Who knows the effects of the deadly gamma rays? The mysteries of space provided a fertile ground for destructive rays and destructive aliens in the 1950s and 1960s as well as for heroic and conflicted comic book heroes. The Fantastic Four would blast into space and be enveloped by cosmic rays in 1961, Bruce Banner would be mutated into the Incredible Hulk in 1962 by gamma rays, and space rays would have a positive influence on DC's Negative Man in 1963. But First Man into Space in 1959 blasted off first to ignite the radiation mania in popular culture.
