SOTI Contest ends December 31, 11:59pm Eastern. Discover a book and win SOTI!

[porcupine48]

my first noprize!

Hmmm. As I recall, a no-prize gets you, well, absolutely nothing. Okay, eventually Marvel started sending out no-prizes as empty envelopes. Instead of an empty envelope, how about if is send you a page from SOTI? Just PM me your mailing address and I'll mail you an actual page from a copy of SOTI. I still have some pages left from this post.

Destruction of the Innocent post

Winning a page from SOTI beats a no-prize because it's an actual prize, right?

it is all good..can't wait to see the news thou..

[sfcityduck]

[SOTIcollector]

I've been prepping some pics for posting. I finally won the photobucket battles. First off, a little diversion to my latest CGC arrivals. Yes, I'll get to the newly-discovered SOTI book soon. But for right now, here are some things from my latest batch of books fresh from CGC. Although my goal is to have one unslabbed copy of each SOTI book (unslabbed because I read them), and much of my collection is in the G to VG range, I have occasionally been fortunate enough to acquire some better grade SOTI books. I shipped some to CGC a while back, and they just came back with some grades I'm really happy with. Three of them are #3 on the census. The Kewpies is really tough to find in any grade, and I've always found it tough to come by any Crimes by Women in better than VG.

 

Exposed 6

 

Crimes By Women 3

 

Jungle 98

 

Kewpies

 

 

[SOTIcollector]

Next is the new SOTI variant that came back in this CGC batch.

 

It turns out that there are two variations of Hopalong Cassidy and the Mad Barber. There's a 16 page version and a 24 page version.

 

I feel the need to clarify what I mean by pages, because it appears that CGC and I use the term differently. For illustration purposes, let's discuss for a moment the centerfold of a comic book. That centerfold is made up of one SHEET of paper. Each page of paper you can turn is known as a LEAF (at least, that seems to be what they call it in the collectible book world). Each LEAF has two numbered faces that can be read, and those are known as PAGES. If you were to rip the centerfold out of a book, you could describe what you're holding in your hands as one sheet, or two leaves, or four pages.

 

In the comic book world, a page count has typically meant pages in this sense. If a book has 52 pages, then there are 48 numbered pages in the book plus the cover.

 

I sent to CGC a book with a page count that I would call 16 pages. It came back with a blue label and an indication that it has 8 pages, so they seem to use the term "pages" to mean "leaves". Does CGC have a new way of counting pages, or did CGC just make a mistake on this one? They labeled this an 8-page variant. I would call it a 16-page version. And I'd hesitate to call it "variant", because I suspect (but can't prove) that the 24-page version is the less common one.

 

Some copies of this book have 16 pages, while others have 24 pages. The 24-page versions have "scrap book" pages that the 16-page versions do not. See pictures below of the 16 and 24 page versions side-by-side. I'm confident (as is CGC) that the 16-page version is not just the 24-page version with some pages ripped out. I'm trying to determine which is the more common version. If you have a copy of Hopalong and the Mad Barber, I'd love to know how many pages it has.

 

Hopalong 9.2 8 page variant

 

Hopalong 9.2 Variant Label

 

 

Hopalong Interior 1

 

 

Hopalong Interior 2

 

 

 

 

 

[markseifert]

Not a lost SOTI book, but I'll toss in an interesting little string of related history that I don't think has come up too much. Lost SOTI history, perhaps...

 

You might know the name George Hecht as the publisher of Parent' Magazine, and if you're reading this thread you know the relationship between that and the SOTI era.

 

Not sure if this is known, I didn't realize before recently... Hecht goes way back with censoring comics. He was the head of the "Bureau of Cartoons" which put out guidelines for comic artists to be supportive of the war effort during WWI. They were dead serious about this stuff then... staff and cartoonists of NYC political mag "The Masses" were tried under Sedition & Espionage laws TWICE for political cartoons critical of the war (acquitted both times by jury).

 

Anyway, as WWII comes around, Hecht has Parents Magazine and also publishes True Comics. True Comics contains regular features which include "My Greatest Adventures", and "Frontier Fighters".

 

You see where this is going. As the Code is put in place and the Senate hearings conclude, two titles that DC introduce in 1955 are... My Greatest Adventures, and Frontier Fighters.

 

So, kind of funny. Is it an FU to Hecht, or an appeasement, or a little of both? But more than a little amusing that a long-lasting DC brand spun out of it.

[EC ed]

I'm trying to determine which is the more common version. If you have a copy of Hopalong and the Mad Barber, I'd love to know how many pages it has.

 

I have a copy, and mine has 4 sheets/8 leaves/16 pages...no surprise then that it doesn't have the scrap book pages.

[SOTIcollector]

Not a lost SOTI book, but I'll toss in an interesting little string of related history that I don't think has come up too much. Lost SOTI history, perhaps...

 

You might know the name George Hecht as the publisher of Parent' Magazine, and if you're reading this thread you know the relationship between that and the SOTI era.

 

Not sure if this is known, I didn't realize before recently... Hecht goes way back with censoring comics. He was the head of the "Bureau of Cartoons" which put out guidelines for comic artists to be supportive of the war effort during WWI. They were dead serious about this stuff then... staff and cartoonists of NYC political mag "The Masses" were tried under Sedition & Espionage laws TWICE for political cartoons critical of the war (acquitted both times by jury).

 

Anyway, as WWII comes around, Hecht has Parents Magazine and also publishes True Comics. True Comics contains regular features which include "My Greatest Adventures", and "Frontier Fighters".

 

You see where this is going. As the Code is put in place and the Senate hearings conclude, two titles that DC introduce in 1955 are... My Greatest Adventures, and Frontier Fighters.

 

So, kind of funny. Is it an FU to Hecht, or an appeasement, or a little of both? But more than a little amusing that a long-lasting DC brand spun out of it.

 

Love the story! No way to know for sure, but I like to think of it as extending the middle digit to Hecht. Thanks for sharing.

[SOTIcollector]

I'm trying to determine which is the more common version. If you have a copy of Hopalong and the Mad Barber, I'd love to know how many pages it has.

 

I have a copy, and mine has 4 sheets/8 leaves/16 pages...no surprise then that it doesn't have the scrap book pages.

 

Thanks, Ed. Anybody else have a copy and want to weigh in?

[SOTIcollector]

And now, the big reveal of the SOTI book about which I was most skeptical.

 

On page 234 of Seduction of the Innocent, Wertham writes, "Where in any other childhood literature except children's comics do you find a woman called (and treated as) a 'fat slut'?"

 

I've read lots of comics and even detective mags from that era, and I don't recall ever seeing that word. To me, it seemed rather harsh for the late 40's. But, sure enough, it's right there in a comic that I believe Wertham read.

 

Many thanks for Fifties for this discovery! Thanks to his hard work, we now know that this phrase exists in Famous Crimes #1, from June 1948. There remains some possibility that this phrase exists in another comic book. However, 1) this book would have been on the stands just as Wertham was beginning his research 2) we know it's a series and a publisher with which he was well acquainted 3) even if the word "slut" was used in another comic book, it's extremely unlikely that another book used that exact phrase. Personally, I'm convinced this is the book Wertham was referencing. Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fifties now has a 50% shot at winning that copy of Seduction of the Innocent I'll be giving away. Want to get in on the action? Just identify one of the "lost" SOTI books, listed above, and you can get into the contest as well. You have less than 2 months to get in on it.

 

And everybody who enters the contest by discovering a "lost" SOTI book wins something. If you don't win a full copy of SOTI, you win a page from a copy of SOTI that I cut up a while back. (No, I would never cut up a complete copy of SOTI. But since the copy I had was missing pages, I decided to disassemble it and place pages in my collection with the books they reference).

[comicnoir]

Wow! what a piece of infamous history. Imagine a comic book with that phrase in it. Unbelievable.

[porcupine48]

Hats off to fifties!

[markseifert]

Love the story! No way to know for sure, but I like to think of it as extending the middle digit to Hecht. Thanks for sharing.

 

After I posted this, somebody who knows Canadian Whites (I think some are calling this WECA now...) told me something fascinating about True Comics. Hecht was one of the very few who could get his comics into Canada during the early golden age (and later, of course, he bought toy store chain FAO Schwartz). We often accuse Wertham of this, but Hecht truly was influencing hearts and minds here through political means to his own benefit. Amazing little side-story to this era.

[Robot Man]

Love your passion for this SOTI. Way back in the mid 1970's myself, Redbeard and a fellow named Bob Nastasi (if you're reading this Bob, howdy!). Contributed a TON of SOTI, Parade of Pleasure and Love and Death sightings to Overstreet. Were not of collectors specificaly of this stuff. Had a lot of fun doing it. Glad to see someone now keeping the torch burning with such passion!

[SOTIcollector]

Love your passion for this SOTI. Way back in the mid 1970's myself, Redbeard and a fellow named Bob Nastasi (if you're reading this Bob, howdy!). Contributed a TON of SOTI, Parade of Pleasure and Love and Death sightings to Overstreet. Were not of collectors specificaly of this stuff. Had a lot of fun doing it. Glad to see someone now keeping the torch burning with such passion!

Thanks, Robot Man, for the kind words, and thanks for laying the groundwork way back when. My first Overstreet was 1976. I remember reading the listings, and wondering about the "Used in Seduction of the Innocent" books (later shortened to "Used in SOTI"). If not for the early contributions that you and others made, this fascination/obsession of mine wouldn't have gotten started. So my hat's off to you, Bob and Redbeard!

[SOTIcollector]

The Contest!

 

I've been pretty fortunate lately that I've been able to acquire a couple spare copies of SOTI. I'll give one of these away on or about January 1, 2017.

 

Your assignment is to look for the "lost SOTI" books, listed above. If you are the first one to positively identify one of these books, and email or PM me with your verifiable results, then you're entered in the contest. It's that easy. For each book you identify, you get one entry in the contest.

Deadline for submissions is 11:59pm Eastern time on 31 December, 2016.

 

On or about January 1, I'll select a random winner from all the correct entries I've received. These are books that have eluded collectors for years, so I don't expect a flood of entries. You've got a good shot at winning a copy of SOTI for free. It'll be a 1954 or 1955 US or UK edition of SOTI of my choosing. It will not be the so-called "limited edition" modern printing.

 

So far, there is one person in this contest: the gentleman who recently identified this book:

A man provides murder victims for his wife, who drinks their blood. He grabs a newsboy for her and she says over his bound body: "His throat is as white and soft as a swan's! So tender and youthful!"

 

It was his recent discovery that inspired me to create this contest, so I figured it's only fair that he get an entry into the contest.

 

If nobody discovers any more "lost SOTI" books between now and January 1, this gentleman wins the book. If you're the only one to discover another "lost SOTI" book between now and the end of the year, then you've got a 50% chance of winning.

 

THE CONTEST ENDER -- BONUS!!!

Here's a kicker that I think you'll love. Do you want a particularly rare copy of SOTI? Here's a difficult but not impossible task. Be the first to identify FIVE of the "lost SOTI" books listed below and submit five entries in this contest. If that happens, the contest ends immediately and you win a 1954 first printing of Seduction of the Innocent, with the bibliography! In case you're not familiar with the story of the bibliography, the bibliography page was removed from nearly all copies of SOTI prior to its distribution. SOTI itself is tough to come by, but a copy with the bibliography is particularly scarce.

I'm giving away ONE copy of SOTI in this contest, so if you or somebody else correctly identifies five "lost SOTI" books, the contest ends right away and this rare edition goes to that person.

 

No purchase necessary. Just read comics! And you were going to do that anyway, right? And, if you enter the contest, I'll need your permission to post you real name OR your screen name here and on the SOTI website when I post the books that you discovered.

 

I think I've covered all the necessary rules, but I reserve the right to modify the rules if necessary. If modifications are needed, I'll post them here.

 

Questions? Post here or send via PM.

Now get reading, and GOOD LUCK!

 

The contest is almost over! You've got just a day and a half to get an entry in to win a copy of Seduction of the Innocent, absolutely free. So far, there are just two people in this contest: Fifties, and Carl Henderson. As of right now, each of these people has a 50% chance of winning! I'll do the drawing after New Year's (probably January 2, because I'll be unavailable on New Year's Day) and announce the winner here. If you're hoping to win a copy of SOTI, then get reading, identify one or more of the "lost SOTI" books, and send me a PM or post here when you've found it!

 

[rjpb]

And now, the big reveal of the SOTI book about which I was most skeptical.

 

On page 234 of Seduction of the Innocent, Wertham writes, "Where in any other childhood literature except children's comics do you find a woman called (and treated as) a 'fat slut'?"

 

I've read lots of comics and even detective mags from that era, and I don't recall ever seeing that word. To me, it seemed rather harsh for the late 40's. But, sure enough, it's right there in a comic that I believe Wertham read.

 

Many thanks for Fifties for this discovery! Thanks to his hard work, we now know that this phrase exists in Famous Crimes #1, from June 1948. There remains some possibility that this phrase exists in another comic book. However, 1) this book would have been on the stands just as Wertham was beginning his research 2) we know it's a series and a publisher with which he was well acquainted 3) even if the word "slut" was used in another comic book, it's extremely unlikely that another book used that exact phrase. Personally, I'm convinced this is the book Wertham was referencing. Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fifties now has a 50% shot at winning that copy of Seduction of the Innocent I'll be giving away. Want to get in on the action? Just identify one of the "lost" SOTI books, listed above, and you can get into the contest as well. You have less than 2 months to get in on it.

 

And everybody who enters the contest by discovering a "lost" SOTI book wins something. If you don't win a full copy of SOTI, you win a page from a copy of SOTI that I cut up a while back. (No, I would never cut up a complete copy of SOTI. But since the copy I had was missing pages, I decided to disassemble it and place pages in my collection with the books they reference).

 

 

Slut originally meant dirty or slovenly, primarily in relation to a woman, but just as dirty and tramp became euphemisms for sexually promiscuous, so did "slut". I probably derives from the the dialectic german "schlutt", meaning dirt or filth. I imagine it was little seen in print by the 20th century, as the more sexual meaning became dominant, but in some circles it probably still had the old meaning, thus showing up in a comic book, where it was clearly meant to be synonymous with slob.

[SOTIcollector]

Slut originally meant dirty or slovenly, primarily in relation to a woman, but just as dirty and tramp became euphemisms for sexually promiscuous, so did "slut". I probably derives from the the dialectic german "schlutt", meaning dirt or filth. I imagine it was little seen in print by the 20th century, as the more sexual meaning became dominant, but in some circles it probably still had the old meaning, thus showing up in a comic book, where it was clearly meant to be synonymous with slob.

 

Aah. Thanks for the clarification. That makes much more sense now!

[OtherEric]

And I re-noticed this thread MINUTES too late to enter the contest...

 

The Clara Peete story is actually a reprint, It first appeared four months earlier in Phantom Lady #16:

 

http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=12434

 

Still worthy of note, even if I'm too late for the contest itself. It's still 2016 where I'm at on the west coast, but the contest was east-coast timed.

[SOTIcollector]

Thanks, OtherEric for the great new discovery! It's too bad you missed out on the contest, but I'll come up with a small token of thanks for you.

 

And now, to give away a copy of Seduction of the Innocent. There are two people in the running.

Fifties got an entry for his discovery of Famous Crimes #1.

Carl Henderson got an entry for his discovery of Doll Man #38.

 

I struggled to find a transparent way to pick one of these people as the winner, to make it clear that the drawing is fair and random. Here's what I came up with.

 

Tonight (1/4/2017) there's a Powerball drawing.

- If the lowest number drawn in tonight's Powerball drawing is an odd number, then Fifties wins the copy of Seduction of the Innocent.

- If the lowest number in tonight's Powerball drawing is an even number, then Carl Henderson wins the copy of Seduction of the Innocent.

 

Good luck to the contestants!

 

 

[OtherEric]

Oh, and one I thought I had pointed out to you before, but I didn't see it on the list on your site:

 

Almanac of Crime (1948 issue) has a 16 page signature unique to the book, as well as the 4 rebound issues most Fox Giants have. This section has a reprint of the Cattle Kate story from Women Outlaws #1.

 

http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=12290

 

My copy also has a rebound Famous Crimes #3, but that's just dumb luck; unlike the Cattle Kate story which would be in every copy of the issue.