10 Major Milestones In Comic Book History

2. World War II

World War II was the single most climactic event in the history of the 20th century, and so it should come as no surprise, really, that comics had a part to play in it too.

And really, who doesn't love seeing superheroes punching/shooting/destroying Nazis? Both DC and Marvel (formerly Timely Comics) got in on the action, with the latter most famously breaking sales with the introduction of Captain America in 1941. Soon, comics published in the States would be perforated with picturesque propaganda (including this delightful number above), with the likes of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman all rallying the cause with calls for citizens to buy war bonds to keep the good fight going (remember, each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy's gun).

The war still features prominently in comics today, what with Cap getting his debut during that period and all. And again, superhero comics boomed massively during the pre and post-war period. Jewish creators like Simon and Kirby helped establish a strong anti-fascist tenet that would guide the genre going forward, and the popularity of comics like Captain America provided Timely with the base necessary to expand after the conflict had ended.

World War II was instrumental in not only the success of the superhero genre in this sense, but also in providing an outlet for creators to produce powerful symbols of resistance against oppressive forces and power structures. We've most recently seen this in the form of Kamala Kahn's Ms. Marvel, whose image warded off an Islamophobic ad-campaign in San Francisco; which, it must be said, embodies the spirit of Simon and Kirby's original comic perfectly.

It's a testament to the strength of the medium that it continues to tackle injustice in much the same way it did when Cap socked Hitler in the face back in 1941, and, at least in that respect, World War II was a major milestone for the medium.