Malcolm Ater

and the Commercial Comics Company

 

by Tom Christopher

copyright  2003

 

Malcolm Ater Sr was born in Jacksonville Illinois in 1915. He got a

degree from Jacksonville College and took Graduate courses at George

Washington University. He was married in 1942 and fathered five

children. He served in the Navy as an Ensign during World War Two, and

upon discharge, worked briefly for what he later described as the only

company packaging commercial comics in New York City. This may have been

M.C. Gaines’ Educational Comics. He seems to have figured in that time

that he could do the whole job himself, and tried to get a G.I. Business

Loan for that purpose but was denied. Undaunted, in July 1946 he set up

Malcolm Ater Productions in a ten dollar a month flat at 220 West 42 St

in NYC with fifteen hundred dollars that can be assumed to have been

savings or loans.

 

His first comic was The History of Gas, 1947, done for the American Gas

Association. It introduced the charming Miss Flame, telling the history

of gas from its discovery by the Chinese centuries ago. Miss Flame was

subsequently used as a gas industry trademark for over 20 years. Script

and concept were by Malcolm Ater and art and character design by Jack

Sparling.

 

The 1948 Presidential elections were approaching and Ater, a Democrat,

approached the Republican party offering to produce comicbooks for them.

“I thought that if anybody needed comicbooks - and could afford them -

it was the Republicans” , he reflected in 1950. Instead he was rebuffed

with the criticism that the idea was ‘too undignified’. Ater took his

ideas to the Democratic National Committee via an old friend and ex

employer named V. Y. Dallman, who Ater had seen on television during the

Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.  Ater had taken an overnight

train from New York City and presented Dallman with the finished art to

The Story of Harry S Truman.  Dallman was impressed and took Ater to the

Democratic National Committee, who liked the idea well enough to

eventually buy three million copies. There were doubtlessly obscure uses of cartoons

 in local elections, but this was the first use of a comicbook in

a state or national election, and Jack Redding, Democratic publicity

head asserted that the comicbooks may have strongly influenced the

election, particularly in the close states.  The book is full sized

comic, 16 pages, full color with newsprint covers and known copies exist

with both glue and saddle stich binding . It features script by Malcolm

Ater and art by Jack Sparling.

 

The Republicans would eventually get on the comics bandwagon and produce

their own comic for Eisenhower and Nixon during the 1956 presidential election.

 

By 1950 Malcolm Ater Productions was called Commercial Comics Inc.,

though both names were used through the years, and had offices at 1507 M

St NW, Washington DC.  By that time they had produced political comics

for Senator Scott Lucas (D-Ill, and majority leader of the Senate)

Connecticut Governor Chester Bowles and Senator Brien McMahon,

Congressman Al Loveland (D - Ia) and Arkansas Governor Sid McMath. They

had also produced the stridently left wing magnum opus Joe Worker and

the Story of Labor for the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO),

The Story of Elpido Quirino (for President of the Phillippines) Joe, the

Genie of Steel (for U.S. Steel), and America Under Socialism and they

were about to make their cultural mark again.

 

 

 

 

 

Smokey the Bear, a real bear cub orphaned in a forest fire, had been

used in a series of ads by the National Forest Service and had proven

popular. The Forest Service approached Ater about producing a comic and

the result was 1950’s Forest Fire. This is a lovely book. The character

was created by Rudy Wendelein, and that the art is by Wendelein and

Sparling. Mr Wendelien is indeed a skilled cartoonist, with a style that

enables him to render the cartoony Smokey and two small bear cubs (in

trousers and a dress) next to their realistic animal chums and humans in

a seamless manner. This is the first Smokey and predates the Dell series

by five years. Smokey the Bear is the longest running advertising campaign

in the United States.

 

 

Ater’s business was taking off. His comicbook promotions had drawn such

attention that others had begun producing political books.  There was a

mini scandal in 1950 when the United Labor League of Ohio commissioned

Elliot Caplan to do an anti Robert Taft comic and many thought the work

to be libelous (see endnote). Many newspapers and magazines took note of

the proliferation of political comics, and Life Magazine reproduced some

panels of Ater’s and others’  books in an article that acknowledged Ater

as originator of the political comic.

 

Elsewhere, Ater contrasted his own business philosophy at the time:

 “Tell the story of your candidate, but mention the other guy as little as

possible.”  

 

Ater’s business continued to grow.  During the 1950s he continued to

produce political books with a circulation average of 650 or 700,000 and

industrial books with an average circulation of one million copies. One

of the more interesting from a collector’s standpoint was a government

sponsored book on nuclear war, The H-Bomb and You (1955) this was

similar to a 1951 color strip that ran on the front page page of the

Washington Post in July 1951 titled If An A-Bomb Falls.  Also notable

was the first Oral Roberts comic.  The popular faith healer, one of the

first to take advantage of the new medium of television, was so

impressed with Ater,s book, Healing For You, that he launched his own

imprint,Tele-Pix, which produced 19 issues of Oral Roberts True Stories.

 

In 1943, before Ater’s entrance into the promotional comics field, the

industry had produced 20 titles. Print runs totaled 9 million copies

generating $250,000 worth of sales. By 1951, 120 books were produced for

a combined print run of 100 million copies, generating $2 million in

sales, and it was estimated that 1952 sales would top $3 million for 180

million copies of almost 200 titles. Prices for commercial customers

were estimated at 2.25 or 2.50 cents a copy for press runs of 500,000.

Half of the costs went to printing and paper, 30% for script and art,

and the remaining 20% was profit.

 

Ater sold the concept of the books originally, but as his business grew

he was usually approached by customers to develop comics.  He worked

directly with his clients, writing the strips from their biographies or

promotional material.  Malcolm Ater was a good commercial writer.  His

dialogue is clear and simple. He organizes information well and has a

real grasp of the structure of a comicbook page. He was conscious of the

visual appeal of his work and in a 1950 interview spoke of moving away

from a traditional comicbook style. After completing the script Ater

farmed the artwork out to one of several artists, one of whom was Jack

Sparling, a relative by marriage. Malcolm then published the books and

delivered them to his clients for distribution.

 

In 1960 Ater traveled to Alabama to meet with George Wallace, who was

running for governor. By Malcolm’s retelling, Wallace leaned across his

desk and stated “I donﾕt see how a damn Yankee like you can come down

here to Alabama and help me get elected.” Ater replied “Well, Judge, if

you’ll recall, I came down here a few years ago and worked for John

Patterson and helped defeat you!”  Wallace and he became friends and the

result was the comic Alabama Needs the Little Judge, George Wallace for

the Big Job. This book is pro segragationist and in it Wallace promises

to send “back north every freedom rider, sit-in, and every other

troublemaker” sent by NAACP.

 

 

 

Pro segragation books were also prepared for other Southern candidates

and these are noted in the publications list. These books typically give

a nod to ideas of ‘Southern tradition’ along with more strident

statements such as being anti beatnik, anti goon and anit NAACAP

 

During the 1960s the business continued to grow, and Ater became the

commercial agent for Publishers Hall Syndicate and was working with

their well known characters such as Dennis the Menace, Mark Trail, BC,

Andy Capp and Rex Morgan, MD.

 

Under this contract, Ater produced the popular Dennis the Menace Takes a

Poke at Poison (1961, with a completely redone second version in 1981),

and eventually twenty million copies were printed.  This was a very

influential book, and Ater was told by the Department of Agriculture,

which had commissioned it, that they believed it to have been an

extremely valuable educational tool.

 

During this time Publishers Hall approached him with a plan to put

$250,000 into his business and put their salesmen out on the road to

promote his product, but Ater declined, preferring to keep control of

his business. “I donﾕt want to become a millionaire” he said.

 

During the 1960ﾕs the purely political work became less popular and the

bulk of his work became more informational and funded by the federal

government.  This trend continued into the 1970s with the production of

books such as Think First of Your Unborn Child (Rex Morgan, MD

introduces foetal alcohol syndrome), It”s Best to Know....About Alcohol,

Teenage Booby Trap and What if They Call Me Chicken (both anti drug).

There were numerous cancer awareness books for the National Cancer

Society and even the mischievous Dennis the Menace turned ‘relevant’ for

the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect’s Dennis the Menace

Coping with Family stress.

 

 

This change in content and funding was fine with Ater as he’d come to

see politicians as hypocrites, though he still enjoyed the friendship of

George Wallace, who by this time had pragmatically and honestly recanted

his racist views and was seen by Ater and many others as a straight

shooting realist.

 

During the 1970s Ater produced The President’s House, a slick magazine

given away to White House visitors during the Ford and Carter

Administrations.  This was the only venture into non comics publishing

He did, and it was similar to his 1956 comicbook Visiting Washington,

which was handed out as a travel guide by congressmen and senators to

visiting constituents.

 

In 1971 Commercial Comics had twenty books in print. Ater was the

president, director, board of directors and owner of a company making

about $100,000 a year. He was the only full time employee, but he

employed an additional staff of five artists and eight clerical workers

on a freelance basis. At that time he was in the process of reducing his

hourly work week from 80 to about 30

 

During the 1980s he continued to produce comics, one of which was

commissioned by the Central Intelligence Agency to be air dropped over

the island of Grenada during America’s 1983 invasion of that country.

The CIA had to distance itself from the project and neither their name

nor that of Commercial Comics appears on the book.  When Ater was to

pick up a check for production costs he was told by his CIA contact to

meet at a pre arranged place in Washington DC. Ater the meeting he and

the agent got into a taxi where he was given a suitcase filled with

$35,000 cash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also during this time he produced the comic Madonna on Aids, which was

commissioned by the rock star and given away at concerts.

 

Malcolm Ater published comics until his death on 10 May 1992.  He was

remembered as a dignified man of high standards, who thought it awful,

as many of his generation did, when his children started wearing jeans

in the 1960s, but he was also remembered as someone who was equally at

ease hosting a formal party of politicians or a cook out for

professional baseball players.

 

He should also be recorded as the man who created the political

comicbook, the first Smokey the Bear comic and one of the most

reproduced comics ever.  In a 40 year period Malcolm Ater wrote and

produced almost 80 comicbooks that propagandized and informed, and may

well have influenced the course of democracy in the United States.

 

 

The Anti Taft Comicbook Scandal of 1950

 

Robert Alphonso Taft (1889 - 1953) was the son of William Howard Taft,

the 27th president.  Elected to the US Senate in 1938 after serving in

the Ohio legislature, he was reelected in 1944 and was known as Mr

Republican because of his influence as a policymaker.  He was the

co-author of the Taft Hartley Act, a continuation of the National Labor

Relations Act, which limits the rights of organized labor to strike if

the public health is involved, bans closed shops, secondary strikes and

featherbedding. He had been a strong contender for presidential

nomination in 1940 and 1948.

 

In 1950 he was up for re election, and The United Labor League of Ohio

hired cartoonist Elliot Caplin to do an anti Taft comicbook. The

simplistic stereotype of J. Phinneas Moneybags and his cohorts plotting

to keep Taft in office was offensive to many, and the book was described

as libelous and a piece of character assignation. 

 

On 31 August 1950 The New York Times noted that several persons had

distributed the comic during one of Taftﾕs speaking engagements. Taft

supporters destroyed several copies on the spot, throwing the pieces

back to the demonstrators, and Taft mentioned the incident in a speech,

declaring that the democrats were resorting to lies and

misrepresentations to keep him from reelection.

 

Taft was reelected in 1950 and in 1952 was the leading Republican

contender against Eisenhower for the Republican presidential

nomination. 

 

 

 

 

COMICBOOKS PRODUCED BY

MALCOLM ATER’S

COMMERCIAL COMICS COMPANY

 

All scripts by Malcolm Ater

 

Political Comics

 

7 x 10, 16 pages

 

Truman for President (1948. First political comic)

The Story of Al Loveland, Candidate for the U S Senate

Scott Lucas, the Nation’s Number One Senator

The Story of Elpido Quirino (for President of the Phillippines)

published in English, Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocono and Ilongo) Rare

Escuela de Traidores (Spanish language anti communist) Rare. Not

intended for USA distribution. Possibly a CIA or USIA book

 

5 x 7, 16 pages

 

Alabama Needs the Little Judge, George Wallace for the Big Job

(pro segragation)

J Millard Tawes for Governor (Maryland)

Re Elect America’s Number 1 Senator, Paul H Douglas (Illinois)

Let’s Keep Alford in Action in Arkansas (Pro Segragation)

Robert B Meyner (Unusual in that it names oponents and their connections

to organised crime. Murder scenes, etc)

Alabama Needs John Patterson for Governor (Pro Segragation)

Patterson for Alabama (Pro Segragation)

Let’s Get Things Done for Kansas, Elect Robert Ellsworth to the U S

Senate

Governor Dennis J Roberts, the Man Whoﾕs Done the Most for Rhode Island

The Truth on Hume, At Last! The True Story on the Democratic Candidate

for Governor

It’s Time for Bryant (Florida) Pro Segragation

It’s Time for Bagwell (Michigan) Anti Segragation

A Man Named Stevenson (Democratic Presidential, 1952)

Louisiana Needs Chep Morrison (Pro Segragation)

You’ll Be The Winner with William Winter (Pro segragation, Anti Beaknik

and Goon. Shows Anti War Protestors. Late 1960s?)

The Man Who Beat Hoffa, Des Berry (Texas)

Wayne Morse, the Man

Elect Robert F Ellisworth to the U S Congress

A Man of Action, Elect Maurice ‘Footsie’ Britt Lt Governor (Louisiana)

For One United Sunshine State, Elect Bud Dickinson Governor (Florida)

Elect David Clark, Democratic Candidate for Congress (Washington D C)

El Gobernador Que Se Ocupa (Richard Hughes for Governor of New Jersey,

Spanish version)

 

In addition there are references in company files to comics for the

following candidates, but the full titles and format are unknown:

 

Harrison A Williams, Senator, New Jersey

Robert B Meiner, Governor, New Jersey

Charles P Howell, Senator, New Jersey

 

 

Average print runs of political comics were 700,000

 

 

Industrial,Educational and Promotional Comics

 

7 x 10, 16 pages

 

History of Gas, Through the Ages with MIss Flame (American Gas

Association, 1947) First appearance of Miss Flame. Scarce

Christmas is Coming (Commercial Comics, 1948) done as a promotion for

the company. Some overstock distributed years later through Toys R Us in

Washington DC, with store stamp

Meet the New Post Gazette Sunday Funnies. (1949) Announcing the addition

of a Sunday comics supplament, with new art by many top cartoonists,

including Gould, Montana, Wunder, Siegal and Shuster, Yagar, Messick and

others. Rare

Joe Worker and the Story of Labor (Congress of Industrial Organizations,

1948 - 1950.) Rare, 48 pages. Stridently left wing. Anti segragation,

has KKK scenes, depictions of Anti Catholic lynching, black lynching,

underground railroad, etc, and shows racial cooperation as an asset in

winning World War Two, and portrays racial integration as an essential

expression of American freedom

America Under Socialism (1948 - 1950) Rare

Joe, the Genie of Steel (U S Steel, 1950) Scarce

Forest Fire (First Smokey the Bear, 1950) Scarce

The Return of Joe, the Genie of Steel (U S Steel, 1951)

If an A-Bomb Falls (U S Government, 1951, 8 pages) Rare. Designed as a

brochure, but only published as a color strip on the front page of the

Washington Post in July 1951. Only a few hand bound copies of the

brochure were made. 2 copies are believed to exist

The Conquest of Hunger (National Fertilizer Association, 1951)  Scarce.

Small print run

Safe Breaks Save Lives (Wagner Electric Corp, 1951 or 1952)

Jack and Chuck Learn the Hard Way (Wagner Electric Corp, 1952 or 1953)

From Goodwill Industries a Good Life

The Will To Win (Goodwill Industries)

Happiness and Healing For You (Oral Roberts, 1956, slick covers)

Seeing Washington (Commercial Comics, 1956 or 1957). Done for newsstand

distribution, print run was 100, 000, but with 15,000 copies sold in 10

days, American News Company, the distributor, closed shop. Remaining

copies sold to U S Legislators for distribution to visiting

constituents)

Knowingﾕs Not Enough (U S Steel, 1956)

Copper...The Oldest and Newest Metal (Copper Development Association,

1959, also in Spanish)

Dennis the Menace Takes a Poke at Poison (U S Dept of Agriculture, 1961,

with a complete revision in 1981. Eventually 20 million copies of this

book were produced)

It’s Best to Know...About Alcohol (Alcohol and Drug Addiction Research

Foundation of Ontario, 1961)

New Uses for the Good Earth (Mined-Land Conservation Conference 1962)

Where There’s Smoke (American Cancer Society, 1963.) there were 24 press

runs for a total of 15,300,000 copies. Early runs had back cover ads of

non smoking athletes, including Bobby Richardson, Bill Russel.  Athletes

were changed in 1972, and none at all in last press runs.

Where There’s Smoke (Canadian Cancer Society, 1963) Back cover has

Canadian athletes

Il n’Ya Pas De Fumme (Canadian Cancer Society, 1963) Where Thereﾕs

Smoke, for distribution in Quebec

Donde Hay Humo (American Cancer Society, 1966) Spanish version of Where

There’s Smoke

It’s Time for Reason, Not Treason (Liberty Lobby 1967) 4 pg, promoting

patriotism during the Viet Nam War, and exposing unscrupulous

industrialists trading with our enemy. Scarce

Ladies...Wouldn’t it be Better To Know? (American Cancer Society, 1969)

What if They Call Me Chicken? (Anti Drug, Kiwanis International, 1970,

with a second version with scrip and art updates in the early 1980s.

Both have Jack Sparling art)

Danny and the Demon Cycle (Safety Division of VIrginia, slick cover,

1972) Bicycle safety

Andy Goes to the Park (Andy Capp, National Park Service,1975)

Taking a Chance...With No Chance to Win (American Cancer Society, 1976)

Coriendo Un Reisgo Sin Oportunidad De Ganar, (American Cancer Society,

1976) Spanish version of Taking a Chance

Think First About Your Unborn Child (Rex Morgan MD discusses foetal

alcohol syndrome)

So You Want to Stop? You Can! (American Cancer Society, 1976) English

and Spanish

Dennis the Menace Coping With Family Stress (National Center on Child

Abuse and Neglect, 1981)

Grenada (Central Intelligence Agency, 1984) Commissioned by the CIA to

be airdropped over Granada during the U S invasion. Scarce as none were

meant for distribution within the United States)

AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

Madonna on AIDS (This is the same book as AIDS, with a Madonna cover)

 

 

 

5 x 7, 16 pages

 

How to Get the Most Out of Your NEA Membership (National Education

Association 1951) 16 pages bound into NEA Journal

From Ball Game to Ballroom (Arthur Murray School of Dancing, 1952)

The Magic of Vitamins (Bexel Vitamins, Mc Kesson & Robbins, 1953)

The H Bomb and You (U S Government, 1955) 20 pages. Rare, low

distribution in a few cities.

Freedom or Compulsion (U S Chamber of Commerce and Ohio Right to Work

Committee, 1957) anti-union

Naked Force (Kansas for the Right to Work, 1958) Anti union

Bouncy Bexie (Bexel Vitamins, Mc Kesson & Robbins, 1961)

Oh, My Achin Back! (Michigan State Chiropractic Association, 1963)

Take Care of Yourself (American Cancer Society, 1967) 4 pgs, designed to

encourage English speaking women of Spanish descent to take the PAP test

Cuidate, Mama (American Cancer Society, 1967) Spanish version of Take

Care of Yourself

Teenage Booby Trap (Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, 1970)

Beware the Booby Trap (U S Department of Defense, !970) Teenage Booby

Trap with military cover

 

In addition, company records indicate the existence of the following

books who's formats, subjects and publication dates cannot be

identified:

 

A Safe Start

Keeping Safe Off the Job

A Safe Beauty Shop

 

Average print runs of industrial comics were 1,000,000 copies.

 

 

Sources:

 

Evening Sun newspaper, city unknown, 9 Oct (1950?) Comic-Book Use by

Politicians Increasing

Life Magazine 25 Sept 50 (as reproduced in 1950s promotional brochure

for Commercial Comics)

New York Times 31 Aug 50. Pg 23 Col 5

Promotion! American Gas Association, #2, 1947. Miss Flame to Tell Story

Unnamed, undated reference: Assorted Smiles, newspaper column by

V.Y.Dallman (Admiral). 1950?

Unnamed, undated reference: (trade newspaper?) Mc Kesson Makes Use of

Comic Type Book

Vet-Times 4 Nov 50; Elections Hinge on Comics

Wall Street Journal 20 May 52. Supermanﾕs Kin

Washington Evening Star 17 Oct 50. The Comic Book has Entered Politics

Washington Post 6 Sept 71 Propaganda Funnies

Interviews and correspondence with Malcolm Ater Jr

 

 

All text copyright 2003

tom christopher

All illustrations copyright 2003

Commercial Comics / Estate of Malcolm Ater

All rights reserved