Tonight we have something just a little bit different.
Last week, as you all know, was a bye week for BSBTG thanks to Real Life smacking me upside the head. I put out a call for a substitute writer, and lo and behold, MT Spaces came through! His diary, a look at terrible comic book cover art, is so good that I have made an executive decision and given him the slot this week. I laughed till I was in tears, and I think you will as well.
I'll be back next week with a look at the cosmic horror of, well, cosmic nonsense and ancient gods, but until then, have fun, and be careful out there! And now -
Take it,Wally Ballou!
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… Can't Say It!
I just can’t say it about certain comic book covers.
The word “good” won’t emerge from my keyboard if it isn’t in quotations.
The question is: What makes something bad or good on the cover of something as mundane as a comic book? At least what a comic book used to be -- one quarter could buy two of those things for almost thirty years.
M.C. Gaines’ almost off-handed idea of repackaging newspaper strips metamorphosed into another publishing genre when the pulp industry needed more material -- reaching out to post-adolescents, and even teenagers, to fill the backs of their delivery trucks with more garish products.
You may find a giggle below the squiggle, if you dare to look!
Is rank amateurism a factor?
Perhaps -- these mini-essays in fetishism, racism, and dorky sensationalism were done by two very young men who had long careers as commercial artists, yet led tragically unfulfilled lives. A lot of other pros started right out of school in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s, but it would be unfair to concentrate on their youthful efforts.
Do bad taste or grossness count?
Oh definitely, but how much of either transcends the Good/Bad Meter? One easy target is pre-code Horror Comics from the decade after WWII, but misogyny and sadism don’t make me laugh.
M.C. Gaines’ sudden death left the family business in the hands of son William Gaines, and his gleefully excessive Entertainment Comicss are still cussed and discussed today. The IMITATORS, though …
Grossness did not begin or end with EC. Fredric Wertham railed primarily against "crime comics," and all he had to do was show examples like these to Kefauver’s congressional committee to state his case:
But enough of THOSE kinds of things! I’m choosing to go in other directions.
Trying too hard, lack of attention, or the blind following of trends create some strange results, and I daresay it’s true for all of the Arts:
Now that we’re in the mainstream, it’s worth noting that Batman & Robin was a shining exemplar of the so-bad-it’s-good aesthetic described as Camp by Susan Sontag in the 1960's. A successful revival of the Dynamic Duo’s wretchedly bad serials from the 40’s in Sontag's circle of cogniscenti spawned a TV series where some really good actors made tasty lemonade from the citrus groves of Gotham City, inspired by the deliberate antics of Jerry Robinson, Dick Sprang, and Bill Finger -- all in the service of Bob Kane, who somehow managed to keep his name attached to DC’s alternative profit center, after they gave Superman’s creators Jerry Siegal and Joe Shuster the heave-ho:
BTW -- I’m willing to bet that DC’s editors missed Siegal & Shuster at times:
Desperate flailing for ideas can sometimes lead to desperate failing:
Mixing genres can make some REAL TROUBLE too:
Exploitation of Popular Culture offers rewards and perils:
When the boss goes WRONG -- Hoo Boy!
Some ideas aren’t particularly good, or may be actually unhealthy:
(Since the words are so tough to read at that size) Supergirl says: I'm so happy for Superman, but how strange that the woman he is finally going to wed looks exactly like I will when I grow up!
We’re getting on in time, but I refuse to end this picture-essay with those misfires directly above.
How about heroes battling their own image? (below):
Thanks to Ellid for allowing me to share some quality BAD time with the RBLS community!
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