers’ wishes but also