Voluntary code to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States
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2 episodes with comics code
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3 episodes with comics code
This time we're talking about the Comics Code Authority, Crime Comics, Fredric Wertham, and what it all meant for Batman. Stickers!! https://py.pl/5lkIFsSutdO Our Website! https://batlessons.com Threads (https://www.threads.net/@batlessons) TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@batlessons) Seducing The Innocent (Tiley) https://muse.jhu.edu/article/490073 The Ten-Cent Plague (Hajdu) https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312428235/thetencentplague/ Seal Of Approval (Nyberg) https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Seal-of-Approval Seduction Of The Innocent (Wertham) https://www.amazon.com/Seduction-Innocent-Frederic-Wertham/dp/159683000X Comics Code of 1954 https://cbldf.org/the-comics-code-of-1954/ CRIME Does Not Pay (Digital) https://digital.darkhorse.com/series/219/crime-does-not-pay Bat Lessons (https://www.youtube.com/@batlessons) Bat Lessons Clips (https://www.youtube.com/@BatLessonsClips) Podcast Artwork by Sergio R. M. Duarte (https://www.instagram.com/sergiormduarte/) Podcast Music by Renzo Calma (https://www.instagram.com/renzocalm) Motion Graphics by r2ktalha (https://www.fiverr.com/share/AEpWpY) 00:00:00 Start 00:07:39 Parents & Mothers 00:13:06 Juvenile Delenquincy 00:17:20 Fredric Wertham 00:28:35 All Comics Are Crime Comics 00:33:37 Children's Quotes 00:37:21 Batman 00:48:43 It's All Made Up 00:55:09 The Comics Code 00:57:37 General Standards 01:03:38 No Horror! 01:05:43 No !@#$ 01:08:26 Costume 01:10:00 Marriage 01:11:48 Advertising Matter 01:16:39 Code Thoughts 01:18:12 What We Lost 01:25:55 Crime Does Not Pay 01:33:10 Closing Thoughts
In this conversation, the hosts discuss Alan Moore's Swamp Thing Volume 2 issues 28 to 34. They reflect on the nostalgia of reading monthly comics in the 80s and the impact of dropping the Comics Code. They explore the cohesive storytelling and themes of identity and soul throughout the volume. They appreciate the innovative artwork and panel layouts, particularly in the annual issue. They also discuss the jarring but intriguing fill-in issues and the connections to other DC characters and future storylines. The conversation ends with a humorous discussion about eating raw turnips. In this conversation, the hosts discuss various aspects of the Swamp Thing comic series by Alan Moore. They talk about the creative storytelling, the relationship between Swamp Thing and Abby, the use of horror elements, and the introduction of new characters like Arcane and the Spectre. They also speculate on the future direction of the series and the influence of Alan Moore's writing. Overall, they express their enjoyment of the volume and their excitement for the next one.Send us a textSupport the showFind me on VEROFilm Chewing PodcastLens Chewing on YouTubeSpeculative Speculations PodcastBuy me a coffeeLinktreeJoin Riverside.fm
And a reposting of part three of the "War Against Comics" series, this time focusing on the actual Comics Code itself.
For the grand finale of this year's Parallax Views Halloween-themed series, host J.G. Michael dives deep into the world of horror comics with none other than Stephen Bissette, legendary artist and penciler from Alan Moore's iconic Saga of the Swamp Thing. In this episode, Bissette reveals the eerie origins and turbulent history of horror comics, starting with the foundational impact of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine and its most well-known cover artist, Basil Gogos, which captivated a generation of horror enthusiasts. From there, the conversation explores the 1950s moral panic that vilified horror comics, leading to the creation of the restrictive Comics Code that effectively snuffed out horror comics for decades. Bissette and Michael delve into the legendary horror tales published by Warren with Creepy and Eerie, as well as EC Comics' iconic titles like Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror. The conversation highlights artists who shaped the genre, including Wally Wood and Gene Colan, whose work on Tomb of Dracula remains a horror classic. We also delve into the connection between the 60s/70s counterculture, underground comix, and horror comics by discussing the way in which horror comics were available in places like headshops in the 70s and how artists like the great Richard Corben of Heavy Metal fame worked in both the underground comix and horror comics spaces. Moving into his own groundbreaking work, Bissette discusses his boundary-pushing horror anthology series Taboo, a space where comics could embrace uncensored horror storytelling. They also explore Bissette's acclaimed run on Swamp Thing, with a particular focus on the legendary issue "The Anatomy Lesson." Bissette recounts how the eerie villain Jason Woodrue, aka the Floronic Man, came to feature as the main antagonist in the first arc of his Swamp Thing and shares how he modeled the character's unsettling look on Peter Cushing's portrayal in Hammer's Frankenstein films. The conversation also covers the rebirth of gothic horror in the late 1950s, the cultural fascination with giant monster sci-fi films in the early 50s, and the impact of censorship in comics, drawing fascinating parallels to contemporary book bans by Christian nationalist groups. With an exploration of censorship's effects, the genre's evolution, and chilling themes still relevant today, this episode is packed with rich insights for horror lovers and comics fans alike.
Schmutz, Schund, Mittel zur Verdummung – so wurden Comics in den 50er Jahren von vielen Menschen bezeichnet. In den USA gab es heftige TV-Debatten, Behörden prüften, ob das Lesen von Comics zu Gewalttaten führe, und Menschen verbrannten in der Öffentlichkeit Comic-Hefte. Only in America? Nein, auch in Deutschland. Aber eine Frau mit dicken Brillengläsern verteidigte das Medium Comic: Erika Fuchs. Sie war die erste Chefredakteurin des damals neu entstandenen Micky Maus -Magazins und übersetzte die englischen Texte ins Deutsche. Aus Halloween wurde Fasching/Karneval, aus Vroom Brumm. Viele Anspielungen aus ihrer Wahlheimat Schwarzenbach an der Saale haben es ins Magazin geschafft, aber auch Zitate aus Werken Goethes und Schillers sowie der Popmusik. 2015 hat ihr der Ort ein Museum gewidmet, das Erika-Fuchs-Haus. In dieser Folge machen wir einen #deepdive in die Welt der Comics, insbesondere Entenhausens. Wir lernen Museumsleiterin Joanna Straczowski kennen und Jakob Breu, der als Donaldist in seiner Freizeit wissenschaftliche Arbeiten über den Kosmos von Dagobert, Donald und Co. verfasst. #kannmanmalmachen Außerdem: ein Exkurs zur Frage, was eigentlich Comics auszeichnet. #podcastdeutsch #museenentdecken #wissenschaft #museum #franken #bayern #Geschichte #schwarzenbach #comic #mickymaus #disney #donald #donaldist ~~~~~~~ Hilfreiche Links: Ein Foto vom Liporello: https://www.escucha.de/wp-content/uploads/EFH_Simon_Schwartz_Fuchs_Biografie.jpg Ein Foto aus der Entenhausener Ausstellung: https://www.escucha.de/wp-content/uploads/EFH_Dauerausstellung_Donald-scaled.jpg Infos zu den Verbrennungsaktionen: https://giubanski.wordpress.com/2016/12/12/buecherverbrennung-der-kreuzzug-der-bibliotheken-gegen-comics/ https://kingkalli.de/comics-vor-60-jahren-im-schmoekergrab-verbrannt-heute-in-aachen-gefeiert/ Über den Comics Code in den USA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics_Code_Authority# Zum Erikativ: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflektiv#:~:text=Der%20Inflektiv%20wird%20scherzhaft%20auch,wurde%20sie%20aber%20schon%20fr%C3%BCher Literatur Comics richtig lesen von Scott McCloud: https://www.carlsen.de/softcover/comics-richtig-lesen/978-3-551-74817-1?srsltid=AfmBOorF1dnzpKJELlyHMKyMjCysmrtNFBC-DTzswB0BTghAfmnep1gd Über die Geschichte des Comics: https://cle.ens-lyon.fr/allemand/arts/bande-dessinee/die-geschichte-des-comics-in-deutschland Offizielle Homepage der deutschsprachigen Donaldisten: https://www.donald.org/ Direktlink zu Jakob Breus Arbeit über die Geschichte Entenhausens: https://www.donald.org/uploads/downloads/Forschung/2024_Jakob%20Breu_Eine%20kurze%20Geschichte%20Entenhausens_s-w.pdf ~~~~~~~ Infos zum Museum Erika-Fuchs-Haus – Museum für Comic und Sprachkunst Bahnhostraße 12 95126 Schwarzenbach https://www.erika-fuchs.de/ ~~~~~~~ über BITTE NICHT ANFASSEN!: Woran denkst du beim Wort Museum? An weltberühmte Ausstellungsstücke wie Sarkophage ägyptischer Pharaonen, an Gemälde von Picasso oder an technische Erfindungen wie das Automobil? Denkst du an das Deutsche Museum in München, das Pergamon-Museum in Berlin oder an das Städel in Frankfurt? Wir – das sind Ralph Würschinger und Lukas Fleischmann – denken beim Wort Museum an etwas Anderes: an Milbenkäse, Mausefallen, an Flipper-Automaten, Nummernschilder oder auch an Gartenzwerge. Denn die schätzungsweise 7.000 Museen in Deutschland haben so viel mehr zu bieten als das Angebot der großen Häuser. Mit „BITTE NICHT ANFASSEN – Museum mal anders“ begeben wir uns an kleine Orte, in Seitengassen großer Städte, um die kleinen und alternativen Ausstellungen zu finden, von denen du vermutlich noch nie gehört hast. Pro Monat erscheint eine Folge, für die einer von uns beiden ein besonderes Museum besucht und sich mit dem jeweils anderen darüber austauscht. Dabei kommen Museumsbetreiberinnen und -betreiber zu Wort, aber auch die Exponate an sich werden hörbar gemacht.
The superhero with one of the craziest costumes in the Marvel Universe in his own miniseries! It's got everything: A bonkers storyline! Nick Fury! Psychic flashbacks! Comics Code-approved orgies! Man, the 80s were wild. ----more---- For the transcript of this episode, head over to https://www.tencenttakes.com/transcripts. Email: tencenttakes@gmail.com Twitter: @Tencenttakes Instagram: @Tencenttakes Facebook: /Tencenttakes Mastodon: retro.pizza/@tencenttakes Our banner art is original work by Sarah Frank (https://www.lookmomdraws.com/) Hive: Tencenttakes
My guest this week is comedian Al Holiday! How was strength classified in the Marvel role playing game? How is Agatha Harkness different on TV versus in the comics? What was her background in the Marvel Universe? Does Deadpool tell too many jokes? Who wer e the original Guardians of the Galaxy? What's the deal with Starhawk? Was Deadpool and Wolverine too violent? What was the Comics Code? Is "superheroes don't kill" a hard rule? Whose responsibility is it to keep kids out of an R rated movie? What is the myth of Gilgamesh? Are superheroes modern day myths? Have superhero origin stories gotten too complicated? Who is The Maker? What's happening in the current Ultimate Spider-Man book? Who was Rachel Pollack? What is Warhammer 40k? What about the Neil Gaiman allegations? Reading list: Recent issues of the Hulk Ultimate Spider-Man (new series) Rachel Pollack Doom Patrol and Brother Power The Geek (DC Pride: Rachel Pollack) Sandman The Puma Blues Aliens vs Avengers Watch list: Deadpool and Wolverine Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and 3 Crimes and Misdemeanors Hannah and her Sisters Podcast: Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman Image credit: Kyle Cassidy
It's time to go back. Back before Mega Man crossovers, before echidnas turning green, before even cheap character deaths. No, we're going back to where it all began as we revisit Sonic Firsts, a graphic novel compiling some of the earliest Archie adventures! From the first comic ever printed to Bunnie's big break, from a Super Sonic spotlight to a red rival's reveal, this mega collection of early comics is not to be missed, no matter what the CCA might tell you! (0:00:00) Intro/Main topic: Sonic Firsts (0:12:54) A brief divergence about the Comics Code (0:21:48) "Don't Cry for Me, Mobius!" (Issue #0) (0:40:40) "Rabbot Deployment" (Issue #3) (0:56:02) "The Lizard of Odd" (Issue #4) (1:13:24) "This Island Hedgehog" (Issue #13) (1:33:30) Final thoughts (1:43:41) Outro Amie Waters on Linktree
This episode is a two-for-one, and that's because the podcast recently hit its 10-year anniversary and passed one billion downloads. To celebrate, I've curated some of the best of the best—some of my favorites—from more than 700 episodes over the last decade. I could not be more excited. The episode features segments from episode #691 "Nassim Nicholas Taleb & Scott Patterson — How Traders Make Billions in The New Age of Crisis, Defending Against Silent Risks, Personal Independence, Skepticism Where It (Really) Counts, The Bishop and The Economist, and Much More" and #639 "Todd McFarlane, Legendary Comic Book Artist — How to Make Iconic Art, Reinvent Spider-Man, Live Life on Your Own Terms, and Meet Every Deadline"Please enjoy!Sponsors:Momentous high-quality supplements: https://livemomentous.com/tim (code TIM for 20% off)Eight Sleep's Pod 4 Ultra sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: https://eightsleep.com/tim (save $350 on the Pod 4 Ultra)LMNT electrolyte supplement: https://drinklmnt.com/Tim (free LMNT sample pack with any drink mix purchase)Timestamps:[04:51] Notes about this supercombo format.[05:54] Enter Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Scott Patterson.[06:32] The joy of writing a preemptive resignation letter.[07:13] Developing resilience against criticism.[10:04] Nassim: contrarian, or simply independent?[12:27] Jiving with skeptical turkeys.[17:21] Persisting through the polycrisis.[19:18] Introducing the precautionary principle.[21:37] Nassim's preferred legacy.[23:50] Precautionary principle 101.[25:14] Fat tails, thin tails, the COVID vaccine, and GMOs.[32:51] Enter Todd McFarlane.[33:21] Baseball.[38:46] Rejection letters.[42:38] Compelling storytelling and meeting deadlines.[45:46] Deadlines pre-Internet vs. deadlines today.[48:36] How industry status quo led to the founding of Image Comic Books.[1:00:30] The Comics Code and the last straw.[1:06:52] The Marvel Dream Team exodus.[1:25:13] How is Todd's camel bladder a competitive advantage?[1:31:02] Career bouncing and double-shifting as a penciler and inker.[1:49:08] The happy accident of Venom.[1:55:46] De-Rockwelling the company icon and inventing "spaghetti webbing."[2:03:31] Bucking the status quo to become the status quo.[2:07:13] Parting thoughts and a promise for round two.*For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsorsSign up for Tim's email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim's books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Time to finish up our coverage of The Empire Strikes Back (at least this adaptation of it). Prepare for some harsh Comics Code editing and some weird art choices as we enter a bold new era in which the Star Wars franchise now consists of two whole movies!
Episode 8 - Murdock and Marvel: 1971 We have a fun show this week, with Marvel being a critical part of a couple big changes that happen in 1971. We also see a new character swinging into Daredevil this year, who is going be a big part of Matt Murdock's life for the next few years! Preshow Note from Amanda The Year in Comics 1971 was a year of transition and upheaval for the comics industry, as fundamental changes to content and pricing occurred that would impact what stories comics could tell going forward, and who they would be telling them for. The Big Stories Other Tidbits Shazam Winners The Year in Marvel New Titles (and lots of reprints) New Characters Big Moments Who's in the Bullpen ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: John Costanza The Year in Daredevil Appearances: Daredevil #72-82, Iron Man #35-36 Gerry Conway wrote most of these issues with Gene Colan on art and Stan Lee editing. More logo changes starting with issue 72. More blocky (but now on one line) Daredevil. The year starts with Daredevil teaming up with Tagak the Leopard Lord to capture a burglar from another dimension. Both came to earth through a mirror. Matt Murdock then butts heads with Tony Stark as the pair, along with Nick Fury, keep the Zodiac key away from Spymaster, Capricorn and others in a story that crossed over from Iron Man's comic (and then back). Daredevil teams up with a group of Blind people to thwart the committee after they blind New York City. While on a fact-finding mission in Delvadia, Daredevil has to save the new US ambassador Jerome Villiers and pursue El Condor who sent the men after Villiers. Namor is drawn to a park as an alien spacecraft lands while Daredevil and Spider-Man attempt to figure out what has people's attention. Daredevil saves the lives of a couple visiting New York and ends up dealing with a professor and his super strengthen Man-Bull. Meanwhile, Foggy is getting blackmailed by a mysterious Mr. Klein. The Owl returns to after being hired by Mr. Klein to take down Daredevil. Daredevil fights Owl on his owl-copter and the ship crashes and explodes – causing Karen to believe Matt has died… again. Black Widow saves a knocked-out Daredevil from drowning. The Owl and Mr. Klein (who is now code-named Assassin) cut ties and Karen get “comforted” by her agent Phil. The year ends with Daredevil and Black Widow taking on the Scorpion who's been brought in by Mr. Klein. During a battle on top of the World Trade Center, Widow accidentally knocks Scorpion off the edge of the building and an eyewitness accuses her of murder. New Powers, Toys or Places New Supporting Characters New Villains This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #80 Sept 1971 "In the Eyes... of the Owl!" and Daredevil #81 Nov 1971 "And Death Is a Woman Called Widow" Recap Why We Picked This Story The Takeaway Changes with the Comics Code means Changes at Marvel (and comics in general) Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm. You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra's Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details. The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years. Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time.
FLASHBACK! There's no doubt that Superman is one of the most significant characters in the history of American comics. He ended up setting the template for what would be the dominant genre in American comics after the Comics Code came into effect. Of course, the types of stories told in those comics, and their tone, … Continue reading #479 Some of the greatest Superman stories (or not)
On today's episode of the "Helping Families Be Happy" podcast, host Christopher Robbins, co-founder of Familius Publishing, husband, father of nine, author, fisherman, backpacker, and aspirational musician based in the Central Valley of California, talks to Sarah Smith; a distinguished district librarian from California's Central Valley about books and the current book banning trend within the United States. Having served as a high school librarian and English teacher, Sarah's passion now extends to professionally reviewing manga and graphic novels for esteemed publications like Booklist and School Library Journal. she has penned articles for California English and Diamond Bookshelf, enhancing our understanding of the written word. Her voice has enriched podcasts such as School Librarians United and The Literacy Advocate, and her expertise has been showcased at conferences hosted by the American Library Association and the School Library Journal Summit. Episode Highlights: 01:58 Christopher opens the dialogue with a reflection on the current state of book banning and censorship in the United States, emphasizing its unprecedented scale and acknowledges the need to balance the protection of our right to read with parental concerns over potentially objectionable content. 02:34 Statistics reveal a significant rise in challenged titles in libraries, with a shift towards collective challenges on multiple books rather than individual titles. 04:22 Sarah describes the issue of book banning as a significant element in a wider cultural conflict, particularly as a means to challenge public education. She notes that the pandemic, by bringing school into the home, gave some parents a closer look at educational content, which has spurred a pushback against certain materials. 05:27 Sarah reveals a startling statistic from a recent study showing that a majority of the book challenges can be traced back to a relatively small number of individuals, suggesting the influence of a vocal minority rather than a widespread movement. 07:38 Christopher seeks Sarah's insight on how parents can address concerns about content their children are exposed to in school libraries. 09:06 Sarah touches on regional differences in content appropriateness, particularly within California's diverse political landscape. She discusses the challenges librarians face in ensuring age-appropriate content and the reliance on various tools and resources to assist in book selection. 10:49 The goal of reconsiderations process is to approach concerns objectively and fairly, without succumbing to emotional or biased judgments, says Sarah. 11:56 Christopher clarifies the objective criteria in place for parents to submit concerns about content and the inclusive review process involving various community members. 13:19 Christopher discusses the variability of policies across districts and states, and the importance for parents to be informed about their school's specific policies. 13:35 Sarah advises parents to check school board policies on their school's website, typically found under the instruction section, to understand the policy regarding book challenges. 14:26 Sarah emphasizes the importance of civility when parents address concerns with schools, suggesting that a polite approach is more effective. 16:34 Sarah introduces the idea of parents discussing content limitations directly with libraries, potentially preventing the need for book removals. She shares a personal anecdote about respecting a parent's request to restrict specific genres for their child and notes that this is a right parents have. 18:51 Christopher also discusses cultural literacy, encouraging exposure to a broad range of literature, music, and film to enrich children's understanding of the human experience. 20:10 On constitutional aspect, Christopher questions how current cultural conflicts and legislation align with the freedom of speech and the freedom to read as guaranteed by the First Amendment. 21:27 Sara mentions guidance issued by the California District Attorney in June, reminding schools of their obligation to follow due process when considering the removal of books, underlining potential consequences for failing to do so. 22:46 Christopher inquiries about historical precedents for comic censorship, leading to a discussion on the Comics Code Authority established in response to accusations that comics were contributing to juvenile delinquency. 23:40 Sara explains the self-regulatory measures of the comics industry to avoid Congressional censorship and how the 1980s saw a shift with publishers choosing to ignore the Comics Code to produce content for mature audiences. 25:54 Sarah stresses the diligence that goes into selecting books for libraries, pointing out that professional reviews are a resource for librarians and can be a tool for parents as well. She mentions that professional reviews are available for parents to check if a book is age-appropriate and suggests that these resources can also guide parental choices. 28:16 Christopher discusses the importance of trade publications in the library collection development process and their availability on platforms like Amazon. Key Points: Christopher and Sarah explore the concerning trend of book banning in the U.S., discussing the need to find a balance between protecting the freedom to read and addressing parental concerns over certain educational content. Sarah offers insights on the book selection process in libraries, emphasizing the role of professional reviews and trade publications to ensure age-appropriateness, and suggests that direct communication between parents and libraries can pre-emptively address content concerns. The conversation also addresses the constitutional implications of book banning, historical censorship in comics, and the importance of cultural literacy, underscoring the significance of due process and civility in the discourse around library content and book challenges. Tweetable Quotes: "Unprecedented scale of book banning in the U.S. calls for a balance between our right to read and addressing parental content concerns." - Christopher Robbins "A vocal minority, not a widespread movement, often drives the rise in book challenges." - Sarah Smith "Civility and direct communication with libraries can address content concerns more effectively than book removals." - Sarah Smith "Cultural literacy is enriched by exposure to a broad range of literature, music, and film." - Christopher Robbins Resources Mentioned Helping Families Be Happy Podcast Apple https://www.graphiclibrary.org/about-me.html Podcast Editing
Episode 02 Mysteries By Moonlight We take a look at the classic Moon Knight stories from Hulk! Magazine and Marvel Preview this week. Duane tries to wrap his head around why Moon Knight stories are in a Hulk comic, Dan celebrates the arrival of Bill Sienkiewicz, and along the way we talk about the Comics Code, discuss the impact of inkers, and enjoy the creepy goodness that is the Hatchet Man storyline. The Stack for this week includes: Moon Knight backup stories in Hulk! #11-15, 17, 18 and 20 Marvel Preview #21 * These comics are sadly not available online through Marvel Unlimited. They are collected in the Moon Knight Epic Collection: Bad Moon Rising. Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you! Email questions@phasesofthemoonknight.com or find us on Twitter @phasesofmk
Most comic book fans have at least a passing knowledge of EC Comics and their role in the creation of the Comics Code of Authority. But many don't realize how ahead of their time the company was in so many areas, nor that the father and son who made EC run also play important roles in American comics history.Join me as we give a quick and dirty look at the horror comic legends: EC Comics!---------------------------------------------------Big thanks to Dmitry Taras for our Spooktober theme, "Dark Mysterious Halloween Night"Check out his YouTube channel and you can find free use music from him on Pixabay.com!---------------------------------------------------Check out Dreampass and all their killer tracks on Spotify!---------------------------------------------------Join the Patreon to help us keep the lights on, and internet connected! https://www.patreon.com/tctwl---------------------------------------------------Listen to my other podcast!TFD: NerdcastAnd I am also part of the team over at...I Read Comic Books!---------------------------------------------------Want to try out all the sweet gigs over on Fiverr.com? Click on the link below and sign up!https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=323533&brand=fiverrcpa---------------------------------------------------Follow on Instagram!The Comics That We LoveFollow on Tiktok!The Comics that We LoveFollow on Twitter!@Z_Irish_Red
Tel est pris qui croyait prendre, voilà qui pourrait être la morale d'une histoire d'Edgar Allan Poe, ou de cet article. Aujourd'hui, on parle d'Edgar Allan Poe et de son influence sur la bande dessinée américaine ! Quand je me suis dit qu'il serait amusant de vous parler du Masque de la Mort Rouge et de ses adaptations en comic books, je n'imaginais pas dans quelle spirale infernale je venais de tomber… Car, si l'Américain Edgar Allan Poe, né à Boston en 1809, est incontestablement l'un des pères de la littérature fantastique et horrifique moderne, il est aussi l'inspirateur d'une quantité absolument titanesque de bandes dessinées plus ou moins fidèles à ses œuvres. Publiée pour la première fois en 1842 dans Graham's Magazine, puis traduite en français par Charles Baudelaire dans le recueil Nouvelles Histoires Extraordinaires en 1857, The Masque of the Red Death, de son titre original, est une nouvelle s'inscrivant dans la tradition du roman gothique. Dans cette courte histoire, la Mort Rouge, une maladie proche de la peste, aux effets visibles désastreux et à la mortalité fulgurante, décime brutalement toute la population d'une contrée. Le Prince Prospero, un homme de pouvoir dans la région, invite un millier de nobles dans son palais au cœur d'une abbaye fortifiée, interdisant à quiconque d'entrer ou de sortir, afin d'éviter toute intrusion d'une personne malade. Bien que barricadés, les convives de Prospero ne manquent de rien, ni de nourriture, ni de divertissements en tout genre. Après plusieurs mois d'enfermement, un bal masqué est organisé et Prospero fait décorer chaque salle de sa demeure d'une couleur différente. Les six premières sont respectivement bleue, pourpre, verte, orange, blanche, et violette, les vitres des fenêtres de chaque pièce laissant passer une lumière dont la couleur est identique à celle des murs. Mais la septième chambre fait exception. Entièrement noire, elle est éclairée d'une lumière rouge, et on y trouve une énorme horloge sonnant à chaque heure d'une façon plus pesante. Lors de la fête, aux douze coups de minuit, un étranger grand et décharné, au masque semblable au visage d'un cadavre, et entièrement vêtu de rouge, se mêle à la foule, errant au milieu des danseurs. Prospero, en colère face à ce costume qu'il prend pour une provocation, demande à ce que l'étranger soit arrêté, puis pendu ! Mais nul n'ose l'interpeller pendant qu'il traverse le palais. Prospero se jette alors sur lui, poignard à la main. Mais, comme foudroyé, il s'écroule sans vie, tandis que les convives constatent que la créature n'est autre la Mort Rouge incarnée, avant de mourir un à un. Si la morale de cette histoire n'est jamais explicitement donnée par Edgar Allan Poe, on y voit souvent une allégorie de l'inéluctabilité de la mort. La Mort Rouge ; peut-être inspirée de la tuberculose dont souffrait Virginia, l'épouse de Poe ; se propage de façon inarrêtable, y compris entre les murs du lieu où la noblesse se croyait à l'abri. Aucun stratagème ne permet d'y échapper et vouloir la contrôler est aussi vain qu'illusoire, tandis que son avancée inexorable nous est rappelée par chaque sonnerie du carillon, qui laisse derrière lui un silence de mort, avant que l'activité des invités ne reprenne peu à peu. L'autre interprétation que l'on peut en faire est plus sociale, car Le Masque de la Mort Rouge met en exergue le dédain des riches et des puissants qui festoient à l'abri, alors que les pauvres et les paysans sont exterminés par la maladie. Mais le répit des privilégiés est de courte durée, car leurs richesses et leur condition sociale ne les prémunissent pas de trépasser dans les mêmes circonstances que les indigents. La nouvelle d'Edgar Allan Poe va inspirer un sacré paquet d'œuvres au fil des années : du Fantôme de l'Opéra de Gaston Leroux à l'univers de Donjons & Dragons, en passant par un skin pour le personnage de Faucheur dans le jeu vidéo Overwatch, mais aussi des ballets, des chansons, de nombreux films, et même des comics. Car, en plus de leur influence plus que conséquente sur la Pop Culture telle que nous la connaissons aujourd'hui, les écrits de Poe ont souvent été repris, de façon plus ou moins assumée, par la bande dessinée américaine. En ce qui concerne The Masque of the Red Death en particulier, on dénombre plusieurs dizaines d'adaptations sur le papier, parfois littérales et parfois beaucoup plus libres. Si je ne vais pas toutes les citer, certaines méritent qu'on s'y attarde, notamment celles publiées par Marvel Comics, éditeur étonnamment attaché aux travaux du romancier. Dès 1952, dans les pages du quatrième numéro de Adventures Into Weird Worlds, Bill Everett, l'artiste derrière Namor the Sub-Mariner et co-créateur de Daredevil avec Stan Lee, s'inspire du Masque de la Mort Rouge dans la courte histoire "The Face of Death", qui modernise le cadre et les protagonistes dans un style typique des comic books horrifiques pré-Comics Code. Le lecteur y est interpellé comme si cette situation pouvait réellement lui arriver, et la thématique sociale opposant l'aristocratie au petit peuple est remplacée par une rivalité amoureuse. En 1961, dans Strange Tales #83, Steve Ditko, qui deviendra plus tard l'un des pères de Spider-Man et du Docteur Strange, dessine "Masquerade Party". Là aussi, la nouvelle originale de Poe est largement modernisée, encore une fois sous le prisme d'une romance qui tourne mal, mais avec une chute beaucoup moins morbide, la censure du Comics Code Authority étant passée par là entre-temps. L'histoire sera réimprimée bien plus tard, dans Chamber of Chills #16, en 1975. Huit ans plus tard, en 1969, le scénariste Roy Thomas et le dessinateur Don heck présentent une nouvelle adaptation, "The Day of the Red Death", dans laquelle un Stan Lee transformé en narrateur à la manière du Gardien des Comptes de la Crypte nous raconte cette fois-ci une version futuriste du Masque de la Mort Rouge, mais remarquablement fidèle à l'esprit de l'originale en comparaison des publications précédentes. Plus récemment, toujours chez Marvel, l'anthologie en trois numéros Haunt of Horror, parue en 2006 sous son label MAX et dessinée par Richard Corben, a confirmé le curieux lien existant entre le nouvelliste et la Maison des Idées. Puisque l'on parle de Richard Corben, cet artiste complet, véritable légende de la bande dessinée américaine, va, tout au long de sa carrière, lier son travail aux œuvres d'Edgar Allan Poe.Dès 1974, il adapte The Raven, dans le numéro soixante-sept de Creepy. Il réalisera en tout trois versions dessinées de ce poème narratif, la dernière en date, publiée en 2013 par Dark Horse Comics, figurant au sommaire d'un numéro contenant également son adaptation du Masque de la Mort Rouge. Qu'il illustre directement les textes de Poe ou qu'il s'en nourrisse pour ses propres créations, Corben partage avec lui son amour des ambiances angoissantes et des univers vaporeux. Son style graphique se prête parfaitement aux cadres pratiquement oniriques des nouvelles, mais aussi à leurs révélations finales choquantes et à leur suggestivité parfois perturbante. Il est incontestablement l'un des auteurs de bande dessinée qui a le mieux capturé l'essence des écrits d'Edgar Allan Poe et, si ses travaux vous intéressent, l'intégralité de ses histoires publiées par Dark Horse est disponible en français en un seul volume intitulé Esprit des Morts, chez Delirium. Mais, bien avant Corben, d'autres artistes ont cherché à adapter plus fidèlement The Mask of the Red Death. En 1964 sort ce qui est sûrement l'adaptation cinématographique la plus célèbre de la nouvelle, réalisée par Roger Corman, avec Vincent Price dans le rôle de Prospero. Afin de transformer ce court récit de quelques pages en un long-métrage d'une heure trente, de nombreux éléments sont ajoutés pour préciser le contexte et donner du corps à l'intrigue. Prospero y est montré comme un individu détestable et violent, terrorisant la population vivant autour de son palais et vouant même un culte à Satan. Le culte satanique de Prospero est d'ailleurs omniprésent dans le film, alors que Poe n'en fait jamais mention dans son histoire, et le tout est agrémenté d'une rivalité amoureuse entre Juliana, la compagne de Prospero, et Francesca, une jeune femme kidnappée dans un village ravagé par le prince qui espérait ainsi éviter la propagation de la Mort Rouge. L'ensemble correspond quand même assez bien au texte original dans l'idée, même si l'interprétation sociale y est plus forte et si la figure féminine de Francesca apporte également son lot d'hypothèses, totalement inexistantes chez Poe. Le Masque de la Mort Rouge est le septième film d'un cycle qui en compte huit en tout, tous réalisés par Roger Corman entre 1960 et 1965, d'après les histoires d'Edgar Allan Poe. Et outre le statut culte de ce portage sur grand écran, il a la particularité d'avoir été adapté en comic book par l'éditeur Dell Comics. Cette adaptation, dessinée par Frank Springer, un artiste très prolifique chez Dell et que l'on retrouvera plus tard sur les séries Dazzler ou G.I Joe chez Marvel, est un travail de commande à caractère promotionnel typique de l'époque, mais reste plutôt agréable à lire. On notera qu'en 1989, Corman a produit un remake de son propre film, avec Adrian Paul, alias Duncan MacLeod dans la série télévisée Highlander, dans le rôle de Prospero, pour un résultat beaucoup moins mémorable. Il faut finalement attendre 1967, dans les pages du douzième numéro du magazine Eerie, pour voir la première adaptation en bande dessinée vraiment fidèle à la nouvelle d'Edgar Allan Poe, écrite par Archie Goodwin et dessinée par Tom Sutton. Le format magazine adopté par Warren Publishing permettait à l'éditeur de passer outre les restrictions du Comics Code Authority, et donc de montrer beaucoup plus de scènes gores et scabreuses. Le style de Tom Sutton marche vraiment très bien dans ce type de récit qui, bien qu'horrifique, conserve des outrances grand-guignolesques. Il a d'ailleurs consacré une bonne partie de ses travaux à des comics d'horreur, à quelques remarquables exceptions, comme son intervention sur pratiquement tous les numéros de la série Star Trek publiée par DC Comics entre 1984 et 1988. L'autre adaptation marquante en provenance de chez Warren se trouve dans Vampirella #110, paru en 1982. Rich Margopoulos et Rafael Aura León y présentent une version également très fidèle au texte original, dont certaines cases flirtent gentiment avec l'érotisme. Ces deux histoires ont été réimprimées de nombreuses fois par la suite, et comptent parmi la multitude d'exemples de la façon dont l'œuvre de Poe a inspiré toute une génération de scénaristes et d'illustrateurs qui participent au regain d'intérêt pour l'épouvante classique et l'horreur gothique à partir de la seconde moitié du vingtième siècle. Au-delà des adaptations de ses œuvres, Edgar Allan Poe est avant tout un personnage historique majeur pour la culture des États-Unis, si bien qu'on le retrouve parfois mis en scène comme un personnage de fiction, de façon plus ou moins sérieuse, dans à peu près tout et n'importe quoi : de South Park aux Beetleborgs, en passant par les Simpson et Sabrina, l'Apprentie Sorcière. Évidemment, les comic books n'échappent pas à cette étrange coutume et le poète apparaît ainsi dans un nombre conséquent de publications. Dans le deuxième numéro de l'anthologie horrifique Spellbound, paru en 1952, il est transformé en vilain qui torture un acteur dans une mise en scène macabre digne d'un film de la saga Saw. Chez DC Comics, il croise la route de super-héros comme Superboy et The Atom, tandis que le vingt-sixième numéro de la série Ghosts, publié en 1974, va jusqu'à réinventer les causes de sa mort, restées troubles jusqu'à aujourd'hui. Enfin, avec ses séries Snifter of Terror ou Snifter of Blood, AHOY Comics revisite les classiques de l'écrivain sous un jour plus moderne, et parfois parodique, derrière des couvertures hommages aussi inattendues qu'amusantes. Une utilisation pas toujours du meilleur goût, mais qui révèle à quel point il a influencé par bien des façons les auteurs et les artistes derrière nos bande dessinées préférées, ces derniers nourrissant un besoin quasi-viscéral de lui rendre hommage d'une manière ou d'une autre. Honnêtement, en me lançant dans l'écriture de cet article, je ne m'attendais pas à avoir autant de choses à vous raconter. Et tout ça en ne traitant que d'une seule histoire écrite par Edgar Allan Poe, et pratiquement uniquement par le prisme de ses adaptations en comics… C'est dire quel terrier de lapin sans fond peut devenir le moindre sujet lié à la Pop Culture, au sens très large du terme, pour peu que l'on prenne la peine de se questionner sur chaque élément laissé çà et là par les différents acteurs de son développement… Alors, au regard de la ribambelle de productions tirées du Masque de la Mort Rouge, ma conclusion est la suivante : à quoi que Prospero ait pu espérer échapper en s'enfermant dans son palais, ce n'était assurément pas la postérité. N'hésitez pas à partager cet article sur les réseaux sociaux s'il vous a plu ! Recevez mes articles, podcasts et vidéos directement dans votre boîte mail, sans intermédiaire ni publicité, en vous abonnant gratuitement ! Retrouvez le podcast POP CULTURE & COMICS sur toutes les plateformes d'écoute en cliquant ici ! 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Tales from the Crypt was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics from 1950 to 1955, producing 27 issues (the first issue with the title was #20, previously having been International Comics (#1–#5); International Crime Patrol (#6); Crime Patrol (#7–#16) and The Crypt of Terror (#17–#19) for a total of 46 issues in the series). Along with its sister titles, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt was popular, but in the late 1940s and early 1950s comic books came under attack from parents, clergymen, schoolteachers and others who believed the books contributed to illiteracy and juvenile delinquency. In April and June 1954, highly publicized congressional subcommittee hearings on the effects of comic books upon children left the industry shaken. With the subsequent imposition of a highly restrictive Comics Code, EC Comics publisher Bill Gaines cancelled Tales from the Crypt and its two companion horror titles, along with the company's remaining crime and science fiction series in September 1954. Since their demise, all EC Comics titles have been reprinted at various times. Stories from the horror series have been adapted into other media, including a 1972 film and a television series that aired on HBO from 1989 to 1996. The later spawned two films—Demon Knight (1995) and Bordello of Blood (1996)—as well as a children's animated series, a game show, and a radio series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
My guest this week is comedian Danny Gallagher! When did Danny get started with MAD Magazine? What is the MAD Fold-In? What did Danny NOT find at his grandparents' house? When was Nickelodeon more "us against them"? What strip did MAD Magazine recently reprint? What did MAD Magazine never do? When did the Comics Code start? What weird rules did the Comics Code Authority force comics creators to adhere to? What was William Gaines like? What did MAD Magazine make fun of? What is Spy Vs Spy? What was MAD's Star Wars parody called? What are The Mask comics? What happens to people when they put on the Mask? What are some differences between the movie and the comic? What happened when DC Comics took over MAD? Does MAD ever do new articles anymore? Reading list: Superduperman Scholar Finds Flaws in Work by Archenemy of Comics 10 Crazy Rules The Comics Code Authority Made Creators Follow A Seduction of the Innocent website Good days and MAD by Dick Debartolo Tales From The Crypt (free on Comixology Unlimited) The Mask Dark Horse Presents Concrete (free on Comixology Unlimited) Recorded 9-15-23 via Zencastr
There's a new play all about The Dr Wertham Book Seduction Of The Innocent that discusses EC comics and the creation Of The Comics code. Horror Crime and adult comics were deemed unacceptable by the US Senate. This play depicts the real life drama and consequences. It's playing in Chicago Thru Oct 8th at the City Lit Theater.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3143082/advertisement
Connor and Harry provide a condensed history of American superhero comics, starting with the precursive Platinum Age, their creation in the Golden Age, and the censorious Comics Code's creation in the Silver Age.
Beat the Kayfabe Effect at our Patreon: https://patreon.com/cartoonistkayfabe Ed's Links (Order RED ROOM!, Patreon, etc): https://linktr.ee/edpiskor Jim's Links (Patreon, Store, social media): https://linktr.ee/jimrugg ------------------------- E-NEWSLETTER: Keep up with all things Cartoonist Kayfabe through our newsletter! News, appearances, special offers, and more - signup here for free: https://cartoonistkayfabe.substack.com/ --------------------- SNAIL MAIL! Cartoonist Kayfabe, PO Box 3071, Munhall, Pa 15120 --------------------- T-SHIRTS and MERCH: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/cartoonist-kayfabe --------------------- Connect with us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cartoonist.kayfabe/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CartoonKayfabe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cartoonist.Kayfabe Ed's Contact info: https://Patreon.com/edpiskor https://www.instagram.com/ed_piskor https://www.twitter.com/edpiskor https://www.amazon.com/Ed-Piskor/e/B00LDURW7A/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 Jim's contact info: https://www.patreon.com/jimrugg https://www.jimrugg.com/shop https://www.instagram.com/jimruggart https://www.twitter.com/jimruggart https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Rugg/e/B0034Q8PH2/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1543440388&sr=1-2-ent
Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen fundamentally altered the perception of American comic books and remains one of the medium's greatest hits. Launched in 1986—“the year that changed comics” for most scholars in comics studies—Watchmen quickly assisted in cementing the legacy that comics were a serious form of literature no longer defined by the Comics Code era of funny animal and innocuous superhero books that appealed mainly to children. After Midnight: Watchmen After Watchmen (U Mississippi Press, 2022) looks specifically at the three adaptations of Moore's and Gibbons's Watchmen—Zack Snyder's Watchmen film (2009), Geoff Johns's comic book sequel Doomsday Clock (2017), and Damon Lindelof's Watchmen series on HBO (2019). Divided into three parts, the anthology considers how the sequels, especially the limited series, have prompted a reevaluation of the original text and successfully harnessed the politics of the contemporary moment into a potent relevancy. The first part considers the various texts through conceptions of adaptation, remediation, and transmedia storytelling. Part two considers the HBO series through its thematic focus on the relationship between American history and African American trauma by analyzing how the show critiques the alt-right, represents intergenerational trauma, illustrates alternative possibilities for Black representation, and complicates our understanding of how the mechanics of the show's production can complicate its politics. Finally, the book's last section considers the themes of nostalgia and trauma, both firmly rooted in the original Moore and Gibbons series, and how the sequel texts reflect and refract upon those often-intertwined phenomena. Joel Tscherne is an Adjunct History Professor at Southern New Hampshire University and an Associate Faculty member at University of Arizona Global Campus. His Twitter handle is @JoelTscherne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen fundamentally altered the perception of American comic books and remains one of the medium's greatest hits. Launched in 1986—“the year that changed comics” for most scholars in comics studies—Watchmen quickly assisted in cementing the legacy that comics were a serious form of literature no longer defined by the Comics Code era of funny animal and innocuous superhero books that appealed mainly to children. After Midnight: Watchmen After Watchmen (U Mississippi Press, 2022) looks specifically at the three adaptations of Moore's and Gibbons's Watchmen—Zack Snyder's Watchmen film (2009), Geoff Johns's comic book sequel Doomsday Clock (2017), and Damon Lindelof's Watchmen series on HBO (2019). Divided into three parts, the anthology considers how the sequels, especially the limited series, have prompted a reevaluation of the original text and successfully harnessed the politics of the contemporary moment into a potent relevancy. The first part considers the various texts through conceptions of adaptation, remediation, and transmedia storytelling. Part two considers the HBO series through its thematic focus on the relationship between American history and African American trauma by analyzing how the show critiques the alt-right, represents intergenerational trauma, illustrates alternative possibilities for Black representation, and complicates our understanding of how the mechanics of the show's production can complicate its politics. Finally, the book's last section considers the themes of nostalgia and trauma, both firmly rooted in the original Moore and Gibbons series, and how the sequel texts reflect and refract upon those often-intertwined phenomena. Joel Tscherne is an Adjunct History Professor at Southern New Hampshire University and an Associate Faculty member at University of Arizona Global Campus. His Twitter handle is @JoelTscherne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen fundamentally altered the perception of American comic books and remains one of the medium's greatest hits. Launched in 1986—“the year that changed comics” for most scholars in comics studies—Watchmen quickly assisted in cementing the legacy that comics were a serious form of literature no longer defined by the Comics Code era of funny animal and innocuous superhero books that appealed mainly to children. After Midnight: Watchmen After Watchmen (U Mississippi Press, 2022) looks specifically at the three adaptations of Moore's and Gibbons's Watchmen—Zack Snyder's Watchmen film (2009), Geoff Johns's comic book sequel Doomsday Clock (2017), and Damon Lindelof's Watchmen series on HBO (2019). Divided into three parts, the anthology considers how the sequels, especially the limited series, have prompted a reevaluation of the original text and successfully harnessed the politics of the contemporary moment into a potent relevancy. The first part considers the various texts through conceptions of adaptation, remediation, and transmedia storytelling. Part two considers the HBO series through its thematic focus on the relationship between American history and African American trauma by analyzing how the show critiques the alt-right, represents intergenerational trauma, illustrates alternative possibilities for Black representation, and complicates our understanding of how the mechanics of the show's production can complicate its politics. Finally, the book's last section considers the themes of nostalgia and trauma, both firmly rooted in the original Moore and Gibbons series, and how the sequel texts reflect and refract upon those often-intertwined phenomena. Joel Tscherne is an Adjunct History Professor at Southern New Hampshire University and an Associate Faculty member at University of Arizona Global Campus. His Twitter handle is @JoelTscherne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/film
Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen fundamentally altered the perception of American comic books and remains one of the medium's greatest hits. Launched in 1986—“the year that changed comics” for most scholars in comics studies—Watchmen quickly assisted in cementing the legacy that comics were a serious form of literature no longer defined by the Comics Code era of funny animal and innocuous superhero books that appealed mainly to children. After Midnight: Watchmen After Watchmen (U Mississippi Press, 2022) looks specifically at the three adaptations of Moore's and Gibbons's Watchmen—Zack Snyder's Watchmen film (2009), Geoff Johns's comic book sequel Doomsday Clock (2017), and Damon Lindelof's Watchmen series on HBO (2019). Divided into three parts, the anthology considers how the sequels, especially the limited series, have prompted a reevaluation of the original text and successfully harnessed the politics of the contemporary moment into a potent relevancy. The first part considers the various texts through conceptions of adaptation, remediation, and transmedia storytelling. Part two considers the HBO series through its thematic focus on the relationship between American history and African American trauma by analyzing how the show critiques the alt-right, represents intergenerational trauma, illustrates alternative possibilities for Black representation, and complicates our understanding of how the mechanics of the show's production can complicate its politics. Finally, the book's last section considers the themes of nostalgia and trauma, both firmly rooted in the original Moore and Gibbons series, and how the sequel texts reflect and refract upon those often-intertwined phenomena. Joel Tscherne is an Adjunct History Professor at Southern New Hampshire University and an Associate Faculty member at University of Arizona Global Campus. His Twitter handle is @JoelTscherne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts
Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen fundamentally altered the perception of American comic books and remains one of the medium's greatest hits. Launched in 1986—“the year that changed comics” for most scholars in comics studies—Watchmen quickly assisted in cementing the legacy that comics were a serious form of literature no longer defined by the Comics Code era of funny animal and innocuous superhero books that appealed mainly to children. After Midnight: Watchmen After Watchmen (U Mississippi Press, 2022) looks specifically at the three adaptations of Moore's and Gibbons's Watchmen—Zack Snyder's Watchmen film (2009), Geoff Johns's comic book sequel Doomsday Clock (2017), and Damon Lindelof's Watchmen series on HBO (2019). Divided into three parts, the anthology considers how the sequels, especially the limited series, have prompted a reevaluation of the original text and successfully harnessed the politics of the contemporary moment into a potent relevancy. The first part considers the various texts through conceptions of adaptation, remediation, and transmedia storytelling. Part two considers the HBO series through its thematic focus on the relationship between American history and African American trauma by analyzing how the show critiques the alt-right, represents intergenerational trauma, illustrates alternative possibilities for Black representation, and complicates our understanding of how the mechanics of the show's production can complicate its politics. Finally, the book's last section considers the themes of nostalgia and trauma, both firmly rooted in the original Moore and Gibbons series, and how the sequel texts reflect and refract upon those often-intertwined phenomena. Joel Tscherne is an Adjunct History Professor at Southern New Hampshire University and an Associate Faculty member at University of Arizona Global Campus. His Twitter handle is @JoelTscherne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies
Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen fundamentally altered the perception of American comic books and remains one of the medium's greatest hits. Launched in 1986—“the year that changed comics” for most scholars in comics studies—Watchmen quickly assisted in cementing the legacy that comics were a serious form of literature no longer defined by the Comics Code era of funny animal and innocuous superhero books that appealed mainly to children. After Midnight: Watchmen After Watchmen (U Mississippi Press, 2022) looks specifically at the three adaptations of Moore's and Gibbons's Watchmen—Zack Snyder's Watchmen film (2009), Geoff Johns's comic book sequel Doomsday Clock (2017), and Damon Lindelof's Watchmen series on HBO (2019). Divided into three parts, the anthology considers how the sequels, especially the limited series, have prompted a reevaluation of the original text and successfully harnessed the politics of the contemporary moment into a potent relevancy. The first part considers the various texts through conceptions of adaptation, remediation, and transmedia storytelling. Part two considers the HBO series through its thematic focus on the relationship between American history and African American trauma by analyzing how the show critiques the alt-right, represents intergenerational trauma, illustrates alternative possibilities for Black representation, and complicates our understanding of how the mechanics of the show's production can complicate its politics. Finally, the book's last section considers the themes of nostalgia and trauma, both firmly rooted in the original Moore and Gibbons series, and how the sequel texts reflect and refract upon those often-intertwined phenomena. Joel Tscherne is an Adjunct History Professor at Southern New Hampshire University and an Associate Faculty member at University of Arizona Global Campus. His Twitter handle is @JoelTscherne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture
In this episode, Phillip and Eric switch things up with the first part of an ongoing series on comics history, the first up being on the Golden Age of comics and the formation of the Comics Code! Listen to them do the Peabody and Sherman thing for comics! Reach us by email at theomnibuscomicspodcast@gmail.com. Music by rodneyretro. https://traktrain.com/rodneyretro
Welcome to the Halloween 2022 Yancy Street Special! Who is Marvel's Satana? How has she evolved over the years? Why is Chris Claremont to blame for her bastardization? These answers and so much more, coming your way! Text to go along with the podcast: http://sensationalshegeek.weebly.com/full-archive/satana-hellstrom-the-devils-daughter-satanic-panic-seduction-of-the-innocent-the-comics-code-full-character-history Image Post: http://sensationalshegeek.weebly.com/full-archive/satana-the-devils-daughter-the-image-post This podcast proudly contains far more information on Satana than any single one of her wiki or fan pages, so I'm pleased and excited to share it with the world. On that note: some CW for sexual assault, violence against women, topics of heaven and hell, extreme personal loss, murder, attempted fratricide, sacrifice, satanic panic, classic horror tropes, general violence and lewdness, etc. The special starts with a little necessary Background, including Horrosploitation, Dr. Fredric Wertham's 1954 Seduction of the Innocent, and the implementation of the Comics Code Authority. We then continue the timeline into the eventual relaxation of the code in 1971, and the ensuing horror trends of the 1960's-80's. With that context in mind, we can begin talking Satana, starting with her (admittedly few) Key Comics: 0:16:44 Her various Aliases and names she's been called through the years, plus when it happened: 0:19:45 The Hellstrom Extended Family, which spread across multiple species and still holds a fair amount of mystery: 0:20:47 Satana's complete Teams and Teammates: 0:27:17 Her Allies, specifically those who are not teammates: 0:31:12 Love Interests, of course, which is surprisingly minor: 32:27 And then her Enemies, I'm sure fewer than you might expect: 0:33:21 Satana's Outfits/Physical Appearance, which has vastly changed through the years, and my breakdown of those changes: 0:37:34 Her half-demon Succubus Powers: 0:40:50 Alternate Reality/Format Versions of Satana: 0:42:38 And finally, her whole life and comic History: 0:45:22, including but not limited to the following categories: Early life; Turn for the Better, Turn for the Worst; the Basilisk; Death for Doctor Strange; Resurrection; Occultist for Hire, Thunderbolts/Dark Avengers; Between Time; All-New, All-Different Hell (and more Vegas, Baby!); and finally, her most recent appearances in Captain Marvel. I wrap up this special with a finale I worked to put all of what I've learned and discovered into account, which I'm calling, simply, Satana's Duality: 1:08:20. It is my desire that listeners who get this far might be inspired to also care about the character of Satana, and we can see more of her in the comics, properly, again. The Yancy Street Discord! https://discord.gg/kNq4VvA7 -Yancy Street Specials: https://sensationalshegeek.weebly.com/full-archive/category/yancy-st-specials -Beginner's Guide to Comics: https://sensationalshegeek.weebly.com/beginners-guide-to-comic-books.html !!Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sensational-she-geek-live-from-yancy-street/id1550410718 !!Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/45qGcYnP147aZBVIHC09lI?si=cb8b8c1a4f8c4ac7 !!Pandora https://www.pandora.com/podcast/sensational-she-geek-live-from-yancy-street/PC:74557 Find me on Instagram: @annawiththecomics https://www.instagram.com/annawiththecomics/ Podcast Updates on Twitter: @savageshegeek https://twitter.com/savageshegeek YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-KoazT-HEFbqCALjxRLjFQ Website/Blog: https://sensationalshegeek.weebly.com/ Donation and All Other Links https://linktr.ee/sensationalshegeek
EC Comics, a name that brings to mind Fredric Wertham and the coming of the Comics Code, also brings to mind some very well-done comics by the likes of Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, Al Williamson, and more. IDW has just released an Artist's Edition of original EC art by Wood, Kurtzman, Williamson, Jack Davis, and … Continue reading #755 “Best of EC Stories, Artisan Edition”
The weather is cooling down, but I'm just getting sweatier each week on the podcast! Podnotes to follow along with this episode: http://sensationalshegeek.weebly.com/full-archive/ep83-the-future-of-doctor-who-reed-richards-speculation-the-great-jahy-judgment-day-dc-film-news-and-more In news this week, we're talking Rihanna's return with Lift Me Up (0:12:29), the new co-heads of DC Films (0:16:46), a small update for The Batman's Arkham Asylum spinoff (0:23:41), the major changes for the HBO Green Lantern Series (0:25:00), news about the Witcher season 4 (0:29:12), the Future of Doctor Who (0:31:28), a new WandaVision Spinoff (0:38:41), Secret Invasion series news (0:41:54), and news about the upcoming Venom 3 (0:44:35). I also go over some highlights from the January Big-Two comics solicitations (0:49:30), as well as what kick-offs, first issues, #1's and one-shots are coming in the month of November! The Spotlight Manga for the week (0:52:48) is The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated, by Wakame Konbu, which is also my Halloween costume! There's only 3 volumes out in English so far, with the fourth coming later this month, so now is a great time to jump in! This week's comic picks (0:56:42) includes the finale of Marvel's Judgement Day, and the coming week's Pulls (1:06:51) are fill with indie starters! This fall is an amazing time to get into indie comics, specifically. There's something coming for everyone! Finally, I go through the events of the Power of the Doctor (1:14:20) Doctor Who episode, Jodie Whittaker's final as the 13th doctor. With a lot of changes supposedly coming to the show starting next fall, there's a lot of be discussed and fondly remembered. I'll be back with episode 84 next week (and to talk that Wonder Man news!), but keep an eye out this Friday the 4th for my Halloween Yancy Street Special, covering the character Satana, plus 1970's horror exploitation trends, the Comics Code, Satanic Panic, Seduction of the Innocent, and more factors that went into and still do go into horror comics and characters today! January Big Two Solicits: http://sensationalshegeek.weebly.com/full-archive/january-big-two-comic-book-solicitations NPR Article on Lift Me Up https://www.npr.org/sections/now-playing/2022/10/28/1132028396/rihanna-lift-me-up Den of Geek Doctor Who Easter Eggs article https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who-the-power-of-the-doctor-easter-egg-guide/ The Yancy Street Discord! https://discord.gg/mMzFVDb6 -Yancy Street Specials: https://sensationalshegeek.weebly.com/full-archive/category/yancy-st-specials -Beginner's Guide to Comics: https://sensationalshegeek.weebly.com/beginners-guide-to-comic-books.html !!Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sensational-she-geek-live-from-yancy-street/id1550410718 !!Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/45qGcYnP147aZBVIHC09lI?si=cb8b8c1a4f8c4ac7 !!Pandora https://www.pandora.com/podcast/sensational-she-geek-live-from-yancy-street/PC:74557 Find me on Instagram: @annawiththecomics https://www.instagram.com/annawiththecomics/ Podcast Updates on Twitter: @savageshegeek https://twitter.com/savageshegeek YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-KoazT-HEFbqCALjxRLjFQ Website/Blog: https://sensationalshegeek.weebly.com/ Donation and All Other Links https://linktr.ee/sensationalshegeek
Tales from the Crypt was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics from 1950 to 1955, producing 27 issues (the first issue with the title was #20, previously having been International Comics (#1–#5); International Crime Patrol (#6); Crime Patrol (#7–#16) and The Crypt of Terror (#17–#19) for a total of 46 issues in the series). Along with its sister titles, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt was popular, but in the late 1940s and early 1950s comic books came under attack from parents, clergymen, schoolteachers and others who believed the books contributed to illiteracy and juvenile delinquency. In April and June 1954, highly publicized congressional subcommittee hearings on the effects of comic books upon children left the industry shaken. With the subsequent imposition of a highly restrictive Comics Code, EC Comics publisher Bill Gaines cancelled Tales from the Crypt and its two companion horror titles, along with the company's remaining crime and science fiction series in September 1954. Since their demise, all EC Comics titles have been reprinted at various times. Stories from the horror series have been adapted into other media, including a 1972 film and a television series that aired on HBO from 1989 to 1996. The later spawned two films—Demon Knight (1995) and Bordello of Blood (1996)—as well as a children's animated series, a game show, and a radio series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full episode at patreon.com/thicklinespod. Tales From The Crypt scholar Sam Szabo stretches out on the couch with Sally to talk EC's post-Comics Code title, "Psychoanalysis," a truly troubling 4-issue run. Topics discussed include: MAD Magazine, Sex and The City, real-life Jughead hats, and more. Catch Szabo skulking around Short Run Seattle Comix & Arts Festival on November 5th! Read Sam's comics at brainboogerindustries.bigcartel.com and preview her upcoming book at patreon.com/brainbooger. Support Thick Lines at patreon.com/thicklinespod and follow us on Instagram @thicklinespod.
Come to Chicago for lunch with Carol Tilley as we discuss how we each first learned about the Comics Code, the mostly forgotten rich kid origins of Blondie's Dagwood Bumstead, the unsettling inconsistencies she discovered while going through 200 boxes of Fredrick Wertham's papers, what those documents reveal about how he came to believe what he came to believe, what it means to research with the brain of an historian, the proper pronunciations of Potrzebie and Mxyzptlk, her efforts to track down those who wrote letters to the Senate protesting comic book censorship during the '50s (including one of the founders of the Firesign Theater), the enduring power of EC's "Judgment Day," why she believed comic book censorship would have occurred even without Wertham's input, what she thinks he'd make of today's comics, how Wertham felt about the way comic book fans felt about him, and much more.
We've hit the Bronze Age of comics! Join us as we discuss the changes happening in comics throughout the 1970s. The comic book landscape starts to get a little darker as storylines inspired by social relevance start to take hold, allowing for a revision on the Comics Code, the return of horror inspired comic book characters, Marvel Comics continues on Boss Level status by revitalizing the X-Men to superstar status and pumping out new characters, DC almost self destructs, and so much more! You won't want to miss this one true believers! #bronzeagecomics #comicbooks #podcast https://linktr.ee/MagicCityPodcast Appease the Algorithm Gods! Hit us with a LIKE! Comment and Subscribe! Follow us on Instagram: Paul https://www.instagram.com/magiccitycomics/?hl=en Jimmy https://www.instagram.com/jmartcollectibles/?hl=en Jorge https://www.instagram.com/marvelpapi/?hl=en Check us out on TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@magiccitycomics --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/magic-city-podcast/support
On a tendance à l'oublier, mais avant de voir ses licences adaptées à tour de bras au cinéma, Marvel Comics a longtemps appliqué l'exacte recette inverse en adaptant sur le papier les films du moment et autres classiques de la science-fiction ou du fantastique. Et parmi les nombreuses séries, parfois éphémères, qui verront le jour grâce à cette pratique, il en est une que les mordus de comic books n'ont pas oublié ! BEWARE ! BEWARE !Le vampire est sans conteste l'une des figures les plus populaires de la fiction moderne. Des jeux de rôles se déroulant dans le Monde des Ténèbres, en passant par Castlevania, les romans d'Anne Rice, Buffy contre les Vampires, ou même Twilight, on pourrait littéralement passer la journée à énumérer les œuvres de la Pop Culture qui tournent autour du mythe de cette créature revenue d'entre les morts pour sucer le sang des vivants ! Le bestiaire folklorique et fantastique a toujours été une source d'inspiration pour les auteurs et, bien évidemment, le vampire n'y fait pas exception. Créature crépusculaire intimement liée aux croyances religieuses, le vampire moderne est une sorte de pot-pourri d'influences qui inspire crainte et fascination, pouvant se révéler tout aussi sournois que bestial, tout aussi séduisant qu'effrayant. Si des entités assimilables à des vampires existent dans pratiquement tous les folklores de la planète, c'est surtout à partir du dix-huitième siècle que l'image du vampire telle que nous la connaissons se propage dans la culture populaire. Se nourrissant principalement des légendes d'Europe Centrale, puis de récits fantastiques comme Le Vampire de John William Polidori, et bien entendu Dracula de Bram Stocker, le cliché du gentleman encapé sortant de son cercueil à la nuit tombée pour s'abreuver du sang de jeunes vierges sans défense n'a depuis lors plus jamais quitté l'imaginaire collectif. Pour beaucoup d'entre nous, c'est justement Dracula, paru en 1897, qui reste la référence en matière d'histoire de vampire, même s'il est très probable que vous connaissiez mieux cette œuvre de Bram Stocker à travers son nombre incalculable d'adaptations que dans sa forme originale de roman. Et si Dracula a effectivement été adapté maintes fois au cinéma, il a bien plus souvent été plagié, transformé et détourné, que ce soit par des cinéastes peu scrupuleux voulant contourner les droits d'auteurs, ou par divers cartoons parodiant les gimmicks du Prince des Ténèbres. Mais alors, comment le personnage de Dracula a fini par atterrir dans les pages d'une publication Marvel Comics ? Et bien disons qu'il s'agit de l'addition d'un heureux concours de circonstances et d'une bonne dose d'opportunisme. J'ai déjà eu l'occasion d'en parler : à partir du milieu des années 1950, la censure s'abat sur la bande dessinée américaine par le biais du Comics Code Authority. Outre bon nombre de règles concernant le sexe, la nudité et la violence, le code interdit également les vampires, les loups-garous et autres morts-vivants qui pourraient donner des cauchemars aux enfants. Seulement, au début des années 1970, l'ambiance est plus détendue, les États-Unis changent, et le Code va connaître quelques assouplissements, notamment en ce qui concerne l'horreur. Les loups-garous et les vampires obtiennent de nouveau le droit d'apparaître dans les histoires, à condition d'être traitées de façon classique, tels qu'ils peuvent être représentés dans les romans de la littérature fantastique, qui sont alors considérés comme une forme de caution. Une règle assez absurde que les éditeurs vont s'empresser de tourner à leur avantage, à défaut de pouvoir ouvertement la contourner. Ainsi, à peine quelques mois après cette mise à jour du Code, Morbius apparaît dans les pages du cent-unième numéro de The Amazing Spider-Man. Surnommé “le Vampire-Vivant”, le personnage est déjà une forme de pied-de-nez au Comics Code, et son statut assez flou de super-vilain costumé victime de ses propres expériences lui permettra de passer assez facilement entre les mailles du filet de la censure. Pour continuer à alimenter cette nouvelle vague horrifique permise par le relâchement des censeurs, Marvel ne va pas aller chercher bien loin. Puisque le Code réclame un traitement “classique” des monstres de fiction, pourquoi ne pas tout simplement aller chercher Dracula, le monstre de Frankenstein et le Loup-Garou, que tout le monde connaît grâce au cinéma, et qui ont l'avantage d'être tombés dans le domaine public quelques années plus tôt ? Un choix doublement économique, puisqu'en plus d'éviter un fastidieux processus de création pour donner vie à de nouveaux personnages, il évite également à Marvel d'avoir trop d'efforts à faire pour les promouvoir. À l'époque, les films de la Hammer avec pour vedette Dracula ou la créature de Frankenstein sont encore largement plébiscités par le public et ont même l'avantage d'adopter le fameux style d'horreur gothique attendu par le Comics Code Authority, pratiquement une aubaine pour la Maison des Idées qui va profiter de tout ça sans que ça ne lui coûte un centime en droits d'adaptation. Si aujourd'hui, je me concentre sur la série Tomb of Dracula, il faut quand même souligner que l'éditeur va rapidement essorer le filon, puisqu'en seulement quelques mois, on va voir débarquer dans son catalogue le loup-garou Jack Russel, d'abord dans Marvel Spotlight, puis dans sa propre série Werewolf by Night, le monstre de Frankenstein, puis The Living Mummy dans les pages de Supernatural Thrillers, et enfin la Légion des Monstres, une équipe composée de plusieurs de ces créatures. Finalement, ce regain d'intérêt pour l'horreur dans les comic books aura permis à Marvel d'ajouter à moindre frais à son bestiaire une galerie de personnages exploitables à l'infini et dont les univers étendus respectifs auront un véritable impact sur le développement de son macrocosme : sans Werewolf by Night, pas de Moon Knight, par exemple. RAINING BLOOD Le premier numéro de Tomb of Dracula paraît à la fin de l'année 1971. Il est écrit par Gerry Conway et dessiné par Gene Colan qui œuvrera sur l'intégralité des 70 numéros, ce qui est assez rare pour être signalé. La composition de l'équipe créative variera légèrement durant les premiers mois de parution, voyant Archie Goodwin, puis Gardner Fox s'occuper de l'écriture, avant de se stabiliser au septième épisode avec l'arrivée du scénariste Marv Wolfman Parmi les autres acteurs majeurs de Tomb of Dracula, on pourra citer l'éditeur Roy Thomas et l'encreur Tom Palmer, dont les noms restent fortement liés au succès de la série. Dans le premier épisode, on découvre Frank Drake, qui hérite d'une maison de famille assez particulière située en Transylvanie : le château du Comte Dracula en personne ! En effet, Frank est un descendant de Dracula et il va avoir la joie et l'honneur de rencontrer son aïeul, ramené à la vie accidentellement après un long sommeil. Le vampire s'empresse de boire le sang de Jeanie, la petite amie de Frank, et dès le numéro suivant, ce dernier n'aura pas d'autre choix que de tuer lui-même sa bien aimée transformée en créature de la nuit par la morsure du Comte. Des évènements dramatiques qui conduisent Frank à se lancer à la poursuite de son ancêtre suceur de sang. Une quête dans laquelle il sera bientôt rejoint par Rachel Van Helsing, elle-même descendante du célèbre chasseur de vampires, et par Blade, qui fait sa première apparition dans le dixième épisode de Tomb of Dracula. L'univers du Dracula de Marvel s'étoffe rapidement, puisque le Comte trouvera des ennemis récurrents et même quelques alliés au fil de ses aventures, avant de devenir la vedette d'autres publications : d'abord avec le magazine en noir et blanc Dracula Lives ! en 1973, dont le format échappant au Comics Code Authority permettait aux auteurs d'aller plus loin dans l'horreur et la suggestivité, puis dans Giant-Size Chillers, rapidement renommé Giant-Size Dracula, dans lesquels Roy Thomas, Gene Colan et une longue liste d'auteurs enrichissent le background du vampire en prenant plus ou moins de liberté vis-à-vis du mythe original. En France, Tomb of Dracula a été publié chez Aredit, au même titre que Werewolf by Night ou Frankenstein, aux côtés d'autres personnages comme Swamp Thing et The Demon de Jack Kirby, dans la collection Comics Pocket. Des périodiques estampillés “Bandes dessinées pour adultes” qui, entre censure et redécoupage pour faire s'harmoniser les planches originales au petit format des revues, ne faisaient pas toujours honneur au matériau d'origine, il faut l'avouer. L'une des particularités de la version de Dracula à laquelle nous nous intéressons aujourd'hui est d'avoir été complètement intégrée à l'univers Marvel, obtenant une place à part entière au sein de la Maison des Idées. Sans surprise, le Prince des Ténèbres va donc croiser et affronter Jack Russell, alias Werewolf by Night, mais aussi toute la galerie des héros Marvel dont l'exotisme tranche un peu plus avec sa Transylvanie natale, de l'Homme Araignée dans le premier numéro de Giant-Size Spider-Man en 1974 au Silver Surfer dans le cinquantième numéro de Tomb of Dracula… L'arrêt de la série en 1979, après soixante-dix numéros, est de courte durée. Seulement quelques semaines plus tard, Tomb of Dracula revient dans un format magazine sous le label Curtis de Marvel, échappant encore une fois à la censure. Le personnage est ensuite régulièrement utilisé par Marvel, comme dans les pages de Thor et Docteur Strange, puis en 1991 sous le label Epic, et jusqu'à récemment dans les pages de Deadpool ou de certaines séries mutantes de la Maison des Idées, dans une version correspondant mieux à l'air du temps. Évidemment, je ne survole ici que les utilisations de Dracula par Marvel, le Prince des Ténèbres ayant été largement exploité par divers éditeurs au fil des années dans des productions plus ou moins romanesques, comme le lunaire Dracula versus Zorro chez Topps en 1993, ou Superman vs Dracula en 2002 chez DC Comics… Plus curieux encore, en 1980, Tomb of Dracula sera adapté en film d'animation pour la télévision par la société japonaise Toei. Un long-métrage de quatre-vingt dix minutes qui s'inspire des grandes lignes de la série de comic books et qui ne présente pas d'autre intérêt que d'être un honnête OVNI parmi les nombreuses adaptations tirées des publications Marvel Comics. Si l'intrigue de Tomb of Dracula a tendance à se répéter et que certains retournements de situation, tels que les multiples résurrections de Dracula, sont un peu tirés par la cape, l'un des principaux attraits de la série reste incontestablement l'évolution du personnage titre, à la fois antagoniste et élément central des histoires racontées. Après un premier arc très classique, fidèle aux clichés des histoires de vampires telles que l'on peut les voir au cinéma, on sent que Wolfman et Colan se réorientent peu à peu vers une recette plus proche des productions habituelles de Marvel. Dracula devient, tant bien que mal, le héros de sa propre histoire et doit faire face à des menaces qui remettent en cause son statut de prédateur ultime, tout en continuant à échapper aux chasseurs de vampires qui en ont après lui depuis des siècles. Si on ne s'attache pas vraiment à Dracula, qui reste prêt à tout, y compris à tuer, pour arriver à ses fins, on vibre tout de même au rythme de ses aventures. Un programme riche en évènements improbables qui n'accuse pourtant que très peu le poids des années, sûrement parce que l'ambiance originale de la série, nourrie des classiques horrifiques du dix-neuvième siècle, entretient la crédibilité d'un univers fantastique hors du temps pouvant se permettre de prendre quelques libertés en matière de cohérence sans jamais tomber dans le ridicule. Finalement, cette adaptation à la sauce Marvel rejoint sans difficulté la très longue liste des œuvres exploitant l'inépuisable filon Dracula tous supports confondus, en y ajoutant un aspect sériel et un point de vue quasi super-héroïque typique de la bande dessinée américaine. Tomb of Dracula n'est clairement pas le premier comic book auquel on pense, et encore moins la première série Marvel qui vient à l'esprit, mais elle conserve un véritable intérêt patrimonial tant dans sa conception que dans son contenu. C'est pour cela que je ne peux que vous recommander la lecture des omnibus parus chez Panini Comics, volumes imposants et de grande qualité, dont l'existence est à saluer tant ils jouent un rôle dans la représentation de la diversité de la bande dessinée américaine sur le marché français. Et si vous cherchez un point d'accès à moindre coût, le volume de la collection Marvel Décennies consacré aux années 1970 et à la Légion des Monstres vous permettra d'appréhender plus globalement le traitement de l'horreur chez Marvel à l'époque. N'hésitez pas à partager cet épisode sur les réseaux sociaux s'il vous a plu ! Recevez mes articles, podcasts et vidéos directement dans votre boîte mail sans intermédiaire ni publicité en vous abonnant gratuitement ! Get full access to CHRIS - POP CULTURE & COMICS at chrisstup.substack.com/subscribe
The first comic books were just collections of the cartoons from the Sunday funny pages. The 1930s saw the origins of superheroes and then crime, horror and romance that contained explicit sex and violence until the Comics Code forced a move to mostly kiddie comics in the 1950s.
Full episode at patreon.com/thicklinespod. By listener request, Katie and Sally discuss various “Herbie” comics (1964-67), written by Shane O'Shea (aka Richard E. Hughes) and drawn by Ogden Whitney. Topics discussed include The Death Ray, comics ads, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Kupperman, Goofy Grape, Toru Fukuda, the Comics Code, The Fuccons, David McCallum, and more. Catch Sally at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD on September 17 and 18: smallpressexpo.com. Follow Thick Lines on Instagram @thicklinespod.
I grew up on the old EC comic books before the Comics Code in North American and with all sort of good-natured fun. I never had nightmares I think because all of the old horror stuff that I was exposed to was well meaning in a certain sense. George A. Romero George said it and George knew what he was talking about. Danger and Monster take on the crypt.
Yeah, yeah we can do memes too. This week we are tackling one of the characters of comic books and cinema. A character that exists, one of the characters of all time: Morbius the living vampire. We didn't watch the movie though. Our standards are low, not non-existent. Will, once again, makes a Star Wars reference. Chris wants to play a game. Adrian rants against corporations. And the boys tell you how you can protect yourself of one of the stranger attempts to get around the Comics Code. Sources: "Gallows Hill" by Josh Woodward. (https://www.joshwoodward.com/song/GallowsHill) License:CC BY
Ed's Links (Order RED ROOM!, Patreon, etc): https://linktr.ee/edpiskor Jim's Links (Patreon, Store, social media): https://linktr.ee/jimrugg ------------------------- E-NEWSLETTER: Keep up with all things Cartoonist Kayfabe through our newsletter! News, appearances, special offers, and more - signup here for free: https://cartoonistkayfabe.substack.com/ --------------------- SNAIL MAIL! Cartoonist Kayfabe, PO Box 3071, Munhall, Pa 15120 --------------------- T-SHIRTS and MERCH: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/cartoonist-kayfabe --------------------- Connect with us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cartoonist.kayfabe/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CartoonKayfabe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cartoonist.Kayfabe Ed's Contact info: https://Patreon.com/edpiskor https://www.instagram.com/ed_piskor https://www.twitter.com/edpiskor https://www.amazon.com/Ed-Piskor/e/B00LDURW7A/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 Jim's contact info: https://www.patreon.com/jimrugg https://www.jimrugg.com/shop https://www.instagram.com/jimruggart https://www.twitter.com/jimruggart https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Rugg/e/B0034Q8PH2/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1543440388&sr=1-2-ent
Cora Buhlert is a Hugo-nominated author and genre scholar who Oliver was lucky enough to meet through his research for the novel, and he'd love for you to meet her too! Oliver and Cora discuss her falling in love with the very American body of work known as pulp fiction while she grew up travelling the world, the survival of dime novels in modern Germany, the irresistible pull of forbidden fiction, Thundarr and He-Man, "the best thing that happened in Germany in 1989", European sword and sorcery comics, a book store that "must have been designed by time-lords", mediocre movie tie-in fiction, the potential future of sword & sorcery, how S&S heroes are usually outsides who aren't chosen ones - they choose themselves, marginalized characters and identity, the "token Irishman in space", how people often miss that Grey Mouser isn't white..., the whitening of S&S heroes of color in the cover art, "he's not black, it's solar rays!", a trans sword and sorcery protagonist and other characters we'd like to see, the historical precedent for trans S&S protagonists, how The Witcher has many stories which qualify as sword & sorcery, She-Ra as sword and sorcery, the Lancer Conans and the last time sword & sorcery had a big revival, Grimdark, Brian Sanderson, short & sweet sword & sorcery as an alternative to bloated epic fantasy tales, mosaic and fix-up novels, Lin Carter should get his due as an editor, Cora's intriguing character Richard Blakemore aka The Silencer, The Shadow with Alex Baldwin, writing two novels a month (!), the Lester Dent pulp writing formula, Batman: The Animates Series and The Grey Ghost, how the pulps brought us Batman (and superheroes in general), how Batman (1989) stole its plot from a Spider novel published in 1934, writing a story written by a character you created, keeping your history straight while also having fun when writing a period protagonist, writing a pulp character who falls in love with his own genre, putting more modern storytelling elements in tales framed as having been written long ago, sexual violence and censorship in the old pulps, C.L. Moore writing about sex and drugs as an UNMARRIED woman (!) in the 1930s, weighing creative impulses against what a genre suggests should happen, Galactic Journey, winking at the present when your writing from the perspective of the past, linguistics and writing, THE HORRIBLE TRUTH ABOUT CANADIANS AND THEIR BILINGUALISM, advice on self-publishing, looking outside the Amazon ecosystem, selling literature like ham at a deli, and what makes "a Cora Buhlert story". Cora's Author Page Her self-publishing imprint, Pegasus Pulp Books Cora on Twitter as @corabuhlert The Sword & Sorcery round table discussion Oliver mentions Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery by Brian Murphy Galactic Journey Interested in those European sword & sorcery comics Cora mentioned? After the interview she provided me with the following list: - Aria by Michel Weyland from Belgium: Aria is a warrior woman with a very 1970s haircut who fights evil and also winds up adopting a little girl. Started in 1979 and is still going on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aria_(Belgian_comic) Not to be confused with the Image comic of the same name. - Storm, art by Don Lawrence, writted by Dick Matena, Martn Lodwijk and others including Roy Thomas, from the Netherlands: This is actually sword and planet, but it might as well be sword and sorcery. The titular hero is an astronaut who gets lost in time and winds up in a post-apocalyotic Barbarian future and hooks up with a local warrior woman whom I know as Roodhaar (Redhair), but who's apparently called Ember in English language editions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_(Don_Lawrence) Started in 1977 and is also still ongoing. - Thorgal by Jean Van Hamme and Grzegorz Rosinski, also from Belgium. This is basically the Viking Superman, a humanoid alien raised and found by Vikings. Thorgal is also a family man and has a wife and several children. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorgal Started in 1979 and is still ongoing as well. - Alix by Jacques Martin, also from Belgium: This is more historical than S&S, but the aesthetics are similar. Alix is a young Gaul sold into slavery, who winds up being adopted by a Roman Patrician and is perpetually torn between Rome and Gaul. This is basically a serious version of Asterix. Started way back in 1948 and still has new adventures coming out, though Jacques Martin has passed away by now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Alix - Ghita of Alizarr by Frank Thorne. This one is actually American, though I first encountered it in Dutch translation. This was Frank Thorne going further than the Comics Code allowed him to do with Red Sonja. Early Franco-Belgian-Dutch comics can be very prudish, but by the late 1970s no one cared about bare breasts and vague sex scene, so it wound up on the same shelf as the others. Started in 1978. https://comicvine.gamespot.com/ghita-of-alizarr/4005-1348/ - Eric de Noorman (Eric the Norseman) by Hans G. Kresse from the Netherlands: Eric is a Viking who has fantastic adventures. He's also a family man and has a wife and a son. I encountered it via reprint collections. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_de_Noorman - De Rode Ridder (The Red Knight) by Willy Vandersteen and others, also from Belgium. Johan is a wandering knight who has adventures, many of which are supernatural. Started in 1946 and is still ongoing as well, though Vandersteen passed away around the time I discovered the series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Rode_Ridder www.soimwritinganovel.com PATREON: www.patreon.com/soimwritinganovel BUY OLIVER'S BOOKS: https://www.oliverbrackenbury.com/store SO I'M WRITING A NOVEL... TWITTER: https://twitter.com/so_writing OLIVER'S TWITTER: https://twitter.com/obrackenbury Oliver's Link Tree (For everything else): https://linktr.ee/obrackenbury
TERRIFICON Mitch and artist JERRY ORDWAY are back at Colony Pizza talking about the great comic book scare of the 50s, the Comics Code and even talk about the flaws in The Batman movie... all that and more in today's episode of the Power Cosmic..See the guys at TERRIFICON every summer at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.. #terrificon #comicon #CtComicon
Les comics d'aujourd'hui sont-ils gangrénés par la représentation de la diversité et par un omniprésent message de tolérance ? Retour dans les années 1950, une époque bénie où on nous emmerdait pas avec toutes ces conneries ! A long time ago… Régulièrement, on peut voir une partie du lectorat fan de comic books se plaindre du contenu politisé de certaines publications. Aujourd'hui, d'après eux, les comics déborderaient de messages plus ou moins cachés prônant la diversité et défendant les positions de ce que certains et certaines appellent “le wokisme”. Si l'un des derniers exemples en date est la révélation de la bisexualité de Jon Kent, le fils et successeur de Superman, la liste est longue comme le bras. Que ce soit sur le papier avec Miss Marvel, de confession musulmane, ou au cinéma avec le comédien afro-américain Jeffrey Wright dans le rôle du commissaire Gordon du “The Batman” de Matt Reeves, la moindre évolution d'un personnage fait monter au créneau toute une frange de l'opinion. Mettons les choses au clair tout de suite : les histoires de super-héros ont toujours été politisées et chargées d'un message social. Dire le contraire, c'est mentir. Dès le premier numéro de Action Comics en 1938, Jerry Siegel et Joe Shuster mettent en scène Superman en train de corriger un mari violent et un politicien véreux. En 1946, dans son show radiophonique, Il affronte même des suprématistes blancs dans “Clan of the Fiery Cross”, adapté en comic book chez DC Comics sous le titre “Superman Smashes the Klan”. Dans les années 1970, d'autres personnages vont cristalliser les travers de l'Amérique dans leurs aventures. Le duo formé par Green Lantern et Green Arrow, sous la plume de Dennis O'Neil et le crayon de Neal Adams, va traverser les États-Unis et mettre en exergue les fléaux qui gangrènent le pays : racisme, drogue, sexisme, et dérives sectaires… En 1972, Luke Cage, alias Power Man, co-créé par Archie Goodwin, Georges Tuska et Billy Graham, montre le visage des ghettos où les afro-américains sont abandonnés par un système imprégné par le ségrégationnisme et la discrimination raciale. Toujours chez Marvel, à partir de 1975, les X-Men de Chris Claremont se posent en défenseurs du pacifisme, de l'humanisme et de la tolérance alors qu'ils sont eux-mêmes rejetés par la société qu'ils s'efforcent de protéger. Et que dire d'un personnage comme Captain America, qui dès sa première aventure, en 1941, va carrément mettre une droite à Adolf Hitler en personne ? Si comme une bonne partie de la première vague de super-héros du Golden Age apparue durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, il va jouer le jeu de la propagande américaine en encourageant l'effort de guerre, à partir des années 1970, Steve Rogers incarnera une autre vision des États-Unis, allant jusqu'à s'opposer physiquement à un président piétinant les valeurs pour lesquelles il se bat. Tout aussi politique et symbolique, mais beaucoup moins docile. Ce ne sont là que les exemples les plus connus et les plus flagrants du sous-texte social et politique présent dès les premiers pas de nos super-héros préférés. Les comics ont toujours été le reflet de la société dans laquelle ils étaient produits. Et si cette affirmation est sûrement plus vraie que jamais, penser que les publications du XXème siècle étaient totalement neutres en terme d'idéologie, et bien c'est faux. Et de la même façon, si vous avez tout à fait le droit d'être en désaccord avec les messages véhiculés par les comic books d'aujourd'hui, vous ne pouvez pas leur reprocher de contenir ces messages, car cela fait partie de la nature même de la bande dessinée américaine depuis qu'elle existe. Space Oddity Fondé en 1944 par le pionnier du comic book Max Gaines, Educational Comics, qui deviendra plus tard Entertaining Comics, se spécialise tout d'abord dans des adaptations en bande dessinée de la Bible et de l'histoire des États-Unis. Quand Max décède accidentellement en 1947, c'est son fils William qui reprend la société et donne une nouvelle direction à EC Comics. La particularité de William Gaines, c'est qu'il n'y connait rien aux comic books. Se destinant à devenir enseignant, c'est plus par respect de l'héritage familial que par passion qu'il va reprendre la maison d'édition, se contentant dans un premier temps de maintenir la ligne éditoriale établie par son père. Mais EC Comics est lourdement endetté et c'est grâce à l'intervention du dessinateur Al Feldstein, qui encourage Gaines à revoir son catalogue et à surfer sur les tendances en publiant des récits policiers, des westerns ou des histoires de romances, que l'éditeur va atteindre un certain équilibre financier. Gaines et Feldstein , tous deux amateurs d'horreur et de fantastique, vont tenter de publier quelques histoires dans ces styles qui ont le vent en poupe chez les jeunes, et rapidement constater que c'est un succès. À partir de 1950, les périodiques de EC Comics se transforment peu à peu en poussant les curseurs toujours plus loin. Les histoires policières mettent en scène des meurtres sordides toujours plus gores, et les comic books de guerre ou de romance sont renommés pour devenir des magazines d'horreur ou de science-fiction remplis de monstres et présentant plusieurs courtes histoires caractérisés par leur chute toujours plus choquante ! The Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt et The Haunt of Fear forment le trio de tête du catalogue EC Comics qui va inspirer pratiquement tous les autres éditeurs de l'époque, entraînant le marché dans une surenchère sanguinolente qui aura bientôt d'importantes répercussions sur l'histoire des comics, mais je vais y revenir. William Gaines, qui a grandi en lisant des pulp's, va également plébisciter la publication de récits de science-fiction dans ses magazines, un genre qui trouve un souffle nouveau à cette période, inspiré par les peurs d'invasions et de conflits nucléaires nées de la Guerre Froide. Et justement, maintenant que le contexte est posé, revenons-en au sujet principal de cet article : Judgment Day, une histoire de science-fiction publiée par EC Comics en 1953. Such a lovely color for you Paru pour la première fois dans le dix-huitième numéro de Weird Fantasy, Judgment Day, écrit par Al Feldstein et dessiné par Joe Orlando, est un récit typique de l'époque. Courte histoire de 7 pages, elle met en scène Tarlon, un astronaute terrien envoyé par la république galactique sur la planète Cybrinia afin de déterminer si celle-ci mérite ou non d'être intégrée au consortium qu'il représente. Cybrinia a la particularité d'être habitée par des robots laissés ici en autonomie par les humains pour y développer leur propre société. Et alors qu'il visite l'usine dans laquelle les êtres artificiels sont fabriqués par leurs semblables, Tarlon s'étonne de n'avoir croisé jusque là que des robots de couleur orange. L'émissaire terrien apprend alors de son guide que les robots bleus, eux, vivent dans un quartier à part, nommé “Blue Town”, et que dans le bus pour s'y rendre, les robots orange et les bleus ne doivent pas se mélanger, chacun ayant une place prédéfinie, à l'avant ou à l'arrière. Une fois à Blue Town, Tarlon demande à visiter l'usine dans laquelle les robots bleus sont fabriqués et il découvre, assez étonné, que le procédé est tout à fait identique à celui des robots orange, excepté la phase d'éducation, durant laquelle les robots bleus sont conditionnés pour être serviles et rester cantonnés aux tâches les plus ingrates, alors qu'il n'existe aucune justification à cela. Lorsqu'il questionne son guide orange quant à cette situation, ce dernier explique qu'il en a toujours été ainsi et qu'en tant que simple individu, il ne peut rien faire pour changer l'ordre établi sur Cybrinia. Tarlon quitte alors la planète en informant son hôte que son monde n'est pas prêt pour rejoindre la république galactique, mais que si son peuple se remet en question, tout espoir n'est pas perdu car il fut un temps où les habitants de la Terre avaient, eux-aussi, des difficultés à vivre ensemble. Une fois en route vers la Terre à bord de sa navette, Tarlon retire son casque et c'est le visage d'un homme noir qui est révélé au lecteur. Si, aujourd'hui, cette parabole pourrait sembler un peu moralisatrice et dépourvue de finesse, elle expose pourtant en seulement quelques pages tous les problèmes et les non-sens nés du racisme et de la ségrégation, et ça à tous les niveaux d'un système. Et c'est aussi effrayant que décourageant de constater que pratiquement soixante-dix ans plus tard, la situation n'a pas vraiment changé. En fait, lors de sa publication en 1953, Judgment Day sera très bien accueillie par les lecteurs et bon nombre d'entre eux témoigneront même que cette courte histoire les a poussé à se remettre en question. Mais quand EC Comics décide de réimprimer le court récit dans le trente-troisième numéro de Incredible Science Fiction en 1956, c'est une autre histoire… Sauvons la jeunesse ! Car entre temps, le monde de la bande dessinée américaine a changé. Au début des années 1950, l'Amérique cherche un nouveau bouc émissaire à qui attribuer la hausse des chiffres de la délinquance. Sous l'impulsion de livres comme Seduction of the Innocent de Fredric Wertham, de la commission menée par le sénateur Estes Kefauver, et du magistrat Charles F. Murphy, les comic books se retrouvent au centre de l'attention comme grands responsables de la déchéance de la jeunesse qui sombre peu à peu dans la criminalité. Bien avant que l'on accuse le Heavy Metal, les Jeux de Rôles ou le Jeu Vidéo de transformer les adolescents en créatures immorales et sanguinaires, les comics ont fait l'objet d'une campagne de désinformation menée par des politiques, des intellectuels et des religieux adeptes de raccourcis faciles et préférant s'en prendre à l'art plutôt que de regarder en face l'échec d'un système qu'ils entretiennent pour préserver leur petit confort. Ainsi, alors que l'on assiste dans plusieurs états à des autodafés durant lesquels d'honnêtes citoyens détruisent les comics qui pervertissent leurs enfants, il est décidé en 1954 de mettre en place la Comics Code Authority, un organisme d'autorégulation visant limiter les dérives des publications destinées à la jeunesse. Le Code impose dès lors de nombreuses règles aux bandes dessinées publiées par les éditeurs américains, parmi lesquelles l'interdiction de représenter le crime ou tout autre activité illégale sous un jour favorable, de ne jamais encourager le lecteur à remettre en question l'autorité en place, ou bien encore l'obligation de toujours faire triompher le bien face au mal. Ces grands principes s'accompagnent d'une large censure des thèmes abordés et des images pouvant être montrées : le Code interdit le sexe, la nudité, les scènes gores, la violence excessive, la torture, le cannibalisme, les morts-vivants, les vampires, les loups-garous, ainsi que tout ce qui est jugé “contre-nature” ou “anormal” à l'époque, comme l'homosexualité ou toute forme de fétichisme. De plus, plus aucun magazine ne pourra utiliser les mots “Horror” ou “Terror” dans son titre. Le respect de ces règles assure aux publications de pouvoir porter sur leur couverture le sceau “Approved by the Comics Code Authority“, et ainsi d'avoir la possibilité d'être distribuées en toute légalité, là où une bande dessinée dépourvue du célèbre logo risquait tout bonnement d'être refusée par les kiosques et ainsi de représenter une perte considérable pour l'éditeur qui ne pouvait alors plus écouler ses stocks. Si dans un premier temps, on peut penser que certaines des règles du Comics Code sont plutôt bénéfiques et limitent les dérives, on comprend assez rapidement que beaucoup d'entre elles sont largement soumises à interprétation lors du passage des publications devant la commission. Et c'était d'autant plus vrai dans le cas de EC Comics, qui, entre ses histoires horrifiques en grande partie à l'origine de la polémique et le caractère bien trempé de Bill Gaines, avait tout pour être dans le viseur du juge Murphy. Aussi, lorsque la réimpression de Judgment Day fut présentée avant sa publication, Charles F. Murphy déclara à Feldstein que le héros ne pouvait en aucun cas être noir, et ça sans aucune justification. S'ensuivit une prise de bec musclée entre le juge, l'auteur et l'éditeur, à l'issue de laquelle EC Comics refusa catégoriquement de changer quoi que ce soit à l'histoire. Pour vous dire à quel point Murphy tenait à avoir gain de cause, incontestablement pour emmerder Gaines, il n'y a pas d'autre mot, et bien face à la détermination de ce dernier, il aurait demandé à ce que les gouttes de sueur présentes sur le visage du personnage principal soient retirées. Une exigence absolument surréaliste qui, une fois encore, ne peut absolument pas être justifiée par l'une des règles du Comics Code. L'histoire sera finalement republiée telle quelle, sans prendre en considération les objections de la CCA. Un acte fort qui signera également la fin d'une époque pour EC Comics. Weird ScienceLa vérité, c'est qu'il existe un sous-texte peu glorieux et typique du puritanisme américain au Comics Code. Si celui-ci demande à ce que les femmes soient représentées de manière réaliste et le moins sexualisées possible, c'est pour mieux en faire des demoiselles en détresse ou de sages ménagères attendant un providentiel héros masculin, de préférence blanc et bien viril. Car si le Comics Code interdit aussi toute forme de discrimination, la commission s'assure tout de même que chacun reste bien à sa place, dans un pays où la ségrégation est toujours en vigueur en 1956 et où il faut veiller à ne pas attiser les revendications sociales des afro-américains. En fait, la principale règle outrepassée implicitement par Judgment Day était certainement celle de ne pas contredire le pouvoir en place. Prôner l'égalité et la tolérance entre des robots, pourquoi pas, mais en mettant en scène un personnage principal qui aurait lui-même était la cible de discriminations à l'époque, EC Comics va trop loin pour la Comics Code Authority. Bien avant que Stan Lee ne défie le Code en publiant une histoire traitant du problème de la drogue chez les jeunes dans les pages de Spider-Man, ou que le Swamp Thing d'Alan Moore ne s'affranchisse définitivement de l'estampille de la CCA, William Gaines et Al Feldstein ont été des précurseurs et EC Comics en a payé le prix. En ne se pliant pas aux règles imposées, l'éditeur s'est mis dans une situation très délicate qui l'obligera à abandonner la publication de comic books pour se concentrer sur des périodiques au format magazine échappant à la censure du Comics Code, dont le plus célèbre reste sans conteste MAD. Un triste sort qui rappelle pourtant le rôle majeur de la fiction, en l'occurrence de la science-fiction, et l'importance d'un art populaire accessible au plus grand nombre dans l'évolution des mentalités. De Victor Hugo à Star Trek, en passant par la Doom Patrol ou même The Witcher, chaque œuvre porte un message qui reflète les préoccupations de son temps. Qu'il s'agisse de conflits sociaux, de l'acceptation de la différence, ou de la nécessité d'une prise de conscience collective, ces thématiques parfois bien cachées pèsent pourtant bien plus qu'on ne pourrait le croire dans l'amélioration de notre quotidien quand les œuvres en question touchent des millions de personnes. Pour l'anecdote, et pour comprendre à quel point la science-fiction a encore du travail, il faudra attendre 1983 pour que Guion Bluford devienne le premier astronaute afro-américain à aller dans l'espace. Soit 14 ans après qu'on ait marché sur la Lune. Si vous voulez en savoir plus sur EC Comics et sur cette histoire, je vous recommande de jeter un oeil au livre EC Comics : Race, Shock & Social Protest de Qiana Whitted, qui m'a été très utile pour l'écriture de cet article. N'hésitez pas à partager cet article sur les réseaux sociaux s'il vous a plu ! Recevez mes articles, podcasts et vidéos directement dans votre boîte mail sans intermédiaire ni publicité en vous abonnant gratuitement ! Get full access to CHRIS - POP CULTURE & COMICS at chrisstup.substack.com/subscribe
Episode 02 Mysteries By Moonlight We take a look at the classic Moon Knight stories from Hulk! Magazine and Marvel Preview this week. Duane tries to wrap his head around why Moon Knight stories are in a Hulk comic, Dan celebrates the arrival of Bill Sienkiewicz, and along the way we talk about the Comics Code, discuss the impact of inkers, and enjoy the creepy goodness that is the Hatchet Man storyline. The Stack for this week includes: Moon Knight backup stories in Hulk! #11-15, 17, 18 and 20 Marvel Preview #21 * These comics are sadly not available online through Marvel Unlimited. They are collected in the Moon Knight Epic Collection: Bad Moon Rising. Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you! Email questions@phasesofthemoonknight.com or find us on Twitter @phasesofmk
With Halloween just days away, it seemed like the perfect time to answer a question about the history of Horror comics. From the very first, all the way up to a current favorite, we discuss the ups and downs this particular genre has experienced, especially as it was affected by the Comics Code Authority.
Below find a re-release of one of our favorite episodes of all time. It's a battle for the ages! It's Em vs. Frederic Wertham! No holds barred!-------------------------------Uncovering the Bronze Age #005 (encore) -- Uncovering the CodeOriginally released October 31, 2014This Halloween, Em delves into one of the most terrifying, bone-chilling topics known to comic fandom -- Seduction of the Innocent and the Comics Code Authority!Follow along on the journey through the mind of one of the most infamous names in all of comic book history. What you find may SURPRISE, THRILL, and DISTURB you!Intellectual analysis and academic criticism abound in this PULSE-POUNDING episode. And prepare for the SHOCKING twist ending that closes out our tale.This is the story of Dr. Fredric Wertham ...Click on the player below to listen to the episode Right-click to download episode directly You may also subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or the RSS Feed.Send e-mail feedback to relativelygeeky@gmail.comPromo: In CountryFeaturing the Voices of:Noel Thingvall: Masters of CarpentryStephen Lacey: The FantasticastPaul Spataro: Back to the Bins.The Irredeemable Shagg: Fire & Water Podcast(The late) Shawn Engel: Just One of the Guys.Bibliography:Seduction of the Innocent by Frederick Wertham, MD. Copyright Rhinehart and Co. Inc, 1954The Comics Code: 1954, SeductionOfTheInnocent.OrgTales from the Code, CBLDF.org"Fredric Wertham: Anti-Comics Crusader Who Turned Advocate" by Dwight Decker(Essay about Wertham and the creation of "The World of Fanzines")Additional reading:"Seducing the Innocent: Frederick Wertham and the Falsifications that Helped Condemn Comics." Carol L. Tilley. Information and Culture: A Journal of History, 47 (4). 2012.The Study of Man: Paul, the Horror comics, and Dr Wertham, Commentary Magazine (1954) (A contemporary article from a father about his son's comic reading habit) The Testimony of William Gaines (Transcript: April 22nd, 1954)(Other transcripts, including Wertham's testimony, also available)
Happy Halloween! We're joined by comics scribe Daniel "D.G." Chichester to talk about the history of horror comics, Marvel's return to the genre in the early 1990s, and the macabre anti-hero Terror (whom Chichester co-created). ----more---- Issue 18 Transcript Mike: [00:00:00] It's small, but feisty, Mike: Welcome to Tencent Takes, the podcast where we dig up comic book characters' graves and misappropriate the bodies, one issue at a time. My name is Mike Thompson, and I am joined by my cohost, the Titan of terror herself, Jessika Frazer. Jessika: It is I. Mike: Today, we are extremely fortunate to have comics writer, Daniel, DG Chichester. Dan: Nice to see you both. Mike: Thank you so much for taking the time. You're actually our first official guest on the podcast. Dan: Wow. Okay. I'm going to take that as a good thing. That's great. Mike: Yeah. Well, if you're new to the show, the purpose of our [00:01:00] podcast as always is to look at the weirdest, silliest, coolest moments of comic books, and talk about them in ways that are fun and informative. In this case, we looking at also the spookiest moments, and how they're woven into the larger fabric of pop culture and history. Today, we're going to be talking about horror comics. We're looking at their overall history as well as their resurrection at Marvel in the early 1990s, and how it helped give birth to one of my favorite comic characters, an undead anti-hero who went by the name of Terror. Dan, before we started going down this road, could you tell us a little bit about your history in the comic book industry, and also where people can find you if they want to learn more about you and your work? Dan: Absolutely. At this point, people may not even know I had a history in comic books, but that's not true. Uh, I began at Marvel as an assistant in the mid-eighties while I was still going to film school and, semi quickly kind of graduated up, to a more official, [00:02:00] assistant editor position. Worked my way up through editorial, and then, segued into freelance writing primarily for, but also for DC and Dark Horse and worked on a lot of, semi-permanent titles, Daredevil's probably the best known of them. But I think I was right in the thick of a lot of what you're going to be talking about today in terms of horror comics, especially at Marvel, where I was fiercely interested in kind of getting that going. And I think pushed for certain things, and certainly pushed to be involved in those such as the Hellraiser and Nightbreed Clive Barker projects and Night Stalkers and, uh, and Terror Incorporated, which we're going to talk about. And wherever else I could get some spooky stuff going. And I continued on in that, heavily until about 96 / 97, when the big crash kind of happened, continued on through about 99 and then have not really been that actively involved since then. But folks can find out what I'm doing now, if they go to story maze.substack.com, where I have a weekly newsletter, which features [00:03:00] new fiction and some things that I think are pretty cool that are going on in storytelling, and also a bit of a retrospective of looking back at a lot of the work that I did. Mike: Awesome. Before we actually get started talking about horror comics, normally we talk about one cool thing that we have read or watched recently, but because this episode is going to be dropping right before Halloween, what is your favorite Halloween movie or comic book? Dan: I mean, movies are just terrific. And there's so many when I saw that question, especially in terms of horror and a lot of things immediately jumped to mind. The movie It Follows, the recent It movie, The Mist, Reanimator, are all big favorites. I like horror movies that really kind of get under your skin and horrify you, not just rack up a body count. But what I finally settled on as a favorite is probably John Carpenter's the Thing, which I just think is one of the gruesomest what is going to happen next? What the fuck is going to happen next?[00:04:00] And just utter dread. I mean, there's just so many things that combined for me on that one. And I think in terms of comics, I've recently become just a huge fan of, and I'm probably going to slaughter the name, but Junji Ito's work, the Japanese manga artist. And, Uzumaki, which is this manga, which is about just the bizarreness of this town, overwhelmed with spirals of all things. And if you have not read that, it is, it is the trippiest most unsettling thing I've read in, in a great long time. So happy Halloween with that one. Mike: So that would be mango, right? Dan: Yeah. Yeah. So you'd make sure you read it in the right order, or otherwise it's very confusing, so. Mike: Yeah, we actually, haven't talked a lot about manga on this. We probably should do a deep dive on it at some point. But, Jessika, how about you? Jessika: Well, I'm going to bring it down a little bit more silly because I've always been a fan of horror and the macabre and supernatural. So always grew up seeking creepy media as [00:05:00] a rule, but I also loves me some silliness. So the last three or so years, I've had a tradition of watching Hocus Pocus with my friend, Rob around Halloween time. And it's silly and it's not very heavy on the actual horror aspect, but it's fun. And it holds up surprisingly well. Mike: Yeah, we have all the Funkos of the Sanderson sisters in our house. Jessika: It's amazing watching it in HD, their costumes are so intricate and that really doesn't come across on, you know, old VHS or watching it on television back in the day. And it's just, it's so fun. How much, just time and effort it looks like they put into it, even though some of those details really weren't going to translate. Dan: How very cool. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Yeah. So, but I also really like actual horror, so I'm also in the next couple of days is going to be a visiting the 1963 Haunting of Hill House because that's one of my favorites. Yeah. It's so good. And used to own the book that the movie was based on also. And seen all the [00:06:00] iterations and it's the same storyline the recent Haunting of Hill house is based on, which is great. That plot line has been reworked so many times, but it's such a great story, I'm just not shocked in the least that it would run through so many iterations and still be accepted by the public in each of its forms. Mike: Yeah. I really liked that Netflix interpretation of it, it was really good. Dan: They really creeped everything out. Mike: Yeah. There's a YouTuber called Lady Night, The Brave, and she does a really great summary breakdown explaining a lot of the themes and it's like almost two hours I think, of YouTube video, but she does these really lovely retrospectives. So, highly recommend you check that out. If you want to just think about that the Haunting of Hill House more. Jessika: Oh, I do. Yes. Mike: I'm going to split the difference between you two. When I was growing up, I was this very timid kid and the idea of horror just creeped me out. And so I avoided it like the plague. And then when I was in high [00:07:00] school, I had some friends show me some movies and I was like, these are great, why was I afraid of this stuff? And so I kind of dove all the way in. But my preferred genre is horror comedy. That is the one that you can always get me in on. And, I really love this movie from the mid-nineties called the Frighteners, which is a horror comedy starring Michael J. Fox, and it's directed by Peter Jackson. And it was written by Peter Jackson and his partner, Fran Walsh. And it was a few years before they, you know, went on to make a couple of movies based on this little known franchise called Lord of the Rings. But it's really wild. It's weird, and it's funny, and it has some genuine jump scare moments. And there's this really great ghost story at the core of it. And the special effects at the time were considered amazing and groundbreaking, but now they're kind of, you look at, and you're like, oh, that's, high-end CG, high-end in the mid-nineties. Okay. But [00:08:00] yeah, like I said, or comedies are my absolute favorite things to watch. That's why Cabin in the Woods always shows up in our horror rotation as well. Same with Tucker and Dale vs Evil. That's my bread and butter. With comic books, I go a little bit creepier. I think I talked about the Nice House on the Lake, that's the current series that I'm reading from DC that's genuinely creepy and really thoughtful and fun. And it's by James Tynion who also wrote Something That's Killing the Children. So those are excellent things to read if you're in the mood for a good horror comic. Dan: Great choice on the Frighteners. That's I think an unsung classic, that I'm going to think probably came out 10 years too early. Mike: Yeah. Dan: It's such a mashup of different, weird vibes, that it would probably do really, really well today. But at that point in time, it was just, what is this? You know? Cause it's, it's just cause the horrifying thing in it are really horrifying. And, uh, Gary Busey's son, right, plays the evil ghost and he is just trippy, off the wall, you know, horrifying. [00:09:00] Mike: Yeah. And it starts so silly, and then it kind of just continues to go creepier and creepier, and by the time that they do some of the twists revealing his, you know, his agent in the real world, it's a genuine twist. Like, I was really surprised the first time I saw it and I - Dan: Yeah. Mike: was so creeped out, but yeah. Dan: Plus it's got R. Lee Ermey as the army ghost, which is just incredible. So, Mike: Yeah. And, Chi McBride is in it, and, Jeffrey Combs. Dan: Oh, oh that's right, right. right. Mike: Yeah. So yeah, it's a lot of fun. Mike: All right. So, I suppose we should saunter into the graveyard, as it were, and start talking about the history of horror comics. So, Dan, obviously I know that you're familiar with horror comics, Dan: A little bit. Mike: Yeah. What about you, Jess? You familiar with horror comics other than what we've talked about in the show? Jessika: I started getting into it once you and I started, you know, talking more on the [00:10:00] show. And so I grabbed a few things. I haven't looked through all of them yet, but I picked up some older ones. I did just recently pick up, it'll be more of a, kind of a funny horror one, but they did a recent Elvira and Vincent Price. So, yeah, so I picked that up, but issue one of that. So it's sitting on my counter ready for me to read right now. Mike: Well, and that's funny, cause Elvira actually has a really long, storied history in comic books. Like she first appeared in kind of like the revival of House of Mystery that DC did. And then she had an eighties series that had over a hundred issues that had a bunch of now major names involved. And she's continued to have series like, you can go to our website and get autographed copies of her recent series from, I think Dynamite. Jessika: That's cool. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Nice. Mike: Speaking of horror comedy Elvira is great. Jessika: Yes. Mike: I recently showed Sarah the Elvira Mistress of the Dark movie and she was, I think really sad that I hadn't showed it to her sooner. Jessika: [00:11:00] That's another one I need to go watch this week. Wow. Don't- nobody call me. I'm just watching movies all week. Dan: Exactly. Mike: It's on a bunch of different streaming services, I think right now. Well it turns out that horror comics, have pretty much been a part of the industry since it really became a proven medium. You know, it wasn't long after comics became a legit medium in their own, right that horror elements started showing up in superhero books, which like, I mean, it isn't too surprising. Like the 1930's was when we got the Universal classic movie monsters, so it makes a lot of sense that those kinds of characters would start crossing over into comic books, just to take advantage of that popularity. Jerry Siegel and Joel Schuster, the guys who created Superman, actually created the supernatural investigator called Dr. Occult in New Fun Comics three years before they brought Superman to life. And Dr. Occult still shows up in DC books. Like, he was a major character in the Books of Magic with Neil Gaiman. I think he may show up in Sandman later on. I can't remember. Jessika: Oh, okay. Dan: I wouldn't be surprised. Neil would find ways to mine that. [00:12:00] Mike: Yeah. I mean, that was a lot of what the Sandman was about, was taking advantage of kind of long forgotten characters that DC had had and weaving them into his narratives. And, if you're interested in that, we talk about that in our book club episodes, which we're currently going through every other episode. So the next episode after this is going to be the third episode of our book club, where we cover volumes five and six. So, horror comics though really started to pick up in the 1940s. There's multiple comic historians who say that the first ongoing horror series was Prized Comics, New Adventures of Frankenstein, which featured this updated take on the original story by Mary Shelley. It took place in America. The monster was named Frankenstein. He was immediately a terror. It's not great, but it's acknowledged as being really kind of the first ongoing horror story. And it's really not even that much of a horror story other than it featured Frankenstein's monster. But after that, a number of publishers started to put out adaptations of classic horror stories for awhile. So you had [00:13:00] Avon Publications making it official in 1946 with the comic Erie, which is based on the first real dedicated horror comic. Yeah. This is the original cover to Erie Comics. Number one, if you could paint us a word picture. Dan: Wow. This is high end stuff as it's coming through. Well it looks a lot like a Zine or something, you know it's got a very, Mac paint logo from 1990, you know, it's, it's your, your typical sort of like, ooh, I'm shaky kind of logo. That's Eerie Comics. There's a Nosferatu looking character. Who's coming down some stairs with the pale moon behind him. It, he's got a knife in his hand, so, you know, he's up to no good. And there is a femme fatale at the base of the stairs. She may have moved off of some train tracks to get here. And, uh, she's got a, uh, a low, cut dress, a lot of leg and the arms and the wrists are bound, but all this for only 10. cents. So, I think there's a, there's a bargain there.[00:14:00] Mike: That is an excellent description. Thank you. So, what's funny is that Erie at the time was the first, you know, official horror comic, really, but it only had one issue that came out and then it sort of vanished from sight. It came back with a new series that started with a new number one in the 1950s, but this was the proverbial, the shot that started the war. You know, we started seeing a ton of anthology series focusing on horror, like Adventures into the Unknown, which ran into the 1960s and then Amazing Mysteries and Marvel Tales were repurposed series for Marvel that they basically changed the name of existing series into these. And they started doing kind of macabre, weird stories. And then, we hit the 1950s. And the early part of the 1950s was when horror comics really seemed to take off and experienced this insane success. We've talked about how in the post-WWII America, superhero comics were kind of declining in [00:15:00] popularity. By the mid 1950s, only three heroes actually had their own books and that was Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Which, I didn't realize that until I was doing research. I didn't, I just assumed that there were other superhero comics at the time. But we started seeing comics about horror and crime and romance really starting to get larger shares of the market. And then EC Comics was one of those doing gangbuster business during this whole era. Like, this was when we saw those iconic series, the Haunt of Fear, the Vault of Horror, the Crypt of Terror, which was eventually rebranded to Tales from the Crypt. Those all launched and they found major success. And then the bigger publishers were also getting in on this boom. During the first half of the 1950s Atlas, which eventually became Marvel, released almost 400 issues across 18 horror titles. And then American Comics Group released almost 125 issues between five different horror titles. Ace comics did almost a hundred issues between five titles. I'm curious. I'm gonna ask both of you, what [00:16:00] do you think the market share of horror comics was at the time? Dan: In terms of comics or in terms of just like newsstand, magazine, distribution. Mike: I'm going to say in terms of distribution. Dan: I mean, I know they were phenomenally successful. I would, be surprised if it was over 60%. Mike: Okay. How about. Jessika: Oh, goodness. Let's throw a number out. I'm going to say 65 just because I want to get close enough, but maybe bump it up just a little bit. This is a contest now. Dan: The precision now, like the 65. Jessika: Yes. Mike: Okay. Well, obviously we don't have like a hard definite number, but there was a 2009 article from reason magazine saying that horror books made up a quarter of all comics by 1953. So, so you guys were overestimating it, but it was still pretty substantial. At the same time, we were also seeing a surge in horror films. Like, the 1950s are known as the atomic age and media reflected [00:17:00] societal anxiety, at the possibility of nuclear war and to a lesser extent, white anxiety about societal changes. So this was the decade that gave us Invasion of the Body Snatchers The Thing from Another World, which led to John Carpenter's The Thing eventually. Um, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Hammer horror films also started to get really huge during this time. So we saw the beginning of stuff like Christopher Lee's, Dracula series of films. So the fifties were like a really good decade for horror, I feel. But at the same time, violent crime in America started to pick up around this period. And people really started focusing on juvenile criminals and what was driving them. So, there were a lot of theories about why this was going on and no one's ever really come up with a definite answer, but there was the psychiatrist named Frederick Wortham who Dan, I yeah. Dan: Oh yeah, psychiatrist in big air quotes, yeah. Mike: In quotes. Yeah. [00:18:00] Yeah. And he was convinced that the rise in crime was due to comics, and he spent years writing and speaking against them. He almost turned it into a cottage industry for himself. And this culminated in 1954, when he published a book called Seduction of the Innocent, that blamed comic books for the rise in juvenile delinquency, and his arguments are laughable. Like, I mean, there's just no way around it. Like you read this stuff and you can't help, but roll your eyes and chuckle. But, at the time comics were a relatively new medium, you know, and people really only associated them with kids. And his arguments were saying, oh, well, Wonder Woman was a lesbian because of her strength and independence, which these days, I feel like that actually has a little bit of credibility, but, like, I don't know. But I don't really feel like that's contributing to the delinquency of the youth. You know, and then he also said that Batman and Robin were in a homosexual relationship. And then my favorite was that Superman comics were [00:19:00] un-American and fascist. Dan: Well. Mike: All right. Dan: There's people who would argue that today. Mike: I mean, but yeah, and then he actually, he got attention because there were televised hearings with the Senate subcommittee on juvenile delinquency. I mean, honestly, every time I think about Seduction of the Innocent and how it led to the Comics Code Authority. I see the parallels with Tipper Gore's Parent Music Resource Center, and how they got the Parental Advisory sticker on certain music albums, or Joe Lieberman's hearings on video games in the 1990's and how that led to the Electronic Systems Reading Board system, you know, where you provide almost like movie ratings to video games. And Wortham also reminds me a lot of this guy named Jack Thompson, who was a lawyer in the nineties and aughts. And he was hell bent on proving a link between violent video games and school shootings. And he got a lot of media attention at the time until he was finally disbarred for his antics. But there was this [00:20:00] definite period where people were trying to link video games and violence. And, even though the statistics didn't back that up. And, I mean, I think about this a lot because I used to work in video games. I spent almost a decade working in the industry, but you know, it's that parallel of anytime there is a new form of media that is aimed at kids, it feels like there is a moral panic. Dan: Well, I think it goes back to what you were saying before about, you know, even as, as things change in society, you know, when people in society get at-risk, you know, you went to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Right. Which is classically thought to be a response to communism, you know, and the feelings of communist oppression and you know, the different, you know, the other, and it's the same thing. I think every single one of these is just a proof point of if you want to become, suddenly well-known like Lieberman or Wortham or anything, you know, pick the other that the older generation doesn't really understand, right? Maybe now there are more adults playing video games, but it's probably still perceived as a more juvenile [00:21:00] thing or comics or juvenile thing, or certain types of movies are a juvenile thing, you know, pick the other pick on it, hold it up as the weaponized, you know, piece, and suddenly you're popular. And you've got a great flashpoint that other people can rally around and blame, as if one single thing is almost ever the cause of everything. And I always think it's interesting, you know, the EC Comics, you know, issues in terms of, um, Wortham's witch hunt, you know, the interesting thing about those is yet they were gruesome and they are gruesome in there, but they're also by and large, I don't know the other ones as well, but I know the EC Comics by and large are basically morality plays, you know, they're straight up morality plays in the sense that the bad guys get it in the end, almost every time, like they do something, they do some horrific thing, but then the corpse comes back to life and gets them, you know, so there's, there's always a comeuppance where the scales balance. But that was of course never going to be [00:22:00] an argument when somebody can hold up a picture of, you know, a skull, you know, lurching around, you know, chewing on the end trails of something. And then that became all that was talked about. Mike: Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, spring boarding off of that, you know, worth them and the subcommittee hearings and all that, they led to the comics magazine association of America creating the Comics Code Authority. And this was basically in order to avoid government regulation. They said, no, no, no, we'll police ourselves so that you don't have to worry about this stuff. Which, I mean, again, that's what we did with the SRB. It was a response to that. We could avoid government censorship. So the code had a ton of requirements that each book had to meet in order to receive the Comics Code Seal of Approval on the cover. And one of the things you couldn't do was have quote, scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead or torture, which I mean,[00:23:00] okay. So the latter half of the 1950's saw a lot of these dedicated horror series, you know, basically being shut down or they drastically changed. This is, you know, the major publishers really freaked out. So Marvel and DC rebranded their major horror titles. They were more focused on suspense or mystery or Sci-Fi or superheroes in a couple of cases, independent publishers, didn't really have to worry about the seal for different reasons. Like, some of them were able to rely on the rep for publishing wholesome stuff like Dell or Gold Key. I think Gold Key at the time was doing a lot of the Disney books. So they just, they were like, whatever. Dan: Right, then EC, but, but EC had to shut down the whole line and then just became mad. Right? I mean, that's that was the transition at which William, you know, Gains - Mike: Yeah. Dan: basically couldn't contest what was going on. Couldn't survive the spotlight. You know, he testified famously at that hearing. But had to give up all of [00:24:00] that work that was phenomenally profitable for them. And then had to fall back to Mad Magazine, which of course worked out pretty well. Mike: Yeah, exactly. By the end of the 1960s, though, publishers started to kind of gently push back a little bit like, Warren publishing, and Erie publications, like really, they didn't give a shit. Like Warren launched a number of horror titles in the sixties, including Vampirilla, which is like, kind of, I feel it's sort of extreme in terms of both sex and horror, because I mean, we, we all know what Vampirilla his costume is. It hasn't changed in the 50, approximately 50 years that it's been out like. Dan: It's like, what can you do with dental floss, Right. When you were a vampire? I mean, that's basically like, she doesn't wear much. Mike: No, I mean, she never has. And then by the end of the sixties, Marvel and DC started to like kind of steer some of their books back towards the horror genre. Like how some Mystery was one of them where it, I think with issue 1 75, that was when they [00:25:00] took away, took it away from John Jones and dial H for Hero. And they were like, no, no, no, no. We're going to, we're going to bring, Cain back as the host and start telling horror morality plays again, which is what they were always doing. And this meant that the Comics Code Authority needed to update their code. So in 1971, they revised it to be a little bit more horror friendly. Jessika: Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with, walking dead or torture shall not be used. Vampires, ghouls and werewolves shall be permitted to be used when handled in the classic traditions, such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and other high caliber literary works written by Edgar Allen Poe, Saki, Conan Doyle, and other respected authors whose works are read in schools around the world. Mike: But at this point, Marvel and DC really jumped back into the horror genre. This was when we started getting books, like the tomb of Dracula, Ghost Rider, where will finite and son of Satan, and then DC had a [00:26:00] bunch of their series like they had, what was it? So it was originally The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, and then it eventually got retitled to Forbidden Tales of the Dark Mansion. Like, just chef's kiss on that title. Dan: You can take that old Erie comic and throw, you know, the Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love as the title on that. And it would work, you know. Mike: I know. Right. So Dan, I'm curious, what is your favorite horror comic or comic character from this era? Dan: I would say, it was son of Satan, because it felt so trippy and forbidden, and I think comics have always, especially mainstream comics you know, I've always responded also to what's out there. Right. I don't think it's just a loosening the restrictions at that point, but in that error, what's going on, you're getting a lot of, I think the films of Race with the Devil and you're getting the Exorcist and you're getting, uh, the Omen, you know, Rosemary's baby. right. Satanism, [00:27:00] the devil, right. It's, it's high in pop culture. So true to form. You know, I think Son of Satan is in some ways, like a response of Marvel, you know, to that saying, let's glom onto this. And for a kid brought up in the Catholic church, there was a certain eeriness to this, ooh, we're reading about this. It's like, is it really going to be Satanism? And cause I was very nervous that we were not allowed even watch the Exorcist in our home, ever. You know, I didn't see the Exorcist until I was like out of high school. And I think also the character as he looks is just this really trippy look, right. At that point, if you're not familiar with the character, he's this buff dude, his hair flares up into horns, he just wears a Cape and he carries a giant trident, he's got a massive pentacle, I think a flaming pentacle, you know, etched in his chest. Um, he's ready to do business, ya know, in some strange form there. So for me, he was the one I glommed on to the most. [00:28:00] Mike: Yeah. Well, I mean, it was that whole era, it was just, it was Gothic horror brought back and Satanism and witchcraft is definitely a part of that genre. Dan: Sure. Mike: So, that said, kind of like any trend horror comics, you know, they have their rise and then they started to kind of fall out of popularity by the end of the seventies or the early eighties. I feel like it was a definite end of the era when both House of Mystery and Ghost Writer ended in 1983. But you know, there were still some individual books that were having success, but it just, it doesn't feel like Marvel did a lot with horror comics during the eighties. DC definitely had some luck with Alan Moore's run of the Swamp Thing. And then there was stuff like Hellblazer and Sandman. Which, as I mentioned, we're doing our book club episodes for, but also gave rise to Vertigo Comics, you know, in the early nineties. Not to say that horror comics still weren't a thing during this time, but it seems like the majority of them were coming from indie publishers. Off the top of my head, one example I think of still is Dead World, which basically created a zombie apocalypse [00:29:00] universe. And it started with Aero comics. It was created in the late eighties, and it's still going today. I think it's coming out from IDW now. But at the same time, it's not like American stopped enjoying horror stuff. Like this was the decade where we got Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm street, Evil Dead, Hellraiser, Poltergeist, Child's Play, just to name a few of the franchises that we were introduced to. And, I mentioned Hellraiser. I love Hellraiser, and Dan, I know that you have a pretty special connection to that brand. Dan: I do. I put pins in my face every night just to kind of keep my complexion, you know? Mike: So, let's transition over to the nineties and Marvel and let's start that off with Epic Comics. Epic started in the eighties, and it was basically a label that would print, create our own comics. And they eventually started to use label to produce, you know, in quotes, mature comics. So Wikipedia says that this was your first editorial job at Marvel was with the [00:30:00] Epic Line. Is that correct? Dan: Well, I'll go back and maybe do just a little correction on Epic's mission if you don't mind. Mike: Yeah, yeah. Dan: You know, first, which is it was always creator owned, and it did start as crude. And, but I don't think that ever then transitioned into more mature comics, sometimes that just was what creator-owned comics were. Right. That was just part of the mission. And so as a creator-owned imprint, it could be anything, it could be the silliest thing, it could be the most mature thing. So it was always, you know, part of what it was doing, and part of the mission of doing creator-owned comics, and Archie Goodwin was the editor in chief of that line, was really to give creators and in to Marvel. If we gave them a nice place to play with their properties, maybe they would want to go play in the mainstream Marvel. So you might get a creator who would never want to work for Marvel, for whatever reason, they would have a great Epic experience doing a range of things, and then they would go into this. So there was always levels of maturity and we always looked at it as very eclectic and challenging, you know, sometimes in a good [00:31:00] way. So I'll have to go back to Wikipedia and maybe correct them. My first job was actually, I was on the Marvel side and it was as the assistant to the assistant, to the editor in chief. So I would do all of the grunt work and the running around that the assistant to the editor in chief didn't want to do. And she would turn to me and say, Dan, you're going to go run around the city and find this thing for Jim Shooter. Now, then I did that for about five or six months, I was still in film school, and then left, which everyone was aghast, you don't leave Marvel comics, by choice. And, but I had, I was still in school. I had a summer job already sort of set up, and I left to go take that exciting summer job. And then I was called over the summer because there was an opening in the Epic line. And they want to know if I'd be interested in taking on this assistant editor's job. And I said, it would have to be part-time cause I still had a semester to finish in school, but they were intrigued and I was figuring, oh, well this is just kind of guaranteed job. [00:32:00] Never knowing it was going to become career-like, and so that was then sort of my second job. Mike: Awesome. So this is going to bring us to the character of Terror. So he was introduced as a character in the Shadow Line Saga, which was one of those mature comics, it was like a mature superhero universe. That took place in a few different series under the Epic imprint. There was Dr. Zero, there was St. George, and then there was Power Line. Right. Dan: That's correct, yep. Mike: And so the Shadow Line Saga took his name from the idea that there were these beings called Shadows, they were basically super powered immortal beings. And then Terror himself first appeared as Shrek. He's this weird looking enforcer for a crime family in St. George. And he becomes kind of a recurring nemesis for the main character. He's kind of like the street-level boss while it's hinting that there's going to be a eventual confrontation between the main character of St. George and Dr. Zero, who is kind of [00:33:00] a Superman character, but it turns out he has been manipulating humanity for, you know, millennia at this point. Dan: I think you've encapsulated it quite well. Mike: Well, thank you. So the Shadow Line Saga, that only lasted for about what a year or two? Dan: Probably a couple of years, maybe a little over. There was about, I believe, eight to nine issues of each of the, the main comics, the ones you just cited. And then we segued those over to, sort of, uh, an omni series we call Critical Mass, which brought together all three characters or storylines. And then try to tell this, excuse the pun, epic, you know story, which will advance them all. And so wrapped up a lot of loose ends and, um, you know, became quite involved now. Mike: Okay. Dan: It ran about seven or eight issues. Mike: Okay. Now a couple of years after Terror was introduced under the Epic label, Marvel introduced a new Ghost Rider series in 1990 that hit that sweet spot of like nineties extreme with a capital X and, and, you know, [00:34:00] it also gave us a spooky anti heroes like that Venn diagram, where it was like spooky and extreme and rides a motorcycle and right in the middle, you had Ghost Rider, but from what I understand the series did really well, commercially for Marvel. Comichron, which is the, the comic sales tracking site, notes that early issues were often in the top 10 books sold each month for 91. Like there are eight issues of Ghost Rider, books that are in the top 100 books for that year. So it's not really surprising that Marvel decided to go in really hard with supernatural characters. And in 1992, we had this whole batch of horror hero books launch. We had Spirits of Vengeance, which was a spinoff from Ghost Rider, which saw a Ghost Rider teaming up with Johnny Blaze, and it was the original Ghost Writer. And he didn't have a hellfire motorcycle this time, but he had a shotgun that would fire hell fire, you know, and he had a ponytail, it was magnificent. And then there was also the Night Stalkers, [00:35:00] which was a trio of supernatural investigators. There was Hannibal King and Blade and oh, I'm blanking on the third one. Dan: Frank Drake. Mike: Yeah. And Frank Drake was a vampire, right? Dan: And he was a descendant of Dracula, but also was a vampire who had sort of been cured. Um, he didn't have a hunger for human blood, but he still had a necessity for some type of blood and possessed all the attributes, you know, of a vampire, you know, you could do all the powers, couldn't go out in the daylight, that sort of thing. So, the best and worst of both worlds. Mike: Right. And then on top of that, we had the Dark Hold, which it's kind of like the Marvel equivalent of the Necronomicon is the best way I can describe it. Dan: Absolutely. Yup. Mike: And that's showed up in Agents of Shield since then. And they just recently brought it into the MCU. That was a thing that showed up in Wanda Vision towards the end. So that's gonna clearly reappear. And then we also got Morbius who is the living vampire from [00:36:00] Spider-Man and it's great. He shows up in this series and he's got this very goth rock outfit, is just it's great. Dan: Which looked a lot like how Len Kaminsky dressed in those days in all honesty. Mike: Yeah, okay. Dan: So Len will now kill me for that, but. Mike: Oh, well, but yeah, so these guys were all introduced via a crossover event called Rise of the Midnight Sons, which saw all of these heroes, you know, getting their own books. And then they also teamed up with Dr. Strange to fight against Lilith the mother of demons. And she was basically trying to unleash her monstrous spawn across the world. And this was at the same time the Terror wound up invading the Marvel Universe. So if you were going to give an elevator pitch for Terror in the Marvel Universe, how would you describe him? Dan: I actually wrote one down, I'll read it to you, cause you, you know, you put that there and was like, oh gosh, I got to like now pitch this. A mythic manifestation of fear exists in our times, a top dollar mercenary for hire using a supernatural [00:37:00] ability to attach stolen body parts to himself in order to activate the inherit ability of the original owner. A locksmith's hand or a marksman, his eye or a kickboxer his legs, his gruesome talent gives him the edge to take on the jobs no one else can, he accomplishes with Savage, restyle, scorn, snark, and impeccable business acumen. So. Mike: That's so good. It's so good. I just, I have to tell you the twelve-year-old Mike is like giddy to be able to talk to you about this. Dan: I was pretty giddy when I was writing this stuff. So that's good. Mike: So how did Terror wind up crossing into the Marvel Universe? Like, because he just showed shows up in a couple of cameos in some Daredevil issues that you also wrote. I believe. Dan: Yeah, I don't know if he'd showed up before the book itself launched that might've, I mean, the timing was all around the same time. But everybody who was involved with Terror, love that Terror and Terror Incorporated, which was really actual title. Love the hell out of [00:38:00] the book, right. And myself, the editors, Carl Potts, who was the editor in chief, we all knew it was weird and unique. And, at one point when I, you know, said to Carl afterwards, well I'm just gonna take this whole concept and go somewhere else with it, he said, you can't, you made up something that, you know, can't really be replicated without people knowing exactly what you're doing. It's not just another guy with claws or a big muscle guy. How many people grab other people's body parts? So I said, you know, fie on me, but we all loved it. So when, the Shadowline stuff kind of went away, uh, and he was sort of kicking out there is still, uh, Carl came to me one day and, and said, listen, we love this character. We're thinking of doing something with horror in Marvel. This was before the Rise of the Midnight Sons. So it kind of came a little bit ahead of that. I think this eventually would become exactly the Rise of the Midnight Sons, but we want to bring together a lot of these unused horror characters, like Werewolf by Night, Man Thing, or whatever, but we want a central kind of [00:39:00] character who, navigates them or maybe introduces them. Wasn't quite clear what, and they thought Terror, or Shrek as he still was at that point, could be that character. He could almost be a Crypt Keeper, maybe, it wasn't quite fully baked. And, so we started to bounce this around a little bit, and then I got a call from Carl and said, yeah, that's off. We're going to do something else with these horror characters, which again would eventually become probably the Midnight Sons stuff. But he said, but we still want to do something with it. You know? So my disappointment went to, oh, what do you mean? How could we do anything? He said, what if you just bring him into the Marvel Universe? We won't say anything about what he did before, and just use him as a character and start over with him operating as this high-end mercenary, you know, what's he going to do? What is Terror Incorporated, and how does he do business within the Marvel world? And so I said, yes, of course, I'm not going to say that, you know, any quicker and just jumped into [00:40:00] it. And I didn't really worry about the transition, you know, I wasn't thinking too much about, okay. How does he get from Shadow Line world, to earth 616 or whatever, Marcus McLaurin, who was the editor. God bless him, for years would resist any discussion or no, no, it's not the same character. Marcus, it's the same character I'm using the same lines. I'm having him referenced the same fact that he's had different versions of the word terrors, his name at one point, he makes a joke about the Saint George complex. I mean, it's the same character. Mike: Yeah. Dan: But , you know, Marcus was a very good soldier to the Marvel hierarchy. So we just really brought him over and we just went all in on him in terms of, okay, what could a character like this play in the Marvel world? And he played really well in certain instances, but he certainly was very different than probably anything else that was going on at the time. Mike: Yeah. I mean, there certainly wasn't a character like him before. So all the Wikias, like [00:41:00] Wikipedia, all the Marvel fan sites, they all list Daredevil 305 as Terror's first official appearance in. Dan: Could be. Mike: Yeah, but I want to talk about that for a second, because that is, I think the greatest villain that I've ever seen in a Marvel comic, which was the Surgeon General, who is this woman who is commanding an army of like, I mean, basically it's like a full-scale operation of that urban myth of - Dan: Yeah. Mike: -the dude goes home with an attractive woman that he meets at the club. And then he wakes up in a bathtub full of ice and he's missing organs. Dan: Yeah. You know, sometimes, you know, that was certainly urban myth territory, and I was a big student of urban myths and that was the sort of thing that I think would show up in the headlines every three to six months, but always one of those probably friend of a friend stories that. Mike: Oh yeah. Dan: Like a razor an apple or something like that, that never actually sort of tracks back. Mike: Well, I mean, the thing now is it's all edibles in candy and they're like, all the news outlets are showing officially [00:42:00] branded edibles. Which, what daddy Warbucks mother fucker. Jessika: Mike knows my stand on this. Like, no, no, nobody is buying expensive edibles. And then putting them in your child's candy. Like, No, no, that's stupid. Dan: No, it's the, it's the, easier version of putting the LSD tab or wasting your pins on children in Snickers bars. Jessika: Right. Dan: Um, but but I think, that, that storyline is interesting, Mike, cause it's the, it's one of the few times I had a plotline utterly just completely rejected by an editor because I think I was doing so much horror stuff at the time. Cause I was also concurrently doing the Hellraiser work, the Night Breed work. It would have been the beginning of the Night Stalkers work, cause I was heavily involved with the whole Midnight Sons work. And I went so far on the first plot and it was so grizzly and so gruesome that, Ralph Macchio who was the editor, called me up and said, yeah, this title is Daredevil. It's not Hellraiser. So I had to kind of back off [00:43:00] and realize, uh, yeah, I put a little too much emphasis on the grisliness there. So. Mike: That's amazing. Dan: She was an interesting, exploration of a character type. Mike: I'm really sad that she hasn't showed back up, especially cause it feels like it'd be kind of relevant these days with, you know, how broken the medical system is here in America. Dan: Yeah. It's, it's funny. And I never played with her again, which is, I think one of my many Achilles heels, you know, as I would sometimes introduce characters and then I would just not go back to them for some reason, I was always trying to kind of go forward onto something new. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Is there anything about Terror's character that you related to at the time, or now even. Dan: Um, probably being very imperious, very complicated, having a thing for long coats. Uh, I think all of those probably, you know, work then and now, I've kind of become convinced weirdly enough over time, that Terror was a character who [00:44:00] and I, you know, I co-created him with Margaret Clark and, and Klaus Janson, but I probably did the most work with him over the years, you know? So I feel maybe a little bit more ownership, but I've sort of become convinced that he was just his own thing, and he just existed out there in the ether, and all I was ultimately was a conduit that I was, I was just channeling this thing into our existence because he came so fully formed and whenever I would write him, he would just kind of take over the page and take over the instance. That's always how I've viewed him, which is different than many of the other things that I've written. Mike: He's certainly a larger than life personality, and in every sense of that expression. Jessika: Yes. Mike: I'm sorry for the terrible pun. Okay. So we've actually talked a bit about Terror, but I [00:45:00] feel like we need to have Jessika provide us with an overall summary of his brief series. Jessika: So the series is based on the titular character, of course, Terror, who is unable to die and has the ability to replace body parts and gains the skill and memory of that limb. So he might use the eye of a sharpshooter to improve his aim or the arm of an artist for a correct rendering. And because of the inability for his body to die, the dude looks gnarly. His face is a sick green color. He has spike whiskers coming out of the sides of his face, and he mostly lacks lips, sometimes he has lips, but he mostly lacks lips. So we always has this grim smile to his face. And he also has a metal arm, which is awesome. I love that. And he interchanges all of the rest of his body parts constantly. So in one scene he'll have a female arm and in another one it'll sport, an other worldly tentacle. [00:46:00] He states that his business is fear, but he is basically a paid mercenary, very much a dirty deeds, although not dirt cheap; Terror charges, quite a hefty sum for his services, but he is willing to do almost anything to get the job done. His first job is ending someone who has likewise immortal, air quotes, which involves finding an activating a half demon in order to open a portal and then trick a demon daddy to hand over the contract of immortality, you know, casual. He also has run-ins with Wolverine, Dr. Strange Punisher, Silver Sable, and Luke Cage. It's action packed, and you legitimately have no idea what new body part he is going to lose or gain in the moment, or what memory is going to pop up for him from the donor. And it keeps the reader guessing because Terror has no limitations. Mike: Yeah. Dan: was, I was so looking forward to hearing what your recap was going to be. I love that, so I just [00:47:00] want to say that. Jessika: Thank you. I had a lot of fun reading this. Not only was the plot and just the narrative itself, just rolling, but the art was fantastic. I mean, the things you can do with a character like that, there truly aren't any limits. And so it was really interesting to see how everything fell together and what he was doing each moment to kind of get out of whatever wacky situation he was in at the time.So. And his, and his quips, I just, the quips were just, they give me life. Mike: They're so good. Like there was one moment where he was sitting there and playing with the Lament Configuration, and the first issue, which I, I never noticed that before, as long as we ready this time and I was like, oh, that's great. And then he also made a St. George reference towards the end of the series where he was talking about, oh, I knew another guy who had a St. George complex. Dan: Right, right. Right, Mike: Like I love those little Easter eggs. Speaking of Easter eggs, there are a lot of Clive Barker Easter eggs throughout that whole series. Dan: [00:48:00] Well, That's it. That was so parallel at the time, you know. Mike: So around that time was when you were editing and then writing for the HellRaiser series and the Night Breed series, right? Dan: Yes. Certainly writing for them. Yeah. I mean, I did some consulting editing on the HellRaiser and other Barker books, after our lift staff, but, primarily writing at that point. Mike: Okay. Cause I have Hellraiser number one, and I think you're listed as an editor on it. Dan: I was, I started the whole Hellraiser anthology with other folks, you know, but I was the main driver, and I think that was one of the early instigators of kind of the rebirth of horror at that time. And, you know, going back to something you said earlier, you know, for many years, I was always, pressing Archie Goodwin, who worked at Warren, and worked on Erie, and worked on all those titles. You know, why can't we do a new horror anthology and he was quite sage like and saying, yeah. It'd be great to do it, but it's not going to sell there's no hook, right? There's no connection, you know, just horror for her sake. And it was when Clive Barker [00:49:00] came into our offices, and so I want to do something with Archie Goodwin. And then the two of them said, Hellraiser can be the hook. Right. Hellraiser can be the way in to sort of create an anthology series, have an identifiable icon, and then we developed out from there with Clive, with a couple of other folks Erik Saltzgaber, Phil Nutman, myself, Archie Goodwin, like what would be the world? And then the Bible that would actually give you enough, breadth and width to play with these characters that wouldn't just always be puzzle box, pinhead, puzzle box, pinhead, you know? And so we developed a fairly large set of rules and mythologies allowed for that. Mike: That's so cool. I mean, there really wasn't anything at all, like Hellraiser when it came out. Like, and there's still not a lot like it, but I - Jessika: Yeah, I was going to say, wait, what else? Mike: I mean, I feel like I've read other books since then, where there's that blending of sexuality and [00:50:00] horror and morality, because at the, at the core of it, Hellraiser often feels like a larger morality play. Dan: Now, you know, I'm going to disagree with you on that one. I mean, I think sometimes we let it slip in a morality and we played that out. But I think Hellraiser is sort of find what you want out of it. Right. You go back to the first film and it's, you know, what's your pleasure, sir? You know, it was when the guy hands up the book and the Centobites, you know, or angels to some demons, to others. So I think the book was at its best and the movies are at their best when it's not so much about the comeuppance as it is about find your place in here. Right? And that can be that sort of weird exploration of many different things. Mike: That's cool. So going back to Terror. Because we've talked about like how much we enjoyed the character and everything, I want to take a moment to talk about each of our favorite Terror moments. Dan: Okay. Mike: So Dan, why don't you start? What was your favorite moment for Terror [00:51:00] to write or going back to read? Dan: It's a great question, one of the toughest, because again, I had such delight in the character and felt such a connection, you know, in sort of channeling him in a way I could probably find you five, ten moments per issue, but, I actually think it was the it's in the first issue. And was probably the first line that sort of came to me. And then I wrote backwards from it, which was this, got your nose bit. And you know, it's the old gag of like when a parent's playing with a child and, you know, grabs at the nose and uses the thumb to represent the nose and says, got your nose. And there's a moment in that issue where I think he's just plummeted out of a skyscraper. He's, you know, fallen down into a police car. He's basically shattered. And this cop or security guard is kind of coming over to him and, and he just reaches out and grabs the guy's nose, you know, rips his arm off or something or legs to start to replace himself and, and just says, got your nose, but it's, but it's all a [00:52:00] build from this inner monologue that he's been doing. And so he's not responding to anything. He's not doing a quip to anything. He's just basically telling us a story and ending it with this, you know, delivery that basically says the guy has a complete condescending attitude and just signals that we're in his space. Like he doesn't need to kind of like do an Arnold response to something it's just, he's in his own little world moments I always just kind of go back to that got your nose moment, which is just creepy and crazy and strange. Mike: As soon as you mentioned that I was thinking of the panel that that was from, because it was such a great moment. I think it was the mob enforcers that had shot him up and he had jumped out of the skyscraper four and then they came down to finish him off and he wound up just ripping them apart so that he could rebuild himself. All right, Jessika, how about you? Jessika: I really enjoyed the part where Terror fights with sharks in order to free Silver Sable and Luke Cage. [00:53:00] It was so cool. There was just absolutely no fear as he went at the first shark head-on and, and then there were like five huge bloodthirsty sharks in the small tank. And Terror's just like, what an inconvenience. Oh, well. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Like followed by a quippy remark, like in his head, of course. And I feel like he's such a solitary character that it makes sense that he would have such an active internal monologue. I find myself doing that. Like, you know, I mean, I have a dog, so he usually gets the brunt of it, but he, you know, it's, it is that you start to form like, sort of an internal conversation if you don't have that outside interaction. Dan: Right. Jessika: And I think a lot of us probably relate to that though this pandemic. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: But the one-liner thoughts, like, again, they make those scenes in my opinion, and it gave pause for levity. We don't have to be serious about this because really isn't life or death for Terror. We know that, and he just reminds us that constantly by just he's always so damn nonchalant. [00:54:00] Dan: Yeah. He does have a very, I'm not going to say suave, but it's, uh, you know, that sort of very, I've got this, you know, sort of attitude to it. Mike: I would, say that he's suave when he wants to be, I mean, like the last issue he's got his whiskers tied back and kind of a ponytail. Dan: Oh yeah. Jessika: Oh yeah. Dan: Richard Pace did a great job with that. Mike: Where he's dancing with his assistant in the restaurant and it's that final scene where he's got that really elegant tuxedo. Like. Dan: Yeah. It's very beautiful. Mike: I say that he can be suave and he wants to be. So I got to say like my favorite one, it was a visual gag that you guys did, and it's in issue six when he's fighting with the Punisher and he's got this, long guns sniper. And he shoots the Punisher point blank, and Terror's, like at this point he's lost his legs for like the sixth time. Like he seems to lose his legs, like once an issue where he's just a torso waddling around on his hands. And so he shoots him the force skids him back. [00:55:00] And I legit could not stop laughing for a good minute. Like I was just cackling when I read that. So I think all of us agree that it's those moments of weird levity that really made the series feel like something special. Dan: I'm not quite sure we're going to see that moment reenacted at the Disney Pavilion, you know, anytime soon. But, that would be pretty awesome if they ever went that route. Mike: Well, yeah, so, I mean, like, let's talk about that for a minute, because one of the main ways that I consume Marvel comics these days is through Marvel unlimited, and Terror is a pretty limited presence there. There's a few issues of various Deadpool series. There's the Marvel team up that I think Robert Kirkman did, where Terror shows up and he has some pretty cool moments in there. And then there's a couple of random issues of the 1990s Luke Cage series Cage, but like the core series, the Marvel max stuff, his appearance in books like Daredevil and Wolverine, they just don't seem to be available for consumption via the. App Like I had to go through my personal [00:56:00] collection to find all this stuff. And like, are the rights just more complicated because it was published under the Epic imprint and that was create her own stuff, like do you know? Dan: No, I mean, it wouldn't be it's choice, right. He's probably perceived as a, if people within the editorial group even know about him, right. I was reading something recently where some of the current editorial staff had to be schooled on who Jack Kirby was. So, I'm not sure how much exposure or, you know, interest there would be, you know, to that. I mean, I don't know why everything would be on Marvin unlimited. It doesn't seem like it requires anything except scanning the stuff and putting it up there. But there wouldn't be any rights issues. Marvel owned the Shadow Line, Marvel owns the Terror Incorporated title, it would have been there. So I'm not really sure why it wouldn't be. And maybe at some point it will, but, that's just an odd emission. I mean, for years, which I always felt like, well, what did I do wrong? I [00:57:00] mean, you can find very little of the Daredevil work I did, which was probably very well known and very well received in, in reprints. It would be like, there'd be reprints of almost every other storyline and then there'd be a gap around some of those things. And now they started to reappear as they've done these omnibus editions. Mike: Well, yeah, I mean, you know, and going back the awareness of the character, anytime I talk about Terror to people, it's probably a three out of four chance that they won't have heard of them before. I don't know if you're a part of the comic book historians group on Facebook? Dan: I'm not. No. Mike: So there's a lot of people who are really passionate about comic book history, and they talk about various things. And so when I was doing research for this episode originally, I was asking about kind of the revamp of supernatural heroes. And I said, you know, this was around the same time as Terror. And several people sat there and said, we haven't heard of Terror before. And I was like, he's great. He's amazing. You have to look them up. But yeah, it seems like, you know, to echo what you stated, it seems like there's just a lack of awareness about the character, which I feel is a genuine shame. And that's part of the [00:58:00] reason that I wanted to talk about him in this episode. Dan: Well, thank you. I mean, I love the spotlight and I think anytime I've talked to somebody about it who knew it, I've never heard somebody who read the book said, yeah, that sucks. Right. I've heard that about other things, but not about this one, invariably, if they read it, they loved it. And they were twisted and kind of got into it. But did have a limited run, right? It was only 13 issues. It didn't get the spotlight, it was sort of promised it kind of, it came out with a grouping of other mercenary titles at the time. There was a new Punisher title. There was a Silver Sable. There was a few other titles in this grouping. Everyone was promised a certain amount of additional PR, which they got; when it got to Terror. It didn't get that it like, they pulled the boost at the last minute that might not have made a difference. And I also think maybe it was a little bit ahead of its time in certain attitudes crossing the line between horror and [00:59:00] humor and overtness of certain things, at least for Marvel, like where do you fit this? I think the readers are fine. Readers are great about picking up on stuff and embracing things. For Marvel, it was kind of probably, and I'm not dissing them. I never got like any negative, you know, we're gonna launch this title, what we're going to dismiss it. But I just also think, unless it's somebody like me driving it or the editor driving it, or Carl Potts, who was the editor in chief of that division at that point, you know, unless they're pushing it, there's plenty of other characters Right. For, things to get behind. But I think again, anytime it kind of comes up, it is definitely the one that I hear about probably the most and the most passionately so that's cool in its own way. Mike: Yeah, I think I remember reading an interview that you did, where you were talking about how there was originally going to be like a gimmick cover or a trading card or something like that. Dan: Yeah. Mike: So what was the, what was the gimmick going to be for Terror number one? Dan: What was the gimmick going to be? I don't know, actually, I if I knew I [01:00:00] can't remember anymore. But it was going to be totally gimmicky, as all those titles and covers were at the time. So I hope not scratch and sniff like a, uh, rotting bodies odor, although that would have been kind of in-character and cool. Mike: I mean, this was the era of the gimmick cover. Dan: Oh, absolutely. Mike: Like,that was when that was when we had Bloodstrike come out and it was like the thermographic printing, so you could rub the blood and it would disappear. Force Works is my favorite one, you literally unfold the cover and it's like a pop-up book. Dan: Somebody actually keyed me in. There actually was like a Terror trading card at one point. Mike: Yeah. Dan: Like after the fact, which I was like, shocked. Mike: I have that, that's from Marvel Universe series four. Dan: Yeah. we did a pretty good job with it actually. And then even as we got to the end of the run, you know, we, and you can sort of see us where we're trying to shift certain aspects of the book, you know, more into the mainstream Marvel, because they said, well, we'll give you another seven issues or something, you know, to kind of get the numbers up. Mike: Right. Dan: And they pulled the plug, you know, even before that. So, uh, that's why [01:01:00] the end kind of comes a bit abruptly and we get that final coda scene, you know, that Richard Pace did such a nice job with. Mike: Yeah. I mean, it felt like it wrapped it up, you know, and they gave you that opportunity, which I was really kind of grateful for, to be honest. Dan: Yeah. and subsequently, I don't know what's going on. I know there was that David Lapham, you know, series, you did a couple of those, which I glanced at, I know I kind of got in the way of it a little bit too, not in the way, but I just said, remember to give us a little created by credits in that, but I didn't read those. And then, I know he was in the League of Losers at one point, which just didn't sound right to me. And, uh. Mike: It's actually. Okay. So I'm going to, I'm going to say this cause, it's basically a bunch of, kind of like the B to C listers for the most part. And. So they're called the Legal Losers. I think it's a really good story, and I actually really like what they do with Terror. He gets, she's now Spider Woman, I think it's, Anya Corazon, but it was her original incarnation of, Arana. And she's got that spider armor that like comes out of her arm. And so she [01:02:00] dies really on and he gets her arm. And then, Dan: That's cool. Mike: What happens is he makes a point of using the armor that she has. And so he becomes this weird amalgamation of Terror and Arana's armored form, which is great. Dan: Was that the Kirkman series? Is that the one that he did or. Mike: yeah. That was part of Marvel Team-Up. Dan: Okay. Mike: it was written by Robert Kirkman. Dan: Well, then I will, I will look it up. Mike: Yeah. And that one's on Marvel unlimited and genuinely a really fun story as I remembered. It's been a couple of years since I read it, but yeah. Dan: Very cool. Mike: So we've talked about this a little bit, but, so
Bam! Pow! This week we start off our regular format and explore the censorship effort that changed American comics for decades! The Comics Code Authority had a major effect on the tone and content of comic books, causing writers and illustrators to get a bit creative with their content. Show Notes & Links: Versions of the Comics Code - Comics Code of 1954: http://cbldf.org/the-comics-code-of-1954/ - 1971 CCA Guidelines: https://geocities.restorativland.org/Athens/8580/cca2.html - Comics Code of 1989: https://geocities.restorativland.org/Athens/8580/cca3.html Info on Wertham and the Anti-Comics Movement - Comics Code History: The Seal of Approval: http://cbldf.org/comics-code-history-the-seal-of-approval/ - Timeline of the Anti-Comics Crusade of the 1940's and 1950's: http://www.lostsoti.org/TheAntiComicsCrusade.htm - More info on Wertham: http://www.wymann.info/comics/025-Wertham1940s.html Ending the Code - Comic Book Legends Revealed #226: https://www.cbr.com/comic-book-legends-revealed-226/ - R.I.P.: The Comics Code Authority: https://techland.time.com/2011/01/24/r-i-p-the-comics-code-authority/ A Helpful Documentary - Diagram for Delinquents: http://sequart.org/movies/3/diagram-for-delinquents/
On this episode of the interview show, Derek and Gene talk with the strange minds behind the even stranger title, Punks: The Comic, Joshua Hale Fialkov and Kody Chamberlain. Their first trade collection, Punks: The Comic, Vol. 1: Nutpuncher, has just come out this month from Image Comics, and Josh and Kody are ready to spill the beans about their secrets to humorous success. They talk with the guys about the genesis of Punks, how they come up with story ideas, their collaborative process, and the possible future of the title. If you're familiar with this comic, you know all about its offbeat humor, its non sequitur sensibilities, and its resistance to formula. Gene and Derek have the same kind of experience talking with the creators, demonstrating that the title's humor comes from a idiosyncratic wellspring. Both Kody and Josh are entertainingly funny, and Punks is their weird labor of love...complete with cross-stitched Lincoln patters, Sean Connory-infested holidays, do-it-yourself awesome red ties, violent gnome deaths, a fish-faced Rick Remender, fun facts about urine, and Nutpuncher: The Game. The Two Guys also ask the collaborators about some of the titles they work on separately, such as Kody's Sweets: A New Orleans Crime Story, and Josh's The Bunker and The Life After. All in all, it is a fun and funky interview, and both Derek and Gene eagerly await the upcoming release of Punks: The Comic-CBLDF Special, where the historic Comics Code will get the roasting it truly deserves.
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