CSBG Archive
Scott’s Classic Comics Corner: The Short Life of Comic Media
I wouldn’t be surprised if 75% of comic book fans had never heard of Comic Media and that’s too bad as they produced some awesome books.
The company was only around for a few years, publishing just over a dozen titles, none of which lasted more than 20 issues. It may be best known as Don Heck’s personal sandbox, but other talented artists such as Pete “PAM” Morisi and the Andru/Esposito team made significant contributions. Comic Media was one of a small handful of comic book related companies controlled by Alan Hardy over the years. I haven’t read much on the company or its history, but its legacy lives on due to the incredibly high quality of the books it put out. Here’s a quick look at some of what Comic Media had to offer.
Let’s start with a look at some of Comic Media’s Adventure/Crime titles. Danger began in January of 1953 as a pretty standard ‘male adventure’ type book that Atlas published by the truckload. I’ve only owned one issue from this phase (#6 to be precise) and I can tell you that it was fun but nothing groundbreaking. With the 7th issue, the title had a real shift in tone focusing on government agents such as Duke Douglas. It’s a lot more hardboiled pulpy fun.
Dynamite has a very similar history to Danger. Launched in may of 1953, it made the tonal shift to hardboiled detective magazine with the 3rd issue, introducing Johnny Dynamite, the only Comic Media character who still resonates today thanks to Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty. They featured reprints of Pete Morisi’s terrific creation as a back-up in Ms. Tree, eventually producing some original Johnny Dynamite stories.
Comic Media also dipped its toe into some other genres, including western with Death Valley (note the Andru/Esposito cover). I’ve never owned one of these, and came very, very close to picking one up at a show last weekend but stuck to my guns (and budget). War Fury was the only war book produced by Comic Media, but what a book it was. It’s a violent and sensational as any war book produced in the pre-Code era. Those with a keen eye will note that the soldier with the bullet through his head looks very similar to the infamous ‘bullet through the head’ cover to Horrific #3, which was published 4 months later. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a popular cover that was the result of simple stat.
Rounding out the genres, Comic Media also published a handful of Romance titles, including All-True Romance. Heck, Morisi and Andru/Esposito all excelled in that genre, some I can only assume that these were top notch books as I’ve never seen on in person. Finally, we’ve got Noodnik, a humor title feature a young Inuit boy. That’s something you don’t see every day. It was written and drawn by Frank Roberge, who went on to produce funnybooks for Charlton well into the 70s.
Ok, you’ve been patient. Now, we’ll get to the good stuff. The only reason Comic Media is still even a footnote among comic book lovers as its wonderful horror books. Weird Terror and Horrific are among the most highly coveted pre-Code titles on the market. I’ve had a handful of these over the years, and can state that they are among the finest horror books put out by a 2nd tier published. They are not quite at the EC/Harvey/Atlas level, but are far superior to the likes of Ajax-Farrell and Ace. How can anyone resist those great Don Heck covers? Comic Media never made it to the post-Code world, and they only real sign that the impending CCA was felt at the company was the change in title from Horrific to Terrific for the final issue. It was just a little hint that the end was nigh.
So, what happened to Comic Media? I don’t really know. Some of their titles were sold to Charlton, but they didn’t last more than a few issues. Aside from a few stories reprinted here and there, and the new Johnny Dynamite material, Comic Media is in danger of being lost to the sands of time. That’s a real shame, as there is plenty of great material and I’d line up for a collection of Comic Media reprints. I love EC as much as the next guy, but do we really need the 17th repacking of the EC titles, when great stuff like this has yet to see the light of day.
For more comic book chatter, stop by my blog Seduction of the Indifferent
10 Comments
T.
September 1, 2009 at 7:49 am
Wow, I never heard of this company but….wow.
Awesome piece, thanks for sharing this.
Mike Loughlin
September 1, 2009 at 9:54 am
I never knew Don Heck had it in him.
joecab
September 1, 2009 at 10:34 am
Noodnik looks like a slightly older Dondi in a parka.
jazzbo
September 1, 2009 at 10:37 am
I never really cared for Don Heck’s art on the Avengers, but these covers are great. I’d love to see some reprints of this.
Scott
September 1, 2009 at 10:46 am
Heck is the all-time criminally underappreciated comic book artist. Whoever called him ‘Don Hack’ back in the late 70s or early 80s did a real disservice to comic book fans and to the man’s legacy. Comic book fans and critics are too quick to hang a label on someone for a few cheap laughs rather than to look at the entirety of someone’s body of work. Heck worked in comics for 40 years – he could draw anything from horses (something many artist avoid) to beautiful women. During the 70s and 80s, he was oftened partnered with inkers who did nothing to accentuate his artwork. It’s really too bad, as he is a masterful storyteller who just so happened to drawn many of my favourite comic book stories.
I really wish this Comic Media stuff would get a nice reprint treatment so that people could get a look at Heck’s work at its most pure (i.e. away from the inking skills of Many Hands).
Sam
September 1, 2009 at 1:28 pm
These comics are great. But then again I love all golden age books, even the crappy ones.
I got a few tattered copies on ebay (and downloaded, scanned by some kindly souls.)
Brad Curran
September 1, 2009 at 6:55 pm
I remember part of the problem with people bagging on Heck was that Harlan Ellison mistakenly called him the worst comic artist ever when he was thinking of someone else.
Mike Loughlin
September 1, 2009 at 7:15 pm
In The Comic Book Heroes, by Gerard Jones & Wil Jacobs, the late ’70s interview is recounted as follows:
“While griping about how hack art was taking over comics, Ellision fumbled, perhaps rhetorically, for an example of the worst art in comics. [Interviewer Gary] Groth gleefully supplied a name: ‘Don Heck.”… Ellison, mistaking the name for someone else’s, laughingly agreed. Groth published the whole exchange. Harlan would spend years apologizing to Heck whenever he saw him. Groth wouldn’t.”
I only know Heck’s work from the Avengers (which I didn’t like), Giant Sized Tomb of Dracula (it pales in comparison to Colan’s) and Defenders (Gerber’s writing is the star, and Heck’s work isn’t much better or worse than Sal Buscema’s). I’ve heard for years that he’s vastly underrated. Now I can see why.
Scott
September 2, 2009 at 7:53 am
Thanks for that MIke and Brad – I knew that there was a bit of a screw up in the diss, but the damage was done.
Peter Morisi’s work is also vastly underappreciated. That’s mostly because after the 50s, he worked mainly for Charlton. The Johnny Dynamite stories he did for Comic Media are amazing, and his style was very unique. The romance cover I included was also by Morisi.
When things started to go south in the comic book industry during the 50s, Morisi joined the NYPD. He would moonlight for Charlton over the next 20 years, signing his work as PAIII. Charlton was the perfect employer, as they gave him a good deal of creative and scheduling freedom.
Dan Bailey
September 3, 2009 at 9:49 am
Mike —
Makes me wonder when that TCJ interview was published, because I well remember that Heck was regarded by a sizable contingent of fans (including, I’m ashamed to admit, me) as synomous with “Hack” at least as early as the mid-’70s.
It also makes me wonder whom Ellison was actually thinking of in “mistaking the name for someone else’s.”
Aaaaaaand, it makes me happy not to have put more than a few dimes (he’s with Fantagraphics, right? I couldn’t resist the Blazing Combat collection a few months ago … otherwise, offhand I’m not sure I’ve bought anything else of theirs non-used) in the smarmy Gary Groth’s pockets since my TCJ sub lapsed in the early ’80s.