Fighting To Be Published

Although comic books were booming in the late 1930's and 40's, the time period after WWII was the hardest for the industry considering comics had to now compete with not only comics about new topics, but with the television industry. Comics were fighting for attention when television came into view and there was one man who was trying to shut them down for good - Dr. Fredric Wertham; also known as "The Comic Book Vilan." This man was under the impression that comic books corrupted our youth and wished to have them censored - his efforts would show a lasting effect on comic book publishing to this day. In an attempt to slow the backlashes that were coming from critical reviews of the comic books, DC began to publish the names of board members inside the cover of all DC books - these board members were well known people throughout the public and with their names on the books they promised that the comics were "held up to the standards of wholesome entertainment."

Dr. Fredric Wertham went on a seven year research fest in order to investigate the effect that comics had on children.  Once he went public with his ideas about comic books, people all over the country began to question them, and soon an article appeared in Time magazine, which featured Detroit Police Commissioner Harry S. Toy who stated that the comics were "Loaded with communist teachings, sex, and racial discrimination." Some people even said that the comic books were training kids to act like animals and that they distorted real life. Things got so intense all over the country that comic books were banned in cities and counties, and some places even held public burnings for the books; needless to say the comic book publishers were very worried that they may never recover from this.

In 1948 the Association of Comic Magazine Publishers (ACMP) was formed in order to set guidelines for comic books which would have to be approved of the ACMP board before they were published. Some big comic book publishers like DC already had their own boards though, so they did not join and some publishers even dropped out because they didn't agree with the approval guidelines.

By 1955, everything was settled. Comic book companies came together and created the Comic Magazine Association of America (CMAA), and together they came up with the Comics Code Authority (CCA) which was approved by the Senate and they were told that they were taking "steps in the right direction." The Senate also decided that Dr. Fredric Wertham's research could not be fully backed up since his research was only done on juvenile delinquents and not on all children entirely.

Today the CCA is hardly relevant because their stamps are not as large and noticeable on the covers as they once were, so instead publishing companies often put "Suggested For Mature Readers" since they still publish comics even though they don't meet the CCA requirements - Dr. Fredric Wertham is probably rolling in his grave because of this.

Coville, Jamie. "Seduction of the Innocent and the Attack on Comic Books." Seduction of the Innocent and the Attack on Comic Books. Penn State University, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2012. <http://www.psu.edu/dept/inart10_110/inart10/cmbk4cca.html>.

Da Na Na Na Na Na Na Na BATMAN

For those of you who may have been hiding under a rock for the past 73 years while films galore were being made about one of the most famous comics in the world, here is a small synopsis on the storyline of Batman - a very small synopsis. So basically Bruce Wayne (Batman) witnesses his parents death as a teenager and vows to avenge their death by taking down criminals. Now, unlike Superman, Batman has no super powers. He is an ordinary guy with a ripped body who was left a ton of money in which he could use to get top of the line weapons and vehicles in order to stop the mayhem and crime going on in his hometown of Gotham.

After reading the history of the comic book, I think that it is fair to give the credit of blowing up comics to the two most famous superheros in the world: Superman and Batman. In 1938, DC introduced Superman to the world, and the next year after they realized how big of a hit the idea of superheros were to consumers, they hired Bob Kane to create a superhero "as powerful and appealing as Superman." In order to find inspiration for this superhero who would also help shape the comic book world, Kane looked to Leonardo da Vinci's sketch of a man trying to fly with some type of bat wings, masked heros like Zorro, and movie about a bat faced villan called "The Bat Whisperer."

After realizing that he would not have time to both draw and write the comic, even though he had experience in both areas, he was partnered up with Bill Finger, who ended up writing all of the dialogue and collaborated with Kane. A year after Batman was first published, Kane decided to add a sidekick to the comic so that Batman would have someone to talk to, which is where Robin comes in (or Robin The Boy Wonder in 1940.) Once Robin was added, the comic book hit a new high in rating with consumers and the comic became even more popular, if that is possible, when Kane created arch enemies for Batman in which he would defeat during the comic. Popular arch enemies for Batman include the Joker, the Riddler, Penguin, Two-Face, and Catwoman. What I love most about the idea of Batman is that it has been published and republished over the years, just getting more popular with each movie and graphic novel that comes about, because I guarantee DC will only keep republishing newer versions, and movie remakes will keep being made because of this timeless superhero.

I really should have interviewed my 11 year old nephew for this, because he knows the life of Batman like the back of his hand. Here is a picture of the original copy of Detective Comics' No. 27 from May, 1939. I imagine it is quite pricey these days, and rare as can be.

"Batman's History." Batman's History. Beltmasters Direct, 2006. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. <http://www.beltmastersdirect.com/batmanhistory.htm>.

A Little History On Comic Book Publishing

As someone who doesn't know as much as they wish they did about comics, I decided to research the history of comic book publishing in order to try to pin down the reasons why comic books have been so successful over many decades. As a live human being, I obviously know about Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Charlie Brown, Garfield, and all of the other comics that have made history, as well as movies, over the years. In order for all of these movies to be successful, there had to be consumers buying the comic books, and I'm sure the movies formed more consumers who now purchase these comics since they were fans of the films. I was interested in finding the main source of publishers who are to blame for the popularity of this industry, and to my surprise I actually knew one of them. For over 50 years, Marvel and Detective Comics (DC) have been leading in the publishing industry - making comic books into graphic novels and movies in order to get their names even more well known around the world.

As far as the very well known stylistic features of a comic go, they can be traced back to the medieval broadsheet where people would carve narratives strips into wood. Back in the day, these broadsheets were used to illustrate public executions and caricatures of popular public figures - much like "The Yellow Kid" did in New York City. When comic books were first being distributed in mass quantities all over the world, they were printed on the cheapest type of paper. As far as the well known format of comics goes, "In 1933, Harry Wildenberg and Max C. Gaines (future creator of MAD magazine) folded a traditional tabloid-size comic, Funnies on Parade, in half to create the first four-color, saddle-stitched newsprint comic that would become the format of modern comic books," which was later sold and featured on the popular place of purchase for a number of years, the newsstand.

"Archetypes, Commercialism, and Hollywood." A History of the Comic Book. Random History, Mar. 2008. Web. 22 Sept. 2012. <http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/033comic.html>.

Do You Know About The First Comic Strip?

Created by Richard Felton Outcault, the comic strip named Hogan's Alley was considered the first successful comic strip to be published. It was published in New York World in 1895 and soon the main character became most well known as "The Yellow Kid." Outcault worked at New York World for a good amount of time before moving to The New York Journal, where it was just as successful. As you can tell, "The Yellow Kid" was quite popular within New York City. The comic itself talked about class and racial tensions in the new urban society in which a group of New York City kids acted out the scenes in mischievous manners, and it seemed to be quite the hit with the community. Outcault was able to mock all the classes in a safe environment while poking fun and still keeping all the characters based on caucasians - knowing that he probably shouldn't push the bar too far. "The Yellow Kid" inspired all types of art and theatre over the course of time and Americans from all over the country knew about this comic strip. This comic strip was popular because of Outcault's satiric words and drawings that portrayed that time perfectly - never leaving out the bad things that were going on in society with the upper classes.  Here is an example of Outcault's famous "Yellow Kid."

Wood, Mary. "The Yellow Kid on the Paper Stage: Introduction." The Yellow Kid on the Paper Stage:
            Introduction. University of Virgina, 2009. Web. 19 Sept. 2012.
           <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma04/wood/ykid/intro.htm>.