While reading some Golden Age comics for the speculative Friday Fights series, I was struck by this panel from Top Notch Comics #1 (DEC 1939)
Those who know their history will recognize that this story was published a full two years before the Japanese did, in fact, bomb the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor (i.e., Dec. 7, 1941).
I don't think it's much of a stretch to assume the fictional "Jatsonians" are a stand-in for the Japanese. The in-story depiction of the Jatsonians only furthers that presumption:
Why point any of this out? Well, as you may know, recent decades have witnessed a flare up in the debate surrounding what FDR knew (or had reason to suspect) the Japanese were planning.
 |
| Top Notch Comics #1 (DEC 1939) |
Those who know their history will recognize that this story was published a full two years before the Japanese did, in fact, bomb the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor (i.e., Dec. 7, 1941).
I don't think it's much of a stretch to assume the fictional "Jatsonians" are a stand-in for the Japanese. The in-story depiction of the Jatsonians only furthers that presumption:
Why point any of this out? Well, as you may know, recent decades have witnessed a flare up in the debate surrounding what FDR knew (or had reason to suspect) the Japanese were planning.
After 16 years of uncovering documents through the Freedom of Information Act, journalist and historian Robert Stinnett charges in his book, Day of Deceit, that U.S. government leaders at the highest level not only knew that a Japanese attack was imminent, but that they had deliberately engaged in policies intended to provoke the attack, in order to draw a reluctant, peace-loving American public into a war in Europe for good or ill. In contrast, historian and author Stephen Budiansky (see his book, Battle of Wits) believes that such charges are entirely unfounded and are based on misinterpretations of the historical record. (Stinnett, R. & Budiansky, S. (2003, JAN 30). "The truth about Pearl Harbor: a debate." www.independent.org)My question is, if the scenario of a Japanese/Jatsonian attack on Pearl Harbor was realistic enough to have made its way into the story-line of a publication for children two years prior to the actual attack, doesn't that seriously blunt the claim that "no one could have anticipated" the attack?
No comments:
Post a Comment