A M E R I C A N

C H R O N I C L E S
THE

b y B I L L S C H E L LY

1950-1959
Table of Contents
Introductory Note about the
Chronological Structure of
American Comic Book Chronicles.................. 4

Note on Comic Book Sales

and Circulation Data.......................................... 5

Introduction & Acknowledgements . ........... 6

Chapter One: 1950

Variety on the Newsstand............................... 10

Chapter Two: 1951

Before the Storm................................................. 36

Chapter Three: 1952

Expansion............................................................. 54

Chapter Four: 1953

EC Soars, Fawcett Crashes................................ 72

Chapter Five: 1954

Comics in Crisis................................................... 90 Chapter Six: 1955
Censored!............................................................ 116

Chapter Seven: 1956

Birth of the Silver Age..................................... 142

Chapter Eight: 1957

Turbulence and Transition........................... 164

Chapter Nine: 1958

National Takes the Lead................................. 180

Chapter Ten: 1959

The Silver Age Gains Traction...................... 198

Appendix........................................................... 226

Works Cited....................................................... 230

Index................................................................... 234
1950
Variety on the
Newsstand
The debut of Siegel and Shuster’s Superman in mid-1938
was the shot in the arm that set the fledgling comic book
industry on its feet. The Man of Tomorrow was a distinctly
different kind of hero, uniquely suited to the brash four-
color booklets that had so recently become a recognizable
presence on American newsstands. When the word got
out that National Allied Publications’ Action Comics was a
sales skyrocket, imitators followed, and an industry took
hold.
In 1950, the types of comic books on the racks demon-
strated how far the industry had come from its roots, as it
adapted to changing public tastes after the end of World
War II. While costumed heroes dominated the field dur-
ing the war—partly out of a need for optimistic, powerful
heroes, and partly because other forms simply hadn’t been
developed yet—the post-war era registered a significant
drop-off in the public’s interest in such fare.
Comic books as a medium lost some overall sales for a
while, with demobilization and the reduction of readers
in the armed services—virtually a captive audience during
the war—but by then, the comic book as a mode of enter-
tainment had gained acceptance. The readers were out
there, and it remained for publishers to provide them with
the kind of material that they found attractive and inter-
esting. Publishers experimented with other kinds of sub-
ject matter, and by the decade’s end, newsstands offered a
great diversity of genres: Westerns, romance comics, teen-
age humor, funny animal antics, crime comics, and news-
paper reprints, each type, in turn, having sub-genres.

National Comics in 1950

As 1950 began, National Comics Publications Inc., now DC
Comics (called National throughout this book), remained
a sales leader for three principal reasons: employment of
many of the most talented artists and writers in comics,
conservative stewardship, and a program of prudent diver-
sification.
Unlike many of its competitors, National’s core super he-
roes hadn’t succumbed. Superman was still going strong
in his solo title as well as in Action Comics and World’s Fin-
est Comics. Superboy seemed to be gaining momentum,
appearing regularly in Adventure Comics and his own self-
titled book. (Lana Lang made her debut in Superboy #10,
cover dated Sept.-Oct. 1950.) Batman and Robin, too, held
firm in their own title plus Detective Comics and World’s
Finest. Robin was still appearing in solo adventures in Star
Spangled Comics, though not for much longer. Wonder
Woman would soon drop out of Sensation Comics, but the

CHAPTER ONE
Amazon princess continued to dominate the world of men
in her own book. And the Justice Society of America—the
only remaining vehicle for the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawk-
10
man, and the other All-American
heroes—hung on in All-Star Comics.
Second tier hero Aquaman continued
in his slot in Adventure Comics, and
Green Arrow was in both World’s Fin-
est and Adventure. All these National
heroes would run unabated through
the decade except for the JSA, whose
All-Star Comics dropped them to ush-
er in a format change to All-Star West-
ern in 1951.
The creative direction of National
was being steered by the urbane,
hard-drinking Whitney Ellsworth,
whose career with the firm began as
an assistant editor with Major Mal-
colm Wheeler-Nicholson’s National
Allied Publications in 1934. As such,
he pre-dated Harry Donenfeld and
Jack Liebowitz with National, stay-
ing aboard when their machinations
squeezed Wheeler-Nicholson out in
1938. That same year, Ellsworth rose
to Associate Editor, producing cover
roughs for several years (he was a car-
toonist of some ability), and soon he
was promoted to Editorial Director,
the position he held in 1950.
While Ellsworth provided general
guidance, after consulting sales fig-
ures produced by the co-owned Inde-
pendent News distribution company,
he delegated most of the creative de-
cisions to a staff of able editors, each
handling a slate of titles. As Ellsworth
became more involved in the develop-
ment of the firm’s properties in mov-
ies and television in the late 1940s
and early 1950s, these nominal “as-
sistant editors” gained considerable
autonomy. Mort Weisinger was per-
Lana Lang met the Boy of Steel for the first time in Superboy #10 (September-October 1950). Even though super
heroes had lost a great deal of their popular appeal by the beginning of the decade, National’s top heroes remained
relatively healthy. Right: Action Comics #141 (February 1950), Wonder Woman #40 (March-April 1950), and
Detective Comics #156 (February 1950). Superman, Superboy, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Robin TM and © DC Comics
haps first among equals, entrusted
with the stewardship of the flagship
Superman titles. Jack Schiff steered
the Batman books. Julius Schwartz
(known as “Julie” by his friends) han-
dled All-Star and a variety of genres.
Robert Kanigher edited Wonder
Woman and romance comics. Ber-
nie Breslauer served in an editorial
capacity on the humor titles; when
he suffered a heart attack, he was
replaced by Larry Nadle. George
Kashdan was a story editor who rose
to edit a number of titles in the new
decade.
One of the key differences between
comic books of the early-to-mid
1940s and those of the 1950s was the
page count. The traditional 10-cent
book during World War II contained
68 pages including covers, at least
until 1943 when paper rationing
forced reductions (to counts rang-
ing from 36 to 60 pages). After the
war, the maximum page count to
be found for 10 cents was, with few
exceptions, 52 pages. By 1950, many
more had dropped down to 36 pages.
National held firm for the time being
at 52, though it was clear that they
would soon have to slim down. (The
dimensions of a typical comic book at
this time were 7” wide by 10¼” high.)
Most 52-page comics had five or six
stories, which was generally reduced
to three or four stories in books that
fell back to 36 pages.
If National’s output of super hero
comics filled pages in only 11 titles
by 1950, what made up the rest of its
lineup?
11
TIMELINE: 1950 March: Haunt of Fear #15, Weird Science
#12, Weird Fantasy #13 appear on newsstands,
June 25: North
Korean forces cross
the 38th parallel and
A compilation of the year’s notable comic book history events alongside completing the horror and SF “New Trend” invade South Korea,
some of the year’s most significant popular culture and historical events. roster at EC. marking the start of
the Korean War. The
(On sale dates are approximations.) conflict would end over
three years later when
an armistice is signed
February: Vault of Horror #12 & Crypt of Terror on July 27, 1953.
#17, the first EC “New Trend” horror comic
books, hit newsstands. They would spawn one
of the two genres that especially distinguished
comic book history from 1950 through 1954.

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL M AY JUNE

February 9: In a speech in West

Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy
claims to have a list of 205 people
working in the U.S. State Department February 25: The comedy- June 30: National publishes Strange Adventures
who were members of the Com- variety program Your Show of #1 with an adaptation of Destination Moon, the film
munist Party. While never proving Shows, starring Sid Caesar, based on Robert A. Heinlein’s book that would reach
his claims, the speech nonetheless Imogene Coca, and Carl theaters in August.
thrusts McCarthy into the national Reiner, debuts on the NBC
spotlight as the foremost voice ex- television network. March 19: Edgar Rice Burroughs,
pressing fear that Communist spies sci-fi author and the creator of
have infiltrated the government. Tarzan, dies at the age of 74 of a
heart attack.

Haunt of Fear, Crime SuspenStories TM and © William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc. Strange Adventures, Superman, Big Town, Tomahawk, All-Star Comics TM and © DC Comics.

While Superman and Batman reigned the romance books Secret Hearts and ington Avenue. Given his background
supreme in the opening story in Ac- Girls’ Love Stories, which were joined in accounting and finance, Liebowitz
tion and Detective respectively, the in 1950 by Girls’ Romances. All Ameri- was not surprisingly a conservative
backup features reflected the times. can Comics had been converted to All man, and his personality was appar-
Action Comics #140 (January 1950) American Western, replacing Green ent in National’s publishing output.
followed the Man of Steel with Tom- Lantern with the cowboy Johnny Yet if new titles were needed, Liebow-
my Tomorrow, Tales of the Texas Thunder, and Western Comics, Jimmy itz’s answer wasn’t simply to pub-
Rangers, Congo Bill, and Vigilante. Wakely, and Dale Evans filled out Na- lish four or five more romance and
Detective Comics #155 (January 1950) tional’s Western roster. Western books; he wanted Ellsworth
backed the Dynamic Duo with Pow- to try new things, albeit with all due
In summary, the thirty-nine titles
Wow Smith and Roy Raymond, TV caution. Thus, he was receptive when
published by National in mid-1950
Detective (first billed as “Impossible – Ellsworth had proposed licensing a
broke down as follows: eleven su-
but True”). World’s Finest Comics #43 Dale Evans book starting in 1948, a
per hero titles (often with non-super
(January 1950) did offer Green Arrow result of the editor-in-chief’s role as
backups), seven funny animal/ju-
and Zatara, but also the Wyoming Kid National’s contact in Hollywood.
venile, six Westerns, four teen-age,
and Full Steam Foley.
four romances, three adventure, two After supervising Atom Man vs. Su-
Much of National’s line was made up crime, and two straight humor. Sales perman, the second Superman se-
of humorous comics of various types, in 1950 averaged 7,791,402 copies per rial, which was released in July 1950,
in titles such as Comic Cavalcade month, or about 93 million total cop- Whitney Ellsworth continued by
(with the Fox and the Crow), Shel- ies for the year. That meant the aver- overseeing Superman and the Mole
don Mayer’s Scribbly (which would age sales per book, most of them bi- Men. For this Lippert Films project, a
soon be retired), Funny Folks, Lead- monthly, was about 400,000-450,000 new actor was hired to play the Man
ing Comics, and Animal Antics. For copies (Tolworthy). of Steel, a handsome B-movie ac-
teenage Archie-like humor, National tor named George Reeves. While in
With owner Harry Donenfeld having
published Buzzy, Leave it to Binky and California, Ellsworth lined up more
moved into the background, Jack Li-
A Date with Judy. It also produced licensed properties for comic book
ebowitz ruled the offices at 480 Lex-
12
 July 12: Bill Finger’s
Lana Lang makes her first
appearance in Superboy
#10 (“The Girl in Super-
boy’s Life”).
July 26: National’s
Tomahawk #1, featuring
the work of Bruno Premiani,
Fred Ray, and Leonard Starr,
arrives at newsstands.
J U LY
July 20: Columbia releases
the second Superman serial,
Atom Man vs Superman, a
precursor to the Adventures
of Superman TV show.
publication. The Adventures of Alan
Ladd and The Adventures of Ozzie and
Harriet debuted in issues cover-dated
at the end of 1949, and Adventures
of Bob Hope began in an issue dated
February-March 1950. This tactic
successfully capitalized on these
performers’ widespread popularity.
When the comedy team of Dean Mar-
tin and Jerry Lewis became a white-
hot media sensation in the following
year, National was quick to sign them
up and get a book featuring the duo
onto the stands.
The Hollywood connection was con-
jured up even when titles had no
genuine connection to the movie
capitol. Animal Antics became Movie
Town’s Animal Antics; Leading Comics
became Leading Screen Comics. Na-
tional launched Miss Melody Lane of
Broadway and Feature Films.
Despite sales that were down from
prior peaks, the Superman stories
offered top artwork in 1950 and
throughout the decade. The chief art-
August: The first issue of EC’s Crime
SuspenStories arrives at newsstands.
September: Two-Fisted
Tales #18 features the work
of Harvey Kurtzman, Johnny
Craig, Al Feldstein, and Wally
Wood. With its next issue,
the title would become EC’s
first war comic book.
AUGUST SEPTEMBER
August 24: Marvel Boy #1, written
by Stan Lee and drawn by Russ
Heath is Martin Goodman’s attempt
to publish a new super hero. The
series lasts only two issues.
August 5: Led by Estes Kefauver, a
U.S. Senate Committee investigates
the effect of crime comics on juvenile
delinquency rates from 1945 to 1950.
Surveys are sent to all the top comic
book companies asking for circulation
figures, demographics, revenues,
opinions about juvenile delinquency, and
whether or not their books have been
approved by psychiatrists.
ist for the Man of Steel was Wayne
Boring, who had learned the business
assisting Joe Shuster on Superman,
beginning in 1938. After Siegel and
Shuster left National in 1947, Mort
Weisinger made Boring and inker
Stan Kaye the main art team for Su-
perman and Action Comics. Boring’s
style had already evolved into some-
thing original by 1950, a combination
of both the primitive and the exotic.
He would refine and polish his style
until it reached its zenith at the de-
cade’s end. Al Plastino and Winslow
Mortimer also illustrated the Man of
Steel, and ably so, but not with any-
thing like the panache and style of
Wayne Boring. Unfortunately, the
stories had hit the doldrums, despite
being written by able scripters such
as Alvin Schwartz and William Wool-
folk. Superman’s encounters with
villains Luthor, the Toyman, and the
playful Mr. Mxyztplk from another
dimension had become repetitious
and lackluster.
13
November 15: National’s licensed
October 1: Martin Goodman
Big Town begins, soon to be followed
publishes War Comics #1, the
by more radio and TV adaptations.
first of the “modern” war comics.
Goodman would go on to launch
eleven more war titles through the
end of 1952.
October 2: As a precursor
to Peanuts, Charles Schulz’s
Li’l Folks is syndicated to
seven newspapers. It stars
four characters: Charlie Brown,
Peppermint Patty, Shermy, and a
beagle named Snoopy.
OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER
November 1: Harvey
Comics jumps on the
horror bandwagon with
Witches Tales #1.
October: The Edvard Moritz-drawn
cover to ACG’s Adventures into
the Unknown #14 annonuces, “In
this issue: The Haunted Morgue, December 20: All-Star Comics #57 presents
Land of the Zombies, The Werewolf the last appearance of the Justice Society of
Strikes… and other strange America—and its members the Flash, Green
features.” The title would become Lantern, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Atom, and Black
ACG’s leading series. Canary—in the 1950s. With its next issue, All-Star
Comics is re-titled All-Star Western, featuring the
Trigger Twins, the Roving Ranger, and Strong Bow.
Jack Schiff, editor of the Batman
titles, also had his star artist at this
time: Dick Sprang. Sprang’s artwork
achieved a level of sophistication and
excitement that few other comic book
artists could match. When Schiff was
trying to inject new life and a sense
of modernism into to the feature,
he had Sprang draw two key stories:
“The Batmobile of 1950” in Detective
#156 (February 1950), written by Joe
Samachson, and “The Origin of the
Batplane II” in Batman #61 (October-
November 1950), probably penned by
David V. Reed. The other main “Bob
Kane” in the early 1950s was Lew
Sayre Schwartz.
The art of Dan Barry made a major
impact at National in 1950 and into
1951. Barry had a literal, slick style
that the conservative editors of the
firm loved. Some of the books Barry
was most associated with (some-
times inked by his brother Sy Barry)
were Gang Busters, Big Town, and Mr.
District Attorney, as well as Vigilante
1951
Before
the
Storm
In 1951, the new United Nations building in New York City
officially opened, even as the testing of nuclear explosions
occurred with greater frequency, both in the Nevada desert
and on an atoll in the Marshall Islands. J. D. Salinger’s novel
The Catcher in the Rye saw print, and I Love Lucy made its
television debut on CBS. Transcontinental television be-
gan.
The public’s interest in science fiction was even more pro-
nounced than in 1950, evident in the release of a number
of popular films with SF themes, chief among them Man
from Planet X, The Thing from Another World, When Worlds
Collide, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Flight to Mars. It
was only natural that comic books followed suit with sci-
ence fiction comics.
Bill Gaines contributed creatively to EC comics by virtue
of plotting many of the stories with his right hand man,
Al Feldstein. He also hired the artists and, again in concert
with Feldstein, decided who would draw each particular
script. Nevertheless, he focused much of his time on busi-
ness management, such as analyzing sales information as
it came in from his distributor, Leader News. “Bill used to
have this system for charting sales which I always watched
in wonder, but I never quite understood,” Harvey Kurtz-
man recalled. “He’d keep little piles of thumb-nail papers
that would fit into the palm of your hand, and he would
sit there with a slide rule and he’d make little marks on the
papers, and he’d look at his slide rule and make more little
marks on his papers. At any given moment he knew what
was selling” (Benson 83). Monitoring sales and keeping on
top of popular trends was de rigueur.
Three genres had come to the fore as sales softened for
romance and crime books: war, science fiction, and
horror. As the year began, it seemed clear that of the three,
horror comics were selling best, with sales continuing to
climb even as the objections to violence and sex in comics
grew louder. One could see dark clouds on the horizon, but
Bill Gaines wasn’t worried. Complaints from a minority of
cranks and do-gooders (as he saw them) weren’t going to
stop him from publishing comics that were flying off the
newsstands and generating a growing number of fan let-
ters.
Horror was hot, but EC’s science fiction comics engendered
their own special excitement, offering imaginative scripts
and art by the best young artists in the business. As Gaines’
comics would soon trumpet, “We’re proudest of our sci-
ence fiction titles!” SF was busting out on the racks, and EC

CHAPTER TWO
comics led the pack from a creative and, very likely, sales
standpoint.

36
 ing when he would receive royalty payments for EC’s
adaptations, Gaines quickly sent him a check, and they
hammered out an arrangement for further adapta-
tions. Henceforth, these adaptations appeared under
Bradbury’s name and original story titles. (Gaines sub-
sequently curtailed unauthorized adaptations of other
writers’ works.)
Wally Wood was already developing into the star art-
ist of EC’s science fiction titles. Born in Menahga, Min-
nesota, in 1927, Wood was a slender, diffident young
man who came alive at the drawing board. His chief
influences were Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon and
Roy Crane’s Wash Tubbs. He loved drawing rocket
ships and alien planets, and had a style that was high-
ly detailed and attractive. The only thing Wood liked
better than drawing rocket ships was drawing sexy
women; his were some of the sexiest to appear in any
comic book. He produced a story in
all twelve of EC’s 1951 SF
comics, such as the
The Thing from Another World was released on April 29th, 1951. It was loosely aforementioned “Dead-
adapted from John W. Campbell Jr.’s story “Who Goes There?” The Thing From Another
World TM and © Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.
lock!,” often involving
menaces from other
In 1951, EC published six issues each of Weird Science planets (“The Aliens!”in
(#5-10) and Weird Fantasy (#17, then #6-10 when the title Weird Science #7, May-
changed its numbering system). Al Feldstein drew all the June 1951). Each was a
Weird Science covers except for the last two of that year’s gem, and each showed
run, which were handled by Wally Wood. Feldstein script- incremental improve-
ed the interior stories this year, other than those written ment. His work kept
and drawn by Kurtzman. (Wally Wood did some plotting getting better and
and possible scripting on “Deadlock!” in WF #17, January- better. Wood’s artistic
February 1951.) The artwork was mainly by Feldstein, Wal-
ly Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, and Jack Kamen.
For script ideas, Gaines and Feldstein looked to previously
published prose stories from the SF pulps and magazines,
but they never credited their sources. In 1950 and 1951,
Weird Science and Weird Fantasy based stories to one de-
gree or another on works by Henry Hasse, Edmond Hamil-
ton, Roald Dahl, Donald Wandrei, Anthony Boucher, Mur-
ray Leinster, and Fritz Lieber, among others. The same was
true of the horror comics.
Because he was dieting to lose weight, Bill Gaines was tak-
ing Dexedrine, a drug that had an effect like amphetamine
(“speed”). As a result, he had trouble getting to sleep. So
he read SF and horror stories late into the night (and early
morning). As he did this, he jotted down ideas for what he
and Feldstein called “springboards,” story gimmicks that
served as the basis for Feldstein’s finished scripts. A single
story often suggested several springboards, and a certain
number of the EC science fiction strips came directly from
the original prose stories.
The first Ray Bradbury tale to be “adapted” in this fashion
was “The Handler,” which was re-done in Haunt of Fear
#6 (March-April 1951) with the title “A Strange Undertak-
ing…,” drawn by Graham Ingels. The first of these unau-
thorized Bradbury adaptations to appear in an SF title was
“Home to Stay!” in Weird Fantasy #13 (May-June 1952), a
combination of the author’s “Kaleidoscope” and “The Rock- Weird Science #7 (May-June 1951) with cover by Al Feldstein. Above:
images by Wally Wood from the splash panel of “The Maidens Cried” in
et Man.” When Gaines received a letter from Bradbury ask- Weird Science #10. TM and © William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc.

37
TIMELINE: 1951 April 27: Created by Julius Schwartz, John Broome,
A compilation of the year’s notable comic book history events alongside and Carmine Infantino, the super heroic Captain
some of the year’s most significant popular culture and historical events. Comet debuts in National’s Strange Adventures #9.
(On sale dates are approximations.)
March 1: Goodman’s publishes the first
issue of Strange Tales. It would become his June: Famous Crimes #20 is
longest running horror title. one of the last comics published
February 9: The first issue by Fox Comics. Victor Fox’s firm
of National’s Mystery in goes out of business in 1951,
Space—a sister SF title to following a hiatus of several
National’s Strange Adven- months. No one would miss his
tures—arrives at newsstands. sleazy line of comic books.
It is edited by Julius Schwartz
with stories written by John
Broome, Gardner Fox, and April 1: Harvey June 25: CBS
Robert Kanigher, and drawn Comics’ second horror transmits the first
by Frank Frazetta, Carmine title, Chamber of Chills, commercial color
Infantino, and Alex Toth. comes with horror hosts television broadcast
and EC-like plots. in the form of a
one-hour special
from New York to
four other cities.

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL M AY JUNE

January 1: The 100th

issue of Marvel Tales
hits newsstands. The March 29: A jury finds Julius
horror-SF title evolved and Ethel Rosenberg guilty of
from Marvel Comics, conspiracy to commit espionage
the first comic book in their selling of classified
published by Martin information to the Soviet Union that
Goodman (and the helped the communist nation build
comic book which an atomic bomb. A week later, a
introduced the Human judge sentences the Rosenbergs to
Torch, Sub-Mariner, death, which is carried out on June
and others). From 19, 1953.
issue #2 through
#93, the series was March 12: Hank Ketchum’s May: Avon’s Space Detective
titled Marvel Mystery Dennis the Menace comic #1—written by Walter Gibson
Comics. strip appears in newspapers and drawn by Joe Orlando
across the U. S. for the and Wally Wood—arrives at May 9: ACG publishes the 52-page
first time. newsstands. Forbidden Worlds #1, edited by John Hughes.

Marvel Tales, Strange Tales, Combat Kelly and Atlas globe are TM and © Marvel Characters Inc. Strange Adventures and Capt. Comet TM and © DC Comics. Shock SuspenStories TM and © TM and © William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc.

growth was partly the natural evo- work of Graham Ingels and, later, the tinued to impress succeeding genera-
lution of a young artist’s style as he high brow explorations of Bernard tions of comics enthusiasts.
worked out the kinks and partly a Krigstein.
National’s science fiction comics were
result of the friendly competition be-
Amid all this freedom, though, there typical of that publisher: competent-
tween the EC artists, especially in the
was restriction. The artists were re- ly written and drawn but rather con-
SF books.
quired to work within the panels and servative in terms of the material pre-
How was Gaines able to attract so in the space pre-determined by Al sented. In other words, National’s SF
many who turned out to be indus- Feldstein. Feldstein proved to be such stories were plot-driven and geared
try leaders and future Hall of Fame a fast and facile writer that he could toward a somewhat younger reader.
artists? A new, young cadre of art- rule panels on a page of art board and Editor Julius Schwartz prominently
ists had emerged after World War write the text directly on the boards showcased work by top writers in the
II, many of them using the G. I. Bill with little or no planning. Then Feld- SF pulps and magazines of the day.
to attend art schools (such as Burne stein had the pages lettered. (Bill Schwartz later recalled, “When I did
Hogarth’s Cartoonists and Illustrators Gaines continued his father’s use of Strange Adventures, I gave credits, es-
school in New York City) while look- Leroy lettering. This was a method of pecially because I used big-time sci-
ing for work. EC was known for al- lettering using a mechanical device ence fiction writers. I used Edmond
ways having a check ready when the that made all the letters completely Hamilton; H. L. Gold, who was later
artist turned in a story, and for paying uniform.) Only then were the pages the editor and founder of Galaxy Sci-
very good rates. This attracted artists given to the artist, with a degree of ence Fiction; Manly Wade Wellman,
like flies to honey. Gaines was able to his artistic choices determined be- who was a grand master of science
spot artistic potential and respected cause the captions and word bal- fiction and fantasy. I thought it would
the artists’ individuality. EC not only loons were already in place. Also, have name value” (Benton 60). Ham-
didn’t impose a “house style,” it pub- Feldstein’s wordy panels occasionally ilton created a continuing character
lished artwork that went well beyond encroached upon the space available named Chris KL-99 who made eight
the bounds of mainstream conformi- for the images. Still, the EC artists appearances in Strange Adventures’
ty, welcoming the grotesque horror flowered, producing art that has con- first 15 issues. The majority of the

38
 September 28: The science fiction December 1951: Shock
film The Day the Earth Stood Still SuspenStories #1 hits
is released in theaters, making the newsstands as EC’s final
August 1: With his cover dated November words “Klaatu barada nikto” that horror-related “New Trend”
comics, Martin Goodman affixes the Atlas autumn’s popular catch phrase. title.
globe on the covers. Thus begins the Atlas
Comics era.

July 16: Catcher in the

Rye is published. Written
by J.D. Salinger, the
controversial novel stars the October 15: Starring Lucille Ball and December 30: The Roy
antiheroic teenager, Holden Desi Arnaz, the situation comedy I Rogers Show debuts on
Caufield. The work would Love Lucy premieres on the CBS tele- NBC television, quickly
eventually be considered one vision network. The show would run becoming television’s
of the most important novels until 1961, becoming one of the most most popular Western
in the history of American pioneering and popular programs in program.
literature. the history of television.

J U LY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER

August 1: Combat Kelly #1 goes December 1: Charlton
on sale. The series would last 44 publishes The Thing #1, seven
issues but ultimately became a months after Howard Hawks’
victim of the Atlas Implosion. The Thing From Another World
October 3: In one of the most was released in theaters on
celebrated games in the history April 21, 1951.
July 1: The first issue of Harvey’s of baseball, Bobby Thompson hits
flagship war title Warfront arrives a game-ending home run in the
at newsstands. The series would bottom of the ninth inning as the
run until 1958. New York Giants beat the Brooklyn
Dodgers to win the National
League baseball pennant. The
home run would soon be termed
“The Shot Heard Round the World.”

November 23: Superman and The Mole Men—a 58-

minute film starring George Reeves as Superman and
Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane—is released in theaters.
Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen and John Hamilton as
Perry White do not appear.
Superman and the Mole Men TM and © Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. The Day the Earth Stood Still TM and © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Dennis the Menace TM and © King Features Syndicate, Inc. Other images © respective copyright holders.

stories, however, were written by interplanetary settings—sort Strange Adventures in every way. That
Schwartz stalwarts John Broome and of adventure stories.” first issue alone presented artwork
Gardner Fox. by three young artists who were ev-
“No,” he quickly corrected
ery bit as talented as those at EC, and
Julie Schwartz recalled, me, “just use the same type
who would go on to become comic
of stories you’ve been using
Following Strange Adven- book legends in much the same way:
in Strange Adventures and
tures’ success, Whit Ellsworth, Carmine Infantino, Alexander Toth,
put them in Mystery in Space,
who was editorial director, and Frank Frazetta.
too.”
called me in and said that he
Carmine Infantino drew the cover
wanted me to put out anoth- “Then why are we using that
and opening “Knights of the Gal-
er science fiction comic, and I title?” I asked. “Space I can see
axy” story, inked by his friend and
said that it would be impos- because the stories take place
frequent collaborator, Frank Giacoia.
sible because there were no there, and space means sci-
Honing his work and improving
titles left—at the time there ence fiction ... but mystery?”
rapidly at the start of the 1950s, In-
were so many pulp maga-
Whit explained ... “Mystery in fantino had emerged as the leading
zines out there that all of the
Space is a good commercial artist in the Schwartz-edited comic
good titles had been already
title, a good selling title: It has books. The Brooklyn-born artist, a
taken.
a hook for both mystery read- graduate of the School of Industrial
“No problem,” he snapped ers and science fiction read- Art (later the High School of Art and
back. “I already have the title: ers.” (Schwartz 80) Design), worked for various publish-
Mystery in Space.” ers until being hired by National in
Ads for Mystery in Space #1 (April- 1947 to pencil the first Black Canary
“Oh,” I replied, acknowledg- May 1951) billed it as “The maga- story. Infantino was a student of the
ing that it was a good title and zine that unlocks the secrets of the Caniff school, as were many in the
adding, “these will be mys- future!” From the beginning, it was late 1940s, and had developed a dis-
tery stories that take place in clear that this was to be an equal to tinctive individual style by the time

39

his work in the 1950s SF comics appeared. He would later
hone his work to an even higher level, but in 1951 he was
already doing excellent work in Strange Adventures and
several other National titles.
Alex Toth illustrated “The Men Who Lived Forever,” a
10-pager scripted by John Broome. Toth was a wunderkind
who sold his first freelance art at the age of 15. Like Infan-
tino, he attended the School of Industrial Art and began
working for National in 1947 when he was 19. He proved
himself one of the most brilliant panel and page designers
in the business, and also one of its most serious-minded. In
the late 1940s and early 1950s, he drew Green Lantern, the
Flash, The Atom, and others, as well as Western features
such as Sierra Smith. He could be moody and had an explo-
sive temper, but his talent was undeniable. Already one of
the finest graphic storytellers in comics by this time, Toth
only got better in the coming years.
Despite making his name as a superstar painter of fantasy
art, Frank Frazetta did exciting comic book work in the late
1940s and early 1950s. As a teenager, he worked in com-
ics beginning in 1944 in Tally-Ho Comics (a one-shot) and
bounced around small-to-medium sized publishers draw-
ing funny animals, Westerns, fantasy, historical drama,
and more. He drew Gardner Fox’s “Spores From Space”
script in Mystery in Space #1. Frazetta did a bit more work
40
National launched Mystery in Space in 1951, a companion
to its science fiction hit, Strange Adventures. TM and © DC Comics.
for National, and assisted his friend Al Williamson on art
jobs for EC science fiction, before becoming a ghost on Al
Capp’s L’il Abner through the end of the decade. It wasn’t
until the early 1960s that he specialized in painting book
covers, becoming the premier fantasy painter of his time.
When discussing the new costumed heroes of the 1950s,
Captain Comet must be included. Created by Schwartz
himself (supposedly based on Edmond Hamilton’s Captain
Future) along with writer John Broome and artist Carmine
Infantino, Adam Blake was a mutant born to a farming
couple from the American Midwest. As he grew up, he
discovered he had super powers (most of them based on
mental abilities such as mind-reading, telekinesis, etc.),
and was helped in pursuing a full-time career as a hero at
large by Professor Emery Zackro. He thwarted alien inva-
sions on earth and flew into space in his Cometeer to bat-
tle other menaces from outer space. As Captain Comet, he
wore a distinctive red and white costume, and appeared on
most of the covers from his debut in Strange Adventures #9
through his final appearance in issue #49 (October 1954).
Murphy Anderson took over from Infantino to become the
regular Captain Comet artist with issue #12 (September
1951, “The Girl from the Diamond Planet”). Gil Kane han-
dled the cover art.
 Women in ’50s Comic Books
Ramona Fradon and Marie Severin
During World War II, women had proven how capable they were on the homefront, yet in the conservative 1950s they
were under pressure (by the images shown in the media, among other ways) to move back in the shadow of their men.
A woman’s place was supposedly in the home as a housewife, and not in men’s domain in the workforce. Of course,
many women had no choice but to work; others weren’t happy giving up the earning power and satisfaction of having
their own careers.
Ramona Fradon and Marie Severin were two important female artists who got their start in comics of the 1950s, both of
them going on to lifelong careers in the comics field and being inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame.

Ramona Fradon
Ramona Fradon, a woman working in a “man’s world” in the early ’50s. Murray
Boltinoff is sitting next to the window. Others are unidentified. Thanks to Ramona Fradon
and Jon Cooke.
When interviewer Tina Vasquez asked Ramona Fradon to
recount how she got into comics, the artist responded:
My whole career was sort of an accident. After art
school, I married a cartoonist and we were living
off of $75 a month. My husband suggested I draw
a couple of samples to try to get some work, but
I didn’t read comic books and I didn’t know any-
thing about them. I was an ardent reader of comic
strips, especially Terry and the Pirates. So I went
out and bought some comic books and studied
them for a couple of weeks before attempting to
draw samples. Maybe I was supposed to be an il-
lustrator, but I just never knew it. I somehow in-
stinctively knew how to illustrate comics and how
to dramatize things. I guess I had it in me.” Fradon
continued, “When I began working for DC Comics,
I was the only woman there, but everyone would
always ask me if I knew Marie Severin. As far as I
know, she was the only other woman working in
the industry at the time. I was treated like every-
one else. I didn’t experience any sort of prejudice.
Truthfully, there were just very few women who
wanted to do that sort of work.” (Vasquez)
Fradon’s first job came from editor Murray Boltinoff do-
ing the Shining Knight for National. The six-page “Gad-
get Boom in Camelot!” appeared in Adventure Comics
#165 (June 1951) as a backup behind Superboy, who was
the lead feature on the title. Then with “Treasures of the
Sea” in Adventure #167 (August 1951), she began illustrat-
ing Aquaman, the character (along with Metamorpho and
Brenda Starr) who Fradon would be most associated with
over the years. Though Aquaman was created by Paul Nor-
ris and Mort Weisinger in More Fun #73 (September 1941),
Fradon’s consistent, skillful handling of the art on the char-
acter all through the 1950s made her what many consider
the feature’s top artist. With Robert Bernstein, she co-creat-
ed Aqualad in Adventure #269 (February 1960).

Marie Severin
While Marie Severin was
always a talented cartoonist and
caricature artist, she didn’t draw
comic books until the mid-
1960s, when she was asked by
Stan Lee to try penciling a fea-
ture for Marvel. However, as the
colorist of virtually all of the EC
comic books from 1951 onward,
she was a major comics artist of
the 1950s by any measure.
Harvey Kurtzman, editor of
Two-Fisted Tales, was dissatis-
fied with the coloring done by Chemical Color Engraving
Aquaman TM and © by DC Comics.
in Bridgeport, Connecticut. John Severin, a key EC artist
44
1952
Expansion
If the 1950s was “the best of times, the worst of times” for
American comic books, 1952 was a year that exemplified
the “best of times.” It was a year of industry expansion,
both of the number of high quality titles and the imitative
also-rans. New genres established in the prior years pro-
liferated, crowding newsstands with new horror, war, and
romance titles. Uncle Scrooge’s star was ascendant, and a
sensational new type of comic book from EC came out of
left field.
A horror comics boom comprised a large part of the expan-
sion. Nearly all of the horror titles published in 1951 by
AGC, EC, Atlas, Harvey, and others continued into 1952,
having met with robust sales and profits sufficient to
warm any publisher’s heart. The word was out, and every-
one wanted to grab a piece of the action.
Exactly how did others find out what was “hot”? By the time
the letter column in Vault of Horror #25 (June-July 1952)
revealed that EC’s sales were 1,500,000 copies a month, the
cat was out of the bag. Distributors were supposed to keep
sales figures confidential, but publishers also had relation-
ships with wholesalers who could—and did—talk freely
about what was and wasn’t selling. What’s more, writers
and artists usually worked for more than one firm, facili-
tating a flow of information along the industry grapevine.
Besides, when the larger publishers began increasing the
number of titles in any given genre, the evidence of a best
seller was right there on the stands.
A plethora of new horror titles appeared in 1952. As horror
comics became a national craze, every publisher jumped
on the band wagon:
American Comics Group introduced Out of the Night and
Skeleton Hand. Ajax-Farrell published Haunted Thrills,
Strange Fantasy, and Voodoo. Atlas added Adventures
into Weird Worlds, Amazing Detective Cases (now all-hor-
ror), Journey into Mystery, Mystery Tales, Spellbound, and
Uncanny Tales. Avon rolled out City of the Living Dead, The
Dead Who Walk, Diary of Horror, Phantom Witch Doctor,
and Witchcraft.
Charlton jumped in with The Thing, and Comic Media
introduced Horrific and Weird Terror. Fawcett published
Beware Terror Tales, Strange Stories from Another World,
Strange Suspense Stories, Unknown Worlds, and Worlds of
Fear. Gilmor brought out Weird Mysteries. Harvey intro-
duced Tomb of Terror. Hillman added Monster Crime Com-
ics.
Tame National had ended 1951 with the introduction of
House of Mystery, and converted Sensation Comics to “hor-
ror,” dropping Wonder Woman from its pages. (She still
had her solo book.) A few months later, Sensation Comics

CHAPTER THREE
was renamed Sensation Mystery, and then one month after
that, The Phantom Stranger began.

54
Prize brought back Frankenstein and
introduced Simon and Kirby’s Strange
World of Your Dreams in 1952. Qual-
ity published Web of Evil. Standard
contributed Adventures into Dark-
ness, Out of the Shadows and The Un-
seen. Stanley Morse had Weird Tales
of the Future. Star put out Startling
Terror Tales. St. John got into the act
with Strange Terrors and Weird Hor-
rors. Toby had Tales of Horror and
Tales of Terror. Youthful put out Be-
ware and Chilling Tales. Ziff-Davis
added Nightmare.
As for the horror comics leader, Enter-
taining Comics, Bill Gaines launched
one more book with a connection
to the genre: Shock SuspenStories
#1 (February-March 1952). The Al
Feldstein-drawn cover appropriately
featured a shot of a man in an elec-
tric chair. It was initially conceived
as a “sampler” book of all the genres
EC offered: horror, SF, even war. In
the first issue, Gaines and Feldstein
wrote,
We’ve tried to satisfy every
one of you readers who have
written us insisting that EC
increase its output! Many of
you wanted another science-
fiction mag... you horror fans
wanted another horror book...
and you suspense readers
wanted a companion mag to
Crime SuspenStories! We de-
cided, therefore, to make this
new mag an “EC Sampler”
...and to include in it an S-F
yarn, a horror tale, a Crime
SuspenStory, and... for you
readers of Frontline Combat
and Two-Fisted Tales... a war
story! Although there was
a wide variance in the types
of mags requested, all of you
fans seemed to agree on one
thing: all of you wanted
the stories to have the usual
EC shock endings! So what
could be more natural than
to call the magazine Shock
SuspenStories?
The interior stories were illustrated
by Jack Kamen, Jack Davis, Joe Or-
lando and Graham Ingels, and all
were scripted by Feldstein. Shock
SuspenStories can be considered the
last “New Trend” horror book, though Some of the horror comics that proliferated on newsstands in 1952, including St. John’s Strange Terrors #4 with an
it seems clear that Gaines and Feld- odd William Ekgren cover (in the center of row 2). House of Mystery TM and © DC Comics. Tomb of Terror TM and © Harvey Comics
or successors of interest. © respective copyright holders.

55
Al Williamson’s splash panel to “Space-Borne!” from Weird Science #16 (November-December 1952). TM and © William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc.

58
 Black Comic Book Creators of the 1950s
While some black cartoonists worked in the comic book production shops of the 1940s, the field was almost all-white. De-
spite gains made by African Americans in the post-war years, and the integration of U. S. armed forces during the Korean
War following President Truman’s 1940s decision, there were few black writers and artists in 1950s comic books.
The race of the person creating comic books meant nothing to the readers, of course, because they had no way of knowing
if a book was produced by black or white hands. Nevertheless, it took an African American with considerable confidence
and ability to knock on publishers’ doors, knowing that racial discrimination was widespread. The men of color discussed
here—most of them working in the comic book industry during the 1940s as well as the 1950s—were persons of fortitude
and should properly be considered pioneers in the field.

Matt Baker is rat- In 1950, Matt Baker collaborated with

ed a “superstar” writer Arnold Drake to draw what
comic book artist some consider the first graphic nov-
who was largely el, It Rhymes with Lust, published in
considered the paperback form by St. John. He also
best “good girl art- worked on a short-lived syndicated
ist” of his day. He newspaper strip called Flamingo with
was born Clarence writer (and Iger partner) Ruth Roche.
Matthew Baker in It ran from February to July 1952.
North Carolina on
December 10, 1921 and began work- After St. John went to all reprints in
ing in comics in the S. M. Iger comic 1955 (except for covers, some by Bak-
book production shop in New York er), and the death of Archer St. John
City in 1944. He started out by assist- on August 13th of that year, the artist
ing on the “Sheena” feature in Fiction began producing more romance com-
House’s Jumbo Comics. Before long, he ics for Quality, Harvey, and eventu-
handled the finished work himself. It ally Charlton. He also drew Westerns
immediately became apparent that for Atlas in such titles as Western Out-
Baker depicted the female form ex- laws and Gunsmoke Western. Had he
ceptionally well. While at Iger’s shop lived, Baker would likely have been
(which supplied completed stories to a part of Martin Goodman’s comics
Fiction House, Fox and others), Baker renaissance in the 1960s. But Matt
drew features starring a plethora of jungle heroines and other similar ma- Baker had a weak heart, probably a
terial, including the “headlight” cover result of contracting rheumatic fever
of Phantom Lady #17 (April 1948), his as a boy. Tragically, he died of an ap-
most famous single illustration. parent heart attack, passing away in
his sleep on August 11th, 1959.
In 1948, Baker left Iger to work as
an independent freelancer (he could
make more money that way) and soon
found himself producing all he could
for St. John Publishing, his home in
comics until 1955. At St. John, Baker
became a romance comics specialist,
producing work that showed a much
greater grasp of gesture, nuance, and
facial expressions than his earlier
good girl art had demonstrated. He
turned out nearly all of the covers
on such titles as Teen-Age Romances,
Wartime Romances, Cinderella Love,
Pictorial Romances, and others. His
superb artwork is one of the two
main reasons St. John’s romance com-
ics are considered the best in a large
Covers by Matt Baker: Phantom Lady #17 (April 1948),
field. (The other reason is the writing
Teen-Age Romances #39 (September 1954), It Rhymes of Dana Dutch.) Baker also served as
with Lust (1950). Photo of Matt Baker is © the Estate of Matt St. John’s art director, reviewing the
Baker, and may not be reproduced without permission of the
Estate. Used with permission. St. John covers © respective copyright work of others as it came in.
holders.

67
1953
EC Soars,
Fawcett Crashes
1953 was a year of extremes in the American political and
social scene. At one end of the spectrum, Dwight David
Eisenhower was sworn into office as President of the Unit-
ed States on January 20, his persona emanating a sense of
benevolence and security to his electorate. At the other
end of the spectrum, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wiscon-
sin whipped his anti-communist witch-hunt into a frenzy
during the same year that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were
sent to the electric chair after being convicted of passing
atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union. And with the an-
nouncement that the Soviets had an atomic bomb, fear of
annihilation ran beneath the “carefree” surface of Ameri-
can life.
In 1953, overall comic book sales were flattening out, with
some publishers (like Atlas) experiencing declines and oth-
ers (like Dell) on the upswing. The number of individual
titles was up. Over 300 issues appeared on the stands in
September, almost three times as many as had appeared in
the same month in 1943.
For Superman, 1953 was a very good year. The Adventures
of Superman television series debuted coast-to-coast on
February 9, bringing the Man of Steel’s exploits into mil-
lions of homes. The show benefited from the fortuitous
casting of George Reeves as Superman and brought a great
deal of attention to the Man of Steel’s supporting charac-
ters. Lois Lane had been an integral part of Superman’s
stories since the super hero’s first appearance in 1938’s Ac-
tion Comics #1. Editor Perry White and cub reporter Jimmy
Olsen, however, had both been introduced later and in a
somewhat desultory manner. Now, partly due to the ne-
cessity of focusing most of the television show on non-su-
per heroic activity, these secondary characters were elevat-
ed and would from this point forward be more important
in the Superman comics.
For the television show, John Hamilton portrayed Perry
White while Jack Larson played Jimmy Olsen. The role
of Lois Lane was at first filled by Phyllis Coates, an attrac-
tive young actress of serials and low budget features. She
took other employment after completing the first Super-
man season. (The show’s first year was filmed in 1951, but
broadcast was delayed.) Subsequently, Noel Neill—the
Lois from the Superman serials—was cast as the female
reporter. Robert Maxwell, who supervised the Super-
Character TM and © DC Comics. man radio program, produced the first season, putting all
the key elements in place. The stirring Superman theme

CHAPTER FOUR
music, the opening (“Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s
a plane!,” carried over from the radio show), and the fa-

72
 Atomic Fear in Comics
On January 7th, 1953, outgoing President Although EC’s product was relatively lit-
Harry S. Truman announced that the erate, the atomic-themed comics of its
United States had developed a hydrogen competitors predictably veered into the
bomb. The government was conducting realm of exploitation. For instance, the
ongoing nuclear tests at a site in south- cover of Ace Publications’ Atomic War! #1
ern Nevada. With that, fear of atomic (November 1952) showed New York City
annihilation reached a kind of crescendo being destroyed by an atomic explosion,
and was felt in many aspects of Ameri- and the covers of subsequent issues were
can life. equally alarmist. Youthful’s Atomic At-
tack #5 (January 1953) sported a garish
In the film The Beast from 20,000 Fath-
mushroom cloud cover and a World War
oms (released June 13, 1953), an atomic
III story with the unsettling title, “Tomor-
bomb test in the Arctic Circle thawed out
row’s War.”
a hibernating dinosaur (animated by Ray
Harryhausen). This was one of a number Amid the blossoming atomic fear came
of movies that unleashed giant monsters Gilberton’s Picture Parade #1 (September
on mankind, often a result of a nuclear 1953), a title that attempted to explain the
accident or mutation. Atomic fear per- positive uses of nuclear energy. Picture
meated movies, the news, TV, and, inevi- Parade was an educational series con-
tably, comic books. ceived and written by Eleanor Lidofsky,
a college-educated Brooklynite hired by
When John W. Campbell became editor
publisher Albert Kanter to work on pub-
of Astounding Science Fiction in 1937, he
licity and press releases, and to write in-
exhibited a propensity for stories about
cidental material for Classics Illustrated.
atomic power and nuclear disasters.
“I wrote the things in the inside of the
Urging Bill Gaines to publish a science f
front and back covers,” Lidofsky recalled
iction comic back in 1949, Wally Wood
in an interview for this book. “Then Mr.
and Harry Harrison gave him copies of
Kantor asked me to come up with an idea
Astounding so the publisher would see
for an educational comic book. All any-
the kind of stories they had in mind.
one thought about atomic energy was
Thus, some of the earliest issues of EC’s
the bombs that had been dropped on
Weird Science and Weird Fantasy car-
Japan. My husband was a professor of
ried atomic-themed stories. There were
nuclear science at Columbia University,
“Cosmic Ray Bomb Explosion!” in Weird
and he gave me the information about
Fantasy #14 (July-August 1950) and “Ra-
the good things that nuclear power could
dioactive Child!” in Weird Science #15
bring. I wrote ‘Andy’s Atomic Adventure’
(November-December 1950). The cover of
in that first issue, naming Andy after Mr.
Weird Science #5 blared: “See the Earth
Kanter’s grandson. Picture Parade sold
500,000 years after the first Atomic War!”
very well. It was geared to a fourth grade
In 1953, EC published two masterful, reading level.” Lidofsky wrote more is-
disturbing stories about atomic warfare sues of Picture Parade, then left at the
and its aftermath. In Weird Fantasy #17, end of 1954 to have her first child. Well-
Al Feldstein adapted Ray Bradbury’s po- intentioned as that “boy and his dog”
etic story “There Will Come Soft Rains” cover was, to modern eyes there’s some-
about a “smart house” whose gadgets thing absurd about Andy comforting his
keep doing their jobs after its human oc- canine friend while a nuclear explosion
cupants were decimated by an atomic occurs nearby. The cover seemed to sug-
explosion. And in Two-Fisted Stories #33, gest that an atomic war wouldn’t disturb
Harvey Kurtzman tackled the subject life as we know it.
with “Atomic Bomb!,” showing the ef-
Some comics fans and historians have
fects of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki,
referred to the period from the end of
Japan ,on the city’s denizens. Wally Wood
World War II to the start of the Silver
was at his EC peak when he drew both of
Age of comics in 1956 as “the Atom Age
these classic stories.
of comics.” Despite being used in Bob
Youthful’s Atomic Attack #5 (January 1953), Ace Magazines’ Overstreet’s influential Comic Book Price
Atomic War! #1 (November 1952), and Gilberton’s Picture Guide, the phrase hasn’t yet gained wide-
Parade #1 (1953). Picture Parade - Classics Illustrated TM and © the
Frawley Corporation & licensee First Classics, Inc. TM and © respective spread acceptance.
copyright holders.

73
better-selling comic books. Indeed, Severin. The Civil War issues didn’t
sales for these SF books weren’t appeal to readers as much as those
good. When interviewed in 1969, series’ earlier issues which had cen-
Bill Gaines recalled, tered mostly on the Korean War and
World War II. “It wasn’t enough,”
The sci-fi never did very well. Kurtzman said in comments pub-
I think the best they did was lished in the Complete EC Library.
75% sales, which is phenom- “All the stuff that I put into the Civil
enal by today’s standards. But War stories — it just wasn’t all that
back then 75% was just me- popular. They essentially were sub-
diocre sales. The horror books tle by comic book standards. A little
sold 80-85% most of the time. too quiet. It was like asking a kid to
Maybe we did get too good for read The New York Times” (Benson).
the market. There’s no ques- It was another case, as with EC sci-
tion that as the quality went ence fiction, when the comics had
up, the sales slid down. When become a bit too literate for EC’s own
I say we sold 75% originally, economic well-being.
that was only during the first
year, and I think they quickly One comics-related development
dove down to 60%. (Hauser in 1953 showed just how deep an
181) impression EC comics made on a
certain, albeit small, number of its
Selling 60 percent of a 300,000 copy readers. Fan Bhob Stewart decided
print run was about the break-even to publish a fanzine (an amateur
point. Gaines was proud of the SF not-for-profit magazine) devoted
titles and kept them going on the to EC comics. Gaines printed a plug
profits from his horror comic books.
Planet Comics #73 (Winter 1953) was the last issue of the Fiction for The EC Fan Bulletin in the letter
In the fall, when their sales decline House title, which had been going since 1940. TM and © respective column of Weird Science #20 (July-
continued, Gaines decided to com- copyright owner. August 1953), and Stewart received
bine Weird Science and Weird Fan- about 80 orders for the first issue.
tasy into one book titled Weird Science-Fantasy, initially Though there were only two issues of the Bulletin, other
intended as a quarterly. fanzines came along from other fans. This was the begin-
The problem ultimately seems to have been less with be- ning of EC fandom. Perhaps inspired by Stewart’s fanzine,
ing “too good” than with the genre itself. Interest in sci- EC established its “EC Fan-Addict Club” and published a
ence fiction comics had waned. Fiction House’s lower-brow club newsletter to announce upcoming stories and other
Planet Comics had been sputtering developments.
along, and finally ended with #73
(Winter 1953). (The problem with Mad Takes Flight
Planet was probably worsened by The comics success story of 1953
its old fashioned look, running cov- with the greatest long-term impact
ers much in the style of those on SF belongs to Mad. This was the year
pulps of the late 1930s.) when Mad caught on in a big way.
Starting in late 1952, EC published The issues of Mad cover-dated 1953
three special issues, entirely devot- are #3 (February-March) through #8
ed to stories of the Civil War, part of (December 1953-January 1954). But
a plan by editor Harvey Kurtzman to when, exactly, did Mad’s sales begin
dramatize major events of the whole to increase and how many copies
war over a series of seven issues. The did it sell at its peak?
series was launched in Frontline #9 The best available information re-
(November-December 1952) which veals that the Mad #1 print run was
led off with the excellent Davis- 400,000 copies. In an article titled
drawn “Abe Lincoln!” The second all- “Madman Gaines Pleads for Plots” in
Civil War issue was Two-Fisted #31 the February 1954 issue of Writer’s
(January 1953), featuring the out- Digest, Bill Gaines stated that the
standing story “Grant!” with art by first four issues of Mad lost money,
Severin. This was the last war comic but then he claimed, “When the sales
with a front cover completely drawn reports began to come in on Mad No.
by Kurtzman. The third (and, as it 5, with a bang we had done it! Today
turned out, last) Civil War issue, in the print order on Mad is 750,000
Two-Fisted #35 (October 1953), took Two-Fisted Tales #31 (January-February 1953) featured and on its way to a million” (Gaines
a more Southern focus, beginning Kurtzman’s last cover on the title. By the end of the year, he was
focusing entirely on Mad. TM and © William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc. 192). By analyzing all factors, com-
with “Robert E. Lee!,” handled by
83
ics historian John Benson concluded
that the steep increase in the print or-
ders probably began with Mad #7 and
went sharply upward with issues #8
and #9, which appeared in the second
half of 1953 (though issue #9 bore a
1954 cover date). Did the print run
reach a million? It may have contin-
ued to increase, but 750,000 is the
top figure Benson could find (Benson,
“Start-Up Data for Mad’s Imitators”
12).
Since Mad wasn’t advertised other
than in announcements in the other
EC titles, the cause of the explosive
sales increase could only have been
due to good word-of-mouth. What
then inspired such positive buzz?
Mad #4 (April-May 1953) featured
the Kurtzman-written/Wally Wood-
drawn parody “Superduperman!”
Not only is “Superduperman!” one of
the best-known and highly regarded
stories in Mad history, it’s credited
as the story that propelled Mad into
profitability. In a 1983 interview,
Gaines stated without equivocation,
“Mad was a loser until ‘Superduper-
man’ came out” (Decker 75).
(Two other stories in Mad #4,
“Robin Hood!” illustrated by
John Severin and “Shadow!”
featuring the artwork of Bill
Elder, also parodied familiar
popular culture figures, and
probably contributed to the
success of that pivotal issue.)
By the time Mad’s fifth issue
was released, more readers
were snatching it off news-
stands. Mad’s future was se-
cured.
Mad #5 featured another
comic book parody by the
Kurtzman-Wood team, “Black
and Blue Hawks!,” as well as
“Miltie of the Mounties!,” sat-
irizing the popular “Sergeant
Preston of the Yukon” radio
show, with art by Severin.
“Outer Sanctum” spoofed
the “Inner Sanctum” radio
Kurtzman/Wood’s “Superduperman!” in Mad #4 was the story that connected with readers in a big
way, causing sales to soar. TM and © DC Comics.
84
program, making it the third of four
parodies of widely-known popular
culture subjects. This was followed by
Mad #6 with three more comics and
movie satires (Terry and the Pirates,
Tarzan of the Apes, and King Kong).
Mad #5 is also of historical impor-
tance for its inclusion of a one page
humorous “biography” of Bill Gaines,
a Mad version of the profiles of its
creative personnel in other EC books.
It likened Gaines to a Communist and
child-molester, pretty strong stuff.
When the facetious manner of the
biography went unrecognized (or un-
appreciated) by parents and whole-
salers, a major flap ensued. Gaines
was quick to apologize, but it didn’t
help EC’s reputation with the all-im-
portant wholesalers.
Nonetheless, Mad’s prosperity in-
spired numerous imitations that
tried to capture the same lightning in
a bottle. Some were better than oth-
ers, but none came close. They were
often produced by able practitioners
of comic art, but none had the cre-
ative genius of Harvey Kurtzman or
his crew of wonderfully talented car-
toonists.
The first imitator, however, was pro-
duced before Mad’s sales shot up. At
St. John, Joe Kubert and Norman Mau-
rer produced Whack #1, cover-dated
October 1953, a month after Mad #6
appeared, and a full two months be-
fore the next attempt to clone Mad.
1954
Comics
in Crisis
The 3-D comics that offered such promise and excitement in
1953 turned out to be a short-lived fad. The form’s techni-
cal limitations and the smaller publishers’ shoddy product
hastened the fad’s demise. Joe Kubert suggested another
reason for its early death. “The publishers thought the gim-
mick would last forever so everybody tried to use the gim-
mick on everything,” he later opined. “When the market
was saturated with 3-D, it was so common, readers began
to ask, ‘Hey, what about the story? What about the con-
tent?’ The lack of content is what I think really caused the
death of 3-D” (Groth 83). Also, 3-D was used on too many
comics with stories that didn’t lend themselves to the pro-
cess. Just seeing characters talking in a panel on two or
three levels added nothing, even if the story was good.
Two books that Kubert’s comments clearly didn’t apply to
were Three Dimensional EC Classics #1 and #2, both dated
Spring 1954. Each had four new, re-drawn versions of ear-
lier EC stories from the same scripts (with a few minor
changes). Most were re-drawn by different artists, allowing
readers to experience a different visual interpretation of
the (mostly) Gaines/Feldstein stories. “The Monster From
the Fourth Dimension!” in Weird Science #7 (May-June
1951) was initially drawn by Al Feldstein. The 3-D version
was handled by Bernard Krigstein. “Mr. Biddy ... Killer!” in
Crime SuspenStories #5 (June-July 1951) had been illustrat-
ed by Jack Davis. Now readers had the chance to savor the
same story drawn in the much different style of “Ghastly”
Graham Ingels.
Even when the same artist drew the new version, changes
were made. Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood reworked
“V-Vampires!” from Mad #3 (February-March 1953), ex-
panding it from six to eight pages. The original splash pan-
el was enlarged to a full page, and the opening sequence of
the girl being stalked in the London fog was extended by
several panels. Wood had used the CraftTint painted-shad-
ing process in the first version, but his use of that subtle
shading technique was greatly expanded, perhaps partly
to make up for the lack of color in 3-D. This re-worked, ex-
tended version of one of the finest Kurtzman-Wood collab-
orations in Mad is a treasure.
EC planned a third issue of Three Dimensional EC Classics
using six levels of 3-D depth as opposed to the four levels
the first two issues had. When the 3-D bubble burst, how-
ever, Bill Gaines had no choice but to cancel its publication.
(The four stories prepared for Three Dimensional EC Clas-
sics #3 were eventually printed in Wally Wood’s witzend
#6 in 1969, in Jerry Weist’s Squa Tront #4 in 1970, and in
Jerry Weist’s and John Benson’s Squa Tront #5 in 1974.) EC’s

CHAPTER FIVE
two 3-D comics were among the dozen or so 3-D books pub-
lished with 1954 cover dates.

90
 the Dennis the Menace com- Superman family of comics to capital-
ic book from Pines in 1959), ize on increased public awareness of
Otto Binder found that he the supporting characters in the Daily
was no longer persona non Planet newsroom. Mort decided Jim-
grata at National. With edi- my Olsen should be the first of them
tors Julie Schwartz and Mort to have his own book. Though others
Weisinger beckoning, he be- at National were skeptical, Weisinger
gan the second major phase had confidence the series would suc-
of his comic book career. ceed as long as its stories were enter-
taining and Superman appeared on
Binder’s first story for Na- the cover of each issue (and as a regu-
tional in the post-Marvel lar guest star). Binder turned out to be
Family period was “I De- the perfect choice to write the book.
livered Mail from Mars” The first issue of Superman’s Pal, Jim-
in Strange Adventures #42 my Olsen was dated September-Octo-
(March 1954), drawn by ber 1954. As Weisinger predicted, the
Mort Drucker and inked by series became a solid success, lasting
Joe Giella. His debut script into the 1970s.
for Mystery in Space was
“The Great Space-Train According to his personal records,
Robbery” in issue #19 Binder scripted all but two Jimmy
(April-May 1954), illustrat- Olsen stories in the series’ first 30 is-
ed by Gil Kane and Bernard sues. Then he wrote two of every is-
Sachs. These short science sue’s three stories through 1961’s
fiction stories came easily Jimmy Olsen #51. The Flying News-
to Binder. A lot of the story room, Jimmy’s disguise trunk, and
resolutions involved ques- his Superman souvenir collection all
tionable or at least sketchy appeared in the first issue, provid-
Page 1 of “V-Vampires!” by Kurtzman and Wood, as it appeared in Mad scientific principles, but ing fertile springboards for many
#3. TM and © DC Comics. the gimmicks were fun subsequent tales. It was Binder who
and highly
Archer St. John had invested heavily visual. Here, the virtue
in the special acetate and celluloid of comic books shone, as
needed to create and manufacture artists depicted things
3-D comics, since he planned to con- that couldn’t have been
vert more of his line to 3-D. He was portrayed in movies.
hurt worse than other publishers In all, Otto went on to
when the fad came to a screeching write eighty-seven sto-
halt, but he had also reaped enormous ries for Schwartz over
profits when 3-D comics launched. St. the next six years, such
John continued a full line of comic as his popular Space
books until the end of 1955, averag- Cabby series in Mystery
ing about ten a month. In early 1953, in Space. He returned to
he started Manhunt Detective Story the Tommy Tomorrow
Monthly, a successful publication feature that he had writ-
that sold very well all through 1953, ten in the late 1940s,
1954, and 1955, and continued for a and scripted all the rest
number of years after that. On Au- of the character’s stories
gust 13, 1955, on the eve of launching in Action Comics, occa-
Nugget (a men’s magazine), Archer St. sionally recycling ideas
John died from an overdose of pills, from his Jon Jarl text
probably accidental. stories in Captain Mar-
vel Adventures.
The end of 3-D comic books also
spelled the end of the Kubert-Maurer Mort Weisinger had
partnership. Norman Maurer moved bigger plans for Otto
back to the West Coast, and Joe Ku- Binder. With the popu-
bert found work for other publishers. larity of The Adventures
of Superman TV show,
Otto Binder Moves to National Weisinger’s stock at Na-
With Fawcett’s exit from the comics tional was on the rise.
business (though the company would He began contemplat- Three-Dimension EC Classics #2 (Spring 1954). TM and © William M. Gaines, Agent,
subsequently take over publishing ing an expansion of the Inc.
91
As wonderful as Wally Wood’s artwork was on the first version of “V-Vampires!” in Mad, his second, expanded version done for Three-Dimension EC Classics
#1 was even more inspired. TM and © William M. Gaines, Agent, Inc.

92
Jack Kirby’s Captain America had been an authentic
superstar of the Golden Age, garnering sales that ap-
proached those of Superman and Captain Marvel.
The Torch and Sub-Mariner had also been top sellers.
Martin Goodman ordered the revival of Timely’s top
triumvirate, presumably to see if they would sell to
the millions of viewers of The Adventures of Superman
TV show. It was typical of Goodman to test those wa-
ters in late 1953 and into 1954, publishing the first of
a boomlet of costumed hero books that appeared this
year and into 1955. Goodman’s secondary motive was
to see if he could generate interest in a TV series star-
ring one or all of his heroes. That required the charac-
ters to be currently in print.
Young Men #24 bore a December 1953 cover date
and hit the stands on August 19th, just six months af-
ter George Reeves began bending steel with his bare
hands on national television. Stan Lee selected the art-
ists who handled the revivals of the three heroes. The
character with the lead feature, who received most of
the space on the cover, was the super-powered Human
Torch. (Indeed, the cover had a banner above the title
that read “The Human Torch Returns.”) He was drawn
by his creator Carl Burgos; inside, the Torch was han-
dled by Russ Heath. Captain America appeared next,
drawn by John Romita. The Sub-Mariner, in the third
position, was penciled and inked by his creator Bill Ev-
erett.
The writers of the issue are unknown, but John Romita
recalled that at least some of the Captain America re-
vival scripts bore Stan Lee’s name. (Lee doesn’t remem-
ber.) Undoubtedly, it was Lee who decided that each of
these stories would explain where the hero had been
while out of the public eye. Villains had sprayed the
Torch with X-R solution and buried him underground
near Yucca Flat, Nevada. His junior partner Toro had
been captured and brainwashed by the Communists. Human Torch #36, Sub-Mariner #33, Men’s Adventures #27 and Captain America #78. TM and
© Marvel Characters Inc.
Captain America, feeling his work as a costumed hero
96
was done, had retired from crime-
fighting to become Professor Steve
Rogers at the Lee School. Namor
had returned to his home under the
South Pole to try to rebuild his lost
empire. Each was coaxed out of re-
tirement by new threats, either from
Commies or Venusian visitors. In
the upcoming tales, the Red Menace
would serve a similar function as the
Axis had during World War II, pro-
viding an endless fount of villainy.
The three heroes appeared in Young
Men #24–28, and were each given a
self-titled bi-monthly book, picking
up the numbering of their former
series. Human Torch #36 and Sub-
Mariner #33 were cover-dated April
1954, and Captain America #76 fol-
lowed with a May issue. The heroes
also jumped into Men’s Adventures
#27 and #28 at the same time, in the
same 1-2-3 format as Young Men.
This expansion from one to (at least
briefly) five costumed hero titles was
true-to-form for Goodman. When he
tried out a new trend, he apparently
believed one couldn’t properly judge
its acceptance unless there were
enough similar titles out there to get
browsers’ attention.
After the first story by Russ Heath,

Top: Sub-Mariner story in Human Torch #38. Below: These three panels from Young Men #26 (March 1954) are from the only story in the Atlas hero revival to include (briefly)
all three of their stars. TM and © Marvel Characters Inc.

97
 In the early 1950s, Farrell Publications (known as Ajax-
Farrell and by other imprints) was perhaps best known as
the publisher of the horror titles Fantastic Fears, Haunted
Thrills, Strange Fantasy, and Voodoo. Robert Farrell con-
tracted with the Iger Studio to supply the art and stories. In
’54, he bought the rights to the defunct Fox character Phan-
tom Lady and published four issues of the title. He also re-
vived the Black Cobra who had fought crime in Captain
Flight Comics in the 1940s, using a mix of reprints and new
stories. Black Cobra #1 (October-November 1954) brought
back “America’s Champion of Justice,” then followed with
Black Cobra #6, and after that, issue #3. The Cobra’s numer-
ically-confusing return was short-lived, but Farrell tried
more costumed heroes in 1955.
Sterling’s Captain Flash was more exciting comic-book
making. Sterling, whose slogan was “Sterling Comics Packs
a Punch,” entered the business in 1954 with a crime book
called The Informer. Next was added a horror title, The
Tormented. Then came Captain Flash, about a new super
hero with an origin suited to his time, and with art by an
experienced comic book pro. Captain Flash #1 (November
1954) revealed that the title character was really Professor
Keith Spencer, a scientist working in the Atom City radia-
tion laboratory. When he was exposed to cobalt rays, he
was given a “power charge” that changed him into Captain
Flash. Henceforth, by merely clapping his hands, Spencer

appear until later reprint collections. (Toward the end of

the run, S & K relied on assistants both partly and fully.)
In 1954, some smaller publishers were getting out of com-
ics or ceasing operations entirely, in the wake of the cre-
scendo of bad press that came during and after the Sen-
ate Subcommittee hearings in April. As a result, printers
found their presses idle and were willing to print on credit.
Simon and Kirby decided to take advantage of the situa-
tion, and while continuing to work for Prize, they launched
their own line of four titles under the Mainline comics
banner: Bulls Eye (a Western), Police Trap (crime from the
point of view of the police), In Love (a complete “novel” in
the first issue), and Foxhole (a war book). All the first issues
bore cover dates in the second half of the year and sported
colorful, eye-catching Kirby covers.

Other Costumed Heroes in 1954

Harvey Comics was winding down its horror offerings this
year, changing the title of Tomb of Terror to Thrills of To-
morrow. Could costumed heroes be the way to go? Editor
Sid Jacobson decided to see what happened if he reprinted
Simon and Kirby’s Stuntman from 1946. Thrills of Tomor-
row #19 (October 1954) brought back stories from Stunt-
man #1, and the following issue, dated April 1955, reprint-
ed those that appeared in Stuntman #2. S & K would have
probably done more Stuntman stories had these reprints
generated sufficient interest. Apparently, they didn’t.
Captain Flash #1 (November 1954). TM and © copyright holder.

101

Dr. Fredric Wertham, leader of the anti-comic book crusade.
Wertham manipulated, overstated, compromised,
and fabricated evidence—especially that evidence
he attributed to personal clinical research with
young people—for rhetorical gain. I argue that
Wertham privileged his interests in the cultural el-
ements of social psychiatry and
mental hygiene at the expense
of systematic and verifiable sci-
ence, an action that ultimately
serves to discredit him and the
claims he made about comics.
(Tilley 386)
At the end of her lengthy, scholarly
article published in Information &
Culture: A Journal of History from the
University of Texas Press, Tilley quot-
ed Wertham himself giving “a clear
indication that rhetoric must trump
evidence” in the pages of SOTI itself
(Tilley 407). When a colleague told
him that she wished to remain neu-
tral on whether comics were good or
bad, Wertham wrote, “Neutrality—
especially when hidden under the
cloak of scientific objectivity—that is
the devil’s ally” (Wertham 351).
The publication date of SOTI (April
19, 1954) was set to benefit from the
negative publicity about comic books
that would accompany the nation-
ally-televised hearings of the U.S.
Senate subcommittee on juvenile
delinquency that would begin two
days later. Other quasi-acolytes of
Dr. Wertham got on the bandwagon,
such as T. E. Murphy, columnist and
editorial writer for the Hartford,
Connecticut, Courant, whose paper
conducted a campaign in Hartford
to get comic book “filth” off its news-
stands. Murphy proudly wrote of this campaign in “For the
Kiddies to Read,” a four-page article that appeared in Read-
ers Digest.
Some of the book reviewers fully accepted Wertham’s con-
tentions. On April 25, 1954, The New York Times published a
review titled “Nothing To Laugh At” by C. Wright Mills, As-
sociate Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. Mills
wrote, “Dr. Wertham’s ... careful observations and his sober
reflections about the American child in a world of comic
violence and unfunny filth testify to a most commendable
use of the professional mind in the service of the public”
(Mills, BR 20). Many of the reviews reprinted inflammatory
images from the book.
But at the time of its publication, Seduction of the Inno-
cent had its fair share of detractors too. Some criticized the
book for the way it presented its arguments, for its lack of
documentation, et al. Some accused Wertham of outright
distortion. It wasn’t as if there was unanimity of support
© copyright holder. for the idea that violent comic books caused juvenile delin-
quency and juvenile violence.
One of the most articulate dissenters was Robert S. War-
show, a writer for Commentary magazine. His 11-year-old
son Paul was a member of the EC Fan-Addict Club, and
Warshow found himself on the horns of a dilemma. Should
he allow his son to read those comic
books? He disliked them mainly be-
cause he felt they were junk litera-
ture, and thought children should
be reading more high-toned matter.
But Warshow looked into the issue,
and SOTI, with a depth that few oth-
ers accorded the subject. In his article
“The Study of Man: Paul, the Horror
Comics, and Dr. Wertham,” Robert
Warshow finally concluded that his
son wasn’t being damaged in any
detectable way by reading EC com-
ics. While Warshow felt comic books
presented a slanted, simplistic view
of the world to children, he also saw
a similarly simplistic quality to Wer-
tham’s book. Warshow wrote:
Dr. Wertham’s world, like the
world of the comic books, is one
where the logic of personal inter-
est is inexorable, and Seduction
of the Innocent is a kind of crime
comic book for parents, as its lu-
rid title alone would lead one to
expect. There is the same simple
conception of motives, the same
sense of overhanging doom, the
same melodramatic emphasis
on pathology, the same direct
and immediate relation between
cause and effect. If a juvenile
criminal is found in possession
of comic books, the comic books
A comic rack shown in Seduction of the Innocent, clearly
stacked with the right titles to prove Wertham’s point. © produced the crime. If a publish-
copyright holder.
er of comic books, alarmed by at-
108
1955
Censored!
Judge Charles Murphy moved quickly to get the Comics Code
approval process up and running. Time was of the essence.
The publishers, who were paying for the service, wanted
speedy action. The sooner Code-approved books appeared
on newsstands, the better.
Murphy hired a staff (a librarian, a college professor, a
Voice of America publicist, a social worker, and an MGM
story department editor), all women because he felt that
female reviewers wouldn’t be steeped in the habits and
traditions of comic book stories, and would bring a fresh
eye to the material. They would review the entire contents
of every issue, including advertisements and prose matter.
Sol Harrison of National Comics designed the Code’s seal of
approval (or so he claimed in later years, though it’s never
been confirmed). The seal was made to look like a “stamp”
to give the appearance of official approval. The word “au-
thority” in its verbiage—“Approved by the Comics Code
Authority”— conveyed the idea that this code would have
teeth. Murphy insisted that it should always appear in
black and white, not colored over, because its visibility was
an essential part of the CMAA’s public relations campaign.
Then the pre-publication review process began. While
signing up publishers, Judge Murphy had given some of
them the impression that he was “on their side” and would
exercise his authority to reject only the most egregious ma-
terial. However, it soon became apparent that the admin-
istrator was applying the Code strictly and aggressively. In
December 1954, Murphy held a press conference as a sort
of progress report. He told reporters that his staff had re-
jected 5,656 panels and 126 complete stories in the several
weeks the Code had been in effect. More than a quarter of
these changes involved making “feminine curves” more
“natural” and women’s clothing more modest. (If a woman
had any sort of décolletage, a line indicating the shape of
the upper breasts in the exposed area was verboten.) Both
Charles Murphy and John Goldwater (CMAA President)
launched a public relations blitz, traveling the country to
address dozens of civic, church, and parents groups to dem-
onstrate how the Code was working.
One reason for Murphy’s strict policy was his awareness
that the critics of comic books were taking a “wait and see”
attitude. Senator Kefauver told the administrator that the
Code was a step in the right direction, but he wanted to
convene another round of hearings to look into the matter
more fully.
Other government entities were also watching. In early
1955, the State of New York Legislature—one of the most
zealous public bodies on this issue—conducted another
hearing to take more testimony. Judge Murphy appeared
before this Joint Legislative Committee on February 4
to give a presentation and answer questions. He showed

CHAPTER SIX 116

them changes the Code had required: weapons had been
eliminated, faces made less grotesque, clothing made more
modest. When some legislators pointed out that comics
continued to tell stories replete with violent situations and
themes, Murphy responded,
I think we are both agreed, and were at the time,
that you just could not go in like Carrie Nation and
destroy an industry and a business which employs
thousands and thousands of people—destroy it
overnight—that it was a question of education.
You had to re-educate the writers and editors and
artists with respect to what I thought the Code
meant. (New York Legislature 72)
The New York legislators also heard from Dell owner
George Delacorte on the reasons why his firm refused to
join the CMAA. This was a matter of consequence; in the
coming year, Dell would publish about one-seventh of the
2300 comics released to the newsstands, with sales repre-
senting about a third of comics’ overall circulation.
Delacorte explained, “I could not allow the Dell Comics
name to be used as an umbrella for some of the inferior
products we deemed then, and deem now, unsuitable and
unpublishable for our children” (New York Legislature 90).
Helen Meyer, at the publisher’s side, explained Dell’s plan
to run the “Dell Pledge to Parents” in all its comics starting
with the April issues. (It first appeared in the April issue of
Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories.) Behind the scenes, John
Goldwater continued to try to persuade Dell to join the
organization. Yes, Dell published many innocuous funny
animal and humor titles, but it also published plenty of
Westerns, which Goldwater felt warranted review. As his-
tory shows, however, Dell never wavered in its refusal to
join the CMAA.
Would the American comic book have disappeared without
adopting the Comics Code? No one knows for sure. Some
fans in future years would criticize the industry for “cav-
ing in” to pressure. The problem was that by 1955 comics
had suffered years of criticism. Many parents wouldn’t let
their children read comics at all, or at least nothing but Dell
comics, and this attitude had to be turned around. Also,
comics publishers were beholden to wholesalers to put
their product on the stands, and many wholesalers were
souring on carrying comic books due to the
flak they were getting
from retailers. Comic
book burnings and boy-
cotts were in the news.
A number of communi-
ties around the country
were considering—and
sometimes passing—or-
dinances that exacted
penalties on retailers who sold comic books that were
deemed offensive. (Some, like the State of Washington and
Los Angeles County, passed such ordinances even after the
Code arrived.) Many comic book publishers recognized the
necessity of a regulation Code. After all, films had to pass
the Motion Picture Production Code in order to obtain dis-
tribution. The problem, they were soon to discover, was
that the Comics Code was much more restrictive than the
movie code.
117
Judge Charles Murphy presents a display showing how the Comics Code eliminated
“objectionable” artwork. © copyright holder.
The coming of the Code drove the relatively few small ex-
ploitation-driven publishers out of business. Reducing the
number of titles on newsstands was a priority of the top
publishers, but the main motive behind the CMAA and the
Code was to eliminate the kind of comics that were bring-
ing the public’s wrath down onto the comics industry. To
some, it was principally a matter of morality; to others,
comics’ image had to be improved.
Effects of Censorship
The Comics Code Authority seal of approval began appear-
ing on a few comic books cover-dated February 1955. Most
bore the seal beginning with their March issues. Either
way, the publishers’ flow of revenue was uninterrupted.
As expected, marginal and small publishers felt the effect
of the Code most keenly. A number of them ceased publica-
tion late in 1954 and in 1955. Stanhall, Star Publications,
Sterling Comics, Toby Press, Trojan, United Features, and
Eastern Color (the first publisher of mass-market comic
books) left the comics business. It wasn’t always just due to
the Code strictures. Some publishers were simply finding a
comic book line both trou-
blesome and unprofitable.
Licensed properties, such
as United Features’ Nan-
cy and Sluggo, continued
with other publishers.
Six companies published
more than 100 issues
in 1955. Some eighteen
companies produced
between 13 and 90 issues. Another ten firms published
fewer than a dozen issues, and they were soon gone. From
an industry high of slightly more than 3,150 issues pub-
lished with 1952 dates, only about 2,300 were produced
with 1955 dates. The downward trend was just beginning.
Within two more years, so many companies gave up com-
ics that only fifteen companies produced as many as a doz-
en issues in 1957.
 10 Great Batman Stories drawn by Dick Sprang
Just as Carl Barks was known as “the good duck artist”
by readers who recognized his work but didn’t know his
name, Dick Sprang was known as “the good Bob Kane.” He
had been penciling the adventures of Batman and Robin
for a decade, but Sprang’s work reached a higher plateau
in the 1950s. His style was characterized by superior com-
position, energetic figure dynamics and a semi-whimsical
quality that was perfect for comic books. When he depict-
ed the Dynamic Duo swinging on their ropes, they some-
times appeared to defy gravity. Sprang’s Batman was more
akin to the darker crimefighter of the early 1940s than the
lighter “boy scout leader” that ran parallel to his fine ’50s
work. Throughout the decade, Sprang and regular Batman
inker Charles Paris turned out dozens of stories, a body of
work of the highest artistic caliber.
Jack Schiff gave Dick Sprang the assignment of updating
the Gotham Guardians’ vehicles in two classic stories:
“The Batmobile of 1950” in Detective #156 (February 1950)
and “The Birth of Batplane II!” in Batman #61 (October-No-
vember 1950). In 1953, Sprang received a script by science
fiction writer Edmond Hamilton (creator of Captain Future
in the pulps) for a story titled “The Lord of Batmanor!” The
tale took Batman and Robin to Scotland where one of their
better mysteries awaited. Of these ten superlative stories
illustrated by the Sprang-Paris team, eight are known to
have been penned by Edmond Hamilton. Hamilton’s sto-
ries were always intelligent and carefully constructed.
Each was a gem, and all were reprinted in the future Bat-
man Annuals from 1961 to 1963, and elsewhere, due to
their overall excellence.

“The Lord of Batmanor!” Detective #198, August 1953. (Re-

printed in Batman Annual #2, Winter 1961.) The Dynamic
Duo travel to “far away Scotland” to solve the mystery of
McLaughlie Castle, which is known to the locals as “Bat-
manor.” Clad in kilts, Batman and Robin search the castle’s
spooky, atmospheric corridors, and clash with a sea serpent
(a la the Loch Ness monster) in their quest to find the miss-
ing gold treasure.

“The Voyage of the First Batmarine!” Batman #86,

September 1954. (Reprinted in Batman Annual #2,
Winter 1961, as “The Underseas Batman.”) When
the duo stayed in deep water too long while clearing
dangerous debris from Gotham City River, they had
to fight crime underwater while gradually decom-
pressing.
Batman and Robin TM and © DC Comics.

121
the entire Atlas lineup. Because some
titles were released bi-monthly, Atlas
produced many more books in total.
American Comics Group
In 1948 ACG had published the first
ongoing horror comic book with Ad-
ventures into the Unknown #1. Sev-
en years later, ACG’s horror books
weren’t among the bloodiest on the
stands, but the question remained if
they would still sell after being toned
down to fit the Comics Code.
Editor Richard Hughes cancelled Out
of the Night with issue #17 (Novem-
ber 1954), never bothering to submit
it to the CCA, and re-started The Hood-
ed Horseman (a Western) with issue
#18. Adventures into the Unknown
made a smooth transition, sporting
the Code seal for the first time on is-
sue #62 (March-April 1955). In the
case of Forbidden Worlds, #34 (Oc-
tober-November 1954) was the last
pre-Code issue. It didn’t return with a
Code seal until the August 1955 issue.
Hughes succeeded in making the sto-
Archie characters TM and © Archie Publications Inc.
ries interesting despite the imposed 1955. “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill
limitations. He was a clever enough Haley and the Comets played over the
writer to keep them selling until ACG opening credits, which helped make
went out of business in 1967. it a hit recording. So sensational
was the impact of “Rock Around the
In 1955, ACG introduced the commer-
Clock” that it’s generally considered
cial tie-in Wrangler Great Moments
in Rodeo (which lasted for six issues),
Teepee Tim and Spencer Spook. Young
Heroes starred boy heroes Prince Ath-
el, Jeremy Jones of the Queen’s Navy,
Frontier Scout and Roger of Sherwood
Forest. None of these books lasted,
and as the decade progressed, Hughes
focused mainly on his niche as a pub-
lisher of quirky, offbeat stories in a
Twilight Zone vein.
Archie Comics
In the world of American popular cul-
ture, 1955 has been dubbed the “year
of the teenager” largely because of
two important movies. The first was
Blackboard Jungle, a film about a
teacher (played by Glenn Ford) who
had to deal with tough, inner city
youths, based on the novel by Evan
Hunter. It was released on March 25,
126
money. Unable to match the monetary offer, Gaines can-
nily told Kurtzman he would convert Mad into a magazine,
which Kurtzman had suggested in the past, hoping this
would keep the talented writer-artist in the fold. It did, for
a little over a year. Mad magazine was a spectacular suc-
cess both sales-wise and creatively. Kurtzman designed its
distinctive logo and format, which were retained after he
left in the spring of 1956 to start a slick magazine called
Trump (bankrolled by Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner).
However, in late 1954, converting Mad to a magazine was
a risk, adding further to Gaines’ anxiety as he prepared to
launch his new comics without joining the Code.
EC’s “New Direction”
Gaines could have played it safe. He could have put out new
titles in the popular genres of 1955: Western, romance, war
and teen humor. This would have been a return to his pol-
icy before the “New Trend”, when he was just getting his
bearings in the comics business. It wasn’t until Gaines and
Feldstein decided to create the kind of comics they would
personally enjoy that EC found success. Now Gaines and
Feldstein tried to do the same thing again: invent comic
books that interested them, written and drawn by the best
in the business. Just as EC’s covers in 1950 announced its
“New Trend,” the covers of EC’s new 1955 titles trumpeted
its “New Direction” in magazines ... An entirely novel and
unique kind of reading experience!”
The “New Direction” titles were Impact (a mild version of
No one was sure whether Mad in magazine form would sell. Cover design and
Page 1 cartoon by Harvey Kurtzman. TM and © Estate of William M. Gaines.
133
Shock SuspenStories), Valor (stories of knights in armor),
Aces High (a book about World War I air battles), Extra!
(tales of globe-trotting reporters), Psychoanalysis (“people
searching for peace of mind”) and MD (doctor and hospital
stories). Virtually all of EC’s star artists drew these books:
Jack Davis, Wally Wood, Johnny Craig, Bernard Krigstein,
Al Williamson, Joe Orlando, Reed Crandall, George Evans,
Jack Kamen and John Severin.
The scripts were mostly by the writers who became regu-
lars in the last year of the “New Trend”: Jack Oleck, Carl
Wessler and Otto Binder. Daniel Keyes and Robert Bern-
stein wrote Psychoanalysis. All were solid professionals,
though probably not as inspired as Feldstein at his best. At
this stage, all Feldstein wanted to do was edit the “New Di-
rection” titles (and the remaining “New Trend” books) and
design Panic covers. (Johnny Craig edited Extra!.)
The first issues of Impact, Valor, Aces High, Extra! and Psy-
choanalysis bore cover dates of March 1955, and the first
issue of MD was dated April. The first five “New Direction”
titles didn’t hit the stands simultaneously, but launching
them in concert was an impressive achievement for Gaines
and his staff. It was also a statement of Gaines’ defiance,
for none of them carried the Comics Code Seal of Approval.
The editorial on the inside front cover of Impact #1 titled
“The Punch Bowl” began: “This magazine, ‘IMPACT,’ is the
first of five E.C. “New Direction” publications. And to it,
your Editors have entrusted a cherished tradition here at
E.C. … THE SURPRISE ENDING! Yes, ‘IMPACT’ will be a mag-
azine devoted to the unexpected outcome, the twist, the
snap wind-up.”
When one describes Impact as a “mild version of ShockSus-
penStories,” one story in its first issue must be excepted,
because there was nothing mild about it. “Master Race!”
was plotted by Gaines and Feldstein, scripted by Feldstein,
and drawn by Bernard Krigstein. It told the story of an en-
counter on a New York subway between a Jewish survivor
of a Nazi death camp and its commandant who was living
anonymously in the city. The script called for a six-page

story, but Krigstein saw such potential in it that he ex-
panded it (over Gaines’ objections) to eight pages, and he
introduced innovative panel sequences and designs unlike
any comic book story drawn before. The use of multiple
panels to create the impression of figures in slow motion
was just one of the artist’s techniques to make the narra-
tive more vivid. “Master Race!” was the best story produced
in all of EC’s “New Direction” books. In fact, it’s a master-
work of comic art that ranks among the greatest comics
stories of all time. This may be partly due to the power of
the subject matter itself, so loaded with emotion, tragedy
and revulsion, as it unflinchingly portrayed Nazi atrocities.
Still, Krigstein was obviously on fire creatively and showed
himself a true visionary of the field. Probably more words
have been written about “Master Race!” than any other
single EC story. Even those who generally dislike Krigstein’s
artwork fall under its spell. From a historical perspective, it
influenced many future practitioners of comic art.
Because EC’s “New Direction” titles contained a great deal
of beautiful artwork, they retain a certain popularity
among comics fans of later generations. Valor was colorful
and boasted wonderful visuals by Williamson, Ingels, Da-
vis, Orlando, Wood and Crandall. Extra! had lots of Johnny
Craig work and continuing characters for added appeal. On
the other hand, MD and Psychoanalysis were rather dull, as
was much of Impact.
134
Impact #1 and panel from page 1 of “Master Race!” Opposite and next
page: Pages 7 and 8 of “Master Race!.” Bernard Krigstein’s page and panel
designs were like nothing seen before in comic books. TM and © Estate of William
M. Gaines.
Lackluster work was the least of Bill Gaines’ prob-
lems. As he would soon learn, the newsstand deal-
ers and distributors were out to make Gaines pay
for the turmoil they felt his comics brought onto
the industry. “I put out the six first issues, six bi-
monthlies, and they sold ten, 15 percent,” Gaines stated.
“You can’t believe how horrendous the sales were. And I
later found out that it was because the word was passed
by the wholesalers, ‘Get ’em!’ So they got me” (Decker 78).
Lacking the Code seal, and with the EC logo featured prom-
inently on the covers, many of these books never made it
onto newsstands. In fact, many bundles of EC comics never
even left the distributor’s warehouse.
Gaines had no choice but to swallow his pride and sign on
to the Comics Code. Unfortunately, that move didn’t re-
verse his fortunes. As Gaines recounted in a 1983 Comics
Journal interview, once EC comics carried the Comics Code
seal, sales figures doubled, from 10 percent to 20 percent. A
twenty percent sell-through rate was still, in Gaines’ own
words, “disastrous” (Decker 78).
Not only did joining the Association not improve EC’s sales
much, it also meant Gaines now had to contend with Judge
Murphy’s (sometimes baffling, sometimes maddening) re-
vision stipulations. As expected, Gaines and Murphy didn’t
see eye-to-eye on matters. Their attitudes about censorship
were incompatible, to say the very least. Inevitably, Gaines
battled Murphy over revisions the latter’s office was re-
quiring.
Gaines’ last battle with the CMAA was over the contents
of the final comic book EC published: Incredible Science Fic-
1956
Birth
of the

Silver Age
Reverberations from the anti-comics crusades and the adop-
tion of the Comics Code continued to be felt in the industry
in 1956. Stanley P. Morse, a publisher who had depended
heavily on horror comics, shut down all four of his pub-
lishing companies: Aragon, Gilmor, Key Publications and
Stanmor Publications. Other publishers who succumbed or
dropped their comics lines this year were Ace Publications,
Avon Publications, Lev Gleason, Premier Magazines and
Superior Comics (a Canadian firm). At the year’s end, Comic
Magazines, Inc.—better known as Quality Comics—ceased
operations. Perhaps the most telling fact of 1956 was that
no new publisher entered the comics field.

National’s Next Moves

Of course, that didn’t mean that no new comics titles were
published. National debuted several of them in the early
months of the year, and all of them were successful.
House of Mystery, National’s lone “weird” anthology book,
was selling well. As that title approached its 50th issue, a
companion title called Tales of the Unexpected was added
(sporting a February 1956 cover date). Editor Jack Schiff
had access to some superb artists, including John Prentice
and Leonard Starr (both of whom would go on to careers as
syndicated comic strip cartoonists). Sales of Tales were suf-
ficient to spur the launch of a third title in the genre. House
of Secrets (#1, October 1956) completed National’s trilogy
of comic books with the same type of material.
Just after the publication of the first issue of Tales of the
Unexpected, National released Showcase #1 (March-April
1956), a vehicle for the company to try out new ideas and
see if they generated sufficient sales to earn their own ti-
tles. According to Irwin Donenfeld, who originated Show-
case’s format, the book’s name was inspired by the Produc-
er’s Showcase TV show (1954-1957) that aired a variety of
90 minute special programs every four weeks. (Peter Pan
was one of its offerings; another was a new version of the
film The Petrified Forest with Humphrey Bogart reprising
the role that made him a star.) Showcase was one of the last
titles launched before Whitney Ellsworth relinquished his
remaining editorial duties.
National had found its greatest success with super heroes,
and sales of its Superman family of books were still good.
The editors knew that young readers would always be at-
tracted to heroes, which is why knights, Vikings and gladi-
ators were being featured in The Brave and the Bold. The

CHAPTER SEVEN 142

expressed purpose of Showcase was to test other ideas.

Showcase #4, one of the most significant comic books of all time.
was in the final Justice Society of America story in All-Star
Comics #57 (February-March 1951). Schwartz recalled, “I
had been the last editor of the original Flash, so everybody
looked at me” (Kupperberg 5). Donenfeld selected the idea
and gave the job to Schwartz, who then had to both devel-
op the concept as well as pick the writers and artists who
would work on it.
Schwartz decided the character should be a new Flash,
with just the name and the super-speed carried forward.
Julie said the new Flash’s secret identity of Barry Allen
was a combination of two show business personalities he
was fond of in those days, radio talk-show host Barry Gray
and humorist Steve Allen. From this point, accounts about
what happened next differ slightly. Schwartz stated that
he asked Bob Kanigher to write the first script for a new
Flash because they shared an office and he knew Kanigher
could write the script quickly. Julie claimed they plotted
the story together. Kanigher, however, men-
tioned nothing about input from Schwartz.
Instead, Kanigher gave the impression that
he was essentially working from scratch.
In Robin Snyder’s History of the Comics,
Kanigher wrote, “Come 1956 and all I need-
ed to know about the new assignment was
that he was the fastest man alive. I left the
rest to my inner self. What name to give the
new Flash? I was too impatient to waste
time to think up one. You really can get
hung up on the simplest things. My task
was to bring him alive. What could be more
natural than to call him Flash, and pretend
that he was inspired by an old comic? And
Jay Garrick was changed into Barry Allen,
who was the new Flash” (Kanigher 59-60).
Schwartz maintained that the two decided
to tie in the origin with lightning, which
caused the chemical lab accident, and the
fact that Allen would be a police scientist.
Kanigher didn’t directly dispute this, but
essentially asserted that everything in the
story originated with him—except for one
thing: Flash’s ring.
Kanigher admitted that “the Flash’s ring
was sheer plagiarism [based on the pulp
character] the Crimson Clown.... When
he wanted to switch from his civvies, he
pressed a spring on a ring on his finger.
The clown costume erupted out and ex-
panded to life-size. Many years later, I
stole that gimmick” (Kanigher, 59-60).
Then it was time to select the artist. In
an interview with Will Murray in Al-
ter Ego, Julie Schwartz recalled, “I
liked Carmine Infantino’s work, and
he said he would do a quick job”
(Murray 11). The choice had a nice
symmetry since Kanigher and In-
fantino had worked together on
Flash TM and © DC Comics.
the Jay Garrick-Flash solo story
in the last issue of Flash Comics,
back in 1949.
In History of the Comics, Infantino remembered it
this way: “On one day [when] I was delivering my
work, Julie told me we were going to try the Flash.
He said it was decided at an editorial meeting. He
gave me a script by Kanigher. (I know Kanigher
had a lot of input. It was in his style.) I was told to
design a costume. I chose a stark bland one with
a lightning bolt across. I always kept him slim,
like a runner; wiry, too. The cover idea for the first
issue was Kanigher’s – this I do remember” (Infan-
tino 101).
When Infantino finished penciling the story’s
pages, Schwartz then needed to find an inker.
He recalled, “It so happened Joe Kubert was in
the office and I said, ‘Joe, how would you like to
146
Defying Gravity

Bob Kanigher worked quickly, wrote from his gut, and had
great instincts. For proof, one need only read the first Bar-
ry Allen story that he wrote for Showcase #4. For starters,
Kanigher brilliantly decided to frame the story as a mys-
tery, which not only incited reader curiosity but led to set-
ting the first part of the story at night, adding drama and
gravitas. Kanigher’s second key concept was establishing
that the new Flash was inspired by the old Flash. This
idea was suggested by the full-page splash
panel showing the new Flash bursting
out of the pages of an open comic
book.
Kanigher began the narrative
at a radar station where a
mysterious object was

detected moving on the ground so fast that it broke the

sound barrier. With the next caption the reader was taken
back in time to a stormy Central City night. Lightning bolts
streaked against dark storm clouds over the cityscape. The
rough crayon technique
used by Kubert made the
scene especially evocative.
This was where the choice
of Kubert as inker paid divi-
dends; his work had a noir
quality that emphasized
the air of mystery and
something more disqui-
eting, a certain “meeting
with fate” quality, to the
narrative.
The switch to a police
laboratory was an abrupt
jump from dark to light,
from chaos to order. The
scene introducing police
scientist Barry Allen has
often been commented
on for its irony; that is,

147

Batwoman’s debut in Detective Comics #233.
ing momentum as it goes. The chain
of cause and effect began there, be-
cause the idea (and the decision to
pursue it) wasn’t inspired by or based
on anything happening in comics
at the time. It came out of the comic
book ethers, a gut-level decision by
editors who were willing to take a
chance in the pages of a comic book
especially designed for that purpose.
Schwartz and company cast their lure.
Now the wait began. It would take
several months before they knew if
readers took the bait.
As previously noted, National intro-
duced another costumed hero prior to
its re-tooling of the Flash. For this rea-
son, some comics histori-
Batman and Batwoman TM and © DC Comics.
ans have advanced the view that the
introduction of John Jones, the Man-
hunter from Mars, in Detective #225
should be considered the beginning
of the Silver Age. This hasn’t been
widely accepted, mainly because the
Manhunter was a backup strip (not
cover-featured) and appeared essen-
tially unheralded. Detective’s sales
didn’t rely on the success of its John
Jones feature, and as far as is known,
Detective’s sales weren’t affected one
way or another by the character’s
introduction. (This isn’t to say that
readers didn’t enjoy the Man-
152
hunter from Mars in his backup sta-
tus; there’s a reason why the charac-
ter has survived to the present day.)
Showcase #4 was the perfect barom-
eter of interest in the marketplace
for costumed heroes, and its sales
provided concrete evidence that Na-
tional was on the right track.
Overlooked by many, however, is
another costumed hero that was in-
troduced before the new Flash: Bat-
woman. Scripted by Edmond Hamil-
ton and drawn by Sheldon Moldoff,
the debut of the female Batman in
Detective #233 hit newsstands at
the end of May, two months before
Showcase #4.
Batwoman, secretly socialite Kathy
Kane, was a sort of substitute for Cat-
woman as a quasi-romantic interest
for the Caped Crusader in the post-
Code era. Her introduction is seen by
some as the first of several changes in
the Batman line to make it more kid-
friendly. The Dark Avenger was now
the head of a sort of “Batman family,”
with its last member coming early in
the next decade. Bat-Girl, introduced
in Batman #139 (April 1961), com-
pleted the family concept, designed
to play on the types of relationships
familiar to readers from eight to 10
years old, as well as provide spring-
boards for story
ideas.
It has been argued
that the writer and
artist of a new char-
acter’s introductory
story should be credited as
the creators of that character.
By that standard,
Sheldon Moldoff
must be consid-
ered co-creator of
Bat-Hound, Batwoman
and Bat-Girl, along with
writers Bill Finger
and Edmond Ham-
ilton. Creation is
not a clear-cut matter,
though, since the over-arch-
ing “bat” concept originally came
from Bob Kane. Still, it was
Moldoff who designed the
costumes for the distaff
additions to the Bat-
mythos, and credit
should be given
where it’s due.
 ... and the delighted roar man wondered how different
of our laughter rivaled the his life would have been had he
roar of the presses. (Hefner stuck with Mad, even for just
5) a few more years. (Gaines sold
the magazine for $5,000,000 in
Hefner was sympathetic to the early 1960s. Had Kurtzman
Kurtzman’s complaints about accepted Gaines’ 10 percent
EC and working for Gaines, and offer, he would have gotten
at some point the idea of a new $500,000.)
magazine was discussed. Kurtz-
man recalled in a later inter-
view:
Simon and Kirby Break Up
In the 1940s, the team of Joe
I felt I had developed some- Simon and Jack Kirby seemed
thing really hot with Mad... unstoppable. Having created
I felt that there was a great Captain America at Timely, the
future in the idea. I felt I Boy Commandos and News-
had built it, but I had built boy Legion at National, and
it for somebody else. Profes- Young Romance at Prize, they
sionally, I was completely had a reputation for producing
unhappy. I was feeling trend-setting, top-selling comic
pretty low. Hefner was in books. Joe Simon was the canny
town—this was early in his businessman while Jack Kirby
own career, too—and we was the master storyteller.
went out to lunch together.
I was impressed with him. Jack Kirby, Joe Simon and Jack Oleck in what appears to be Kirby’s attic studio. In the 1950s, Simon and Kirby
He came on with all that
From The Comic Book Makers by Joe and Jim Simon, copyrighted and used with permission. were no longer invincible. Black
gusto and optimism he was Magic—which the pair had cre-
putting into his own book, and we just talked back ated for Prize—was a solid seller, and many of their other
and forth. His high opinion of my work did much crime and romance titles did well, but there were no more
for my ego at that lunch, and put me into just the breakout, nova-like, trend-setting hits. It wasn’t a lack of
right mood to go ask my publisher for a substantial inspiration that caused the team’s breakup, though. After
piece of the magazine as an alternative to my leav- the introduction of the Comics Code, a time of great turbu-
ing. (James 46) lence in the comics industry, Simon and Kirby had started
their own publishing company. Before long, they were cut
Sometime in April, Kurtzman demanded an ownership po- off at the knees by a distribution disaster.
sition in Mad magazine. Gaines offered 10 percent. Kurtz-
man came back asking for 51 per- In late 1955, payments slowed from
cent. This, he claimed, was so that he their distributor Leader News, just
could authorize higher payments for as they had for EC. In The Comic-
outside writers, but in all likelihood, Book Makers, Joe Simon explained,
Kurtzman’s outrageous demand was “Our Mainline comics … had been
probably just a way to get fired. And showing fairly good sales with
that’s what happened. Gaines re- clean, wholesome material, but pay-
sponded, “Goodbye, Harvey.” Kurtz- ments from Leader News Company,
man’s last issue of Mad was issue our distributor, were slowing down
#28 (July 1956). alarmingly. The sudden demise of
EC comics had put Leader News in a
Harvey Kurtzman accepted Hugh financial crisis and they soon folded
Hefner’s offer to create a slick, so- their tents, leaving us holding an
phisticated humor magazine, which empty sack. Mainline Publications
was eventually named Trump. Some became insolvent, an innocent casu-
of Mad’s contributors—Jack Davis, alty in the final victory by ‘The Peo-
Willy Elder—left Gaines to appear ple’ against the vile forces of Horror
in Kurtzman’s new magazine. Trump Comics” (Simon 162). In sum, Main-
#1 bore a January 1957 cover date. It line published five issues of Bulls Eye
sold well, but because of a complex and four of the other three titles. The
mix of reasons (partially because remaining two issues of each (Fox-
Hefner had expanded too quickly), hole had three), already prepared,
Hefner pulled the plug with its sec- were sold to Charlton to recoup
ond issue. Suddenly Kurtzman was something for the effort. With that,
out in the cold. Feldstein was editing the Simon and Kirby studio came to
Mad and its sales continued to climb. a sad ending in 1956.
For the rest of his life, Harvey Kurtz-
157
1957
Turbulence
and
Transition
When National Comics offered Jack Kirby freelance work,
Joe Simon encouraged Jack to take it. Kirby didn’t want to
break with Simon, but his bills were piling up and Nation-
al paid well. The two men, who were neighbors, remained
friends and worked together again before the decade’s end.
Now Jack Kirby embarked on a new stage in his career, one
where he would have to steer his own course.
There was a problem: in 1957, Jack Kirby was no longer
a good fit for National. Without Joe Simon to handle the
business side and company relations, Kirby was unable to
manage National’s conservative “suits” who considered his
artwork crude and his figure drawing too exaggerated. As
Kirby later explained, “They kept showing me their other
books—books that weren’t selling—and saying, ‘This is
what a comic book ought to be.’ I couldn’t communicate
with those people” (Evanier 101).
Kirby began work on a new feature that came to be called
Challengers of the Unknown. It was one of the last con-
cepts he and Joe Simon thought up together: a team of
daredevils who survived an airplane crash, then decided to
take further risks because they were “living on borrowed
time.” With Jack Schiff acting as his editor, Kirby provided
the plots and writer Dave Wood wrote the finished scripts.
It was yet another S & K team book, but in keeping with
the times and the still widely held perception that cos-
tumed characters were out, these heroes wore uniforms
that resembled “normal” clothes: identical purple shirts
and slacks that weren’t skin tight. (Kirby brought the idea
of a team of heroes clad in non-descript, identical costumes
to the Fantastic Four, almost five years later.) Showcase #6
(January-February 1957) presented the origin story “The
Secret of the Sorcerer’s Box!,” a book-length tale divided
into four chapters.
The book-length story, little-used at National at this time,
was perhaps made more acceptable because the chapter
divisions looked like separate stories to the casual browser.
Before Max Gaines sold All-American Comics to National
in 1945, there were book-length stories in the likes of Won-
der Woman, Green Lantern and All-Flash. All-American ed-
itor Sheldon Mayer also had several such humorous tales
in his short-lived original run of Scribbly in 1948-1950.
Similarly, in the 1950s National ran book-length stories in
certain humor books (The Adventures of Bob Hope and The
Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis), but when it
came to their “serious” titles, National preferred multiple
stories until the Challengers broke the mold.

CHAPTER EIGHT 164

After their debut in “Sorcerer’s Box,” the Challengers re-
turned in the next issue of Showcase (#7, March-April 1957)
Showcase #6 and #7 featured Challengers of the Unknown, a team of heroes who became
modestly successful, starring in their own self-titled book from 1958 to 1971. Challengers TM
and © DC Comics.

with “Ultivac is Loose!” The issue included an excellent one-

page summarization of the talents of Ace Morgan (pilot), Prof.
Haley (skin diver), Red Ryan (daredevil, mountain climber) and
Rocky Davis (wrestler, strong man), a page that was repeated
when the Challengers returned in Showcase #11 (November-
December 1957). Book-length stories were eschewed for their
third and fourth Showcase issues (#11 and #12). In all, there
were four try-out issues before the Challengers were judged ca-
pable of supporting their own ongoing title.

Simon at Harvey Comics

Meanwhile, Joe Simon returned to Harvey Comics in 1957.
“The industry was once again engaging in a frenzy of new titles
set off by some wild tip or distributor’s perception that the time

165
 strength and courage, to aid the cause of justice, to keep
absolutely secret the Superman Code, and to follow the
announcements of the Supermen of America in each is-
sue of Action Comics and Superman.
For those truly seeking physical strength, the ad pages often
included full-page offers for bodybuilding courses. The most
famous were Charles Atlas’ “Hey Skinny!” ads. Another fre-
quent advertiser was the “Jowett Institute of Physical Train-
ing,” which offered George Jowett’s Photo Book of Strong
Men and his How to become a Mighty HE-MAN booklet,
available for a mere 10 cents. In a balloon next to a grainy
photo of Jowett (“Champion of Champions”), he exhorted,
“Let’s go, young fellow! Now YOU give me 10 pleasant min-
utes a day in your home ... I don’t care how skinny or flabby
you are. I’ll make you over by the same method I turned
myself from a wreck to the strongest of the strong.” Maybe
a kid couldn’t be super-powered like the Man of Steel, but
he could have muscles to help him approximate the look of
his hero. The ads played on the power fantasies of many a
pimple-faced youth.
Also, for readers’ consideration, were promotions for the
Palisades Amusement Park in Bergen County, New Jersey,
across the Hudson River from New York City. Founded in
This is where the caption would go. This is where the caption would
go. This is where the caption would go. This is where the caption
would go. Characters TM and © Company.

Public service pages such as the one above (from Adventure #240, September 1957) were the special
project of editor Jack Schiff. Art by Ruben Moreira. Right: Thanks to Gary Brown for providing his
Supermen of America certificate, as shown. Superman TM and © DC Comics.
169
 Peanuts in Comic Books
by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo

Charles Schulz’s Peanuts was the most successful

comic strip in American history. Debuting in seven
newspapers on October 2, 1950, it lit up the Ameri-
can landscape for a half century, providing characters
that have permeated American popular culture and
are beloved worldwide. An introspective strip on the
surface, readers warmly embraced the underlying
pathos of the strip’s main character Charlie Brown
and his daily interaction with his pet dog Snoopy and
childhood friends in a world where adults were never
seen.
Within a year of Peanuts’ launch, United Features Syn-
dicate decided to add the feature to several titles of
its concurrent comic book line, using strip reprints in
books featuring well-known strips like Tarzan, Li’l Ab-
ner, Abbie & Slats and Ernie Bushmiller’s long-legged
beauty, Fritzi Ritz. Peanuts quietly debuted in two
comic books simultaneously: the March-April, 1952
issues of Tip Top Comics #173 and United Comics #21. Panels from the Peanuts story drawn by Charles Schulz in Nancy #146, one of just two that
Over the next two years Peanuts would also appear weren’t handled by assistants. Below: Dell Four Color #878. Peanuts TM and © Peanuts Worldwide LLC.
in Fritzi Ritz, Sparkler Comics, Sparkle Comics, and an sue #211 (November 1957) and appeared as an eight-page
all-Peanuts one-shot comic book simply titled Peanuts, fea- story in the middle of the book for the entire 15-issue run
turing reprints from the first year of the strip. Highlights through #225 (May-July/61), even sharing cover space
of this United Features Syndicate period also include four with Nancy, Sluggo and The Captain and the Kids. By mid-
consecutive, unsigned, but Schulz-drawn Peanuts covers 1958 and into 1959, Dell introduced Peanuts as a solo title
on Tip Top Comics #185-188 as well as four full interior in three issues of its long-running Four Color series, issues
pages of daily and Sunday strip reprints. In 1955 St. John #878, #969 and #1015. Finally, Dell revived Fritzi Ritz and
Publishing took over the titles after a seven-month hiatus published four final issues with Peanuts appearing as a
and continued publishing Peanuts reprints in Tip Top Com- single four-page story in the last three issues, #57-59 in
ics, Fritzi Ritz and even cameos in Nancy and Sluggo into 1958.
early 1957.
While Charles Schulz wrote, drew and supervised all as-
In late 1957 Western, under its Dell imprint, took over pub- pects of his Peanuts comic strip, except for the aforemen-
lishing Nancy Comics from St. John after another hiatus tioned Nancy #146 and #148, the entire rest of the Dell
and Peanuts once again appeared. This time the mate- published comic books containing Peanuts material was
rial was “all new” Peanuts stories created exclusively for produced by a crew of artists who did advertising work
comic book publication. Charles Schulz got the series off for him. The first artist was Art Instruction School friend
the ground draw- and colleague Jim Sasseville with Nancy #149, who would
ing the first issue go on to draw Peanuts in 20 issues of Nancy, three issues
himself, #146 (Sep- of Fritzi Ritz, five issues of Tip Top Comics, and Peanuts’ solo
tember 1957) and debut in Four Color #878. Sasseville would shortly go on to
then returned for assist Schulz with the syndicated strip “It’s Only a Game.”
issue #148 (Novem- Dale Hale would follow in the latter 1950s issues and take
ber 1957). All issues the feature into the 1960s. Tony Pocrnick possibly also
consisted of four- drew a handful of the late Dell issues.
page self-contained
Peanuts as a comic book feature continued into the 1960s.
stories. Peanuts ap-
The Four Color series issues were followed through 1962
peared in the entire
as Peanuts #4-13. Tip Top Comics’ final issue was #225 in
run into the 1960s,
1961. Western continued Peanuts under its Gold Key im-
the last five issues
print in late 1962, releasing five final issues of Nancy and
being published by
Sluggo and restarting the solo Peanuts title for four is-
Western’s Gold Key
sues until February 1964. These were nothing more than
imprint in 1962-63.
reprints of the first four solo Dell issues, Four Color #878,
Peanuts also joined #969, #1015 and Peanuts #4. From here Peanuts left the
Dell’s Tip Top Com- comic book stage but would shortly bloom in the venue of
ics starting with is- television by the Christmas season of 1965.
Peanuts TM and © Peanuts Worldwide LLC.

170

1898, the park was immensely popular. The owners, Jack
and Irving Rosenthal, used saturation advertising to pub-
licize the venue, including ads in comic books which were
considered a good way to get New York City kids to “come
on over.” Kids in other parts of the country could only wist-
fully survey Superman’s invitation to “Be my guest” and
wish they too could go to a place as wonderful as Palisades
Park.
National Comics’ only new title in 1957 (other than the
pickups from Quality) was Sergeant Bilko, licensed from
Phil Silvers’ hit TV show.
Nancy and Peanuts go to Dell
In 1957, St. John—managed by the late publisher’s son
Michael—was winding down its comics operation. Three
comics featuring Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy ended with July
issues: Nancy and Sluggo (#145), Fritzi Ritz (#55) and Tip
Top Comics (#210). Western Printing picked up the licenses
to all three.
171
Superman TM and © DC Comics. Others © respective copyright holders.
John Stanley, the writer and layout man of Little Lulu and
Tubby, was assigned to work on Bushmiller’s characters for
Dell. The title was continued as simply Nancy with issue
#146 (September 1957), and wouldn’t become Nancy and
Sluggo again until #174, the first issue with a 1960 cover
date. Stanley’s Nancy stories were similar to his Lulu sto-
ries. Characteristically, he introduced a substantial sup-
porting cast, which may have been one of the reasons he
was assigned to the feature. One of them was Nancy’s
spooky friend Oona Goosepimple, who lived in a haunted
house inhabited by weird relatives and mysterious little
people known as Yoyos who hid behind the fireplace. Stan-
ley also created Mr. McOnion, Sluggo’s crabby neighbor,
and many other characters. In addition, he very likely did
the Nancy and Sluggo stories in Dell’s Tip Top Comics (from
issue #211 to #225).
However, it has never been firmly documented that John
1958
National
Takes
the Lead
By 1958, the dust had settled from the war on comic books.
Senator Estes Kefauver’s political ambitions ended when
Adlai Stevenson won the Democratic Party’s nomination
for President in 1956. Dr. Fredric Wertham moved on to
focus on violence in television. The ladies clubs and other
civic watchdog groups were, for the most part, sufficiently
mollified by the effect of the industry’s self-censorship.
Adults passed by the comics racks to examine the latest
crop of paperback offerings.
Publishers had adapted to the new reality. Comic book
companies either picked up the pieces or gave up. St. John
and Magazine Enterprises (ME), both of whom had been
important players, would issue their last comics this year,
leaving just six major comic book publishers standing:
Dell, National, Harvey, Charlton, Goodman and Archie. All
had their roots in the Golden Age of comics, but then, so
did the small firms that were still hanging on.
American Comics Group (ACG) continued with Adventures
into the Unknown and a few other titles (including their
lucrative commercial comics). Prize was still around with
Black Magic and others. (Its Young Romance and Young
Love would be purchased by National in 1963.) Gilberton
rolled along with its educational titles, and Catechetical
Guild kept producing Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. But
that was it. No publishers who started comic book lines in
the 1950s stayed with them through the decade’s end.

National’s “Full Court Press”

After the winnowing out of publishers, National found its
dominance of the field greater than ever. Though Dell sold
more comic books, the publisher with the DC insignia on
its covers had crushed Fawcett, decimated Goodman’s line
and purchased the properties of Quality. With dominance
came the realization that National held the future of the
comic book industry in its hands. Or, as a certain wall-
crawler from another company later learned, “With great
power comes great responsibility.”
National had to find a way to inject new vitality into mass-
market comic books if the medium was to have a real re-
surgence and compete with television. The publisher be-
gan seriously marshalling its forces for a major push. The
re-tooled Flash was promising as were the Challengers of
the Unknown, but those were only a beginning. The Silver
Age would not come to pass with the revival of a solitary
Golden Age hero, or with a new Jack Kirby-created hero
team. In 1958, National’s leadership, editors, and creative
staff began a “full court press” to improve their product

CHAPTER NINE 180

and find new things to appeal to readers, and in so doing,
shepherd the industry to a full recovery.

Quintessential shot of Lois Lane and Superman by Kurt
Schaffenberger (from the cover of the Lois Lane Annual
#2, 1963). Characters TM and © DC Comics.
Irwin Donenfeld chaired regular
editorial meetings that acted as
brainstorming sessions. All the edi-
tors were expected to come up with
ways to upgrade their titles. Mort
Weisinger and Julie Schwartz took
an especially proactive role in shap-
ing the comics on their slates. So did
Bob Kanigher on the war books. Ideas
flowed from the minds and typewrit-
ers of John Broome, Gardner Fox, Otto
Binder, Bob Kanigher, Jerry Cole-
man, Edmond Hamilton and others.
Something positive was in the air. It
seemed like all the players were de-
termined to make their comics more
appealing to the surging numbers of
baby boomers, many with more mon-
ey to spend than their parents had in
earlier times. In so doing, the firm re-
turned to being the kind of industry
leader it was when the medium was
in its infancy.
Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane
began publication with its first issue
bearing a March-April cover date,
the first Showcase feature to gradu-
ate to its own book. Yet, despite sales
of Showcase #9 that were described chooses right” (Lage 63). Schaffen-
later by Irwin Donenfeld as “incred- berger drew all three stories in the
ible,” Weisinger wasn’t satisfied first issue of the new book. Weisinger
that he had the right artist for a Lois was delighted and made “Schaffy”
Lane book. Al Plastino and Ruben the primary artist in Superman’s
Moreira penciled that first try-out is- Girl Friend, Lois Lane for many years.
sue. Weisinger tried Wayne Boring (Wayne Boring, then John Forte or
and Stan Kaye on Showcase #10 (Sep- Curt Swan, drew the stories Schaffen-
tember-October). While Boring could berger couldn’t handle.) Reruns of
draw exquisitely beautiful women, the Lois-centric Superman TV series
somehow Weisinger wasn’t entirely bolstered the success of her title.
pleased with his interpretation ei- Challengers of the Unknown #1 ar-
ther. Otto Binder, who wrote four of rived with an April-May 1958 cover
the six Lois Lane solo stories in Show- date. The book proved successful,
case, provided the solution: he recom- even after Kirby left with issue #8
mended Kurt Schaffenberger for the (June-July 1959), lasting for 77 issues.
job. Schaffenberger had done excel- Its 13-year run was proof, if anyone
lent work on Fawcett’s Marvel Fam- needed it, that Kirby could have done
ily in the late 1940s and early 1950s, a lot for National if he had been prop-
but had been struggling after those erly appreciated and utilized.
comics’ demise. He was forced to ac-
cept lower rates working for anybody Whatever reservations the National
who would have him: Lev Gleason, editors had about Jack Kirby’s “un-
Atlas, Gilberton and Premier. In 1955 orthodox” style, he was given a sub-
he found work with Richard Hughes stantial amount of work in the com-
at ACG, becoming its top cover artist ing months, though nothing high
on Forbidden Worlds and Adventures profile. As already noted, Jack Kirby
into the Unknown, and doing art for was one of the fastest pencilers in the
its Custom Comics di-
vision. Then his close
friend Otto got him
a berth at National,
with the best pay in
the industry.
Kurt Schaffenberger
possessed a slick,
precise style, and
was especially adept
at drawing women—
not just their faces,
but their gestures,
the way their bodies
moved, and the way
they dressed. “Kurt
S c h a f f e n b e r g e r ’s
artwork was simply
excellent!” Otto en-
thused. “I think he
‘made’ Lois Lane by
his artwork. More
importantly, he tells
the story with his
art. Many artists kill
a story by failing to
make good transi-
tions from panel to
panel to keep the
continuity intact.
Choosing how to
show each scene is
vital and Kurt always Challengers of the Unknown #1. Art by Jack Kirby. Challengers TM and © DC Comics.
181
 wishes. One was to create a companion for Superman.
This magically-created Super-Girl (who appeared on the
book’s cover) didn’t survive the end of the story, except
insofar as Weisinger found that there was a bump in sales
and presumed it was because browsers were attracted by
the depiction of a Girl of Steel.
Even though Otto and Mort had been friends for over 20
years, Binder found dealing with Weisinger difficult, and
it took a toll on the genial writer. Weisinger was one of
the toughest editors in comics to work for, and became
more so as time went on. Freed from the supervisory eye
of Whitney Ellsworth, close with Jack Liebowitz, and edi-
tor of National’s top-selling books, Mort felt more at lib-
erty to launch into angry tirades at the drop of a hat, play
writers against each other, and lord it over his colleagues
at National. Otto recalled:
One day [Mort] went up to Julie [Schwartz] and
said, “You can’t have Otto anymore.” He didn’t
ask me whether I wanted to write for Julie, and
of course, I wanted to because Julie was easier to
work for. He could be finicky, but there was a good
back-and-forth exchange with him. But no, Mort
had to have his way. It was a quarrel. Julie said,
“For Christ’s sake, Mort, how can you just take him
away? That isn’t right. You can’t do that!” So when
I went to Julie the following week, he said, “You
can’t write for me. Mort will make trouble.” Mort
was that kind of a guy. Crazy, crazy. He was a mad-
man. It’s a wonder I didn’t go mad!” (Schelly 143)
In his notes, Binder wrote, “My last science-fiction
scripts for DC were in January 1959, at which time Mort
Weisinger ‘commandeered’ me wholly for his Super-
man group of comics, paying me higher rates.”
Despite the unpleasantness of writing for Weisinger,
Binder’s work was better than ever. He wrote the first
story in comic books featuring Bizarro, the imperfect
artificial copy of Superboy created by a scientific experi-
ment gone awry. While writer Alvin Schwartz created

Brainiac, the Legion of Super-Heroes and the bottled city Kandor

were additions to the Superman mythos introduced in stories
written by Otto Binder. Characters TM and © DC Comics.

184
 elaborate birthday gift from
Batman, though Superman
figured it out and turned the
tables on the Caped Crusader
in the final pages. The harm-
less joke nevertheless revealed
a great deal and opened up
that kind of psychological ter-
ritory for the future, though it
was seldom explored as effec-
tively. Wayne Boring’s visual
treatment greatly enhanced
“The Super-Key to Fort Super-
man.” It would have been so
different, and so much less
intriguing, had it been drawn
by a different artist such as
Art by the otherwise able Al Plastino. Yet the
Wayne Boring book’s cover was by Curt Swan, whose
interpretation of the Man of Steel was
gaining favor with Weisinger as it became
more assured and confident.
Character was at the heart of the year’s im-
provements and new ideas in the Superman
hero, SUPERMAN.” To protect the presumably young letter-
books. Even the frequent stories involving be-
writers, their full addresses weren’t printed. Everyone who
trayal among Superman, Lois and Jimmy—inevita-
wrote received a postcard with a boiler-plate “thank you”
bly hoaxes—served to emphasize the bonds between
for writing.
them. Their search for personal happiness, their satis-
faction at their jobs, the way they looked to each other for With Lois Lane in her own title, the development of the
support — all made the center of the stories more human. Silver Age Fortress of Solitude, the creation of the Legion
The Superman-Lois-Lana triangle exposed readers to ro- of Super-Heroes, and the addition of Brainiac, Kandor and
mance comic book tropes. Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane Bizarro—as well as a stronger emphasis on characteriza-
was a unique hybrid of romance and super hero adventure. tion—editor Mort Weisinger and his staff made major
Boys who would never be caught buying a romance comic strides in 1958 in laying the groundwork for a more inter-
book bought Lois Lane’s book because, well, it was also a esting and coherent “Superman Universe.” The appeal of
Superman comic book. There was a kind of family feeling that universe, which continued to develop in the ensuing
among the Daily Planet crew, something that made the years, contributed a great deal to the growing momentum
stories relatable to younger readers whose lives weren’t of the Silver Age alongside the developments overseen by
yet reaching far beyond their own family milieu. Julie Schwartz, and produced many highly entertaining
comic books.
Another important development occurred in Superman
#124 (September 1958): the first letter column as a regular
feature in National’s comics of this era (aside from Sugar & National’s new Science Fiction Heroes
Spike which had been running one since its third issue in The U.S.S.R.’s launch of its Sputnik satellite on October 4,
1956). “Metropolis Mailbag” was a way for editor Weising- 1957 was a wake-up call to the American space program.
er to judge reader reaction to the changes and new ideas, as Suddenly, a “space race” was underway between the Unit-
well as make the readers part of Superman’s world. In that ed States and the Soviet Union. It became a topic of na-
first column, Weisinger wrote, “We welcome your sugges- tional concern, consequently impacting various aspects of
tions and comments regarding America’s favorite action American life. For instance, public education nationwide

The letter column “Metropolis Mailbag” gave readers a sense of participation. Gradually, such columns were introduced in other titles, eventually becoming an expected adjunct
to most Silver Age books from National/DC (and many of their rivals).
187
1959
The
Silver Age
Gains Traction
According to the 1960 N. W. Ayer & Sons Directory (an an-
nual publication that provided data for advertisers), the
monthly circulation totals of the major surviving comic
book publishers in 1959 were:
Dell – 9,686,424 (37%)
National – 6,653,485 (25%)
Harvey – 2,514,879 (9.5%)
Charlton – 2,500,000 est. (9.5%)
Goodman – 2,253,112 (9%)
Archie – 1,608,489 (6%)
ACG – 975,000 (4%)
The top two publishers accounted for an incredible 62% of
the comics sold in 1959, with Dell decidedly outselling Na-
tional (Miller).
This list makes clear how disastrous the “Atlas implosion”
was for Martin Goodman’s comic book line. In 1950, Na-
tional Comics’ monthly sales were 7,791,402, but Goodman
was right up there with 5,783,231 (Tolworthy). By decade’s
end, National’s monthly sales were 85% of what they had
been 10 years earlier, not bad considering that televi-
sion had become all-pervasive by 1959, and that children
watched much more TV than adults. Sales of Martin Good-
man’s line, however, were just 39% of what they had been
in 1950.
When comparing sales figures, one must take into account
the number of issues each company published. Archie
published 100 issues in 1959 while National published
382. Therefore, Archie comics were selling about as well as
National’s on an issue-by-issue basis. On the other hand,
Charlton released 289 issues, nearly triple Archie’s produc-
tion, yet only represented 9.5 percent of the industry’s rev-
enues.
The number of issues published provides a picture of how
crowded newsstands were, and the number of choices
readers had. The decade’s peak year was 1952, when 3,150
issues were published. According to historians Michelle
Nolan and Dan Stevenson, those numbers (not including
giveaways or religious comics, rounded off to the nearest
50) in the middle and later years of the decade were:
1954 – Slightly more than 2,700
1955 – Slightly less than 2,350
1956 – Slightly more than 2,000
1957 – Slightly more than 1,900

CHAPTER TEN
1958 – Slightly more than 1,850
1959 – Slightly more than 1,500

198
would drastically alter his artistic style: he re-enrolled
in art school. “There came a point where I felt I had to
get back to school,” Infantino recalled in his book The
Amazing World of Carmine Infantino. “I just felt there
was something missing” (42). Infantino took classes at
the Art Students’ League, and then at the School of Vi-
sual Arts with teacher Jack Potter. “What Jack taught
me about design was monumental, and I went through
a metamorphosis working with him. My work started
to grow by leaps and bounds. I was achieving individu-
ality in my work that wasn’t there before. I threw all
the basics of cartooning out the window and focused
on pure design” (Infantino 54). Infantino’s work took
on a dynamic quality that directed the readers’ eye
to each panel’s foreground elements (rather than to
the background details). It was an abstract, spare,
modern-looking approach that fit perfectly with the
times and was startlingly
different than anything else
in comics. He continued to
refine his style over the next
few years. Since his teenage
years, Infantino had always
been a very good penciler,
but the artistic metamor-
phosis he underwent in his
mid-30s made him one of the
greatest artists in comic book
history.
Infantino’s early Adam
Strange artwork was inked
variously by Bernard Sachs,
Joe Giella and Murphy An-
derson. The scripts, however,
had certain weaknesses: lack
of character, emotion and hu-
mor. Though writer Gardner Fox had scripted comic
books for nearly 20 years, he had the sensibility of a Green Lantern as he appeared in the 1940s, and the new version introduced in Show-
writer of pulp magazines, a medium where character was case #22. Art by Gil Kane. Green Lantern TM and © DC Comics.
sublimated almost entirely to plot and atmosphere. Yes,
Adam and Alanna were in love, but their relationship act-
ed more as a device to explain Adam’s continual desire to Showcase #22 came nineteen years after the debut of the
defend Rann than anything resembling a real life relation- original Green Lantern in All-American Comics #16 (July
ship, even the jokey relationship Barry Allen had with Iris 1940), ten years after the cancellation of that character’s
West. While it’s true the Adam Strange feature only ran eponymous series (with Green Lantern #38, May-June
nine pages for its first two years, its weaknesses were just 1949), and eight and a half years after his last appearance
as apparent when the stories became longer. As with pulp in All-Star Comics #57 (February-March 1951). Schwartz
readers, many comic book readers overlooked these flaws, selected his Flash writer, John Broome, to script the ad-
but some did not, limiting the appeal of Adam Strange’s ventures of the new Emerald Gladiator. Finding an artist,
adventures in Mystery in Space. however, wasn’t a repeat of the process with the Flash,
when the artist who drew the Golden Age feature was giv-
The Space Age Green Lantern en the nod. Most of the Green Lantern stories of the late
In 1959, Julie Schwartz got the opportunity to reinvent an- 1940s were drawn by Alex Toth and Irwin Hasen, but nei-
other one of National’s Golden Age costumed heroes. One ther of those artists was available for Schwartz’s use. Even
month after Mystery in Space #53 appeared on newsstands, if Toth hadn’t been working in California at this time, his
Showcase #22 (September-October 1959) featured a new estrangement from Schwartz would most likely have ruled
version of the Green Lantern. National clearly had high him out as penciler. Hasen, on the other hand, was busy
hopes for the revival as Showcase #23 and #24 also featured drawing his newspaper strip Dondi. In any case, Schwartz
the character. All three Showcase covers displayed a large, wanted an artist who could bring a fresh, modern ap-
eye-catching Green Lantern logo (created by Ira Schnapp) proach to the visuals. He chose Gil Kane, one of the regular
that was big enough to read from across a room. artists in his stable, to design and illustrate the new Green
Lantern.

203
 The Birth of Sgt. Rock
In his Big Five Information Guide
(1995), war comics authority Chris Pe-
drin asserts Sgt. Rock was “the most
important original Silver Age charac-
ter in the DC Universe.” If one doesn’t
consider the re-tooled versions of the
Flash and Green Lantern to be new
characters, then Pedrin may well be
right. According to Joe Kubert, sig-
nature artist on the feature, Sgt. Rock
outsold every comic book in Nation-
al’s line-up at one time or another
during the character’s phenomenal
three-decade run.
Ironic then that Sgt. Frank Rock’s gen-
esis differs from most comic book
characters. Normally a new character
makes his first appearance in grand
fashion, heralded on covers or house
ads. Sgt. Rock’s emergence, however,
was more than a little convoluted.
There has even been controversy over
what comic book contains the first
“true” Sgt. Rock story. He evolved in
the pages of the anthology war com-
ics edited by Bob Kanigher, born out
of a story idea.
In “The Rock!” in G. I. Combat #68
(January 1959), Kanigher used the
“rock” metaphor as a way of describ-
ing a tough World War II sergeant’s
indomitability. Over the next six
months, Kanigher’s ideas gradually
coalesced in the pages of Our Army at
War until Sgt. Rock of Easy Company
(“where nothing’s easy”)
was fully formed. That
key story was “The Rock
and the Wall!” in OAAW
#83 (June 1959). Both
“The Rock!” and “The
Rock and the Wall!” were
written by Kanigher and
drawn by Kubert.
In between those two
issues, Rock prototypes
were drawn by the team
of Ross Andru and Mike
Esposito, as well as Jerry
Grandenetti and Mort
Drucker. Also, Bob Haney
stood in for Bob Kanigher
as the writer of “The
Rock of Easy Co.!” in
OAAW #81 (April 1959).
Certainly “Sgt. Rocky”
in Haney’s script is close
to the Sgt. Rock readers
came to know and love,
but, due to the name dif-
ference if nothing else,
many consider Haney’s
tough-as-nails sergeant
lectors insist that the first true Rock
a prototype, or precursor, to the real
story was “The Rock of Easy Co.!,”
thing. Indeed, Robert Overstreet’s
with some going so far as to give Bob
Comic Book Price Guide deems “The
Haney, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito
Rock and the Wall!” the “first true Sgt.
credit as co-creators of the character.
Rock appearance,” a good barometer
Actually, the sergeant in the Kanigh-
of the most widely-held view (Over-
er-written “The Rock!” was Frank
street 779). However, a sizable num-
Rock in all but name: his background
ber of professionals, fans and col-
206

In 1959, Robert Kanigher added a character to Wonder
Woman that would lead to future developments. Wonder
Girl first appeared in “The Secret Origin of Wonder Wom-
an” in WW #105 (April 1959). In this revised Silver Age ori-
gin, Kanigher established that Diana had in fact not been
created from clay but had been born before the Amazons
settled on Paradise Island. Several stories with Diana as
Wonder Girl followed, including the cover-featured “Ama-
zon Teen-Ager!” in issue #107. This Wonder Girl, in turn,
inspired an eventual revision that resulted in her being a
separate character who could appear alongside her name-
sake or as a member of the Teen Titans. That character
came along in Showcase #59 (December 1965).
More Washtone Covers
Robert Kanigher was an exponent of the washtone covers
developed by Jack Adler in 1956. He frequently used them
on his war titles. It helped that he had artist Jerry Granden-
etti doing many of them, because Grandenetti was one of
the most enthusiastic and deft users of the process. One of
Grandenetti’s best appeared on G. I. Combat #69 (February
1959), a shot of a young, nervous soldier alone in a forest.
208
Due to the vagaries
of the printing pro-
cess, the coloring of
the cover came out
either deep blue or
green. Either way,
the washtones cou-
pled with the use of
one color effectively
captured the fear
and loneliness of a
night vigil.
Joe Kubert was
also skilled at us-
Wonder Girl was introduced in a story ing washtones. He
drawn by Andru-Esposito in Wonder didn’t do as many
Woman #105 (April 1959). Cover of is-
sue #107 by Irv Novick. Wonder Woman TM
as Grandenetti,
and © DC Comics. but Kubert’s were
equally memorable.
In 1959, his cover on The Brave and the Bold #23
(April-May 1959), the last issue featuring the Vi-
king Prince, demonstrated how the grittiness of
the washtones perfectly complimented his style.
Gil Kane was another able user, demonstrating the
ability with his Adam Strange cover on Mystery in
Space #55 (November 1959). Even Dick Dillin, not
known as the most adventurous artist, produced
striking results on House of Mystery #92 (Novem-
ber 1959) based on the story “The Sleepers from
the Past!”
That the Adler washtone technique helped sales is
proven by National’s use of them throughout the
1960s. They would probably have appeared more
often except the artists had to be paid a little more
due to the increased effort involved.
Superman Gains a Cousin
The most important single character introduced
by Otto Binder at National in the 1950s was Super-
man’s cousin, Supergirl. Since Binder wrote so many tales
of Mary Marvel, the female member of Fawcett’s erstwhile
Marvel Family, it’s fitting that he produced the story that
brought Supergirl into the developing Superman universe.
This occurred in “The Supergirl from Krypton!” in Action
Comics #252 (May 1959).
In just eight pages, Superman discovered a rocket landing
near Metropolis that contained a teenage girl who not only
wore a costume based on his own, but—he was soon to dis-
cover—had all his super powers. “Don’t worry, Superman,”
she said, smiling. “I’m alive without a scratch!” Equally
amazing was the tale she told to explain how she too could
be from the planet Krypton: a chunk of the planet with “a
large bubble of air” remained intact after it exploded, al-
lowing its denizens to survive for years. When, like other
pieces of Krypton, the large fragment turned into Kryp-
tonite, the survivors covered its surface with lead plates
to protect them from the deadly rays. It was only when a
meteor shower ruptured the lead shielding that Argo City
was doomed, and a teenage Supergirl was sent in a rocket
ship to Earth by her father, Zor-El.
or other context without reference to an inside story. In
the post-war era, especially from 1950 forward, the covers
began representing an interior story, but still in a general
way that wasn’t often like an exact scene from the comics’
innards. When Irwin Donenfeld became editorial director,
he began putting more emphasis on “hooking” browsers
with an arresting cover. This idea, which led to the gorilla
covers, converged with the thought that covers should tan-
talize potential readers with the premise of a story inside,
resulting in the promotion-oriented, highly situational
covers that dominated the line by 1959.
Gorilla-mania spread to titles beyond Schwartz’s slate.
Batman #75 (February-March 1953) cover-featured “The
Gorilla Boss of Gotham City,” a story about a crime boss’s
brain being transplanted into the body of a giant gorilla. In
1959, Flash encountered Gorilla Grodd in three consecutive
issues (The Flash #106-108), though the character didn’t
appear on any of the covers. Beppo the Super-Monkey de-
buted in Superboy #76 (October 1959), yet another survi-
vor from Krypton. (Beppo ultimately made 16 Silver Age
appearances.) Superman #127 (February 1959) sported a
cover with a giant purple ape for the Binder-written story
“Titano the Super-Ape!” In that tale, a normal chimpan-
zee was sent into space in a rocket and was mutated into
a giant, super-powered simian by exposure to radiation in
outer space.
One National character literally became a gorilla. Congo
Bill, co-created by Whitney Ellsworth and George Papp in
More Fun #56 (June 1940), was always a second or third-
string character whose adventures moved to Action Comics
and stayed in its back pages through the 1940s and early
1950s. He was an intrepid adventurer operating from his
base in Africa. Congo Bill got his own short-lived solo title
215
in 1954. Then, improbable as it seems, someone (perhaps
Weisinger himself) suggested giving him the power to turn
into a gorilla at will. Thus, in Action Comics #248 (January
1959), he became Congorilla (by writer Robert Bernstein
and artist Howard Sherman), and continued as such until
1961, after a switch to Adventure Comics. Still, Congo Bill—
in one form or another—lasted more than 20 years, one of
the longest-lived of National’s backup features.
Other Developments at National in 1959
Blackhawk, much like Batman, succumbed to an inva-
sion of weird and alien menaces as the issues progressed
through the end of the decade. A bright spot for teen male
readers was the introduction of Lady Blackhawk, perhaps
harkening back to a much earlier adventure. Military Com-
ics #20 (July 1943) presented a story about an unnamed
woman who attempted to become the first female Black-
hawk. In “The Lady Blackhawk” (Blackhawk #133, Febru-
ary 1959), Zinda Blake trained to qualify for induction to
the team, but discovered that the Blackhawk code restrict-
ed membership to men.
Lady Blackhawk returned
occasionally as an hon-
orary member, looking
fetching in her short
skirt and bare legs.
Two more spin-off characters
appeared in 1959: Kid Flash and
Lady Blackhawk. Zinda Blake art
by Dick Dillin and Charles Cuidera.
Characters TM and © DC Comics.
 fine (if not too inspired) work by Ogden Whitney, and inte-
rior art was handled by John Rosenberger, John Forte, Paul
Reinman, John Buscema and others.
© Archie Publications, Inc. At the end of 1958, Hughes exercised his droll sense of
humor (under his pseudonym Shane O’Shea) with the in-
troduction of Herbie Popnecker, the short, bespectacled,
rotund boy with a fondness for lollipops. Herbie, called a
“little fat nothing” by his father, had powers (some genetic
and some derived from magical lollipops) such as being
able to talk to animals and fly. “Herbie’s Quiet Saturday Af-
ternoon!” in Forbidden Worlds #73 (December 1958) was a
“like one-off story; the character didn’t return until #94 (March-
the DC April 1961). Eventually, he got his own series.
artists” (Si- One of the most interesting developments at ACG was
mon 196). its use of painted covers. They appeared on AITU #109
When Kirby through #113, as well as #118, and were painted by Ogden
heard this, he Whitney. The cover on #112, the last issue in 1959, was a
was gone. Like spectacular depiction of a hand of fire about to grip an air-
The Double Life plane above an erupting volcano.
of Private Strong
#2, The Fly #2 was fin- Even ACG’s long-running Confessions of the Lovelorn ran
ished by other artists over painted covers on its last issues in the decade. It didn’t
Kirby layouts. Simon stayed have long to live beyond that point, ending in 1960, but its
for a couple more issues of The Fly, companion My Romantic Adventure proved hardier, surviv-
then went back to giving Sick his full ing into issues with 1964 cover dates. The fortunes of this
attention.
Archie Comics continued to publish The Fly
using artists John Giunta and John Rosenberger.
Such was the dawning interest in costumed heroes that
The Fly, mediocre at best without Kirby, sold sufficiently
to warrant continuation for several years. One wonders
about the fate of the character had Richard Goldwater not
made his ill-advised remarks. It was a regrettable coda to
the illustrious career of the Simon and Kirby team. (They
would work together briefly on projects for Harvey and
National in the coming years.)
The Archie Comics lineup at the end of 1959 consisted of
Adventures of Little Archie, Adventures of Pipsqueak, Archie
Comics, Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica, Archie’s Joke Book
Magazine, Archie’s Madhouse (a new title in 1959), Archie’s
Pal Jughead, Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals, Cosmo the Merry Mar-
tian, The Fly (changed to The Adventures of the Fly with is-
sue #7), Katy Keene, Katy Keene Pinup Parade, Laugh, Life
with Archie, Pep Comics, Super Duck and Wilbur.
Although Archie Comics still had seven non-Archie titles at
this point, the 1950s made clearer than ever that the firm’s
fortunes relied on the red-headed teenager from Riverdale.

American Comics Group

Under Richard E. Hughes’ indefatigable editorship, ACG
was holding on with four titles at the end of the 1950s. Two
were weird/mystery books and two were romance comics.
The firm’s longest running title was Adventures into the
Unknown, the pioneer of the horror genre. The Comics
Code had affected it and its companion book Forbidden
Worlds, but Hughes (using a number of pseudonyms) was
able to write appealing stories that emphasized human el- American Comics Group featured covers painted by Ogden Whitney on some issues in
ements and charm rather than scares. The covers featured 1959, such as Adventures into the Unknown #112. TM and © copyright holder.

224
 Appendix

A Farewell to EC from its “Number One fan”

From Ron Parker’s Hoohah! #6 (September 1956)

Introduction

Imagine if an adult fan had visited the offices of National Comics in 1939 and wrote
about talking with the editors, staff, writers and artists, from a first person point of view.
That didn’t happen ... but we do have such an essay by one who visited the EC offices in
New York City at the height of the “New Trend”. Larry Stark was known as “EC’s Number
One Fan” due to the many letters he sent to the publisher, commenting on virtually every
issue. As this essay describes, Bill Gaines did indeed have a sign in his office reading “God
help us to write stories that will please Larry Stark.”
If there is a downside to such a contemporary account, it’s that Larry didn’t quite have all
his facts straight, not having had access to all the research into EC that was subsequently
done by fans and comics historians. “Elegy” gives us a look inside the mind of an EC fan
as of mid-1956.
Note: The text appears exactly as it originally appeared, except for spelling corrections
and a few punctuation changes. Comic book titles that originally appeared in all capitals
have been italicized. It’s being reprinted with the permission of both Larry Stark and Ron
Parker.

Elegy
Archie Goodwin’s cover to the mimeographed
issue of Hoohah with Larry Stark’s article.

by Larry Stark

“Let us sit upon the ground,

And tell sad stories
Of the death of kings.”
– W. Shaxpy

EC is gone. Nothing remains but a memory, and the tat-
tered copies yellowing in the closets of collectors. For EC
death was long and cruel in coming, and almost as unde-
served as it was inevitable. The meteor of its genius was
hot and brief, yet flashed with such a brilliance as to make
forgetting difficult.
I suppose I was a normal introvert throughout adolescence,
delaying maturity with an over-attention toward books,
reading almost anything and deciding later of its worth.
Rather soon after beginning high school I found comic
books had become slightly amusing diversions though a
little below the dignity of any honest interest. They merit-
ed an occasional orgy, but piles of perused magazines rated
little but contempt. Then, about the middle of my senior
year (early 1950), Entertaining Comics first began to ap-
pear on the newsstands in their “New Trend” format, and
my careful intellectualism had to undergo a modification.
So far as I could see EC began the uses of both fantasy and
science-fiction in the comic field, though everyone jumped
on both bandwagons immediately. EC magazines, though,
were the only comics of any variety that I wanted to read
a second time; they were the only comics I could read
straight through, without my mind clogging with clichés
and rebelling somewhere in the middle. That is, they were
written well. Compared to competitors, EC’s were Pulitzer
Prize material, and compared with similar material in con-
temporary pulps ... or even by the masters of writing ... they
displayed a care and craftsmanship that the field did not
seem to deserve.
I had been writing almost constantly for two or three
years, more amateurish fiction than anything else, and
had always managed to finish stories with one grand
spark of inspiration. During that senior year, and the next
summer, I seemed to run out of flint. Happily, however,
I’d absorbed half a dozen collections of radio plays by Arch
Oboler and Norman Corwin, and spent some time with the
Speech and Drama department, and met some enthusias-
tic friends. During that summer, when ideas refused to
freely flow, I spent my time fooling with a recording-ma-
chine and grinding out an occasional adaptation of an EC
story in a radioscript form. The bare minimum of facilities,
plus the grand style of the men I’d taken as models, and an
appreciatory belief in the sacredness of the words which I

226
 American Comic Book Chronicles The 1950s
Works Cited

Chapter One: 1950 Tolworthy, Chris. “Marvel and DC Sales Figures.” Enter The
Story. 10 Feb. 2009. <http://zak-site.com/Great-American-
Variety on the Newsstand Novel/comic_sales.html>.

Arnold, Mark. Letter to the author. 11 Nov. 2010. U. S. Senate. “Reports on Comic Book Circulation Figures.”
U. S. Senate Report: Juvenile Delinquency. 1950.
Benson, John. “1972 EC Convention, The Horror Panel.”
Squa Tront (No. 8). 1978. Vassallo, Dr. Michael J. “Joe Maneely: Adventure Comics.”
Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Black Knight/Yellow Claw,
Benton, Mike. The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated (Vol., No. 1). New York, New York: Marvel Publishing, Inc.,
History. Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing, 1989. 2009.
Brown, Gary. The Four-Color Four
Color Index (Vol. 2). January, 2011. Chapter Two: 1951
Decker, Dwight, and Gary Groth. Before the Storm
“An Interview with William M.
Gaines.” The Comics Journal (No. Amash, Jim. “Ghost Writers in
81). May, 1983. the Sky.” Alter Ego (Vol. 3, No. 30).
November, 2003.
Geissman, Grant. “Interview
with Al Feldstein.” Tales of Terror! Benson, John. “A Conversation
Seattle, Washington and Timo- with Harvey Kurtzman and Bill
nium, Maryland: Fantagraphics Gaines.” Squa Tront (No. 9). 1983.
Books and Gemstone Publishing, Benson, John. “Notes on Two-
2000. Fisted Tales #21.” Complete EC
Hutchinson, Alan, and Gary Library: Two-Fisted Tales (Vol. 1).
Brown. Giant Dell Giant Index: West Plains, Missouri: Russ Co-
The Followup. October, 2010. chran Publishing, 1980.

Jones, William, Jr. Classics Illus- Benton, Michael. Science Fiction

trated: A Cultural History, Second Comics: The Illustrated History.
Edition. Jefferson, North Caro- Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing,
lina: McFarland and Company, 1992.
Inc., 2011. Cooke, Jon B. “Donenfeld’s Com-
O’Brien, Elizabeth A. and Johan- ics.” Comic Book Artist Collection
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in Dayton, Ohio—A Continuing TwoMorrows Publishing, 2002.
Study.” U. S. Senate Report: Juve- Schwartz, Julius, with Brian M.
nile Delinquency. 1950. Thomsen. Man of Two Worlds.
Phelps, Don. “Interview with New York, New York: HarperCol-
John Stanley.” 1976 New Con Pro- Vic Torry and His Flying Saucer (1950) from Fawcett Publications. © lins Publishers, Inc., 2000.
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gram Book. 1976. Severin, Marie. From a tape made
Schelly, Bill. “Interview with Vincent Sullivan.” 1994, un- by John Benson of a 1975 comicon appearance.
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Simon, Joe, and Jack Kirby. The Best of Simon and Kirby. Information and Suggestions: 1950.
London, England: Titan Books, 2009. Vasquez, Tina. “Ramona Fradon: A Woman’s Life in Com-
Spicer, Bill. “Interview with Harry Harrison.” Graphic Sto- ics.” Graphic Novel Reporter. 2012. <http://www.graphic-
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comics-interview>
Spicer, Bill. “Interview with John Severin.” Graphic Story
Magazine (No. 13). Spring, 1971.

230
 American Comic Book Chronicles The 1950s
Index

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AMERICAN
3-D comics 6, 75-9, 85, 87, All-Star Comics 11, 13, 27, Avon (publisher) 19, 29, Binder, Otto 14, 76, 91, 94,
90-3, 124 COMIC BOOK 50, 146, 189, 203 31, 41, 47, 50-1, 53-4, 57, 105-6, 120, 133, 181-5,
Aamodt, Kim 46 CHRONICLES: All-Star Western 11, 50 131, 142 208, 212-4, 216-7

47, 73
The 1950s
Ace Publications 16, 45, Amazing Adult Fantasy
179, 221
Ayers,
177,
Dick 20, 98, 138-9,
193, 201, 221
Bizarro 183-5, 187
Black Cat 15
In TwoMorrows’ ambitious new Baby Huey, The Baby Giant
Aces High 133series documenting each American
decade Comics Group Black Cat 43
Ackerman, Forrest J. 222
of comic book history, BILL (AGC) 29, 45, 54, 57, 126, 127, 145 Black Cat Mystery 43, 85-7
Action ComicsSCHELLY
10-4, 19, 180-1,
tackles comics of the 198, 218, 224-5 Bails, Jerry 189, 205 Black Cat Mystic 127, 166,
Atomic Era of
51, 72, 74, 86, 91, 94, 95, Marilyn Monroe
American Eagle 50, 228 Baker, Matt 8, 16, 45, 67-8, 196
and Elvis Presley: EC’s TALES OF 70, 119
112, 145, 168,
THE169,
CRYPT,182,
MAD, CARL American
BARKS’ News (ANC) 22, Black Cat Western 127
184, 186, 208-9,
Donald215 112, 166-7, 177-8
Duck and Uncle Scrooge, Barclay, Violet (aka Black Cobra 101
Adam Strangere-tooling
7, 188-9, the FLASH in Showcase Murphy 14, 21,
Anderson, Valerie) 45
#4, return of Timely’s CAPTAIN Black Fury 128
202, 208, 211 31, 40, 205 Barks, Carl 6, 9, 23-6, 56,
AMERICA, HUMAN TORCH AND Black Knight 141
Adler, Jack 150, 153-5, Andru, Ross 102, 104, 163, 60-1, 63, 88, 121, 130,
SUB-MARINER, FREDRIC Black Magic 43, 46, 87
210-1 WERTHAM’s anti-comics182, 206, 217 160-2, 199
campaign, Barry, Dan 13-4, 51, 167, Blackhawk 15, 81, 139,
Adventure Comics 10-1,and44,more! Antoshak, Perry 15, 43, 86
217 163, 215
94, 120, 168, 182-3, 185, (240-page Aquaman 11, 44, 216-7
FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $40.95
193, 201, 213, 216-7 (Digital Edition) $12.95Publications
• ISBN: 9781605490540 Barry, Sy 13, 51 Blackhawk 15, 81, 145, 215
Archie Comics
Adventures into the Bat-Hound (Ace) 118, 120, Blake, Zinda 215
19, 78, 88-9, 112, 118,
http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1111

Unknown 13, 29, 126,
180, 224
Adventures of Bob Hope 13,
143, 164
Adventures of Dean Martin
and Jerry Lewis, The 13,
66, 143, 164
Adventures of Rex the
Wonder Dog, The 66, 154
Adventures of Superman,
The (TV series) 8, 13, 72,
74, 91, 96, 99, 212-3, 219
Ajax/Farrell 20, 22, 54, 87,
101, 103, 139
Alarming Tales 166, 196
All-American Comics
(publisher) 11, 27, 50,
65, 143, 163-4
All-American Men of War
65-6, 95, 124, 205
All-American Western 12,
50, 70
126-7, 180, 183, 196, 124, 152
198, 223-4 Batman 10, 13, 51, 74, 94-
Arnold, Everett M. (“Busy”) 5, 107, 118, 120-2, 152,
15, 163 191-2, 215
Association of Comics Batman 10-13, 51, 87, 94,
Magazine Publishers 107, 121-4, 143, 152-3,
(ACMP) 52, 109 191, 212, 217, 221
Atkinson, Ruth 45 Battle 49, 63, 178
Atlas comics 8, 17-8, 41, Battle Front 125
45-7, 49, 54, 57, 61, 63- Battlefield 63-4
5, 67-9, 72, 85, 89, 95-9, Battleground 125
103, 118, 124-5, 138, Batwoman 144, 152
141, 151, 158-9, 176-8
Beck, C. C. 14, 76, 223
Atlas distributing 41, 177
Bender, Lauretta, Dr. 111
Atlas implosion 167, 176-8,
Beppo the Super-Monkey
194, 218, 221
215
Atomic Attack 73
Bernstein, Robert 44, 66,
Atomic War! 73, 74 133, 215-6
Attack on Planet Mars 41 Best of Boy’s Life 196
Avenger, The 95, 138-9 Better Publications 45
Big Town 13, 51, 143
Blue Beetle 139, 160
Blue Beetle 95
Blue Bolt Comics 21
Blue Bolt Weird Tales of
Terror 47
Blum, Alex 21-2, 89
Boltinoff, Murray 44, 145,
217
Boring, Wayne 13, 74, 181,
185-7, 212, 214
Boys’ Ranch 15-6
Bradbury, Ray 37, 43, 79,
81-2
Brainiac 182-4, 187
Brant, Ruth 45
Brave and the Bold, The
124, 141-2, 154, 189-91,
200-1, 205, 208, 211, 217
Breslauer, Bernie 11
Brewster, Ann 45
Broderick, Warren 69

234