{"id":2878,"date":"2014-04-01T16:38:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T23:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=2878"},"modified":"2024-01-10T16:42:41","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T00:42:41","slug":"maggies-world-016-from-national-disgrace-to-national-treasure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/maggies-world-016-from-national-disgrace-to-national-treasure\/","title":{"rendered":"Maggie’s World 016: From National Disgrace to National Treasure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n
\n

MAGGIE’S WORLD<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maggie’s World 016: From National Disgrace to National Treasure<\/h1>\n\n\n
Maggie Thompson<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"HD<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

May 8, 1940, Sterling North (eventually to write the children\u2019s Newbery Honor Book Rascal<\/em>) wrote in the Chicago Daily News <\/em>that \u201ccolor \u2018comic\u2019 magazines\u201d were \u201ca national disgrace\u201d and that \u201cparents and teachers throughout America must band together to break the \u2018comic\u2019 magazine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mind you, it\u2019s only fair to note that the art form was in its infancy in 1940. Not only was North not writing then about Bone<\/em> or Owly<\/em>\u2014nor was he prescient enough even to consider the possibility of an evolution to Maus<\/em> or American Splendor<\/em>\u2014he was writing before the advent of Will Eisner\u2019s Spirit<\/em> sections and, indeed, before Mickey Mouse Magazine<\/em> had morphed into Walt Disney\u2019s Comics & Stories.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was throwing a figurative snowball at the industry at a time when the adventures of Superman had only been appearing for a couple of years and those of Batman (though inspired by earlier pulps featuring The Shadow) for only about a year. Much of what was appearing all in color for a dime in 1940 consisted of strip reprints. The \u201cpoisonous mushroom growth of the last two years\u201d of which North wrote was clearly fed by costumed heroes rather than by the Walt Disney cartoons that had begun to provide characters for the expansion of the Dell line. But it\u2019s fair to note that such an expansion was under way, with more to come in the following two years\u2014admittedly along with a plethora of new villains to be punched out by many more costumed heroes. (One month after North\u2019s essay, Eisner\u2019s Spirit<\/em> section first appeared in newspapers; the Golden Age Daredevil was introduced in Silver Streak Comics<\/em> #6 before another year had gone by.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, by the time This Week<\/em> ran \u201cHow Good a Parent Are You?\u201d by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, World War II had come and gone, and comic books had widened their variety. Nevertheless, media attacks on comics had been renewed. Hoover\u2019s April 20, 1947, article called \u201ccrime books, comics, and newspaper stories crammed with anti-social and criminal acts\u201d \u2026 \u201cextremely dangerous in the hands of the unstable child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But by then, readers were experiencing a Golden Age of great little kids\u2019 comics as well as an ongoing source of tales of super-heroics\u2014and more. Walt Kelly (whose Pogo<\/em> was far from his only series), John Stanley (whose work on Little Lulu<\/em> continued to go uncredited), and Carl Barks (who signed his Donald Duck tales as \u201cWalt Disney\u201d) were turning out generous monthly servings of gag-laden tales aimed at young readers. Moreover, such writers as Gaylord Du Bois were (albeit also usually anonymously) incorporating strong messages of social responsibility and equality in such series as Tarzan<\/em>. But it may be wrong to assume that those attacking the field were actually reading the variety of comics, as opposed to looking for the most horrible possible examples to spice up their reports of alarm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Crime SuspenStories<\/em>\u00a0#17 featured an adaptation of a classic by Ray Bradbury, clearly not aimed at children. But many critics sought to take such stories off sale, as the Senate heard less than a year later.
\u00a9 William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After all, even such a classic as Chester Gould\u2019s Dick Tracy<\/em> comic strip was the target of ongoing complaints. The term \u201ccrime comics\u201d was especially employed by Fredric Wertham in his attacks on drawn stories. Tales of criminal activities had been a mainstay of pop culture for many decades before the term \u201cpop culture\u201d was invented. MGM, for example, had begun a series of 50 live-action shorts tied together with the \u201ccrime does not pay\u201d theme in 1935 (now available on DVD). With the July 1942 issue, Lev Gleason had even changed the title of its Silver Streak<\/em> to Crime Does Not Pay<\/em> (also a tagline of the radio Shadow<\/em>). Eventually, horror comics were added to comic-book targets, when Avon\u2019s Eerie<\/em> #1 (January 47) appeared: a one-shot credited with founding the field of horror comic books just a few months before the Hoover article appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through it all\u2014through the 1940s and 1950s\u2014it was generally assumed that comics\u2019 readership consisted exclusively of children and illiterate readers. (Though, of course, \u201cilliterate readers\u201d has always been an oxymoron.) Would that readership eventually come together to celebrate comic books as an art form? Nonsense!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now here we are: April 2014 marks six decades since the Senate heard comics-centric testimony from psychiatrists, publishers, comics creators, and newsdealer representatives. Senators Estes Kefauver (Tennessee Democrat) and Robert C. Hendrickson (New Jersey Republican) had resolved to make \u201ca full and complete study of juvenile delinquency in the United States.\u201d The April 21-22, 1954, hearings included appearances from Fredric Wertham and Entertaining Comics (E.C.) publisher William Gaines. It was at those hearings that years of anti-comics campaigns came together in a series of reports concerning just how damaging comics were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The snowball throwing begun before World War II was now part of an avalanche, with Wertham actively seeking\u2014and receiving\u2014pre-release publicity for his Seduction of the Innocent<\/em>. (Mind you, June 25, 1954, Book-of-the-Month Club canceled its contract with Rinehart and Company to offer the book as one of the club\u2019s alternative selections. But that was a minor distraction for those who wanted \u201ccrime comics\u201d removed from newsstands, and legislators in several states had already tried to establish laws against the art form.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Whew! The story appeared in a comic book titled\u00a0Detective Comics<\/em>\u00a0(#295) but, after seven years of Comics Code scrutiny, the detecting didn\u2019t involve actual crimes.
TM & \u00a9 DC Comics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The industry had already tried to protect itself with a code of standards, announced July 1, 1948. The Association of Comic Magazine Publishers had organized the previous year, and its star indicating compliance with those standards soon appeared on participating publications. But horror, crime, and sensational covers were still to be found in the mid-1950s. So comics producers tried again, and 1954 was the year that comic books (which John Mason Brown had called \u201cthe bane of the bassinet\u201d in 1948) were, indeed, relegated to the nursery for decades to come. October 26, 1954 saw the Comics Magazine Association of America announcing that it had established new codes, one for editorial content, one for ads. Gone were crooks for Batman to defeat; it was time to replace them with multi-colored aliens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[By the way\u2014and for the record\u2014Wertham was not satisfied by the removal of horror, crime, and sensational comics. In \u201cIt\u2019s Still Murder\u201d (Saturday Review of Literature<\/em>, April 9, 1955), he complained about even such comic book horrors as all-caps lettering and short line length in word balloons.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, science fiction-fan convention had long since established a popular culture venue in which amateurs and professionals could meet and exchange views. But it apparently occurred to no one that such a venue would ever be an option for the world of comic books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we knew what we wanted, didn\u2019t we? I think those of us reading them in the 1950s had always guessed that comics could provide entertainment for adults as well as for kids. And eventually we established conventions where adults could meet and discuss and buy and sell comic books. And then, yes, then\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, slowly, inexorably\u2014it became clear. Comics were for kids, yes. But also for teens. And for adults. And entertainment. And information. In short, the distinctively American art form is now not only acknowledged as a national treasure, but it continues to be the heart of America\u2019s popular culture festival, an annual party in San Diego that began in 1970 and continues today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Comics Code has been gone for a few years now. But Comic-Con? It\u2019s bigger than ever. It\u2019s attended by pros and fans, families and historians, all who gather to celebrate the treasures comic book have brought us. I hope I\u2019ll see you there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Maggie\u2019s World by Maggie Thompson appears the first Tuesday of every month here on<\/em> Toucan!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Maggie Thompson<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n