Review by David Ferguson
James Bacon is back with another academic look into the world of comics. Following up on his look at Irish Conflict In Comics in the 20th Century, reviewed here, he delves into history of comic book censorship in 1950s Ireland. Taking its title from a letter to the Irish Independent in 1952, A Sensual Cesspool of Iniquity, published by Limit Break Comics, takes a look at the origins and the development of censorship legislation in Ireland, the explosion of articles on the alleged evils of comics and what may have been the real motivation behind it all. The book is thoroughly researched and it would be difficult for this reviewer to go into the same level of detail with this review. So, as I did with James Bacon’s previous work, I am going to take a look at a couple of chapters that immediately caught my eye. I also think they are ones that would be of interest to those outside Ireland. (John Freeman has already pointed out one for British comic fans).
One of the chapters that stood out to me straight away was Chapter 11: 1953 – Action Comics Banned. Action Comics is a DC Comics title well known to comic fans so this is immediately of interest. While looking at a copy of the Register of Prohibited Publications, James discovered a book labelled Action Comics Annual Vol. 2, listed as published by “Superman D.C. National Comics U.S.A. and the T.B. Pub Co Sydney”.
Now this is interesting for two reasons, outlined by James in the book. First, DC weren’t likely to be publishing anything too controversial in a Superman title and secondly, it was a couple of decades too early for an Action Comics Annual. So “Action Comics Annual Vol. 2” is not what it appears to be. This chapter is an informative look into the history of comics publishing on this side of the Atlantic as James details what that comic may have been and looks into a similar example that still exists. It also gives you some of the history of Action Comics itself.
Some of us (read: me) may take this book as a suggestion for comic books to be read, if only to see into the minds of those who deemed comics worthy of censorship. (To quote The Boomtown Rats’ song “Banana Republic”, “The black and blue uniforms, police and priests”). With that in mind, I take a look at Chapter 16: 1954 Bannings. The book goes a little bit in what was happening in the UK and US to provide context for what was happening in Ireland. In this chapter, James looks at the strange disparity between the number of mentions of comics the newspapers in 1954 (300 mentioned) and the number of comics actually banned (seven comics, one magazine with a comic story in it). A disparity the modern reader may well be familiar in other contexts.
The banned comics, according to the records, were Teen-Age Temptations, Crime SuspenStories, Weird Horrors, Adventures Into Weird Worlds, Black Magic Comics, The Monster of Frankenstein and Terror Tales From The Crypt.
Now don’t go looking these up straight away because, as with Action Comics Annual Vol. 2, mentioned earlier, some of them aren’t quite right. For example, the last one is simply Tales from the Crypt, the well-known EC Comics publication. A UK reprint of issues 40 and 41 of the US comic in fact. Luckily for you, James provides these details and more to help you seek out the titles if you wish. Also, in an act of great generosity on his part, he has donated some of the comics he was able to find to the National Library of Ireland. Something that will aid further study.
The book of course is quite serious given the topic but I found some humour in Chapter 5, where James takes a look at, amongst other things, a story about a Tijuana Bible in 1950s Castlebar: “The Wrong Kind of Bible.”
There is a certain level of absurdity found when looking back at the mindset of some in the 1950s. James does a great job at finding the falsehoods that they are basing their arguments on and showing that it was all possibly one big distraction. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Anway, this is another book that readers will pick up again and again. I am hoping that James Bacon’s research will lead to more.
David Ferguson
• A Sensual Cesspool of Iniquity is available from Limit Break Comics and will be on sale at Dublin Comic Con, as well as on Amazon.co.uk (Affiliate Link) | Amazon.com | Amazon.ie
• The Leprechaun, and the Irish War on Comics by James Bacon
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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