Mr. Dybwad. I am not intimately acquainted with it. I know it is a company of several people.
Again wy lnorance is due to the fact that this goes hack so many vears. It was al the fime earefully gone into by onr attorneys and by aur people.
Mr. Beaser. Would you be surprised, Mv. Dy bwad, to learn that one of the owners of the Snperman group, National Comies, is listed in the certifeate they must file, as FP. Eger, and that her husband is publishing this stuff?
Mr. Dybwad. I would be surprised, but for the fact that a few days ago this was intiruated to me. Otherwise, I would be thoroughly surprised and this is a qnestion———
Mr. Beaser. That is material issued by the American Comics Group, one of the owners being listed as Frederick H. Iger.
Mr. Dybwad. I never heard of the mau, completely unknown to me and as far as I have knewn, he hus not been one of the people with whom we have had contaet. I have absolutely no knowledge of that.
I again emphasize an investigation was iimde in 1941 whether at that time such a relationship existed. At that time one shonld have fone in this. Mind yor, sir, crime comics were not in existence at that time and I think we mus be very mindful of this, that the state- ments which we mace earher, particularly the first one, preceded by far the actual crime comic.
Even at that time we warned against a tendency, but (his kind of stuff, as you know, sir, 1s new.
Now, whether we should have had a continual annual investigation hy a detective ageney of these people, that is a matter of conjecture. We never have had contact with this particular person.
I still say that lis publisher here does not produce such stuff, save for the fact that you may object to a killing on Gang Busters or what not.
The Chairman. Are you sure that this publisher has, as you referred to him, no connection with any of these crime conics?
Mr. Dybwad. I don't know why this would play a particular role as far as we are concerned. We are concerned, were concerned and are concerned———
The Chairman. It plays a role as far as this subcommittee is concerned.
Mr. Dybwad. That is right. As far as we are concerned, here is a publisher who preduces what would go, I think, with any ob- jective examiner as one of the best gronps of comics in this country relatively speaking.
Mr. Beaser. You can't talk of him, Mr. Dybwad, as him. That is owned by 6 or 7 stockhalders. One of the stockholders is the wite of the same person who is putting out the crime and horror stuff that you see up there. There is a connection.
Those magazines may be clean. But the same owner, or the wife of the owner, is also putting out the other kind of material.
Mr. Dybwad. Now, what do you think we should do about this matter, because you seem to imply this requires action. Should we therefore say we are no longer interested in helping this publisher to produce these things?
