Comics are used to teach statistics, to lecture about Hepatitis B in
health pamphlets, to show children how to safely cross the street or dial 911, to
demonstrate how to prepare sushi or how to "cook"instant oatmeal.
Comics are instructive. Fun. Powerful. Amusing. Deceptively simple.
In this website we have discussed various uses of comics, particulary the ones that
exist online, including genres like "fanboy" or "commercial." Yet, the
comic has been an instrument of instruction for the purposes of indoctrination in many
instances.
The comic has been used as a tool of political and social propaganda in many settings (www.earthstation1.com).
Comics would play an important role in an international movement that began in Moscow,
Idaho in 1929.
For more on the Psychiana religon check out Psychiana
#1 Atomic Bomb Comic
Frank Robinson, founder and Archbishop of Psychiana, Inc., used avant-garde techniques
to reach his audience. In this advertisement, which appeared in a myriad of publications
ranging widely in size and distribution, Robinson’s desire to remain contemporary is
obvious. He was obsessively driven to stay as current as possible in fields where new
discoveries were being made regularly. These attempts to remain cutting-edge led to
certain amount of short-sightedness and large measure of blind excitability in the face of
new technology. Robinson’s charisma held Psychiana together. The ads that he created
reflected his desires to constantly unite science and spirituality or even to see them as
one and the same.
#2 When God Speaks
Classic straight-speaking, direct-action style renders this comic easy to read and no
doubt engaging to an audience familiar with the style. The reader takes far less time to
reading the simple image-rich format than the dense texts of Robinson’s earliest ads,
which followed the format of a newspaper column with a headline like, " I TALKED WITH
GOD," or conversely, "I TALKED WITH SATAN." For the first person ever to
form a mail-order religion, Robinson seemed to have the tricks of the trade down. He
tracked the letters of response that came into his office (1900 pieces of mail on an
average day) by the periodical from which they were clipped. He was able to profile his
followers in this way, as well as from the information discovered in the myriads of
personal letters his followers sent to him. He was able to create new ads and new comics
which would be of interest to his readers, since 53% of returns came from ads published in
periodicals dealing with either the future or the occult. With this knowledge in mind,
Robinson set about to reach more and more people.
#3 I Talked with God
Supposedly a transcript of an actual letter, confirming the "real and powerful
force" of Psychiana, this ad presents a rather troubling aspect of the
religion’s end goal: an uneasy mix of spirituality and materialism. Robinson became
quite obscure in Psychiana’s later years; it seemed that he was presenting a variety
of claims. He seemed to be saying, not only can you gain a fortune, you can enjoy the
benefits of being a spiritually fulfilled person. Only in a Depression Era world could his
message bring more hope. The nation was attempting to put the tragic past of the war and
its losses behind. But the citizens were troubled and ready to be healed from these
economic and emotional losses. Robinson and Psychiana promised an answer to these losses
as well as a fresh, new, scientific religion that had no room for the hypocrisy of
traditional religion.
#4 Is God Dead?
Robinson’s tracking of the emotional and religious climate of the nation allowed
him to approach this question with astonishing tackiness. The border of skulls along with
the caricatures of the "national enemies" provide a rather grim and disturbing
image, which was the feeling prevalent in the nation at the time. Robinson stuck with
current events and made the nation’s feeling of hopelessness into a successful
business venture for himself.
