Comic Art Propaganda: A Graphic History

by Fredrik Stromberg, Peter Kuper

Comic Art A Graphic History is a fascinating visual history of some of the most outrageous, and unbelievable and politically charged comics ever published. As one of the most effective and powerful forms of communication, it comes as no surprise that comic art has been misappropriated by governments, self-interest groups, do-gooders, and sinister organizations to spread their message. World War II comic book propaganda-with Superman, Batman, and Captain America raising war bonds, and bashing cartoon Japanese and Germans-was so ubiquitous that there was barely a US comic untainted by the war effort. The sub-textual sequential art continued well into the Ciold War, with both sides producing comics extolling themselves and defaming the enemy. "The book covers Sex, Drugs, Race, Politics, War and Religion. Strömberg’s historic overviews of each subject and encyclopedic knowledge make for a breezy, informative read."-- The Huffington Post

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, History, Graphic Novels, Art, Graphic Novels Comics, Politics

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

 
This was okay, but somewhat disappointing. Being a comic book NERDosaurus aficionado as well as a history buff, I came into this with SUPERHEROIC expectations. I found mostly clay feet. There are certainly some bright spots, but overall I found it to be the adventures of Captain Meh and his sidekick Shruggie the Human Sigh.
 
My lack of love stems primarily from my disagreement with much of what Stromberg labeled as propaganda, which I would argue is more accurately characterized (unfortunate as it may be) as "sign of the times" marketing for the purpose of commercial gain. In other words, I found a much of the “comic art” used in the book (and similar examples I found myself) to be more reflective of the pervasive and institutionalized racism, sexism, isolationism and religious and cultural intolerance of America during most of the 20th Century then some coordinated government-sanctioned cabal designed to wash our brains.

Now I hate to say that and certainly don't want to bash the U.S., but we do need to recognize that our past is littered with some pretty atrocious societal attitudes. I would love to see someone do a book entitled something like, “Racism and Superheroes: The Dark History of American Comics.” Much of what Stromberg shows in this book would be more accurately reflected in such a work...so come on publishers, get cracking.     
 
So what is propaganda to me? I should probably clarify that before I go further. For me, in order to be propaganda, a message must:
 
Be a COORDINATED and SYSTEMATIC attempt by either a government agency or a private group to disseminate information with the PRIMARY goal of persuading people viewing the information to adopt a particular position or belief system and NOT merely for profit or commercial gain.     
 
Now, the “not for profit” factor is a HUGE mountainous gray area for me with a slick, slippery slope and the best I can do is to try and distinguish between individual corporations marketing their wares and consortiums of corporations in the same industry flooding the marketplace with selective information designed to modify public perception. The first is generally marketing, the second is generally propaganda. It’s a real fine line, but a critical one (for me at least) because “too broad” a definition of propaganda (as used in the book) dilutes the power of the word and makes it too easy to see “everything” as propaganda. If everything it propaganda, than nothing is.
 
Quick example: when our good friends in the nicotine delivery system Tobacco Industry was putting out forests full of bullshit info that smoking was not bad for you…I say propaganda. However, when a cigarette manufacturer runs the following advertisement:

telling us to smoke Chesterfields because “their smokers had no problems with their throats, noses or mouths.” That is marketing…despicable (and kinda funny) marketing, but still marketing.  
 
Okay, enough preamble, let’s look at some offensive snapshots from the world of comics so I can explain why I think they are examples of unsavory aspects of America's past rather than coordinated persuasion comapigns. Please note, I am only going to be addressing the American or “Western” examples because it is the only viewpoint I feel I have enough familiarity with to be able to comment. However, at the end, I will mention some foreign examples from around the world because I think that is where Stromberg’s book was the most compelling.  
 
WAR, PATRIOTISM, RACISM AND SEXISM
 
With the exception of 3 relatively short chapters on Religion, Social Engineering and Politics, the remaining 4 chapters comprising over 60% of the book dealt with issues of war and patriotism (predominately focusing on WWII), and depictions of minorities and women. In looking at the U.S. examples, I continually felt like what I was seeing was a graphic (on multiple levels) history of racism and sexism in the United States during the 20th Century. I was seeing a reflection of public attitudes rather than an organized campaign to alter them.
 
One of the more pervasive targets for racism were the Japanese during World War II.

 
As offensive as these comics are,  I don’t see them and their vile caricatures of the Japanese as either the  government’s or the comic industry’s attempt to convince Americans to adopt an “anti Japanese” attitude (i.e., propaganda). Rather, I think the above comics are examples of business minded comic publishers “giving the public what it wants” and simply mirror the then prevailing attitude of American’s towards Japanese, which hostile attitude was given a shot of steroids and turbo charged after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

I saw it as the comic makers "knowing their audience" and any story that made (i) America look like they were going to crush the Empire of Japan or (ii) made the enemy look bad…SOLD MORE COMICS.
 
I mean look at this example:

This is societal racism combined with war rage being filtered through the lens of the popular entertainment of the period. I see profit motive, not propaganda attempting to espouse a viewpoint.
 
Another deeply disturbing “reflection” of America during much of the 20th Century is the portrayal of African Americans in comics.
 

 
As with the Japanese caricatures, I don’t see these abominations as a form of propaganda designed to convince Americans to become “white supremacists.” Much as I hate to say it, it’s hard to argue against the statement that much of America during this period ALREADY WAS WHITE SUPREMACISTS at least in so far as they viewed blacks as inferior to whites. Shameful, yes. Propaganda, no. This is simply comic book publishers knowing their customers and marketing accordingly to a population holding the reflected views.  
 
I mean look at this panel I found from a “Wonder Woman” comic:

 
It is hard for me to believe that was ever published, but at the time it was considered par for the course. I think calling this kind of material propaganda lets us off the hook too easily for the prevailing attitudes of society during this period.
 
This brings me to the portrayal of women. OUCH!! is all I can say. Take a look at this cover from Detective Comics where Batgirl is actually more concerned about a “run in her tights” than in helping beat the baddies.

That's a far cry from Barbara Gordon (i.e. Batgirl) bravely coming back to fight crime after being shot in the spine and paralyzed by the Joker (in the completely awesome Batman: The Killing Joke).
 
Oh, and let’s not forget those wonderful “shut up” slaps that were so very popular at the time.

 
Do you realize that is Mr. Fantastic Reed Richards slapping the Invisible Woman? Holy Role Model Killers people.
 
Hopefully, you see my point about the above (it sure took me long enough to make it and I apologize for that). Now, despite my disagreement regarding the above, there were times when Stromberg hit his mark.  For example, I completely agree with Stromberg that the following comic which he alleges (and I see no reason to doubt him) was created by the CIA in connection with the 1983 invasion of Granada under President Reagan was pure propaganda.

 
In addition, the series of Marvel comics produced for a division of the Department of Defense called “America Supports You” in connection with the Iraq War also fit squarely within the definiton of propaganda.

These comics were done in a concerted attempt by the government to garner popular support for its activities overseas using "selective" information.
 
This leads me to a final wrinkle in my view of propaganda and another area where I disagree with the author (though this one is contextual rather than definitional and is  based on the historic use of the term). For me propaganda is NEGATIVE or at very least “controversial” or on setting form an opinion on which people of good conscience can legitimately disagree.
 
Thus, I may not have viewed a comic similar to the above Iraq War comics supporting Allied troops in World War II as being propaganda. WWII was a war that had to be fought and America’s involvement in it was an “absolute good” and not something that broke down along political lines. I guess you could say that in some respects, I judge propaganda like I judge pornography…I know it when I see it.
 
One example of an “absolute good” would be Will Eisner’s The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion which was Eisner’s last work and his powerful argument that the original “Protocols” were a forgery.

[SIDE NOTE: I assume most people know that the original “Protocols” were supposedly the minutes of a secret meeting in which Jewish Elders plotted the take over of the World and is a document almost every anti-Semitic group uses as one of the chief basis for their hatred of Jews.]

Stromberg argued that Eisner’s work was an example of good propaganda, but I choose not to allow it, and other “ultimate goods” to be lumped and diluted by calling it propaganda. Hey, my review, my rules.     
 
Another beautiful example of this would be Keiji Nakazawa’s I SAW IT: The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima. I just can not bring myself to include this amazing, heartfelt and “accurate” eye witness account of the bombing of Hiroshima. Call it education, call it raising awareness…but don’t call it propaganda. It soils the work.
 
COMICS AND IMAGES FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD
 
Thus, between what I call marketing and simple profit motive reflecting America’s racist past and the “absolute goods” that I disagree should be labeled with the term propaganda, there was too much that I disagreed with about the book to be able to rate it higher than okay. 
 
That said, there were areas that I thought Stromberg was very effective and the majority of these were the examples of art from foreign comics from around the world. Even though I would not define the following as propaganda based on my “absolute good” theory, I do want to at least mention them because they were enlightening and I am glad I had a chance to experience them.
 
** The aforementioned I SAW IT.

 
**La bete est mortel! (The Beast is Dead!), a French comic that retells the story of World War II (including the first mention of the Holocaust in comics) using animal characters rather than people. 

 
** The 99 , a Moslem superhero comic series based on the 99 virtues of Allah that the Koran teaches all people should strive to emulate.

 
In sum, this is not bad and there were parts of it that I found intriguing and educational. However, on balance, the stuff I disagreed with or saw differently just kept me from rating it higher. I would still recommend checking it out to those who believe comics were just mindless funny books as the book clearly dispels that perception and show the medium's ability to convey an emotionally charged, and very adult, message.

P.S. Sorry for the long drawn out review. It just kind of got away from me.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice interesting book on this slice of history as seen through the comic medium. Nice read informative read. Receommended

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look at how comics have been used to both ignite and assuage fear over the past century. Although the book predominantly reflects the viewpoints of European and American comics creators there are several examples of non-western propaganda.
I found the section entitled "Religious Rants" to be the most interesting-- pages dedicated to the so-called "Chick Tracts," a look into Hansi: The Girl Who Loved the Swastika, and an exploration of Christian agendas being pushed in Archie's comics from the 1970s.

[Deni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice full-color overview of all kinds of propaganda comics organized by theme. Three chapters focus on aspects of armed conflict: "Us vs Them", "War! What is it Good for?", and "You Dirty, Rotten Commie Bastard!" Really, three chapters is not unreasonable. The rest focus on social engineering, religion, feminism, and politics.

Mark says the author referred to Canadian Dave Sim as American but I couldn't find this error. I was surprised to find him in this collection at all but apparently he contributed to AARGH!, an anthology of comics against a 1980s British law that banned references to homosexuality. Fun trivia about Dave Sim - he has an ex-wife named Deni!!

[Tommy Bat-Blog Brookshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a pretty good job at covering the history of comic books with the angle of "comics that were created for propaganda reasons". There are a few comics covered that I already knew about but many that I have never heard of before. So, I liked that a lot. It gives me some new material to search for.

It covers everything: Religion, Pro & Anti-Communism, Sex, Drugs, WWII Patriotism, etc... Each chapter does a nice job covering each subject. I'm giving it 4 stars because over-all it's a nice read. I just think it could have been more detailed or had more info. but otherwise I recommend it for anyone out there who loves "Comic Art History".

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for the collection of material, which is often a fascinating reflection of its times, and zero for the text, which is worthless. How can you write a book about propaganda without ever defining what you think propaganda is? You can' t, which is the main thing wrong with this book (the terrible quality of the writing doesn't help any.) This book would have been infinitely better with just the illustrations and no text.

[Sotiris Makrygiannis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among the findings in this book is the Publication "from EU", I guess, a comic book to explain how EU works. The publishing of a Tin Tin story that is totally anarchistic and released without copyright for the benefit of all mankind. How single topic strip helped USA forces move 10 miles in a single day (extra boost of morality). The power of images is amazing! and delivered as funny comic stories. Captain America, anyone?

[Shana Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read. I like that it started out by saying that just because something is propaganda doesn't mean it is being utilized for less than pure purposes, but instead it's meant to try and sway viewers from one opinion or another. Even if you aren't interested in the last 100ish years of propaganda found in comics, it's practically a guide for comics you should read if you haven't yet.

[Bill Sleeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comic Art Propaganda offers a well-written and carefully researched history of comics and their use to persuade. It is well worth the time for anyone interested in genre. One major drawback though is the overall poor design of this work.  Perhaps there was a decision made to be 'artsy' in the design, but a lot of the text is obscured and difficult to read as presented as black typeface on dark backgrounds. The section on comics from China is particularly egregious with black type face on a deep red background that was nearly impossible to read. Many of the graphic illustrations are reproduced in too small an image to be readable thus hindering the author's argument while others, especially the "background illustrations", are simply wasted effort, too washed out or otherwise obscured by the foregrounded images.  As I say, this is an interesting work, but I wish that the publishers had made a greater effort to make a readable book. 

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comic Art Propaganda is a decent coffee table book about the use of the use of comics for propagandistic purposes. It's pretty shallow because it has one page for each aspect it talks about, and tends to be along the lines of "comics were used for this kind of propaganda and here are some examples" and it was not really meant to be read cover to cover. It definitely didn't get as deep in to the techniques of propaganda as I was hoping for and interested in. Despite that, it's fine as a coffee table book -- it's very well produced, and very nice to look at, and would be great for a guest to flip through at random while waiting for you to make them a drink. 

[Jamie Carlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's alright! A solid introduction to the idea of comics as propaganda, but with a very western-centric view (which the author does acknowledge) and a somewhat... amateurish? style which leaves the whole thing feeling a little bit lacking sometimes. Still, it showed me some interesting new avenues to explore in reading around comics so I can't complain!

[Jasmin Gilliam]

Comic by definition is “of or relating to comedy” or “causing laughter or amusement,” (Dictionary.com) of course these definitions pertain to the comedic comics as well but it does apply to the comic strips we know and love as well. If this is the concrete definition of comics then why do we create such complexities with the artwork that is produced in the comic strip form? Due to the concrete definition many think comics are for kids, but the complexities have changed that generalization.
Reading the first paragraph of “Comic Art Propaganda” by Fredrik Strömberg challenges that definition and influences the idea that it needs to be elongated or changed completely. The first paragraph of the book isn’t even written by Strömberg, it is by Peter Kuper. Kuper wrote the foreword for this book, foreword is defined as “a short introductory statement in a published work, as a book, especially when written by someone other than the author,” (Dictionary.com). Kuper explains the whole book with the interpretation that you, a reader would have, creating a closer relationship between you the book, and the writer, Strömberg. Kuper’s interpretation of the book becomes more and more relevant as you read through the book. Kuper does a great job of getting the main ideas of the book into one foreword. Going back and reading the foreword after the book creates a sensation similar to reading your thoughts. It becomes apparent as the book continues what Strömberg’s idea was, using Kuper to write this foreword for him.
Kuper opens his foreword giving a base ground for the readers “Propaganda as we know, is from the Latin- pro, meaning for, and paganda meaning indoctrination of young minds. (if you don’t believe me look it up.*)” (pg. 6). This definition connects back to that definition of comics though the young minds part of the definition. Comics are for kids and so is propaganda right? Strömberg addresses many propaganda filled comics and states “I have delved deep into my own comics library, which s extensive and contains examples from all over the world.” The thing is, he goes on to state that he did not use all of that knowledge in this book because of the accessibility which brings up the issue that the comics from other countries aren’t readily accessible to the general public. Strömberg made do with what he had very well though and gives this disclaimer on the second page. You get to know all the artists that changed the game of comics while learning the influence of the comics whether they knew it or not. You start to understand the different art-forms of the comics and how different comics portray different things.
One style was Bilderbogen vom Kriege (Picture Stories from the War) directed towards young german boys to persuade them to joining the war. This comic is the exact representation of both the definition of propaganda and comic. The comic used a mixture of the old and new style for the artwork. The artist used “pictures in boxes with rhyming text below” to make it feel like it was from the last century. Also “No speech balloons, onomatopoetic words or any other modern comics inventions were used,” Creating more of a picture book stylized comic rather than the traditional one we all know and love. One thing the artist did keep were the images “were in full color, painted, and very much in the style of the times,”(pg. 48).
Comics are for anyone and everyone, they aren’t just superheroes and over-sexualized women (though that is what they are still mostly made of). There are examples of females taking over and making a name for themselves in the Comic book world. Asia, America, and Europe are the three places where comic books are sold most. Like the manga art that is controlled by more women than in any other major hub for Comic Art. Europe and America are mostly controlled by men while Asia took a different route with Manga art. There is a high percentage of females in the asian world that make for interesting views revealed in the comics. Which gives hope for that definition of comic to change.
This book took me by surprise because the writing was amazing and unexpected in every way. It’s as if you are having a conversation with Strömberg, and you can tell that there was an enormous amount of work put into the book. From the parings of the artwork and Strömberg’s writing, to the flow of the book and relating back to the main idea and purpose of the writing. The book doesn’t have to be read sequentially giving you the freedom to jump from subject to subject in whichever way you please. The book covers so many subjects and ideas and concepts creating a bit of an overload of information so that freedom of choice aforementioned comes in handy. This gives you the feeling of a history textbook but one that you want to read. Giving you the same information from a different point of view and history is all about the point of view.
“Comic Art Propaganda” by Fredrik Strömberg makes you question your idea of comics, propaganda, history, and portrayal giving you brain a great workout. If you like anything involved with art, history, or political influence this book should be in your hands and devoured by your eyes.

[Kendall Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to comic books as a means of Propaganda. Taught me about the hateful moralizing of Jack Chick.

[Renaud Germain · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBG4a...
(Extrait d'un documentaire)

[Mina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent and I appreciated the effort put into the collection

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is admittedly not a complete book on the subject, nor a scholarly academic treatise, but it is a very informative and entertaining book. Except for the introduction, each sub-topic within a chapter is given a two-page mini-essay, about half of which are reproduced illustrations. Many of the topics you'd generally expect to be in here are represented: racist imagery, pro-war, anti-war, pro-religion, pro-drug, anti-drug, Chinese propagandist comics, Sept. 11, and so forth.

Things are most interesting when the author devotes space to specific titles. I'd love to read "Hairy Polarity and the Sorcery Satire" and "Hansi: the Girl Who Loved the Swastika" (both are fundamentalist Christian comics), or Fighting American (a post-Capt. America character by Simon and Kirby) battling Poison Ivan and Hotsky Trotsky (!). I may not speak Spanish but I'd love to look over pro-Che Guevara comics from Cuba, and follow it up by reading "Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact"'s series "This Godless Communism". Doonsbury is in here, rightly so, and there are two sections on Jack Chick (one on his evil little tracts you find on lunch counters and public restrooms, a second on his even more evil full length comic book titles). Including "Maus" as propaganda is more questionable though, and the space surely could have been devoted to some sort of real-life account that is not so well known. More entertaining is something I knew nothing about, "The Adventures of Tin Tin: Breaking Free", an unauthorized Tin Tin story in which he becomes an anarchistic protestor!

Most comics are American or British, though the author does a good job of trying to make the titles and topics as international as possible. I need to start finding some of these titles now.

[Michael Allan Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of using comics as propaganda tools -- the author intentionally doesn't make a negative connotation with the term propaganda, but rather treats it as any material that is pushing a particular agenda, whether it be political, social, or moral views. Fascinating read if you like comics history.

[Andrew Uys · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read for its breadth, I found it a but simplistic at times. Still, a worth while read for comic fans & history buffs.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Learned a lot about comics I'd never heard of and that propaganda comes in all types, countries and fields/aAreas.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting reference, but far to riddled with the authors own bias.

[David Crunelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

yeah comics

[James Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun survey but necessarily incomplete and shallow.

[Joshua Atkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, but high level only, look at how comic books have been used as propaganda tools around the world.