Polite Dissent

Extolling the virtues of the United Nations was a common theme of DC Comics’ Silver Age public service ads; the subject came up quite a bit (and I’ve only reproduced a handful of them, there’s plenty more). Here’s one from September 1958 titled “Sharing — The United Nations Way!”

The subtitle almost makes the ad sound exciting (&ldquoA true story from the files of the International Labor Organization”), but don’t let that fool you — a best seller it’s not.

Like many of the United Nations public service ads, this one strikes me as a little condescending — but admittedly it’s not as bad as some others. On the other hand, unlike several other United Nations public service ads, this one was never re-used — so maybe I’m not the only one who dislikes it.

This PSA was scripted by prolific PSA writer Jack Schiff, with art by this time by the George Roussos. This copy comes from The Brave and the Bold #21(starring the Silent Knight and Viking Prince — no Batman team-ups yet).

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