Multiversity’s history column returns with another installment of our year-by-year recap of the comic industry. Today’s column follows our coverage of 1950, 1951, and 1952.
Comics books were still a booming business in 1953. In the first three months of the year, Dell printed 250 million copies, a publishing record that still stands today. After that peak, the cumulative circulation for all publishers averaged around 70 million per month for the rest of the year, an increase of 300% over numbers from a decade earlier. The industry was on track to rake in $32 million a year (~$363M in 2023 dollars), and everyone wanted a piece of the pie. In September, there were 500 unique issues published.
It quickly became clear, however, that very few of the kids who bought “Mickey Mouse 3D” enjoyed it. The poor color separation on the newsprint prevented the 3D effect from working correctly, and sell through on St John’s second wave of 3D comics was only 35%. (As a general baseline, at least 50% was the minimum needed for a publisher to turn a profit.) The numbers kept falling and were near 10% when the gimmick disappeared in February 1954.
The reaction to EC’s “Mad” was almost a mirror image of 3D comics. When Harvey Kurtzman put out the first issue during the summer, the reader response was almost nonexistent. Publisher Bill Gaines encouraged Kurtzman to continue and broaden the aim of his satire. The audience built, and the fifth issue sold enough copies to earn a small profit. From there, “Mad” took off like a rocket and was selling close to a million copies per issue. Around 30-40 imitators appeared from publishers seeking a quick buck, including EC. Their December issue of “Panic” #1 (cover dated March 1954) featured a parody of “Night Before Christmas” that was deemed so offensive that it became the most banned single issue of the decade. The outcry against it was so strong that when Massachusetts Attorney General George Fingold wanted to ban it but couldn’t because he lacked the authority, many retailers refused to sell it anyway. Some well-intentioned New York policemen tried to be proactive about it and arrested EC’s receptionist Shirley Norris and business manager Lyle Stuart for selling it. The judge who heard the arguments was not impressed.
There were a few other important milestones for comics in 1953. Dell reintroduced comic adaptations of popular films in their long-running anthology “Four Color.” The concept had been tried a few times since April1939, but Dell was the first to do it successfully. A young Bhob Stewart created “The EC Fan Bulletin,” the first regularly-released fanzine for comics. Bhob included Bill Gaines on his mailing list, and Gaines was so impressed by the idea that he made his official fan club newsletter under the name “The EC Fan-Addicts Bulletin.” The protracted legal battle between DC and Fawcett over Captain Marvel` finally came to an end as the court issued an injunction to stop Fawcett from publishing any new comics with the character. Fawcett sold its remaining comic book IP to Charlton and focused on other publishing endeavors, leaving DC as the only source for superhero comic books. Meanwhile, George Reeves starred in the film Superman and the Mole Men.
Continued belowSome educators had noticed how popular comics were with their students and tried to harness them for good. Gertrude H Overton wrote an article for “English Journal” detailing a project she gave her seniors to convert the epic poem “Beowulf” into a 16-page comic. A Chicago principal read a glowing review of the anti-racism story ‘Judgment Day’ in EC’s “Weird Fantasy” #18 and contacted the publisher to get enough copies to give one to every student at his school. The attitude wasn’t universal, however – a new journal created in 1953 to help librarians select new books for purchase, “New Serial Titles,” had a written policy to omit comic books from its listings.
Politically, a storm was brewing for the comic industry. Democrat Estes Kefauver had run in the primary for the 1952 presidential race but failed to secure the nomination. The eventual nominee, Adali Stevenson, lost the general election to Eisenhower. Wanting to keep his profile up for the 1956 campaign, Kefauver continued pressing the hot buttons that had originally elevated him – violence in the media, juvenile delinquency, and crime. Thus, despite a report issued in the spring showing juvenile delinquency decreased in 1952, a new senate committee was formed on June 1 to investigate the connections between comics and juvenile delinquency. A committee member claimed to have received over 7,500 letters on the topic by November with 90% blaming public entertainment for their kid’s bad behavior. In that month’s issue of “Ladies’ Home Journal,” Fredric Wertham claimed juvenile delinquency was up 20% since 1947, which was true but dishonest since 1947 was the bottom of a decade-long decline.
Most members of the comic industry took the coming inquiry lightly, expecting it to be as uneventful as the previous crusades. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby responded to the announcement with good humor, drawing their staff into a police lineup on the cover of “Guilty” #56. Their tune would change a few months later, but that’s a story for next year.
