WHAT? ME WORRY?
The history of comic books from the Dawn of Mankind to 1956
It is believed that comic books are derived from writings and art that date well into prehistory. Since
cavemen began drawing pictures of hunts on cave walls, we've had the equivalent of comics. Another example would be
egyptian hieroglyphics which were pictoral depictions of events and stories. In fact storytelling as a whole is as ancient as Mankind.
Generally historians agree that although there were works prior to this, the first true comic book was
Richard Fenton Outcalt's
The Yellow Kid, in
1896. This was the first example of the
word balloon in comic book publications. (There were
tapestries back in
the Dark Ages that included words hovering over people's heads, but they didn't have actual word balloons with tails pointing to the characters, and they were tapestries, not comic books. So they don't count.) For the first thirty-five years or so, comic books were essentially humor-oriented, which is why we still call them
comic books even to this day. It was during this time period that such creations as
Popeye,
Mutt and Jeff, and
Krazy Kat were first depicted. The stories usually focused on children or domesticated animals, and were simple in order to appeal to the entire family. However, such simplified concepts and tales tended to only appeal to younger children, and past the
novelty appeal, most young people and adults turned away.
Though even in modern times there are still humorous and child-oriented comic books, around the
1930s the medium began to expand and grow. When the
stock market crashed in 1929, companies that specialized in publishing and selling comic books had to adapt to the changing economy and social lifestyles, and appeal to even wider audiences in order to survive. So instead of keeping to simplified themes and concepts, writers and artists began to construct more detailed and believable adventures through the use of pictures.
Hal Foster was the first to adapt
E. R. Borroughs' novel
Tarzan to the comic medium. This story about an adult raised by wild creatures from infancy was one of the many adventures which helped bring comic books into what historians and collectors now call the
golden age. Other works included
Chester Gould's
Dick Tracy and
Alex Raymond's
Flash Gordon. While Tarzan was an example of an adaptation, Flash Gordon and Dick Tracy were some of the first truly original concepts and storylines designed specifically for the comic book medium, and later they went on to be used in
motion pictures. Dick Tracy was inspired by contemporary news reports of the time about Chicago mob activity and police detective stories. Flash Gordon was inspired by
science fiction. Surely the originally pre-assumed limitations of the medium were being broken and re-explored. And there were still other creations that appeared at this time, including
Prince Valiant,
Jim of the Jungle and
Mandrake the Magician. Some of these characters and storylines are still re-adapted in modern times into other venues of entertainment.
But still, even with all these changes we were still in the
Pre-Golden Age. These new concepts ushered in an opportunity for an entirely new story concept which had not previously been fully explored: the
superhero. In
1938,
Ace Comics #11 was published which introduced :
Lee Falk's
The Phantom. This historically marks the end of the Pre-Golden Age. Soon afterwards in June of that same year,
Action Comics #1 was published, in which
Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster's
Superman first appeared to overwhelming public success, thus introducing the
Golden Age. Less than one year later, the comparatively darker
Batman by
Bob Kane came on the scene, and an upsurge of superhero tales proliferated the
newsstands of America and other parts of the world.
C.C. Beck's
Captain Marvel thrilled children of all ages at this time.
Will Eisner's
The Spirit was ahead of its time, featuring a character who wore a suit and had a sense of humor, existing in a grittier and more realistic world than the stylized representations in other comics.
Other characters such as
Wonder Woman (the first successful female super hero),
Plastic Man,
Doctor Mid-nite,
Phantom Lady,
Hawkman,
Green Lantern,
The Flash,
The Spectre,
The Shadow,
The Sandman,
Green Hornet,
The Lone Ranger,
The Shining Knight,
Daredevil,
The Human Bomb,
Submariner,
Hourman,
The Shield,
The Human Torch,
Doctor Fate,
Johnny Thunder,
Johnny Quick,
Liberty Belle,
Miracleman,
Green Arrow,
Aquaman and many more literally burst onto the
pop culture scene. Eventually many of these characters banded together to form the first superhero team that crossed over between different superhero titles: The
Justice Society of America. These were the days of
DC Comics,
Fawcett Comics,
Quality Comics (whose characters are now largely owned by DC),
Timely Comics and many other publishing companies no longer with us.
Marvel Comics Group wouldn't come until later, although many characters now owned by Marvel originally came from Timely.
Comic books enjoyed an amazing level of popularity in these days, and as
World War II became a daily part of so many people's lives, the superhero genre felt a massive boom. The first issue of
Captain America had him fighting Adolf Hitler himself! People were thrilled to read stories of super powered human beings quashing the efforts of the
Axis Powers. During the early
1940s well over four hundred costumed
vigilantes were depicted in many pulp comic publications. Most were repeating themes and elements from
Superman like
alter-ego,
super powers, and
crime fighting.
Though there were hundreds of characters created to take advantage of the popularity, only a fraction survived through the comparative drop in popularity that occurred after World War Two. As we entered the
Cold War, some people just had trouble believing superhero
vigilantism as a realistic idea, and could not
suspend disbelief enough to appreciate the genre. It was believed the genre had been a phase, and just like some people said about
rock and roll, they figured it wouldn't last. The Golden Age was over.
1945 marked the beginning of the
Post Golden Age. Attempts were made to break into new genres of storytelling with the comic book medium. In July
1947 Jack Kirby and
Joe Simon created the first romance comic,
My Date Comics. Though it was short lived, others based on the concept had better success. Western comics began to thrive in the late 1940s to 1950s, as did crime comics which featured detectives and non-superhero types fighting crime.
Violence and
sex in comic books went up in these stories, and this began to turn the tide of public opinion against the medium. The idea of comic books being for adults only did not interest the vast majority.
Fox Features Syndicate began to look like the
Jerry Springer of the comic book industry, publishing such titles as
Murder Incorporated,
Crimes by Women and others. And other companies followed suit. Sex and violence sells, but it also tends to cause more conservative thinking people to cry foul. A man named Dr.
Frederick Wertham accused comic books of causing the delinquency of America's youth. Sounds like a familiar theme, eh? In
1954 he would publish
The Seduction of the innocent, a book that detailed his now dated and outlandish opinions, but in the early fifties he was adding fuel to the fire of conservative disapproval.
In the fall of
1948 American Comics Group published the first horror comic series, titled
Adventures into the Unknown. This genre would also find nominal to above average success in the decades to come. Humor titles began to regain a resemblance of popularity, which to one degree or another they still share to this day. While other genres had a rocky history, the literally humorous comic book has always been a mainstay. Companies like
Disney's
Mickey Mouse and
Donald Duck made their way to the comic book pages.
Harvey Comics found popularity in this time period with
Sad Sack first in the army and then as a civilian as well as many more humorous characters.
Archie Comics with
Jughead and that gang made their first appearances in comic books at roughly this time. Also, the
Marvel Comics Group was publishing humor comics at this time with relative success. They also had bought out
Timely Comics by now, and were bringing some superheroes from that publishing house under their roof, with the assistance of
Stan Lee and
Jack Kirby. Stan Lee would have some of his own ideas, which we'll get to in a bit. The superhero genre continued to decline. Only a handful of titles withstood the years of McCarthyism; Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman being the most predominant.
By
1950 the public relations campaign against comic book violence and depravity reached a fever pitch, thanks to that annoying doctor, eventually bringing it to the attention of a United States
Senate Committee. Laws were passed banning the sale of comics. Parents and teachers refused to allow them in schools and homes. For all intents and purposes comic books had become
contraband. So much for a free country. Of course, this only made kids want to read them that much more. Comic books continued getting darker, and the horror genre began to thrive. By
1953, adaptations of
Ray Bradbury's
science fiction short stories found their way onto the comic books, along with other similar scifi fare. Interestingly enough, Bradbury's permission was not given for these stories, and it wasn't until he threatened legal action did they offer to pay him proper royalties. Still, this helped vault Bradbury's popularity and that of many science fiction authors, thought at this time to be contributing to the delinquency of minors both in comics and other
pulp fiction.
Good old Dr.
Frederick Wertham's book was out by now, and with it he began a series of tours across the country, with panel discussions and public speaking engagements. He practically single-handedly tore the comic book industry a new orifice, but he had a lot of public opinion on his side at this time.
It was a dark time for the rebellion. He equated comic books to
drugs,
pornography and other
vices. His driving point was that comic books introduced sexual, violent and/or sadistic thoughts into young minds who would not have contemplated them alone otherwise, leading them to a life of criminal acts and
anti-social behavior. Instead of encouraging young people to
read, he believed comic books brought about
learning disorders.
And get this: Dr. Frederick Wertham was the first man to publically accuse
Batman and
Robin of being
homosexuals.
By the spring of
1954 the United States Senate Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency in the United States listened to Dr. Wertham (the worm) who accused the comic industry of causing more damage and harm to America than Hitler. Because of his venom and hate against the medium, the public and the government demanded censorship on comic books. This led to something called The
Comics Code Authority. Because of the Senate's findings, the comic book companies had no choice but to band together and attempt self-regulation. The only other alternative was to be shut down completely. They formed The Comic Magazine Association of America Incorporated on October 26, 1954. The Standards of the
Comics Code Authority was all-encompassing and basically told creativity and free thought to take a hike. This wasn't enough for the followers of Wertham, who wanted the
smut taken off the shelves completely. Fans of comic books were angry and incensed, because it meant the end of many of their favorite comic books. The crime, horror, and romance genres simply couldn't survive under the new requirements. What's a romance story worth if you can't show them kissing? Westerns became pointless. What's a western worth if they have to cut out over half of the gunfights? Comic books which could withstand the scrutiny were given a little graphic on the cover which marked a
seal of approval. Many publishing houses couldn't withstand the strain and the drop in popularity. Many went into bankrupcy and folded. Others just closed up shop. The comic book industry was not alone in this.
Movies,
radio,
music bands and artists as well as
television recieved similar attacks from the fundamentalist far right political machine. And yeah, this still goes on today, though to a bit less of a degree.
Censorship.
Gotta love it.
Ironically, with all the other genres zapped, the two predominant genres left which could withstand the new pressures brought on by the code were kiddie humor comics (of course) and -- superheroes. However, as is evident in studying the superheroes in the 1950s, the new restrictions created stories that were bland and flat. Batman was cleaned up and turned into a bit more comical of a character, with not only Robin but
Batgirl,
Batmite, and more concentration on the gadgets and traps: less on character interaction or drama. Superman just went completely out in left field, with
Supergirl,
Jimmy Olsen,
Krypto the Superdog,
Bizarro world, the invention of things like
super ventriloquism, and a host of multi-colored kryptonite that did a host of crazy absurd things. It looked like the bad guys won. The superhero was down for the count.
Meanwhile, Entertainment Comics aka
EC Comics was also feeling the squeeze. By the end of
1955 only one comic book series had not been rejected by the
Comics Code Authority. It was originally called
Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad. And it too was under the chopping block. EC was facing extinction, until they discovered a convenient loophole in the entire Comics Code Authority thing. They redesigned the printing of their final publication, renamed it
Mad Magazine and since they were no longer calling it a comic book, it simply didn't fall under Comics Code Authority any longer. So they could pretty much say and do whatever the hell they wanted. Mad Magazine then proceeded to assault every possible concievable aspect of 20th century pop culture with a venomous vengeance greater than a thousand scorpions clinging to the backs of a thousand laughing hyenas, and it still continues to do so today.
In December of 1955, DC published the first adventures of
J'onn J'onzz the
Martian Manhunter the first new superhero since the end of the golden age. This marked the end of the post-golden age, and with the introduction of
Barry Allen as
The Flash in
1956, the world was about to become witness to the dawn of
the silver age of comic books.
And that brings us to the late fifties. Still a lot of crap to cover. Maybe I'll finish this damn thing someday. A bunch of other stuff happened. Comic books came and went. Superheroes beat up on stuff.
Baby Huey coughed up on
Richie Rich and pooped in his diaper, and all is right in the world.
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