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the comic book first arose in America in the mid-1930s

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the demand for a new form of entertainment

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in small towns, we were becoming aware that we were apart of something larger than just a small town

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all of America was facing economic depression

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country was facing the threat of war in Europe

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people were looking for outlets of entertainment

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comic books were inexpensive and accessible

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you paid 10 cents instead of going to the movies

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allowed people to transport themselves beyond their day-to-day experience

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other forms of entertainment at the time

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theater

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big band sound was starting

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movies

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fascination with the gangster film

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there were many well-known gangsters in society

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they were celebrities

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Warner Brothers understood this

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created by the Wonskolaser brothers who emigrated as small children with their parents to Canada from Krasnosielc which was located in the part of Congress Poland that had been subjugated to the Russian Empire following the eighteenth-century Partitions of Poland near present-day Ostrołęka

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1903: opened their first theater in New Castle, Pennsylvania

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Warner brothers took the plots from the newspapers of the time

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John Dillinger (1903–1934)

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operated the Dillinger Gang which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations

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escaped from jail twice

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grew up in Indianapolis

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his German grandfather, Matthias Dillinger, emigrated to the United States in 1851 from Metz

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Al Capone (1899-1947)

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American gangster who attained fame during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit

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born in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City to Italian immigrants

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typical American family in the evenings at home

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gathered around the radio

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basked in its audio glow just as if it were a fireplace

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FDR gave fireside chats on radio

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became extensions of a form of entertainment

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entertainment that gave us information

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forerunners of the American comic book

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two influences

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1. pulp magazines

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the were called pulp fiction because of the paper they were printed on

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were appealing to young people

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unfinished pieces of paper

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had rough edges

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it was an unfinished experienced

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characters coming out of the pulp magazines

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The Shadow

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became a comic book

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then a radio show

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then became a movie serial

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in essence, the first multimedia star

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Flash Gordon

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Tarzan

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Superman

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largely centered around heroes

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the producers wanted capitalize on the feeling in America and the world at the time, i.e. a superhero is needed

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we were seeking a hero who could solve all our problems, and these comic strip characters seemed to offer this possibility

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2. newspaper comic strips

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comic strips also began appearing in newspapers

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Trylon and Perisphere

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radios from the 1930s had these shapes on them

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came from two modernistic structures, together known as the Theme Center at the center of the New York World's Fair of 1939-1940

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these two symbols were used in the advertising of the fair

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motto was "Dawn of a New Day" and "The World of Tomorrow"

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they wanted to lead America out of the depression and toward a new optimism

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DC Comics

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founded 1934

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the initials DC came from the company's popular series Detective Comics,

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produced Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, Shazam, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and Green Arrow

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currently a subsidiary of Warner Bros., a division of Time Warner.

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also used the trylon and perisphere on their magazine

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the 1940 magazine which showed Batman, Robin and Superman together was a statement that there is a DC universe in which all of our DC characters coexist

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Superman was referred to both as "The Man of Steel" but also as "The Man of Tomorrow"

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Superman launched in Action Comics #1 on April 18, 1938