| Judgment Day | |
|---|---|
| Date | 1953 |
| Publisher | EC Comics |
| Creative team | |
| Writer | Al Feldstein |
| Artist | Joe Orlando |
| Original publication | |
| Published in | Weird Fantasy |
| Issues | 18 |
| Date of publication | April 1953 |
Plot
editThe story depicted a human astronaut, a representative of the Galactic Republic, visiting the planet Cybrinia, inhabited by robots. He finds the robots divided into functionally identical orange and blue races, with one having fewer rights and privileges than the other. The astronaut determines that due to the robots' bigotry, the Galactic Republic should not admit the planet until these problems are resolved. In the final panel, he removes his helmet, revealing he is a Black man.[1]
Publication History
editJudgement Dat was written by Al Feldstein and illustrated by Joe Orlando and published within Weird Fantasy #18 (April 1953), inserted when the Code Authority had rejected an initial, original story, "An Eye for an Eye", drawn by Angelo Torres, but was itself also "objected to" because of "the central character being Black".[2] Judge Charles Murphy demanded, without any authority in the Code, that the Black astronaut had to be removed.[citation needed]
Gaines waged several battles with the Comics Code Authority to keep his magazines free from censorship. In one particular example noted by comics historian Digby Diehl, Gaines threatened Judge Charles Murphy, the Comics Code Administrator, with a lawsuit when Murphy ordered EC to alter the science-fiction story "Judgment Day", in Incredible Science Fiction #33 (February 1956).[1]
As Diehl recounted in Tales from the Crypt: The Official Archives:
This really made 'em go bananas in the Code czar's office. "Judge Murphy was off his nut. He was really out to get us", recalls [EC editor] Feldstein. "I went in there with this story and Murphy says, 'It can't be a Black man'. But ... but that's the whole point of the story!" Feldstein sputtered. When Murphy continued to insist that the Black man had to go, Feldstein put it on the line. "Listen", he told Murphy, "you've been riding us and making it impossible to put out anything at all because you guys just want us out of business". [Feldstein] reported the results of his audience with the czar to Gaines, who was furious [and] immediately picked up the phone and called Murphy. "This is ridiculous!" he bellowed. "I'm going to call a press conference on this. You have no grounds, no basis, to do this. I'll sue you". Murphy made what he surely thought was a gracious concession. "All right. Just take off the beads of sweat". At that, Gaines and Feldstein both went ballistic. "Fuck you!" they shouted into the telephone in unison. Murphy hung up on them, but the story ran in its original form.[3]
Feldstein, interviewed for the book Tales of Terror: The EC Companion, reiterated his recollection of Murphy making the request:
So he said it can't be a Black [person]. So I said, "For God's sakes, Judge Murphy, that's the whole point of the Goddamn story!" So he said, "No, it can't be a Black". Bill [Gaines] just called him up [later] and raised the roof, and finally they said, "Well, you gotta take the perspiration off". I had the stars glistening in the perspiration on his Black skin. Bill said, "Fuck you", and he hung up.[4]
Reception
editReferences
editCitation
edit- ^ a b Lundin, Leigh (October 16, 2011). "The Mystery of Superheroes". Orlando: SleuthSayers.org.
- ^ Thompson, Don & Maggie, "Crack in the Code", Newfangles #44, February 1971.
- ^ Diehl 1996, p. 95.
- ^ Von Bernewitz & Geissman 2000, p. 88.
Sources
edit- Diehl, Digby (1996). Tales from the Crypt: The Official Archives. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-14486-9.
- Von Bernewitz, Fred; Geissman, Grant (2000). Tales of Terror: The EC Companion. Timonium, Maryland, and Seattle, Washington: Gemstone Publishing and Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 978-1-56097-403-1.