Master of His Public Domain

If, like me, you’re a comic art geek that lives for everything outside of DC and Marvel, public domain comic books are a wonderful and free way to take a peek into publishing history. “Public domain” refers to books or other media for which a copyright was never renewed or was lost by the original copyright holder for whatever reason. The copyright for a character is different than the copyright for a published issue in which a character appeared. 1940s characters such as Plastic Man and Captain Marvel (Shazam), for example, are currently the intellectual property of DC Comics; however, most of the original issues of their comics from the 1940s and 1950s are in the public domain. Therefore, the original comics (scans and PDFs) are available online (just don’t write any new stories or fan fic of these characters or there will be attorney from Warner Communications giving you a visit!). Public domain comics are a cool way to discover tons of esoteric characters that popped up in the Golden Age of comic books after Superman’s initial appliance; for example, if you thought Black Panther was the first major black character to headline a comic from a major publisher, think again:


Another reason to check out public domain comics is that comics have always been more than just your run-of-the-mill superhero adventure. There are also many foreign language comics that available in the public domain, which is a great way to teach young folk (or adults!) a foreign tongue. Non-profit organizations, politicians and government agencies from the CIA to the KGB have long recognized the power of comic books not just as reading material for entertainment, but as a means by which to train, advance propaganda or proselytize a message. For example, from World War II up through the Vietnam era, the U.S. Army regularly published manuals in comic book form, one of the more notable being PS Magazine (aka Preventative Maintenance Monthly). Many famous artists in their own right, such as Will Eisner (The Spirit) did artwork for these government publications, as well as many artists who were or went on to be big names at DC and Marvel in the 1960s and ‘70s, such as Murphy Anderson and Don Perlin.




Of course, Black Americans were making their mark in these early comics, both for entertainment and political purposes. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used comic books as a means to advance the burgeoning Civil Rights movement in the 1950s decades before John Lewis’s life became the recent graphic novel, March.

In 1957, Dr. King gave permission for his likeness and message to be put in comic book form and published by a ecumenical, progressive religious coalition. Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story is a very well-drawn and professional work that stands out from much of the simplistic comic book art of the ‘50s. The entire comic book is available online here:
http://www.crmvet.org/docs/ms_for_comic.pdf

The first major comic book published by a black publisher is also in the public domain and available online. All Negro Comics was published by NAACP member and journalist Orrin C. Evans as an attempt to give young, black children positive comic book heroes and images in the vein of the 1940s comics from mainstream publishers. Many comics in the WWII era were “anthology” style, meaning that, in addition to a main character such as Superman or Captain America, there were many stories of minor characters in an issue. All-Negro Comics is an interesting artifact that shows that black comics were on many folks minds decades before black comic entrepreneurs like Dwayne McDuffie arrived on the scene in the late 80s, early 90s.

I haven’t really come across any gay comics in the public domain, outside of the underground “Tijuana Bibles” that were circulated in private circles and bookstores prior to the Television era. I wouldn’t be surprised, however, to find that artists may have snuck in themes or innuendo in old comics that would have went over people’s heads. Their might even be some examples of “hiding in plain sight,” for all I know (such as Gene Colan’s infamous “Ass Pain” cover for Daredevil No. 48). If I find any, I’ll definitely post them!

Some great sources for public domain comics:
The Digital Comic Museum - Free and Public Domain Comic Books
Comic Book Plus - Free And Legal Public Domain Books
The best free cultural & educational media on the web - Open Culture