Episode 2: Reader Madness - Comic Books and Drugs! (Part Two)

This second part of our look at the portrayal of drug use in comic books focuses on stories published after the revision of the Comics Code in 1971. This deep dive examines how real-life events such as the Vietnam War and the “War on Drugs” influenced everything from superhero stories to romance comics and how messages from politicians made their way into the pages of the funny books.

Thank you so much for listening to the podcast! If you’d like to support the show visit these links!

• Subscribe and leave a review at Apple Podcasts

• Support the podcast over at Patreon

• Join the Sequential Crush mailing list to stay up to date

• Buy books via Bookshop

• Purchase Jacque’s Book on Amazon

Comics Discussed in This Episode and Where to Read Them if Available

• Green Lantern #85 (August/September 1971), Read at ComiXology (Affiliate link)

• Green Lantern #86 (October/November 1971), Read at ComiXology (Affiliate link)

• “Teen-age Troubles” advice column in Time for Love #34 (June 1973)

• “Suzan Says” advice column in Our Love Story #35 (August 1975)

• “The Whispering” For Lovers Only #75 (September 1974)

• “Love is the Answer” Young Love #123 (January 1977)

• The New Teen Titans #1 (Keebler Company) (1983), Read at University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries Image and Multimedia Collections

• The New Teen Titans #2 (American Soft Drink Industry) (1983)

• The New Teen Titans #3 (IBM) (1983), Read at University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries Image and Multimedia Collections

Classroom Kit for the New Teen Titans President's Drug Awareness Campaign

Sources Used and Further Reading

• Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code by Amy Kiste Nyberg at Amazon and Bookshop.org (Affiliate links)

• Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America by Bradford W. Wright at Amazon and Bookshop.org (Affiliate links)

• Bryan Stroud’s 2007 interview with Neal Adams: https://www.nerdteam30.com/creator-conversations-retro/an-interview-with-neal-adams-legendary-artist-and-creator-rights-advocate

• https://www.history.com/news/drug-use-in-vietnam

• https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2012/01/02/144431794/what-vietnam-taught-us-about-breaking-bad-habits

• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inside-story-americas-19th-century-opiate-addiction-180967673/

• https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/04/archives/a-comics-magazine-defies-code-ban-on-drug-stories-comics-magazine.html

• https://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/16/archives/comicbook-industry-to-allow-stories-on-narcotics.html

• https://www.cbr.com/neal-adams-almost-singlehandedly-changed-comics-code-green-lantern-green-arrow-drugs-issue/

• https://50yearoldcomics.com/2021/06/26/green-lantern-85-aug-sep-1971/

• https://50yearoldcomics.com/2021/08/28/green-lantern-86-oct-nov-1971/

• https://www.cbr.com/green-arrow-green-lantern-speedy-addict-ending-changed/

• https://jcul.law.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/understanding-drug-free-schools-community-act-then-now.pdf

• https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/

• A big thank you to the Grand Comics Database for always being so useful!

Other Links to Check Out

• Teen Titan animated PSA clip (without sound): https://youtu.be/0ehbABOCgFk

• 1984 marketing video from DC on how their characters could be used by corporations to share messages with the community. The short audio from the Hanna-Barbera Teen Titans PSA is in this video at about the 1:28 mark: https://youtu.be/K5j6C8dAWQI

• President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan's Address to the Nation on the Campaign Against Drug Abuse from the White House. September 14, 1986, https://youtu.be/pwpciZ7R8UU

• More information on the Robin stand-in character, the Protector here and here

• In 1971 the Code was updated to read in General Standards – Part B :

  Narcotics or Drug addiction shall not be presented except as a vicious habit. Narcotics or Drug addiction or the illicit traffic in addiction-producing narcotics or drugs shall not be shown or described if the presentation:

  (a) Tends in any manner to encourage, stimulate or justify the use of such narcotics or drugs; or

  (b) Stresses, visually, by text or dialogue, their temporary attractive effects; or

  (c) Suggests that the narcotics or drug habit can be quickly or easily broken; or

  (d) Shows or describes details of narcotics or drug procurement, or the implements or devices used in taking narcotics or drugs, or the taking of narcotics or drugs in any manner; or

  (e) Emphasize the profits of the narcotics or drug traffic; or

  (f) Involves children who are shown knowingly to use or traffic in narcotics or drugs; or

  (g) Shows or implies a casual attitude toward the taking of narcotics or drugs; or

  (h) Emphasizes the taking of narcotics or drugs throughout, or in a major part, of the story, and leaves the denouement to the final panels.

  http://cbldf.org/comics-code-revision-of-1971/

Listen on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to get podcasts with the RSS feed!