Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: pre-code horror, Wertham

William K. Friedman Pushing Dark Mysteries to the Limit, at Auction

Published Mon, 24 Oct 2022 08:27:13 -0500

Burning witches at the stake on a cover by Hy Fleishman for Dark Mysteries #10 is just the beginning of the horror in this deceptively gruesome comic book from Master Publications and its managing editor William K. Friedman. Dark Mysteries is just as notorious now as it was in 1954, when Friedman squared off against the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency about the title in a fiery exchange about the title. The series ran 24 issues 1951-1955 and several of them are noteworthy from the perspective of Pre-Code Horror collectors, and Dark Mysteries #10 is one of the best. There's a Dark Mysteries #10 and 15 of the 24 issues of the series up for auction in the 2022 October 27 – 28 Halloween Pre-Code Horror and Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40207 at Heritage Auctions.

Dark Mysteries #4 (Master Publications, 1952)

William K. Friedman vs the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency

William K. Friedman, also the owner of publisher Story Comics among others, characterized himself as a managing editor of sorts for Dark Mysteries, naming Ray Hermann as the title's actual editor. But Friedman was known to be very hands-on in editorial matters himself, and despite dodging questions from the Subcommittee on that point, admitted that he approached the title from "a legalistic attitude." As we'll see, this was not Friedman's first brush with censorship on the newsstands, and as his testimony made clear, he was very aware of what limits could be pushed.

Mr. BEASER. Have you anything to do with the magazine Dark Mysteries?
Mr. FRIEDMAN. Yes, but the magazine Dark Mysteries, I assist in the editing of the magazine.
Mr. BEASER. That is put out by─
Mr. FRIEDMAN. It is put out by a corporation known as Master Comics ─ that particular magazine is issued by a company known as Master Comics. I don't remember if I ever had any interest in Master Comics. At least I have no interest now.

Mr. FRIEDMAN. But from the evidence that I have heard before this committee, from the very vociferous witnesses who appeared yesterday, the publisher of a book, from the evidence that I heard yesterday, he had 3,000 cases before him in a period of perhaps 5 to 6 years, and if I remember his evidence correctly, he could not point to a single instance in which he said that the particular juvenile was caused to become a delinquent because he read any particular kind of comic magazines.

Mr. BEASER. Are you not engaging in semantics, Mr. Friedman?
Mr. FRIEDMAN. I am not. I am trying to be honest in your answers.
Mr. BEASER. Are you not trying to say you can't point to a comic book which is a direct cause of a crime rather than talking about whether crime and horror comic books may be a contributing factor in the total scene, in the total action of a child?
Mr. FRIEDMAN. I did try to say before, and I am not a psychiatrist, that from what I have heard it appears to me that everything is a contributing factor to a child who is a delinquent, whether it is a rainy day, whether he has 5 cents in his pocket, or has not got 5 cents in his pocket, but I would like to come back to what I was mentioning before ─ this other witness who was here this morning also indicated there was no single incident.

As Friedman's comfortable sparring implies, this was not the first time he'd been in a position of defending publishers against government censorship. He was also a lawyer, and in 1934 he took on New York City over Commissioner of Licenses Paul Moss's actions in ordering 59 magazines off the newsstands there, including a number of pulps. Among other pulp publishers, Friedman represented Harry Donenfeld, who would soon become the publisher of DC Comics but was then the publisher of pulps including Pep Stories, Spicy Stories, and Gay Parisienne.

Friedman was well familiar with where the perceived boundaries were and was willing to test them with titles like Dark Mysteries. An underappreciated Pre-Code Horror title, there's a Dark Mysteries #10 and 15 of the 24 issues of the series up for auction in the 2022 October 27 – 28 Halloween Pre-Code Horror and Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40207 at Heritage Auctions. If you've never bid at Heritage Auctions before, you can get further information, you can check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters.