Seduction Of The Innocent: The Controversy Of Comic Books

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Background
Comic books were in the groove in the 30’s and 40’s. After DC Comics published Superman in 1938, stories of mean, costumed superheroes battling criminals and enemies of the United States arose. However after World War II ended, interest for these stories decreased and superheroes were up the creek. In order to gain back the public’s interest of comic books, publishers began to fill them with romance, crime, and horror. In the early 1950’s, crime and horror comics arose, quickly gaining popularity. The most sharp horror comics were published by EC Comics, such as The Vault of Horror and The Crypt of Terror. Comic books were made in the shade, selling flat out between 80 million and 100 million a week in scores of genres.

Comic Controversy
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They believed these comic books were at least partially to blame for crime and delinquency in youth. This idea was fueled by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent in 1954. Fredric Wertham was a big wheel when it comes to the campaign against comics. Seduction of the Innocent caused the most devastating effects. Here he stated that comic books were from nowhere, leading to juvenile delinquency and also stultified kids’ imaginations. Countless religious and patriotic organizations set up book burnings to set comic books on fire. Seduction of the Innocent even caused a U.S. Senate Investigation into the relationship and correlation between comic books and crime in youth. Many times Wertham was called to testify at these hearings, and many times he came out on

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