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Read the comics that your mom, Dr. Fredric Werthless, and the U.S. Senate didn't

Started by Gatchaman,

32 posts in this topic

Prince Namor

Prince Namor

Posted
Posted
Yeah, he paved the way for the industry to self regulate itself and put its biggest competition out of business.

 

I was wondering.... who, exactly went out of business and who didn't ?

 

Dell didn't....

DC didn't....

Marvel didn't....

Quality might have around that time, but I don't think it was because of this....

 

EC stopped publishing comics because of it, and additional scrutiny they received from the 'reviewers' (see below)

Quality Comics did suffer from it and went out of business... Fiction House was obviously a target and ceased publishing... Fox Feature Syndicate went out of business because of it... Comic Book publication decreased nearly 66% over the next couple of years because of the stigma...

 

David Hadju's great book "The Ten Cent Plague - The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America" must have 20 pages of writers, artists, inkers, and creative people who all lost their jobs because of it.

 

Here's an interesting story I'd read about through the years that someone has retold from their online blog about EC's post-code experience:

"Gaines refused to join the CMAA and released his new series without Code approval, counting on press coverage and “New Direction” cover blurbs to get his books into the hands of readers. But EC’s reputation was too tainted by that time, and no retailer was going to put his books on the shelf without a Code seal on them. So, finally admitting defeat, Gaines gave in to the Comics Code.

 

He entered the brouhaha described above, and found his company’s efforts at genuine artistry an even worse fit than many of his competitors. Of course, it also seemed that Code administrator Charles Murphy had it out for them. Murphy reviewed all EC publications personally, and put the screws to them at every available opportunity. They had their battles with him, just like everybody else, but the final straw, according to EC editor Al Feldstein, came over the November 1955 issue of Incredible Science Fiction. One of the stories for that issue featured mutants, and Murphy informed EC that they couldn’t have mutants.



 

A restriction that, obviously, vanished in later years.

 At any rate. That killed the story completely, and they were racing a deadline, so they decided to reprint a pre-Code piece called “Judgment Day.” This was a sci-fi piece clean enough to pass the Code, but it was a favorite “message” story in the EC offices. It was about an astronaut visiting an alien planet to invite the inhabitants to join the galactic alliance. But the natives were all robots, painted in two different colors. One color hated and oppressed the other, and so the astronaut withdrew the invitation. Obviously, their culture wasn’t yet advanced enough for more enlightened society. Then came the twist: safely back in his ship, the astronaut removed his helmet to reveal… that he was a black man!!

 

Keep in mind that there were no Code violations anywhere in this story, and it even adhered to the Code’s admonition to decry race hatred. So what was Murphy’s response?

 

“You can’t have a Negro.”

 

Let me repeat that, in case you thought you didn't read it correctly:

 

"You can't have a Negro."

 

Unbelievable.

 

Feldstein took this response back to Gaines, who called Murphy on the phone, demanding an explanation. Murphy apparently couldn’t give him one, but stuck to his guns.

 

“You can’t have a Negro.”

 

Gaines hit the roof. He threatened to take Murphy’s denial to the press, and to decry the Comics Code Authority as a racist institution. That made Murphy back down, but he then insisted (of course!) that the beads of perspiration on the astronaut’s forehead be removed.

 

“ you,” Gaines replied, and hung up the phone. He ran the story unchanged, with the Code seal on the cover, and then ceased publication of comic books forever.

 

He’d finally had it. The New Direction books had tanked, even after going with the Code. He was running out of money and patience, and it just wasn’t worth it to him anymore. He cancelled all his books but one: Mad. He switched Mad over to a magazine format and raised the price to 25 cents (cheap!), which freed him from the scrutiny of the anti-comics crowd (apparently because magazines were considered too expensive for the budgets of small children). In “The New Mad,” he was free to embrace all the crazy energy and disrespect for authority that had made the EC line so great to begin with, and he never looked back."

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Buzzetta

Buzzetta

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At any rate. That killed the story completely, and they were racing a deadline, so they decided to reprint a pre-Code piece called “Judgment Day.” This was a sci-fi piece clean enough to pass the Code, but it was a favorite “message” story in the EC offices. It was about an astronaut visiting an alien planet to invite the inhabitants to join the galactic alliance. But the natives were all robots, painted in two different colors. One color hated and oppressed the other, and so the astronaut withdrew the invitation. Obviously, their culture wasn’t yet advanced enough for more enlightened society. Then came the twist: safely back in his ship, the astronaut removed his helmet to reveal… that he was a black man!!

 

What issue is this?

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Prince Namor

Prince Namor

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Posted

 

At any rate. That killed the story completely, and they were racing a deadline, so they decided to reprint a pre-Code piece called “Judgment Day.” This was a sci-fi piece clean enough to pass the Code, but it was a favorite “message” story in the EC offices. It was about an astronaut visiting an alien planet to invite the inhabitants to join the galactic alliance. But the natives were all robots, painted in two different colors. One color hated and oppressed the other, and so the astronaut withdrew the invitation. Obviously, their culture wasn’t yet advanced enough for more enlightened society. Then came the twist: safely back in his ship, the astronaut removed his helmet to reveal… that he was a black man!!

 

What issue is this?

 

Judgement Day first appeared in Weird Fantasy #18, but was reprinted 3 years later as told in the story above for Incredible Science Fiction #33

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Buzzetta

Buzzetta

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Posted

 

At any rate. That killed the story completely, and they were racing a deadline, so they decided to reprint a pre-Code piece called “Judgment Day.” This was a sci-fi piece clean enough to pass the Code, but it was a favorite “message” story in the EC offices. It was about an astronaut visiting an alien planet to invite the inhabitants to join the galactic alliance. But the natives were all robots, painted in two different colors. One color hated and oppressed the other, and so the astronaut withdrew the invitation. Obviously, their culture wasn’t yet advanced enough for more enlightened society. Then came the twist: safely back in his ship, the astronaut removed his helmet to reveal… that he was a black man!!

 

What issue is this?

 

Judgement Day first appeared in Weird Fantasy #18, but was reprinted 3 years later as told in the story above for Incredible Science Fiction #33

 

Thank you. I just saved a search on eBay for these issues in the event that they pop up on auction.

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Senormac

Senormac

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Posted
Yeah, he paved the way for the industry to self regulate itself and put its biggest competition out of business.

 

I was wondering.... who, exactly went out of business and who didn't ?

 

Dell didn't....

DC didn't....

Marvel didn't....

Quality might have around that time, but I don't think it was because of this....

 

EC stopped publishing comics because of it, and additional scrutiny they received from the 'reviewers' (see below)

Quality Comics did suffer from it and went out of business... Fiction House was obviously a target and ceased publishing... Fox Feature Syndicate went out of business because of it... Comic Book publication decreased nearly 66% over the next couple of years because of the stigma...

 

David Hadju's great book "The Ten Cent Plague - The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America" must have 20 pages of writers, artists, inkers, and creative people who all lost their jobs because of it.

 

Here's an interesting story I'd read about through the years that someone has retold from their online blog about EC's post-code experience:

"Gaines refused to join the CMAA and released his new series without Code approval, counting on press coverage and “New Direction” cover blurbs to get his books into the hands of readers. But EC’s reputation was too tainted by that time, and no retailer was going to put his books on the shelf without a Code seal on them. So, finally admitting defeat, Gaines gave in to the Comics Code.

 

He entered the brouhaha described above, and found his company’s efforts at genuine artistry an even worse fit than many of his competitors. Of course, it also seemed that Code administrator Charles Murphy had it out for them. Murphy reviewed all EC publications personally, and put the screws to them at every available opportunity. They had their battles with him, just like everybody else, but the final straw, according to EC editor Al Feldstein, came over the November 1955 issue of Incredible Science Fiction. One of the stories for that issue featured mutants, and Murphy informed EC that they couldn’t have mutants.



 

A restriction that, obviously, vanished in later years.

 At any rate. That killed the story completely, and they were racing a deadline, so they decided to reprint a pre-Code piece called “Judgment Day.” This was a sci-fi piece clean enough to pass the Code, but it was a favorite “message” story in the EC offices. It was about an astronaut visiting an alien planet to invite the inhabitants to join the galactic alliance. But the natives were all robots, painted in two different colors. One color hated and oppressed the other, and so the astronaut withdrew the invitation. Obviously, their culture wasn’t yet advanced enough for more enlightened society. Then came the twist: safely back in his ship, the astronaut removed his helmet to reveal… that he was a black man!!

 

Keep in mind that there were no Code violations anywhere in this story, and it even adhered to the Code’s admonition to decry race hatred. So what was Murphy’s response?

 

“You can’t have a Negro.”

 

Let me repeat that, in case you thought you didn't read it correctly:

 

"You can't have a Negro."

 

Unbelievable.

 

Feldstein took this response back to Gaines, who called Murphy on the phone, demanding an explanation. Murphy apparently couldn’t give him one, but stuck to his guns.

 

“You can’t have a Negro.”

 

Gaines hit the roof. He threatened to take Murphy’s denial to the press, and to decry the Comics Code Authority as a racist institution. That made Murphy back down, but he then insisted (of course!) that the beads of perspiration on the astronaut’s forehead be removed.

 

“ you,” Gaines replied, and hung up the phone. He ran the story unchanged, with the Code seal on the cover, and then ceased publication of comic books forever.

 

He’d finally had it. The New Direction books had tanked, even after going with the Code. He was running out of money and patience, and it just wasn’t worth it to him anymore. He cancelled all his books but one: Mad. He switched Mad over to a magazine format and raised the price to 25 cents (cheap!), which freed him from the scrutiny of the anti-comics crowd (apparently because magazines were considered too expensive for the budgets of small children). In “The New Mad,” he was free to embrace all the crazy energy and disrespect for authority that had made the EC line so great to begin with, and he never looked back."

 

Superb post CG!! :applause:

 

I love this stuff! My position though has never been to be a Wertham hater, and I find those who easily jump on that band wagon to be a little shallow.

 

MAD is one of the only books remaining in my collection. I have all issues from about 1958 - 1975 :popcorn:

 

 

 

 

 

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Prince Namor

Prince Namor

Posted
Posted
Yeah, he paved the way for the industry to self regulate itself and put its biggest competition out of business.

 

I was wondering.... who, exactly went out of business and who didn't ?

 

Dell didn't....

DC didn't....

Marvel didn't....

Quality might have around that time, but I don't think it was because of this....

 

EC stopped publishing comics because of it, and additional scrutiny they received from the 'reviewers' (see below)

Quality Comics did suffer from it and went out of business... Fiction House was obviously a target and ceased publishing... Fox Feature Syndicate went out of business because of it... Comic Book publication decreased nearly 66% over the next couple of years because of the stigma...

 

David Hadju's great book "The Ten Cent Plague - The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America" must have 20 pages of writers, artists, inkers, and creative people who all lost their jobs because of it.

 

Here's an interesting story I'd read about through the years that someone has retold from their online blog about EC's post-code experience:

"Gaines refused to join the CMAA and released his new series without Code approval, counting on press coverage and “New Direction” cover blurbs to get his books into the hands of readers. But EC’s reputation was too tainted by that time, and no retailer was going to put his books on the shelf without a Code seal on them. So, finally admitting defeat, Gaines gave in to the Comics Code.

 

He entered the brouhaha described above, and found his company’s efforts at genuine artistry an even worse fit than many of his competitors. Of course, it also seemed that Code administrator Charles Murphy had it out for them. Murphy reviewed all EC publications personally, and put the screws to them at every available opportunity. They had their battles with him, just like everybody else, but the final straw, according to EC editor Al Feldstein, came over the November 1955 issue of Incredible Science Fiction. One of the stories for that issue featured mutants, and Murphy informed EC that they couldn’t have mutants.



 

A restriction that, obviously, vanished in later years.

 At any rate. That killed the story completely, and they were racing a deadline, so they decided to reprint a pre-Code piece called “Judgment Day.” This was a sci-fi piece clean enough to pass the Code, but it was a favorite “message” story in the EC offices. It was about an astronaut visiting an alien planet to invite the inhabitants to join the galactic alliance. But the natives were all robots, painted in two different colors. One color hated and oppressed the other, and so the astronaut withdrew the invitation. Obviously, their culture wasn’t yet advanced enough for more enlightened society. Then came the twist: safely back in his ship, the astronaut removed his helmet to reveal… that he was a black man!!

 

Keep in mind that there were no Code violations anywhere in this story, and it even adhered to the Code’s admonition to decry race hatred. So what was Murphy’s response?

 

“You can’t have a Negro.”

 

Let me repeat that, in case you thought you didn't read it correctly:

 

"You can't have a Negro."

 

Unbelievable.

 

Feldstein took this response back to Gaines, who called Murphy on the phone, demanding an explanation. Murphy apparently couldn’t give him one, but stuck to his guns.

 

“You can’t have a Negro.”

 

Gaines hit the roof. He threatened to take Murphy’s denial to the press, and to decry the Comics Code Authority as a racist institution. That made Murphy back down, but he then insisted (of course!) that the beads of perspiration on the astronaut’s forehead be removed.

 

“ you,” Gaines replied, and hung up the phone. He ran the story unchanged, with the Code seal on the cover, and then ceased publication of comic books forever.

 

He’d finally had it. The New Direction books had tanked, even after going with the Code. He was running out of money and patience, and it just wasn’t worth it to him anymore. He cancelled all his books but one: Mad. He switched Mad over to a magazine format and raised the price to 25 cents (cheap!), which freed him from the scrutiny of the anti-comics crowd (apparently because magazines were considered too expensive for the budgets of small children). In “The New Mad,” he was free to embrace all the crazy energy and disrespect for authority that had made the EC line so great to begin with, and he never looked back."

 

Superb post CG!! :applause:

 

I love this stuff! My position though has never been to be a Wertham hater, and I find those who easily jump on that band wagon to be a little shallow.

 

MAD is one of the only books remaining in my collection. I have all issues from about 1958 - 1975 :popcorn:

 

 

 

 

 

Cant go wrong with that! Funny stuff and obviously inspired work!

 

I'm not sure how to take Wertham. Any research professional using flawed methodology (Delinquints read comics, thus comics must cause delinquency!), to fan the flames for his own personal gain reeks as a television evangelist worthy of contempt more than hatred.

His legacy should be remembered for what it is and what it did to people.

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dupont2005

dupont2005

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I think I discovered this comic when #3 was on the stands, but was able to get a #2 as well. On the pull list ever since. Very fun stuff. Also have the Zombie hardcover by Yoe. It's a great price. I was hesitant to buy it because it's public domain, and I figured a cash grab. Some guy scanning his comics and selling the hardcover, but that is definitely not what it was, every page looks like it was published brand new. There's a complete story in original art, there's lots (well, a little, but more than I expected) of supplemental information included. I'll be on the lookout for more Yoe books that are relevant to my interests (thumbs u

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