HashMaster9k
3056
70
4
This EC Comic was written by writer Al Feldstein and artist Joe Orlando in 1963 for Weird Fantasy #18, prior to the formation of the censorship board called the "Comics Code Authority", which doled out rules about comic content, based upon the sensibilities of the "pearl clutching" 1950's and their "Won't somebody think of the children?!" stance on what children should be exposed to at a young, comic consuming age.
Unfortunately, some of that censorship surpassed the usual anti-sex/nudity/gore/drug stance, and tried to censor stories based on race and race relations at the time. However, this type of censorship was common during the Era. For example, we've all seen that episode of DS9 "Far Beyond the Stars", right?... RIGHT?! (If you haven't, and at least have a passing interest or understanding of Star Trek, I HIGHLY recommend it... AND the entire series). Well, to recap a bit of the plot, Benny, a black Sci-Fi writer, writes the story of Captain Sisko and Deep Space 9, as a pulp sci-fi short story. It is deemed excellent by his fellow writers, yet the editor says the story is for "liberals and the educated" (quite an indictment of their clientele, apparently), and when Benny will not submit a new story, the publisher pulps the entire publishing run claiming that issue wasn't "up to its usual standard".
In the case of this comic story, though, things went quite differently:
William Gaines was the publisher of EC Comics, and absolutely hated any sort of censorship of his magazines. He had helped establish the Comics Code Authority (CCA) to try and comply with the shifting sensibilities of readers while also not coming into conflict with those that saw him as a smut peddler or corruptor of the innocent. But in private, Bill Gaines firmly believed that the Code was at least partially designed by the other members of the authority (including DC Comics) to put his company out of business, as the Code had rules against titles with the words "horror" and "terror" in them, and rules about how large the word "crime" could be in a comic book title. All of those things were trademarks of EC Comics. In the case of "Judgement Day!" however, it did not break any rules established by the CCA, but racists went after him for the republished story all the same.
Gaines threatened Judge Charles Murphy, the Comics Code Administrator, with a lawsuit when Murphy ordered EC to alter "Judgment Day", in Incredible Science Fiction #33 (Feb. 1956). The story was a reprint from the pre-Code Weird Fantasy #18 (April 1953), and was inserted in the newer issue when the Code Authority had rejected an initial, original story, "An Eye For an Eye", drawn by Angelo Torres, but was itself also "objected to" because of "the central character being Black".
So when a similarly themed comic was put in its place, it really made them go bananas in the Code czar's office.
This excerpt from comics historian Digby Diehl's book "Tales from the Crypt: The Official Archives" details the events of it getting published in 1958:
"'Judge Murphy was off his nut. He was really out to get us', recalls [EC editor] Feldstein. 'I went in there with this story and Murphy says, "It can't be a Black man". But ... but that's the whole point of the story!' Feldstein sputtered. When Murphy continued to insist that the Black man had to go, Feldstein put it on the line. 'Listen', he told Murphy, 'you've been riding us and making it impossible to put out anything at all because you guys just want us out of business'.
[Feldstein] reported the results of his audience with the czar to Gaines, who was furious [and] immediately picked up the phone and called Murphy. 'This is ridiculous!' he bellowed. 'I'm going to call a press conference on this. You have no grounds, no basis, to do this. I'll sue you'.
Murphy made what he surely thought was a gracious concession. 'All right. Just take off the beads of sweat [on the Black astronaut]'.
At that, Gaines and Feldstein both went ballistic. 'Fuck you!' they shouted into the telephone in unison. Murphy hung up on them, but the story ran in its original form."
After it was published, not only did they get good response from its readers, but if you'll notice on that letters page, the last positive letter included was from Ray Bradbury, one of the contemporary masters of science fiction himself.
The unfortunate irony in all this is how relevant the topic still is, and how we as a society are still nowhere near "acceptance criteria" level for this Galactic Federation spoken of in the comic. Understanding that most differences between humans are purely skin deep, but that minor difference results in second class citizen status for no other reason than hatred for the "other" that us "not like you". The similarities abound more than the differences, and I am hopeful (like this comic) that one day we will reach the level of justified equality to be accepted into a wider, even galactic community.