Looks like the story of EC Comics and MAD magazine creator William Gaines will be heading to the big screen.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...5834251d2a556ff

What an odd coincidence. I was having a rambling phone conversation with a friend last night and it went from the ARTISTS AND MODELS release on DVD as part of a Martin & Lewis set (that film deals with comics and censorship) to rehashing the whole story of EC Comics, Frederic Wertham ("Seduction of the Innocent") , the Comics Code Authority and the transition from Mad Comics to Mad Magazine. I told the story of Gaines' testimony before the committee (headed by Senator Estes Kefauver) investigating comic books' relation to juvenile delinquency (this was around 1954) and how it went badly for him. He had been taking some kind of medication and had timed it so that it wouldn't wear off until after he'd testified. But they delayed his appearance and by the time he appeared he was woozy and Sen. Kefauver showed him a cover of one of the EC Comics and asked him if he thought it was "tasteful." Gaines replied yes. The cover showed a man's hands, an ax in one hand and in the other he was holding a woman's head by her blond hair. If this is tasteful, then what would you consider tasteless, Gaines was asked. "Well, if he was holding the head up a little higher so you could see the blood dripping," was Gaines' answer. And that got a lot of press, none of it very good. We can laugh about it now (and it IS funny), but back then, I don't think they saw the humor of it. Or the logic. (It makes sense to ME. :blink:)

But that scene has got to be in the movie or otherwise it's not worth making.

Frankly, I think a documentary would make more sense. I don't think an actor could quite capture Gaines'...ummm...essence. And a lot of the drama centers around the actual images from the comics, both EC and their numerous imitators, whose really lurid and gory images were more responsible for the backlash than EC's more literary efforts.

EC even adapted a lot of Ray Bradbury stories. They started doing it without getting the rights or his permission--and NOT giving him credit--but Bradbury liked what they did with his stories and he sent them a letter politely pointing out that they'd forgotten to get his permission. So they made an arrangement and he let them adapt more of his stories--with credit--for a relative pittance. That story should be in the film, too. And if it's a docu, just let Bradbury tell it. Although it would make an interesting scene if dramatized.

So that's actually two scenes that would make good movie scenes. So maybe there is a drama in there.

Here's another one. At some point, Mad Magazine had moved into an office building with a restaurant on the ground floor and Gaines wanted to eat there on a daily basis, but he balked at the restaurant's rule about male customers having to wear a tie. He pleaded with the management to bend the rule for him because he'd be giving them a LOT of business. They said no, so he went elsewhere. When the restaurant changed its rules, they sought him out to tell him, but he refused to ever step in the place.

I remember attending an EC Comics convention around 1973 and Gaines was there along with a lot of artists from the old days, including Wally Wood, Al Williamson and Joe Orlando. This was after the movie, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, had come out and brought EC back into public consciousness again. (The movie was shown at the convention.) This was before home video and I don't recall any TV crews there, so I doubt any footage exists from the convention, unless some fan had his Super 8 camera there. But it was quite a gathering.

Maybe animated versions of some of the EC horror stories or Mad Comics satires could be interpolated into the movie. Just a thought.

If they're smart, they'll offer it to Seth Rogan.

I've been wanting to see something like this for a while (if they concentrate on the controversial stuff my vote for a title would have to be SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT, though I guess that might not fly in all quarters). I'm already convinced that Brian's post above is probably already closer to being a decent idea for a film than anything Hollywood will turn out, but maybe that's me being cynical.

In addition to the scenes Brian mentions, there surely has to be a scene of a darkened street with crazed parents throwing EC books onto a fire - even though I'm not entirely sure that whole thing isn't bordering on apocryphal.

Finally, for the full story on the Bradbury incident, check out Jerry Weist's BRADBURY: AN ILLUSTRATED LIFE. It's a lovely book (yes, I'm mental about Bradbury but even for the casual fan it's a delightful coffee table collection) but it also recounts the story in full, including Bradbury's correspondence to Gaines.

There is a very good documentary titled TALES FROM THE CRYPT: FROM COMICS TO THE TELEVISION. It covers this era (and Gaines' beginning) quite well and even has footage of him defending his EC stuff to the comic code people.

That comic publisher scene form ARTISTS AND MODELS was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this thread.

John Landis Directs!

Offer it to Rogan, Landis. Do it now. Um, thanks. Talk later.

Seriously.

Late-Period Gaines 60 Minutes Piece

Seth Rogan interviewed last year

I wonder if they'll find a way to work Gaines' famous love of zeppelins in there somewhere....

No one will be seated during the Congressional Medicated Meltdown sequence....

Funny, I was just paging through a reprint copy of EC's New Trend comic title PSYCHOANALYSIS that I'd pulled out of storage last week. Great Kamen art but all your desire to see people sweating on couches is used up in the first 2 pages and boy are those some wordy pages. Nothing less visual to chose as a topic for a visual medium like comics unless they'd gone with TALES OF PAINT DRYING.

M.D. looked kinda cool, however.

I can't wait for the "rabid suburban parents start EC bonfires" scene mooted above.

Rogan would be perfect! Anyone want to bet on George Wendt?



Right after he finishes Che, of course.

Speak of the devil, here is a link to it.

This could be a great movie, because Gaines was a fantastic character. One of the funniest books I've ever read was Dick De Bartolo's GOOD DAYS AND MAD, mainly because of the Gaines stories.

Gaines handled all the subscription orders himself, taking the money out of the envelopes, etc. When their only subscriber in Jamaica didn't renew, not only did Gaines notice but he flew to the man's house with some MAD writers in tow. When the guy opened his door, they all dropped to their knees and begged him to resubscribe.

One summer the magazine had a young college kid for their office gopher, and Gaines decided to play a joke on him. He had De Bartolo take the kid aside and warn him about Bill's twin brother-- Bill's a nice guy but the brother is just the opposite, and when he's in the office, stay out of his way. For the rest of the summer, once or twice a week, Gaines would put a scar on his face with makeup and pretend to be the twin brother, and he would browbeat the kid mercilessly. At the end of the summer, the kid went back to school and Gaines never told him it was a joke.

Gaines' love for the Statue of Liberty is actually moving, especially the story's ending: after collecting miniatures of it for years (sometimes paying six figures for them), strings were pulled and he was allowed (with his wife and De Bartolo) to go to the top of the statue. The path upward became harder and narrower, and when they finally reached the very top and outside, the doorway was too small for Gaines to squeeze through. The book has a sad picture of poor Bill looking up at De Bartolo's camera as the latter ascends the stairs to see the view Gaines yearned for.

And lots more. He seemed like a genuinely good boss, too.