Once upon a time in America things got really bad as the land was filled with trash, the water was slimed with sludge, and the air was noxious and in some places dangerous to breathe. But then good government took hold and regulations were put into place to attempt to minimize the output of sundry kinds of pollution into the landscape and things got much better, and really much better more quickly than anyone imagined. Now we sit in that world, relatively still free of the grit and grime of those earlier decades, but the idiotic cry for less regulation from an "oppressive government" will almost certainly mean that things will get worse before they get better again...eventually.
Comics were part of the outcry of the late 60's and early 70's when water and air were threatened and litter was a commonplace. Mike Friedrich used his vehicles, especially the comic The Justice League of America to call out the problem. He sure made it top of mind for me as a youngster just forming his attitudes about the world and its problems.
At Marvel it seemed that it was the sea-based Sub-Mariner who became the most volatile critic of the way things were and who shouted for change. That change came, but now we forget how bad it was and I dread we are about to slowly but steadily return to the world full of fumes, sludge, and trash.
Perhaps the most memorable of the stories about pollution from that era was the story writer Steve Skeates and artist Jim Aparo created for what proved to be the final issue of Aquaman in its original run. In that tale poor technological decisions allow pollution to run amok and the Sea King is barely able to save the day. There was supposed to be a follow up but cancellation stymied that plan.
Skip forward three years and Skeates is writing that other Sea King for Marvel the Sub-Mariner, the one already on record as not liking pollution and so he stealthily ended the story he'd begun so many years before. Arguably the first crossover between the two companies.
That story will be touched on along with much else about the suddenly popular Aquaman in the latest issue of Back Issue which lands on comic book shop shelves today. I'm eager to see what they say.
Oh and "Give A Hoot and Don't Pollute" by the way!
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As far back as the 1950's Jules Feiffer drew a story called "Boom!" about the effects of nuclear fallout on the atmosphere. In the story, the military was concerned that the visible pollution in the sky might upset people, so they addressed the problem with an advertising campaign. Billboards went up saying "Big Black Floating Specks are very pretty" and "Big Black Floating Specks are good for you!" Here in the barely real world, the EPA, in preparation for rolling back more protective regulations, recently stated "a little radiation is good for you." We now officially live in a cartoon.
ReplyDeleteTo quote Dr. Smith..."O the pain of it all."
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