Comics, as a modern phenomenon has passed quite a long way from the usual religious stories in pictures, to superhero blockbuster. Ultimately, he is transformed into a culture-factor in the development of popular culture United States, acquiring features of the "litmus test" of state of American society. Through the prism of analysis of this product, we can observe certain socio-cultural processes occurring at different stages of social development. This article analyzes the comic within the historical retrospective of formation of ideological and cultural values of the American Society of XX century. The author reveals several common steps US history, analyzes the quality content and condition of the comic book in a given period. Based on this study, the author concludes that the comic, as a phenomenon of mass culture, in relation to the social and cultural dynamics of American society need to be considered on two levels: reproductive and reflective; which in turn allows to reassess approaches to understanding this phenomenon.

Comics, as a modern phenomenon has passed quite a long way from the usual religious stories in pictures, to superhero blockbuster. Ultimately, he is transformed into a culture-factor in the development of popular culture United States, acquiring features of the "litmus test" of state of American society. Through the prism of analysis of this product, we can observe certain socio-cultural processes occurring at different stages of social development. This article analyzes the comic within the historical retrospective of formation of ideological and cultural values of the American Society of XX century. The author reveals several common steps US history, analyzes the quality content and condition of the comic book in a given period. Based on this study, the author concludes that the comic, as a phenomenon of mass culture, in relation to the social and cultural dynamics of American society need to be considered on two levels: reproductive and reflective; which in turn allows to reassess approaches to understanding this phenomenon.