Posted in: Comics, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Albert Einstein, dc comics, golden age, harry donenfeld, Promise Collection, strange adventures

Promise Collection 1950s: DC Comics Consults Albert Einstein

1948-1949 represent the peak years for the Promise Collection in terms of volume.  The young fan who started collecting comic books at the age of eight years old in 1939 would've turned 19 in 1950 — a young adult with an ever-increasing number of demands on his money and time, as these things often go.  And while we sometimes think of this early 1950s period as lean times for comics, that is demonstrably untrue.  The number of titles being published by the industry on a monthly basis would continue to climb, and peak in 1952.  As an early 1950 Writer's Digest piece called Comics are Big-Time! on the state of the market explained to prospective writers: "Remember one thing: demand for comics runs in cycles. Ten years ago, animated animals (Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse etc.) were the fad. During the war years, the demand was for real-life. Afterwards, teen-age humor (Archie, Kathy, etc.) were the rage. Today, the demand for true romance is at a peak, with western and adventure (Superman, Captain Marvel) a steady market."

We might quibble with a few of those details, but that 1950 Writer's Digest contributor was on the money with that headline: comics were indeed big-time, and film, television and much of the rest of American business had taken notice.  Of course, with the big time comes big problems, and as most people reading this will know, industry critics would only increase their pressure on comic book publishers from here.  This despite the fact that Senator Estes Kefauver, whose Senate hearings would soon impact the nature of the comics industry for decades, was told by no less an authority than J. Edgar Hoover as early as August 1950 that, "It is doubtful, however, that an appreciable decrease in juvenile delinquency would result if crime comic books of all types were not readily available to children."

Interestingly, Hoover went on to explain to Kefauver that he felt that education rather than the elimination of objectionable media was the answer.  Of course, several publishers, perhaps most notably M.C. Gaines, had been touting the effectiveness of comic books to educate for years by 1950, which brings us to one of my favorite little-known comic book moments of the early 1950s — that time that DC Comics publisher Harry Donenfeld announced that he was going to consult his old acquaintance Albert Einstein about the science in DC Comics titles: "Prof. Albert Einstein's announcement of a new scientific theory has the comic book world in an uproar, the publisher of Superman hinted Sunday at Miami Beach. Still spinning with excitement over the atom bomb and guided missiles, the comic book writers and artists are set to get busy on Einstein." [Note: the impetus for Donenfeld's interest was the announcement of Einstein's "Generalized Theory of Gravitation" a few days prior.]

"And to make sure small fry and adult readers don't' get too far behind on developments, Harry Donenfeld, who controls Superman's destiny (and that of 40 other comics) will make a personal visit to Einstein in a few weeks (They are old friends and have been associated in the organization of Louis Brandeis University). Donenfeld, a New York publisher who puts out about 160,000,000 comic books a year doesn't believe the market is saturated with pseudo-scientific strips, 'They're still going up in popularity he says.'"

Welcome to Part 23 and the final installment of the Promise Collection series, which is meant to serve as liner notes of sorts for the comic books in the collection. The Promise Collection is a set of nearly 5,000 comic books, 95% of which are blisteringly high grade, that were published from 1939 to 1952 and purchased by one young comic book fan.  The name of the Promise Collection was inspired by the reason that it was saved and kept in such amazing condition since that time. An avid comic book fan named Junie and his older brother Robert went to war in Korea.  Robert Promised Junie that he would take care of his brother's beloved comic book collection should anything happen to him. Junie was killed during the Korean War, and Robert kept his promise.  There are more details about that background in a previous post regarding this incredible collection of comic books.  You can always catch up with posts about this collection at this link, which will become a hub of sorts regarding these comic books over time.

1950-1952 in the Promise Collection

1950 represents a significant reduction in the monthly volume being purchased by Junie for his collection.  There are over 500 issues in the Promise Collection from that year, down from over 900 issues in 1949.  As Junie hit about 21 years old in 1951, the volume further drops to about 100 comics for the entire year.   Noteworthy sales thus from this period include Detective Comics #158 CGC 9.6 for $96,000.00 — continuing the trend of incredibly strong results for Joker covers from throughout the collection, Batman #62 CGC 9.8 featuring a great Catwoman cover at $69,000.00, and the stand-out Lex Luthor cover on Superman #68 CGC 9.6 for $31,200. Despite the reduced monthly volume during this period, there is still a noteworthy number of new series debuts from this final period of the collection:

• Secret Missions #1
• Son of Sinbad #1
• Indians #1
• Real Clue Crime Stories #1
• Atomic Spy Cases #1
• Jon Juan #1
• Jungle Lil #1
• Indian Fighter #1
• Jungle Jo #1
• Strange Adventures #1
• Geronimo #1
• Tomahawk #1
• Black Magic #1
• Boys' Ranch #1
• Operation: Peril #1
• Invisible Scarlet O'Neil #1
• Big Town #1
• Witches Tales #1
• Web of Mystery #1
• Battle #1
• Spy Fighters #1
• Ellery Queen #1

Strange Adventures in the Atomic Age

While the historical record is silent on the results of DC Comics publisher Harry Donenfeld's meeting with Einstein (presuming it did happen), it's certainly noteworthy that less than six months after Donenfeld had raised the matter, DC Comics would launch the most important science fiction-centric comic in its history — with a debut issue based at least in part in science fact. Strange Adventures #1 contains ten stories (comics and/or text), and it's the eight-page cover-feature Destination Moon that is of the most historical interest here. The story of a trip to the moon in an advanced atomic-powered spaceship based on the Robert Heinlein film script (in turn based on some of Heinlein's prior work) was adapted for DC Comics by Gardner Fox and Curt Swan.

Destination Moon is considered a seminal moment in science fiction cinema history, setting the tone for more serious and realistic scientific portrayals of such subject matter for the subsequent decades. There are several moments in the film that make it fascinating from the perspective of the atomic age-era concerns that would quickly become one of the defining factors of this period of comic books, beginning with this meta-commentary on the type of propaganda which  became a hallmark of the 1950s and 1960s:

Dr. Charles Cargraves : You can't buck public opinion; I've tried. Have you seen this?

[Newspaper headline: MASS MEETING PROTESTS RADIOACTIVE ROCKET]

General Thayer : That isn't public opinion – it's a job of propaganda!

Jim Barnes : You're almighty right it is. Manufactured and organized – with money and brains. Somebody's out to get us.

General Thayer : The reason is quite simple. We are not the only ones who know that the Moon can be reached. We're not the only ones who are planning to go there. The race is on – and we'd better win it, because there is absolutely no way to stop an attack from outer space. The first country that can use the Moon for the launching of missiles… will control the Earth. That, gentlemen, is the most important military fact of this century.

Of course, this signals the start of the space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Diving into this background even deeper, we find that this purpose was influenced in large part by Destination Moon creator and giant of American science fiction Robert A. Heinlein. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy who had ties to Naval Intelligence during World War II, Heinlein began making efforts to get the Navy interested in rocketry and spaceflight around the end of the war:

With the end of World War II, Heinlein began to develop a close interest in rockets and atomic power. He made it a personal campaign at the end of 1945 and beginning of 1946 to get the Navy interested in rockets [2, 3]. The advent of the large rocket, the V2, was on Lang's mind too; he talked to Ley about making another movie about a spaceship to the Moon. Ley put Lang in touch with Heinlein. Lang invited the Heinleins for dinner often in 1946 and 1947. During those years. Lang and Heinlein talked about a lot of things, Heinlein was reluctant to start writing young adult novels, but Lang convinced Heinlein it would be an excellent way to connect with an audience that had an appetite for space flight.

Fascinatingly, Strange Adventures #1 is one of two major comic book adaptations of the movie which would appear in 1950.  Strange Adventures #1 would hit the newsstands in June 1950, as sort of a short preview ahead of the film's early August opening.  Then, hitting the stands in September, Fawcett Comics would publish a more complete adaptation.

A fascinating artifact of both science fiction and atomic age history,  Strange Adventures #1 also represents a key development in the history of DC Comics itself.  It's probably the most important 1950s-era series launch in the Promise Collection, and I like the notion of ending this series of posts with a focus on this issue, certainly representative of the early atomic age, and the beginnings of a long-lasting series that looks towards the future.

The U.S. draft for the Korean War got underway in earnest in September, 1951, with tens of thousands of young men being called to service every month beginning at that time.  The available information suggests that Junie's brother Robert may have been drafted around this time, with Robert then volunteering to serve shortly thereafter.  After a relatively sparse 1951 during which Junie added about 100 comic books to the collection, there are only a small handful of comics in the Promise Collection from 1952 which mostly hit the stands in the early months of that year.  We know that Junie was killed in action in Korea that year.

As we noted when the Promise Collection find was announced early this year, the collecting community has a way of remembering the original fans who have passed their collections down through the decades to be appreciated in the modern day. Readers and collectors such as Edgar Church, who amassed a collection of nearly 15,000 comics 1937-1957, Davis Crippen, who bought and saved some 13,000 comics 1940-1955, and Lamont Larson, who collected over 1,000 comic books 1936-1940, are all legendary names within the collecting hobby.  The modern collecting community fondly remembers these names and others and discusses them often.  The enthusiastic reception of Promise Collection comic books at auctions throughout 2021 indicates that collectors will also be doing their part to preserve Robert and Junie's comic book legacy for generations to come.

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