In this discussion, I consider the argument which dismisses racism in classic comics.  Racism in the Golden Age of comic books was rooted in ideas which predated the Civil War which de-humanised both African-Americans and Asian-Americans.  The Golden Age of comic books may have started in the context of World War II, but the racial caricatures present in the genre linked to much older traditions.  We should also remember that public art could be a means to challenge broad stereotypes and the presence of such obvious racial coding in early comics demonstrates something about the character of that particular medium.