Soviet Union and blackmailing Nikita Khrushchev
by claiming to have a copy of Stalin's political testa-
"Gentlemen may cry. Peace! peace!—but there is
no peace .. ." Patrick Henry's cry of 1775 has become
the theme of the "cold war comics" today.
What are cold war comics? In American news-
papers, they are strips whose central characters at
one time or another participate in the cold war,
usually by fighting, at home or abroad, against one
Communist menace or another. Some of these strips
also serve as propaganda for the armed forces.
This does not mean that they are monolithic. In
fact, on occasion, quite the contrary is true. Captain
Easy has battled homegrown xénophobes who
bombed schools and dynamited synagogues, while
Steve Canyon, in the face of the aroused populace
of an American town, has defended the right of
peace marchers to demonstrate at an ICBM base.
Despite these individual instances, on the whole
the cold war comics are defending and promoting
an American point of view that is jingoistic, often
highly belligerent, and meant to be taken seriously.
The strips are usually extremely realistic in detail,
no matter how far-fetched the plot. What could be
more unbelievable than a story line which has the
father of Terry Lee's beloved turning up in the
42 Columbia Journalism Review
ment? Yet the tale is made almost credible by panels
which are Brueghel-like in their naturalistic detail
of the Kremlin and its rulers.
Cold-war comics can be divided into two groups.
One is those whose central characters are cold-war
warriors, whether they be freelance like Johnny
Hazard (a charter pilot) or members of the armed
forces like Captain Dan Flagg, USMC. This group
represents the survivors of the spate of action and
adventure strips that flourished in the 193O's and
194O's. With a few exceptions these strips declined
in the 195O's. However, some of them found a new
lease on life by hitching their plots to the cold war.
Battling America's enemies was nothing new for
comic strip heroes, but whereas in the past (at least
in peacetime) Don Winslow and Secret Agent X-9
and their contemporaries had fought the represen-
tatives of an "un-named foreign power," now Smilin'
Jack and Buz Sawyer fight specific foes in the Com-
munist world.
These foes are as up-to-date as the headlines of
the newspapers in which the strip appears: Smilin'
Jack breaks up a ring of Cuban smugglers who had
been bringing dope into the United States from be-
hind the "castor oil curtain." Buz Sav^ryer is instru-
mental in stopping a Zengakuran march against a
U.S. naval base in Japan.
Even when the story lines move away from the
cold war the illustrators still offer a high public-
affairs content. Steve Canyon returns to Washington
for reassignment and learns about the new space
orientation of the Air Force; Captain Easy discusses
the state of the American economy with his employer,
the head of McKee industries; Terry Lee's ward re-
turns to the United States from Asia to obtain an
education and is enrolled in the Air Force Academy.
It is not difficult to understand why the illustrators
of the strips in this group, especially those whose
central characters are enrolled in some branch of the
armed forces, receive excellent co-operation from
some of the personnel of government defense agencies.
The second group of cold-war comics differs from
the first not in outlook but in presentation. Usually
the situations in these strips, although often not re-
mote from either violence or contemporary life, are
removed from current political events. Yet occasion-
ally a political point of view is eased into the sur-
roundings that the illustrators have created. The
insidiousness of this material is that a hard-line view
of the cold war becomes a part of everyday life in
the comics.
 ON 5ECON17 TH0U6HT.
^OAAAAANC7ER,I'LL HAVE
"TO FALL PACK ON AN
OLP AMERICAN Tf?AI7lTI0N
— THAT I ' M INNOCENT
UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY/
Johnny Hazard finds out about Soviet law from a Russian naval commander
Enough comic strips follow this line to make it
worth noting. In attempting to circumvent red tape
while hurrying to join Mary Perkins, her husband
Pete Fletcher is detained by Communist guards for
having illegally crossed the frontier. Subsequent
events cause Mary to reflect that it is impossible
"not [to] worry ... with Pete interned . . . and he
probably had his cameras . . . they've held people for
years with less reason than that." Kerry Drake, while
on vacation in Florida, becomes involved with a
group headed by a bearded, cigar-smoking individual
dressed in GI fatigues who is planning a phony inva-
sion of a Caribbean island in order to arouse anti-
American feeling. The Saint finds that his competi-
tors in a treasure hunt are Eastern European Com-
munists who had once been ardent Nazis.
Comment in the comics about the American estab-
lishment and its domestic and international policies
is not limited to these strips. Lil' Abner, Pogo and
their like are frequently as topical as any of the cold-
war comics. But in toto they are not as consistently
HOW UNFCM?TUNATE FOR
THAT WE 170 NOT
YOUR OUTMOÍ7Et7 AMERICAN
TRADITIONS/
5-16
•I
CONTINUE^/**
King Features Syndicate 195S
propagandistic; there is editorializing but not con-
tinuous sermonizing. B.C. may comment ironically,
even acidly sometimes, about the foibles of our time,
but there is no likelihood in that strip of a state -
ment such as that by a character in Terry and the
Pirates that "the only good Red is a dead Red."
In the past many American comics have been
bellicose, but rarely did they comment so recogniz-
ably on the international scene.
One must ask whether the cold-war comics, di-
rected at the least sophisticated part of the audience,
and offering glib solutions to world problems and
caricatures of contemporary personalities both East
and West, do not actually do harm. A newspaper
presents itself as a reporter of fact; these comic strips
are misrepresentations of actuality. The cold-war
comics raise questions of journalistic responsibility
for newspapers and their editors.
The illustrations w€re selected from a survey of six
New York newspapers from 1957 through 1963.
Winter, ¡965 43
AC A REPRESEKTATIVE' OF SATELLCMA^ I'LLTAKECAREOFyoU
WE PROTEST THIS CODDLINS OF TWO LATER...BUT IN THE
THE CAPITALIST AMERICANS •••mAT
DRESS WAS INVENTED BV US
150 YEARS ASO-- WE ARE
,\A^LKINS OUT'OF THIS
WOMAN OUT OF
DE6RADIN6 EXPOSITION.' FUSS/A ///

h'.ZA

Chicago Tribune 1962

Winnie Winkle shows development of "actuality" in cold-war comics. When Winnie Winkle
went to Paris in 1950, her antagonist was a fictional "Satellovian" whose actions resembled
those of a Soviet delegate to the U.N. In 1962 she went to Moscow as part of a cultural
exchange program and proved annoying to an unmistakably identified Kremlin ruler

NOM SET FREE, DW a A â 6 NOTES THAT MANY CHAM«e5 HAVE OOME

pRE-CASmo oves, I N T H I S
REP BASnON IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE, HE St£S...
KUSSIfiM rANKS
KOUING nROU6H THE ,
A STEADY STREAM OF RAOIO
TV PKCFASANPA...
...THE CMNIPKEXNT
PECPLS'S MILITIA.. ... HAVANA,
FINPS, Vita TUINB>
INTO A S T R M f i C
ANPAL/MO5T
UNNATUtîAt CrTY,
5EETHIN6 »WTM'

...PCUnCAL
PCXÍTERS PLASTEKEO
ALL CV&iHAVANA...

McNaught Syndicate 1963

Cold-war comics comment freely on contemporary history. Dan Flagg (above) reported the
scene in Cuba; Captain Easy (below) summarized the U-2 incident of 1960 within weeks

AFTER THE5Ê U-2'5 VK) OTHER PLANE CAM APPROACH IT.PM.'. FOK I
WERE \»tZ> »I YEAR^ RV&&IAU INTERCEPTOR« TRICO M VAIM TO
JAPAU FOR VWEA-V FLV IW W t THIM AlK •ACHtM.i.OWLV TOIWJ^HÄJTMIE* ttLÖW. THEWl
PAWM ITHEÏIHOPTS THER RÊ5EA(fCH V AT <X}MO Htr.t^r I ENOIME FLAUE OUT M0U6HT?0<Mf«?U-IP0WNj
ALASKA«, ONLY. WE'LL PUT WITH\N REACH...
ro THE FLMT " EM SACK TO WORK
.«JE FOR rr* IM TH'
K)P TO THE

ROAR A S T «
U-2 STREAKS
DOWM THft
RUN W A V . .

NEA 1960

44 Columbia Journalism Review

 • u r WMV HAVf -wu TRUSTS VOU. 5 0 LffCAllZE,COMRAPt. BUT VMCN TNS FMtTY
vtia suspia KOTMIHG. IS tNDANâfREP. TMERe IS NO ROOM fO«
COWMDfCltSSKOV •UT JUATi JUST ITi BOURCIOlfi SCNTIMINT^YOU WIU CUVki
«USTKLIQWrniTt VA WiRE FRIBNDS. cur yoUR ASSIGNMEKT. PO YOU UWOtRSTAWPf
IN A WAt -ID MKWI « U THAT X AM, MY
NOtt MIITION
; X owe TO
CHKSMM

King Features Syndicate 1958

Comic strip readers meet "the enemy" as the artist sees him — unsentimental and cruel
in Buz Sawyer (above); arrogant and inhuman in Terry and Big Ben Bolt (below)

AFTEI? U5, HEI?K ^OClOl^. I ^mW VOU-WB,

NOT you GEmMS, ARE NOW THE A^A5TER
BBÍ-OWLY M4CHIWES
WHO 4IÎÊ WOT p^mm^o

News Syndicate 1958 King Features Syndicate 1959

6ECRia* WEAPONS
THEIR PLACE. BUT I, ANNíE,
AM OLD^FASHiONÊDf I DONT
BELIEVE IN SHARING MV
PEFENSE SECRETS!
As always, Little Orphan Annie's
kindly acquaintances leave no room
for doubt about their views

News Syndicate 1959

Winter, ¡965 45

THE FlOOP OF NARCOTIC
DRU6$ FROM RED CHINA
IS NOT A PRIVATE BUSINESS;
GENTLEMEN. IT IS A
FORTHE PURPOSE OF
DEMORALIZINâ TME
PtOPlE OF FREE ASIA'.
IT FINANCESCOUNUESSCOMAMWilST A^mnÉSTHROUCMOtfr •rtE »HVPOOERMIC* WAR IS ONE OF THE
«VOSTSUBTLE AMO VICIOltf WARS IN HlSTOfM'.
HE W R L , IT p/ws THE ^
STUDENT RIOTS, ^ WHO INFILTRATES A a HORRIILE/ vur <
A ÔOVERNMENTdf Fice. IT IS A / M U L T I ' M I L L I O N -
DOLLAR BUSINESS,
EFFECTIVE.'

Xing Features Syndicate 1962

TD KIP VS/\/BWBN WITH Birr IT 15 THE FEAR OF ^

JsJ CNEAAy A^AXIAMIM HI$ ONE COÜ^iTBR-BLOV^
HAVE THIS TOWN WARNlN(5/AN ROM EACH SnE,PH}9 THE
2EK0EP IN ALREApy/ ENTIRE BKTTBZ/ $.TRAT£6IC AIR COM/V^AMP,
COULP fiRE NO ¡THAT KEBP9 CERTAIN
AAORß THAN FINGERS OUT OF OUR PIB '
ONE COUNTER; IF WE EVER HAVE TO USE Characters in the cold-war comics are
THESE WEAPONS, WE SHALL often placed on the platform by their
HAVE FAILBP OU^ MISSION.' creators and allowed to lecture the
reader. Buz Sawyer (above), Steve
Canyon (left), and Smilin' Jack (be-
low) have become idea salesmen as
well as heroes

Field Enterprises 1962

News Syndicate 1958

w e FACE WAMT TO TVIE REP TWIS

AJJ INSIDIOUS PESTROy OUR :Ne*AY CAU-
I'M HOWOREP T o SPEAK ENÊMV TWAT IS ,V\INC?$ W/TH NOT CONQUER YOU'VE JUST
To THE EVIL OF US BECAUSE
To y o u STRONÔ yoU'^c OUR WE HAVE SUCH
JET ñLOTS AT SEPARATES
TfcAlNEC? AAEN THEMEN
T o DEFEND THE

46 Columbia Journalism Review

 T C H T C H ; KNOBBY. Y
NERTZ.» I'M T1RBP ENJOV VER TURKEY VES INOEEQ
O N T r ' PILSRIM
OF US BBN' PUSHED
FER SUCH CARRIEPGUKST'T«
AROUNP/IF TROUBLE'S
COMIN;LETITCOME/
UPSETTI R R S T THANKSGIVING eAse
MAKE NO
MISTAKE-
TOPAY
AMERICA'S NOT
ONLV EATING
TURKEY, IT'S
REAPV TO
TALK TURKEY
IN THE ONLY
LANGl/AGC
VOU PIG/

McNaught Syndicate 1961

Thanksgiving finds Joe Patooka and his friends in a mood far from the spirit of the day'

MEANWHILE, ON A TRAIN RETURNING FRO^N

PARIS... WE'RE 5T-RENÖTH TO COUNTER REP
THEY TALK OF »PATIENCE ANP H/ WITHOUT U5 APEMEN THE
ELICACy/ I ALWAYS THOUGHT 50VIET5 WOULP TURN THE FREE WORLP
THAT COUNTWE5 THAT VIOLATED INTD5ATFLLITE5 WITH A FEW
THE RI6HTS OF A CITIZEN OF
ANOTHER COUNTRY WERE TELEPHONE
PEALT WITH MEDIA
AND FORCEFULty/

Chicago Tribune 1959 News Syndicate 1961

On Stage offers an editorial in favor of Big-Stick Eyeball to eyeball, Terry argues down the weak
Diplomacy through the musings of Mary Perkins, voice of compromise, in this case belonging to a
whose fiance is held by the Reds pretty, titled Englishwoman

OUR »rtAipfN VCfVAfiE WTME WE'W SCOVTID TVE SUOSS CF

, MKSILE AMERICA.'WPVt IAIN FOB THKC PERIL BELOW I
FIRING 'CAVIAR' HAS lEEKI PAVS OFF TME COAfT NNRmCTD.'

How Soviet Submarine^

A CUOKIOtI« SUCCESS.' IN FAa, WEVE «MPE MONKEYS
OF THC VAMKEE AKn-SUÏ/MKIKIE
WAEFAKE SMIPS AND PlANES.

Threaten Big Ü. 5. Otiesi

Ha nii*lia< imiaiMi IhMa al Ha nat a< Ha » t U . TWy aba
•nrf IMW KM HiiMt la W>« dwliimd-*» < i t> i * hi • MTÍM W «rlklM *f*»fl
ktuMfkO« tMk f « « M I

B j DAN BRIGHAM
N. T. JaWMl.Aacrioâa MaH Cam
AT U A WITH TASK OROUP ALFA
King Features Syndicate 1960 —You could tura been a ilttlni dock
for a lOTlAt lubmarlne, no miUcr
where jon IlTcd in tha Volita 0 U l u —
It UM Rtvy hftiln't done tht monu-
"News" overlaps art. In Buzz Sawyer a Soviet sub- mental Job It b u d(U)c to ereaU hunt-
fr-klUer (orcu lUta this on« to n | b i
marine played hide-and-seek with the U.S. Navy ibe m o u f c at ML.
Latest official eatlmatu of Sonet
for weeks before the story at right appeared in the Rub Jtrvifth, aeconllni to "Jaaa'a
Ftghtlni flhlpt," the K>-caPed "blbln"
New York Journal-American, January 17, I960 of t -* - - -«.

Winter, 1965 47
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