[The author is strongest when he deals with the government’s
direct attempts to influence public opinion through comics either
through the Writers’ War Board (WWB) of World War II or the creation
of propaganda comics during the early Cold War.]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

COMIC BOOKS AS PROPAGANDA  
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Hank Kennedy
September 26, 2022
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_ The author is strongest when he deals with the government’s
direct attempts to influence public opinion through comics either
through the Writers’ War Board (WWB) of World War II or the creation
of propaganda comics during the early Cold War. _

The Secret History of Comic Book Imperialism, by Paul S. Hirsch, The
University of Chicago Press

 

_P__ulp Empire: A Secret History of Comic Book Imperialism_ by Paul
S. Hirsch is a unique contribution to the sadly underappreciated field
of comics studies. Comics are a singular art form in themselves and
have had a profound cultural impact as well as providing the basis for
countless successful television and film adaptations. Hirsch’s
analysis is a welcome one, although the book can be divided into two
distinct contributions. The author is strongest when he deals with the
government’s direct attempts to influence public opinion through
comics either through the Writers’ War Board (WWB) of World War II
or the creation of propaganda comics during the early Cold War.
However, the book finds itself on shakier ground when it comes to more
well-known aspects of comic history.

 

The Secret History of Comic Book Imperialism
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By Paul S. Hirsch
The University of Chicago Press; 344 pages
July 12, 2021
Hardcover: $30.00
ISBN: 9780226350554

 

The University of Chicago Press
 

First, the story of the Writers’ War Board and its attempts to use
comics to foster support for World War II is a corrective to the idea
that all anti-fascist comic stories sprung from truly felt patriotic
expression on the part of the comics’ creators. While characters
like Captain America certainly did spring from the deep feelings of
their creators, the government also had a hand in shaping later
stories and narratives. Ominously, to fight fascism the Board promoted
racial and ethnic hatred of both the Japanese and Germans. Writers
were specifically told not to include “good” Germans or Japanese.
Instead, all were depicted as supporters of fascism. Hirsch depicts an
interesting dichotomy in that the WWB also wanted racially tolerant
depictions of Black Americans, which led to unprecedented heroic
appearances of Black soldiers and aviators, even if they played a
secondary role to white characters. 

There is an irony when the propaganda comics of the early Cold War are
discussed. The CIA circulated a comic in Guatemala giving instructions
on how to assassinate politicians—it is a comic book that is an
instruction manual for how to commit a crime. This comic book
enterprise was a method of destabilizing the country in advance of CIA
Operation PBSUCCESS, which brought down the left-leaning Arbenz
government and replaced him with a ruler more amicable to American
business interests. At this same point in history, police unions,
churches, and politicians in the United States were pointing to
American crime titles like _Crime Does Not Pay _as guiding readers
to become criminals. These groups should have blamed Langley rather
than comic-book publisher Lev Gleason. 

There is another historical irony in the government’s use of
Commercial Press for Cold War propaganda. Commercial first achieved
fame for a comic issued to boost Harry Truman’s 1948 re-election
campaign. Later the company was engaged to help several segregationist
Dixiecrats. At the same time that Commercial was helping defend racial
segregation at home, the State Department engaged the company to win
anti-Communist support in nonwhite countries like Korea and Vietnam
with its title _The Free World Speaks._

The most serious of Hirch’s missteps when it comes to the history of
comics occurs with the treatment of psychiatrist Dr. Frederic Wertham.
Wertham is a well-known pop cultural boogeyman for his anti-comics
advocacy in the fifties, both in his book _Seduction of the
Innocent _and in Senate testimony. I have entered comic book stores
that have large posters dedicated to Wertham and the damage he did to
the industry. Hirsch recasts Wertham as a more noble character,
stressing his dedication to progressive causes like integration as
well as his opposition to the racist caricatures of Black people and
other nonwhite racial groups that often appeared in comics. But while
Wertham was against racial prejudice he had no problem in engaging in
homophobic prejudice to smear the comics. He infamously cited Batman
and Robin as “a wish dream of two homosexuals living together.”
Second, when Wertham testified before the Senate he cited the EC
Comics story “The Whipping” as an example of racism in comics. In
actuality, “The Whipping” carried an anti-racist message which
Wertham either misread or ignored to make his point that all comics
were harmful. In fact, many EC stories carried progressive messages
and the company even got a recommendation from the Black
newspaper _The Chicago Defender_ for “Judgment Day,” a
science-fiction allegory decrying segregation. 

The treatment of Marvel Comics near the end of the book paints the
company’s stories with too broad a brush as supporting the
establishment. While it is true that Iron Man was born out of the war
against Communism in Vietnam and several Marvel characters fought
Communist opponents throughout the sixties, two of the company’s
most popular characters stood well outside the establishment.
Spider-Man faced opposition from both the press, who considered him a
super-powered menace, and the police, who regularly accused him of the
crimes he attempted to prevent. Likewise, the Hulk regularly clashed
with the army both as the Hulk and in his civilian identity, Bruce
Banner, who the hawkish soldiers consider to be a milquetoast egghead.
It is no coincidence that these two characters were cited as favorites
by student radicals in a 1965 Esquire poll that ranked Spider-Man and
the Hulk alongside Bob Dylan and Che Guevara. 

Hirsch deserves praise for this exploration of comics history and
cultural studies. All comic book fans and anyone interested in Cold
War history should read this book. But keep in mind that the author
sometimes uses a sledgehammer when a scalpel would have served him
better.

_[HANK KENNEDY is a Detroit area educator and socialist who writes
regularly on the connection between comics and politics.]_

* comics
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* Comic Books
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* World War II comics
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* imperialism
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* World War II
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* World War Two
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* Cold War
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* public opinion
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* Propaganda
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