It used to be, a scant few years ago, that even our superheroes could indulge with a bit of tobacco once in a while, like many of us common mortals do (I don't personally, but I think I've seen a dude or two take a puff in my day
)
In case you haven't noticed recently, cigarette smoking which used to be plentiful in movies and advertising back in the 40s has been almost eradicated from view in all movies that aren't rated R. Gone now are the days where Bogey would chainsmoke his way through a gang of pistol-packin' hoods. The last detective I saw in a recent movie was Gay Perry (played by Val Kilmer) in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and I guess he couldn't be smoking onscreen or they would've had to make a funny double entendre with the phrase ''lighting a %!*!'' (please don't kill me!!
)
Even in comics, the characters most known for being smokers for decades, well I don't really read many modern comics anymore but it is my understanding that Marvel & DC now have a standing ''no smoking'' policy for their characters. In a funny parallel, both their fictional newspaper publishers used to chomp away at a cigar, but that is a no-no now...(IIRC, Perry White had a storyline where he stopped smoking after contracting lung cancer)


PERRY WHITE J. JONAH JAMESON
Cigars seemed to be the last-standing coffin nail of choice for Marvel superheroes, where it seemed like we would never see a guy like Colonel Nick Fury without a havana between his fingers or stuffed against the corner of his mouth. But the Bashful blue-eyed Thing knew enough not to smoke his stogie when a villain was around...


The man-who-is-everywhere, Wolverine, when he first started out he decided to be (at the time) modern and with it, he was Clint Eastwood cool with a cheroot. I guess with the mid 80s Wolvie got more stodgy and conventional, switching to simple cigarettes and cigars (which is about the same time I grew completely bored with the character- coincidence? who knows!)

So what is the purpose of this thread? well, I've been buying golden-age Marvel comics Omnibii (like many here) and it amazes me how many major characters were shown in their early days with a cigarette. For most this was likely a onetime occurrence but I was surprised to see it happened more often than I could have guessed...


I guess is 4 out of 5 doctors said it was good for you, then that was good enough for Tony Stark (not too smart though when you have a heart condition
) & the Black Panther

Also going for Clint Eastwood cool, Luke Cage in this early guest shot in Amazing Spider-Man relaxes with a cheroot (sorry I don't have the actual page)
There was also Hank Pym and Charles Xavier being all stuffy and ''oooooooo- OLLLLLLLD'' as they put a grampa's pipe to their mouth.
Jean Grey, the most virginal of characters got all sultry and dangerous when Mastermind began a reverse Pygmalion on the former Marvel Girl, and she was spotted with a cigarette!!! (sort of the same thing in Grease when Olivia Newton-John decides to become all ''bad girl'' at the end)
I'm sure there are others, and I don't want there to be a return to full-scale smoking all over comicdom, having some of their characters drinking and smoking once in a while DID give a wider variety of characterization than we do get nowadays.
)In case you haven't noticed recently, cigarette smoking which used to be plentiful in movies and advertising back in the 40s has been almost eradicated from view in all movies that aren't rated R. Gone now are the days where Bogey would chainsmoke his way through a gang of pistol-packin' hoods. The last detective I saw in a recent movie was Gay Perry (played by Val Kilmer) in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and I guess he couldn't be smoking onscreen or they would've had to make a funny double entendre with the phrase ''lighting a %!*!'' (please don't kill me!!
Even in comics, the characters most known for being smokers for decades, well I don't really read many modern comics anymore but it is my understanding that Marvel & DC now have a standing ''no smoking'' policy for their characters. In a funny parallel, both their fictional newspaper publishers used to chomp away at a cigar, but that is a no-no now...(IIRC, Perry White had a storyline where he stopped smoking after contracting lung cancer)

PERRY WHITE J. JONAH JAMESON
Cigars seemed to be the last-standing coffin nail of choice for Marvel superheroes, where it seemed like we would never see a guy like Colonel Nick Fury without a havana between his fingers or stuffed against the corner of his mouth. But the Bashful blue-eyed Thing knew enough not to smoke his stogie when a villain was around...


The man-who-is-everywhere, Wolverine, when he first started out he decided to be (at the time) modern and with it, he was Clint Eastwood cool with a cheroot. I guess with the mid 80s Wolvie got more stodgy and conventional, switching to simple cigarettes and cigars (which is about the same time I grew completely bored with the character- coincidence? who knows!)

So what is the purpose of this thread? well, I've been buying golden-age Marvel comics Omnibii (like many here) and it amazes me how many major characters were shown in their early days with a cigarette. For most this was likely a onetime occurrence but I was surprised to see it happened more often than I could have guessed...


I guess is 4 out of 5 doctors said it was good for you, then that was good enough for Tony Stark (not too smart though when you have a heart condition

Also going for Clint Eastwood cool, Luke Cage in this early guest shot in Amazing Spider-Man relaxes with a cheroot (sorry I don't have the actual page)
There was also Hank Pym and Charles Xavier being all stuffy and ''oooooooo- OLLLLLLLD'' as they put a grampa's pipe to their mouth.
Jean Grey, the most virginal of characters got all sultry and dangerous when Mastermind began a reverse Pygmalion on the former Marvel Girl, and she was spotted with a cigarette!!! (sort of the same thing in Grease when Olivia Newton-John decides to become all ''bad girl'' at the end)
I'm sure there are others, and I don't want there to be a return to full-scale smoking all over comicdom, having some of their characters drinking and smoking once in a while DID give a wider variety of characterization than we do get nowadays.
