The U.S. comic code was a joke !

[osborn_fr]

Now that i have all your attention with this slightly provocative title, i would like, for my 2000th post, to start a thread about the censure in the french comics:

 

 

 

A few history:

 

From the 50's to the late 80's, the comics in France were controlled and censored by

a governmental organization. At this time censorship was everywhere (books, movies, tv...).

 

This committee of censure was very strict, and was mainly formed by conservatives and protectionists.

 

They thought they had to protect the youth from violence, vice, cowardice, etc...

but the hidden aim was to protect the french comics industry against belgians and U.S. productions.

 

The paroxism of this stupidity will be when Pierre Mouchot (aka Chott, author and editor of comics in the 50's) was jailed one month to have published violent comics and a specific panel with a skeleton in it.

 

It's why, at this time, most of the editors have to self-censure the comics they were publishing.

 

The éditions LUG is a good example, they were the first to introduce the Fantastic four and the amazing spider-man to the french readers.

It was at the end of the 60's in a mag called "FANTASK".

 

Success was incredible, but Kirby's style and stories were considered as "terrific and shocking SF" and full of "nightmarish visions"

by the censorship commission and FANTASK mag was forbidden.

 

Editions Lug did it again a few months later, publishing his "MARVEL" mag. Same thing happened to it and he died at issue #13.

The only survivor title was "STRANGE". This title contained X-Men, Iron man, Silver surfer and Daredevil.

 

To keep "STRANGE" alive, Editions Lug had to censured and retouched the stories themself to be allowed to print it.

Here you'll find a few examples of thoses modifications:

 

A less agressive lizard !

 

3 arms for the price of 2

 

 

A clean murder:

 

 

This page was not printed at all (too sexy i presume):

 

 

Need a make-up ?

 

 

It's easier with only one guy to kick [embarrassing lack of self control]

 

 

A sob story ?

 

 

Eh, where's my knife ?

 

 

 

Eh, where's my knife (part 2) ?

 

 

The most censored title during this period was certainly "ROM, the spaceknight" (check my next posts).

 

Regarded as becoming too violent and horrible, the translation of this title will be stopped quickly, and the french readers will never know the end of the adventures.

 

What was incredible it's that even while making the comics insipid,

the censorship did not succeed in killing the US super heroes comics in France and the readers

found them to be fantastic, and "STRANGE" had been the reference title for translated U.S. comics during almost 30 years.

[osborn_fr]

 

Shut up !

 

 

Where's the Hybrid ?

 

 

Sorry, tongue are not allowed

 

 

[osborn_fr]

A wolf or a man ?

 

 

Your face is ugly:

 

 

This panel was entirely redrawn by éditions LUG:

 

 

Why are you crying ?

 

 

Please, be clean when you cut my head off:

 

[osborn_fr]

to drown no more:

 

 

 

 

 

[osborn_fr]

The first panel was changed by the second:

 

 

 

 

 

[blutobc]

 

and the French are supposedly so free thinking in other media such as TV/film where sexual situations are freely shown in such greater detail than over here.

 

It would have been funny if it weren't so sad....the changes were so broad that it appeared to be kinda random....some wraiths weren't acceptable, but other were?

 

In all seriousness do you think that the French code was there to actually protect the supposed sensitive French children or was it totatlly a legal issue to protect French business? Did you think the kids needed this kind of random protection?

[goldust40]

Osborn, this is fascinating stuff - I admit I had no idea about the draconian censorship of foreign (i.e. mainly U.S.) comics in France, nor that it lasted until fairly recently.

 

You're right, compared to the French version the U.S. Comics Code, especially from the early 70s onwards, was pretty lenient. I can't believe some of the absurd changes they made in that Spidey/Lizard epsiode, for example.

 

But then France has always been extremely protective of its' culture and resistant to outside influences....

[Jayman]

Agreed, very interesting stuff! I wonder if Marvel had to give them permission also to make these changes? It also raises an interesting question concerning original art. Were the alterations done to the originals or to stats and are there two versions of the art now, original (USA) and altered (France)?

[shadroch]

Thanks for those posts,that was both entertaining and educational.

[Norrin_Radd]

I remember cryptkeeper59 mentioning the censorship before.

 

One example was where the mummy was removed from Silver Surfer #7 for the cover of Strange N° 1.

 

 

[Scrooge]

In the 70's another publisher (Artima) tried to circumvent this July 16, 1949 law in their "Pocket Comics" title which carried characters such as Hulk, Ka-Zar, Ghost Rider, Aquaman, Kamandi among others. To do so, they had their books labeled: For Mature Readers and were shelved with Playboy and other underground-style comics! These were generally in the back dark corner of newsstands and a place where as a kid, one feared to tread because you'd get dirty looks from moms in the store thinking you were trying to get a sneek peak at the "porn" magazines.

 

As the title suggests, Pocket Comics, these were in a digest format and could literally been carried around in your back pockets. The art reproduction was therefore much smaller and of poorer quality. To add insult to injury, despite circumventing the law, the editor deemed it necessary to mess with the art board to rearrange panels and have staff artists redraw entire panels with no consideration of the original artists' style!

[Point Five]

Thanks for all the scans & info. Fascinating stuff!

[OldGuy]

Thanks for those posts,that was both entertaining and educational.

 

x2

[mica]

Must resist urge to laugh at the plight of our French brothers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chromium]

but the hidden aim was to protect the french comics industry against belgians

 

[mica]

but the hidden aim was to protect the french comics industry against belgians

Sounds like a worthy cause.

[RobotSimp-migration]

great thread! oui oui

[-cryptkeeper-]

good job Osborn !!

but bad memories for me

 

you guys understand now , why we buy US comics, i was really fed up with censorship in 80's, that's why as soon as i begun to buy comics i've bought all EC's cochran slipcase it was my "liberation"

[-cryptkeeper-]

Must resist urge to laugh at the plight of our French brothers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we'll buy all your comics mica

[-cryptkeeper-]

In the 70's another publisher (Artima) tried to circumvent this July 16, 1949 law in their "Pocket Comics" title which carried characters such as Hulk, Ka-Zar, Ghost Rider, Aquaman, Kamandi among others. To do so, they had their books labeled: For Mature Readers and were shelved with Playboy and other underground-style comics! These were generally in the back dark corner of newsstands and a place where as a kid, one feared to tread because you'd get dirty looks from moms in the store thinking you were trying to get a sneek peak at the "porn" magazines.

 

As the title suggests, Pocket Comics, these were in a digest format and could literally been carried around in your back pockets. The art reproduction was therefore much smaller and of poorer quality. To add insult to injury, despite circumventing the law, the editor deemed it necessary to mess with the art board to rearrange panels and have staff artists redraw entire panels with no consideration of the original artists' style!

 

thanks to talk about the comics " du nord" scrooge from Tourcoing