Erik's review
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America
by David Hajdu
Erik's review
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajdu
Erik's review
rating:
While more recent non-fiction fare on the golden age of comics has focused on the bright side of things -- think “Tales to Astonish” and “Men of Tomorrow” – “The Ten-Cent Plague” charts a slightly darker path by getting under the reader’s skin recounting the relentless and insidious attacks on the comics industry during the post-war years. Joseph McCarthy may have made a household name for himself that was quickly vilified after Americans came to their senses, yet Fredric Wertham’s brilliantly (and diabolically) persuasive book “Seduction of the Innocent” – as well as the tiresome trials that followed in its wake -- destroyed what little integrity this once wide-reaching industry had. It’s not just the vilification of crime and horror comics that shocks, but also the absurd accusation that Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman promote totalitarianism, homoeroticism, and sado-masochism -- respectively. (Laughable to modern sensibilities, yes. But not at the time, ...more
