EC Comics (or Entertaining Comics), published a series of horror, crime, satire, science fiction and military comics in the 1940s and 1950s. These comics had a strong undercurrent of naturalism, echoing the novels of Emile Zola, albeit in fantastic circumstances (such as the Tales from the Crypt series). During a time of increasing political and cultural conformity EC Comics often struck a defiant tone, especially under the leadership of Al Feldstein, that echoed the Pop Front culture of the then recent past. That defiant tone frequently got the writers, editors and artists of EC Comics in trouble with the censors at the Comics Code Authority (CCA). In stories like "Judgment Day" and "An Eye For an Eye," the CCA objected to because "central characters" were Black. In "Judgment Day" a human astronaut is visiting an alien planet. The population is divided between a ruling orange and subjegated blue race of otherwise identical robots. Their bigotry leads the astronaut to deny the robots admittance into the "Galactic Republic." Comic historian Digby Diehl writes:
This really made 'em go bananas in the Code czar's office. "Judge Murphy was off his nut. He was really out to get us", recalls [EC editor] Feldstein. "I went in there with this story and Murphy says, 'It can't be a Black man'. But ... but that's the whole point of the story!" Feldstein sputtered. When Murphy continued to insist that the Black man had to go, Feldstein put it on the line. "Listen", he told Murphy, "you've been riding us and making it impossible to put out anything at all because you guys just want us out of business". [Feldstein] reported the results of his audience with the czar to Gaines, who was furious [and] immediately picked up the phone and called Murphy. "This is ridiculous!" he bellowed. "I'm going to call a press conference on this. You have no grounds, no basis, to do this. I'll sue you". Murphy made what he surely thought was a gracious concession. "All right. Just take off the beads of sweat". At that, Gaines and Feldstein both went ballistic. "Fuck you!" they shouted into the telephone in unison. Murphy hung up on them, but the story ran in its original form.
This is not to say that EC Comics were in any way consistently anti-racist, anti-war or anti-capitalist. They weren't. But in EC Comics, the rich, powerful and selfish might be punished. The heroes might be Black. War might be a barbaric tragedy. Most of all the wronged might take revenge on their "betters." This aspect of EC Comics that had a profound influence on writers like Stephen King and more radical filmmakers like George Romero and Larry Cohen.
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from "Taint the Meat 'tis The Humanity"
from "Taint the Meat 'tis The Humanity"
from "Seance"
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from “Gettysburg!”
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from "Marines, Retreat!"
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from "Judgment Day"
from "Judgment Day"
Calvin Williams is a deceased weird poet and artist from Grand Tower, Illinois.