Our Gods Wear Spandex (24 page)

The Brotherhood archetype has its roots in ancient mythology, most notably the pagan pantheons of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In addition, Jason had his Argonauts; Buddha had his twelve disciples; Christ had his twelve apostles; King Arthur had his Knights of the Round Table. The Knights Templar probably also had a strong influence on the popularity of superhero teams, having reentered popular consciousness via Freemasonry in the late 19th century.

Superhero teams are popular because they provide a comforting archetype for readers who are often solitary, marginal personalities. The characters in team books don't act like ordinary people; they act like fans socializing. Brotherhood yarns are created by fans-turned-pro and speak to the need for fellowship with other fans. They project a feeling of strength and power through solidarity. Loners like Spider-Man are vulnerable and often singled out, but the Avengers are only challenged by existential threats that affect everyone. One reason for the continued success of
The X-Men
is that the themes of mutant persecution address a collective wish for superpowers and for peer solidarity in the face of social disapproval.

The first major comic-book brotherhood showcased several of DC Comics' second-string characters. The Justice Society of America (JSA) debuted in
All-Star Comics
#3 in 1940. Comprised of Sandman, the Atom, Spectre, the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, and Hourman, the JSA actually convened at a round table, leaving no doubt as to their Arthurian antecedents. The JSA was a hit for several years—Superman and Batman made guest appearances, and Wonder Woman became a full-fledged member. The feature ended its run in 1951, but the characters later became regular guest stars in the
Justice League of America
comic in the Sixties. The title was revived in 1976 and later reimagined as
The All-Star Squadron
in 1981.
All-Star Squadron
finally collapsed in 1987, but the JSA has enjoyed a number of revivals since.

In their Sixties makeover as the Justice League of America (JLA), the Society was given a space-age theme (
The Brave and the Bold
#28). And the JLA featured DC's heavy-hitters: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and Aquaman, among others. Written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Mike Sekowsky, the JLA signaled the diminished stature of superheroes in general by giving DC's stars roles previously reserved for second-stringers. The group soon spun off into its own
title and became a major hit. In the 1970s, the JLA were rechristened
The Super Friends
for a long-running Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera. After a botched attempt at making the JLA more relevant, it was relaunched as a humor series called
Justice League International
in 1987. The title featured a mix of A-list characters like Batman and Captain Marvel, and Z-list characters like Booster Gold and Guy Gardner. The irreverent tone of the title suited the tenor of the times, when superheroes weren't taken quite as seriously as they are today. The League enjoyed another revival in 1996 in a series written by practicing occultist Grant Morrison.

Marvel broke into the all-star brotherhood market with
The Avengers
, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963. The title featured The Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Giant Man, and The Wasp, who originally assembled to battle Thor's brother, Loki, the Norse god of chaos. Since comic-book fans seem to love alternate versions of their superheroes, a parallel version of
The Avengers
called
The Ultimates
was launched in their own title in 2001, featuring more cinematic versions of Captain America, Thor, Giant Man, and others. Independent publisher Wildstorm did their own spin of
The Justice League
in
The Authority
, created by Britons Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, which pioneered the influential “widescreen” style of storytelling. Their work featured huge cinematic tableaus and Alex Ross-influenced artwork. The most notorious members of
The Authority
were the Superman and Batman analogs, Apollo and Midnighter. These two became the subject of controversy when it was revealed that they were gay lovers, and the title predictably lost favor when DC acquired Wildstorm. One of its final storylines featured a vicious parody of
The Avengers
that cast Captain America in a caustic satire on American militarism. The title was revived in 2006—again, by Grant Morrison.

A more explicitly occult brotherhood archetype appeared in
The Defenders
, originally comprised of Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and Doctor Strange. The Defenders first assembled in 1971 in
Marvel Feature
#1 to battle an alien sorcerer. Although, like other teams, the Defenders have changed their lineup over the years, their stories featured occult-themed characters like Son of Satan, Valkyrie, the sorceress Clea, and the telepathic Moondragon.

Another very popular variation on the brotherhood is the teen team, a trend that started with the Legion of Super-Heroes, who first appeared in
Adventure Comics
#247 in 1958. The story was standard-issue Silver Age stuff, in which Superboy meets super-powered teens from the future (Cosmic Boy, Lightning Boy, and Saturn Girl) and is asked to join their team. The Legion proved popular and eventually returned, but Superboy's appearances became sporadic, and in 1980 he left the group entirely.

Part of the title's appeal was the comforting fantasy it provided to lonely, marginalized youths. The Legion—with its futuristic clubhouse and giant roster—became a surrogate for real friends. The team became especially popular in the 1970s when they reappeared in a stylish sci-fi feature by future
X-Men
artist Dave Cockrum and future Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter.

DC introduced another junior League in 1964 with the Teen Titans, a brotherhood comprised of sidekicks Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin, and Wonder Girl
(Brave and the Bold
#54). The early Titans stories were docile and charming, but the title later lurched into relevancy in the late Sixties, taking on controversial issues like race relations and the Vietnam War. The book collapsed under these burdens and was canceled in 1973. After a short-lived revival in 1976, the book was relaunched in 1980 as
The New Teen Titans
.

The title, created by Marvel vets Marv Wolfman and George Perez, clearly intended to cash in on the popularity of the new
X-Men
craze. It featured a new cast, including old standbys Robin, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash, as well as newer, edgier characters like Cyborg, Starfire, and Nightraven. The book became a hit and signaled a turnaround in DC's commercial death-spiral. The Titans even did a crossover book with the X-Men in 1982. Perez left the book in 1985 and Wolfman delved into Greco-Roman paganism in a storyline featuring Wonder Girl. In 2003, the Teen Titans were revived again for a hugely popular cartoon, which combines American superheroics with riffs borrowed from Japanese animation. In 2006, no less a deity than Osiris himself joined the Titans. (
Teen Titans
vol. 3, #38).

Revolutions usually occur when no one is looking, and certainly few people were looking at Marvel Comics in 1961 when publisher Martin Goodman asked Stan Lee to create a superhero team to compete with DC's
Justice League of America
. Lee, who was seriously thinking of quitting the comics, rang up his star artist, Jack Kirby. The two got together and came up with a comic whose only resemblance to the
Justice League
is that it features a group of characters with superpowers. In the process, they unwittingly kicked off the Marvel Age and completely changed the face of the medium.

In 1961, in
Fantastic Four
#1, Lee and Kirby introduced scientist Reed Richards and test pilot Ben Grimm, archetypal science heroes of the Silver Age (see
chapter 15
) who set out to fight evil after being bombarded by cosmic rays. The secret to
The Fantastic Four's
success is that it is essentially a soap opera that centers around family interaction. Lee beautifully defined the personalities of the Four, making them recognizable as real people. Reed Richards is the stubborn, pigheaded father who is usually oblivious to his family's needs. Ben Grimm is the cantankerous, but ultimately lovable, uncle or grandfather who sits grousing in his armchair. Sue is the long-suffering wife, trying to preserve her identity in the shadow of her husband's obsessive genius. Johnny is the self-centered teenager using his godlike powers to get laid.

Conceptually, the Four are all essentially recycled or borrowed characters. Mr. Fantastic is a blatant knock off of Plastic Man, the Golden Age hero created by Jack Cole. The Human Torch is just a recycled version of his Golden Age namesake. Invisible Girl is borrowed from
Invisible Scarlet O'Neil
, a 1940s newspaper-strip heroine. The Thing is descended from any number of Kirby monsters, but bears a particular resemblance to Rommbu from
Tales to Astonish
#19. But Stan Lee's genius in the
Fantastic Four
lies in his characterizations, if not in character creation.

As he took a greater role in the plotting of the title, Kirby kept Lee supplied with a dazzling array of characters and concepts. A pack of Vril-ya stand-ins called the Inhumans, the planet-destroying god Galactus, the alternate universe known as the Negative Zone, the technocratic African prince called Black Panther, all made the
Fantastic Four
a showcase for some of the most radical concepts in the history of the medium. Kirby also created an army of villains whose rage and destructive power had never been seen before. The Four constantly found themselves pitted
against characters whose primary impulse is to smash the world—characters like Blastaar, The Accuser, The Sentry, Dragon-Man, and Psycho Man. Kirby designed the most elaborate technological environments ever seen in comics, only to have these enraged men smash them to scrap while battling the Four.

As many comics historians have noted, Lee and Kirby were very much the Lennon and McCartney of their field. Like their Liverpudlian counterparts, Stan and Jack were two very different men who came together with a shared vision, and completely rewrote the rules of their chosen artform. Lee was sunny, energetic, and irresistibly charming, while Kirby was dour and brooding and troubled by the gods. But it was Lee who best understood Kirby's raw, Olympian genius and best understood how to harness that power. Lee took Kirby's basic plots and gave them a Dionysian sheen, steering his partner's Saturnine struggles toward more hopeful resolutions. Lee and Kirby dissolved their partnership in 1971, and neither would ever come close to the dizzying heights of genius they had reached working together. Ultimately, Lee would leave the day-to-day grind and become the figurehead of American comics, and Kirby was too stricken by visions of infinity to merely entertain.

The Fantastic Four have been the stars of several cartoon series, as well as a hit film made in 2005. Many felt that the concept would not play well at the multiplex, but the filmmakers kept the spirit of the original Lee and Kirby team intact. The heroes are placed more or less in the real world in the film, and their faults and foibles make the fantasy more accessible to ordinary movie-goers.

The X-Men
, another Lee/Kirby creation, began as a teenaged variation on
The Fantastic Four
. In 1963,
X-Men
#1 introduced Professor Charles Xavier, headmaster of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, who shelters and trains the emerging race
homo superior
, commonly called Mutants. The X-Men are originally Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops, who shoots laser beams from his eyes), Bobby Drake (a.k.a. Iceman, who can form ambient moisture into sheets of ice), Jean Grey (a.k.a. Marvel Girl, who has telepathic powers), Hank McCoy (a.k.a. the Beast, who has both superior brain and brawn), and Warren Worthington (a.k.a. the Angel, who was born with wings). In their first adventure, the X-Men tangle with Magneto, a powerful villain who returns three issues later as the leader of the
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Magneto becomes more sympathetic over the years, as themes of anti-Mutant racism become more prevalent in the X-books.

The Mutants, born outsiders oppressed for their superior abilities, feed into teenage feelings of alienation, particularly for the self-selecting, brainy types who read comics. Since the early 50s, it had been rare to depict heroes as alienated, but Lee's genius lay in his ability to play into the discontent that manifested itself in the Beat movement and other countercultural strains. The
X-Men
themes resonated with some hippies and “A Manifesto for Mutants” appeared in the
San Francisco Oracle
, a leading underground paper, in January 1967. Part of it read:

Mutants! Know now that you exist!
They have hid you in cities
And clothed you in fools clothes
Know now that you are free
.
¹⁴⁰

These themes of alienation may have kept
The X-Men
a second-string title when comics were mainstream entertainment. It may also be why the title became a perennial top-seller when hardcore fans became the primary comics audience in the late 70s.
The X-Men
also resonated with the civil rights movement, which peaked at about the time
X-Men
#1 was released, and may have been an unconscious expression of Lee's deep-seated feelings of Jewish persecution. In fact, later writers expanded upon this Jewish theme, portraying Magneto as a Holocaust survivor. This motif became a centerpiece of Bryan Singer's film adaptations, which are more resonant and emotionally blunt than the comics ever managed to be.

Kirby left the title after the first few issues, and the book was handled mainly by journeyman artist Werner Roth. In the Sixties, Marvel often featured the X-Men in other titles in an effort to raise the visibility of the characters and, more recently, have loaned them to boost sales on other sagging titles. Barry Smith and Neal Adams pitched in on a few issues, but nothing seemed to click. After issue #66, no new stories were commissioned, but the book continued as a reprint series. Marvel obviously still believed in the concept, but no one seemed to know how to make it sell.