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SUPERHOES AND THE CIRCUS!
How the circus influenced decades of comics!
Countless comic book characters are scientists by trade, a lesser-known comic book setting is the circus - Robin from Batman comes from a family of acrobats, while X-Men's Nightcrawler was a traveling freak-show performer.
Even those without a circus past visited the big top in early issues, like Wonder Woman and The Avengers. In Wonder Woman#1 , after saving an innocent performer, she shows off to the crowd with a trick horse ride and a lion wrestle, as well as a daring trapeze leap. The very first issue of The Avengers also features the Hulk, disguised in clown makeup as the lifelike robot "Mechano". But beyond these explicit connections, 1940s comic books were influenced by circus and side-show performances.
So who made their start under the big top? Well to start, Hawkeye learned his skills along with his brother Barton, under the Swordsman while traveling with the circus. Boston Brand was shot and killed while performing and became the hero
Deadman. And of course who can forget the greatest family of trapeze artists the Flying Grayson's who tragically died performing in Gotham. They were survived by their son Dick Grayson who was adopted by Batman (Bruce Wayne for tax and legal purposes) and trained to become the legendary Robin The Boy Wonder, and later Nightwing.
Superhero costumes, including the big guy himself, Superman, have been heavily influenced by circus performers. Spandex and vibrant hues were widely seen in the circus, helping to emphasize the strength of the strongmen, as well as aiding performers' movement on the stage. Had it not been for this influence, superheroes may have been outfitted more like military personnel or police officers, which were the popular heroes of the day. Therefore, the next time you admire superheroes in their sleek costumes, you can thank Barnum & Bailey's Circus!
In Action Comics No. 1, Superman bursts a chain around his chest demonstrating a feat of strength commonplace in circus and carnival performances. This strongman-style act was popularly used by performers to show off their strength, with some performers requiring a little help from behind-the-scenes stagecraft in order to break the chain. The Man of Steel's escape from this chain would later become a popular trope among heroes of the superhero genre, as they triumphed over their adversaries and narrowly escaped confinement time and time again.
Later when Stan Lee, the man credited with helping usher in the Silver Age of Superheroes at Marvel Comics was asked by his distinguished competition to recreate their classic DC heroes - what did he do? Yep! Brought them back to the circus, Superman, Batman, Robin and maybe one or two others made their first appearances at circus' in the early 21st century - all separately. Like, at three different operating circus's around America all at the same time. It was an outdated attempt but nonetheless it was pretty cool seeing Stan The Man take his swing at DC heroes.
And of course we would be remiss to leave out the Circus of Crime! A group of Marvel Villains all based on Circus tropes!
The Circus of Crime was a traveling band of circus performers, usually led by Maynard Tiboldt, better known as the Ringmaster, who use their special skills to rob their audiences.
The Circus of Crime usual modus operandi is the following. They will give a performance before a large audience. At some point the Ringmaster will use the powerful mind-control device concealed in his hat to put the audience into a trance. The Circus members then rob the audience, who remember nothing about the thefts when the Ringmaster releases them from the trance and the performance continues. The Circus of Crime performs under different names so that audience will not suspect that they are the Circus of Crime.
So there you have it - a brief history of the circus in comics and the influence of the circus on comics! I bet you didn't know those tights were because of a guy like this lifting fake weights over his 90 years ago did you?
