Comics Are for Soldiers Too
I grew up in a military household and as a result I never really considered the ARMY (or any other branch for that matter) to be a place for people like me. By that I mean a nerd, more specifically a comic book nerd. My dad was a former Drill Sergeant as well as a veteran of Vietnam and Desert Storm, so I heard a lot of what life was like in the military. I, on the other hand, was a kid that enjoyed reading Batman and X-Men comics, while watching Saturday morning cartoons on Fox. So I never pictured the military being an institution that was nerd friendly, but apparently I was mistaken.
Recently I decided to start talking to some of our members, and members of other Facebook groups who were in the military to find out more about this safe haven of nerdiness that I didn’t know existed. I’ve learned quite a bit about how accepting the military is to the nerd community. Of course the level of acceptance varies from branch to branch and even from base to base, but it seems that no matter where you go (aside from the middle of the Iraqi desert) you have access to nerd culture while in the military. When asked how many nerds they thought were on base I got a wide variety of answers:
“I would classify about 60% of the 35 and below age as nerdy, or slightly nerdy” — Marie Halvorsen
“Most definitely the comm and intel groups are nerdy without a doubt. You do find some more nerds here and there in other jobs. “ — Ethan Ward
“Every single one of my fellow Bees is a nerd in one way or another. Some did D&D for Jocks (fantasy football), others did actual D&D, some wrote fan fiction, others cosplayed, and a bunch of the biggest rednecks you’d ever seen were closet Bronies.” — Katie Knegeris
“In my unit I would say everyone under 30 was a nerd. Had D&D, Boothill and classic military board games…along with Sega genesis in just about every room and leisure suit Larry installed in hidden directories on most of the computers” -Drew Haskell
It turns out that comics have a long history of being made for the military. Some of the heroes we love have served in one form of the military including; Captain America, The Punisher, Green Lantern, Ms. Marvel, Rick Flag and War Machine. With the exception of the Punisher, these characters were said to be in the military from the get go; we would later find out that the Punisher was a Marine. Having characters in the military allowed people in service to relate to them better and sowed the seeds of the nerd culture in the military. As it were Captain America was actually depicted battling the Nazi’s before America was drawn into the conflict of World War 2, and may have inspired people to join after the Pearl Harbor attack.
This began a trend of heroes from the ranks, as well as the depiction of fictional characters battling real world threats. Noticing the increasing popularity of titles depicting heroes at war, the publishing companies began to print comics solely about war, and showed things from the soldier’s perspective. This naturally led to the use of comics by the government as propaganda tools in an attempt to recruit people to aid in the war effort. The popularity of these war time comics would continue to be published until the mid 1980’s. Some of the more popular characters, like Sgt. Rock, were picked up by DC Comics and have become recurring characters within the DC Universe.
When I tried to find out if the current military had any comics for the troops I found that DC doesn’t really make issues geared towards the military anymore.
“I know Marvel had a deal with either AAFES or the USO. Every now and then they’d release a short comic that they’d give away at the PX or something to help boost morale. You know how that type of thing goes, superheroes fighting the good fight, but the tide turns when a squad of American GIs show up to lend a hand to the Avengers or whoever, and then Captain America tells them they never would’ve won without the soldiers’ help. Corny, but amusing.” — Charles Baggett
It seems in recent history, Marvel has been the forerunner of military themed comics, releasing a series of Avengers titles that had them aiding in the war effort with various branches of the military.
Naturally this increase in military friendly comics saw an increase in the nerd community among soldiers. Most people seem to have been nerds long before signing up, but a few got their exposure on base. Of course there seems to be a consistent preference between what characters the typical military nerd likes with Punisher being the most popular choice among people I talked to. I thought this was a fitting choice, because Frank Castle is all about taking down the bad guys with a full arsenal of military grade hardware. No one really credited comics as their reason for wanting to be in the military but I feel if any comic had an influence on someone joining, it would be a Punisher comic. Captain America and Spider-Man were the other two characters that rounded out the top three military favorites (of people I talked to).
I learned quite a bit about nerd culture in the military but the one thing that stood out the most, was the reluctance of a lot of soldiers to call themselves heroes. The majority would say that it was their duty, or that they were just doing their job. To me this is an understatement.
“I never thought of myself as a hero for serving, and I still don’t. But it did make me appreciate hard work. If I had to make a comparison to a character I’d probably say The Shoveler.” — Chris Alexander
“I would never call myself a hero ever. I think you will find most of us who have served will say the same thing. I could be wrong though.” — Ben Wotawa
“Not sure if it found my inner hero, but made it clear that had I not got hurt I would’ve been a career military soldier without a doubt.” — Ethan Ward
Most people who aren’t in the service would consider it heroic to go through half of what your average soldier experiences. The nerds that risk their lives to protect others and preserve our nation ARE heroes, whether they call themselves that or not. I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to speak with these heroes. I will, and forever will be, a comic book nerd and the idea that many of my fellow nerds are helping protect our country certainly helps me sleep a little more comfortably at night.
