OK, Now He’s Just Piling On! George Orwell on American coloured comic books, Part 3
February 21, 2010
“On the front page there is a picture of of what is either an ape-like lunatic, or an actual ape dressed up as a man, strangling a woman so realistically that her tongue is sticking four inches out of her mouth.”
Here is the splash page (left) that George Orwell is referring to from Hangman Comics #8, Fall 1943, pencils and inks by Bob Fujitani. Click on images for larger size. This issue includes “The Case of the Python’s Curse” also referred to by Orwell.
We’ve covered this repeat offender’s anti-comics rants before, here and here.
“A correspondent has sent me a copy of one the disgusting American ‘comics’ which I referred to a few weeks ago. The two main stories in it are about a beautiful creature called the Hangman, who has a green face, and, like so many characters in American strips, can fly. On the front page there is a picture of of what is either an ape-like lunatic, or an actual ape dressed up as a man, strangling a woman so realistically that her tongue is sticking four inches out of her mouth. Another item is a python looping itself around a man’s neck and then hanging him by suspending itself over a balustrade. Another is a man jumping out of a skyscraper window and hitting the pavement with a splash. There is much else of the same kind. . . Certainly I would keep these things out of children’s hands if possible. But I would not be in favour of actually prohibiting their sale. The precedent is too dangerous.”
Excerpt from As I Please 67, Tribune, 27 December 1946
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.