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Comics Culture
EC Comics: Race, Shock, and Social Protest
2020 Eisner Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work
Entertaining Comics Group (EC Comics) is perhaps best-known today for lurid horror comics like Tales from the Crypt and for a publication that long outlived the company’s other titles, Mad magazine. But during its heyday in the early 1950s, EC was also an early innovator in another genre of the so-called “preachies,” socially conscious stories that boldly challenged the conservatism and conformity of Eisenhower-era America.
EC Comics examines a selection of these works—sensationally-titled comics such as “Hate!,” “The Guilty!,” and “Judgment Day!”—and explores how they grappled with the civil rights struggle, antisemitism, and other forms of prejudice in America. Putting these socially aware stories into conversation with EC’s better-known horror stories, Qiana Whitted discovers surprising similarities between their narrative, aesthetic, and marketing strategies. She also recounts the controversy that these stories inspired and the central role they played in congressional hearings about offensive content in comics.
The first serious critical study of EC’s social issues comics, this book will give readers a greater appreciation of their legacy. They not only served to inspire future comics creators, but also introduced a generation of young readers to provocative ideas and progressive ideals that pointed the way to a better America.
Entertaining Comics Group (EC Comics) is perhaps best-known today for lurid horror comics like Tales from the Crypt and for a publication that long outlived the company’s other titles, Mad magazine. But during its heyday in the early 1950s, EC was also an early innovator in another genre of the so-called “preachies,” socially conscious stories that boldly challenged the conservatism and conformity of Eisenhower-era America.
EC Comics examines a selection of these works—sensationally-titled comics such as “Hate!,” “The Guilty!,” and “Judgment Day!”—and explores how they grappled with the civil rights struggle, antisemitism, and other forms of prejudice in America. Putting these socially aware stories into conversation with EC’s better-known horror stories, Qiana Whitted discovers surprising similarities between their narrative, aesthetic, and marketing strategies. She also recounts the controversy that these stories inspired and the central role they played in congressional hearings about offensive content in comics.
The first serious critical study of EC’s social issues comics, this book will give readers a greater appreciation of their legacy. They not only served to inspire future comics creators, but also introduced a generation of young readers to provocative ideas and progressive ideals that pointed the way to a better America.
196 pages, Paperback
First published March 8, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 30, 2021
An in-depth study of EC Comics and how its creators used the medium to promote social justice. Academic but never dry. Stops just short of Frederick Wertham and the Comics Code.
September 5, 2020
When your major complaint about a book is that it should've been longer you've probably found a good one.
I do wish the last two chapters were a bit longer ("Master Race" feels rushed through and "Judgment Day" has so many interesting points made about it could almost be a book by itself), but otherwise this is a good example of critical analysis that isn't overtly academic in its terminology.
I do wish the last two chapters were a bit longer ("Master Race" feels rushed through and "Judgment Day" has so many interesting points made about it could almost be a book by itself), but otherwise this is a good example of critical analysis that isn't overtly academic in its terminology.
March 5, 2020
Although a bit academic (i.e. dry) Whitted's analysis is sharp and considered, and she makes good use of previous writing on the subject of EC's many virtues.
October 15, 2022
This book is a fascinating look at how a publisher of popular comics in the 1950s opened doors for conversations and stories that pushed back against Jim Crow, antisemitism, and fascism. The complexity, nuance and artistry of these stories were mind blowing when compared to what Marvel or DC were producing in the 50s and 60s. Moreover this book gives a careful, thoughtful and critical reading of these, including some of the metadata surrounding these stories. For those interested in anti-racist narratives in popular culture, or those interested in non hegemonic views of the Atomic Age, this book fits the bill. I loved this book!
April 28, 2020
Whitted's excellent, carefully-researched and historically-grounded study of EC comics is both insightful and eminently readable. Her focus is the so-called "preachies," the stories specifically and explicitly interested in making critical social commentary, especially about racism, and she does deep dives into several key stories. I was mainly interested in what she had to say about "Judgment Day," to which she devotes a chapter that offers very illuminating insights. Well-illustrated with sample pages and panels. Highly recommended, especially to those interested in EC.
October 5, 2019
didn't know what to expect here, but i was pleasantly surprised by the way Whitted illustrates how a perceived-schlocky publication house was actually subversively progressive in some respects.
it could stand to be longer, but "leave them wanting more" isn't a bad move. more historical context, in my opinion, would have been helpful to appreciate some of what was going on in comics before EC and in competitors' houses.
it could stand to be longer, but "leave them wanting more" isn't a bad move. more historical context, in my opinion, would have been helpful to appreciate some of what was going on in comics before EC and in competitors' houses.
January 3, 2022
An incredible analysis of one of the most artistically influential and vital comic book companies that has been too often forgotten in the mainstream history of sequential art.
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March 9, 2022This book was discussed on Episode 61 of The Secret Stacks.
January 8, 2024
Amazing history
Wonderful analysis about EC and their "preachies". I highly recommend for fans of science fiction, 1950s America, and comic readers everywhere.
Wonderful analysis about EC and their "preachies". I highly recommend for fans of science fiction, 1950s America, and comic readers everywhere.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews