The Perfect Holiday Gift from the Talent of Roy Thomas

Before the 20^th century, much of world history was constricted to limited ways of media disbursement. In the 1900’s, society began recording the world around them like never before, and comics reflected this shift. In fact, many of our biggest heroes were born or heavily influenced during World War II.

Roy Thomas, one of the most prolific Eisner award winning writers who has penned dozens of titles for both DC and Marvel has put together a series of books which highlight three of the most famous characters and how they were influenced by the war, and how they in return influenced readers, soldiers and the world alike. They not only rallied monetary support, but lifted the spirits of their audience.

Superman: The War Years 1938-1945, Batman: The War Years 1939-1945 and Wonder Woman The War Years 1941-1945 all by Roy Thomas reflect the emergence of comic book media’s impact on the world, and how the world impacted writers in beautiful laid out hardcover books. These books are massive, with more than 300 pages of content that will enchant even the most casual fans.

Thomas starts off each book with a brief history of each character and how their stories synthesized from mythologies and previous literary figures. When Superman first started he wasn’t called the Man of Steel, instead the children of the late 1930’s and 40’s referred to him as the Man of Tomorrow. Diana Prince has more in common with the Greek gods of ancient lore then others in her league. And Batman, a conglomerate of Sherlock Holmes, Zorro, and Emma Orczy’s stage play character Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel, who represented a superhero that any kid could aspire to be. With a few caveats, of course.

With careful curating, Thomas selected 20 comics for each book, highlighting instrumental moments in these characters. During the war years, it wasn’t just these characters fighting on the fronts; it was them also fighting fights back home, against people trying to steal war bond money like Scarecrow. Superman, Batman and Robin also team up to throw baseballs at the axis of evil, Hitler, Mussolini and General Tojo to raise money for war bonds.

One of the best parts about these books is that Thomas lets the comics speak for themselves. Before each chapter he prefaces the climate of the world and the motivations for the actions and storyline that unfolds. The comics also reflect the shifting views of the public as the war on both the western and eastern fronts began to close up. Less and less Batman comics were war centric beginning in 1944 and 1945, but he still showed his face on patriotic covers.

Throughout the United States four year involvement in World War II, readers were treated to many patriotic covers, however, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster (and Don Cameron once Siegel was drafted) never did the one thing Superman could do to end the war effort, and that was take down the Hitler, Mussolini, or General Tojo.

Wonder Woman’s war years fare a bit differently from her male headliners. She isn’t a citizen of the United States or another war-involved country, but instead a princess of the ultimate hermit kingdom of Paradise Island. She is drawn to the war circulating the world around her when Steve Trevor drops in. Thomas points out that while DC kept Superman out of the war because he could end it almost instantly, and Batman rarely dabbled across enemy lines because he wasn’t bulletproof, Wonder Woman saw the most war action. For having more story content grounded in the war, Wonder Woman had less patriotic covers then Superman or Batman. In addition, while Wonder Woman put in the most war effort out of DC’s super-trio, she pulled double duty fighting for women’s equality, something Wonder Woman’s writer psychologist Dr. William Moulton Marston felt strongly about.

These three books excel in demonstrating the cause and the effect the war had on comics, and the comics’ effect on the war. Published by Chartwell Books, history buff and comic fan alike can enjoy these books as a time capsule into another era. Arranged into a beautiful and simplistic reading manner, Thomas invites you into a world that he grew up in and would later influence his writings beginning in the 1960’s, when comics began to re-emerge from their post-war slump. Pick up or put these books on your Christmas list because they are certainly a treat, from the art, to the history, and the pop culture impact.

The Superman and Batman books were released in October of this year, and Wonder Woman was released in November. They are all available for purchase on Amazon.

Purchase Superman here: http://www.amazon.com/Superman-The-War-Years-1938-1945/dp/0785832823/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0D3AVDJ4A8AY6G18E803

Purchase Batman here: http://www.amazon.com/Batman-1939-1945-Presenting-classic-length/dp/0785832831/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=082YARTW88KDJJDV0Z0Q

Purchase Wonder Woman here: http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Woman-The-Years-1941-1945/dp/078583284X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=12QWBHSPYS1MWX8JG70P