Yeah, seems like a long time ago now.

But for decades this was how people saw comic book fans.

Someone has mixed an amazing Spider Man in with Peter Parker.

The spectacular Spiderman.

Serious things.

We're Not staying.

We've come a long way way Assemble.

Welcome to watch Mojo Siri's How Geek Culture Became Pop culture.

Once niche and ridiculed geek culture has exploded into the mainstream.

How did so much changed?

Join us as we look at how Pulp fiction, comics, video games, anime and nerd heroes became pop culture staples.

Four D.

C.

Versus Marvel Part one will be covering the origin story of comics from the 19 thirties right through to the nineties.

Out in a chamber hewn from the living rock of the mountain is the strange, dimly lighted, mysteriously secret That's Cave.

For the longest time, comics were perceived as a lower form of media reserved for kids and adults who never grew up.

Today, comics have not only inspired multiple billion dollar franchises, but also superhero mythologies have taken over pop culture.

How did we get from Panel A two panels?

E.

You could argue that comics are as old as Egyptian hieroglyphs and other ancient texts.

The art form wouldn't truly start to materialize, though, until printed media entered the equation.

Read these in your spare time.

While comics have been printed in magazines and newspapers since the 19th century, the first true modern comic book wasn't published until 1934.

Famous funnies provided a stepping stone between the original newspaper funnies and comic books.

That same year, two highly influential names emerged.

Pope magazine writer Malcolm Wheeler Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would eventually evolve into D.

C.

Comics.

Meanwhile, King Features Syndicate introduced readers to a space hero named Flash Gordon, who was created to compete with the Buck Rogers Strip.

Flash Gordon is often credited for influencing some space movie.

We think it was called The Adventures of Luke Starr Killer Anyway.

Gordon also inspired several game changing comic creators, including two kids from Ohio named Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

In 1938 DC Comics wrote Siegel and Shuster Ah, $130.

Check that $65 each for the exclusive rights to a character they created named Superman.

On My World, it means hope well here it's on s making his debut in Action Comics Number one Superman wasn't the first superhero per se.

In addition to Flash Gordon, the character shared similar traits to Robin Hood, Zorro and The Phantom, who had made his debut two years earlier.

Chiefs Leaders, Men of Wisdom and Knowledge.

I have called you together because I fear there are forces that will manage your peace and happiness.

Yet Superman perfected the superhero archetype with his design powers and backstory.

The success of Superman motivated D.

C.

To publish Mawr superhero stories.

In 1939 Bob Kane came up with the idea for a new hero named the Batman.

Bob Kane is the original cartoonist of Batman and the Man who has been credited on Batman for most of Batman's history.

It was writer Bill Finger, however, who gave Batman his Cape Cowl and other defining features.

Bill reconstructed Batman into the Batman that we all know today.

Since Cain negotiated the contract with D.

C.

On Lee, he received an acknowledgement.

Bill has been anonymous, collaborated with artists for many, many years.

A true unsung hero.

Finger tragically wouldn't be credited as Batman's co creator until 2015, 41 years after his death.

If you could have fathomed how iconic Batman would become after making his first appearance in Detective Comics Number 27 the Siri's, whose initials give D.

C.

It's name perhaps even more popular than Batman himself was his roguesgallery, showing that a hero is on Lee as great as his nemesis.

With the rise of other D C heroes like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and The Flash, it was truly a golden age for comic books.

D.

C expanded their audience through animated shorts and film serials.

Possessing remarkable physical strength, Superman fights a never ending battle for Truth and justice.

The Fleischer Superman cartoons reflects the hero's role as a symbol of American patriotism during World War Two.

One even had Hitler making an appearance, affording the troop ships a safe, other D.

C.

Siri's also invoked the war in the 1943 Batman Serial.

The antagonistic wasn't the Joker or to face, but a Japanese agent named Dr Daka.

I am Dr Daka, humble servant of His Majesty Hirohito.

Heavenly rolling prints of the Rising Sun, definitely a product of its time.

After the war superhero saw a decline in popularity, with comics shifting focus to sci fi horror and others yarns.

That's not to say superheroes didn't still have a fan base.

1951 saw the release of Superman and the Mole Men, the first theatrical feature based on a D.

C.

Property.

Put the gun down, Benson.

Okay.

Being independently financed, though, superheroes clearly were not seen as big business.

What was that shiny thing they pointed?

Did you a weapon of some kind?

Probably a very dangerous one.

Comics even suffered a backlash in 1954 with the best selling book Seduction of the Innocent, which associated the medium with juvenile delinquency, right and video games air corrupting our youth.

We get it.

Despite criticism, the Comics Code Authority was introduced to provide censorship, although publications were not required to abide by it.

Are you bleeping yourself?

You bet your voice and Little E.

M 1956 marked the beginning of the Silver Age of comic books.

D.

C revived many of its superheroes, even forming the Justice League of America in 1960 while D.

C.

Was by far the biggest name in comics.

Their most formidable rival was taking flight in 1939.

Martin Goodman founded Timely Comics, renamed Atlas Comics in 1951.

By 1961 the brand evolved into Marvel Comics, which gave D.

C a run for its money with a superhero team known as the Fantastic Four.

These were the first superheroes that writer Stan Lee created with artist Jack Kirby.

The two went on to create other Marvel heroes, such as The Incredible Hulk, Ironman and The X Men.

Lee also collaborated with Steve Ditko on characters like Doctor Strange and Spiderman.

I'm Peter, by the way, Doctor Strange using their made up names, Um, I'm Spiderman.

Then, in 1963 Marvel brought together Earth's mightiest heroes in The Avengers, number one, proving that D.

C wasn't the only publisher with a sizable hero roster anymore.

Justus, the Avengers were assembling a couple of comic book enthusiasts named Bernie Bub.

Nous and Ron Fradkin decided to bring their fellow fans together in 1964.

Up until now, fans had connected through fanzines, starting with sci fi fanzines in the thirties and soon expanding to cover comics.

Are you gonna buy that?

No.

Saifi was also responsible for the first fan conventions by the sixties, a comic book convention was long overdue.

Coop, this seems like a publicity stunt.

Fortunately, Bub Nous and Fradkin were on the case taking place over a single day.

New York comic con was the first official comic book convention, and it would not be The last conventions had grown exponentially by 1970 when Golden State Comic Con was launched.

Later renamed San Diego Comic Con, this convention attracted 300 guests.

It was a significant number for the time, but minuscule compared to the crowds comic Con attracts.

Today, the fan base for comics remained relatively small compared to the audiences for film or television.

A true fan could tell you the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel, a term coined by Richard Keil in 1964.

Meanwhile, mainstream audiences mainly associated superheroes with the Adam West Batman TV, Siri's while modern opinions of this show very it's can't be comical.

Tone pretty much summed up how the public saw costumed heroes.

I hate to sound a sour note joker, but it's time for us to make our own collection.

Regardless, the industry continued to evolve their craft in the bronze age of comic books.

During this era, comics began tackling MAWR social issues, with the X Men touching on discrimination.

They also explored darker storylines such as the death of Gwen Stacy.

Stay with me, Stay with me, Stay with me.

Stay with me.

Comic book stores began sprouting up while underground comics drew in the geek hipster crowd.

By the seventies, D.

C had had some success on both the small and silver screens, however, it was 1978 that really changed everything.

This was the year that saw the release of the first ever big budget superhero movie, Richard Donner's Superman.

I'm here to Fight for Truth and Justice in American Way.

While still lighthearted, the film had a sense of gravitas and importance that hadn't been present in previous adaptations.

This was reflected through the talent involved, which included Oscar winning actors like Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman, Oscar winning writers like Mario Puzo and Oscar winning composers like John Williams.

With a price tag of $55 million Superman was the most expensive movie ever produced at the time.

The investment paid off with a total gross of $300.5 million setting the standard for every superhero film that followed as Superman Sword on the big screen, superheroes entered the modern age of comic books with reboots, redesigns and a re evaluation of the comics code.

This paved the way for grittier imagery as well as the rise of anti heroes entitles like Watchman.

Batman, in particular, was taken to bold new territory entitles like The Dark Knight Returns and the Killing joke, both of which influenced director Tim Burton when he brought the Caped Crusader to the silver screen.

What are you I'm Batman.

Revisiting Batman's darker roots, Burton proved that, um, or adult tone would not alienate a mass audience.

The summer of 1989 would go down as the summer of Batman, amounting to $411.6 million.

Box office Revenue aside, you couldn't go anywhere without seeing the Batman logo, suggesting that superheroes and comics had finally hit the mainstream.

Who's afraid of Big Black back?

Whereas Batman inspired a four film franchise, Marvel was struggling to find its groove on the screen, while the Incredible Hulk TV Siri's had a respectable following.

Howard the duck bombed Captain America was sent straight to video, and Roger Corman's Fantastic Four movie wasn't even released.

They call me Dr and did we mention the live action Spiderman show The Doctor, Strange TV movie or the unproduced Thor TV?

Siri's What if Superman and Batman proved anything?

It was that in terms of popularity, feature films could take superheroes to unprecedented heights that comics couldn't.

On that level, D.

C had emerged the clear winner beating out their rival Marvel.

At least for the time being, Mr Stark, you become part of a bigger universe.

Make sure to check out our next episode, where we'll be looking at DC and marvel from the nineties to today.