Friday, March 1, 2013

Uncle Sam in Comics

I've heard people mention that the Golden age of comics, the 1930's and 1940's, are comics at their most unpolished moment. Rough and prototypical, as the creators were still learning the 'rules' of the medium.

There's some truth to that. But it was also the Golden Age for a reason. In today's world, there are two major comic book companies vying for the meager dollars that comic sales bring in. With several independent comic companies nipping at their heals. In the 1940's, there were many many comic book publishers vying for a much larger pot of sales. There was a sea of material out there trying to squeeze a dime out of a kid. So you're going to have some really bad stuff and a few gems.

I found a gem the other day.


Uncle Sam was a character that I never really cared all that much about as far as the comic book super hero version. The character is so iconic in what it means for America and politics that I always felt that he didn't really belong in the four-color pages going toe-to-toe with bad guys. In the 1940's, Will Eisner and Quality Comics disagreed. And they published National Comics starring Uncle Sam and even gave the character his own comic, which was rare back then.


I just finished reading Uncle Sam Quarterly #2, the Winter 1941 issue, and I'm blown away by the quality of art and story on display here.


The Grand Comics Database credit the writing of most of this issue to comics genius and ground breaker Will Eisner. The Comics Database also credits Lou Fine with the art for the first story, but Dave Berg for the art in the other Uncle Sam stories.


The thing I'm finding with the better comic books of the 1940's, the thing that sets them part from later decades, is the way they treat the stories. The content in the stories is often ripped from the latest headlines, not stopping to explain things to naive kids but instead treating them as peers. World politics, national concerns, labor disputes, capital punishment, all these issues are tackled head-on by the hero of whatever story you're reading. Uncle Sam starts out this issue by coming up with fantastic ideas for submarines that would benefit the Navy, and goes straight into Naval warfare with a surprise attack from the Nazis. At the time of the issues publication, America has yet to even join the war. This doesn't stop Uncle Sam from pounding Nazis, or helping the President straighten out labor disputes with beleaguered metal miners, or even stop to trip through a fanciful yarn about what happens to comic book publishers when the comic book villains decide to go on strike.

Using bright, colorful, crazy, intriguing artwork, this issue of Uncle Sam ropes the audience, which at the time had a guessed at average age of eight, into worldly concerns. And on top of that the issue tells it's audience in a very simple, straightforward manner just exactly what was the right thing to do. And no one questions Uncle Sam's judgement... because he's Uncle Sam! Right?

Except they do! In the first issue of Uncle Sam Quarterly the titular character starts to wither and fade away because more and more people are listening to German Bundists and not believing in Democracy. Uncle Sam's kid sidekick Buddy helps sway the popular opinion and win the day with a fully re-powered Uncle Sam.

These are comics for kids. But not dealing with kid issues. Dealing with adult issues cloaked in kids heroes and fantastic situations. These seem like the best kind of comics. And a type of medium that has never been equaled since. Comics of the 1950's were watered down so as not to cause trouble or get attention for promoting juvenile delinquency. Comics of the 1960's were classically crafted struggles between heroes and villains that reflected the human condition, but didn't have a foot in the real world like they did in the 1940's. The medium has gotten far away from what it's roots really were.


And today's comics take six months to tell a story at the very least, are unsuitable for eight year olds, and do nothing to involve their readers in the real world. They truly are escapist fantasy.

So which is rough and prototypical? And which is better for us as a society?

Thanks,
DCD












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