Comic Books are supposed to show us glimpses of a world that could never be. They are fictional. They can’t be real. Or can they? There were times Comic Books predicted the future so accurately it almost scared us to death.
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The 9/11 Attacks
The Fourth Issue of the X-Force saw a major X-Men Villain Juggernaut do the unthinkable. In a horrific act that defies explanation, he destroyed the Twin Towers, killing countless innocent lives in the process. The reason this issue is special is because it was published way back in 1991, years before the Twin Towers were actually destroyed after terrorists hijacked air-planes and crashed it into the buildings. There is something about the 9/11 attacks that is still not explainable. From the Comic Books to the Simpsons, there have been warning signs and red flags scattered all over pop culture.
Trump’s Wall
President Donald Trump is a rather controversial figure in America’s History. His views on subjects like immigration and Trade seem to be very unorthodox. The greatest of his tall tales was his promise to build a wall between Mexico and America to stop illegal immigration. This wall would have been made by money paid by Mexico. In the 1990 comic Heavy Metal, Harry Hamsley and Donald Trump propose something similar. What is even scarier is that the story arc was aptly titled The Wall. Donald Trump was not the President here but he was someone very close to the Oval Office.
The Nuclear Bomb
We do not know if Action Comics had secret access to classified American Military documents. That is the only way we could explain what you are about to read. Back in 1944, Action Comics published a comic book issue where Lex Luthor invented a potent bomb powered by nuclear energy. The prediction was so accurate that the US Government asked Action Comics to delay the publication of the issue. A year later, America dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Action Comics #101 had a delayed publishing in 1946.
The 1978 Japanese Earthquake
Comic Book fans have a very strange theory about John Byrne, a comic book specialist whose works have become real world events later. In a certain X-Men issue, John Byrne actually predicted a massive Earthquake that later hit the Japanese mainland in the same year the issue was released – 1978. The 1978 Japanese Earthquake was one of the greatest of the decade, crippling the Japanese Economy for years. The fact that a mere comic book issue predicted such a grave future is what makes us worried and intrigued at the same time.
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Computers
The Eagle was a British Comic Strip that ran from 1950 to 1969. The focus of the series was a Man using advanced futuristic technology to fight crime and save the day. The writers of the Eagle proposed some really absurd technology. But the one thing they got right was something we still use today and without which the modern world will stop functioning – Computers. Up until today, the Eagle is the only comic book anthology series that showed us an accurate prediction of the evolution of the early computers. What is even more fantastic is that Smart Computer Monitors were also predicted to replace stereo and radio as home entertainment devices.
Super Powers via Cosmic Radiation
Okay this might sound whimsical but the notion of ordinary humans gaining super powers after being exposed to radiation is no longer a fictional trope. Well it remains a distant dream for us to become Mister Fantastic but China has already done it with another life form. The Chinese have been conducting experiments when it comes to cosmic radiation exposure! As it turns out, if we launch vegetables into space and let them get exposed to solar radiation under a controlled environment, they do mutate. One of the first successes were when Pumpkin seeds launched into space mutated and when sowed, gave rise to super-sized veggies. This will help solve the global food shortage in the long run.
Pearl Harbor
Back in the 1940’s during the height of the Second World War, a popular superhero gained a lot of national attention in America. Uncle Sam was the star of National Comics, a publication house that was popular at that time. In one issue, Uncle Sam is seen fighting the enemy who is trying to destroy the Pearl Harbor. The Pearl Harbor attacks happened the same year the comic book issue was published – 1941. The only difference was that the attacks were carried out by Nazis in the comic while in reality, the Pearl Harbor attacks were orchestrated by the Japanese.
The Challenger Space Shuttle Crash
The Death of the crew aboard the Challenger Shuttle after it exploded mid-air remains one of the most tragic events in space exploration. It showed that not even the great NASA can cover everything. Even they have flaws. But the comic books have predicted such an event occurring right before it happened. John Byrne is a famous comic book writer who is known in the comic book circles as the Soothsayer. His comic book arcs eerily always turn true. In one such issue he wrote for DC, Superman saves a Space Crew from certain death when the Space Shuttle catches fire.
The Snowden Revelations
Edward Snowden rocked the whole world. The idea of a Government like the United States of America, a country that prides itself as a bastion of the Free World, spying on its own citizens was dreadful and devastating. But there was one person who had predicted something of this sort long before the truth was revealed to the public. Cartoon Strip Writer Dan Perkins, better known as Tom Tomorrow, wrote a comic strip in 1994 titled This Modern World. The lead character joked that the NSA and the CIA will team up to turn the internet into a means to spy the entire world. The strip even predicted the Patriot Act long before it was passed.
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The Great New York Black Out of 1977
On the 13th and 14th of July, New York faced a City Wide Black Out in the year of 1977. The 1977 Blackouts are historical. For the first time, the City of Lights had no lights. It was because of repeated lightning strikes at key grid lines in the city. Oddly enough, the Blackout had already been predicted. Marvel Team-Up #60 saw Spider-Man fight a super villain known as Equinox. Equinox had the power to blast beams of energy from his hands. One of the beams strayed towards a Transformer Station and created a city wide black out in New York.
