Judgment Day! EC Comics Against Comic Code Racism
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Entertaining Comics known as EC Comics, was an comic book publisher most well known for its Tales From The Crypt series, as well as other horror, sc-fi and fantasy comics mostly during the 1940s and 1950s. Originally owned by Max Gaines, it was taken over by his son Bill after Max died in a boating accident in 1947.
EC comics was unlike any other comic book publisher of the time, not just for it's off-beat and boundary pushing stories, but for how it treated and acknowledged the work of its writers and artists. Illustrators were able to sign their work, unheard of at the time, even for some of the most famous illustrators working for publishers like DC Comics. It even went as far as creating one-page comic profiles of its artists, and encouraged readers to write-in to the comics. Thus developing a loyal fan base, who had a relationship of sorts with the people behind the EC Comics they loved so much. Even after it stopped publishing all comics except for Mad in 1956, EC Comics has retained die-hard a cult following. |
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In 1954 the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) was formed, after years of public concern about the dangers of some of the themes addressed in comic books. Also that year the infamous Seduction of the Innocent by American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham was published, a detailed warning of the links between comic books and juvenile delinquency. The CMAA appointed New York Magistrate Charles F. Murphy, an expert on juvenile delinquency, as its head. With Murphy at the helm the CMAA developed a "code of ethics and standards." The Code also contained statement that the "ridicule or attack on any religious or racial group is never permissible." A positive move, considering the pre-Code way in which many ethnic minorities were demonised and drawn in outrageously racist and stereotyped styles. However, Murphy who was known to be a deeply bigoted racist made it very clear that what the statement actually meant was that African-Americans should not be represented in comic books in any form.
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In EC Comics pre-Code March-April 1953 issue of Weird Fantasy #18, it included a 7-page story entitled Judgment Day. The story was written by Al Feldstein, drawn and inked by Joe Orlando. As with many EC Comics the story was a thinly veiled social commentary. Feldstein was the sci-fi story of an astronaut landing on a planet inhabited by blue and orange robots, where the blue robots live a segregated and poorer existence than the orange robots, in a place called Blue Town. The story was reprinted in a post-Code 1956, in the January-February edition of Incredible Science Fiction #33. EC Comics chose to include the story after another story had been rejected under the new rules of the Code. The astronaut called Tarlon in the story has been sent to the robot planet to see whether they are worthy of inclusion in the Galactic Republic. After seeing the segregation and mistreatment of the blue robots he decided that they are not ready to join the Great Galactic Republic until they learn to live together. In the final panel Tarlon removes his helmet to reveal that is black.
Murphy went nuts, and demanded that the black astronaut had to be removed from the story. EC Comics went to war with Murphy, and refused point-blank to remove the black astronaut from the story, stating that it was the whole point of the story, the reveal that he was black. Murphy, had been gunning for EC Comics all along as one of the worst offenders against the Code. Incredible Science Fiction #33 would be the last comic that EC Comics published. With a combination of a failed line in illustrated light novels and the bankruptcy of EC distributor, Bill Gaines turned all his publishing attention on the successful humour magazine Mad. However it all ended, Judgment Day now stands as a seminal comic book story of the period, and a great testament to the great work of EC Comics.
Murphy went nuts, and demanded that the black astronaut had to be removed from the story. EC Comics went to war with Murphy, and refused point-blank to remove the black astronaut from the story, stating that it was the whole point of the story, the reveal that he was black. Murphy, had been gunning for EC Comics all along as one of the worst offenders against the Code. Incredible Science Fiction #33 would be the last comic that EC Comics published. With a combination of a failed line in illustrated light novels and the bankruptcy of EC distributor, Bill Gaines turned all his publishing attention on the successful humour magazine Mad. However it all ended, Judgment Day now stands as a seminal comic book story of the period, and a great testament to the great work of EC Comics.
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