Marvel and the Military-Industrial Complex

When Dwight D. Eisenhower addressed the nation for the final time as president on January 17, 1961, it was not a celebratory speech about his successes in office. Focusing solely on foreign affairs, Eisenhower instead discussed the need for all countries, no matter how large or small, to use the negotiating table as way to settle differences rather than through force. He also confessed a disappointment for not having done enough to curb the growing arms race between the United States and Soviet Union, as well as his inability to declare that “lasting peace is in sight” at the end of his presidency.

More importantly – and most famously – Ike spoke of a growing “military-industrial complex” and its possible influence on the future direction of the country.

Before World War II, the United States was hardly a military powerhouse. In 1938, even Romania had a larger army. The urgency of fighting Germany and Japan, however, required the full force of the nation’s manufacturing capabilities. Both the public and private sectors rose to the challenge, transforming “war” into a commodity as a result. The start of the Cold War inevitably meant there was no turning back, and the intersection of military and industry became even more prominent.

By the end of Dwight Eisenhower’s two terms as president, over three-and-a-half million people were part of the defense establishment, while the federal government spent more on defense than the annual earnings of all major U.S. corporations combined. Although the former general obviously played a role in this development, he also realized the dangers. Right before his time in office ended, the outgoing president thus offered a warning to the nation.

“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience,” Eisenhower said. “The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.”

The military-industrial complex was so widespread that it likewise existed within the Marvel Comics Universe. Not only were Bruce Banner and Tony Stark part of this emerging establishment but the military-industrial complex even played a direct role in the creation of their alter egos, the Hulk and Iron Man.

It is revealed in the first issue of The Incredible Hulk, for instance, that Bruce Banner is the mastermind behind the country’s latest weapon, the Gamma Bomb. As Banner waits in a nearby bunker for the bomb’s initial explosion, his assistant – a fellow scientist named Igor – believes the test should be canceled, arguing that the experiment is being rushed and that Banner should have collaborated better with his peers.

“This is your last chance to tell me the secret of harnessing the Gamma Rays,” Igor tell him. “It isn’t right for you to be the only one who knows. Nobody has checked your work. If you made an error, you might blow up half the continent.” Banner counters that his formula is safely locked away at his house and that he never makes mistakes.

When the moment to detonate the Gamma Bomb finally arrives, Bruce Banner notices that a teenager in a red convertible has somehow entered the test area. Banner instructs Igor to delay the countdown and then races towards the endangered youth. The boy’s name is Rick Jones, and he made a bet with his friends that he could sneak past the guards of the military compound. Upon reaching him, Banner grabs the teen by the arm and drags him towards a nearby trench.

Back in the bunker, Igor – who is secretly a Soviet spy – ignores Banner’s order to delay the G-Bomb’s detonation, taking advantage of the situation to end the scientist’s life. While Banner is able to toss Rick Jones into the trench, the bomb explodes before he himself can safely reach it. Although far from Ground Zero, Bruce Banner is belted by Gamma Rays nonetheless, freezing him in an ear-piercing scream.

Rick Jones is able to transport Banner back to the military compound, where he finally comes out of his dazed state. The scientist doesn’t understand how he could have survived such a blast and becomes convinced that he is dying. In a sense he is, as Bruce Banner suddenly transforms into a behemoth monster of a man. Feeling confused and confined, the creature smashes through a wall, survives a collision with an unsuspecting army jeep, and then lumbers into the desert.

“Fan out – we’ve got to find that Hulk,” a soldier tells his men, giving the creature a name in the process. “It’s impossible,” another observes. “Nothing human could have smashed a two-foot-thick concrete wall.”

While Bruce Banner worked directly for the military, Tony Stark was an industrial contractor who supplied the armed forces with devices he both designed and manufactured. During his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39, Stark travels to the jungles of Vietnam to personally demonstrate the capabilities of his latest invention – a miniature transistor that can generate more energy than the full-sized version. After the test has proven successful, Stark and the soldiers accompanying him trip on a booby-trapped wire. Everyone is killed as a result, except for the weapons manufacturer.

Tony Stark did not go unscathed, however, as shrapnel from the blast lodged near his heart, leaving him with only one week to live. His captor promises the surgery needed to save him if the American constructs a new weapon, but Stark sees through the lies and instead builds a suit of iron that both keeps him alive and allows for his escape – becoming the Invincible Iron-Man in the process.

In each of the following three issues of Tales of Suspense, Tony Stark demonstrates additional inventions to the military. The first are specially crafted roller skates that can “enable an entire infantry division to race down a highway at sixty miles an hour,” and eliminate the need for transport trucks. The skates are also collapsible and easily carried in a backpack. Next up is the “Burp-Gun,” which uses artillery shells the size of fifty-caliber machine gun bullets capable of obliterating any object with the same intensity of a full-sized shell.

The Stark-built Atomic Naval Cannon, meanwhile, allows battleships to launch nuclear missiles at targets over five hundred miles away, and a special alloy invented by Stark is strong enough to protect an astronaut’s space capsule from any type of radiation it might encounter.

Tony Stark also gives the military brass a sneak peak at his disintegrator ray. “Notice it can be installed in a common flashlight case,” he says. “Aim it at a monster tank and the tank instantly vanishes. Focus its beam on a two-foot-thick wall and instantaneous vaporization. No earthly substance can withstand the effects of this ray! You can easily see that if the ray we’re enlarged, in a split second it could wipe out a fleet of enemy battleships or even a great metropolis.”

Needless to say, the U.S. military was excited about these revolutionary devices and immediately jumped at the chance to expand their arsenal. “You’re a military genius!” they tell Stark. “No general,” the industrial contractor replies. “Just a scientist.”

In the United States at the time – both the factual world and the fictional Marvel Comics Universe – the two were often one and the same.

Anthony Letizia