Brett Dakin

In American Daredevil: Comics, Communism, and the Battles of Lev Gleason, Brett Dakin chronicles the life of his grand-uncle Leveret Stone Gleason, a publisher of newspapers and progressive political activist during the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. Dakin not only chronicles Gleason’s life, but also explains his methods, including searching through family records, university archives, oral history interviews, requesting Gleason’s FBI file, and more. The story Dakin uncovers depicts a life working to advance causes that hold relevance in the present and that faced opposition that contemporary readers will find familiar. Dakin’s work also serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving family history, particularly when he acknowledges gaps in the record for Gleason’s later years.

Gleason published newspapers, magazines, and more, though he is most well-known today for his comic books. Gleason’s Daredevil, a man who witnessed his father’s death at the hands of criminals when a child, was among the first superheroes to battle Hitler on the cover in July 1941 (just four months after Captain America Comics #1). Dakin argues, “Daredevil moved the medium past the merely fantastical and into the realm of current affairs, where reality offered more than enough material” (pg. 20). Daredevil was particularly noteworthy for this as the character did not begin as a patriotic superhero, but was rather in the mold of other costumed vigilantes. Further, under Gleason’s management, Charles Biro and Bob Wood developed the comic Crime Does Not Pay, the first true-crime comic book (pg. 31). Gleason writes, “The release of Crime coincided with an increase in comics readership that would continue through the next decade. Even the federal government recognized the medium’s power, requesting that all publishers appeal directly to children and their parents to purchase war bonds and stamps” (pg. 34). Further, “[b]y 1948, one out of every seven comic books on the market was a ‘true crime’ title” (pg. 36).

As postwar attitudes towards comic books changed, Gleason joined with Harold Moore and Irving Manheimer to form the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers in 1947 (pg. 91). They created a precursor to the later Comics Code Authority with some similar rules regarding profanity, sexuality, and the depiction of crime and government officials (pg. 93). Gleason advocated on behalf of his own titles and other member publishers, suing those at the government level who would seek to ban comics and winning based on the recent Winters decision (pgs. 96-97). Unfortunately, the ACMP was effectively defunct by 1950 as major publishers had not joined at the Association ran out of funding (pg. 104). As Fredric Wertham and Senator Estes Kefauver began investigating and publicly scorning comic books, leading to the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency hearings, the publishers realized they needed a new defense and formed the Comics Magazine Association of America (pg. 149). The new Comics Code’s ban on crime effectively ended one of Gleason’s top-selling titles. Dakin writes, “Lev was hit particularly hard by the code in part because his titles had succeeded by reaching a broader market than kids alone. He had always denied that comics were for children only; he once claimed that as many as 60 per cent of comics were bought by adults” (pg. 151). Two years after the Code took effect, Gleason published the final issue of Daredevil and “on December 18, Lev Gleason Enterprises was dissolved” (pg. 152). Gleason allowed the copyright to lapse. He offered to sell Daredevil to Pete Morisi, but the deal fell through and left the brand open for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to create Marvel’s Daredevil in 1964 (pg. 190).

Gleason believed in progressive politics and worked to advocate for progressive causes. Dakin writes, “Lev recognized that the nation was at a crossroads: would the legacy of the New Deal, which had helped carry the nation out of the Great Depression, live on – or would it be crushed by conservatives in Congress?” (pg. 51). In his New Castle News, Gleason said of the House Un-American Activities Committee investigating the Joint Anti-Fascist Refuge Committee and other groups for suspected ties to communism, “We are in a period of a reactionary swing in this country, a very dangerous swing which holds many of the elements of potential fascism. There is a concerted drive against civil liberties, against labor’s rights and the democratic aspirations of the plain people” (pg. 122). As Dakin describes, even the FBI investigated Gleason, though he appears not to have known the depth of their interest. Summarizing Gleason’s politics, Dakin writes, “I like Lev’s term the best: he was a ‘Super New Dealer.’ FDR would always remain Lev’s hero. He never turned his back on the progressive values and social programs that helped bring the U.S. out of the Great Depression, and that meant remaining close to folks who continued to call themselves ‘communist’” (pg. 180). That led Gleason to frequent conflict in the Red Scare of the 1950s, though he retained his values and even worked to counter housing segregation in his final career as a realtor (pg. 188).

Dakin’s American Daredevil will appeal to both comic book historians as well as cultural historians specializing in the U.S. Cold War culture. His writing is clear and he structures the story fairly chronologically, with his search for records in the present acting as the backbone of the book. A gripping account that brings together all the various stories and rumors surrounding Gleason’s life to create a nearly-complete portrait. Finally, Dakin demonstrates the continued importance of Gleason’s life and beliefs in our own times.… (mehr)