House of Mystery 32 .... and the Comics Code? DC Censoring it's own Art??? 1 1

[gadzukes]

A friend of mine was listing his HOM 32 on ebay and noticed something weird in one of the stories.

In the story "Diary of a Nightmare" a Mr Hyde type of character has had his face censored throughout the entire story.  What's up with this???  The comics code didn't appear on HOM until issue 36.  Was DC censoring itself because of pressure???  Maybe the art had been finished for the story and they made a quick decision to censor out the face of the character?

Anyone know what the explanation is on this issue?

Here's some pages from the story in question...

Edited October 4, 2022 by gadzukes

[gadzukes]

Note:  In the first panel of the story the editor put a box at the bottom that says.....

 

 

[zzutak]

I've never seen even a single panel in any pre-code DC that was "horrific".  DC simply did not do horror.  What you're showing here is referred to as "hype" -- identical to what Toby did on the cover of Tales of Horror #1 in 1952.  Neither you nor your friend should make it into something it's not.

[Aman619]

yeah  probably just hype for the storytelling, reader imagines way worse than it is or could be drawn..  Usually if the art comes in and editors have issues with it, they just redraw a face in the bullpen.  

[grendelbo]

On 10/4/2022 at 2:21 PM, Aman619 said:

Usually if the art comes in and editors have issues with it, they just redraw a face in the bullpen.

[Point Five]

Maybe the artist was as bad at drawing eyes as Liefeld is drawing feet. 

 

[gadzukes]

On 10/4/2022 at 4:19 PM, zzutak said:

I've never seen even a single panel in any pre-code DC that was "horrific".  DC simply did not do horror.  What you're showing here is referred to as "hype" -- identical to what Toby did on the cover of Tales of Horror #1 in 1952.  Neither you nor your friend should make it into something it's not.

I get the gimmick/hype thing for a cover or maybe one panel (like a "reveal" at the end of a story where bandages are taken off a face), but there are 17 panels in this story with the gimmick.  

Maybe, because of how close this comic was to when the Code started, it was a jab at Wertham and how stupid the code was.

[zzutak]

As I said in my previous post, DC did not do graphic horror.  Their four pre-code fantasy/mystery titles contained tales of the supernatural and the occult.  Ghost stories, if you will.

• House of Mystery #1-35 (Dec 1951 - Feb 1955)
• Phantom Stranger #1-6 (Aug/Sep 1952 - Jun/Jul 1953)
• Sensation Comics / Sensation Mystery #107-116 (Jan 1952 - Jul/Aug 1953)
• Star Spangled Comics #122-130 (Nov 1951 - Jul 1952)

Look through all 60 issues.  Awesome, well-written and well-drawn stories that I've always enjoyed.     However, you will not find one story that comes close to the type of graphic horror that was commonplace in the contemporaneous offerings of EC, Atlas, Farrell, Master Comics, Story Comics, and others.

In science and in life, Occam's razor (the simplest explanation with the fewest assumptions) is generally to be favored.  Julius Schwartz was an absolute genius when it came to selling comics, even without resorting to graphic horror.  But he was definitely not averse to using "gimmicks" to increase those sales.    Over and out for now!   

[Jayman]

I agree with what’s been said, regardless that’s a pretty cool idea for handling the horror element in the story. Here is an occurrence  of self censorship that I came across years ago. I notified Bob Overstreet and it has been included in the guide description (as far as I was told). I haven’t bought a guide since forever!

Black Cat Mystery 51

[FoggyNelson]

On 10/4/2022 at 9:11 PM, zzutak said:

As I said in my previous post, DC did not do graphic horror.  Their four pre-code fantasy/mystery titles contained tales of the supernatural and the occult.  Ghost stories, if you will.

• House of Mystery #1-35 (Dec 1951 - Feb 1955)
• Phantom Stranger #1-6 (Aug/Sep 1952 - Jun/Jul 1953)
• Sensation Comics / Sensation Mystery #107-116 (Jan 1952 - Jul/Aug 1953)
• Star Spangled Comics #122-130 (Nov 1951 - Jul 1952)

Look through all 60 issues.  Awesome, well-written and well-drawn stories that I've always enjoyed.     However, you will not find one story that comes close to the type of graphic horror that was commonplace in the contemporaneous offerings of EC, Atlas, Farrell, Master Comics, Story Comics, and others.

In science and in life, Occam's razor (the simplest explanation with the fewest assumptions) is generally to be favored.  Julius Schwartz was an absolute genius when it came to selling comics, even without resorting to graphic horror.  But he was definitely not averse to using "gimmicks" to increase those sales.    Over and out for now!   

Very interesting , thanks👍

[gadzukes]

On 10/5/2022 at 8:46 AM, Jayman said:

I agree with what’s been said, regardless that’s a pretty cool idea for handling the horror element in the story. Here is an occurrence  of self censorship that I came across years ago. I notified Bob Overstreet and it has been included in the guide description (as far as I was told). I haven’t bought a guide since forever!

Black Cat Mystery 51

That's awesome, thanks for posting.  I may need to keep an eye out for that comic.  Great cover.

[Professor K]

On 10/4/2022 at 4:45 PM, grendelbo said:

Is that the original with the Steranko face or after Marie redrew it? That's after she re-did the face right? I figured there is no 100% Jim version because Marie altered it. Or maybe there are 2? Is there original art for that book that is 100% Steranko? 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Professor K

[grendelbo]

That's Jim's face.

Marie gave it a little more humanity, IMO.

[shadroch]

Looking at the DC story, I wonder if the artist made the face a bit too close to a celebrity or politician of the day. It doesn't seem like that great a gimmick, imo.

[Professor K]

On 10/5/2022 at 2:56 PM, grendelbo said:

That's Jim's face.

Marie gave it a little more humanity, IMO.

Thanks. I did stare at both for a while. Now I see it. 

[pemart1966]

Thanks to the imagination, what you don't see is sometimes more frightening than what you do see.  

[grendelbo]

On 10/6/2022 at 1:35 PM, pemart1966 said:

Thanks to the imagination, what you don't see is sometimes more frightening than what you do see.  

Vs