Judgment Day
is a story published by EC Comics, written by Al Feldstein and illustrated by Joe Orlando. It first ran in 1953's Weird Fantasy #18 anthology, and was later reprinted in Incredible Science Fiction #33 in 1956.
Tarlton is an emissary from the Galactic Republic, dispatched to the planet Cybrinia, to determine if the world is eligible for Republic membership. Cybrinia is populated entirely by robots, and he finds that they are divided into two types: orange and blue. Both types have identical body plans, are made from identical components, and are built by the same methods before being fitted with outer casings and programmed with knowledge, but orange robots live in comfort and luxury while blue robots are confined to second-class citizenry, living in squalor, limited to menial jobs, and relegated to shoddier charging-stations. Tarlton concludes that, on account of their discriminatory social structure, Cybrinia is ineligible to join the Republic. After he's boarded his rocket-ship and is flying back home, he removes his helmet, revealing himself to the reader as a black man. The End.
Its reception in W.F. No. 18 was overwhelmingly positive, but was met with strong Executive Meddling by the Comics Code Authority for its 1956 reprint. Administrator Judge Charles Murphy demanded that the ending be changed so that Tarlton would not be black, but Feldstein stiffly refused, saying that it would ruin the whole point of the story. It should be made clear that Murphy's objection had no basis in any Code rule, and was solely motivated by his own racist views, and the event only confirmed to the EC Comics staff of what they had long suspected; namely that reactionary elements within the Comics Code Authority had it out for them because of their progressive content and messages. He had then called Feldstein and William Gaines to instead request that the sweat be stricken from Tarlton's forehead, with one or both of the men bidding him "Fuck you!", and hung up. The story would be successfully reprinted in Incredible Science Fiction #33 with no changes, but as the last comic issue published by EC Comics, who were harassed out of the comics business and shifted their focus to the non-CCA-compliant MAD.
Tropes featured in Judgment Day include:
- Afrofuturism: The story could be seen as an early instance of this subgenre, despite being penned by a white writer, one Al Feldstein. When Tarlton finds that the robots are divided into blue and orange races, with the blues treated as second-class citizens and required to use different battery-recharging stations despite being structurally identical, he concludes that the planet's civilization is not yet worthy of joining the Republic as long as their bigotry persists. Only in the final panel does he remove his space helmet, revealing that he is a black man. A bit lame and predictable today, perhaps, but in the mid-'50s, this was controversial stuff, and the use of a black protagonist caused serious trouble with the Comics Code.
- Color-Coded Castes: For orange robots, the world is their oyster, but the blue robots are second-class citizens.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- The innards of an orange robot and a blue robot are identical, but the only differences are in their casings and their programming: their outer shells and what they are taught. While orange robots live splendidly and control the levers of power, blue robots are relegated to slum-towns and menial jobs, subpar establishments and the backs of buses...
- While the blue robots' assembly plant is able to build more robots without much difficulty, their educator machine lacks the advantages of an orange educator due to the "limited funds" their factory receives — a metaphor for growing up with less opportunities, fewer choices, and a bigoted social order imposed on you from birth. Tarlton spells it out:Tarlton: Tell me, my friend... would you deny that the differences between you and the blue robots are taught... in your educator?
Orange Robot: I... I couldn't deny that, Tarleton.
Tarlton: The 'educator' is the parents and the relatives and the school and the environment all rolled into one, eh?
Orange Robot: I... I don't understand those words, Tarlton.
Tarlton: No, I guess you wouldn't.
- Enclosed Extraterrestrials: Tarlton doesn't remove his space-suit for the entirety of his survey.
- Fantastic Racism: Blue robots are little better than serfs, who never know the gleaming luxury that the orange robots take for granted. Tarlton's guide even mentions "keeping them in their place" and that there would be "trouble" if orange and blue were to co-mingle.
- The Federation: Tarlton is a representative of the Galactic Republic centered on Earth, sent to determine if Cybrinia is eligible for membership in the star-spanning superstate. In the end, he judges them unworthy of inclusion so long as their social order persists.
- Foreshadowing: Early in the tour, Tarlton notices their car is staying in very specific areas. When he asks his guide, the robot disparagingly refers to the areas they're avoiding as "Bluetown", setting up the blue robots for later expansion.
- Never My Fault: The orange robot is agitated and feels personally judged when Tarlton criticizes Cybrinia's caste system and its reality falling short of its proposed ideals of freedom, pointing out that "this existed long before I was made!" and that he's "only one robot". This blame-shifting attitude, for something that the orange robots should feel responsible for, only serves further proof to Tarlton that Cybrinia isn't ready to join the Galactic Republic.
- Prejudice Aesop: Tarlton judges the planet unready to join the Federation because of the discrimination against the blue robots. In the last panel, he removes the spacesuit helmet he had been wearing throughout the story, revealing that he is a black man and that humanity has ended practices of racial discrimination.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: It ends on the implication that Tarlton's guide will take back the knowledge that the Earthman gave him, to show his orange brethren that they are fundamentally no different from the blue robots. Tarlton also told that Earth's people used to be the same way until they cast aside their prejudices to finally be able to touch the stars which, in highly segregated 1950s America, was also a message of hope to the reader.Tarlton: Of course there's hope for you, my friend. For a while, on Earth, it looked like there was no hope! But when mankind on Earth learned to live together, real progress first began. The universe was suddenly ours.
Orange Robot: ...And when we learn to live together...
Tarlton: The universe will be yours too. Good-bye, my friend!
Orange Robot: Good-bye, Tarlton. - Robot Names: Tarlton's guide mentions that their motor-car was developed by one N-R-E-Phord, the only robot name given.
- Robot Republic: The setting is a whole planet populated entirely by robots.
- Robots Enslaving Robots: While it's not outright slavery, the discrimination imposed by orange against blue is just as detestable.
- Suddenly Ethnicity: The whole of the comic speaks not a word about Tarlton's race, until he removes his helmet to show that he's black, and thus a whole new perspective on the Cybrinians' discrimination is given. This is done through both the text and artwork at the same time.
- Tomato Surprise: In the final panel, Tarlton removes his helmet for the first time, with the shocking reveal that he was black.
- Wham Line: The line of narration in the final panel:And inside the ship, the man removed his space helmet and shook his head, and the instrument lights made the beads of perspiration on his dark skin twinkle like distant stars…
- Wham Shot: In the final panel, Tarlton takes off his helmet, revealing himself to be a black man.
- You Are Not Ready: Tarlton's final assessment of Cybrinia is that they may not be admitted to the great Galactic Republic until the Cybrinians do away with their discriminatory ways.
