Why Comics Were SO WEIRD in the '50s and '60s - Issue At Hand, Episode 5
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Date: 2023-12-10
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Comments and reviews: 21
-alwrig
Harvey Comics' troubles came to light in the early 80s. By this time, the company's output consisted mostly of Richie Rich titles. I believe Casper and Hot Stuff kept chugging along with their own flagship titles alongside Richie Rich Inc, but most of the Harvey stable of characters had largely been forgotten or relegated to reprinted backup stories in various Richie Rich titles (i. e. - Little Dot and Little Lotta. Marvel was interested in purchasing the rights to some of the Harvey characters but a disagreement between Harvey brothers Alfred and Leon killed the deal. After a 3 year hiatus, Harvey resumed publication in '86 under the guidance of Alfred's son Alan. A few years later, the company was sold to Jeffrey Montgomery and operations moved from New York to California. Under this new direction, success came in the form of box office receipts when Casper and (to a lesser extent) Richie Rich appeared in live action films in the mid-90s. But comic book production consisted mostly of reprints from years past and: :shudder: : the Richie Rich and the New Kids on the Block mini-series (yes, this really happened. By the late 90s, though, Montgomery was out at Harvey Entertainment and the rights of various characters sold to Classic Media (later known as Sunland Entertainment and eventually absorbed into the Dreamworks/SKG empire. The classic characters are currently in limbo although a newly designed Richie Rich debuted in a short-lived series in the early part of this decade published by APE Entertainment. APE also re-activated the old Harvey title Richie Rich Gems with resumed issue numbering featuring some new material done in the old Harvey style as well as some re-colored reprints. So is the Harvey legacy done for good? Who knows.
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Harvey Comics' troubles came to light in the early 80s. By this time, the company's output consisted mostly of Richie Rich titles. I believe Casper and Hot Stuff kept chugging along with their own flagship titles alongside Richie Rich Inc, but most of the Harvey stable of characters had largely been forgotten or relegated to reprinted backup stories in various Richie Rich titles (i. e. - Little Dot and Little Lotta. Marvel was interested in purchasing the rights to some of the Harvey characters but a disagreement between Harvey brothers Alfred and Leon killed the deal. After a 3 year hiatus, Harvey resumed publication in '86 under the guidance of Alfred's son Alan. A few years later, the company was sold to Jeffrey Montgomery and operations moved from New York to California. Under this new direction, success came in the form of box office receipts when Casper and (to a lesser extent) Richie Rich appeared in live action films in the mid-90s. But comic book production consisted mostly of reprints from years past and: :shudder: : the Richie Rich and the New Kids on the Block mini-series (yes, this really happened. By the late 90s, though, Montgomery was out at Harvey Entertainment and the rights of various characters sold to Classic Media (later known as Sunland Entertainment and eventually absorbed into the Dreamworks/SKG empire. The classic characters are currently in limbo although a newly designed Richie Rich debuted in a short-lived series in the early part of this decade published by APE Entertainment. APE also re-activated the old Harvey title Richie Rich Gems with resumed issue numbering featuring some new material done in the old Harvey style as well as some re-colored reprints. So is the Harvey legacy done for good? Who knows.
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-DoubleATam
There's a podcast I follow (History Honeys, -HistoryHoneys on twitter, I suggest also looking up their episode on the Comics Code Authority for more info. For example, the guy who wrote Seduction of the Innocent? Wasn't even happy with the CCA, because it made comics show violence without its consequences (blood, gore, even smoke coming from guns, etc. He wanted a ratings system.
And plot twist, by the end of the CCA (in 2011, -the CMAA was no longer even operating-! For the last couple years, Archie comics had assumed they could just put the CCA seal on their comics as long as they paid their fees, while DC didn't reveal who they supposedly submitted comics to. Even more impressive, the contract with the company running it ended in 2009, and all that was left was a single woman who would simply use the checks to pay off the CMAA's debt, didn't take any money for herself, and even tried to call up major publishers proposing doing -something- with the company (like a charity event, getting comics in libraries, a healthcare fund, purely out of love for the medium.
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There's a podcast I follow (History Honeys, -HistoryHoneys on twitter, I suggest also looking up their episode on the Comics Code Authority for more info. For example, the guy who wrote Seduction of the Innocent? Wasn't even happy with the CCA, because it made comics show violence without its consequences (blood, gore, even smoke coming from guns, etc. He wanted a ratings system.
And plot twist, by the end of the CCA (in 2011, -the CMAA was no longer even operating-! For the last couple years, Archie comics had assumed they could just put the CCA seal on their comics as long as they paid their fees, while DC didn't reveal who they supposedly submitted comics to. Even more impressive, the contract with the company running it ended in 2009, and all that was left was a single woman who would simply use the checks to pay off the CMAA's debt, didn't take any money for herself, and even tried to call up major publishers proposing doing -something- with the company (like a charity event, getting comics in libraries, a healthcare fund, purely out of love for the medium.
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-paulocosta4744
I appreciate you mentioning EC Comics, because that's usually ignored when people talk about the CCA, but will you please stop giving -Seduction of the Innocent- the credit for creating the conditions for it? Wertham was completely against it. It was created specifically to push EC and Lev Gleason off the market, not to appease the public, especially because Dell outsold all other publishers and didn't have the Comics Code seal. Redarding comics relevancy and the 1971 update to the CCA code, it wasn't achieved by the big companies, by Zap Comix, Rip Off Press and similiar indy efforts.
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I appreciate you mentioning EC Comics, because that's usually ignored when people talk about the CCA, but will you please stop giving -Seduction of the Innocent- the credit for creating the conditions for it? Wertham was completely against it. It was created specifically to push EC and Lev Gleason off the market, not to appease the public, especially because Dell outsold all other publishers and didn't have the Comics Code seal. Redarding comics relevancy and the 1971 update to the CCA code, it wasn't achieved by the big companies, by Zap Comix, Rip Off Press and similiar indy efforts.
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-FirstLast-vu1wg
I remember reading why DC comics in particular were so weird is the current editor or president) at the time would come up with bizarre ideas for covers the writers would have to create a story around. such as Superman making Jimmy Olsen dig his own grave, or burn Batman as a witch, or Superman/Batman/Flash/Wonder Woman as fat/old/babies/weaklings/traitors
I thought I read it on Superdickery one of MovieBob's -Comics are Weird- videos but I can't find it. Does this sound familiar to anyone else? I swear I'm not crazy!
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I remember reading why DC comics in particular were so weird is the current editor or president) at the time would come up with bizarre ideas for covers the writers would have to create a story around. such as Superman making Jimmy Olsen dig his own grave, or burn Batman as a witch, or Superman/Batman/Flash/Wonder Woman as fat/old/babies/weaklings/traitors
I thought I read it on Superdickery one of MovieBob's -Comics are Weird- videos but I can't find it. Does this sound familiar to anyone else? I swear I'm not crazy!
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-jonathanathor117
SO why they didn't just do what Japan did by have different publishing houses for different age groups/ categories? For example if you want to write and illustrate a comic for a younger audience, then you can write it in a publishing house that caters for it, or if you want to write a more mature comic, then you can write it in a publishing house that caters for mature comics. It's not that hard to do. Japan does it with shonen jump, young animal etc.
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SO why they didn't just do what Japan did by have different publishing houses for different age groups/ categories? For example if you want to write and illustrate a comic for a younger audience, then you can write it in a publishing house that caters for it, or if you want to write a more mature comic, then you can write it in a publishing house that caters for mature comics. It's not that hard to do. Japan does it with shonen jump, young animal etc.
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polygon
Great clip! Remember, even the Dark Knight, with all the whacks and punches, even Batman busting a one-way police mirror with Joker's head, NEVER drew a drop of blood!
I always looked at the Michael Keaton Batman as the original and the Christian Bale Batman as the graphic novel version. Even so, perhaps 'no blood' kept it open to a wider, younger, 'PG' audience, and I still watched both dozens of times(didn't you)
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Great clip! Remember, even the Dark Knight, with all the whacks and punches, even Batman busting a one-way police mirror with Joker's head, NEVER drew a drop of blood!
I always looked at the Michael Keaton Batman as the original and the Christian Bale Batman as the graphic novel version. Even so, perhaps 'no blood' kept it open to a wider, younger, 'PG' audience, and I still watched both dozens of times(didn't you)
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-ikaemos
Oh, this seems nice. Weird that it got to Episode 5 before I noticed it.
It's impressive what conservative moral guardians can convince themselves of. Wholesome comics didn't seem to stop the street crime spike the 80s. Meanwhile, the European comic scene had everything from Dylan Dog to Tintin and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.
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Oh, this seems nice. Weird that it got to Episode 5 before I noticed it.
It's impressive what conservative moral guardians can convince themselves of. Wholesome comics didn't seem to stop the street crime spike the 80s. Meanwhile, the European comic scene had everything from Dylan Dog to Tintin and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.
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-phildicks4721
Which is why I preferred the Warren B&W books like Vampirella, Eerie, Creepy, and the Rook, and Savage Sword of Conan in the 70's and 80's. Because they were considered magazines they didn't have to follow the code. Even the Savage Sword of Conan was better than the Conan and Red Sonja color comics from Marvel.
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Which is why I preferred the Warren B&W books like Vampirella, Eerie, Creepy, and the Rook, and Savage Sword of Conan in the 70's and 80's. Because they were considered magazines they didn't have to follow the code. Even the Savage Sword of Conan was better than the Conan and Red Sonja color comics from Marvel.
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-utuber554
The CCA is really fascinating to me-- it's basically the Hayes code but retooled for comics. It's fascinating how they both fell because of people pushing the envelope no matter what (Some Like It Hot) and how they both stifled the media & have effects that linger to this day.
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The CCA is really fascinating to me-- it's basically the Hayes code but retooled for comics. It's fascinating how they both fell because of people pushing the envelope no matter what (Some Like It Hot) and how they both stifled the media & have effects that linger to this day.
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polygon
I was just explaining to a friend the other day about why superhero movies have gone so damn grimdark, to overcompensate for the campy stuff of the past, and this filled in a whole bunch of missing pieces I didn't know about. Really interesting and informative vid!
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I was just explaining to a friend the other day about why superhero movies have gone so damn grimdark, to overcompensate for the campy stuff of the past, and this filled in a whole bunch of missing pieces I didn't know about. Really interesting and informative vid!
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-sharkofjoy
I love this series! The episodes appear wildly out of order for me in the playlist, though, and after every episode I have to go search for the one that's consecutively numbered after this one. I think the playlist might not be set up right?
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I love this series! The episodes appear wildly out of order for me in the playlist, though, and after every episode I have to go search for the one that's consecutively numbered after this one. I think the playlist might not be set up right?
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-PoppRocks
If your'e going to wear a t-shirt with words on it, please show off the full text at least once in the video. It's distracting to be trying to see the shirt throughout the whole video. What's the shirt say?
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If your'e going to wear a t-shirt with words on it, please show off the full text at least once in the video. It's distracting to be trying to see the shirt throughout the whole video. What's the shirt say?
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-LostJomper
could you make an issue about graphic novels? because all your episode focused so much on the western style of comics, and i think there is so much more beauty and variety in the rest of the comic world
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could you make an issue about graphic novels? because all your episode focused so much on the western style of comics, and i think there is so much more beauty and variety in the rest of the comic world
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-snarkus63
It may have been a repressive time, but sometimes restrictions can force people to get creative in some truly unique ways, just as having too much freedom can result in something undesirable.
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It may have been a repressive time, but sometimes restrictions can force people to get creative in some truly unique ways, just as having too much freedom can result in something undesirable.
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-Lerkero
I always assumed that the comics code was about public morality in the early 20th century. I should have known that it was connected to corrupt capitalism. Very informative. Thank you.
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I always assumed that the comics code was about public morality in the early 20th century. I should have known that it was connected to corrupt capitalism. Very informative. Thank you.
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-kchishol1970
Mad Magazine became a magazine to keep its creator, Harvey Kurtzman, happy. The fact that the new format allowed Mad to be free of the Comics Code was simply a welcome byproduct.
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Mad Magazine became a magazine to keep its creator, Harvey Kurtzman, happy. The fact that the new format allowed Mad to be free of the Comics Code was simply a welcome byproduct.
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-CinematicComics
the comics code needs to come back as comics today are stale, unimaginative, demonic, violent way overpriced trash that lack any originality.
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the comics code needs to come back as comics today are stale, unimaginative, demonic, violent way overpriced trash that lack any originality.
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-legotrillermoth
I'm glad regulations on comics aren't so strict now. Some of the best comics ever could never have been made under those rules.
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I'm glad regulations on comics aren't so strict now. Some of the best comics ever could never have been made under those rules.
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-commodorelm2089
In my opinion, the comics were much better then, and the ones now are just repetitive, uncreative and unnecessarily violent.
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In my opinion, the comics were much better then, and the ones now are just repetitive, uncreative and unnecessarily violent.
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-colbykennedy9550
I'd like to express my appreciation for the correct usage of apostrophes in the title. Also, the video is great overall.
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I'd like to express my appreciation for the correct usage of apostrophes in the title. Also, the video is great overall.
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-jfranklins
Wish we still had the comic code. Comics of the 50s, 60s, 70s were so much better than the comics of today.
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Wish we still had the comic code. Comics of the 50s, 60s, 70s were so much better than the comics of today.
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