World War II (1939–45) dominated serious print media from 1939 until most of the last troops returned from Europe in 1946. American newspapers and magazines focused intently on bringing news from the front to the doorsteps of almost every American. Stories and photographs of soldiers and battles filled most of the papers' pages. Thirty-seven American reporters and other newspeople died while trying to get their stories during the war.

Even though the news of the war was the most important topic of the decade, the 1940s was also the golden age of the comic book. Comic strips had tickled the funny bones of readers since 1890, and comic books now offered entertainment in their own package. Aimed mostly at young readers, comic books about superheroes like the Green Lantern and Captain America, about detectives, and about just plain funny characters such as the kids in the Archie Comics...