Limited Collectors' Edition #C-23: "The House of Gargoyles!"

Near the top of the cover on nearly any post-1955 American comic book, you will find a strange little postage stamp containing the words "Approved by the Comics Code Authority." For nearly fifty years the "C.C.A." has controlled what you are permitted to read in almost all comics distributed to America's newsstands. So what is the origin of the C.C.A., still in force today, and how did it acquire this superpower?

Back in the late 1940s, before television, 10¢ comic books were the biggest selling entertainment around, consumed by nearly all children and many adults. In this expanding market, publishers jumped onto whatever was the next bandwagon: "true" crime launched by Lev Gleason's Crime Does Not Pay; romantic confessions introduced by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's Young Love; and the twist-ending horror story perfected in Tales from the Crypt and William Gaines' other EC titles.

But the more popular these racy genres grew, the more concerned certain Americans became about their possible harmful effects on younger readers' morals. Since they first emerged in the mid-1930s, comic books had been criticized for promoting illiteracy and even eyestrain. But after World War II, America's moral guardians became alarmed by the rise in juvenile delinquency. Rather than confront issues within society or the family, they picked on comic books, misunderstood as solely for children, as the easy scapegoat.

The case studies of leading psychiatrist Fredric Wertham provided their campaign with the vital voice of scientific authority. Treating troubled youngsters in his clinic in New York's Harlem ghetto, Dr. Wertham became convinced that reading comic books had a negative influence on every patient. As the media seized on his findings, moral panic swept the nation. Religious and civic groups blacklisted offending titles and told their members to boycott retailers who stocked them. School teachers organized mass comic book burnings. Nearly 50 cities adopted local laws banning the sale of certain titles.

The anti-comics crusade climaxed in 1954, when Wertham published his unrelenting expose of the industry, Seduction of the Innocent, and his calls for government intervention prompted three days of televised Senate Committee hearings into the links between comic books and juvenile delinquency. It was the comic's darkest hour.

Ranged against the damning testimony of Wetham and other experts, the defenses of EC Comics' William Gaines and only three other publishers failed to persuade. Although federal legislation was ruled out as contrary to freedom of the press, the pressure was on the comics industry to clean up its act.

Gaines attempted to rally his fellow publishers into opposing regulation and funding independent research and a public relations counteroffensive. But nearly all either closed down or caved in and conformed to the C.C.A., the industry's new self-regulating authority with the strictest code applied to any medium. Publishers could not get their product onto the newsstands unless they paid to submit their material for approval and removed any objectionable content. Only Dell's range and Classics Illustrateds were wholesome or educational enough not to need the C.C.A.'s stamp. Of EC's once proud line, only the satirical Mad survived by converting to a magazine.

Thanks to the Code, comics survived this attack but at a price. The market was decimated, artists exiled, content infantilized. The medium had to wait until the unregulated underground comix outrage of the late 1960s to address adult subjects again.

In 1971 and 1989, the Code was gingerly revised. It still polices the minority of comics sold from the newsstand, though most publishers now supply their comics just to specialist shops. The future of the C.C.A. looks less secure after Marvel Comics' withdrawal in 2001 of its entire line, replaced by in-house, movie-style ratings.

Still, the critics have not completely disappeared, so the industry has set up the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, just in case....



Credits

Cover: Nick Cardy
Script: Jack Oleck
Pencils: Jack Sparling
Inks: Jack Sparling

Reprinted:

• from House of Mystery (DC, 1951 series) #175 (July-August 1968).

• in Limited Collectors' Edition (DC, 1972 series) #C-23.
• in DC Special (DC, 1968 series) #11 (March-April 1971).
• in Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery (DC, 2006 series) #1.

Conan Saga #31: "Red Sonja"

Download Conan Saga #31







A line on a piece of paper. Anyone can do it, but only a select few can conjure whole worlds with a few strokes of a pen. Alex Toth, certainly. Joe Kubert, for sure. The list of true illustrative geniuses however is a short one, and only those born with a silver pen in their hand are destined to rise above the rest. For over four decades now, there has been one who can be called an illustrator's illustrator. The gentleman's name is Esteban Maroto.

Born in Madrid, Spain in 1942, Esteban's career began in earnest as he apprenticed in the early 1960s under Manuel López Blanco. There, the "Adventures of the F.B.I." served as a springboard, enabling the young Maroto to create his own studio, and get involved in the burgeoning British comic market. Within a few short years, Esteban was both writing and illustrating stories that took full advantage of his outstanding abilities. Like the similar revolution that was taking place at Marvel Comics in the late sixties, the artist was becoming a bigger star than the character he was illustrating, and Maroto was on the fast track to stardom.

This story picks up where Conan Saga #8 left off in the previous post, which can be read by clicking here. With Esteban Maroto on pencils and Neal Adams on inks, it doesn't get any better than this!



Credits

Cover painting: Earl Norem
Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Esteban Maroto
Inks: Neal Adams & Ernie Chan (as Ernie Chua)

Reprinted:

• from Savage Sword of Conan, The (Marvel, 1974 series) #1 (August 1974).

• in Marvel Feature (Marvel 1975 series) #1 (November 1975).
• in Savage Sword of Conan (Marvel, 1974 series) #83 (December 1982).
• in Adventures of Red Sonja, The (Dynamite Entertainment, 2005 series) #1.
• in Conan Saga (Marvel, 1987 series) #31 (November 1989).
  

Conan Saga #8: "The Song of Red Sonja"

Download Conan Saga #8







Conan the Barbarian hit the newsstands in the fall of 1970. Scripts were by Roy Thomas, and the art was by transplanted British artist Barry Windsor-Smith. Although he initially worked in a variation of the Marvel house style, Smith soon developed his own approach. His work became more personal, more intricate, and demonstrated distinct pre-Raphaelite touches.

Thomas's adaptations drew much praise at the time. Smith, too, attracted attention and was soon winning awards from both his peers and his fans. He left the character in 1973 and was followed by several other artists, among them John Buscema, Ernie Chan, and Gil Kane. The shaggy hero continued for decades. The original Conan the Barbarian title ended with the 275th issue (July 1995). The black-and-white Conan Saga ended with the 97th issue (April 1995). These were followed through the late nineties by a series of Conan miniseries. While Conan seems to go on leave from time to time, there is little doubt of his eventual return.


Credits

Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Barry Windsor-Smith
Inks: Barry Windsor-Smith

Reprinted:

• from Conan the Barbarian (Marvel, 1970 series) #24 (March 1973)

• In Marvel Treasury Edition (Marvel, 1974 series) #15
• in Savage Sword of Conan (Marvel, 1974 series) #82
• in Conan Saga (Marvel, 1987 series) #8
• in Essential Conan (Marvel, 2000 series) #1

Red Sonja story continues in Conan Saga #31.