"Seduction of the Innocent"- Article on Infamous anti-comics tract
Residents Fan
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I found this interesting set of articles on the notorious anti-comics book "Seduction
of the Innocent" by Dr. Fredric Wertham.
http://www.the-solute.com/seduction-of-the-innocent-the-comics-scare-and-the-red-scare/
http://www.the-solute.com/seduction-of-the-innocent-a-stray-bullet/
http://www.the-solute.com/seduction-of-the-innocent-so-irony-is-a-thing/
http://www.the-solute.com/seduction-of-the-innocent-even-i-know-more-about-child-psychology/
http://www.the-solute.com/seduction-of-the-innocent-even-i-know-more-about-child-psychology/
I think every generation has its moral panics- everything from "Penny Dreadfuls" to
"Grand Theft Auto" has been accusing of corrupting our children. And 1950s America
(and other countries) settled on comic books. What's interesting to me is that there wasn't a similar backlash when adult-orientated comics reappeared in the US in the 1980s.
of the Innocent" by Dr. Fredric Wertham.
http://www.the-solute.com/seduction-of-the-innocent-the-comics-scare-and-the-red-scare/
http://www.the-solute.com/seduction-of-the-innocent-a-stray-bullet/
http://www.the-solute.com/seduction-of-the-innocent-so-irony-is-a-thing/
http://www.the-solute.com/seduction-of-the-innocent-even-i-know-more-about-child-psychology/
http://www.the-solute.com/seduction-of-the-innocent-even-i-know-more-about-child-psychology/
I think every generation has its moral panics- everything from "Penny Dreadfuls" to
"Grand Theft Auto" has been accusing of corrupting our children. And 1950s America
(and other countries) settled on comic books. What's interesting to me is that there wasn't a similar backlash when adult-orientated comics reappeared in the US in the 1980s.
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http://cypheravenue.com/boards/threads/did-fredric-wertham-really-claim-that-batman-and-robin-were-gay.1944/
At least one comics artist, Roy Crane, was working with the CIA to disseminate anti-Communist propaganda in his comic strip "Buz Sawyer":
https://newrepublic.com/article/122962/pulp-propaganda-roy-cranes-buz-sawyer-cold-war-comics
There would have been a lot of anti-Commie storylines in 50s and 60s US comics. For
instance, the early Marvel Iron Man and Thor comics had the heroes fight Communists.
But I don't think most of these comic stories were directly funded by the US government.
The Fredrik Stromberg book "Comic Art Propaganda" has an extensive section on anti-Communist (and pro-Communist!) comics from around the world.
You've reminded me of this infuriating incident from lasy year:
http://cbldf.org/2015/06/college-student-wants-four-graphic-novels-eradicated-from-the-system/
“I expected Batman and Robin, not pornography.”
" I would like the books eradicated from the system. I don’t want them taught anymore. I don’t want anyone else to have to read this garbage."
But Schultz the elder also objects to their availability in the campus bookstore when “there are under-aged kids here at this campus.”
College courses have sexually explicit novels (our "Modernist Literature" course included "Lady Chatterley's Lover"* ) and films (our Cinema Course had Scorsese's
"Taxi Driver"). So I don't see why she should be surprised that the graphic novel course also includes adult material.
If that kind of material bothers her so much, maybe she should attend somewhere like the fundamentalist Bob Jones University. instead.
* Turned into a Very Graphic Novel by Hunt Emerson.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/aa/52/87/aa52873ac16513cdbe25a851c546d1c6.jpg
I take it you mean this one?
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/outrageous-tales-from-the-old-testament/4050-40667/
Looks like he was only half right.
Rare apparently!!
Time to check out the spare room
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCG9XjqKkqI
Ten minutes in