Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Issue No.1 September, 1953
The first story is about a vision a ship captain had that ended up saving two ships from being shipwrecked. Then there are ‘unbelievable’ facts and optical illusions. The second story is about a boy who won a chess game and requested mercy instead of monetary gain, who turned out to be Thomas Paine. Then there is a spread about the mystery and wonder of Africa and different tribes. The third and final story is about a ship during the war that got bombed by their own bomb.
In the spread “Africa Explored”, Ripley’s Believe it or Not! was respectful, for the most part in 1953, of their portrayal of Africans. They didn’t use blackface, to depict them and provided amazing examples of their different cultures. As opposed to how African Americans were portrayed as goofy and lacking actual culture. The Africans were shown as individuals within a community rather a laughingstock or influenced by white people. However, throughout the comic, there were no other depictions of Africans or African Americans at all. This was reminiscent of the notion that black people were not necessarily a relatable people that were to be included, rather only through study, should they be acknowledged. Given that the comic was published in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, the race relations between African Americans and whites was tried anyway. But the comic reinforced the association of African Americans being from these foreign places and not actually a part of American society.
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