Christopher Nolan’s extremely anticipated Oppenheimer opened in US theaters, beautiful audiences and the field workplace. On opening day the three-hour biopic earned $33 million {dollars} — the general opening weekend sits at $82.4 million. Oppenheimer opened up towards one other extremely anticipated film — Greta Gerwig’s Barbie — creating one of the vital viral sensations of the final a number of years. Barbenheimer, because the weekend has lovingly been referred to as, noticed thousands and thousands of individuals pour into theaters in Malibu pinks and stylish fits. Many individuals opted to see the flicks again to again, however I personally can’t sit in a theater for five+ hours.
I noticed Oppenheimer opening weekend and was largely impressed by the film. This is a troublesome topic for a myriad of causes, and whereas the film does have its flaws, it’s a good watch. During the unique interval of the atomic bomb, comedian books and different types of media had fallen right into a nuclear conflict rabbit gap.
Comic books had begun to deal with to laborious topic of the atomic bomb and what it might imply. Decades later and it’s nonetheless a subject of dialogue — particularly the aftermath.
During the Golden Age of comics, we noticed a shift from superhero books to atomic conflict comics beginning within the mid Forties. These books had been extra of a “what if” than a “this is what happened” for probably the most half, however in later years comics would discover what occurred after the atomic bombs would drop.
Many books of the period had devoted covers for the atomic bomb, however didn’t include any atomic bomb tales in them. We all know films can have an affect on comics, however did Oppenheimer affect the later Golden Age and Atomic Age of comics?
Out of all the comics coping with atomic bombs, this e-book is arguably one of many extra well-known examples. Published in November 1952, this e-book explores what would occur if Russia dropped atomic bombs on New York City, Detroit, and Chicago. This cautionary comedian needed Americans to keep away from one other World War — particularly now that atomic power was very viable.
Lower-grade copies of this comedian noticed a worth bump between March and July. A CGC blue label 3.5 instance noticed a bounce from $403 in March 2022 to $774 in June 2023. In June 2023, a CGC blue label 7.5 offered for $2,299 on eBay through mounted worth. None have come up on the market for the reason that film’s launch, so time will inform if these costs will drop.
Released in 1954, this comedian additionally explores what would occur if the Russians attacked world leaders with an H-Bomb. The remainder of the 5 story subject revolved round spies and comparable tales. T-Man would proceed being revealed for a lot of extra points earlier than going defunct.
CGC has solely graded 6 copies of this e-book, with the final one offered in November 2021. It can be fascinating to see the place this e-book would land if it had been provided now.
This copy of Action Comics got here out across the identical time the atomic bombs had been first dropped. With a canopy date of October 1946, this cowl depicts Superman recording the explosion of an atomic bomb. The tales inside don’t mirror the quilt — the tales had been very run-of-the-mill Superman tales. A CGC blue label 3.5 had a gift greenback worth of $2,270 in March 2022, however in June 2023 that worth dropped to $1,200.
Of course, this period noticed tons of books that coated the atomic bomb, together with Two-Fisted Tales #33, Atom Age Combat, and G.I. Combat. but many of those books haven’t offered inside latest years. The horrors of what occurred when the a-bombs had been dropped on Japan was the topic of a choose variety of anime and manga, however these properties really deserve an article of their very own.
Overall, Oppenheimer might haven’t had an affect on the collocability of Golden and Atomic Age bomb comics, which I half anticipated. It is feasible as soon as the film is launched to streaming companies that we may even see a bump in curiosity on atomic comics, however till then, benefit from the low costs on some distinctive Golden and Atomic Age books!
*Any perceived funding recommendation is that of the freelance blogger and doesn’t symbolize recommendation on behalf of GoCollect.
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