Who’s Afraid of Comics? Fredric Wertham and the 1950s Anti-Comics Crusade

One of the most influential publications in comic book history may have been… a book.
In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham accused comic books of inciting criminal behaviour among children. His book "Seduction of the Innocent" was the culmination of the Great Comics Scare of the 1950s. In that decade, superhero comics were swept away by crime and horror books. And although these comics reached millions of American kids, they were largely beyond the control of parents. This scared a lot of people. The call for control or censorship even resulted in the burning of comics and Senate Hearings. And Wertham’s book was in the centre of it all.
Let’s dive into Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent and its effects. What were comic books like in the 1950s? Why did they upset Wertham and others so much? And what were the results of the Comic Book Scare?
#comicbookhistory #comicbooks #comics #superheroes #eccomics #superman #batman #horrorcomics #horrorstories #crimecomics #crimestory #crimestories #comicbookscare #suspensestories #SeductionoftheInnocent #FredricWertham #maxgaines #senatehearing #comicscode #comicscodeauthority #cca #censorship #1950s #coldwar #moralpanic

[@LeendertvanHoogenhuijze]

Amazing content.

[@A.J.456]

Comics changed history!