Virtual Heroes: Boys, Masculinity and Historical Memory in War Comics 1945-1995

TY - JOUR

T1 - Virtual Heroes: Boys, Masculinity and Historical Memory in War Comics 1945-1995

AU - Clarkson, Alexander

PY - 2008

Y1 - 2008

N2 - This article explores the ways in which war comics shaped wider notions of ‘heroic’ military masculinity after 1945. The wide readership of these popular publications enjoyed made them a key factor in shaping the kind of criteria young Britons, Americans and Germans used to define concepts of ‘heroic’ military masculinity. In particular, this paper will examine three publications which enjoyed a high degree of popularity in their respective countries. The first two are Britain’s Commando Comics and the German pictorial war magazine Landser, which both largely focused on the Second World War. The third publication is the American G.I. Joe comic series in which a great number of ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ are American veterans of the Vietnam War. By examining how these comics defined as ‘ethical’ and ‘heroic’ or ‘criminal’ and ‘cowardly’ soldierly behaviour, I hope to explore how they attempted to shape ideals of ‘heroic’ masculinity among the boys and adolescents who read them during the Cold War.

AB - This article explores the ways in which war comics shaped wider notions of ‘heroic’ military masculinity after 1945. The wide readership of these popular publications enjoyed made them a key factor in shaping the kind of criteria young Britons, Americans and Germans used to define concepts of ‘heroic’ military masculinity. In particular, this paper will examine three publications which enjoyed a high degree of popularity in their respective countries. The first two are Britain’s Commando Comics and the German pictorial war magazine Landser, which both largely focused on the Second World War. The third publication is the American G.I. Joe comic series in which a great number of ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ are American veterans of the Vietnam War. By examining how these comics defined as ‘ethical’ and ‘heroic’ or ‘criminal’ and ‘cowardly’ soldierly behaviour, I hope to explore how they attempted to shape ideals of ‘heroic’ masculinity among the boys and adolescents who read them during the Cold War.

KW - boyhood

KW - masculinity

KW - comic books

KW - veterans

KW - war literature

U2 - 10.3149/thy/0202.175

DO - 10.3149/thy/0202.175

M3 - Article

SN - 1931-9045

VL - 2

SP - 175

EP - 185

JO - Thymos: The Journal of Boyhood Studies

JF - Thymos: The Journal of Boyhood Studies

IS - 2

ER -