Comic Utopia

 A proposal for an exhibition of narrative  artists in the

National Art Library at the V&A

INTRODUCTION

The exhibition ranges from the twenties to the fifties representing what impacted strongly on the American psyche; mass appeal stories in words and pictures from the culture maturing in tandem with Hollywood.

Until television entered the screen comics ‘nestled’ in almost every household. Beginning at the end of the 19^th century, the early immigrants came ashore and learnt English from the newspaper comic-strips. Subsequently, when GI Joe went to war, there was a comic book in his pocket.

Visual depiction falls into two categories within the frame: The moving frame adheres more to cinema whereas the static frame bears the influence of unmoving sculpture and portraiture. Sometimes the art was burdened by excess words crushing the image. Other times the frame was ill served by inadequate text. In the land of perfection the word is equally in balance with the image.

The displayed 20^th century classics reflect contemporary mores. The source material the comics’ collections, are lodged in the home for scholars; the NAL – available for research in surroundings appropriate for study.

Hollywood movies continue to be driven by frames; with comics it’s the same.

Both have the proscenium arch implanted in the mind.

Roy Crane; c.1924 Wash Tubbs and c.1933 Captain Easy.

Cartoon wit and romantic splendour wrapped in the Rubenesque embraces of high adventure. This is the moving frame at high speed.

BLAME IT ON ROMANCE: WHAT FRIGHTENED SENATOR McCARTHY

INTRODUCTION
The liberation of women in the Second World War ended when the soldiers came home.

  In 1949 stories from the women’s point of view dominated the comic book industry and proved a threat too far. This was the feminism inherent within the Romance comics.

  This extraordinary success story drew the attention of the virulent anticommunism of Senator Joseph McCarthy.





CONCLUSION
Finally, the Golden Age of Romance stands alone in the comics’ culture and also in the canon of 20th Century popular literature. The extraordinary success, through 1949 to 1954, is a phenomenon yet to be explained.

     However, a few truths are irrefutable. In the main it was the simplicity of the feminine dilemmas and the easy identification with the everyday which made these stories so accessible. There was nothing fanciful or beyond belief. No one punched through concrete or leapt over skyscrapers. They were about predicaments which could happen to any woman at any time. Those stories evincing excess testosterone, though often well crafted, were secondary to the heart of the matter.

    The ethos of Romance comics stemmed from the female point of view; tales to inform and comfort women and make men pause to reflect on gender persecution.

   During the terrifying hate filled McCarthy years, Romance, like the emergence of the internet, was thought to be a threat, in this case a threat to white, male domination. An instinctive fear of the feminine lay at the heart of the matter and as a result the entire industry was brought to its knees by McCarthy inspired paranoia.

A Social History of Comics

A 1959 Pogo Possum page provided a pithy definition which became justifiably famous. ‘A comic strip is like a dream...a tissue of paper reveries...it gloms an’ glimmers its way through unreality, fancy an’ fantasy.’

PREVIOUS TALK: Jan 2011: 3rd Talk at the V&A: The Western in Comics, Ethnicity and Gender

Pat McGoohan, The Prisoner, 1968
Episode: "Living in Harmony"

© Dell Four Color, No.290 The Chief #1, 1950

Introduction
What Hitler began and apartheid continued, was achieved in the mythology of ‘whites only' westerns. However, black soldiers from the American Civil War peopled the West in their thousands. They made a substantial impact on frontier society but on screen and in comics they didn’t exist; or were barely present as Aryan homogeneity prevailed.

This manifestation of ethnic superiority is what this 3rd Talk covers.
 

Rio Rides Again © 1990 Strip Art Features

4th Talk: 30 November 2011: Blame It On Romance

A Series on the social history of comics

Wednesday 30^th November at
1.00-1.45pm in the Hochhauser Auditorium, Sackler Centre, V&A museum 

Blame it on Romance: What frightened Senator Joe McCarthy?

INTRODUCTION

Romance comic books, with over 30 million sold monthly, dominated the American market from 1949 to 1954. The brevity of Romance might be related to the 50s anti-communist McCarthy witch-hunts.

BACKGROUND

In the late 40s one man assumed unheard of power. Senator Joe McCarthy transformed uncertain patriotism into an almost tangible fear. He cultivated a power base for himself out of proportion to what he was, or what his abilities were.

      The impact of Romance was vast and uncontrollable. Words like tsunami and unstoppable proletarian spring to mind. In most cases there were no credits, It was as if it was a form of literature where it didn't matter who wrote or who drew what. It was an uprising and a rebellion and this is almost unique in the history of publishing.

©1943, Tarpe Mills, Miss Fury

©1942, Tarpe Mills, Miss Fury

© Ian Rakoff