Amazing Heroes Issue # 7 Cover Page

Amazing Heroes Issue # 7 Cover Page

comic books, strips
Superheroes
Women Superheroes
Science Fiction
Toys
Art
Time Travel

 This Amazing Heroes Issue #7 cover displays labels of what the periodical contains inside, stating “Gil Kane Talks about the Micronauts!”, “The History of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents! “Jan Duursema: A Look at a Dynamic New Talent!”, “DC Schedules 7 New Titles!”, and “Plus: New, Checklist, a Silly Cover, and More!” These headings take up the left side of the front page, and on the right, is an image depicting a large robot type creature coming out of yellow flames. The large robot appears menacing and has his arms outstretched reaching up to the sky. Below the large robot is another smaller robot, a man, and a woman. The smaller robot has his arms up as well but appears less menacing. The man is in a sci-fi looking suit and is running away from the larger robot in the back. The woman is more scantily clad, wearing an amour-type leotard, thigh-high armored boots, and armored covers on her arms. She is also wearing a mask that’s covering her eyes. She too is running away from the large robot in the back. None of the tinier characters seem to be running away in fear, more as though they are running towards somewhere. The Micronauts started off as toys produced by a Japanese company in the 1970s, which eventually would lead to comics that ran from 1979 to 1986. The 1980s was an interesting time in comics, as it saw a larger integration of international influences in comics, particularly Japan. Japanese comics had been growing for quite some time, but by the 1980s it had reached a magnitude almost comparable to America.

The growing influence of Japan in comics also led to the fostering of consumer culture, as was common practice in Japan. The Micronauts, which are featured in this periodical, are a perfect example of this, as they started off as Japanese action figures to be sold first, their comic books not even coming out until after the toys saw success in the market. This fits perfectly in American comic book distribution practices at the time, which called for sales over anything— that is to say, capitalism was reigning. International influences in comics also led to new content being explored in comics themselves, which is demonstrated in the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comics, which is explored in this periodical as well. The mid-1970s saw a revival in the ‘superhero team’, most notably with the recreation of the X-Men in 1975. This was in large part due to the fact that society was craving international representation— society wanted diversity and inclusion to be reflected in their comics. T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents piggybacked off that idea, forming a group that was created by the United Nations and that served the good of the entire world, not just one singular country. This was after the cold world era, in which the world was looking for allies, not enemies— society wanted to be reassured that coexistence was possible. This periodical becomes interesting in the fact that it covers these topics that were very prevalent in the era— international influence, capitalism, and representation. It not only serves as a good representation of the era, but it also interacts with the time, as all art does.

Editor: Kim Thompson
Art Director: Peppy White
Assistant Editor: J. Collier
Contributing Writers: Dwight R. Decker, Jim Korkis, Rich Morrissey, Gene Reed, David Singer
Contributing Artists: Bill Anderson, Willie Blyberg, Rudi Franke, Doug Hazelwood, Mark Helke, Bert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Gary Kwapisz, Mark Lamport, Kevin Nowlan, Mike O'Neal
Editor Emeritus: J. Michael Catron
Published by: REdbeard, Inc.
Advertising: J. Michael Catron

MSU Special Collection Comic Art, PN6725.A47

Redbeard, Inc.

1981-12

Hannah Boyd

Rights Restrictions Apply

representative image: http://chambl91.msu.domains/CriticalFanscape/items/show/35
Table of Contents: http://chambl91.msu.domains/CriticalFanscape/items/show/34

10 and 1/4 inches by 6 and 5/8 inches

English

Periodical

1981-1992