ZAP! WHAAM! ANALYSIS!
WHERE COMIC BOOKS MAKE SENSE
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AMERICAN COMIC BOOKS AND THE HORROR GENRE 1939 - 1955 Elements of horror have played a part in the history of comic books since 1939, but the first full-fledged horror comic book made its appearance as late as 1947. Pretty much a shot in the dark, this did not trigger a major commercial success, and the genre entered a state of suspended animation until a small company called "Entertaining Comics EC" launched a new concept in 1950, fusing props from gothic horror fiction with heavy overtones of pulp fiction narrative. This new formula proved an overwhelming success, and soon copy cats all over the place started to imitate the "EC Horror" mould. However, the runaway success of horror comics moved them more and more into the spotlight of public awareness, and not everybody liked what they saw. Conservative media began to deplore what they saw as a lack in values amongst contemporary youth, and amongst the many offering simple solutions was Fredric Wertham - who blamed it all on comic books since launching his anti-comics crusade in 1948 with his "psychopathology of comic books". For Wertham and his followers, the decision of the US Senate in September 1953 to set up a "Subcommittee To Investigate Juvenile Delinquency" which would also concern itself with comic books was a godsend. The April 1954 hearings had far reaching and damaging consequences for the industry through the creation of the Comics Code, and by mid-1954 the heyday of horror comics was over, whilst in 1955 sales in comic books all across the board dropped by 70% and left the medium hanging virtually by a thread. Possibly the most frightening aspect of this sharp turning point in 20th century American culture is the fact that it was to a large extent brought about by the lobbying of a New York psychiatrist hell bent on imposing his own moralist and cultural elitist views on the general public, and a US Senate subcommittee which held a hearing without ever clearly defining the actual object of its investigations. So roll up your favourite easy chair in front of your monitor - I dare you to read about the fictional and real-life terrors of the American horror comic from 1939 to 1955... Beware! Adrian Wymann Any feedback you may have is always welcome. panelology.info - it's all about having fun with serious comic book studies Panelology is a hybrid term coined by Dr Jerry G. Bails (1933 - 2006) in the 1960s, incorporating the English noun "panel" (as one of the most salient outward feature of comics) and the Greek suffix "-logia" (meaning "the study of"). |
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