A Brief History in American Comics: Part 6- The Comic Rebirth of the 1960s

“The 1950s backlash that resulted in the Comics Code mainly affected adventure comics… in the 1960s, criticism was focused on the humor comics for being violent, sexist, and racist. In the US, humor comics were similarly attacked, and were additionally prone to criticism from the Left for being conveyors of capitalist propaganda…” especially of the Disney titles (ex. Uncle Scrooge) ^[3]. 

As soon as the Comic Code was implemented, the world of comics transformed. Sales slumped almost immediately as lines of comics were cancelled. Whole genres virtually destroyed, and entire publishing companies sunk.  “For parents and educators, the Code meant peace of mind, but for kids, it signified little except insipidly ‘safe’ entertainment ^[3].”

As one of the leading comic companies of the 50’s, EC Comics (short for “Entertaining Comics”) went near-bankrupt (if not for their MAD comic-turned-magazine), the comic market became available for other publishers to fall in place, and thus was done so by DC Comics and Marvel (previously known as ‘Atlas’ and ‘Timely’), and smaller companies, like Gilberton. At the same time, as horror and crime comics were pushed down and out of the magazine stands, the adventure story and romance tales were pushed into the forefront ^[3].

Various genres took over the spotlight as media venues were constantly grabbing for any content that would stick.  Although this was met with a multitude of new content, not all content was seen as high quality. As described by Blackbeard, “By the 1960s, the newspapers’ need for quantity of strips had triumphed almost entirely over any series interest in quality of storyline or art.” 

ROMANCE

“Crime was going out. Sex was in” said Morisi. Although crime titles were still being published, “many had disappeared since 1948”. “Meanwhile, romance was blooming in the stands.” Crime publishers switched to romance titles, recognizing an “appeal of comic books across gender lines ^[5].” 

According to Hajdu, “The first comic book devoted to love stories, Crestwood’s Young Romance, had not appeared until the summer of 1947… In 1948, there were only three new love titles: Sweethearts, My Romance, and My Life,” creating a slow start for the genre. However, “by the end of 1949, there were some 125 romance comics, and, a year later, 148 from 26 publishers ^[5].” Romance may not have been new to the stands by the 1960s, but by then the titles had exploded with interest and popularity. 

Part of the reason romance titles became so popular was that they were adapted to approach another new audience: adolescents. With older teenage characters, romance stories attempted to reach their like-minded readers. For comics, this would be a new, conscious attempt for an older audience than previously generated ^[5]. 

 Social politics also held as a topic in romance titles, with stories of “free-spirited, willful girls who thought and acted independently, challenging not only their parents, but their boyfriends,” romances provided a unique model placement in a young woman’s eyes.  Being most probably the only venue of young womanly independence at the time, “no other genre of comic books was as overt in its depiction of youthful rebellion as romance comics ^[5]. “

ADVENTURE

Although it usually required a greater sense of artistic detail, the adventure genre is said be one of the (if not the) most diversely flexible comic genres.  It is probably this flexibility which has allowed the adventure genre to uphold its longevity and resiliency in the post-Comic Code era. It was not long until sub-genres took hold, including war anthologies (briefly spoken about before) and sports ^[3]. 

IPC (International Publishing Corporation) was an initial leader in the adventure genre just as they had been early on in humor comics. However, the comic industry shift in the 1960s brought in new comic company giants, Marvel and DC comics. Marvel and DC worked within the Code with their Superhero comics. Marvel’s continued success “had the effect of kick-starting the entire industry back into life.” Superman and Batman became DC Comics’ main stars, but the diverse crew allowed the Superhero genre to thrive until the end of the 60s ^[3].

THE INTELLECTUAL COMIC

Post-Code years also brought about the intellectual comic, which covered an array of subjects, from social topics to physiological, and would include subjects not yet portrayed in American comic strips. From the late 50s through the 1960s, the intellectual comic would continue to grasp a greater hold of the reader’s world, even incorporating politics. 

Illustrative “stereotypes of blacks as criminals and ‘social problems’ were common” within comics throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and derogatory representatives rampant. “Arabs were ‘shifty’, conniving and treacherous; Orientals were ‘inscrutable’ sadists; and Native Americans were monosyllabic savages.” As one could expect, “both in Britain and America, there were only a handful of creators from ethnic backgrounds working in the industry” creating an obvious imbalance of insight in the comics released ^[3].  

 “Sexism was seen as an even bigger problem…” and was dealt with much quicker.  Women were usually only portrayed in three different ways; as ‘helpers’ (nurses, housewives), ‘victims’ (to be rescued), or sex objects (plunging necklines and long legs). In response to this, “Wonder Woman was revolutionary in a psychological sense” and served as a self-imposed high-calling to all women that they should “realize their potential, should fight for equal rights, and that a feminized society would be more caring than the prevailing patriarchy ^[3].” 

Walt Kelly’s beloved strip, POGO, made its debut in 1949. Through Albert the alligator and his cast of animal characters, he “was the first to deal with the great moral, social, and political questions” within the lines of a comic. The characters at times fall under a political sphere of conversation, and are each endowed with their own “highly individual personalities.” It is this beginning which Couperie points out as “contributing to the rehabilitation of the comic strip ^[1].” 

Perhaps Kelly’s intellectual “kindred spirit”, Charles Schulz arrived on the scene soon afterwards in 1950. Schulz continued Kelly’s portrayal of intellectual comics by “penetrated still deeper into intellectual analysis with his Peanuts”. Between the both of them, “Schultz and Kelly endowed the comics with their patent of nobility, and assured the birth and development of the intellectual comic strip ^[1].” 

The 1950s intellectual comic brought about the first antihero by Bernard Mergendeiler, Feiffer comic strip (“anti-comic strip”) in 1956, dubbed the “blackest and most depressing ever depicted by the comic strip.” and B.C. in 1958. They continued in the 1960s with the Wizard of Id. Other intellectual comics of the time included The Strange World of Mr. Mum by Irving Phillips, Short Ribs by Frank O’Neal, and Still Life by Jerry Robinson, which portrayed only inanimate objects ^[1]. 

These ‘intellectual strips’ “present a remarkable esthetic unity. Their creators’ affinities lie not with the easy models of the novel and the cinema, but with the most exacting of all methods of artistic expression: the theatre... the characters are presented in full view, at eye level... and the only space we are permitted to see is that defined within the rectangle of the picture… ^[1]”

UNDERGROUND

Perhaps the biggest dynamic of comics that wasn’t regulated by the Comic Code (and rather, was inspired by its effects), was the underground movement established within the United States. As San Francisco attracted musicians in the 1960s, it also intrigued some artists in a new “comix” movement, influenced by MAD, “the hippie generation”, and other surrounding culture developments ^[4]. 

Many aspiring artists and writers founded and sought out University humor magazines and other unorthodox publishing means in order to publish their own works. According to Garcia, the comic Help! is seen as the first underground comic book due to the various artists who worked on the project. As the decade continued, various titles, including Zap and Wonder Wart-Hog, the pig parody of superhero comics ^[4].

 

NEXT TIME ON A SCROLL IN TIME…

Although the Comic Code changed the comic world forever, the medium itself showed to be more resilient and transformative as some may have earlier predicted. The devastation of the 50s and resurrection of the 60s within the comic domain was, although crude, perhaps necessary to prepare it for the development and progressive period of the 1970s, as American society was soon to see...

CATCH UP WITH ME IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT!

[1] Couperie, Pierre, Maurice Horn, Proto Destefanis, EdouardFrançois, Claude Moliterni, GéraldGassiot-Talabot, and Eileen Hennessy. A History of the Comic Strip. New York: Crown, 1968. Print.
[2] Steranko, James. The Steranko History of Comics. Reading, PA. 1970. Print.
[3] Sabin, Roger. Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels. Hong Kong. 1996. Print.
[4] Garcia, Santiago. On the Graphic Novel. University Press of Mississippi. 2015. Print.
[5] Hajdu, David. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America. New York. 2008. Print.