Category: History

Finale: U.S. v. Comics

The medium is the massacre in the epic finale of U.S v. Comics: The Senate Effort to Censor Comic Books, which examines how televised U.S. Senate comic book hearings in 1954 led to the creation of the infamous Comics Code.…

Part 6: U.S. v. Comics

U.S. v. Comics within the image of a stamp

This week the science has spoken, as the publication of the notorious Seduction of the Innocent sets up a landmark senatorial showdown.

Part 5: U.S. v. Comics

Recent attempts to censor graphic novels and manga have resurrected the claim that comics are bad for kids’ mental health. Today’s episode of U.S. v. Comics examines the origins of this assertion in what was once considered to be cutting-edge…

Part 4: U.S. v. Comics

U.S. v. Comics within the image of a stamp

Politics enters the picture in the fourth episode of the webseries U.S. v. Comics by Ian Rosenberg and Mike Cavallaro, as Senator – and soon-to-be the Democratic candidate for vice-president – C. Estes Kefauver targets the fifth horseman of an…

Part 3: U.S. v. Comics

U.S. v. Comics within the image of a stamp

In the newest episode of the webseries U.S. v. Comics by Ian Rosenberg and Mike Cavallaro, E.C. Comics and Publisher William Gaines bring a fresh perspective to the comics industry – and embark on a collision course with history.

Part 2: U.S. vs. Comics

U.S. v. Comics within the image of a stamp

Comic books heat up in the 1950s in part 2 of U.S. vs. Comics, the new webseries by Ian Rosenberg and Mike Cavallaro!

New series: U.S. vs. Comics

U.S. v. Comics within the image of a stamp

Check out the first episode of a new weekly webcomic on the 70th anniversary of the Senate comic book hearings – and what they teach us about censorship today!

CBLDF Theater Talkback in Chicago this Friday

A new play at the City Lit Theater in Chicago, The Innocence of Seduction, runs through this weekend, October 6-8. Illustrated by a drawing of a child reading comics at a 1950s newsstand.

In the Chicago area and interested in the past, present, and future of comics censorship? A new play on the 1950s comics scare, The Innocence of Seduction, is about to have its final weekend of performances at the City Lit…

Sad Sack the Socialist: When the
United States Army Burned Comic
Books

by Brian M. Puaca As popular anxieties regarding comic books intensified after World War II, the federal government decided to enter the fray in 1954 by holding Congressional hearings to investigate the link between the four-color publications and juvenile delinquency.…

Celebrate International Women’s Day with She Changed Comics

Celebrate International Women’s Day with She Changed Comics, the untold story of the women who changed free expression in comics. Today is the perfect day to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness against bias, and take action for equality. In celebration of today,…