Medical History for the Masses
How American Comic Books Celebrated Heroes of Medicine in the 1940s
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15027293 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bert Hansen (Baruch College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 148-191 |
| Publication date | 2004-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bulletin of the history of medicine (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-5140 • E-ISSN: 1086-3176 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/bhm.2004.0018 |
| PMID | 15161089 |
| OpenAlex | W2114002931 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 17 |
When comic books rose to mass popularity in the early 1940s, one segment of the industry specialized in "true adventures," with stories about real people from the past and the present—in contrast to competing books that offered fantasy, science fiction, superheroes, detectives and crime, funny people, or funny animals. This study examines the figures from both medical history and twentieth-century medicine who were portrayed as heroes and role models in these comic books: first, to call attention to this very popular, if unknown, genre of medical history, and second, to illustrate how medical history was used at that time to popularize scientific and medical ideas, to celebrate the achievements of medical research, to encourage medical science as a career choice, and to show medicine as a humane and noble enterprise. The study explains how these medical history stories were situated in American popular culture more generally, and how the graphic power of comic books successfully conveyed both values and information while also telling a good story. Attention to this colorful genre of popular medical history enriches our picture of the mid-twentieth-century public's enthusiasm for medical progress
Adventure · Art · Art history · Comics · Enthusiasm · Fantasy · History of medicine · Literature · Medical history · Popular culture · Popularity · Power (physics) · Sociology · Classics · Comics and Graphic Narratives · Film in Education and Therapy · History · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Surgery
Roles of Graphic Pathographies in Clinical Training
Our Cancer Year , and
Humane Professions
Graphic medicine
Medical History’s Moment in Art Photography (1920 to 1950)
Graphic medicine
Keeping Horror in Mind
An Empirical Revision of the Definition of Science Fiction
Changing Configurations in the Portrayal of Doctors in Graphic Narratives
Human Culture and Science Fiction
Seal of approval
Scientific Authority and Twentieth-Century America
New Images of a New Medicine
The lie detector, Wonder Woman and liberty
Adrift on an Ice-Pan
The image and advocacy of public health in American caricature and cartoons from 1860 to 1900
Comics
The Aesthetics of the Comic Strip
Film and the Narrative Tradition
Paths into American Culture
Comic Strips and Consumer Culture, 1890-1945
How Superstition Won and Science Lost
Martin Arrowsmith
Some Varieties of Heroes in America
Understanding media
Separate Spheres and Public Places
Beyond the Two Cultures
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,53 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2021 (15) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |