The public has always been attracted to the archetype of the superhero endowed with strength and goodness, a figure who has always fought for the good and has always defeated the bad. The first of these included Captain America, Superman and Wonder Woman, designed to be representative American icons. During periods such as World War I and World War II, they were important pieces of propaganda. Even in these times, their enemies in the pages of comics and on the big screen represented our enemies in wars. As time passed, the heroes remained the American icons they once were, but they became vulnerable. Superman showing his weakness to kryptonite was a fictional representation of America's fear of the atomic bomb. As the world became more complex and our fears became unknown, this was reflected in comics and films. Superheroes and supervillains today are more dimensional with a range of complexity in their psychological and physical beings. Supervillains are no longer one-dimensional stereotypes of our enemies. While the basic concept of good and evil is still what audiences are drawn to, our world is more complex and our exposure to world situations is more intense than ever. This may be what is reflected in the tastes and creation of our superhero entertainment today. In the late 1930s the United States was struggling to stay out of wars in Europe and Asia. Movements toward disarmament, peace, and the doctrine of appeasement were failing and led Congress to pass a series of neutrality acts designed to prevent the United States from being drawn into World War, a conflict that the U.S. government believed inevitable.1 In 1940, U.S. policies began to shift from neutrality to nonbelligerence by providing aid to nations at war with the Axis powers... center of the card... postwar power influence in the region. This new era of arms control became known as the Cold War. There were many occasions when both sides of the conflict employed a form of atomic diplomacy, beginning with the Berlin Blockade of 1948-49, when President Truman flew several B-29 bombers into the region as a signal to the Soviet Union that the United United was both capable of carrying out a nuclear attack and willing to carry it out. During the Korean War, President Truman again deployed B-29s to signal our resolve. In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower considered nuclear coercion in the cease-fire agreement to end the Korean War. In 1962, the Soviets delivered nuclear missiles to Cuba in an attempt to force U.S. concessions on Europe. All these incidents drew the attention of the world and America to the looming threat of the atomic bomb.