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Timeline of Comic Book Censorship:
A Connecticut Perspective
1873
Comstock Act targets dime novels and pen-and-ink “dirty pictures.”
1897
Advances in printing popularize political cartoons, leading to the first propositions to regulate cartoon art. Between 1897 and 1913, New York, Pennsylvania, California, and Indiana all pass anti-cartoon legislation.
1920s
Newspaper comic strips are frequently denounced by librarians and educators, often with the allegation that the strips contribute to illiteracy.
Mid-1930s
Comic books, re-invented in 1933, begin to achieve national popularity. As comic books turn from humorous content towards adventure strips, criticism begins to develop around the new medium, initially from librarians and educators. These concerns are contemporary with criticism of the newspaper strips upon which many comic books of the time are based.
1940 - May 8
Chicago, IL. Writer Sterling North becomes the first critic to gain national attention against the comic book industry when the Chicago Daily News runs his editorial titled “A National Disgrace.” North’s article, which characterizes comic books as “badly drawn, badly written and badly printed,” sets a precedent for later criticism.
1942
New York, NY. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia cracks down on pulp magazines, part of his moral crusade against low culture that also includes pinball machines and burlesque. Legislation passed in New York sets a precedent for later laws regulating comic books.
1940s [Late]
New York, NY and Greenwich, CT. Major comic book publisher Fawcett, known for its wholesome and upbeat comic books, relies upon its own code of standards for its publications. Fawcett uses an editorial board including famous names such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Admiral Byrd; reportedly the board has connections with a Catholic organization.
1947 - February
An article published in the New Republic leads to the formation of the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP). This self-regulating trade organization purports to monitor the content of comic books, but due to a lack of consensus from the participating publishers and the relative leniency of its standards, is deemed largely ineffectual.
1947 [Late]
Hartford, CT. The Connecticut State Legislature launches an investigation into the causes of juvenile delinquency. Although comic books are not considered a cause, the investigation reflects a growing concern about delinquent youths.
1948 [Early]
The Supreme Court case Winters vs. New York overturns a New York statute prohibiting the distribution of crime magazines, due to the vague wording of the law. The case is used as a rallying point by groups both opposed and advocating legislation against comic books, with the pro-legislation camp declaring the need for more definitive obscenity laws and the anti-legislation camp citing the case as an example of democratic advocacy of freedom of speech. As a possible reaction to the case, and to the vacuum left by the decline of superhero comic books after WWII, crime comic books increase from twenty titles to over one hundred.
1948 - March 27
Fredric Wertham presents his studies alleging connections between comic books and juvenile delinquency to the public for the first time, in a Collier’s article titled “Horror in the Nursery.” Other articles by Wertham in various publications follow in the months to come.
1948 - June 14
Hartford, CT. City councilman Thomas Kerrigan, Jr. launches a campaign against juvenile delinquency, specifically targeting comic books and paperback novels.
1948 - June 20-27
Hartford, CT. Mayor Cyril Coleman declares “Clean Up the News-stand Week,” asking vendors’ cooperation in removing objectionable materials from their news stands and drug store displays. In support of the resolution, Kerrigan cites Juvenile Court records that point to comic books as blueprints for crime.
1948 - July 26
Hartford, CT. At the urging of the Hartford County Druggists Association, the City Council appoints a Comic Advisory Committee to assist and advise local distributors regarding the sale of periodicals that might be regarded as unfavorable literature. The Committee serves until December 6, 1949. Municipal regulation in Hartford may have been modeled after measures taken in Los Angeles, CA.
1949
Author G. Legman writes a 100-page polemic titled Love and Death: A Study in Censorship, claiming that the restriction of sexual content in censorship laws cause writers to use violence as a titillating substitute. Although the book gains little interest, it does pave the way for Fredric Wertham’s later, and more successful, Seduction of the Innocent.
Connecticut makes an attempt to regulate ‘objectionable comics’ out of existence by requiring an approved application fee for each comic book.
Connecticut revises its General Statute Section 8567, a general obscenity law penalizing the production, purchase, and dissemination of obscene literature and pictures.
The Parent-Teacher Association of Connecticut issues a booklet titled “Unfinished Business of Juvenile Protection,” including a condemnation of comic books as a causation of juvenile delinquency. The booklet is published in response to a movement in the state General Assembly to govern the sale of objectionable literature. Both the National and Connecticut PTA organizations publish in their bulletins articles advocating the fight against comic books, both before and during this period.
1950s [Early]
Crime comics begin to wane, giving way to the equally criticized genres of horror and romance.
1950
Tennessee senator Estes Kefauver becomes chairman of the United States Senate Subcommittee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce. Particularly concerned with the problem of juvenile delinquency, the Subcommittee begins investigating links between delinquency and comic book reading. Hartford Juvenile Court Judge Thomas D. Gill is among the many authorities consulted. The investigation concludes that there is no discernable link between juvenile crime and comic books.
1952
Hartford, CT. Judge Gill is featured in a prominent Hartford Courant article. Within the article, Gill maintains his stance that comic books are not a cause of juvenile delinquency.
1953
Formation of the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, coinciding with the publication of a series of articles by Wertham in the Ladies’ Home Journal.
1954 - January 28
Hartford, CT. A Hartford Courant editorial by columnist T.E. Murphy criticizes comic books for their violent content.
1954 - February 14-17
Hartford, CT. Inspired by Murphy’s column, the Hartford Courant publishes a 4-part exposé of the comic book industry, written by Irving Kravsow. The series is widely reprinted and gains national attention. In the following weeks, the Courant publishes numerous articles and editorials against comic books, Kravsow appears on various radio and television panels, and the Courant publishes a compilation pamphlet that goes into a second printing. The New York Times begins to cover Hartford’s decency crusade and the Times and other newspapers begin their own coverage of the comic book “problem.” In Connecticut, the GOP introduces comic book regulation as a plank in the party platform.
1954 - March 18
New Britain, CT. In reaction to the Courant articles, the New Britain Common Council appointed a committee to investigate the sale and display of comic books, passing a resolution calling for state and federal regulation. By the end of the month, at least ten Connecticut towns organize municipal action against comic book distribution. Numerous municipal-based movements, and movements organized by educators, religious leaders, and civic groups, are formed throughout Connecticut in the months that follow.
1954 - Spring
Fredric Wertham publishes his most famous attack against the comic book industry, Seduction of the Innocent. The book becomes a best seller and turns concern over comic book content into a national issue.
1954 - Summer
The United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency conducts a series of hearings, led by Estes Kefauver, investigating the comic book industry. The hearings, featuring star witnesses Wertham and EC publisher William Gaines, are a public relations disaster for the comic book industry. The Hartford Courant articles are used as evidence in the investigation, and Hartford is cited as a city that is making appropriate steps towards cleaning up its newsstands. Connecticut Governor Abraham Ribicoff assists and corresponds with Kefauver during the hearings.
1954 - September
As a result of the Senate hearings, the comic book industry announces the formation of the Comics Magazine Association of America, a self-regulating body dedicated to the regulation of all published comic books. The CMAA forms the Comics Code Authority, overseen by New York magistrate Charles F. Murphy, to dictate a strict code outlining what is, and is not, permitted for inclusion in comic books. While the CCA appeases some critics, many critics feel that the CCA is too lenient and call for additional legislation to regulate comic book content and distribution.
1955 - January 27
Hartford, CT. State Senator Philander Cooke of Wallingford introduces a resolution calling for an investigation of comic books and their alleged connections to juvenile delinquency. The State Legislature appoints Cooke chair of a committee to investigate comic books and connections to juvenile delinquency.
1955 - January 28
Hartford, CT. Thomas Kerrigan, now a State Representative, introduces a bill making tie-in sales of comic books with other publications illegal; the bill is referred to the Cooke committee for inclusion in their investigation.
1955 - February
Hartford, CT. The Naylor School, a private school in Hartford, publishes a booklet titled “A Young People’s Guide to Good Reading.” Accompanied by a scrapbook detailing Naylor students’ participation in a newsstand cleanup campaign, the booklet is sent to the Hartford Board of Education for use by other Hartford Schools.
The Connecticut Intercollegiate Student Legislature conducts its own “mock hearing,” which included discussion of a hypothetical anti-comic books bill
In Norwich, The Norwich chapter of the American Legion sponsors a swap program in which children can exchange “offensive” comic books for approved ones. The ACLU intervenes in the burning of the collected comic books.
1955 - February 14
The first of eleven public hearings on comic book regulation to be held over the next few months, representing Connecticut's eight different counties.
1955 - March 21
Hartford, CT. The Cooke committee calls a special conference of prosecutors to evaluate existing obscenity laws and examine evidence.
1955 - March 29
New London, CT. The New London County's Crime Comics Committee announces plans to expand to a statewide organization to give better support to legislation curtailing salacious material in comic books.
1955 - April
Judge Charles F. Murphy is called into the Connecticut State Senate to provide testimony to the Cooke committee. The committee challenges Murphy’s competency as censor for the CMAA.
1955 - May
Connecticut’s Catholic newspaper, the Catholic Transcript, publishes its own four-part series warning against the evils of comic books. The Transcript had been following the comic book controversy closely, with most of its coverage centering around the activities of Cincinnati’s National Organization for Decent Literature (NODL). The Transcript's exposé targets not only crime and horror comic books but romance titles as well.
1955 - May 6
The Cooke committee presents its final report to the General Assembly including a summary of the hearings and recommendations for regulatory legislation.
1955 - May 17
Hartford, CT. Senate Bill 1284 is favored, carrying a penalty of $500 or six months in jail for the display or sale to minors of comic books dealing with crime, horror, or sex.
1955 - May [Late]
Hartford, CT. In reaction to objections to the bill over vague wording, Chester Kerr of Yale University Press and attorney Walter Farr draft a revision of SB 1284. The revision labeled SB 1284 Schedule A, passes through the State Senate on June 3, and passes through the State House of Representatives on June 6.
1955 - July 18
Governor Abraham Ribicoff approves S.B. 1284 into the Connecticut General Statutes as Public Act No. 464.
1956
The Connecticut Bar Journal criticizes the new legislation, questioning its constitutionality.
The state of New York conducts its own legislative hearings; the New York Joint Legislative Committee to Study the Publication and Dissemination of Offensive and Obscene Material reports correspondence with the Hartford Courant and a number of other Connecticut organizations and publishers.
Charles Murphy resigns as censor for the Comics Code Authority. The new censor who replaces him, Mrs. Guy Percy Trulock, adheres to a stricter sensibility. This ends much of the controversy around comic books, as the Code only admits the most unobjectionable material. Would-be censors move on to other concerns, such as rock music and paperback novels.
1958
Ribicoff issues a memo to the Connecticut Board of Education of the Blind, ordering the removal of objectionable literature from the newsstands administrated by the organization. A reading list of acceptable titles is provided, compiled by various Connecticut cultural institutions.
1960s [Late]
Partly the result of backlash reaction to the restriction of mainstream comic books, the underground comix movement gains popularity. The comix, which are not Code-approved, are distributed not through newsstands but through youth culture venues such as record stores and “head shops.” The underground movement flourishes through the mid-1970s, and the underground aesthetic is later sublimated into the independent/small-press movement that begins in the late 1970s.
1971
Provoked by Marvel’s success with non-Code approved comic books dealing with drug abuse, the Comics Code is revamped to reflect changes in societal attitudes and to allow comic books to deal with more serious subject matter.
1986
The nonprofit Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is founded by Dennis Kitchen of Kitchen Sink Press, in response to the Friendly Frank’s case in Lansing, IL, where a comic book vendor was arrested for selling “obscene” comic books to adults.
1989
Reflecting the comic book industry’s changes in demographics and distribution, the Comics Code is updated again.
1991
Gainesville, FL. In a high-profile court case, independent comic book artist Mike Diana becomes the first American artist to be convicted for obscenity. Diana’s sentence includes a three-year probation during which he is forbidden to create drawings even for his own gratification; he is also forbidden to have any contact with children under 18. Diana takes the case to the Supreme Court, but after a three-year legal battle is unsuccessful in petitioning an appeal.
2001 [Early]
Marvel Comics generates media attention with the announcement of its intention to drop the Comics Code Authority seal in favor of its own ratings system. Despite the significant coverage by the mass media, this decision makes little impression upon the comic book industry, as the more lenient Code and regular publishing of non-Code-approved books have caused many to look upon the CCA as having outlived its usefulness.
2003
Arkansas. Legislators propose Act 858, which would require any content deemed “harmful to minors” to be segregated and blinded. Controversy around the obscenity law hinges upon its vague definition of sadomasochism, which is defined as people in unusual costumes committing acts of violence. This definition affects virtually every superhero comic book on the market.
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