In Memory of Dr. Wertham - SOTI Images to Corrupt Our Youth

[esquirecomics]

AdamStrange's posting of "Jon Juan" in the Atomic Age thread gave me the idea for this thread.

 

No doubt most, if not all, of those who peruse this section are familiar with Dr. Frederic Wertham's infamous book "Seduction of the Innocent" which hypothesized that certain comics led teens to be juvenile deliquents. As a result of Wertham's work, and Congressional hearings, the Comic Code Authority was born.

 

I searched the threads and while I found some past discussions of SOTI, I did not see any that focused on bringing to life in 2005 the images that so aggravated the good Dr. 50 years ago. So in his honor and memory (he died in 1981), I bring to you the start of what should become an interesting thread. In addition to posting the cover (and any interior pages if possible), try to explain what caused the controversy in the particular book.

 

This issue of All-Top got the good Dr. annoyed due to its references to "Corpses of colored people strung up by their wrists."

 

[october]

Absolutely fantastic idea for a thread. I have wanted to see these covers collected in one place for a long time. Unfortunately I don't have any, but I definetely enjoy them.....especially Crime Suspenstories 20 .

[Scrooge]

And for anyone that wouldn't know which of their comics to post in this thread, please reference this website and don't forget to click on the ILLUSTRATIONS link at the bottom for more information on specific panels.

[adamstrange]

[Bonds25]

Not actually used in SOTI, but mentioned in the Congressional hearings based on the book:

 

[Joanna]

 

 

The second story, Little Miss Wonder Woman has Wonder Woman adopting a little girl. This is the story that incensed Wertham.

 

A quote from SOTI:

 

' As to the "advanced femininity," what are the activities in comic books which women "indulge in on an equal footing with men"? They do not work. They are not homemakers. They do not bring up a family. Mother-love is entirely absent. Even when Wonder Woman adopts a girl there are Lesbian overtones. They are either superwomen flying through the air, scantily dressed or uniformed, outsmarting hostile natives, animals or wicked men, functioning like Wonder Woman in a fascistic-futurist setting, or they are molls or prizes to be pushed around and sadistically abused. In no other literature for children has the image of womanhood been so degraded.

 

 

I no longer have the book, so I can't scan any interior pages, but I read the story. Wertham was nuts.

 

-- Joanna

[RareHighGrade]

"Sexual stimulation by combining 'headlights' with the sadist's dream of tying up a woman."

 

 

RHG

[lou_fine]

Wertham was nuts.

 

-- Joanna

 

Well, not only was Wertham nuts, but I strongly believe he had some serious suppressed sexual problems based upon everything HE was seeing in the comics.

 

I can't imagine what he would be saying nowadays if he was still alive. Not only because of the semi-pronographic comic books, but also with all these steamy music videos and T.V. shows.

 

Well, I guess he would either have a heart attack or be sharing the same jail cell with Wacko Jacko since they probably share the same hidden desires.

[adamstrange]

"Sexual stimulation by combining 'headlights' with the sadist's dream of tying up a woman."

 

 

RHG

 

Nice cover -- definitely a change of pace from the Craig Flessels!

[adamstrange]

Wertham was nuts.

 

-- Joanna

 

Well, not only was Wertham nuts, but I strongly believe he had some serious suppressed sexual problems based upon everything HE was seeing in the comics.

 

LF, I think Wertham made enormous ill-found leaps of logics to come to the conclusions that he did.

 

That said, I am in agreement with a number of commentators (Mark Evanier being one) who grant the doctor the benefit of the doubt regarding his motivation. He did deal with kids with severe mental illness as well as with juvenile delinquents of the most depraved sort and I think he wanted to prevent that. Although he went overboard in reading too much into some of the stories, there are any number that are quite overtly violent, gory, and sadistic. Were these appropriate for the kids? I don't think the final verdict is in scientifically, but the evidence regarding TV and videogames seems to be leaning in that direction. I think Wertham went overboard in conclusions, but I think the criticism of him would be stronger if it was more specific and based on what we do know about him.

[Jayman]

Wertham was nuts.

 

-- Joanna

 

Well, not only was Wertham nuts, but I strongly believe he had some serious suppressed sexual problems based upon everything HE was seeing in the comics.

 

LF, I think Wertham made enormous ill-found leaps of logics to come to the conclusions that he did.

 

That said, I am in agreement with a number of commentators (Mark Evanier being one) who grant the doctor the benefit of the doubt regarding his motivation. He did deal with kids with severe mental illness as well as with juvenile delinquents of the most depraved sort and I think he wanted to prevent that. Although he went overboard in reading too much into some of the stories, there are any number that are quite overtly violent, gory, and sadistic. Were these appropriate for the kids? I don't think the final verdict is in scientifically, but the evidence regarding TV and videogames seems to be leaning in that direction. I think Wertham went overboard in conclusions, but I think the criticism of him would be stronger if it was more specific and based on what we do know about him.

 

In the book "The Complete Illustrated History of the Skywald Horror-Mood", Alan Hewetson the late editor of the magazine sized books such as Nightmare, Psycho and Scream, there are interesting excerpts from interviews he had with Dr. Wertham.

Certain responses from these interviews made me rethink my initial opinion on the man:

 

Wertham: "Incidentally, I was the first psychiatrist admitted in Federal Court as an expert eyewitness on the subject of censorship. I was against it-which was a very unpopular stand then. Several books which the government tried to have banned were freed through my opinion."

 

Wertham: "I have no wish to warm up the old controversies about comic books; in view of the overall influence of mass media brutality, comic books are only a very minor item, nowadays. Censorship is not the answer; it is not even the question. The editorial in Nightmare (Hewetson's mag.) says: 'Dr. Wertham censored comics', and this sort of thing for years has made youths think that 'Werthamite' does mean censor, despite a lifetime of work concerned with the opposite-with great personal, not to mention financial, sacrifices. I was merely suggesting control of what is directly and suggestively exposed and offered to children who are young. I think even Stan Lee privately would agree with me in these fundamentals."

 

Wertham also goes on to say "...I have never suggested, endorsed, nor approved the Comics Code. I merely suggested that the most gory crime comic books should not be directly displayed to children of thirteen or under..."

 

This book on the history of Skywald comics is highly recommended if not for these interviews alone, an interesting read.

[Twistty1]

I'd like to give this thread a bump as well and post an image or two...hopefully more covers will appear..

 

Here's a file copy SOTI...

[Twistty1]

Another, which is off to CGC at the moment... Off the top of my head I think this one reprints stories from either Rulah 21 or 22, of which all appear in SOTI..

 

[Twistty1]

And a classic one...

[chrisco37]

Great book! I need to get one of those for myself.

 

 

[chrisco37]

The obligatory CSS#22

 

[Twistty1]

The obligatory CSS#22

 

 

I love that book, I have a fairly low grade copy that someone traced the entire front cover in pencil, barely noticeable....I think that one was only used in the Senate investigations though, during the infamous Gaines interview about horror comics.

[buttock]

Wertham suffered from what many others do - the inability to separate correlation from causation.

 

He focused on sick children, many of whom read comic books. To him, that meant the comic books caused mental illness. However, had he looked at the overwhelmingly more well children, he would have found that many of them read comic books as well.

 

Certainly, there is more to his motive than this, but it's a point that bears emphasizing whenever possible.

 

 

On another note, I have a book from the 1980s called "Seduction of the Innocent Revisited" that was another weaker attempt to make this argument. However, this was from a religious bent (may have even been published by a Catholic pub, I'd have to check) and didn't bother to try and make a correlation between the input (rotten comics) and the output (rotten kids). This was more an attack on moral grounds. Unfortunately, due to a bunch of stuff that was out there in the 80s, they had plenty to pick from!

[Monkeyman]

Wertham suffered from what many others do - the inability to separate correlation from causation.

 

He focused on sick children, many of whom read comic books. To him, that meant the comic books caused mental illness. However, had he looked at the overwhelmingly more well children, he would have found that many of them read comic books as well.

 

Certainly, there is more to his motive than this, but it's a point that bears emphasizing whenever possible.

 

 

On another note, I have a book from the 1980s called "Seduction of the Innocent Revisited" that was another weaker attempt to make this argument. However, this was from a religious bent (may have even been published by a Catholic pub, I'd have to check) and didn't bother to try and make a correlation between the input (rotten comics) and the output (rotten kids). This was more an attack on moral grounds. Unfortunately, due to a bunch of stuff that was out there in the 80s, they had plenty to pick from!

 

My local toy store used to have pamphlets about the dangers of D&D during the 80s. These were also religeous in nature and listed things like kids committing suicide after their characters were killed. One pamphlet actually suggested that kids had been possessed by devils during D&D games.

 

Here is a passage from Wikipedia:

 

At various times in its history, Dungeons & Dragons has received negative publicity, in particular from some Christian groups, for alleged promotion of such practices as devil worship, witchcraft, suicide, and murder, and for naked breasts in drawings of female humanoids in the original AD&D manuals (mainly monsters such as Harpies, Succubi, etc.).[11][113] These controversies led TSR to remove many potentially controversial references and artwork when releasing the 2nd Edition of AD&D.[75] Many of these references, including the use of the names "devils" and "demons", were reintroduced in the 3rd edition.[114] The moral panic over the game also led to problems for fans of D&D who faced social ostracism, unfair treatment, and false association with the occult and Satanism, regardless of an individual fan's actual religious affiliation and beliefs.[115]

 

Dungeons & Dragons has also been the subject of rumors regarding players having difficulty separating fantasy and reality, even leading to psychotic episodes.[116] The most notable of these was the saga of James Dallas Egbert III,[117] which was fictionalized in the novel Mazes and Monsters and later made into a TV movie.[113][118] The game was also blamed for some of the actions of Chris Pritchard, who was convicted in 1990 of murdering his stepfather. Research by various psychologists,[119] the first being that of Armando Simon, have concluded that no harmful effects are related to the playing of D&D.[120]

 

Mike

[Silver Surfer]

 

A quote from SOTI:

 

' As to the "advanced femininity," what are the activities in comic books which women "indulge in on an equal footing with men"? They do not work. They are not homemakers. They do not bring up a family. Mother-love is entirely absent. Even when Wonder Woman adopts a girl there are Lesbian overtones. They are either superwomen flying through the air, scantily dressed or uniformed, outsmarting hostile natives, animals or wicked men, functioning like Wonder Woman in a fascistic-futurist setting, or they are molls or prizes to be pushed around and sadistically abused. In no other literature for children has the image of womanhood been so degraded.

 

 

I agree what has the world come to "scantily dressed with lesbian overtones", "wicked men". This guy is a nut bar!