- Seduction of the Innocent
"Seduction of the Innocent" is a book by Dr. Frederic Wertham, published in
1954 , that warned thatcomic book s were a bad form of popularliterature and a serious cause ofjuvenile delinquency . The book was a minor bestseller that created alarm in parents and galvanized them to campaign for censorship. At the same time, a U.S. Congressional inquiry was launched into the comic book industry. Subsequent to the publication of "Seduction of the Innocent", theComics Code Authority was voluntarily established by publishers to self-censor their titles."Seduction of the Innocent" cited overt or covert depictions of violence, sex, drug use, and other adult fare within "crime comics"—a term Wertham used to describe not only the popular gangster/murder-oriented titles of the time, but
superhero and horror comics as well. The book asserted, largely based on undocumented anecdotes, that reading this material encouraged similar behavior in children.Comics, especially the crime/horror titles pioneered by EC, were not lacking in gruesome images; Wertham reproduced these extensively, pointing out what he saw as recurring morbid themes such as "injury to the eye" [ as notably seen in
Jack Cole 's "Murder, Morphine and Me" which appeared inTrue Crime Comics Vol.1 #2 in May 1947.] . Many of his other conjectures, particularly about hidden sexual themes (e.g. images of female nudity concealed in drawings of muscles and tree bark, orBatman and Robin asgay partners), met with derision within the comics industry. (Wertham's claim thatWonder Woman had a bondage subtext was somewhat better documented, as her creatorWilliam Moulton Marston had admitted as much; however, Wertham also claimed Wonder Woman's strength and independence made her alesbian . [Wertham, Fredric (1954) " Seduction of the Innocent"., pp. 192, 234-235, Reinhart & Company, Inc.] )Wertham critiqued the commercial environment of comic book publishing and retailing, objecting to air rifles and knives advertised alongside violent stories. Wertham sympathized with retailers who didn't want to sell horror comics, yet were compelled to by their distributors'
table d'hôte product line policies.The fame of "Seduction of the Innocent" added to Wertham's previous celebrity as an expert witness and made him an obvious choice to appear before the
Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency led by anti-crime crusaderEstes Kefauver . In extensive testimony before the committee, Wertham restated arguments from his book and pointed to comics as a major cause of juvenile crime. The committee's questioning of their next witness, EC publisherWilliam Gaines , focused on violent scenes of the type Wertham had decried. Though the committee's final report did not blame comics for crime, it recommended that the comics industry tone down its content voluntarily. Possibly taking this as a veiled threat of potential censorship, publishers developed theComics Code Authority to censor their own content. The new code not only banned violent images, but entire words and concepts (e.g. "terror" and "zombies"), and dictated that criminals must always be punished. This destroyed most EC-style titles, leaving a sanitized subset ofsuperhero comics as the chief remaining genre. Wertham nevertheless considered theComics Code inadequate to protect youth."Seduction of the Innocent" was illustrated with comic-book panels offered as evidence, each accompanied by a line of Wertham's sardonic commentary. The first printing contained a bibliography listing the comic book publishers cited, but fears of lawsuits compelled the publisher to tear the bibliography page from any copies available, so copies with an intact bibliography are rare. Early complete editions of "Seduction of the Innocent" often sell for high figures among book and comic book collectors.
Among comic-book collectors any comic book with a story or panel referred to in "Seduction of the Innocent" is known as a "Seduction" issue", and is usually more valued than other issues in the same run of a title. "Seduction of the Innocent" is one of the few non-illustrative works to be listed in the
Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide as a collectible in its own right.In popular culture
* In
Michael Chabon 's novel about theGolden Age of Comics , "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay ", Sammy Clay testifies in defense of comics (with disastrous results) in the Kefauver hearings.
*"Seduction of the Innocent" is also the name of asocial guidance film bySid Davis that portrayed cannabis as leading toheroin addiction.
*"Seduction of the Innocent" is also a track from the KISS album "".
*"Seduction of the Innocent" is also a track from theRipping Corpse album "Dreaming with the Dead ", which specifically references Dr. Wertham and his work.
* A book entitled "The Innocent Seduced" was used in "Eclipsed," episode 39 of theJustice League animated series , by an anti-JL moral crusader.
* A promo for theDC Comics series "Countdown" features an image ofMary Marvel paired with the words "The Seduction of the Innocent." [http://www.newsarama.com/NYCC/2007/DC/DCNation.html]
* The websiteSuperdickery has a section called "Seduction of the Innocent", which features a collection of comic book covers and panels which, when taken out of context, seem sexual in nature.
* "Seduction of the Innocent" is also the title of a six-issue mini-series published byEclipse Comics in 1985, which is an anthology comic similar to the series Wertham spoke out against.References
*Beaty, Bart (2005). "Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture". University Press of Mississippi, ISBN 1-57806-819-3.
*Nyberg, Ami Kiste (1998). "Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code", University Press of Mississippi, ISBN 0-87805-975-X.
*Wright, Bradford W. (2001). "Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America", Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-7450-5.
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