Posted in: Comics, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Promise Collection, War Production Board

The Promise Collection 1945: The End of the Robot Planes

"German's Robot Plane Dangerous Menace," warned newspaper headlines across the country — and the world — in early 1944. "There is evidence that the secret weapon with which Hitler hopes to make an 11th-hour retrieval from disaster is a crewless radio-controlled aircraft, loaded to capacity with explosives, and Just enough fuel to reach the target, to which it can be directed accurately, says Cyrus Sulzberger, New York Times correspondent at an airbase In Italy. It would be extraordinarily difficult to intercept the craft either by fighter or by balloon, because its high speed would sever any balloon cable. Allied experts say that the crewless plane, which has not yet been launched in attack, would be unquestionably a dangerous menace, but there is not the slightest worry that will ever be more than especially nasty. Its weakness is the exceedingly complex launching mechanism. The Germans have erected many take-off points along the west coast, several of which the Allies have already been destroyed by bombs."  It would be about a year before the fan who assembled the Promise Collection would see the "robot planes" in his comic books, and by that time, he probably also realized how much these early news reports underestimated their destructive potential.

These robot planes were an early form of guided missile, and are remembered today by the name V-1 or "Vengeance Weapon".   They influenced comic book covers such as All Select Comics #6,  Black Terror #8, and most obviously Star Spangled Comics #43 among others.  Between June 1944 and March 1945, some 22,000 V-1s were launched against targets in England and Belgium to terrifying effect.  In London alone, thousands were killed, tens of thousands of homes were smashed, and one million people were evacuated.  But by the time these robot planes had made their way into wartime comic books, their effectiveness as a weapon had been dramatically reduced.  Among other factors, a man whose interest in science, physics, and electronics had been sparked by pulp legend Hugo Gernsback's science publications such as Modern Electrics, Electrical Experimenter, and Science and Invention.  Merle Tuve's 1920s-era discoveries paved the way for the development of radar and atomic energy, and as the Director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism during WWII, he led the team that developed the proximity fuse which would become the key to ending the V1's threat and much more.  This development is just one symbol of the changing winds of war during the first few months of 1945 which would seep into the pages — and the business — of comic books.

Welcome to Part 9 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.  And over the course of a few dozen articles in this new series of posts, we will also be revealing the complete listing of the collection.  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.

January-June 1945 in the Promise Collection

Given the circumstances surrounding the disposition of the Promise Collection at the dawn of the Korean War, it's hard not to wonder what Junie may have thought of a widely-publicized example of serious comic book fandom that hit the news in January 1945.  Private James D. Rosso of Devon, Connecticut had gone to great lengths to get his comic book fix while serving on the front lines of the war.  According to the AP report, he'd crossed into German-held territory in Belgium to connect with another soldier who had some comic books.  When informed he was about to cross into enemy territory, he continued undaunted. According to a fellow soldier, "He was really sweating those comic books out that night. And he came back with them too." Demand for comic books was as strong as it had ever been over these few months, and the Promise Collection contains a noteworthy number of new series launches from this time frame. Issue #1's for this period include Frankenstein #1, Miss Cairo Jones #1, Spark Man Comics #1, Canonball Comics #1, Mask Comics #1, and Power Comics #1 among others.  Other historically important issues from the collection from this time include Captain America Comics #46, and several L.B. Cole covers such as Suspense Comics #8 and Mask Comics #1 and #2.  But despite the number of new series debuts, there are actually about 25 fewer comic books in the Promise Collection from the first six months of 1945 than there were during the last six months of 1944.  And there's a very good likely reason for this dip:  In February 1945, the War Production Board dropped the hammer on the comic book industry.

War Production Board's Campaign Against Comic Books

"WPB Cracks Down on Comic Books for Misuse of Paper," claimed an Associated Press piece that appeared in hundreds of newspapers and magazines across the United States in May 1945. "WPB has halted publication of 37 comic and five detective magazines. And stored in warehouses are more than 5,000,000 copies of 17 magazines 'frozen' before they could be offered for sale."  While curiously claiming that none of the comic books were "nationally known", the piece also noted that "Results of a WPB campaign last February are noticeable in an abrupt drop in the number of comic and detective magazines on sale at the newsstands. One survey disclosed that the number of comic book titles dropped from 175 on March 1 to 146 on April 1, while the number of pages fell from a February total of 4,711 to an April count of 2,698."

This public salvo against the comic book industry requires a little unpacking, as it doesn't take a mathematician to see that those numbers don't add up.  They suggest a per-comic book page count average significantly lower than was common even in this paper rationing era, and combined with the "not nationally known" line suggests they may, in reality, be talking about newspaper comic sections which were sometimes printed in comic book-style format to catch the rising wave of popularity of the comic books (the most famous of these are of course Spirit Sections).  This would seem to be confirmed by the notion that the printer mentioned when the matter was discussed in the publishing trade, Neo Gravure Printing Co of New York City, was better known for printing Sunday comics sections rather than comic books proper.  Nevertheless, while the numbers suggesting a page count drop are similarly dubious (page counts through this time frame had dropped as low as 32 pages on some titles, but remained stable through this six-month period) the idea that the number of comic books on the stands dipped by as many as 25 titles over this time frame is very broadly accurate.  And there are specific examples of the price that some publishers paid for breaking the rules which involve comic books present in the Promise Collection.

"Permission to continue distribution of two comic magazines, Ribtickler and Book All Comics, was refused by the War Production Board's Appeals Board, it was announced by WPB on June 22," industry trade magazine Printing Equipment Engineer noted during this time period, in a ruling that generally signaled the end of the "giant-sized" comics that had begun to appear in 1944 such as Book of All Comics among others. "The magazines had been printed in violation Of order L-244 which limits the paper tonnage that can be used to print magazines and periodicals. The decision, WPB said, may set up a precedent for cases involving many millions Of copies Of comic and detective magazines that have been printed in violation of paper quota regulations. The Appeals Board held that the 'evidence at hearing failed to support claim of severe hardship other than what was apparently self-imposed'. The appeal was filed by Belmont Books, Inc., and Giant Books, Inc. Victor S. Fox is president of both corporations. The two comic magazines Ribtickler and Book of All Comics were published under the imprint of Chicago Nite Life News. Inc., 250 West Broadway, New York N, Y., which has used paper greatly in excess of its quota."  The "apparently self-imposed" remark seemingly refers to February 6, 1945 order amendments which made printers and distributors responsible for not the fulfillment of services for comics or magazines they suspected were in violation of WPB guidelines.

That amendment to WPB Limitation Orders resulted in several other examples of comic book publisher violations from this narrow early 1945 time frame. Lindsey L. Baird, publisher of titles including Blazing Comics, Blue Circle Comics, Eagle Comics, and Cannonball Comics was sentenced to 60 days in prison and fined $20,000 for misuse of 600 tons of newsprint, effectively ending his Rural Home comic book line.  Holyoke Publishing Co. was hit with a suspension order over a complex scheme involving Victor Fox, and Frank Z. Temerson which entailed Holyoke briefly taking control of titles Cat-Man Comics, Captain Aero, and Blue Beetle over unpaid debts and then transferring the paper quotas from those publications to its own title Sparkling Stars.  That title would not reappear on the newsstands until after WPB oversight of paper consumption ended. And Gilberton Company, the publisher of Classics Illustrated, was also hit with a suspension order for a scheme in which it engaged with some newspaper owners to use their paper quotas to produce Classic Illustrated reprints.  This scenario is similar to the situation behind Elliot Publishing's Spitfire Comics and is likely why that title was so short-lived.  It should be noted that although Classics Illustrated is present in the Promise Collection, they are omitted here for the time being until printing edition information can be confirmed.

The United States government would end controls over usage of newsprint by revoking the rationing requirements of the War Production Board on December 31, 1945.  However, newsprint shortages would linger for years after the war, and the events of 1945 would harden newspaper and magazine publishers into formidable opponents of the comic book industry on a very practical level.  There was a perception among both publishers and the public that newspapers and magazines were being forced to make deep cuts to their paper usage — at the expense of their profits — while the comic book industry flourished and boomed by consuming thousands of tons of newsprint over the same period.  When Victor Fox associate David Korneman (also the man behind comics publisher Green Publishing) testified before a Senate Subcommittee on newsprint shortages in 1947, it was clear that other publishing industry figures were still wary of his maneuvers.  Such resentments likely played a contributory role in other Senate Subcommittee proceedings that were yet to come.

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