So, what do you do for villains once World War II is over?

This proved a vexing problem for much of comics industry.

Fawcett had their own cute way: they kept WWII going for a whole extra year!

Note that little seal on the lower left side: "OFFICIAL WAR ARCHIVES."

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

This:
Now, Wow Comics #41 was cover dated February 1946; it streeted in late January. Which was, of course, 9 months after V-E day, and and almost 5 months after V-J day.

Which means that the stories were almost certainly crafted after the end of the war. Or perhaps Fawcett just had a huge backlog of war stories they had already paid for?

But man oh man, the Nazis and the Japanese made such great villains!! And except for Patton, no one was ready to commit to commies as the villains yet. So, with heroes like Phantom Eagle and Commando Yank so closely tied to WWII, what to do?

Well, I give Fawcett points for the "now it can be told" approach. "Public exposure of hitherto confidential stories" is a pretty good rationalization for "we want to keep telling Hitler and Tojo stories."

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. Hell, DC was publishing Sgt. Rock war comics until the late 1980s. And Hollywood still churns out a WWII flick or two every year. Those guys never felt they had to explain why they well telling tales of a war that was over.

But Fawcett clearly felt the need to justify the back-of-the-book heroes continuing to fight in a war that was over. "Highly secret war record," indeed.

By the June 1946 issue the charade ended (or they just used up the backlog of war stories they had sitting around?!?), and Phantom Eagle & Commando Yank began to run non war-time stories, going up against smugglers and post-war profiteers and enemy agents from unspecified countries, without the need to dress it up as "secret stories that we're now allowed to tell."

And soon enough the Red Menace would be a major concern for heroes to face, and Korea would provide ample opportunity for contemporary war tales.

In the early 1950s, Fawcett was fully on board the lurid crime comic bandwagon.

And talk about your hard sell--check out the covers, and especially the scare-you-to-death blurbs!





Dude, I don't think I'm old enough to read these "every page will cause you terror" comics!!

It wasn't just the covers--they kept up the pressure on the inside--with the house ads!



Oh, and there were other titles, too:



All pretty grisly stuff...but the 5 issues of Suspense Detective really poured on the terror/hype.

The last issue of Suspense Detective was in early 1953. This was shortly before Fawcett folded their comics business--thanks, DC!--so it managed to avoid being singled out in upcoming anti-crime comic furor.

Still:





Watch out for these comics if you have a weak heart!!

WARNING: This post contains some offensive racial characterizations.

In 1942, Fawcett had a big contest:

Paste The Axis?

So the readers had to cut out the quotes at the bottom of the cartoon, and paste them into the appropriate word balloon, as the Axis leaders "steal" Captain Marvel's magic word...

...do it again the following month, as the blighters used the word...

...and the 3rd part of the contest required the entrant to come up with a 10 word (or less) patriotic slogan about how "every patriotic American can PASTE THE AXIS.":

Fawcett wasn't stingy with the prizes...there would be 744 winners!

A few month later, the results...

The results were printed over 3 pages, and there were so many winners they had to continue in the next issue!

Sadly, though, they never tell us what the winning 10-word slogans were, which would have been pretty interesting...

From Captain Marvel Adventures #15-17 (1942) and #23 (1943)

You guys know a great way to start the week?

How about singing this swell new song? It's being sung by good Americans everywhere...and Captain Marvel says that you'd better damn well memorize the words!!

Not surprisingly, there's a story behind this ditty...

In the late 1940s, the lack of Nazis to fight caused America to try and find other problems to be worried about, and good old "juvenile delinquency" was right at the top of the list!

The U.S. Attorney General started the Continuing Committee on the Prevention and Control of Delinquency, which worked towards spearheading a nationwide community organizing drive among other vague goals. Meanwhile, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Theater Owners of America were concerned that media, namely movies, was going to be unfairly blamed for the "surge" in delinquency. So they adopted all sorts of programs to make themselves look concerned and forestall any actual anti-movie actions (which proved wise, given what was coming in the near future for comic books).

So as one of "look like you're doing something while actually doing nothing" moves, the movie groups persuaded Attorney General Clark to "endorse an official song" for National Youth Month, for "community sings in theaters across the country."

The above was that song. And Fawcett Comics picked up on it, and reprinted the song in a number of their books.

So, everyone--if you're a good American, get singing! Captain Marvel is watching...

From Whiz Comics #106 (1949)

So, who were America's great heroes in 1951 (at least according to Fawcett Comics)?

No big surprises: The Marvel Family, a jungle queen, lots (and lots) of western heroes, and...and...and...what the hell is this:

Who...?

AHHHHH!!


 AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Look, those of you with your quaint and silly fear of clowns...please. That is nothing compared to the terror caused by puppets--especially magician puppets!!!

The Great Foodini (with his assistant, Pinhead) was one of the earliest children's shows. They first appeared on The Adventures of Lucky Pup, but for some unfathomable reason, they proved more popular, and took over the show!! See, they killed Lucky Pup (probably!)!

Here, you can watch an entire episode...just don't blame me if you can't sleep for a week or so:



Thank you for the nightmares, CBS!

Apparently, Foodini and Pinhead (Pinhead!!! Are you listening!! PINHEAD!! AHHHHHH) proved popular, and quickly became masters of all primitive early 1950s media.

They had records:

They were on magazine covers:

There was no escaping the terror of the magician puppet:

And yes, the Satanic duo even infiltrated our beloved comic books:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

IEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Somebody stop them!!!!

After their series at Continental Comics died, they proved their evil by coming back from to dead to infest Fawcett Comics, in a series that actually lasted longer than the television show!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

That woman, by the way, Hope Bunin, who with her husband Morey, were well known puppeteers, and creators of Foodini and Pinhead. Because in the 1940s & 50s, you could become famous for being a puppeteer and horrifying millions.

AIEEEEE puppets torturing puppets aieieieee!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Sorry, man...puppets freak me out!!!!

Foodini #1-4 appeared in 1950. Pinhead and Foodini #1-4 appeared in 1951-1952. This explains why you're parents are so frakked up. The ad appeared in Worlds Beyond #1 (1951)