American Dreams of MutantsWord文档格式.docx

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Volume38, 

Issue1, 

pages149–168,August2004

Reviewing 

Americancontributionstopopularcultureofthe 

twentiethcentury,thecriticMartin 

Williams 

identifies“motionpicturedrama,jazz,aspecialkindofmusicaltheateranditsassociatedmusicanddance,themoderndetectivestory,thecomicstrip,tonameonlythemostobvious”（3）.Nolessobvious,andaglaringomissionfromtheseclaims,issciencefiction,for“twogenresacquiredtheirrecognizableformin[American“pulp”fictionmagazines]:

thedetectivenoirandsciencefiction”（A.Boyer 

92）.DespitetheEuropean/OldWorldantecedentsofH.G.Wells,whowrotescientificromances,andJulesVerne,whowrote 

merveilleuxscientifique,theterm“sciencefiction”wascoinedbyHugoGernsback,editoroftheAmericanmagazine 

AmazingStories 

inthe1920s.Fromthesepulporigins,sciencefictionmoved“inexorablytowardsthecenterofAmericanculture”（Franklin 

3）,amovementmarkedbythedetonationofanatomicbombatHiroshimain1945,when“thoughtfulmenandwomenrecognizedthat[they]werelivinginasciencefictionworld”（Gunn 

174）.And,as 

Bukatman 

remarks,therecanbe“nooverstatingtheimportanceofsciencefictionto…amomentthatseesitselfassciencefiction”（TerminalIdentity 

3）.Reviewingthoseopinionsexpressedbycriticsandcommentatorsinthe1950s,EdwardJames 

foundacceptancethatsciencefictionwasaseriousliterature—althoughprivilegingideasoverliteraryexpression—concernedwithmankind'

spresentplightandproblematicfuture（“BeforetheNovum”27）.

Thepulpfictionoriginsofsciencefictionanddetectivenoir, 

James 

observes,weresharedbyAmericancomicbooks:

“Thepulpsindeedspawnedthecomic-stripheroesofthe1930s…thesuper-hero,infact,wasoneofthemostprominentcreationsofthepulpera”（ScienceFiction 

48）.

Thepulpsofthe1930sfeaturedsuch“menofmystery”asDocSavage,“TheManofBronze,”andhisFabulousFive（DocSavageMagazine#1:

March1933）,and“TheSpider,”acapedvigilante（TheSpider#1:

October1933）,1 

whilethecomicsintroducedSuperman,“TheManofSteel”（ActionComics#1:

June1938）,andBatman,“TheCapedCrusader”（DetectiveComics#27:

May1939）.ThedebutsofSupermanandBatman,themoresuccessfulandenduringsuperheroes,werefollowedbythoseofTheHumanTorchandNamortheSub-mariner（MarvelComics#1:

October/November1939）toestablisha“goldenage”ofcomics.Thesesuperherostories—produced, 

alleges,“largelybyyoungmalesforsomewhatyoungermales”（“X-bodies”95）—havebeenconsideredtobesciencefictionalbeit,as 

Jamescontends,“shornofallsophistication”（ScienceFiction 

83）.Butthesestoriesaremoreproperlyfantasies;

thesuperheroesretainedthemysticismoftheirpulppredecessors（LangandTrimble 

165）and,althoughsetinplausibleworldswhereeven“theirrationalorthestrangeisstillexplicableinquasi-scientificoreverydayterms”（Abercrombie,Lash,andLonghurst 

123）,superherostoriesusedscienceas“analibiformagic”（Reynolds 

53）.Bothsciencefictionandfantasyare 

estrangedgenres—possessingan“imaginativeframeworkalternativetotheauthor'

sempiricalframework”（Suvin 

60–61）—asopposedtonaturalisticgenres（Parrinder 

37）,butseparatedbythenotionof 

cognition 

inherentin“theGernsbackianideaoffictionwithascientificexplanation”（Parrinder 

37）.

The1920sand1930switnessedtheriseoftheAmericansciencefictionshortstory,butthe1940ssawthesciencefictionstoryhonedbywriterschosenbyeditorJohnW.Campbellforpublicationin 

AstoundingScienceFiction.Sciencefictionbeganappearingin“mass-circulationmagazineslike 

Collier'

s 

andthe 

SaturdayEveningPost”（P.Boyer 

257）,butmanygeneralreaderscontinuedtoconsidersciencefictionasescapistorunrealistic,whichcontributedtoa“ghetto”mentalityamongfans.This“ghettoizing”ofsciencefictionwasnotentirelyimposedfromwithout;

manysciencefictionwritersandreadersregarded“thebulkoftheirownsocietyasmistaken,ill-informed,andprobablyineducable”（Shippey 

101）.Nevertheless,the1950ssaw“theemergenceofsciencefictionfromitsparaliteraryghetto”（A.Boyer 

96）withthepublicationofsociallyconsciousandcriticalstoriesandnovels.Yet,thisseriousandsophisticatedliteraturecoexistedwithunsophisticatedparaliterature,suchasarticlesandstoriesthatencourageda“cultofirrationalityandUFOism”（Seed 

9）.ThesestorieswerepublishedaftertheSecondWorldWarbyRayPalmer,whosucceededGernsbackastheeditorof 

AmazingStories.Serioussciencefictionsurvivedthecrashofsciencefictionmagazines（whichdwindledfromfortytoameresixorseveninthelate1950s[Sadoul 

217],dueinparttothefailureofthemajormagazinedistributorAmericanNewsCompany）,thedeclineofmass-circulationmagazinessuchas 

s,andtheriseoftelevision.

Unsophisticatedsuperherocomics,bycontrast,flourishedforthegoldenagebeforeandduringtheSecondWorldWar.TheAxisthreatwascounteredbyarosterofpatrioticsuperheroes—includingCaptainAmerica,theEagle,theShield,theStar-SpangledKidandStripesy,andUncleSam—whoprovided“fantasiesofsuperhumanpower[overcoming]thedevastatinglydehumanizingforcesassociatedwithFascism”（Schmitt 

155）.Butthisgoldenageendedin1954withthepublicationofFredericWertham'

SeductionoftheInnocent,“397impassionedpagesdetailingtheperniciouseffects”ofcomics（Ross 

110）.Americancomicbooksweresubjectedtoascarecampaign,oneofthose“moralcrusadesoftheMcCarthyera”（Brown 

18）thattapped“thegeneralculturalparanoiaoftheperiodthroughthecontinualandeffectiveuseofthepopularpress”（Parsons 

71）.Althoughthis“comicscare”undoubtedlydamagedthecomictrade,televisionhadcontributedtothedeclineofcomicsalesby“siphoningoffthecomicbookaudience”（Parsons 

72）withprogramssuchas 

CaptainVideo 

（1949–53）, 

TomCorbett,SpaceCadet（1950–54）,and 

SpacePatrol 

（1950–56）.Comicbookpublishers,“toescapethewitchhuntswithwhatlittleaudiencetheyhadleft”（Brown 

21）,submittedto“abusybodyreviewboardandaninsufferablecodethatamountedtotheemasculationofcomicbooks”（Richler 

306）.

However,SupermanandBatmansurvivedthe1950s,reconcilingthemselvestotherequirementsofthepost-WerthamComicsCode.Supermanwaseventranslatedsuccessfullyfortelevisionin 

TheAdventuresofSuperman 

（1953–57）.Furthergoldenagesuperheroeswererehabilitatedorreoriginated.ThefirstwastheFlash（Showcase#4:

October1956）,fromwhoseappearancethe“silverage”ofcomicsisdated（McCue 

35–38;

Reynolds 

9）.ButtherevitalizationofAmericancomicbookshasbeenattributedtothedebuts,intheearly1960s,ofnewheroessuchastheFantasticFour（FantasticFour#1:

November1961）,Spider-Man（AmazingFantasy#15:

August1962）andtheX-Men（TheX-Men#1:

September1963）.ThesewereproductsoftheMarvelComicsGrouphelmedby 

StanLee.2

MarveloftheSilverAge

MordecaiRichlerobservesthatthegoldenagesuperheroeshadconstituted“invulnerable,all-conquering”championsforchildren,providing“revengefiguresagainstwhatseemedagratuitouslycrueladultworld”（306,300）.TherelevanceofthesesuperheroesforchildrenwasepitomizedbyayoungBillyBatsonwho,uponutteringthemagicword“SHAZAM”（anacronymofSolomon,Hercules,Atlas,Zeus,Achilles,andMercury）,wastransformedintotheworld'

smightiestmaturemortal,CaptainMarvel（WhizComics#2:

February1940）,“anallegoryofpubescentmetamorphosis,”alleges 

（“X-bodies”100）.Suchgoldenagesuperheroes“werealwaysadults,exceptwhenfollowedbyaxeroxedsidekick”（McCue 

41）;

BatmanwasfollowedbyRobin（DetectiveComics#38:

April1940）andTheHumanTorchbyToro（TheHumanTorchComic#2:

Fall1940）.Thesesidekickshadserved“asasourceofidentificationforyoungadolescents”（Brody 

176）.MarvelComics'

innovationwasto“pioneercomicsfortheadolescent”（JacobsandJones 

129）thatdealtwith“titanicbattlesbetween[teenagedsuperheroes]andmiddle-agedsupervillains”（Mondello 

233）.

NumberedamongtheFantasticFour,whowereexposedtocosmicraysinanear-earthorbitingspacecraftandtransformedintosuperheroes,wasanewHumanTorchwhocouldburstintoflameswithoutbeingconsumedbyfire.TheTorchwasanimpulsive,literallyhot-headedhighschoolstudentwithapenchantforhot-rods.Thewise-crackingSpider-Man,whosesuperhumanpowerswereacquiredbythebiteofaradioactivespiderwhilevisitingascienceexhibition,wasahighschoolbookwormwho, 

observes,hadacertain“nerdycharm”（“X-bodies”95）andlivedwithhiswidowedaunt.TherewasamutualantagonismbetweenthesilverageHumanTorchandSpider-Man,begunwhenSpider-MancrashedapartyheldbytheHumanTorch'

sgirlfriend（TheAmazingSpider-Man#8:

January1964）.Thiscontributedtothecrossoversalesofbothcomicbooktitles.

Thesemid-1960ssuperheroesweretornbetweenapreferenceforself-gratification—theTorchwasagirl-chaserandSpider-Manwas“neuroticallyobsessedwithstatusandworldlysuccess”（LangandTrimble 

165）—andpublicservice（Mondello 

235;

SkidmoreandSkidmore 

89）.Oftenperceivedasamenacetosociety,theseteenagedsuperheroesconsequentlyfelt“ambivalencetowardsocietyandtheirplaceinit”（LangandTrimble 

167）,anallegoryofadolescentanomie.

TheX-Men,however,wereadifferentproposition.Theseteenagerswere,asthecomicbookcoverproclaimed,“TheStrangestSuper-HeroesofAll.”Cri