Lawyers in Comics: Mr. District Attorney
From the exhibit, “Superheroes in Court! Lawyers, Law and Comic Books”, curated by Mark S. Zaid, Esq., and on display Sept. 4-Dec, 16, 2010 in the Rare Book Exhibition Gallery, Level L2, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School.
Mr. District Attorney was a popular radio show created by former law student Ed Byron which aired from 1939 to 1952. It featured a crime-fighting crusading D.A. inspired by Thomas E. Dewey’s campaign against racketeering which helped lead to his election as governor of New York. The show’s popularity led to a quick comic book appearance in The Funnies no. 35 (Sept. 1939) and the issuance of one of the few non-funny early issues of Four Color by Dell Publishing in 1942. This issue is also one of the earliest examples of a lawyer gracing a comic book cover. The title was later picked up by D.C. Comics and ran for a respectable 67 issues from 1948 to 1958.
Mr. District Attorney was a popular radio show created by a former law student which aired from 1939 to 1952. It featured a crime-fighting crusading D.A. and the show’s popularity led to a quick comic book appearance in The Funnies #35 (Sept. 1939). This issue of Four Color is one of the earliest examples of a lawyer gracing a comic book cover. The title was later picked up by D.C. Comics and ran for a respectable 67 issues from 1948 to 1958.
Four Color Comic no. 13 (1942). Personal collection of Mark S. Zaid, Esq.
The storyline of Mr. District Attorney no. 12 began with this introduction:
In this land of ours, under our laws, a person is innocent until proven guilty. And it is my duty as District Attorney not only to prosecute the guilty but to make certain that the innocent go free! And it is my duty, too, to make certain that society shares the guilt and responsibility of a criminal that society, itself, had created! That is why… “I DEFENDED THE MONKEY MAN!”
Mr. District Attorney no. 12 (Nov.-Dec. 1949). Personal collection of Mark S. Zaid, Esq.
