592 – Comics Code Authority Arrives

In 1955, all DC and Marvel comics began having the “Approved by the Comics Code Authority” seal displayed prominently on the cover. The CCA was voluntarily put into effect by many players in the comics industry in response to Senate hearings around juvenile delinquency, championed by Dr. Wertham. This spells the end to EC comics, […]

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410 – Secret Caveman Fantasy?

In Action Comics #129 (December 1948), we get an odd story about Superman thawing out a caveman, and that caveman becoming sort of a celebrity. What’s odd is that the women in the comic seem to all be harboring secret fantasies of being treated poorly by their men, like being dragged about by their hair. […]

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405 – Bye-bye Star-Spangled Kid

In October 1948, Star-Spangled Comics #87 has Merry the Gimmick Girl taking over for poor ol’ Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy. The story features Merry and Mr. Pemberton, her foster father – but Sylvester and Pat are nowhere to be seen. The comic industry really seems to have declared itself done with boy sidekicks, with basically […]

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363 – Official True Delinquency

Once again, a Timely (Marvel) superhero comics is completely renamed and has its genre changed: “Sub-Mariner Comics” becomes “Official True Crime Cases” with issue #24 (June 1947). Crime stories, like “teen humor” and “funny animal” comics were increasingly popular in the 1940s. The crime comics genre was started with Lev Gleason’s “Crime Does Not Pay” […]

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