Art of Darkness - Review of The Horror! The Horror!
Continuing the series
of reviews of last year’s bountiful harvest of books about horror
comics, Drake brings you a look at one of the most interesting volumes
ever written on the subject.
The Horror! the Horror!: Comic Books the Government Didn’t Want You to Read
Jim Trombetta, introduction by R.L. Stine
Color, 304 pages
Abrams ComicArts
If Four Color Fear is the raw, black coal of cultural darkness, then The Horror! The Horror! is the refined product. Horror collects old pre-Code horror comics and outrageous covers (there is only a little duplication of material between the two books) but its main content is a remarkable series of little essays about the meaning of the comics, setting them in the historic and cultural context of their age. Author Jim Trombetta weaves musings about werewolves, the specter of death, and other topics into some sharp analysis of the weird sides of American culture in the 1950s.
He also takes a playful, smart look at many aspects of the comics themselves, examining the charges against horror comics and the Comics Code’s advent, as well as focusing on particular images and themes. The chapter that I found most horrifyingly fascinating is called “The Tale of the Head,” in which he frames the common comic book severed head motif in the context of World War 2 atrocities involving the collection of heads. This all sounds like grisly academics, but the analysis is lively and packed with true, weird history.
There’s also a great chapter on erotic themes in 50s horror comics, necrophilia, the “lesbian menace”, and a deep horror of sexuality in general. Sex and horror, as always, were uncomfortable cousins, especially in the 1950s. At the risk of sounding like Fredric Wertham, the psychiatrist who attacked comics with so much success in the 40s and 50s, it is a little disturbing to imagine that these twisted, colorful fables were aimed at kids whose ideas of sexuality were still developing.
Besides wonderful reprints and insightful essays, the book includes a unique “extra” – an episode of a mid-50s TV show called Confidential File, originally telecast not long after the enactment of the Comics Code. Undeterred by the fact that the newsstands have been cleaned of offensive smut, the show’s host proceeds to interview actual kids about the comics they read and to offhandedly accuse comics of undermining the American way of life. Unearthing this little segment of television history was a great accomplishment on its own!
I would love to read more critical writing of this type about comics. I’m fascinated by our society’s relationship to the dark side of its culture and The Horror! The Horror! is the perfect blend of scholarship and sleaze.
The Horror! the Horror!: Comic Books the Government Didn’t Want You to Read Jim Trombetta, introduction by R.L. Stine
Color, 304 pages
Abrams ComicArts
If Four Color Fear is the raw, black coal of cultural darkness, then The Horror! The Horror! is the refined product. Horror collects old pre-Code horror comics and outrageous covers (there is only a little duplication of material between the two books) but its main content is a remarkable series of little essays about the meaning of the comics, setting them in the historic and cultural context of their age. Author Jim Trombetta weaves musings about werewolves, the specter of death, and other topics into some sharp analysis of the weird sides of American culture in the 1950s.
He also takes a playful, smart look at many aspects of the comics themselves, examining the charges against horror comics and the Comics Code’s advent, as well as focusing on particular images and themes. The chapter that I found most horrifyingly fascinating is called “The Tale of the Head,” in which he frames the common comic book severed head motif in the context of World War 2 atrocities involving the collection of heads. This all sounds like grisly academics, but the analysis is lively and packed with true, weird history.There’s also a great chapter on erotic themes in 50s horror comics, necrophilia, the “lesbian menace”, and a deep horror of sexuality in general. Sex and horror, as always, were uncomfortable cousins, especially in the 1950s. At the risk of sounding like Fredric Wertham, the psychiatrist who attacked comics with so much success in the 40s and 50s, it is a little disturbing to imagine that these twisted, colorful fables were aimed at kids whose ideas of sexuality were still developing.Besides wonderful reprints and insightful essays, the book includes a unique “extra” – an episode of a mid-50s TV show called Confidential File, originally telecast not long after the enactment of the Comics Code. Undeterred by the fact that the newsstands have been cleaned of offensive smut, the show’s host proceeds to interview actual kids about the comics they read and to offhandedly accuse comics of undermining the American way of life. Unearthing this little segment of television history was a great accomplishment on its own!
I would love to read more critical writing of this type about comics. I’m fascinated by our society’s relationship to the dark side of its culture and The Horror! The Horror! is the perfect blend of scholarship and sleaze.
Posted by Angela Caperton at 2/1/2011 9:48 PM 
Categories: Drake Caperton, comics review, Comics, Review, Drake, Censorship
Tags: Drake Caperton Horror Comics Comics
Categories: Drake Caperton, comics review, Comics, Review, Drake, Censorship
Tags: Drake Caperton Horror Comics Comics
Comments