Multiversity’s history column returns to celebrate milestones from the month of November. First up is a 1950 apology from the Dean of Harvard for a comic that was distributed to students. Then we jump forward to 1992 when Rob Liefeld redefined the term “ashcan” and opened the door to decades of promotional comics. We conclude just a few years later when Marvel Knights revitalized a whole company, starting with the release of “Daredevil” v2 #1.
The US Government had begun using comic books to spread information to the population years earlier (such as the 1948 biography of Harry Truman), but it always seemed to generate controversy, and 1950 was no different.
At the start of the fall semester, the government sent copies of “Time of Decision” to college campuses for dissemination. The ten page comic, which promoted the ROTC, was dutifully given to students at most locations, probably ignored by the majority of them. I’d be shocked if it made much of an impact on recruitment, but who knows?
Not all students were pleased to get the pamphlet, though. Some Harvard kids, who I imagine were snooty sticks in the mud about most things, actually complained about “Time of Decision”. They were not upset about the ROTC recruitment effort, nor were they criticizing it as propaganda like the Truman comic. No, these educated college freshmen were personally insulted by the comic format of the work. Comics were beneath them.
Then, as now, the school faculty conceded the point to their students. In the November 9, 1950 edition of the ”Harvard Crimson” newspaper, a Dean was quoted saying the pamphlet had honorable intentions, but the comic format was an “unforgivable” insult to college freshmen. He essentially apologized that the students were exposed to something they didn’t like.
Keep this in mind the next time you hear someone complain about the “current” state of education in America, or that someone blames the 1954 CCA for reducing comics to kiddie fare.
Way back in the 1930s and 40s, some publishers produced small print runs (five or less) of low-quality comic books for the sole purpose of trademarking a title. They were known as “ashcans” because their contents were often pulled from the trash – the only thing important about them was the title, and the interiors were almost always reused artwork. Their existence wasn’t publicized, and for a long time the books were relegated to trivial oddities, something only a few people knew about. As the collector fanbase grew in in the 1980s, knowledge of the ashcans spread and they took on something of a mythical status – seeing one in person was really special, and owning one was an impossible dream.
Enter Rob Liefeld.
In late 1991, Liefeld wanted something special to raise awareness of his upcoming “Youngblood”. He produced a promotional prototype pamphlet in digest size and called it an “ashcan” because he wanted fans to see it as a limited quantity item that was highly collectable. With a print run in the thousands, the “Youngblood” comic permanently redefined the term ashcan. Other Image creators ran with the idea, which was soon copied by other publishers who were promising speculators that their new character would be the next Superman. Today, top tier publishers like Dark Horse and IDW continue to send retailers smaller sized preview copies of upcoming projects to be given away for free, although some of the more anticipated ones sell for a premium. (I had to fork over $10 for the “Archie vs Predator” ashcan.)
November 1998
The latter half of the 1990s was a rough time for Marvel. There was a market downturn, multiple rounds of layoffs, and a bankruptcy. The stories suffered from overexposed characters, diluted franchises, and weak plots. In 1996, EIC Bob Harras tried to re-energize the core titles with Heroes Reborn. The plan gave two Image founders, Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, full control over the Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four. The reboots received a mixed response from readers and ultimately amounted to very little. Heroes Reborn was ended after its twelve month trial run, the characters were returned to the regular Marvel stables, and most readers promptly forgot about it.
Undaunted, Marvel tried again.
In 1998, Marvel President Joe Calamari asked “Wizard” EIC Gareb Shamus who had the chops to fix Marvel, and Shamus pointed him to Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti of Event Comics. The two were offered free rein with under-performing characters like Daredevil and the Punisher and given some nicer offices and higher budgets than other Marvel staffers on a separate floor, which generated a little resentment. They named their project “Marvel Knights”. Neither Quesada nor Palmiotti were Marvel employees for this deal – rather, Event Comics was contracted to produce the comics.
Their first release was “Daredevil” #1, cover dated November 1998. Written by Hollywood star Kevin Smith, the comic succeeded in bringing new readers into comic shops and sold out despite overshipping an extra 10,000 copies. Their second release, also cover dated November 1998, was “Inhumans” by Jae Lee and Paul Jenkins, won the “Best New Story” Eisner in 1999. They weren’t perfect – their first attempt at the Punisher was an abject failure – but they developed a reputation for success.
When the first twelve month agreement lapsed, Marvel Knights was renewed and expanded. They took another stab at the Punisher with Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, this time striking gold. As the rest of the Marvel line began to resemble the Knights, Palmiotti was forced to take a step back to care for his mother, who had fallen sick. Quesada continued on alone, continuing to demonstrate his dedication to drawing in talent, even making amends with creators previously burned by Marvel.
As the second year of Marvel Knights came to a close, Quesada found himself well rewarded for his success. New president Bill Jemas promoted Quesada to the Editor in Chief position on August 30, 2000, pushing out Bob Harras. Quesada proceeded to direct Marvel through a new renaissance with the Ultimate line, JMS on Spider-Man, “Civil War”, and the revitalized Avengers franchise.
