Hail, Legionnaires! The Emergency Signal shines forth once again!
As most of you know, I'm pursuing my Master's degree in Journalism at the University of Memphis -- and my thesis combines journalism and comics. But I've narrowed down the topic, and need your help to make it as comprehensive as possible.
The topic is still how journalism is portrayed in the comics, but I've narrowed it down to one decade: the 1960s. I needed to narrow the concept down to A) an era where I had most of the texts, and B) an era where there was some (but not too much) diversity. The 1960s seem to fit best, a decade where I own most of the material (or it is available in reprint) and where I can. at the very
east, compare the Daily Planet staff vs. the Daily Bugle folks.
My primary interest is journalism ethics, but in general I'm interested in any story that features a journalist or the role of journalism in a significant role.
Still, that's a lot of comics! So if the Legionnaires can help me pinpoint the major stories or storylines, without re-reading hundreds of books, I'd be most grateful. Where I've focused on so far, and where I need help:
* Amazing Spider-Man
-- the ethical issue of Peter Parker selling photos of Spider-Man without revealing they are one and the same. There's the issue where he faked being Electro (I think), which even in the book was treated as a serious ethical breach. But I need to find a few instances where he evades JJJ's questions or outright lies to him -- or instances where JJJ says he doesn't care how he got the pix, which is also an ethical issue.
-- J. Jonah Jameson violating just about every ethic in sight in his vendetta against Spidey. (Anyone remember some particularly juicy scenes?) Isn't there a scene somewhere where he admits he's jealous of the wall-crawler?
-- Frederick Foswell, going back and forth as undercover good guy (Patch) and undercover bad guy (The Big Man).
-- Anybody remember anything about Ned Leeds from the '60s? I seem to remember Parker referring to him as a "good guy," but that's it.
* Harris Hobbs blackmailing Thor in Journey Into Mystery #120-123.
* Action, Superman, Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen and World's Finest from Jan 60-Dec 69. I'd rather not re-read ALL of those, so if anyone remembers any particularly newspaper-heavy stories, or just some representative ones (of Clark Kent being super-honest, or Lois pulling some cheesy trick, or Jimmy dressing up, or Perry White being editor-ish) I'd be grateful. And when did Lana Lang become a TV reporter? (And should I really bother with Lois Lane? All I remember from that book is conniving, not reporting.)
* Jack Ryder, Showcase #73 and Beware the Creeper #1-6.
* Vic "The Question" Sage, Blue Beetle #1-5.
* Anybody remember any '60s Vicki Vale stories? Or was she all in the '50s?
* Speaking of Batman, wasn't there a reporter in the Gotham City Mystery Club? (Or whatever it was called.) Seems to me she and Bats had a near-miss in the romance department, but I don't remember where or when. Were there any other Bat-related reporter stories?
* Did Iris West ever do anything reporter-ish in Flash, or did she just nag Barry about his tardiness?
Anybody remember any others? I'm excluding comic strips for now (I'll save that for the dissertation), but there must be more. And it doesn't have to be superheroes -- I just don't remember any non-Spandex books that involved reporters. There were probably dozens of short stories in the mystery books that featured unsavory reporters, but since they would all be one-shots, I can safely write them off as minor. Still, I wouldn't mind one or two for completeness' sake.
Anything else? I've got to have a rough draft by June 1, so the clock's ticking!
(And thanks in advance!)
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Replies
This was in the 70s though, so it wouldn't fit the thesis as you describe it.
I remember that one! It was Amazing Spider-Man #192, May 1979. Not only were Jonah and Spider-Man chained together, the shackle had a bomb in it set to go off after 24 hours, so Spider-Man not only had to figure out how to get it off, he had to do so with Jonah fighting him, and whining, while he fought Smythe's machines. (Cover here.)
I don't know how much help I can be with this stage; I haven't read all that many 1960s Marvels or DCs.
I would swear that Jameson/Spidey being chained like that occurred back in the Lee/Romita days, or perhaps a similar story. Also, I'm pretty sure Jameson had a monologue about his hatred of Spider-Man very early in the Lee/Dtiko run, in the story in which Spider-Man rescued John Jameson.
Art Saddows was the reporter with the Mystery Analysts of Gotham City, presumably first appearing in Batman #164.
Specifically from the 1960's. I recall very little attention or effort paid to journalistic ethics. Certainly the prevailing attitude in the Superman Family books was whatever got you the story was okay.
There was an Elongated Man story in which a DJ pretended to be a victim of a serial mugger in order to promote a song he'd written. I don't know if that counts.
That's all I can think of for the moment.
* I do remember once that Robbie called Jameson on attempting to print his editorials as news.
* At one point, the Daily Bugle did an opinion poll on Spider-Man, and somehow convinced people to say negative things about him,
Really Cap, you could almost do your entire thesis on Amazing Spider-Man alone.
Yes, that would have been within the first 10 issues of Amazing Spider-Man (and I know that thanks to the magic of reprints). There, Jonah declares that superheroes are phony glory-seekers taking attention away from the astronauts and firefighters and police officers and soldiers and non-powered people who he thinks of as true heroes.
Randy Jackson said:
There also was a prevailing attitude that Superman was good and the Daily Planet was good, and whatever was good for Superman was good for the Daily Planet and vice versa. The Daily Planet was practically Superman's public relations firm and there was many a time when he would help the paper in some kind of circulation drive or charity drive or contest.