Reasons for the satanic panic #431: Kiss engage in bloodletting for a comic book
Often, when we look back at some of the moments in music, we roll our eyes and think, “Why was this so controversial?” For instance, when Elvis thrust his hips on TV, he set off a chain reaction of conservative rage across America, and now we look at that moment and laugh at how upset people got. That said, some moments were rightly received with eyebrows and crosses raised, one of which resulted from Kiss and their first appearance in a comic book.
Kiss was about as close as you could come to real-life superheroes. Their outlandish makeup, outfits and ability to heal the world with rock n roll are nothing short of the pages of a comic book, so it wasn’t long before they were between the pages of a comic book. In 1977, Marvel Comics issued their first magazine, in which Kiss was featured.
The controversy arose not because Kiss was in a comic book. Instead, it was the medium by which the comic book was created. Rightly so, it was received as particularly controversial when it was revealed that Kiss had put their own blood in the ink used to draw the issue.
Gene Simmons reflected, “As the Kiss comic book project moved along, someone came up with the idea of putting real blood in the ink. It wasn’t me – maybe it was Bill [Aucoin] or Sean [Delaney]. We got into a DC3, one of those big prop planes, and flew up to Buffalo to Marvel’s printing plant, where they pour the ink and make comic books. A notary public actually witnessed the blood being drawn.”
They agreed to their blood being used in the ink to give into the hellish image in which the band have always painted themselves. In order to certify it, they issued a Kiss contract that meant fans knew for sure that the blood was contained within the comic.
The contract read, “This is to certify that Kiss members Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss have each donated blood, which is being collectively mixed with the red ink to be used for the first issue of the Marvel/Kiss comics. The blood was extracted on February 21st, 1977, at Nassau Coliseum and has been under guarded refrigeration until this day when it was delivered to the Borden Ink plant in Depew, New York.”
The uproar following the news that Kiss was mixing their blood might have been misplaced, though. There is a rumour that following a mix-up at the printers, the ink that should have been used for the Kiss magazine was actually used for an issue of Sports Illustrated. Who knows what actually happened? It’s all left to the pages of history comic book history.
