Page - 37 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

On the History and Hermeneutics of Comics | 37www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 17–44 AffirMAtiVe AND PrOPAGANDistiC fUNCtiON Unlike with the moral function, the comic’s propagandistic function is used to affirm an existing political system and to persuade recipients to show affirma- tive behaviour. A prime example is provided by American superhero comics of the 1930s and 1940s, in which the Western democratic system and the legiti- macy of its actions, including its military actions, are clearly presented. from the beginning superman was a model of the great (American) patriot,41 while Captain America was “created specifically to combat what was un-American”.42 in Japan, The Adventures of Dankichi conveyed the legitimacy of Japanese ex- pansion in southeast Asia. in italy, the character Dick fulmine re-created Mus- solini’s physiognomy, and the comics in which he appeared were subjected to regular censorship.43 the soviet Union, however, did not draw from the comic well, with only a single magazine for children, Veselye Kartinki, which first appeared in 1956, con- taining comic-like stories. the comic genre had a dubious reputation as deca- dent, primitive, and American.44 in east Germany, however, Mosaik advertied in its own way the cultural and technical advantages of the soviet Union over the West.45 China liked to use comics to convey desirable system-compliant be- haviour, with millions of comics printed and distributed to this end during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) (see fig. 15).46 41 Drechsel/Funhoff/Hoffmann 1975, 107–108. 42 Gubern 1978, 20. 43 fossati 1990, 90–91. 44 Zhirkoreva 2013. 45 see frahm 2010. Launched in 1955, Mosaik is still published today and is therefore the oldest continu- ous German comic series. 46 See Bauer 1979; Kluver 2011, 237–254. Fig. 15: Denunciation as a desirable behaviour. N.N., Zwei kleine Detektive [Two Little Detectives], in: Wolfgang Bauer, Chinesische Comics, 216_217.