The History of Superhero Comic Books - part 4 By Jamie Coville @~Continued from last issue The Comics Code Authority ------------------------- Seduction of the Innocent caused a U.S. Senate Investigation into the relationship between comic books and juvenile delinquents. Dr. Wertham was called to testify at the hearings, as were other juvenile delinquent experts, representatives of the major comic companies, some of their advertisers and distributors, and the representatives from National Cartoonist Society. Dr. Wertham came out on top. He had a lot of experience testifying in front of government committees. Most of the representatives from the comic companies were business men who knew very little about the editorial content of the comic books, so their answers about those topics were vague and seemed evasive. But they did know about the complex workings of their companies, and for that reason they were sent. The one exception to this was William Gaines, publisher of E.C. (who published most of the horror comics). William Gaines had a teaching degree, and was able to answer the questions clearly and state his side rather well. The National Cartoonist Society representatives, Walt Kelly, Milton Caniff, and Joe Musial all distanced themselves from comic books and gave a general condemnation of them (traitors!). The result of these hearings was the Senate committee advised comic companies that "A competent job of self-policing within the industry will achieve much." So then the comic companies took this message and created the Comic Magazine Association of America (CMAA) and then they created the Comics Code Authority (CCA) on October 26th, 1954. In 1955, the Senate committee gave its final report, stating that it approved the CCA, and thought it represented "steps in the right direction." The Senate committee did not fully endorse Dr. Wertham's theories about the effect of comic books on children, since his studies were not done on the "complete environment", but only on juvenile delinquents. But the Senate committee did agree that comic books might have an unhealthy effect on those kids that were already emotionally disturbed or morally delinquent. But because they didn't know whether comics had this effect or not, the committee decided in favour of self-policing by the comic publishers. The Senate committee's final report also issued a warning to comic companies that if their self-policing didn't work that they would re-visit the issue again, and use whatever means necessary to "prevent our nation's young from being harmed from crime and horror comic books." So the CCA put a stamp on every comic book that met its guidelines. The problem was the horror books didn't. Stores or news stands simply would not accept comic books without the stamp, so some of the horror comic publishers went out of business. Others adapted and became 'magazines', something that the CCA had no authority over. But for the most part, those still producing horror comics toned them down quite a bit. Marvel Comics was one of the companies still producing horror comics as well as 'sci-fi' comics. Today, the CCA has lost their importance. Once their stamp was large and easy for all to see on a comic book. Over the years the stamp has become smaller and smaller, now readers sometimes have to squint and search for it. If a comic company wants to publish a book that doesn't meet CCA standards, they just publish it anyway. Sometimes even if they can get CCA approval, they don't bother with it. Often you'll see a "Suggested for Mature Readers" written on the comic book to warn those still concerned. It should be known that Dr. Fredric Wertham did not approve of the CCA. He felt the industry would not to a correct job of policing themselves. Even after several comic companies went out of business and the industry was brought to its knees, Dr. Fredric Wertham still complained that comic books still had most of the unsavoury elements to them. Restarting the Superhero Genre ------------------------------ In 1953, Marvel tried to bring back superheroes. In Young Men #24 the three big Marvel heroes made their return. Captain America, The Human Torch, and Prince Namor the Sub- Mariner all had stories that explained what they were doing since World War II. It told that Captain America had become a history teacher and he had his young sidekick Bucky as a student. But then his old arch-enemy The Red Skull re-appeared and was now teaming up with the Commies. So Captain America and his sidekick sprung back into action to stop his evil plans. The Human Torch was captured by gangsters and buried underground in the Navada Desert. Once America started testing the A-bombs there, the radiation made him more powerful than before. The Human Torch then freed himself and tried to find his sidekick Toro. He found out that the gangsters had sold Toro to the Commies. The Human Torch then had to re-capture his young sidekick Toro and free him from the brainwashing that the Commies gave him. Prince Namor had nothing happen to him after the war. He simply went back to his underwater kingdom until America called for him once again. The American Navy had a problem with some of their ships mysteriously vanishing. They suspected the Commies were up to no good again. They called upon The Sub- Mariner to investigate. He found out the cause of the sinking ships was not the Commies, but they were being sunk by robots from the planet Venus! After the Sub-Mariner defeated their commander the robots went back to Venus, promising never to return to Earth. Sadly, Marvel's attempt to bring back superheroes was not successful. Shortly after this DC tried to bring back superheroes too and they were a success. This event is called the 'Silver Age'. The Silver Age -------------- It all started with Showcase #4, starring The Flash. This Flash was a revamped version of the Golden Age Flash, he was created by Julius Schwartz and Carmine Infantino. After a few appearances in Showcase comics, The Flash received his own title. The success of The Flash caused other golden-age heroes to come back, although revamped like The Flash. In short, The Flash became a hero on two fronts, first in the comic book, and second in the comic industry. Bringing back The Flash brought superheroes back into the mainstream, and changed the comic industry to this day. This includes other superhero comic books, their T.V. shows, movies, and anything else they might have inspired. It should also be mentioned that in 1955 a small story in the back of Detective Comics #225, starred an alien known as J'onn J'onzz. This alien would later become known as the Martian Manhunter, a major hero in the DC universe. In 1958, a very important thing happened to Marvel Comics in Strange Worlds #1. This comic book was the first book put out by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. These two individuals, along with several other artists, started doing superheroes for Marvel Comics and created what is known as the "Marvel Age". @~To be continued - o -