Dell Comics specialized in heroes made famous in other media — characters like the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Lassie and Tarzan.
The “wholesome” factor was built in.
“Although Dell didn’t submit its comics to the Comics Code Authority, the company developed its own internal set of guidelines mildly known as Hints on Writing for Dell Comics,” noted comics historian Bill Schelly.
“The document had a section on Taboos which began, ‘Avoid sophisticated and adult themes’ as well as ‘anything dealing with minority races, politics, religion, labor, suicides, death, afflictions (such as blindness), torture, kidnapping, blackmail, snakes, sex, love, female villains, crooked lawmen or heavies of any race other than the white race.’”
Tarzan first appeared in the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel Tarzan of the Apes in 1912, when artist Jesse Marsh was 5, and so the ape man had already been swinging around for 35 years when Marsh began to draw him for Dell Comics in 1947.
“Writer Gaylord Dubois attempted to blend the Burroughs material with the currently popular motion picture version,” noted comics historian Jim Brancatelli in The World Encyclopedia of Comics. “What resulted was an unsatisfactory hybrid of Burroughs and movies: Tarzan’s son was erroneously called ‘Boy;’ Jane was a brunette, Tarzan lived in a treehouse, and covers sported photographs of Lex Barker or Gordon Scott as the movie Tarzan.”
Tarzan had been a multi-media star since his inception, with the first Tarzan film appearing in 1918. In fact, the date of his first newspaper strip — Jan. 7, 1929 — is considered the birthday of the adventure comic strip (because by coincidence, the Buck Rogers science fiction comic strip debuted the same day).
Superman, Zorro and Tarzan all counted as superheroes when I was a kid in the 1950s, and I still think of them that way.
David Brian Fyke:
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dan. I must be just a little younger than you. I didn’t appreciate the Dell comics growing up in the ‘60s. My budget was limited to DC super-heroes. Occasionally I’d buy a Gold Key or a Marvel (which shrewd friends traded to snatch before I realized what I had).
Bob Doncaster:
ReplyDeleteI think it was Gordon Scott who was the first movie Tarzan to speak fluent English which continued with Jock Mahoney, Mike Henry and Ron Ely
I replied:
Yes, as ERB's Tarzan did. Presumably the silent movie Tarzans spoke fluent English, but how would we know? Scott's last two Tarzan movies — Tarzan's Greatest Adventure and Tarzan the Magnificent — were two of best Tarzan movies ever made.
John Clancy:
ReplyDeleteI used to sneak out my bedroom window after sundown, in my homemade Zorro costume. I would spy on the other neighborhood kids playing nearby, looking for clues.
Tony Assaff:
ReplyDeleteAvoid snakes, sex and love? So presumably no Garden of Eden stories?
Ron Kasman:
ReplyDeleteI tried to read Little Lulu to my daughter. My wife did not appreciate that there was an uncle in Tubby's crowd named "Feeb". He wasn't all there. Today we would say he was suffering from dementia. He hung around with the children Tubby's age and behaved strangely. No one would get away with calling a children's character "Feeb" today. At the time it was written is was just meant as a joke.
I replied:
They were, nevertheless, terrifically plotted stories that were very pro-girl.
Mark Bowen
ReplyDeleteHere's something "wholesome" for ya — growing up, both of our family dogs were cocker spaniels, so that's always been my favorite breed. Back then (I'm a '90s baby) cockers had already been completely usurped by golden and Labrador retrievers as the default dog in American pop culture, so I love seeing how omnipresent they were in comics (and media in general) of the '40s and '50s.
I replied:
I suspect the 1955 film Lady and the Tramp had something to do with that.
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteFor obvious reasons, Zorro appealed to me. The sign of the Z!!!
Guy Williams brought a similar sensibility to Don Diego/Zorro as George Reeves brought to Clark Kent/Superman.
The Lone Ranger was another favorite. Clayton Moore didn't have the same lighthearted approach but he was equally appealing.
Can't saying was a big Tarzan fan. I saw the Weismuller movies and liked them enough and I thought his Tarzan was the correct one. Until I discovered that he wasn't! There was the Ron Eky TV show, which I found boring, but that better reflected the book Tarzan. I did not read the Dell Tarzan, though i picked up an issue or two, maybe in my doctor's office.
Marsh's art also did not appeal to me. When DC took over Tarzan, I bought it because it was Kubert and I became a fan. Then I discovered Russ Manning's work, which i really liked also, and that too was the truer Tarzan.
I replied:
The Ron Ely show WAS a bore. As network TV presented him, you could never believe Ron Ely had been infrahuman.
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteDell's founder George T. Delacorte Jr. was a major benefactor for NYC--he donated money for the theater in Central Park that bears his name, as well as the Alice in Wonderland statue in the park and numerous fountains.
Johnny Williams:
ReplyDeleteOf course these stood out to me.
'(no) minority races'
(no) ‘heavies of any race other than the white race’
Wow! Just wow.
Robert Wolfeagle:
ReplyDeleteThey're all looking down at him from heaven... And Dell Comics tell the stories of how they met their grizzly end.
Damon L. Fordham:
ReplyDeleteAs a late 60s and early 70s baby, I cut my teeth on Harvey Comics, but by age 7 quickly found them "babyish" with Little Dot, the Casper menagerie, Richie Rich, Little Lotta, etc. I moved on to Gold Key, because I loved the fact that for 50 cents, you could get a nice thick Disney, Hanna Barbera, or Tom and Jerry comics digest with enough good stories to get your money's worth. From there, I got into the Archie world, having already loved the television cartoons, but I was fascinated by the DC 100 Page Spectaculars, which introduced me to the joys of Golden Age era adventure stories, as well as the Famous First Edition reprints. By my teenage years, I dipped my toe into the Marvel world (which earlier went over my head with their psychological dramas) with Spider-Man and the Hulk, the latter of which was on television by then. My mother threw out my original stash when I was 13, but recently, I've largely rebuilt my collection of the very issues I loved of the DC Spectaculars, Gold Key Digests, and Famous First Edition reprints. They make for pleasant reading on my front porch after a day of work.