True Comics

When Mosca finally leaves Celia with Volpone, the actual comic chase begins. Celia has resisted her husband s demands that she play up to Volpone. In a magnificent inversion of the social order, Corvino demands that she go to Volpone to save his reputation. Here it may be seen that, in Corvino s greedy state of mind, the reputations of the forsworn are destroyed by the despicable honesty of respectable people. It is a true comic picture of the deformity of human greed. Jonson is following savage irony with cruel irony as the situation races toward a comic conclusion. And the chase begins. 

From the onset, parents and educators scoffed at this new medium. With an eye firmly cast on the potential school market, industry leaders tried to deflect criticism by producing factual or educational comics. In April 1941, Parents Magazine began True Comics, a juvenile version of Life magazine. EC Comics followed with Picture Stories from the Bible (Old Testament) and Picture Stories of the New Testament, profits from which went to various religious organizations. 

Cover of True Comics 47 (True Comics, March 1946). The story "Atoms Unleashed" in this issue suggests atomic energy might help cure cancer, providing advice to young people on how they should utilize the newfound power of atomic energy. 

Although comic books had long been proud of their "nonfiction" titles, the educational wing of the industry never turned much of a profit. After only ten issues, Picture News died in 1947. Air Ace succumbed the same year. True Comics did not last beyond 1948. Real Fact expired in 1949. Although Classic Comics continues today, industry leaders quickly realized that the comic book functioned far better as a source of entertainment than as a means of instruction. 

True Comics 47 (March 1946), 3. lecture News (January 1946 and February 1946) (Lafayette Street Corporation). 

Clever, apposite and witty naming is essential to successful allegory, but it goes beyond that. It links Bunyan with a great English comic tradition. There seems to be nothing remarkable about the names of the true pilgrims - Christian,... 

The second part of the first volume represents a parodic and almost comic use of the motifs of adventure. Gogol s contemporaries likened this picture of an excited town to the plot of The Inspector General the difference between them, however, is substantial. The mistake of the officials in The Inspector General unwittingly discloses their true mores and natures, including those of Khlestakov. 

---