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Great Depression notwithstanding, kids want to be Almost any thorough account of the period’s
reassured of their place in the world and the general incredible dynamic between publishers and comics
order of things. creators, as well as between publishers and their
Like their predecessors in just about every competitors, reads like pulp fiction. That might
other creative, fictional form of communication, be why Michael Chabon’s well-researched novel,
the original superheroes lent themselves The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay,
toward a child’s interpretation of such wrung so true and eventually won the Pulitzer
archetypical struggles. It would not be so simple Prize in 2001. The relationship between
for very long. All-American and DC was not as seamless as its
Though replete with standard fantasy public face, and there would be difficulties later.
elements, superhero comics were among the
vanguard in beginning to address the dark clouds The Club Concept
then looming over America’s future in 1940. Many By the time the Justice Society of America was
yarns were filled with spies, saboteurs, action, born, comic character clubs for children were no
adventure, and patriotism. There were also numerous longer a new idea. While the exploitation of the
thinly disguised tales about the treatment of those trapped information they generated was limited by today’s
under the Nazi control. While the real world accounts standards, the clubs must be considered not only as
that inspired such stories were often discounted or pioneering efforts, but by and large as incredible suc-
entirely ignored by the general media, they began to cesses in getting these societal concepts to
find a home in comics very quickly. Though han- their participants.
dled delicately at the time, this would soon play The start of the reader participation concept
an important role in the Junior Justice Society of for comic characters can in some sense be
America. dated back to the Yellow Kid, noted as the first
As 1940 progressed, Belgium, Denmark, regular comic strip, which appeared in the New
Czechoslovakia, Holland, Luxembourg, York World and subsequently the New York
Norway, Romania, and a large portion of Journal. Created by R.F. Outcault, who also
Poland had fallen to the Germans. Estonia, created Buster Brown, the Yellow Kid inspired
Latvia, Lithuania, and the remainder of Poland theatrical productions, songs, and dozens of
had been overwhelmed by the Soviet Union, then licensed products. The images on these items in
Germany’s ally. France, which with Britain had turn directed readers back to the newspapers or
declared war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, the strip itself. A series of celluloid buttons in
was forced to surrender in less than 11 months. particular made the Yellow Kid part of a
Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite consumer’s apparel and helped to create an early
Pact, officially creating the Axis alliance. Measuring 4” in diameter, this example of the sort of brand identification generally associated
cardboard decoder is a variant with names
At home, the isolationist movement, though matching characters shown on certificate. Front with much more sophisticated marketing pro-
still vocal, was increasingly marginalized as grams decades later.
and back shown. Images courtesy of Hake’s Auctions.
war spread across the European continent. The evolutionary course of the club concept
Conscription had begun in September of that year. became associated with comic characters as it
The escapism so prevalent in the years since Charles Lindbergh’s developed through the newspaper comic strips, the pulps,
Transatlantic flight and so vital in creating the entertainment comic books, and radio shows. A series of significant
giants of the Great Depression would now have to adapt to manifestations of the club concept corresponds directly
the new situation or find itself being perceived as entirely with the marketing of aviation heroes (both real and
out of touch with the real world. fictitious) in the late 1920s and through the ‘30s.
The Junior Birdmen of America, an aviation-
Two Companies, One Face? themed club, was one of the most successful.
Toward the end of 1938, comics pioneer M.C. Starting in 1934, Hearst Newspapers successfully
Gaines entered into an agreement with DC Comics’ invited the participation of the nation’s youth
Harry Donnefeld. Their bargain created a marketing through at least 22 of their papers. By the
arrangement that presented one public face to two time DC’s Supermen of America club rolled around
distinct companies. DC and its new counterpart, there was already an art, if not a science, to getting
All-American, both displayed the DC logo on their kids involved.
comics. Advertising cross-promoted the lines in each On the trailing edge of the Great Depression,
other’s titles, and there was little to distinguish for before America’s involvement in the Second World
readers that they were in fact not one company but War, the Supermen of America was simultaneously
two. marketing at its most cynical and most inspired. The
It has been noted that All-Star Comics came about readers of the Superman comic books, unlike the
following on the heels of DC’s New York World’s Fair readers of the newspaper strip or listeners to the radio
Comics annuals in 1939 and 1940 (precursor of their show, were overwhelmingly children. This club recruit-
World’s Finest Comics title), particularly since the 1940 edition ed Superman fans and enlisted them to recruit others. In
featured Superman, Batman, and Robin on the cover. other words, it took the standard advertising tactic of going
Whatever the actual genesis of the notion, it’s not a straight to the kids and getting them to pester the
huge series of leaps to go from co-cover features to The JJSA metal badge is 1.5” tall. parents into buying a product one better: it got kids
team-ups to a permanent team-up. This version has the large style to not only work on their own beleaguered
Regardless of their direct or indirect inspirations, lettering and bar pin fastener. The parents, it got them to get their friends to work on
badge is believed to have only been
writer Gardner Fox and editor Sheldon Mayer are offered during first the club’s first two their own parents, too. For successfully recruiting
credited with coming up with the team. Through the months. It was subsequently replaced others, members received the Supermen of America
DC/AA relationship, they were permitted to choose with a fabric patch because of patch, today one of the most highly prized Superman
both DC and All-American characters to populate the wartime metal shortages. collectibles. This successful club continued into
comic. They did so, and the Justice Society was born. Image courtesy of Hake’s Auctions. the 1960s.

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