Forward with Eisenhower-Nixon #[nn]
Forward with Eisenhower-Nixon stands as one of the earliest uses of the comic-book format as a direct presidential campaign tool, deliberately tapping into the medium's mass cultural reach at the peak of its mid-century popularity. It marks one of the very first appearances of Richard Nixon — then the sitting Vice President — as a named figure in a comic book, giving the format an unexpected foothold in national electoral politics. The book's unusual hybrid storytelling approach — comic-book visuals without traditional panels or dialogue bubbles — shows how political operatives were still experimenting with the grammar of the medium. Graphic Information Service, the New York publisher behind this issue, would go on to produce the landmark Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story the following year, making this obscure campaign giveaway an early entry in the same studio's surprisingly consequential output.
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The comic was produced in 1956 by Graphic Information Service Inc. — a New York commercial publishing house operating out of 17 East 45th Street — and distributed on behalf of the Republican National, Congressional & Senatorial Committees ahead of the November 1956 presidential election. The title was a deliberate attempt to reach voters through the most socially prevalent popular medium of the era, delivering the campaign's 'Peace, Prosperity, Progress' message through illustrated storytelling aimed at ordinary Americans. No individual writer or artist credits have surfaced in any currently available source, and the book is not documented in standard comics reference guides, suggesting it was produced as disposable campaign literature rather than a conventional newsstand publication.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published in 1956 by Graphic Information Service Inc. and distributed by the Republican National, Congressional & Senatorial Committees as a presidential campaign giveaway.
- The comic is 16 pages, printed in full color, and measures approximately 6.63" × 10.25".
- Its narrative structure is a comic-book story line without traditional panel borders or dialogue bubbles — a hybrid format closer to an illustrated booklet than a standard superhero or newsstand comic.
- The story follows four different ordinary American citizens to illustrate how an Eisenhower second term would continue to improve their lives.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon are both indexed as featured characters by the Grand Comics Database; this is among the earliest known comic-book appearances of Nixon.
- The campaign slogan 'Let's Continue Peace...Prosperity...Progress' appears as part of the full title.
- Graphic Information Service, this issue's publisher, is the same New York firm that the following year produced the civil-rights landmark Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story.
- A separate companion campaign comic — Dwight D. Eisenhower–Richard M. Nixon: The Choice of a Nation — was produced in the same election cycle by a different publisher, Commercial Comics, and held alongside this issue in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Political Comics Collection.
Cast · 2 characters
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Why Eisenhower & Republican Congress must be elected.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).