Episode 1: Reader Madness - Comic Books and Drugs! (Part One)

From PSAs to comics published by the government to your favorite superhero, there is perhaps no subject that appeared in the comic books that inspired so much contentiousness than the topic of drug use. This episode discusses how comic books portrayed drug use, both before implementing the Comics Code and after. Ranging from gritty portrayals of crime and drug abuse to downright silly stories with some pretty memorable characters, you’ve never heard the war on drugs sound this entertaining!

Captain America Goes to War Against Drugs (1990), Marvel Comics with the FBI (Image from VCU Libraries)

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

• “Jonnie Love Speaks Out on Narcotics!” Teen-Age Love #61 (November 1968), Read on the Sequential Crush blog

• “Holiday of Horror!“ Wanted #51 (December 1952), Read at the Digital Comics Museum

• “Murder, Morphine, and Me” True Crime Comics #4 (November 1948), Read at Pappy’s Golden Age Comics Blogzine

• “The Monkey” Shock SuspenStories #12 (December 1953/January 1954), Read at Ethan Persoff’s website

• Hooked! (1967) - the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Read at Comic Book Plus

• Teen-Age Booby Trap (1970) - the Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs, U.S. Department of Justice, Read at Ethan Persoff’s website

• McGruff’s Surprise Party (1989) - the Office for Substance Abuse Prevention a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Justice, Read at Google Play

• Captain America Goes to War Against Drugs #1-3 (1990-1994)

• “Streets of Poison” Arc Captain America (1996), Read in Captain America Epic Collection: Streets of Poison at ComiXology (Affiliate link)

• Tough to Be Free: A Message About Sniffing for Young People (1987) - the Solvent Abuse Foundation for Education

• Archie and His Pals in… the Peer Helping Program (1991) - the Drug Free America Foundation

• “Trapped!” (1951) - the Committee on Narcotics of the Welfare Council of New York City for Columbia University Press, Read at Ethan Persoff’s website

• People Recover (2013) - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration which is a division of the US Dept of Health and Human Services, Read at Internet Archive

• The Amazing Spider-Man #96 (May 1971), Read at ComiXology (Affiliate link)

• The Amazing Spider-Man #97 (June 1971), Read at ComiXology (Affiliate link)

• The Amazing Spider-Man #98 (July 1971), Read at ComiXology (Affiliate link)

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)

• Government Issue: Comics for the People, 1940s-2000s by Richard L. Graham at Amazon and Bookshop.org (Affiliate links)

• http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/blog/2020/12/the-portrayal-of-drug-use-and-addiction-in-american-comic-books-and-graphic-novels-alisha-white-phd-and-bill-white-ma.html

• https://www.cbr.com/superheroes-ruined-by-drugs/

• https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/04/archives/a-comics-magazine-defies-code-ban-on-drug-stories-comics-magazine.html?_r=0

• http://cbldf.org/the-comics-code-of-1954/

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

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