Is This Tomorrow Explained

Is This Tomorrow: America Under Communism
Publisher:Catechetical Guild Educational Society
Date:1947
Issues:1
Artists:Charles M. Schulz, others

Is This Tomorrow: America Under Communism! was an anti-Communist, Red Scare propaganda comic book published by the Catholic Catechetical Guild Educational Society of St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1947.[1]

Description

The stated purpose of the comic book was "to make you think!" about the allegedly 85,000 members of the Communist Party USA plus others who serve "as disciplined fifth columnists of the Kremlin" working "day and night–laying the groundwork to overthrow YOUR GOVERNMENT!" and reduce Americans to "Communist slavery." Its 50 pages then describe a coup d'etat of the United States, led by a gullible American politician (who burns the Bible and dies just as the Communists come to power), aided by Communists who have infiltrated into high levels of the US government, and opposed by armed Catholic Americans (who are unsuccessful in stopping them). Its back page urges readers to "Fight Communism with – Ten Commandments of Citizenship."[1]

The comic book includes some of the first published comic drawings by Minneapolis-born Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts.[2] [3]

Controversial release

The comic proved controversial upon release. Detroit, Michigan, censors banned it for gore, but backed down when a group of Catholic priests planned to distribute it.[4]

Legacy

In January 1948, Woody Guthrie wrote a magazine article about the comic book that went unpublished, called "Comics that ain't funny."[5]

In 1991-1992, the title revived as Is This Tomorrow? in Florida Flambeau, a student-run newspaper affiliated with Florida State University and Florida A&M in Tallahassee, FL. In 2003-2005, it became a webcomic.

The comic book's cover forms the basis of the cover of the 2001 book Red Scared!: The Commie Menace in Propaganda and Popular Culture.[6]

"Commie Plot Comics", a comic satirizing Is This Tomorrow and similar works, was published in National Lampoon in 1972.[7]

Is This Tomorrow remains in print in the 2000s.[8] [9]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Is This Tomorrow: America Under Communism!. Catechetical Guild Educational Society. 2 (think!), 5 (politician), 6 (infiltration), 13 ("Catholics"), 29 (Catholic Church bombed), 34 (Bible), 36 (armed), 37-38 (Catholic churches), 48 (Catholic statues). 1947. 9781507742297. 1 January 2023.
  2. Book: Charles M. Schulz: The Creator of PEANUTS in 100 Objects. The Charles M. Schulz Museum. Benjamin L. Clark. Nat Gertler. Weldon Owen International. 79. 8 November 2022. 9781681888613. 1 January 2023.
  3. Book: Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography. David Michaelis. Harper Collins. 167. 7 October 2008. 9780060937997. 1 January 2023.
  4. News: Detroit Drops Ban on Catholic Comic. Minneapolis Morning Tribune. June 21, 1948. 26.
  5. Good grief, Comrade Brown! Woody Guthrie, Charles Schulz and the little cartoon book that was a big lie. Edward A. Shannon. Studies in Comics. July 2019. 10. 93–113. 10.1386/stic.10.1.93_1. 200995902. 13 January 2023.
  6. Book: Red Scared!: The Commie Menace in Propaganda and Popular Culture. Michael Barson. Steven Heller. Canton Street Press. 2001. 9780811828871. 1 January 2023.
  7. National Lampoon Volume 1 #25 “25th Anniversary Issue” (1972), reprinted in The Best of National Lampoon #3 (1973)
  8. Book: Is This Tomorrow: America Under Communism. Kari Therrian. Catechetical Comics. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 27 January 2015. 9781507742297. 1 January 2023.
  9. Book: Is This Tomorrow. Canton Street Press. 2016. 9781934044179. 1 January 2023.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Is This Tomorrow".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.