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This is a comic from 1969 called House of Secrets #83.
It's a fairly straightforward horror comic of its day,
and you wouldn't suspect anything exciting
just by looking at it,
but this inconspicuous book changed horror comics
in a fascinating way.
You see, during the 1940s and 50s,
horror comics were on the rise in America,
and that had parents, ironically, spooked.
They worried that the violent behaviors
portrayed in these comics
would be a toxic influence on their children.
Books were written about the potential dangers
of horror and crime comics,
hearings were held to figure out what to do about it,
and the reputation of comics
was in such poor shape by the end of it
that it seemed the only way
to get back in the public's good graces was self-regulation.
Yes, the Comics Code Authority or CCA
made comics publishers follow a strict set of guidelines
outlining what writers and artists
could and couldn't include in their comics.
I mean one rule literally just said,
"All scenes of horror shall not be permitted."
That is the second rule in the section about horror comics,
and they went on to write three more rules anyway.
These guidelines felt incredibly limiting
to writers and artists who just wanted to create
spooky comics for an audience
that craved these terrifying tales.
So, obviously, it wasn't long
before comics creators started pushing back
against the code in clever ways.
For example, final rule that dictated
what absolutely could not be included
in horror comics under this code wrote,
"Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with
"walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism,
"ghosts, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited."
And that sounds pretty annoying,
but at least it's straightforward.
Comics couldn't use classic horror monsters
like werewolves anymore.
But, what happens if an actual,
real-life comic book writer is in fact a wolfman?
(howling)
No, like, seriously, literally.
This is Marv Wolfman.
Get it?
Wolf-man?
Look, I promise that this whole video
isn't just a way for me to tell a dumb joke like this.
It's actually very pertinent during this era of comics,
so just hang in there a bit.
So yeah, Marv Wolfman.
He is probably best known
for co-creating Blade with artist Gene Colan,
as well as his work on Teen Titans
and Crisis on Infinite Earths with artist George Perez.
But back in the 60s,
he was writing stories for The House of Secrets
by DC Comics.
It was an anthology book like most horror comics were.
A bunch of different writers
contributing their short stories to the magazine each issue.
Not that you would know that, though.
Unlike today where comics feature the credits
of the creators who worked on each issue,
horror comics of this era
maybe featured an artist and editor credit,
but that would really be it.
It was a rarity for the writers
to get their name in the credits of these kinds of stories.
But that all changed with House of Secrets #83.
I mean, look, right there!
Story by Marv Wolfman.
That's great that he got proper credit, but,
why did he?
What changed about this comic specifically?
Well, another writer, Gerry Conway who would go on to do
a lot of stuff for both Marvel and DC,
published his first professional story
in House of Secrets #81 at the age of 16.
And like the punk teenager he presumably was,
he thought the CCA's strict rules
about what he could and couldn't include
in horror comics were frustrating and dumb.
Come on!
No zombies?
No vampires?
Not a single wolfman?
I guess that means Marv over there
can never get his name in a comic book
because it is literally Wolfman.
Wait, would that actually be banned?
Could that actually be banned?
I mean, what are they gonna do,
tell us that we can't even print the name
of our own writers in our comic books?
How cruel would the CCA have to be?
They are the real monsters.
I'm exaggerating, obviously.
But that was the general line of thinking.
Could DC Comics get around the code and use a wolfman
if it turned out that Wolfman
just so happen to be the character's name?
The answer, surprisingly, was yes,
which is what gave us the story
The Stuff That Dreams Are Made of from House of Secrets #83.
The story opens with a character named Abel
who is on the verge of losing his mind.
To calm himself down, he decides to recount stories
to distract from the situation.
And the story that comes to mind is one that was told to him
long, long ago by a wandering Wolfman.
Now that alone seems to be a clear violation
of the Comics Code Authority.
Until readers turned the page
to see that the story is literally being told
by Marv Wolfman.
They used writer credits to push the boundaries
of the CCA guidelines,
and it had an unexpected side effect.
I mean, think about it.
Upon seeing Marv Wolfman getting a writer credit,
how long do you think it took for other writers
to start asking for their own credits in horror comics?
Answer, not long!
What started out as a clever act of rebellion
against strict creative guidelines
led to more comics creators
getting proper credit for their work.
And I know, I know that this move did not fix every issue
that publishers have had
with crediting the artists and writers
behind their stories in the decades since, but,
House of Secrets #83 was at least a step forward.
It was progress.
And it was all thanks to a wandering Wolfman.
(howling)
Kind of a shorter video this week.
But we've got a bunch more spooky content
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My name is Scott reminding you to read between the panels
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