Alter Ego #128 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Thomas’ Not-So-Innocent Comics Fanzine

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No.128 September 2014

SEDUCING THE INNOCENT with

DR. FREDRIC WERTHAM!

Heroes TM & © DC Comics; other art © Jason Paulos and Daniel James Cox.

by Carol L. Tilley

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HISTORY OF THE COMICS CODE!

Edited by ROY THOMAS The first and greatest “hero-zine”—ALL-NEW, focusing on GOLDEN AND SILVER AGE comics and creators with ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, UNSEEN ART, P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA [Fawcett Collectors of America], MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY’S Comic Fandom Archive, and more!

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JOE KUBERT TRIBUTE! Four Kubert interviews, art by RUSS HEATH, NEAL ADAMS, MURPHY ANDERSON, MICHAEL KALUTA, SAM GLANZMAN, and others, MR. MONSTER’S COMIC CRYPT, BILL SCHELLY’s Comic Fandom Archive, FCA’s Captain Video conclusion by GEORGE EVANS that inspired Avengers foe Ultron, cover by KUBERT, with a portrait by DANIEL JAMES COX!

GOLDEN AGE ARTISTS L.B. COLE AND JAY DISBROW! DISBROW’s memoir of COLE and his work on CAT-MAN, art by BOB FUJITANI, CHARLES QUINLAN, IRWIN HASEN, FCA (Fawcett Collector’s of America) on the two-media career of Captain Video, MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom history, Cat-Man cover by L.B. COLE!

AVENGERS 50th ANNIVERSARY! WILL MURRAY on the group’s behind-thescenes origin, a look at its first decade with ROY THOMAS, STAN LEE, JACK KIRBY, THE BROTHERS BUSCEMA, TUSKA, ADAMS, COLAN, BUCKLER, ENGLEHART, MERRY MARVEL MARCHING SOCIETY, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, FCA, Golden Age Blue Beetle artist E.C. STONER, unused Avengers cover by DON HECK!

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ALTER EGO #121

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ALTER EGO #123

MARC SWAYZE TRIBUTE ISSUE, spotlighting FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America)! Salutes from Fawcett alumnus C.C. BECK and OTTO BINDER, interview with wife JUNE SWAYZE, a full Phantom Eagle story from Wow Comics, plus interview with 1950s Dell/Western artist MEL KEEFER, MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and a SWAYZE Marvel Family cover art from the 1940s!

X-MEN SALUTE! 1963-69 secrets, rare ‘60s BRAZILIAN X-MEN stories, lost ‘60s XMen “character sheet” by STAN LEE, ROY THOMAS on the 1970s revival, art and artifacts by KIRBY, ROTH, ADAMS, HECK, FRIEDRICH, and BUSCEMA—plus the MMMS fan club story, interview with Golden Age writer ED SILVERMAN, FCA, Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLY, and JACK KIRBY’s unused X-Men #10 cover!

GOLDEN AGE JUSTICE SOCIETY ISSUE! Features on JOHN B. WENTWORTH (Johnny Thunder), LEN SANSONE (The Atom), and BERNARD SACHS (All-Star Comics inker), art by CARMINE INFANTINO, BOB OKSNER, HOWARD PURCELL, STAN ASCHMEIER, BEN FLINTON, and H.G. PETER, plus FCA, Mr. Monster, and more! Cover homage by SHANE FOLEY to a vintage All-Star image by IRWIN HASEN!

Farewell salute to the COMICS BUYER’S GUIDE! TBG/CBG history and remembrances from ALAN LIGHT, MURRAY BISHOFF, MAGGIE THOMPSON, BRENT FRANKENHOFF, “final” CBG columns by MARK EVANIER, TONY ISABELLA, PETER DAVID, FRED HEMBECK, JOHN LUSTIG, classic art by DON NEWTON, MIKE VOSBURG, JACK KIRBY, MIKE NASSER, plus FCA, Mr. Monster, and more!

DENNY O’NEIL’s Silver Age career at Marvel, Charlton, and DC—aided and abetted by ADAMS, KALUTA, SEKOWSKY, LEE, GIORDANO, THOMAS, SCHWARTZ, APARO, BOYETTE, DILLIN, SWAN, DITKO, et al. Plus, we begin serializing AMY KISTE NYBERG’s groundbreaking book on the history of the Comics Code, FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLY and more!

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We spotlight HERB TRIMPE’s work on Hulk, Iron Man, S.H.I.E.L.D., Ghost Rider, Ant-Man, Silver Surfer, War of the Worlds, Ka-Zar, even Phantom Eagle, and featuring THE SEVERIN SIBLINGS, LEE, FRIEDRICH, THOMAS, GRAINGER, BUSCEMA, and others, plus more of AMY KISTE NYBERG’s Comics Code history, M. THOMAS INGE on Communism and 1950s comic books, FCA, Mr. Monster, and more!

Golden Age “Air Wave” artist LEE HARRIS discussed by his son JONATHAN LEVEY to interviewer RICHARD J. ARNDT, with rarely-seen 1940s art treasures (including mysterious, never-published art of an alternate version of DC’s Tarantula)! Plus more of AMY KISTE NYBERG’s exposé on the Comics Code, artist SAL AMENDOLA tells the story of the Academy of Comic Book Arts, FCA, Mr. Monster, and more!

Second big issue on 3-D COMICS OF THE 1950s! KEN QUATTRO looks at the controversy involving JOE KUBERT, NORMAN MAURER, BILL GAINES, and AL FELDSTEIN! Plus more fabulous Captain 3-D by SIMON & KIRBY and MORT MESKIN— 3-D thrills from BOB POWELL, HOWARD NOSTRAND, JAY DISBROW and others— the career of Treasure Chest artist VEE QUINTAL, FCA, Mr. Monster, and more!

1940s WILL EISNER/”BUSY” ARNOLD letters between the creator of The Spirit and his Quality Comics partner, art and artifacts by FINE, CRANDALL, CUIDERA, CARDY, KOTZKY, BLUM, NORDLING, and others! Plus Golden Age MLJ artist JOHN BULTHIUS, more of AMY KISTE NYBERG’s History of the Comics Code, FCA, Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLY, cover by DANIEL JAMES COX and JASON PAULOS!

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Vol. 3, No. 128 / September 2014 Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck

If you’re viewing a Digital Edition of this publication,

Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert

PLEASE READ THIS:

Editorial Honor Roll

Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich

Proofreaders

Rob Smentek William J. Dowlding

Cover Artists

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With Special Thanks to:

Heidi Amash Tom Anderson Ger Apeldoorn William Aronis Bob Bailey Rod Beck John Benson Mike Bromberg Bill Broomall Shaun Clancy Ray Cuthbert Craig Delich Robert A. Emmens Danny Fingeroth Shane Foley Rebecca FrazierSmith Jeff Gelb Janet Gilbert Don Glut Jennifer T. Go Grand Comics Database Randy Graves Robert Greenberger Larry Guidry George Hagenauer David Hajdu Alan Hutchinson Alex Jay Aaron Kaplan Sharon Karibian

Jim Kealy Mark Lewis Alan Light Jean-Marc Lofficier Jim Ludwig Doug Martin Bruce Mason Thomas H. Miller Brian K. Morris Sequart News (website) Amy Kiste Nyberg Dennis O’Neil Patrick Powell Gene Reed Tony Rose Randy Sargent L. Brian Stauffer Henry Steele Carol Strickland Jeff Taylor Stan Taylor Dann Thomas Steven Thompson Mike Tiefenbacher Carol L. Tilley Sean Turenen Dr. Michael J. Vassallo Hames Ware Steven Willis

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Bhob Stewart

Contents Writer/Editorial: Thanks for Nothing!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Seducing The Innocent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Carol L. Tilley on the use (and misuse) of evidence in Dr. Fredric Wertham’s 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent.

Seal Of Approval: History Of The Comic Code – Ch. 5 . . . 30 The implementation of the Code in the mid-1950s, continuing Amy Kiste Nyberg’s 1998 study.

Special Interlude: “The Will Of William Wilson,” PP. Y & Z . . 53 The final pages of the long-long 1940s “Justice Society” story—first time in color!

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Whatever Happened To The Boy Of Tomorrow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Michael T. Gilbert presents Shaun Clancy’s conversation with “The Superboy of 1940.”

Comic Fandom Archive—In Memoriam: Bhob Stewart . . . . 61 Bill Schelly on one of comic fandom’s brightest lights.

re: [correspondence & corrections] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #188 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 P.C. Hamerlinck with original Shazam! writer Denny O’Neil—plus more of Otto Binder’s memoir.

On Our Cover: For the second issue in a row, artists Jason Paulos and Daniel James Cox knocked themselves out, coming up with several different designs for our first (and perhaps last) cover ever to spotlight Dr. Fredric Wertham, “the scourge of comic books,” before they settled on this superlative rendition. For earlier potential versions of this cover, see p. 25. [Superman, Batman, Robin, & Wonder Woman TM & © DC Comics; other art © 2014 Jason Paulos & Daniel James Cox.]

Above: Just this once, we’re putting a photo as well as an illustration atop our contents page— an oft-reproduced pic of Dr. Fredric Wertham perusing an issue of EC’s black-&-white semi-comics magazine Shock Illustrated #1 (Oct.-Nov. 1955); cover by Jack Kamen. This was Bill Gaines’ short-lived, non-Code successor to its color comic Shock SuspenStories, crossed with Psychoanalysis. Any bets as to what the Doc thought of it? [Shock Illustrated cover © William M. Gaines Agent, Inc.]

Alter EgoTM is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Eight-issue subscriptions: $67 US, $85 Canada, $104 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in China. ISSN: 1932-6890 FIRST PRINTING.

writer/editorial

Thanks For Nothing!

hought I’d pretty much said everything I wanted to say about Dr. Fredric Wertham and his half-baked 1954 screed Seduction of the Innocent in last issue’s writer/editorial.

But, maybe not quite. Actually, and I’m not the first to point this out, maybe people like me, whose main joy in becoming comics professionals was working on adventure-hero comics, should thank him. After all, both the publication of his book and the comicscentered hearings of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency occurred in ’54, and between them they created an imperfect storm which led to the formation by year’s end of the Comic Magazine Association of America (or, as my eloquent artist friend Gil Kane used to refer to it, “the Cattlemen’s Benevolent Protective Association”) and its Comic Code. And it’s perhaps not a coincidence that, roughly a year later, an all-important editorial meeting at National/DC led to a half-hearted stab at resuscitating “The Flash,” once the most popular of the numerous super-heroes whose adventures DC had discontinued some years earlier. In other words, it’s possible to make an argument that, without Wertham and the Code between them putting an end to comic books that purveyed horror, violent crime, and sexual innuendo (and thus were more likely to appeal to older readers), DC might not have been casting about quite as fervently for less sophisticated concepts, with the result that someone came up with Showcase as a try-out mag for features in which the company didn’t have enough faith to simply launch in their own titles. Of course, there had been attempts all during the 1950s to revive the super-hero model that had mostly petered out by the late ’40s: DC’s own “Captain Comet” in 1951, then the spurt of short-lived costumed heroes revived or spawned after the early’50s success of The Adventures of Superman on TV.

But the fact remains: “The Flash” is the one that worked out, the one that led to more DC revivals (“Green Lantern,” “Justice League of America”), with the last-named concept leading directly to Lee and Kirby’s Fantastic Four and the whole spectrum since. Sure, the success of “The Flash” was due to all sorts of intangible factors (including the talent of the creative team composed of Julius Schwartz, Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino, and John Broome). But maybe the whole thing wouldn’t have happened without that less than gentle 1954 nudge from Wertham and his ilk. Yeah, I know. Thanking Wertham is a bit like thanking the guy who pushed you off the dock so that you found out you could swim… or thanking a beachfront bully for kicking sand in your face and giving you an incentive to order that Charles Atlas course so that you could eventually kick the stuffings out of said bully. In that sense… and only in that sense… could I ever feel anything but repulsion toward the sloppy (and, as Carol L. Tilley details in this issue, often intellectually dishonest) methods that Wertham employed in his 1940s-50s assault on comic books. In the end, Ms. Tilley, along with Dr. Nyberg in her 1998 book Seal of Approval that we’re in the process of reprinting, is far more forgiving of the good Doctor than I can ever be. Yes, I admire his desire to work with the disadvantaged. But he was still out to gut an industry… and to a great extent he succeeded. That it survived, and eventually thrived, was not a consummation that he devoutly wished. So somebody else besides me is going to have to thank him. Be my guest. Bestest,

# COMING IN OCTOBER 129 EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS IN THE COMICS! How The Master Of Adventure Conquered Comic Strips, Comic Books, & Cyberspace!

Art © & all characters TM

Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

• Cover montage of ERB heroes by GRINDBERG, KALUTA, KANE, KUBERT, MANNING, MARSH, & WEISS! • Tarzan! John Carter of Mars! Pellucidar! Carson of Venus! The Land That Time Forgot! Edgar Rice Burroughs’ heroes in the comics medium—from the 1929 comic strips through comic books from United Features, Dell, Gold Key, Charlton, DC, Malibu, Marvel, & Dark Horse… to the ERB-Europe comic book line that never was… to today’s online strips from ERB, Inc.—examined by experts ALBERTO BECATTINI, HENRY FRANKE III, TRACY SCOTT GRIFFIN, DICK LUPOFF, STEPHAN FRIEDT, & JIM SULLOS! • Fabulous ERB-related comic art, some of it never seen before, by the above cover artists, plus FOSTER • HOGARTH • MAXON • CELARDO • LUBBERS • REINMAN • CARDY • GRELL • MORROW • BURROUGHS • GLANZMAN • ANDERSON • THORNE • AMENDOLA • The Brothers BUSCEMA • YEATES • MARCOS • KWAPISZ • PEGASO • FLOYD • MODER, et al.! (And some of the writers weren’t half bad, either!) • Plus—FCA with BINDER & BECK • MICHAEL T. GILBERT, & MORE!

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G N I C U D SE THE T N E C O N IN ham F re d r i c We r t

s n o ti a ic if ls a f e th d an s ic m o c n m e d n o c d e lp e that h

b y C a ro l L . T i l l e y And In This Corner… (Left:) Author Carol L. Tilley posing with vintage comic books at a recent exposition—and (on right) Dr. Fredric Wertham, the subject of her researches. Photo of Tilley by L. Brian Stauffer; photo of Wertham from Alan Light’s AllDynamic #4 (circa 1970), provided by Doug Martin.

[First published as the article “Seducing the Innocent: Fredric Wertham and the Falsifications That Helped Condemn Comics,” by Carol L. Tilley, in Information & Culture, Volume 47, Issue 4, pp. 383-413. Copyright © 2012 by the University of Texas Press. All rights reserved.]

Fredric Wertham And The Falsifications That Helped Condemn Comics

A/E

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: Our cup runneth over! Just after we had finally arranged to serialize a reprinting of Amy Kiste Nyberg’s book Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code (see p. 30), we were suddenly made aware—first by longtime fan John Benson, but soon afterward by various other folks—of a brand new article that had made quite a splash in the scholarly magazine Information & Culture (see more precise information on the previous page). Written by Carol L. Tilley, assistant professor at the University of Illinois’ Graduate School of Library and Information Science, it postulated that Dr. Fredric Wertham, the scientist who led the attack against comic books in the late 1940s and early 1950s, had—in the words of David Itzoff of The New York Times—“misrepresented his research and falsified his results.” Carol Tilley, as she will detail below (and again quoting from the Times’ description), “reviewed Wertham’s papers, housed in the Library

Abstract

sychiatrist Fredric Wertham and his 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent serve as historical and cultural touchstones of the anticomics movement in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s. Although there have been persistent concerns about the clinical evidence Wertham used as the basis for Seduction, his sources were made widely available only in 2010. This article documents specific examples of how Wertham manipulated, overstated, compromised, and fabricated evidence—especially that evidence he attributed to personal clinical research with young people—for rhetorical gain.

Books do not have their impact upon the mass mind but upon the minds of those who mould the mass mind—upon leaders of thought and formulators of public opinion. The impact of a book may last six months or several decades. Books are the most enduring propaganda of all. —Memo from the United States Office of War Information, 1941 (1) For anyone interested in twentieth-century print culture— especially comics and similar forms of child-selected media— Fredric Wertham and his book Seduction of the Innocent serve as historical and cultural touchstones. Seduction, a rousing call for limitations on the sale of comics to children based on the author’s clinical evidence of the format’s detrimental links to juvenile delin-

of Congress, starting at the end of 2010, shortly after they were made available to the public.” I contacted Ms. Tilley, who acted as liaison between myself and the very helpful Rebecca Frazier-Smith, Journals Rights & Permissions Editor of University of Texas Press, Journals Division, the publisher of Information & Culture, to arrange for Alter Ego to present the article to an audience that otherwise might not have had a chance to read it. We have naturally made no changes of any substance in the text of the piece, keeping such spellings as “superhero,” etc. The captions which accompany the artwork and photos added for this reprinting, which are scribed by Ye Editor in A/E’s usual style, are naturally not to be considered as necessarily the opinion of Carol Tilley or her publishers. In the journal, footnote numbers were given in parentheses rather than as tiny raised digits. Thanks to Brian K. Morris for retyping the article onto a Word document for Ye Ed. quency and general children’s welfare, captured the American public’s imagination when it was published in April 1954. Sociologist C. Wright Mills, writing in the New York Times, called it “a most commendable use of the professional mind in the service of the public.” Margaret Martignoni, director of children’s work at the Brooklyn Public Library, writing in a letter that was excerpted for the book’s advertising campaign, called Seduction “‘must’ reading for thoughtful parents, teachers, librarians, social workers and all other adults concerned with children’s reading and with child development.” An advertisement for the book in the New York Times carried esteemed children’s book editor May Massee’s exclamation, “Thanks to you for publishing Dr. Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent. It is certainly well named… [f]rightening… [c]onvincing… overpowering.” Joy Elmer Morgan, editor of the National Education Association’s NEA Journal, selected it as the book of the year, recommending it to parents, teachers, and librarians. Although he faulted Wertham’s rhetorical strategies, child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim praised the book’s “irrefutable evidence” in a review in Library Quarterly. Literary critic Sterling North deemed it “the most important book of the year,” and fellow intellectual Clifton Fadiman wrote privately to Wertham that he knew “the book will do a lot of good.” (2) Within six months, the book had sold more than sixteen thousand copies in the United States, a figure Wertham’s literary agent believed would have been greater had the book not been discussed so extensively in various

Praise From The Masters (Left to right:) Some of the influential people who praised Dr. Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent upon its publication in 1954: C. Wright Mills (1916-1962), eminent professor of sociology at Columbia College, NYC, from 1946 until his death. May Massee (1881-1966), founding head of the juvenile books departments of Doubleday and Viking. Joy Elmer Morgan (1889-1986), American educator and author of Horace Mann: His Ideas and Ideals. Bruno Bettelheim (1903-1990), esteemed child psychologist, noted as the author of The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. Sterling North (1906-1974), writer, author of Rascal (about a pet raccoon), and one of the earliest severe critics of comic books. Clifton Fadiman (1904-1999), author and radio/TV personality, famous from such programs as Information, Please!; This Is Show Business; and What’s My Line? Unfortunately, no images were available for Margaret Martignoni, the author of The Illustrated Treasury of Children’s Literature (1955)… but we suspect there were no comic book stories included in the latter.

Seducing The Innocent

Flags On The Play! Poet Stanley Kunitz (1905-2006) lived long enough to be twice appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Wikipedia refers to him as “an outspoken critic of censorship,” but apparently he made an exception for comic books. Super-hero mags like Standard’s America’s Best Comics, Vol. 4, #1 (a.k.a. #10, July 1944), were considered as having “violent and Fascist elements”— but the combination of their unabashed patriotism (some would term it jingoism) and the fact that | the American public had other things to worry about from 1941-45 blunted his and others’ objections. [© the respective copyright holders.] Incidentally, the flag being held by Pyroman on the cover by Golden Age great Alex Schomburg is that of Chiang Kai-Shek’s China, at a time when the U.S., Great Britain, the U.S.S.R., and China were often referred to as the “Big Four” powers; thanks to Jean-Marc Lofficier for that ID.

forums, including televised hearings of the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. (3) After the conclusion of World War II, widespread public concern arose about the changing landscape of comics publishing. In the early 1940s, superhero titles dominated comics publishing. Some literary and cultural critics such as Sterling North and Stanley Kunitz objected to superhero themes because of their perceived violent and Fascist elements, but as many superheroes contributed to the war effort through their story lines, and because most adult Americans were preoccupied with the ongoing conflict, these objections never attained a critical mass. Superhero titles continued to be published following the end of the war, but publishers introduced new genres such as romance, jungle, horror, and true crime, which flourished. In part, publishers intended these new genres to capture the reading interests of more mature readers, especially veterans and other young adults who grew up on superhero comics but now wanted more substantive reading matter. That publishers intended these newer genres for a nonchild audience failed to keep young readers from devouring titles with deliciously provocative titles such as Untamed Love, Forbidden Worlds, and Shocking Mystery. One consequence of this young readership was that, throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, cities and other municipalities promulgated legislation that attempted to restrict

the sale of certain comics to adults only, while a variety of civic, professional, and similar organizations such as the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, the American Legion, and the National Council of Juvenile Court Judges articulated their concerns about the purported deleterious effects that comics had on younger readers. Wertham’s book and his earlier anticomics work were part of this landscape of concern. So although Wertham’s anticomics work was not the only factor that led to the 1954 creation of the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) and its restrictive

Untamed, Forbidden, & Shocking! The early-1950s comics that Carol Tilley refers to as having “provocative titles” featured covers not much less so… as witness the photo cover—and cover copy!—of Quality’s Untamed Love #3 (May 1950), ACG’s Ken Bald art for Forbidden Worlds #1 (July-Aug. 1951), and Star’s Shocking Mystery Cases #50 (Sept. 1952—actually the first issue), fronted by the incomparable L.B. Cole. Thanks to Bruce Mason for the latter cover. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Amy K. Nyberg

Seal Of Approval:

The Latest Installment Of Our Serialization of The 1998 Book On Comics Censorship A/E

by Amy Kiste Nyberg

EDITOR’S NOTE: In the past two issues, Dr. Nyberg’s groundbreaking work on comic book censorship has taken us first through the spring 1954 hearings of the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency as it zeroed in on crime comics (and maybe a few headlines along the way), afterwards taking an extended look at the life and career of comics’ greatest critic, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, author of numerous articles and finally of the 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent. These factors between them caused the formation by the comic book publishers later that year of the Comics Magazine Association of America and the implementation of a Comics Code Authority to which they would all submit their work for its “seal of approval,” thereby hopefully staving off the wrath of Senators and psychiatrists and the general public.

Once again, we mention up front that Seal of Approval is extensively “footnoted” in the MLA (Modern Language Association) style, which lists book, article, or author/editor name, plus page numbers, between parentheses in the main text rather than at the foot of a page. E.g., “(Hart 154-156)” refers to pp. 154-156 of whichever work by an author or editor named Hart appears in the bibliography, which will be printed a couple of issues from now. When said parentheses contain only page numbers, it is because the other relevant information is printed in the main text almost immediately preceding the note. In addition, the book contains a bare handful of footnotes treated in the

The Comics Code Gives Comics A Facelift! (Above:) Back in A/E #105’s “Tales from the Code” coverage, we printed this same combination of photo and comic book splash page—but this time we can display the latter in color! Judge Charles F. Murphy, first administrator of the Comics Code Authority (some newspapers referred to him as “the comic book czar”), is seen circa late 1954, displaying “before” and “after” versions of art from the story “Sarah” done for Timely/Atlas’ Uncanny Tales #29 (March 1955), the first issue to bear the seal of approval. The yarn was originally drawn by Joe Sinnott, but we’ve no idea if he drew the altered version of Sarah; the scripter, too, is unidentified. The printed splash is courtesy of Dr. Michael J. Vassallo; sadly, Sinnott’s original version probably no longer exists in any form. In case you want to check out the story as published, MJV reminds us that it was reprinted in Dead of Night #6 (Oct. 1974). [Page © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

more traditional sense; these can be found at the bottom of the relevant page. We have retained such usages and spellings from the book as “superhero,” an un-capitalized “comics code,” “E.C. and DC,” et al. In the captions we have added, however, we have reverted to our customary style. Naturally, said captions do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Dr. Nyberg or of the University Press of Mississippi, the original publisher of the book—the original print edition of which can still be obtained from UPM at www.upress.sate.ms.us. Our thanks to Dr. M. Thomas Inge, under whose general editorship the volume was originally published in

Seal Of Approval—Chapter 5

1998, as part of UPM’s Studies in Popular Culture series, for his help in obtaining permission to reprint the book in full… to Williams Biggins and Vijah Shah, past and present acquisitions editors at the U. Press of Mississippi, for their cooperation and encouragement… and to Brian K. Morris for retyping the text in a Word document for Ye Editor. [Text ©1998 University Press of Mississippi.] Now, it’s back to 1954 once again… well, after a brief stop in 1948…

Chapter 5

Creation And Implementation Of The Comics Code

he idea of a self-regulatory code was nothing new for the comic book industry. The publishers had already made one attempt, through the trade association known as the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers, to police themselves following Wertham’s first assault on the industry in the late 1940s. In addition, a number of the companies had their own editorial codes, often formulated with the help of child guidance experts. But such measures were not enforced strictly enough to satisfy comic book critics, and under the threat of government action (whether real or imagined) the industry once again set out to appease public opinion with a self-regulatory code. Not all publishers cooperated. William Gaines, publisher of the controversial E.C. comics, proved to be a thorn in the side of the new association, and Dell Comics refused to have anything to do with the association or the code. But by and large, the industry strategy was successful in convincing the public that the “comic book problem” was solved.

submitted before being reproduced for publication), and while the association originally considered appointing a commissioner to oversee the code, that task fell to Schultz. The money for the reviewers was raised by a “screening fee” charged by the association for each title submitted by a publisher. For titles with a circulation of 500,000 or more, the publisher paid one hundred dollars; for titles with a circulation of 250,000 to 500,000, the publisher paid fifty dollars; there was no fee for screening titles with a circulation under 250,000. One large publisher, Dell Comics, noted that under the proposed fee schedule, it would cost them three thousand dollars a month to participate in the screening system (Senate Hearings 70-71). As in the later association, membership was open to publishers, distributors, printers, and engravers. Initially about a third of the publishers joined. These included: Premium Service Company, Famous Funnies, Hillman Periodicals, Parents’ Institute, Lev Gleason Publications, McCombs Publications, The Golden Willow Press, Avon Periodicals, Ace Magazines, Orbit Publications, Superior Comics, and Consolidated Magazines (Senate Hearings

As noted in chapter 2, the impetus for the adoption of the comic industry’s first code in 1948 came from Fredric Wertham’s attack on comic books published in Collier’s and in the Saturday Review of Literature in the spring of 1948. The comic book industry responded by announcing on July 1, 1948, that it had adopted a regulatory code, similar to that of the film industry, to be enforced by the ACMP. While it may have been modeled on the film code, the ACMP code was nearly identical to an in-house code adopted by Fawcett several years earlier. The six points of the code dealt with sex, crime, torture, language, divorce, and ridicule of religious and racial groups (see “The ACMP Code”). [NOTE: See A/E #125.] When the code was announced, the comics trade association launched a membership drive and also distributed copies of the code to local societies, civic groups, and comics distributors (Senate Hearings 70). The code was the work of Henry Schultz, the attorney for the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers, whose credentials included membership on the New York City Board of Higher Education and chairmanship of the board of trustees of Queens College. In its coverage of the code, The New York Times noted in an article December 6, 1948, that an advisory committee was selected to assist Schultz. It included Dr. Charles F. Gosnell, New York state librarian, John E. Wade, retired superintendent of schools of New York City, and Ordway Tead, chairman of the Board of Higher Education of New York City. The committee warned against the dangers of censorship and released the following statement: “Censorship would be a dangerous and an illegal method of dealing with the situation…. As in any of the other media, the way forward is the strengthening of the process of self-regulation within the industry” (“Librarian Named” 37). Initially, the association hired office staff to review the comics “in the boards” (the phrase used to describe the original pages

A Slave To Love Around the time Avon Periodicals joined the Association of Comic Magazine Publishers at the end of 1948, its Slave Girl Comics #1 (cover-dated Feb. 1949) was hitting the nation’s newsstands. We don’t know if its Howard Larsen-drawn cover would’ve have passed muster with the ACMP’s “comics code” (printed in A/E #125)—but is it just a coincidence that there was only one more issue (dated April ’49?) starring Malu the Slave Girl? Scripter unknown. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database for the artist ID and to Bruce Mason for the art. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Creation And Implementation Of The Comics Code

The Shazam Express

70-71). The president of the ACMP, Phil Keenan of Hillman Periodicals, whose company published titles such as Crime Detective, Real Clue, and Western Fighters, warned the public not to expect changes overnight. Because of early deadlines, improvements would not be noticeable immediately (“Code for the Comics” 62). Almost immediately, however, the association ran into trouble. Many of the largest publishers refused to join the association because they felt their in-house codes were adequate and because they did not want to be affiliated with some of the more marginal publishers in the industry. Some publishers found subscribing to the code too expensive and dropped their membership. Others objected to the changes being mandated by Schultz’s office. And still others simply went out of business, not because of the code standards but because of the highly competitive and glutted comic book market. It was not long before the ACMP could no longer afford the staff necessary for prepublication review of comic books, and the code review system gradually was abandoned. In the early 1950s, the remaining members adopted a provision agreeing they would do their own censoring and decide for themselves which comic books were eligible for the association’s seal (Senate Hearings 70-71). By the time the Senate conducted its comic book hearings in April 1954, that membership had been reduced to only three publishers and a handful of distributors and printers. When Schultz appeared before the Senate subcommittee, the association staff consisted of Schultz and a general secretary, with a budget of fifteen thousand dollars a year. The association published a newsletter that collected newspaper clippings critical of the industry and circulated it to members of the industry. In addition, the association members still met occasionally to discuss industry and business concerns (Senate Hearings 77). Schultz attributed the failure of the association to the lack of support from the larger publishers. Schultz, testifying before the Senate subcommittee in 1954, commented: “The reason it has not succeeded, I think, is the failure or refusal of some of the larger and better publishers who, while they themselves do not publish comic books which might be in this category, did not recognize their responsibility to the total industry by staying with the organization in its inception and formulating practices and rules which would have become a bible for the industry” (Senate Hearings 77). Even before the formation of the ACMP and the adoption of a code in 1948, most of the larger comic book publishers had an inhouse code in place. These codes were often drawn up with the

Two members of the Fawcett Publications advisory board that wrote its 7-point code sometime during the 1940s (the year is uncertain) were Sideonie “Sidy” Gruenberg and Prof. Ernest G. Osborne, seen in photos, whose credentials are detailed in the text. The third, Prof. Harvey Zorbaugh, was pictured in A/E #124. While the companies’ private codes tended to focus on what was forbidden, there were also positive stories such as the feature-length tale “The Freedom Train” in Captain Marvel Adventures #85 (June 1948). It spotlighted the actual locomotive then traveling the country, so Americans could actually see some of the most priceless documents of their history—and not even Dr. Sivana was going to stop that! Cover by C.C. Beck; script by Otto Binder; interior art by C.C. Beck & Pete Costanza. Thanks to the Bruce Mason & P.C. Hamerlinck for the CMA pages. [Shazam hero & Dr. Sivana TM & © DC Comics.]

Seal Of Approval—Chapter 5

Children of New York University; and Professor Ernest G. Osborne, a psychologist and president of education and executive officer of the community center of the Teachers College, Columbia University. Fawcett’s code was essentially the same code later adopted by the ACMP, with provisions dealing with portrayal of crime and law enforcement, nudity and depiction of the human body, and vulgar language. It forbade scenes of sadistic torture, ridicule or attack on any religious groups, and humorous or glamorous treatment of divorce. The final provision outlawed the use of dialects or devices “in a way to indicate ridicule or intolerance of racial groups” (Organized Crime Hearings, Committee Print 128-29). Lev Gleason Publications, while it did not have an inhouse code, had employed police officers as consultants, including Mary Sullivan, former chief of the Women’s Bureau of the New York Police Force (Organized Crime Hearings, Committee Print 137).

The “Marvel Comic” Age Of Comics We’ve never seen a photo of psychiatrist Jean A. Thompson, who prepared Timely’s own private comics code in 1948, but there are certainly plenty of references to her in the company’s comics of that era—which were then going through a brief phase of carrying a “Marvel Comic” circle on their covers. Thompson reviewed Timely’s mags for a little less than two years, however. Thanks to Dr. Michael J. Vassallo. [© Marvel Characters, Inc.]

assistance of advisory boards composed of educators and psychiatrists who were paid a consulting fee for their services. The comic book publishers used these boards of experts to help stave off criticism of their publications.

Once the ACMP code was in the works, other companies saw the wisdom of implementing an in-house review. Beginning June 1, 1948, Marvel Comics Group hired Dr. Jean A. Thompson, a psychiatrist and consultant to the Board of Education of the City of New York. She prepared a code that was distributed to the company’s art and editorial departments. Between June 1, 1948, and November 30, 1949, every comic book title published by Marvel was submitted to Thompson for review. Marvel was forced to dispense with Thompson’s services in late 1949 when the company experienced some financial difficulties (Organized Crime Hearings, Committee Print 118-19). The Marvel code contained a “Statement of General Purpose” along with guidelines for content of stories, use of language, artistic depiction of the body and of crime and horror, and recommendations for handling sensitive subjects such as religion,

One of the oldest codes in existence was that adopted by National Comics Publications. Jack Liebowitz, vice president of National, noted that the company had adopted its code “long before there was any criticism of comic magazines generally.” The eight-point policy suggested that the company could provide “interesting, dramatic, and reasonably exciting entertainment” without resorting to objectionable devices such as portrayal of the female figure in exaggerated form. In addition, the code specified: “Good people should be good, and bad people bad, so that no confusion can exist in the reader’s mind. Heroes should act within the law, and for the law.” The code also contained several guidelines for depicting crime and violence, including: “No character may be shown being stabbed with a knife or subjected to a hypodermic injection. Acts of mayhem are forbidden. The picturization of dead bodies is forbidden” (Organized Crime Hearings, Committee Print 150-51). Beginning in 1940, National appointed an editorial advisory board that included the following experts: Dr. Lauretta Bender, associate professor of psychiatry, School of Medicine, New York University; Josette Frank, consultant on children’s reading, Child Study Association of America; Dr. W. W. D. Sones, professor of education and director of curriculum study, University Marriage Counseling, Anyone? of Pittsburgh; and Dr. S. Harcourt Peppard, director of The Harvard husband-and-wife team of Sheldon & Eleanor Glueck (seen here in a 1929 photo) the Essex County Juvenile Clinic, Newark, New Jersey. had been studying juvenile delinquency since the 1930s. EC publisher William M. Gaines (seen on p. 44) hoped their researches would vindicate comics like his Shock SuspenStories While the board had no censorship powers, they made #13 (Feb.-March 1954), whose art depicted a couple whose relationship probably needed recommendations to the editors (Organized Crime some work. Cover art by Jack Kamen. [Cover © William M. Gaines Agent, Inc.] Hearings, Committee Print 151). Fawcett Publications had a seven-point code developed by a three-person board. The board included Sidonie Gruenberg, director of the Child Study Association of America; Professor Harvey Zorbaugh, psychologist and director of the Clinic for Gifted

Contrary to Gaines’ quoted memory, however, the new Comics Code would not “ban the words weird, horror and terror from any comic magazine.” Only “horror” and “terror” were expressly forbidden, and that was only on covers—but the fact that the word “weird” was not a part of the title of any Code-approved comic book for decades after the implementation of its rules suggests that the publishers felt, if they didn’t outright know, that the Authority would disallow its use under the Code’s so-called “elastic clause.”

“The Will Of William Wilson,” Continued For more on this long-lost and still incomplete story by writer Gardner F. Fox and various artists (with Martin Naydel drawing this finale), which was once scheduled for publication in 1946 in DC’s (or AA’s) All-Star Comics #31, see the four volumes of Roy Thomas’ and TwoMorrows’ All-Star Companion. Thanks to Larry Guidry for the 21st-century coloring. [© DC Comics.]

Fred Guardineer (“Zatara” and often cover artist for early issues of Action Comics drew the Superman figure at left, which we swiped from Action Comics #15 (Aug. 1939). [© DC Comics.]

Whatever Happened To The Boy Of Tomorrow?

Whatever Happened To The Boy Of Tomorrow? by Michael T. Gilbert

hough Superboy (sans costume) made a brief appearance in Superman #1 (June 1939), he didn’t rate his own feature until More Fun Comics #101 in January 1945. However, years earlier, on July 3, 1940, thousands of New Yorkers had been introduced to a flesh-and-blood Boy of Steel. Three judges (including iconic strong man Charles Atlas!) were tapped to pick a real live Superboy and Supergirl in a Superman Day contest at the New York World’s Fair which had opened in Queens the previous year. Dozens of children and teens participated, and two lucky contestants were chosen. 11-year-old Maureen Reynolds was named the official Supergirl of the event, while Bill Aronis, age 15, was crowned the world’s first Superboy. Bill Aronis, now in his late 80s, contacted the Superman through the Ages website in 2006, introducing himself as the winner of the Superboy contest. Comic historian Shaun Clancy recently contacted Bill and taped some of Mr. Aronis’ memories of that day—including a visit to the DC offices in 1940, as well as getting the ol’ hard-sell from comic book pitchman Charles Atlas. We think you’ll find it fascinating. Take it away, Shaun!

William Aronis Interview (11/11/13)

Interview Conducted by Shaun Clancy Transcription by Steven Thompson VOICE: Hello? SHAUN CLANCY: Hi, is William Aronis there? VOICE: Yeah, hold on. [pause]

ARONIS: That’s me. SC: Hi! Have you seen that article I just mentioned? ARONIS: Where did you see this article? SC: I have an October 25th, 1940, Family Circle magazine... ARONIS: No, I didn’t, but a year ago, somebody else called me from California, and he saw something about me, also.

WILLIAM ARONIS: I am— Hello? SC: Hi, William? ARONIS: Yeah. SC: Hi, this is Shaun Clancy in Seattle. I was reading a Family Circle magazine from 1940, and there’s a William Aronis in it on winning a trophy at the Superman Day at the New York World...

Leapin’ Lizards! (Left:) Superboy makes his (sort of) debut in Superman #1 (June 1939), courtesy of Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel. [© 2014 DC Comics.] (Right:) A “Legion of Super-Heroes”? Photo of a gaggle of would-be Super-Boys from the 1940 contest.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

SC: Oh! Well, what a coincidence. ARONIS: He came to my house. SC: Oh, do you still have the trophy? ARONIS: Oh, yeah, I got all my trophies. All my weightlifting trophies. SC: I didn’t know that. I didn’t know you were into.... So you met Charles Atlas at the Fair?

Man of Scrap Metal! Bill Aronis holds his Super-Boy trophy. Note the cute Superman on top!

ARONIS: Yeah, I met him. [laughs] He’s a stinker!

SC: [laughs] Well, he’s gone now, but, yeah, I actually sent away for his program when I was 15, so that helped me get into weightlifting also. But I’m actually a comic book fan, not a weightlifting fan, although I did both. Did you ever get to meet Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, and do you have pictures? ARONIS: Uh, yeah. After the World’s Fair event, Charles Atlas asked me to come down to his office in downtown Manhattan, and guess what he wanted to do? SC: What? ARONIS: Here I am, a 15 year-old-kid in the middle of the Depression, and he wanted to sell me his course for $25. [Shaun laughs] Yeah! How was I gonna get $25?

SC: Did you stay in touch with Maureen? ARONIS: No, I lost contact with her, but years later I was in Cleveland, Ohio, at a weightlifting contest. And I was up in the balcony, because I didn’t lift at that time, and this woman comes up and stares, yelling, “Hey, Bill!” It was Maureen! [both laugh] What had happened was, she’s a sports fan, and she used to hang out at Madison Square Garden. When she saw the weightlifting contest, she thought maybe I might be Supertot! there. She went backstage and Siegel and Shuster’s Babe of Steel they told her I was up in the from Action Comics #1 (June 1938). audience and I met her then, but [©DC Comics.] I never saw her again after that! I tried to find her—on the computer, you know—but she must have gotten married, and... SC: Changed her last name, right. That’s what I figured, too. ARONIS: Well, there is a way to find married women. I found two girls I used to know, but it’s very difficult. SC: Did you go into the weightlifting profession, or did you actually...? What happened to you after all this? ARONIS: I took advantage of the G.I. Bill. I went to television school. I was one of the first TV servicemen in New York City in 1948. I got a job with Philco. I don’t know if you ever heard of it. SC: Yeah, of course. Philco radios. And televisions. ARONIS: I eventually ended up at IBM for 32 years. I got in on the ground floor of the computer industry. I retired in ’87. SC: Does this mean you were in the service? Because you were only 15 at the time [of the Fair]. ARONIS: I joined the army when I was 18. I was in the 101st

SC: Right! [laughs] Wow! ARONIS: And another time, I went to Joe Shuster’s office, where they’d do up the comics and everything... SC: Right. ARONIS: Just the one time. Nobody paid any attention to me after the event was over. SC: I see. And what did you do to win this trophy? ARONIS: Not a damn thing. [laughs] What happened was... at the World’s Fair grounds, which was Flushing Meadows... it was only a few miles from where I lived. There was a pavilion down at the end of the Fair in front of the pool and all the judges were up on stage—some notable people from the Opera—but the real judge was Atlas. Anyway, they called out the names and then they said, “Will the boy in the green shirt step forward?” Well, guess what? I’m color-blind. I didn’t realize it was me. [laughs] Anyway, Maureen Reynolds and me, she won the Super-Girl and I won the Super-Boy. And that was the end of it.

Not Quite Superboy In the original comics, Kal-El (originally Kal-L) didn’t become Superboy, but only donned a costume when he became an adult. Here are Clark and his adoptive parents from Superman #1 (June 1939.) Story by Siegel; art by Shuster. [©DC Comics.]

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Fawcett Collectors Of America

why bore you? Sometime I’ll tell you about the bad side of my family. Much more entertaining. Besides, you were telling me about your Aunt Mildred who… ? Go ahead. I’m all ears. I can sit and listen to you like this for hours. You say the hell with Aunt Mildred? Well, that’s up to you. Now you say you think the best place to live is… ? Jersey, brother, Jersey! The Garden State of the Union. Northern New Jersey is the spot to live, and this has nothing to do with my living here. I’m absolutely unbiased. But look, Jersey is pretty. There are many small towns, all neat and suburban. You would never think the big bad city of New York is only an hour away. And yet, anytime you want big city excitement, it’s within easy reach. An hour’s drive north, along the famed Hudson River, you’re in the Catskills with boats to Europe, Bermuda, and South America at your beck and call. California and its superb climate? The Rockies and their grandeur? Florida and its playground? The North and its primeval beauty? Mexico and its colorful atmosphere? The South Seas and the tropical splendor? Come to think of it, what am I doing in Jersey? But you were saying… ? Hey, don’t walk away from me. What’s the matter? Guess you’re just bashful, talking away like that, with my eyes on you, drinking in every word. Well, I feel better now… there’s one chapter in which I stepped aside, offering relief from the monotony of my ramblings. And that freshened me up too. I’m all ready to charge back and take up the spotlight once more! Next: THE GREAT “WHAT-IS-IT?” MYSTERY

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Writing The Magic Words

DENNY O’NEIL On Revivifying The Original Captain Marvel In The 1970s Shazam!

Interview Conducted by Richard J. Arndt

DITOR’S INTRODUCTION: Alter Ego #123 featured Richard J. Arndt’s lengthy interview with Dennis O’Neil on the renowned writer/editor’s first decade in comics. Mostly omitted from that detailed dialogue was O’Neil’s historic undertaking of reviving the original Captain Marvel (and family and foes) after an 18-plus-year publishing exile, an event which garnered a great deal of fanfare. The following supplemental interview took place by phone on March 8th, 2014. RICHARD ARNDT: Denny, you helped bring the original Captain Marvel back into comics in the early 1970s via DC Comics’ Shazam! How did you find yourself involved in re-establishing the Big Red Cheese to modern readers? DENNIS O’NEIL: Julie Schwartz asked me to. It was nothing more complicated than that. RA: How familiar were you with the character before you started working on it? O‘NEIL: I knew a little bit. I read Captain Marvel Adventures as a kid, at the age of six or seven. I had paid some attention when I was learning about comics—trying to acquaint myself with everything that I hadn’t known before writing them. I thought it had been a kind of charming strip, and it would be an interesting thing to try and

Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck bring back. It was certainly different from what we were doing in comics at the time, in terms of it being light and cheerful. I didn’t have any deep acquaintance with the character. RA: You wrote some of the earliest stories for the Captain’s arrival at DC, including the setup origin story in Shazam! #1. What did you do, if anything, that was different from the original origin story back in 1940? Was there an effort to fully fit him into the DC Universe? O‘NEIL: According to the artist, I must have done a lot of things different, but I wasn’t aware of doing things differently. I think that what I did that was wrong was that I tried to duplicate the old stuff. What I’ve learned in the years since is that, when you go and revisit old characters, you have to reinvent them for a contemporary audience. Captain Marvel Adventures was hugely popular in the 1940s. I think he sold two million copies a month at one point. A high figure, anyways. That didn’t mean that the approach used in the 1940s was going to be popular in the 1970s. I tried to write the kind of stories that Otto Binder might have written in 1945. RA: Am I right in thinking that you were the one responsible for putting a cameo of Otto Binder in that first lead-off story in Shazam! #1?

With One Magic Issue… (Left:) Denny O’Neil in the early 1970s—in the photo used by Neal Adams as the basis for the oft-reproduced portrait which also became a part of the cover of Alter Ego #123. (Center:) Captain Marvel and associates’ long absence from the world is explained in O’Neil’s “The World’s Wickedest Plan,” the second tale from the highly hyped and anticipated Shazam! #1 (Feb. 1973); art by C.C. Beck. (We showcased the first splash in A/E #123.) The premier issue of Shazam! roared in with a mighty 600,000-plus press run… but ultimately the comic’s initial trumpet blast had dwindled to a muted, scarcely decipherable drone. [© DC Comics.] (Right:) Captain Marvel’s original artist & co-creator Charles Clarence Beck with an award from a Phoenix (Arizona) convention, 1972, around the time he and Denny O’Neil were working “together.” Thanks to Alex Jay.