Among the American Heritage Center’s comic book industry collections are evidence of the way in which industry insiders attempted to legitimize their business following the comic book moral panic of the 1950s. Fredric Wertham’s 1954 monograph, Seduction of the Innocent – which linked comic books with juvenile crime and perversion – and the 1954 United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency hearings led to the denigration of comic books as a form of media. In order to save their business, six publishers, including National Comics (DC), formed the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) to self-censor their work.
The records in the Mort Weisinger papers demonstrate how the editor worked to reclaim a cultural space for his medium after this public castigation. As the editor of DC’s Superman titles, Mort Weisinger was in frequent contact with politicians, writers, and others to promote the comics under his purview. His efforts helped both to keep DC’s characters in the spotlight and to rehabilitate the image of comic books following the panic of the 1950s.
In 1963, DC planned to include a story in Superman no. 168 in which Superman worked on behalf of President John F. Kennedy to inspire children to work on physical fitness. It later appeared in issue 170 (cover date July 1964). According to the story’s introductory text, “White House officials… informed [DC] that President Johnson wanted it published, as a tribute to his great predecessor.”[1] Weisinger wrote to the late President’s brother, bringing both the story and a letter from Robert F. Kennedy’s son to his attention. Kennedy’s reply, indication of his appreciation for Weisinger’s thoughtfulness in writing, helps show the way in which Weisinger sought official approval of DC’s work.[2]
Letter from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to Mort Weisinger about Superman 170 that was published as a tribute to John F. Kennedy, June 4, 1964. Box 13, Folder 8, Mort Weisinger papers.
Weisinger further courted official support of DC’s characters by gifting Batman posters to Lester L. Wolff, Representative of New York’s 3rd District. Wolff wrote of the posters, “My staff is convinced they can be a great campaign aid. ‘Batman’ is such a phenomenon. I wish I had his touch.”[3] A decade prior, following Fredric Wertham’s accusation that Batman represented gay propaganda, no politician would have joked about using the character as a campaign aide. By 1966, with the success of the ABC series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, it made sense for a politician to jump on the bandwagon.
Letter from Representative Lester Wolff of New York to Mort Weisinger thanking him for sending “Batman” TV show posters to his New York campaign office, June 17, 1966. Box 13, Folder 12, Mort Weisinger papers.
As an editor at a member company of the Comics Magazine Association of America, Weisinger’s papers include the CMAA’s newsletter. The June 1966 issue details accounts of comics “in use as teaching aids” in the Bronx, Texas, Mexico, and England, thereby arguing that comics play a role as educational tools much like other media, such as film.[4] A second story discusses the Library of Congress’s growing comics collection, at the time including “more than 12,000 copies of some 2,500 titles that have been published since the 1930s.”[5]
The second page of the June 1966 Comics Magazine Association of America newsletter. Box 24, Folder 1, Mort Weisinger papers.
By 1969, Mort Weisinger received a letter from John C. Baker, the Public Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Commerce, reporting that “others in the Census Bureau are enthusiastic about [Weisinger’s] proposal that Superman become a champion of the 1970 census, through two issues of the monthly Superman comic book and a special 16-page Superman book.”[6] The letter builds upon the use of comics as an educational tool, outlining ways in which a Superman story can explain the function of the census and get children involved with their parents in participating. Baker further invites Weisinger to have the artist and writer of a possible story visit the Census Bureau office, thereby granting more official sanction to comics as a medium capable of contributing to society.
The Mort Weisinger papers capture a critical moment in comic book history in which he used his position as an editor at one of the largest publishers to validate the comic book medium after the public shaming of the 1950s. Mort Weisinger sought official approval from members of the government to demonstrate the educational value of comic books and their ability to comment on critical events like any other form of media. As a result of his actions and those of others in the industry, comic book writers and artists currently enjoy greater creative freedom while the comics themselves now influence other forms of media, generating multi-billion dollar profits for their corporate parents.
[1] E. Nelson Bridwell, “Superman’s Mission for President Kennedy,” Superman 170 (July 1964).
[2] Robert F. Kennedy, Letter to Mort Weisinger (1964), Box 13, Folder 8, Mort Weisinger Papers, Collection Number 07958, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
[3] Lester W. Wolff, Letter to Mort Weisinger (1966), Box 13, Folder 12, Mort Weisinger Papers, Collection Number 07958, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
[4] CMAA Newsletter (1966), Box 24, Folder 1, Mort Weisinger Papers, Collection Number 07958, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, pg. 2.
[5] CMAA Newsletter (1966), Box 24, Folder 1, Mort Weisinger Papers, Collection Number 07958, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, pg. 2.
[6] John C. Baker, Letter to Mort Weisinger (1969), Box 14, Folder 3, Mort Weisinger Papers, Collection Number 07958, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Blog contribution by Richard D. Deverell, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of History, State University of New York at Buffalo
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