Atom Age Thought

[PovertyRow]

A friend at work was asking me about the history of comics (got some work friends who enjoy seeing my latest ebay purchases) - mailed to my work address - and I was explaining some basics about the various ages. Well, something just came to me as I was describing the Atom Age with it's attendant bits of paranoia. I basically blurted out "The regular superheores were doing poorly after World War II ended and by the time the 50's hit, the popular Atom Age genres (yeah - I DO talk like that) were all anthology books...Romance, Crime, Sci-Fi and Horror. This lack of an ever-present and regular hero might have been a reflection of the increasing paranoia brought about by radioactivity and the atom bomb.

 

So I then realize what I just said and also realized I never had that idea before then.

 

So I am wondering - does anyone else feel the dominance of anthology books is a reflection of the - well - atom age paranoia? (And this also includes post-code - especially Atlas Big Monster Kirby/Ditko books). It is almost like we have entered a time where a simple hero will not do - where the reality of the world finally has become horrifying enough or strange enough that a bit more reality is creeping into the mix and we are ultimately alone in a sea of near-insanity.

 

I now return you to my regular posts. So and so - you are a tool. Such and such - you are not worthy. I canott spel gud.

[seank]

I'm inclined to disagree. Golden age books tended to be in the anthology format, with books focused on a single hero, e.g. Batman or Superman, having several stories per issue as opposed to a single chapter of a story as we have now. The atom age books merely followed the old format but without a single hero or character as the focus.

 

I do think that the paranoia of the age: communism, the bomb, etc, did influence the stories, but not the format.

[Zonker]

This lack of an ever-present and regular hero might have been a reflection of the increasing paranoia brought about by radioactivity and the atom bomb.

 

 

So I am wondering - does anyone else feel the dominance of anthology books is a reflection of the - well - atom age paranoia? (And this also includes post-code - especially Atlas Big Monster Kirby/Ditko books). It is almost like we have entered a time where a simple hero will not do - where the reality of the world finally has become horrifying enough or strange enough that a bit more reality is creeping into the mix and we are ultimately alone in a sea of near-insanity.

 

 

Hi pov, I edited your quote above-- while you're almost certainly on to something, I wonder if it is more a case of the comics mimicking what the movies were doing in that period? Didn't the early sci fi (using that term intentionally for 1950s BEM B-movies) and monster movies get rolling about this time? (IMDB should be able to tell us). (BTW, Not talking about the early early Frankenstein B&W classics, but the Creature/Blob-type monster flicks). But certainly the movies of the 1950s reflect the post-war angst, so the comics were at most 1 step removed from that.

 

And I've read others connect the dots between Cold War paranoia and an over-reaction to juvenile deliquency worries (speaking of movies, cf Wild Ones, Blackboard Jungle, Rebel w/o a Cause)... which leads us right back to Wertham, the Senate hearings, and the Comics Code bringing the comics' Atomic Age crashing down.

[PovertyRow]

The atom age books merely followed the old format but without a single hero or character as the focus.

 

Actually that is what I mean by "anthology" - if I misued and hence misled, my apologies. When I say anthology I mean no recurring characters, just a series of unrelated independent stories with no regular heroes. About the only recurring characters may be the CryptKeeper or Mister Mystery hosting the tales, and the ocassional oddity like the Purple Claw.

[Bronty]

I agree with your main point, but this sentence:

 

"where the reality of the world finally has become horrifying enough or strange enough that a bit more reality is creeping into the mix and we are ultimately alone in a sea of near-insanity. "

 

..is just pure mental masturbation

[Bronty]

Sorry, pov, couldn't resist as that last sentence was over the top

[PovertyRow]

Hi pov, I edited your quote above-- while you're almost certainly on to something, I wonder if it is more a case of the comics mimicking what the movies were doing in that period?

 

Yo Zonker,

 

I had those movies in mind as well! The interestnig thing is it seems the movies were doing more copying of the comic books. Check this list of the main sci-fi/horror type films:

Man From Planet X - 1951, Thing From Another World - 1951, Beast From 20,000 Fathoms - 1953, Donovan's Brain - 1953, Neanderthal Man - 1953

Creature from the Black Lagoon - 1954, Monster from the Ocean Floor - 1954, Them! - 1954

 

That about covers it for the United States with films dealing with science, monsters and radiation in the first 5 years for the 50's. Relatively few films but almost the entire pre-code comic output ocurred during these years.

 

Suddenly the mid-50's came and films exploded. By this time the comics code was out and most of the publishers were dropping like flies, (Atlas, Charlton and ACG being notable exceptions.) But the films? A semi-complete list 1955-1960:

Bride of the Monster - 1955, Creature with the Atom Brain - 1955, Revenge of the Creature - 1955, Tarantula - 1955, Beast with a Million Eyes - 1956, Creature Walks Among Us - 1956, Godzilla, King of the Monsters! - 1956, Indestructible Man - 1956, Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1956, Man Beast - 1956, She-Creature - 1956, Werewolf - 1956, Astounding She-Monster - 1957, Attack of the Crab Monsters - 1957, Cyclops - 1957, Daughter of Dr. Jekyll - 1957, Deadly Mantis - 1957, From Hell It Came - 1957, Giant Claw - 1957, Half Human: The Story of the Abominable Snowman - 1957, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein - 1957, Man Who Turned to Stone - 1957, Man Without a Body - 1957, Monolith Monsters - 1957, Monster That Challenged the World - 1957, Teenage Monster - 1957, The Vampire - 1957, Unearthly - 1957, Unknown Terror - 1957, Attack of the Puppet People - 1958, Blob - 1958, Brain Eaters - 1958, Earth vs. the Spider - 1958, Fly - 1958, Frankenstein - 1970 - 1958, Giant From the Unknown - 1958, I Married a Monster from Outer Space - 1958, It! The Terror from Beyond Space - 1958, Monster on the Campus - 1958, Night of the Blood Beast - 1958, Professor - 1958, Space Master X-7 - 1958, 4D Man - 1959, Attack of the Giant Leeches - 1959, Beast from Haunted Cave - 1959, Giant Gila Monster - 1959, Hideous Sun Demon - 1959, Invisible Invaders - 1959, Killer Shrews - 1959, Plan 9 from Outer Space - 1959, Return of the Fly - 1959, Rymdinvasion i Lappland - 1959, Teenage Zombies - 1959, Teenagers from Outer Space - 1959, Tingler - 1959, Twilight Zone - 1959, Leech Woman - 1960, Wasp Woman - 1960

 

Based on this I think films may well have imitated comic books!

 

[PovertyRow]

I agree with your main point, but this sentence:

 

"where the reality of the world finally has become horrifying enough or strange enough that a bit more reality is creeping into the mix and we are ultimately alone in a sea of near-insanity. "

 

..is just pure mental masturbation

 

Actually it was my 4th rum and coke!

 

But I still like it. It has that dramatic air about it. An air both horrifying and strange, where a bit more reality than we might wish for curls itself around the icy, crystalline inner core of our being, leaving us acutely alone in a sea of desperation.

 

Oh - and Bronty - just 5-starred you for having the courage to say that. A courage rooted in the foundation and core of.......err.......sorry.

[Bronty]

 

thanks for the stars, too!

[aardvark88]

Yo, this is a family rated forum & u can't say m*sturbation. U can say One Fisted Tales b/c that is the title of a published funny book.

[Mushroom]

Yoy shouldn't leave crime out of this discussion. Crime movies were plentiful in both mainstream and B grade. I think people wanted to be sensationalised. It was the era of McCarthyism and censorship across the boards. Superhero's did no wrong, while EC and the like thumbed their noses at the comic authority or any form of control.

 

 

[ghoulaid]

Cool movie list! I can't add much to your thesis about 50's anthology comics being a reflection of Atom Age paranoia. I just think no NEW single character caught the comic buyers attention so publishers used anthologies until they could determine what the public wanted (which seemed to be anthologies).

 

I collect 50's sci-fi, horror movies on VHS or DVD and have nearly all the ones on your list. Except this: Rymdinvasion i Lappland - 1959. I assume thats the original title for Invasion of the Animal People but if not, what is it? Thanks.

[PovertyRow]

Cool movie list! I can't add much to your thesis about 50's anthology comics being a reflection of Atom Age paranoia. I just think no NEW single character caught the comic buyers attention so publishers used anthologies until they could determine what the public wanted (which seemed to be anthologies).

 

I collect 50's sci-fi, horror movies on VHS or DVD and have nearly all the ones on your list. Except this: Rymdinvasion i Lappland - 1959. I assume thats the original title for Invasion of the Animal People but if not, what is it? Thanks.

 

I was curious if anyone was actually gonna read through that list. You got it in one - Invasion Of The Animal People. I, too collect them (and the 30's-40's horror/sf) on vhs and dvd. Still have a few on Laserdisc too like Incredible Shrinking Man.

[mica]

Earth vs. the Spider - 1958, Attack of the Giant Leeches - 1959,

I showed both of these to my daughter (the MST3K versions) and her reaction was