554 SCIENCE FICTION
the horror titles. Th is would later be renamed as Incredible Science Fiction (issue #30),
published at a bi-monthly rate until #33, when EC ceased publication of sf material.
Gaines’s titles became noted for their adaptations of noted sf author Ray Bradbury’s
short stories. Th eir fi rst adaptation was unauthorized, and combined elements of two
stories in one strip. Bradbury praised the adaptation in a note to Gaines, and also wryly
requested a payment for the use of his material. Th is led to further, authorized adapta-
tions from EC of Bradbury’s work, by Gaines and head writer Al Feldstein.
Advertisements for the sf titles proclaimed that EC were “proudest of our science
fi ction titles,” and many of the stories published in those comics were political in nature.
Th is led to friction between EC and the newly formed Comics Code Authority, who
constantly pressured EC to change content, and outlawed the use of specifi c words in
comic titles, predominantly those used by EC itself.
Matters reached a breaking point when EC was instructed to change the protago-
nists skin color from black to white in “Judgment Day,” which would have undermined
the point and eff ectiveness of the story itself—an exploration of the issue of skin color.
Gaines would ultimately run the story, unchanged and without code approval, in their
last comic, Incredible Science Fiction #33. Disillusioned with the politics of comics,
Gaines and EC would go on to produce magazines that were exempt from the code,
notably the humor magazine Mad.
Much of the success of DC Comics is an indirect result of the infl uence of science
fi ction, and is rooted in their most famous character, Superman. Writer Jerry Siegel
and artist Joe Shuster, creators of Superman, were ultimately responsible for the
growth of DC and superhero comics in general. Siegel’s love of science fi ction led him to
create early fanzines, such as Cosmic Stories (1929), and it was in an issue of a fanzine,
Science Fiction #3 (1933), that an early, villainous, telepathic version of Superman fi rst
appeared. For the version of Superman that gained success in comics they took much
inspiration from science fi ction, notably Philip Wylie’s novel Gladiator (1930), where
the protagonist Hugo Danner is born with enhanced strength, speed, and bulletproof
skin as a result of a serum injected into his mother by his father, while pregnant with
Hugo.
Another link with sf was provided by editor Julius Schwartz, who began his work in
the genre by publishing another early fanzine, entitled Time Traveller, became an agent
for sf writers including, Stanley G. Weinbaum and Ray Bradbury, and fi nally became
an editor at DC. He hired Alfred Bester, a notable sf writer, to provide scripts, and was
instrumental in DC’s success with its Silver Age comics, editing sf-infl uenced revisions
of older characters including the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Atom.
In terms of sf proper, DC Comics drew inspiration from EC comics. August 1950
saw the publication of Strange Adventures issue #1, an anthology that featured re-
curring characters. Th ese included Chris KL-99 (Earth’s fi rst space-born human and
genius), Star Hawkins (a sf detective), the Atomic Knights (heroes from the future),
and Captain Comet and Animal Man (superheroes). It totaled 244 issues and ran
from 1950 to 1973, and became best known for introducing Deadman to the world
