'Quod vitae sectabor iter'

[Tnerb]

Or "What path will my life take"

 

Or "Which path in life will I choose?"

 

Or "because I shall pursue the path of life"

 

Or Who uses Latin anyway?

 

My Mother hated me collecting comic books. I never understood why. At one point I left copies of Uncanny X-Men issues 190 and 191 in the dining room on the windowsill. These comics were left there after I looked them over on the kitchen table one day before school, mind you the dining room was and always was devoid of furniture. I can only remember a couple times that we entertained in this room, so when I left two comic books on the windowsill I thought nothing of it. When I got home, they were gone along with a file box of baseball cards also left there.

 

Apparently my Mom thought nothing good could come from reading comic books (or collecting baseball cards) and I wonder if she paid attention to the fifties Senate hearings with Dr. Frederic Wertham and never forgot it. After this incident occurred (my mother trashing my comic books being the incident not the Senate hearing) I began to keep my comics at my father's house, with a few exceptions, yes The New Mutants #15 was one of them.

 

As I am writing this I can remember my Mom arguing with me that I would never learn anything from reading them and that they were a waste of money. I would have to imagine that anything that inspires a kid to learn is worth allowing. The Fantastic Four was one of the books I would use a dictionary to figure out exactly what Reed Richards was trying to say when he was creating a device to help regulate the tachyon emissions rushing through sub-space between our portion of the galaxy into the Negative Zone via the Microverse.

 

I remember the Human Torch implying how stupid his one team mate was in the beginning of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars. He stated that after Mr. Fantastic finishes speaking in five dollar words, he'll explain it to everyone else in English and to the Thing in one syllable words. Comic books can teach us so much, whether it might be a simple word or by creating a whole society of mutants to teach a young audience that racism is wrong.

 

Dr. Wertham was wrong in bringing his views to the Senate claiming that these comics would destroy the youth in America going so far as using a copy of Crime SuspenStories to back his argument (but lets face it, it helped sell his book) and I feel my Mother's thinking was wrong that I would never learn anything or that they would ever be worth anything. I do believe that comic books not only entertain but teach and with out ever picking up four color books I probably would have shied away from reading those pesky pages without pictures called a novel.

 

 

Thanks for Reading

 

Tnerb

 

See more journals by Tnerb

[Lee K]

Tnerb~

 

Did you pick up a copy of SOTI? I've always wanted to read it, but it has never been high enough on my want list to buy it instead of more comics.

 

I still think it would be interesting to take the time to read it and then read the comics that are referenced therein (that part is a little pricy - even for 4.0 copies).

 

Anyway - don't leave comics on the windowsill, if they dont get water damage from condensation, they'll sun-bleach!

 

Happy Hunting!

Lee

[mzhammer]

interesting tidbit taken from Wiki:

 

Wertham's original research materials for "Seduction of the Innocent" became available in 2010. "Wertham manipulated, overstated, compromised, and fabricated evidence—especially that evidence he attributed to personal clinical research with young people—for rhetorical gain." —Carol Tilley, Seducing the Innocent: Fredric Wertham and the Falsifications That Helped Condemn Comics.

 

I'm always fascinated when manipulation of research is used to drive perspective.