1950s Horror Comics and Censorship: Martin Barker Archive

In the 1940s and 1950s, horror and crime comics aimed at children were imported from the USA and printed in the UK. In 1955, the UK implemented legislation restricting the production and circulation of children’s comics. This included what comics could depict and which comics could be printed, sold and published. There were fines or imprisonment for contravening it. This Act, despite some alterations, is still in law.

But why was this Act implemented? Was it for moral reasons and worries about what children were consuming, or were there also other motives?

At the Archives and Special Collections Centre we have recently catalogued the archive of lecturer, researcher, and writer Martin Barker (1946-2022). Barker’s archive provides an invaluable insight into who, how and why the Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955 passed.

The archive comprises comics, correspondence, papers, ephemera and audio-visual materials. It includes material about the influence of the Communist Party of Great Britain on the anti-comics campaign.

Comics in Britain

Britain’s earliest comics date from the 1870s. By the early 1900s, there was growing negative sentiment towards comic strips and illustrations. People blamed comics for lowering literacy rates. In May 1953, the Council for Children’s Welfare held a meeting with parents, teachers and other groups. Many were increasingly concerned that comics were encouraging crime and violence among children. The meeting led to the formation of the Comics Campaign Council.
The Comics Campaign Council argued against some kinds of comics, writing to schoolteachers, politicians, groups. They also issued their own evaluations of comics.

Communist Party of Great Britain

The Comics Campaign Council was made up of Council for Children’s Welfare members. Some of these people were also Communist Party of Great Britain members. Sam Aaronovitch, a Communist Party of Great Britain member and organiser, helped shape the Comics Campaign Council’s agenda and rhetoric, ensuring it met the Communist Party’s aims.

The Communist Party of Great Britain viewed American culture, including comic books, as a threat to Britain. This is evident in Aaronovitch’s ‘The U.S.A. Threat to British Culture’ (1951) in Arena, volume 2, issue 8.The Party may have helped to fund the Comics Campaign Council as well.

At the start, the Comics Campaign Council used anti-American rhetoric, ignoring British printers and publishers that were creating cheap and poorly done reprints of American comics. As public concern about horror comics grew, people became aware of the campaign’s communist links, which the Communist Party had preferred to hide. The Comics Campaign Council messaging changed, focusing more on morality and protecting British children.

This is not to say that members of the Comics Campaign Council were not concerned about children, however this was not the campaign’s only motivation. According to Martin Baker, the Communist Party’s agenda and ideas continued in the anti-comics campaign.

Other people campaigned against comics too. In the USA, there was growing concern about horror comics. Frederic Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent (1954) was influential in preventing children’s access to comics. Some religious leaders were also concerned about the impact publications could have on children.

Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955 and the National Union of Teachers

Back in the UK, National Union of Teachers (NUT) sections were involved in the anti-comics campaign. Peter Mauger, Comics Campaign Council member, NUT member, and one-time Communist Party member, helped influence the NUT in growing support for the campaign.

The NUT was hesitant to involve itself on a national level. This could be due to its awareness of the Comics Campaign Council’s Communist backing and agenda.

However, in 1953-1954, the NUT created a touring exhibition about comics they saw as dangerous. The exhibition was attended by the public and members of parliament, including Minister of Education Sir David Eccles. The exhibition was even put on display in the House of Commons before touring parts of the UK. The Government was already concerned about “copycat crime” and this only added to it.

In Autumn 1954 the Comics Campaign Council submitted a draft bill to restrict comic books, written by their lawyers, to the Home Secretary, Major Gwilym Lloyd George. The influence of the National Union of Teachers and Comics Campaign Council, and the increase in public concerns about comics, led to the passing of the Act.

You can read more about the campaign in Barker’s book, A Haunt of Fears: The strange history of the British horror comic campaign (1984). Barker’s research into censorship and audience research of films, comics and video games (such as Judge Dredd, and The Last of the Mohicans) is also available in his archive.

Find out more

Browse Martin Baker’s Archive catalogue: Archive Reference: MB

You can request to view records from the archive at the ASCC by emailing  
archives@arts.ac.libanswers.com