Cartoons

A new phase was ushered in: the Superhero phase. A crowd of superheroes entered the scene. Bob Kane decided to capitalize on the success of the superhero phase and created Batman. But it was Bill Finger who came up with name of Bruce Wayne, the millionaire who donned his Batman costume to play the super hero. The difference between Superman and Batman was that although Batman had no super powers unlike his counterpart, the Batman stories were more exciting. Many well-known characters came about in those years including, Little Orphan Annie, Dick Tracy, Popeye, Mutt & Jeff, Little Nemo and Buster Brown. Timely Comics, which would later become Marvel Comics, the most famous comic book company today, began in Fall 1939. On November 20, 1939, Max Gaines, now at DC Comics, published a comic featuring the first appearances of The Flash, "the fastest man alive." .
             The first appearance of Robin, the Boy Wonder was in April 1940. Bob Kane wanted to introduce a sidekick for two reasons. It would give Batman an associate to talk to and, at the same time, give the youngsters reading Batman someone with which to identify. He felt every boy would want to be like Robin, no school, no homework, living in a mansion, riding in the Batmobile, it was a fantasy come true. 17 year old Stanley Leiber, known as Stan Lee, received his first published work in Captain America. Young Stan Lee would later go on to become the most famous writer and editor in the history of comics. With the end of the war in 1945, comics were in less in demand and that signified the end of The Golden era.
             The next era in the history if cartoons is known as the Silver Age, and I will tell you about the changes that took place in this age. The Silver Age, which began in the late 1940's, brought about experimentation. The Superhero craze started to wane and the multitude of costume clad characters that were busy saving the world started to lose popularity.