The Marvel Age of Comics

The Marvel Comics Universe of the 1960s was set in the real-world as opposed to fictional, not only in their locales but within their narratives as well. Iron Man helped fight the Cold War, the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man played roles in the Space Race, Namor the Submarine joined the environmental movement, the X-Men hung out in Greenwich Village, and a Mary Jane Watson got a job as a go-go dancer. By remixing the factual with the fictional, these narratives offer a unique and insightful overview of the decade.

The Mighty Thor and Hiroshima USA

The Cold War and threat of nuclear Armageddon made their way into Marvel Comics during the 1960s, as well as Collier’s magazine and its reporting of a fictitious nuclear attack on New York.

The Hulk, Bruce Banner, and Robert Oppenheimer

Both Bruce Banner of the fictional Marvel Comics Universe and real-world physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer were suspected and investigated of being Soviet spies during the 1950s and 1960s.

Nikita Khrushchev: I Will Bury Iron-Man!

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev made occasional appearances within the pages of Marvel Comics during the 1960s, and even lobbed his famous “I will bury you” phrase against Iron Man.

Marvel and the Military-Industrial Complex

The military-industrial complex that President Dwight Eisenhower warned against played a pivotal role in the Marvel Comics Universe, including the creation of the Hulk and Iron Man.

Spider-Man and Project Mercury

The amazing Spider-Man helps a crippled space capsule return safely to Earth while the real-world Mercury Seven astronauts wait for the opportunity to travel into the vast unknown.

The X-Men and Greenwich Village

During the early 1960s, Iceman and Beast from the X-Men were regular patrons of a coffeeshop in the famed New York City neighborhood, where they listened to Beat poets and quoted Bob Dylan.

The Fantastic Four Meet the Beatles

Benjamin “Thing” Grimm and Johnny “Human Torch” Storm of the Fantastic Four get caught up in Beatlemania the year after the Fab Four arrived in New York City and conquered America.

Mary Jane Watson: Go-Go Dancer

The self-proclaimed party girl and friend of Spider-Man alter ego Peter Parker dressed in the latest fashions during the 1960s and even briefly got a job as a go-go dancer in a local nightclub.

Medusa: Fashion Model

British photographer David Bailey and model Jean Shrimpton changed the fashion industry during the 1960s, something the Inhuman Medusa learns as a model for Heavenly Hair Spray.

The Incredible Hulk and the University of Wisconsin

The Hulk became enraged at protesters at Desert State University in 1970 while real-world students protested napalm manufacturer Dow Chemical at the University of Wisconsin in 1967.

Black Panther: Making a Stand in South Africa

Members of the Fantastic Four travel to the segregated African nation of Rudyarda to assist the Black Panther, a journey similar to one made by Robert F. Kennedy to South Africa in 1966.

Iron Man: Behind Enemy Lines

Iron Man and New York Times journalist Harrison Salisbury both traveled to North Vietnam in the late 1960s, encountering different views of the U.S. bombing effort during the Vietnam War.

The Fantastic Four and Apollo 11

The Fantastic Four foil a plot by the alien Kree to keep Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin from landing on the Moon while millions across planet Earth are enraptured by the lunar mission.

Captain America and Altamont Speedway

Captain America confronts members of Satan’s Angels disrupting a music festival shortly after the Hells Angels stabbed a fan at the infamous Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway.

Namor: The Santa Barbara Oil Spill

In conjunction with the first Earth Day and one year after an environmental disaster struck off the coast of California, the king of Atlantis warned surface-dwellers against polluting the oceans.

Iron Man and the First Earth Day

In conjunction with the first Earth Day in April 1970, Tony Stark tells a group of businessmen the story of how Iron Man and Namor prevented an environmental disaster on Meridian Island.