Warren Publishing, 1957-1983

Famous Monsters of Filmland #56, 1969

Warren Publishing, 1957-1983

When you think of comic publishers of the 1960s and 1970s, who do you think about?  DC?  Marvel? Dell?  Charlton?  Gold Key?

Here's one you may have forgotten, but is very important to the history of comics - Warren Publishing.  Started by James Warren in 1957, he published a series of comic-oriented magazine titles.  The reason that they were published in magazine format was to be free from the constraints of the Comic Code Authority, established in the 1950s.

Warren's first major hit was a title called, Monsters of Filmland.  It was the first such magazine aim which focused on the horror movie industry.  It began in 1958 and ran until 1983, reaching 191 issues.  Warren co-edited this magazine with the well known science fiction aficionado, Forrest J Ackerman.  Ackerman is known for many things, but least of which is coining the term "Sci-Fi" for science fiction.

Infamous cover of Crime SuspenStories

By the early 1960s, Warren was inspired by the 1940s-1950s horror comics publisher, EC Comics.  EC was at the center of the famous controversy promoted by Dr. Frederic Wertham that comic books were increasingly detrimental to the lives of youth.  He argued that the violence, sexuality, and horror depicted in many comics caused depravity in youth.  Wertham wrote a controversial best-seller entitled, "Seduction of the Innocent" in 1954.  Congressional hearings were held.  Comic book burnings ensued.  Then the top comic book publishers came together and established The Comic Code Authority, which strictly enforced the new mandates and encouraged a new conformist and positive outlook in comics.  EC Comics, published by Maxwell Gaines and his son, William Gaines, ceased publishing all of its horror comics rather than be censored.  The only comic to survive was Mad Magazine, which ironically led to great financial success.

Warren wanted to re-establish the horror genre in comics publishing.  But instead of publishing in regular comic book format, he chose the route of the magazine format, which allowed him to circumvent the rules of the Comic Code Authority.  His three most famous and successful horror magazines were: Creepy (1964-1983), Eerie (1966-1983) and Vampirella (1969-1983).  More about these in the next three postings.